Invisible Boundary Research Articles

Grain Boundary Detection Based on Multi-Level Loss From Feature and Adversarial Learning

The shape, size and distribution of grains play an important role in the quality of alloy materials. However, in the actual production process, the grain boundary is not always visible in the metallographic image observed by microscope. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end deep network named GF-RCF based on adversary network and feature learning to detect grain boundaries effectively. The network is guided by a novel multi-level loss through its three parts: base network, adversary network and metric module, which are used for boundary detection, boundary inpainting and feature learning respectively. Specifically, for base network, its architecture is based on richer convolution feature to achieve basic boundary detection by pixel-level loss. For adversary network, it employs the image-level adversary loss and feature matching loss to repair the invisible boundary. For metric module, it involves a feature learning strategy by comparing the features of unlabeled data with the labeled data to improve the generalization of the network. The multi-level loss refers to the total loss of pixel-level, image-level and feature-level obtained from the three subnetwork, respectively. From the perspective of machine learning, GF-RCF involves semi-supervised learning, transfer learning and generative adversarial network, which makes our model have more powerful learning ability. In experiments, GF-RCF achieves 0.8792 F1 score, surpassing other methods and reaching the state of the art.

Beyond the leftward limit of the perceptual span: Parafoveal processing to the left of fixation in Chinese reading.

During reading, Chinese readers have been found to obtain useful visual information from one character to the left to three characters to the right of fixation. The perceptual span is asymmetrical, and its leftward extent seems to be limited compared with the rightward extent. We conducted an experiment to investigate whether Chinese readers could process written information beyond the leftward extent of the perceptual span. We did this by using a variation of the gaze-contingent display change paradigm (Rayner, Cognitive Psychology, 81, 65-81, 1975) in order to manipulate the parafoveal "postview" that was available to the left of where readers were fixating. Each sentence contained an invisible boundary. Once the readers' eyes crossed the boundary, all of the characters to the left of the boundary except for one, two, or three characters directly to the left of the boundary were replaced with visually similar characters. The change lasted for only one single fixation, resulting in four different "postview" conditions including a control condition (n - 1, n - 2, n - 3, control). The results showed that, compared with the control condition, there were more regressions to the display change area immediately after readers' eyes crossed the boundary in the n - 1, n - 2, and n - 3 conditions, demonstrating that readers can acquire information from the three characters to the left of fixation at least.

Processing Information During Regressions: An Application of the Reverse Boundary-Change Paradigm.

Although 10–15% of eye-movements during reading are regressions, we still know little about the information that is processed during regressive episodes. Here, we report an eye-movement study that uses what we call the reverse boundary change technique to examine the processing of lexical-semantic information during regressions, and to establish the role of this information during recovery from processing difficulty. In the critical condition of the experiment, an initially implausible sentence (e.g., There was an old house that John had ridden when he was a boy) was rendered plausible by changing a context word (house) to a lexical neighbor (horse) using a gaze-contingent display change, at the point where the reader's gaze crossed an invisible boundary further on in the sentence. Due to the initial implausibility of the sentence, readers often launched regressions from the later part of the sentence. However, despite this initial processing difficulty, reading was facilitated, relative to a condition where the display change did not occur (i.e., the word house remained on screen throughout the trial). This result implies that the relevant lexical semantic information was processed during the regression, and was used to aid recovery from the initial processing difficulty.

OceanRoute: Vessel Mobility Data Processing and Analyzing Model Based on MapReduce

The network coverage is a big problem in ocean communication, and there is no low-cost solution in the short term. Based on the knowledge of Mobile Delay Tolerant Network (MDTN), the mobility of vessels can create the chances of end-to-end communication. The mobility pattern of vessel is one of the key metrics on ocean MDTN network. Because of the high cost, few experiments have focused on research of vessel mobility pattern for the moment. In this paper, we study the traces of more than 4000 fishing and freight vessels. Firstly, to solve the data noise and sparsity problem, we design two algorithms to filter the noise and complement the missing data based on the vessel’s turning feature. Secondly, after studying the traces of vessels, we observe that the vessel’s traces are confined by invisible boundary. Thirdly, through defining the distance between traces, we design MR-Similarity algorithm to find the mobility pattern of vessels. Finally, we realize our algorithm on cluster and evaluate the performance and accuracy. Our results can provide the guidelines on design of data routing protocols on ocean MDTN.

The processing of Chinese compound words with ambiguous morphemes in sentence context.

We employed a boundary paradigm to investigate how Chinese two-character compounds (i.e., compound words) are processed during reading. The first character of the compound was an ambiguous morpheme that had a dominant and subordinate meaning. In Experiment 1, there were three previews of the second character: identical to the target character; the preview provided subordinate biasing information (the subordinate condition); the preview provided dominant biasing information (the dominant condition). An invisible boundary was inserted between the two characters. We found that gaze durations and go-past times on the compounds were longer in the subordinate condition than those in the dominant or identical conditions. In Experiment 2, the semantic similarity between target and preview words in the dominant condition was manipulated to determine whether the differences in fixation durations in Experiment 1 resulted from the semantic similarity between the preview and target words. There were significant fixation duration differences on the target word between the dominant and subordinate conditions only when the preview and target words were semantically related. This finding indicated that the whole-word meaning plays an important role in processing Chinese compounds and that the whole-word access route is the principal processing route in reading two-character compounds in Chinese.

Cross-script orthographic and phonological preview benefits.

The present experiment examined the use of parafoveally presented first-language (L1) orthographic and phonological codes during reading of second-language (L2) sentences in proficient Russian-English bilinguals. Participants read English sentences containing a Russian preview word that was replaced by the English target word when the participant's eyes crossed an invisible boundary located before the preview word. The use of English and Russian allowed us to manipulate orthographic and phonological preview effects independently of one another. The Russian preview words overlapped with English target words in (a) orthography (ВЕЛЮР [vʲɪ'lʲʉr]-BERRY), (b) phonology (БЛАНК [blank]-BLOOD), or (c) had no orthographic or phonological overlap (КАЛАЧ [kɐ'lat͡ɕ]-BERRY; ГЖЕЛЬ [ɡʐϵlʲ]-BLOOD). The results of this study showed a clear and strong benefit of the parafoveal preview of Russian words that shared either orthography or phonology with English target words. This study is the first demonstration of cross-script orthographic and phonological parafoveal preview benefit effects. Bilinguals integrate orthographic and phonological information across eye fixations in reading, even when this information comes from different languages.

Electrostrain enhancement at an invisible boundary in a single ferroelectric phase

In ferroelectric materials the maximum electrostrain effect usually occurs at a phase boundary (often referred to as a ``morphotropic phase boundary'') between two or more different phases due to lattice instability at such compositions. As a result it is not expected that the electrostrain maximum can appear in a single ferroelectric phase regime which is away from lattice instability. In this Rapid Communication we report an unexpected finding that the electrostrain maximum occurs in a single rhombohedral phase region of the $(1\ensuremath{-}x%)\mathrm{Ba}(\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{i}}_{0.8}\mathrm{H}{\mathrm{f}}_{0.2}){\mathrm{O}}_{3}\ensuremath{-}x%(\mathrm{B}{\mathrm{a}}_{0.7}\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{a}}_{0.3})\mathrm{Ti}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ system. The composition showing the maximum electrostrain corresponds to an ``invisible boundary'' within the single ferroelectric phase, which is a vertical line starting from the quadruple point of the system. At the invisible boundary other anomalies, such as maximum spontaneous polarization also appear. The origin of electrostrain enhancement at the invisible boundary is considered to correlate with an easy polarization extension inherited from the quadruple point. The electrostrain enhancement effect at the invisible boundary has the advantage of having better temperature stability as compared with that at a phase boundary and thus may provide a way for designing high-electrostrain materials with improved temperature stability.

Language and power in India's “new services”

Language is at the heart of service interactions and a crucial element influencing the relationship between service provider and customer. As a specific form of symbolic capital, language can also be used to exclude and dominate. Our research looks at the role of language in shaping the power dynamic between service providers and customers in the Indian context. This study builds from extensive fieldwork conducted in the area of “new services”, following Indian gym trainers and coffee shop baristas as they interact with elite English-speaking clients. The findings detail how English operates as an invisible boundary in service settings, by excluding Indians who do not speak it with fluency. However, when used to develop expert knowledge, language also becomes an opportunity for lower middle class Indians to resist and invert the domination of the elite.

Blue hypertext is a good design decision: no perceptual disadvantage in reading and successful highlighting of relevant information.

BackgroundHighlighted text in the Internet (i.e., hypertext) is predominantly blue and underlined. The perceptibility of these hypertext characteristics was heavily questioned by applied research and empirical tests resulted in inconclusive results. The ability to recognize blue text in foveal and parafoveal vision was identified as potentially constrained by the low number of foveally centered blue light sensitive retinal cells. The present study investigates if foveal and parafoveal perceptibility of blue hypertext is reduced in comparison to normal black text during reading.MethodsA silent-sentence reading study with simultaneous eye movement recordings and the invisible boundary paradigm, which allows the investigation of foveal and parafoveal perceptibility, separately, was realized (comparing fixation times after degraded vs. un-degraded parafoveal previews). Target words in sentences were presented in either black or blue and either underlined or normal.ResultsNo effect of color and underlining, but a preview benefit could be detected for first pass reading measures. Fixation time measures that included re-reading, e.g., total viewing times, showed, in addition to a preview effect, a reduced fixation time for not highlighted (black not underlined) in contrast to highlighted target words (either blue or underlined or both).DiscussionThe present pattern reflects no detectable perceptual disadvantage of hyperlink stimuli but increased attraction of attention resources, after first pass reading, through highlighting. Blue or underlined text allows readers to easily perceive hypertext and at the same time readers re-visited highlighted words longer. On the basis of the present evidence, blue hypertext can be safely recommended to web designers for future use.

Rome’s seat of passion: An assessment of the archeology and history of the Circus Maximus

AbstractIt is a place where the general public can gather communally to watch ludi, provisionally erasing invisible boundary lines which sharply divide one social class from another. The Circus is also a location which has the capability to eradicate personal and societal perceptions potentially rendering a crowd in an intoxicated, wanton state. The association existent between society and its predetermined allocation of space in many venues (e.g. hippodromes, theaters, amphitheaters, etc.) which exhibit sports and spectacles, more generally, is well attested to in the Circus Maximus’s history. Using this as the conceptual framework, this article attempts to assess the recurrent, measured, and far-ranging evolutions and interdependencies between the aristocracy and the Circus they constructed. The construction methodology, I argue, was constantly being adapted to suit specific political agendas beginning with its legendary foundation under the Etruscan kings in the sixth-century BCE and ending with its us...

Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Simulation of Probing Dental Caries Within a Narrow Oral Cavity.

Haptic simulation of handling pathological tissues is a crucial component to enhance virtual surgical training systems. In this paper, we introduce a configuration-based optimization approach to simulate the exploration and diagnosis of carious tissues in dental operations. To simulate the six Degree-of-Freedom (6DoF) haptic interaction between the dental probe and the oral tissues, we introduce two interaction states, the sliding state and the penetration state, which simulate the exploration on the surface of and inside of the caries, respectively. Penetration criteria considering a contact force threshold are defined to trigger the switch between the two states. By utilizing a simplified friction model based on the optimization approach, various multi-region frictional contacts between the probe and carious tissues are simulated. To simulate the exploration within the carious tissues for diagnosing the depth of the caries, a dynamic sphere tree is used to constrain the insertion/extraction of the probe within carious tissues along a fixed direction while enabling simulation of additional contacts of the probe with neighboring oral tissues during the insertion/extraction process. Experimental results show that decays with different levels of stiffness and friction coefficients can be stably simulated. Preliminary user studies show that users could easily identify the invisible boundary between the decay and healthy tissues and correctly rank the depth of target decays within a required time limit. The proposed approach could be used for training delicate motor skill of probing target carious teeth in a narrow oral cavity, which requires collaborated control of tool posture and insertion/extraction force, while avoiding damages to adjacent healthy tissues of the tongue and gingiva.

Saccade target selection in Chinese reading.

In Chinese reading, there are no spaces to mark the word boundaries, so Chinese readers cannot target their saccades to the center of a word. In this study, we investigated how Chinese readers decide where to move their eyes during reading. To do so, we introduced a variant of the boundary paradigm in which only the target stimulus remained on the screen, displayed at the saccade landing site, after the participant's eyes crossed an invisible boundary. We found that when the saccade target was a word, reaction times in a lexical decision task were shorter when the saccade landing position was closer to the end of that word. These results are consistent with the predictions of a processing-based strategy to determine where to move the eyes. Specifically, this hypothesis assumes that Chinese readers estimate how much information is processed in parafoveal vision and saccade to a location that will carry novel information.

Lack of semantic parafoveal preview benefit in reading revisited.

In contrast to earlier research, evidence for semantic preview benefit in reading has been reported by Hohenstein and Kliegl (Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 166-190, 2013) in an alphabetic writing system; they also implied that prior demonstrations of lack of a semantic preview benefit needed to be reexamined. In the present article, we report a rather direct replication of an experiment reported by Rayner, Balota, and Pollatsek (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473-483, 1986). Using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm, subjects read sentences that contained a target word (razor), but different preview words were initially presented in the sentence. The preview was identical to the target word (i.e., razor), semantically related to the target word (i.e., blade), semantically unrelated to the target word (i.e., sweet), or a visually similar nonword (i.e., razar). When the reader's eyes crossed an invisible boundary location just to the left of the target word location, the preview changed to the target word. Like Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473-483, 1986), we found that fixations on the target word were significantly shorter in the identical condition than in the unrelated condition, which did not differ from the semantically related condition; when an orthographically similar preview had been initially present in the sentence, fixations were shorter than when a semantically unrelated preview had been present. Thus, the present experiment replicates the earlier data reported by Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473-483, 1986), indicating evidence for an orthographic preview benefit but a lack of semantic preview benefit in reading English.

Parafoveal preprocessing in reading revisited: Evidence from a novel preview manipulation.

The study investigated parafoveal preprocessing by the means of the classical invisible boundary paradigm and a novel manipulation of the parafoveal previews (i.e., visual degradation). Eye movements were investigated on 5-letter target words with constraining (i.e., highly informative) initial letters or similarly constraining final letters. Visual degradation was administered to all, no, the initial, or the final 2 letters of the parafoveal preview of the target words. Critically, the manipulation of the parafoveal previews did not interfere with foveal processing. Thus, we had a proper baseline to which we could relate our main findings, which were as follows: First, the valid (i.e., nondegraded) preview of the target words' final letters led to shorter fixation times compared to the baseline condition (i.e., the degradation of all letters). Second, this preview benefit for the final letters was comparable to the benefit of previewing the initial letters. Third, the preview of a constraining initial letter sequence, however, yielded a larger preview benefit than the preview of an unconstraining initial letter sequence. The latter finding indicates that preprocessing constraining initial letters is particularly conducive to foveal word recognition.

Atomistic modeling of semiconductor interfaces

A strong contributing factor to the success of silicon has been a parallel development of accurate modeling tools. For the efficient introduction of new device architectures at the nanoscale, it is necessary to develop similar tools that can handle all the relevant aspects of the new physical properties that will be utilized. This is a very challenging task, as we are dealing not only with many new materials and even more combinations of elements materials, but also effects due the small device sizes and even reduced dimensionality in the form of confinement. In this article we turn our attention to the topic of simulating interfaces from first principles, on the atomic scale. As device dimensions shrink, interfaces start to play a dominating role, and need to be treated as an active part of the device, and not just as an invisible boundary between different materials. We will review the theoretical framework for computing properties of single interfaces, and provide several examples of the types of simulations that can be performed. A concluding separate section is dedicated to computing band offsets.

City Lines, County Lines, Color Lines: The Relationship between School and Housing Segregation in Four Southern Metro Areas

Background/ContextAt the close of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the intersection of race, geography and opportunity is increasingly referred to as spatial racism. School quality and resources, municipal services, employment opportunities, accessibility of transportation, exposure to pollution, and tax rates all vary dramatically across a network of invisible boundary lines that carve up U.S. metro areas into racially and socioeconomically distinctive spaces.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyThis analysis explores how district boundary lines and school desegregation policy have impacted metropolitan school and housing integration levels over the past two decades.SettingThe study focuses specifically on the South, where the most comprehensive desegregation strategies were pursued. Based on varying experiences with city-suburban school district mergers, four metros—Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky; and Chattanooga-Hamilton County, Tennessee— were identified for study between the years 1990 and 2010. This time period encompassed a rising trend of unitary status for school districts, the serious resegregation of students, and growing demographic complexity across the country.Research DesignThis is a quantitative analysis of school and housing segregation trends that relies upon Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps to depict spatial patterns of isolation. School enrollment and segregation trends are derived from the National Center for Educational Statistics’ Common Core of Data. Housing patterns describing the distribution and segregation of persons by race and poverty status are explored using block group-level information from the U.S. Census Bureau's decennial census. Segregation is measured using the Index of Dissimilarity (D).Findings/ResultsEfforts to overcome the divisive nature of district boundary lines, in conjunction with comprehensive school desegregation policy, were related to unambiguous progress in combating both school and housing segregation. This central finding suggests that, in some ways, school policy can become housing policy.Conclusions/RecommendationsHow we provide equal educational opportunity to an increasingly diverse population of students is one of the principal concerns facing the country today. As a nation, however, we are currently allowing a labyrinthine system of school-district boundary lines to dictate the geographic distribution of learning opportunities. This study provides concrete examples of metros implementing a more regional approach to educational equity. It recommends that other metro area consider taking similar steps to subvert the segregating power of school-district boundaries.

Processing of compound-word characters in reading Chinese: An eye-movement-contingent display change study

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read Chinese two-constituent compound words in sentence contexts. The first compound-word constituent was either an infrequent character with a highly predictable second constituent or a frequent character with an unpredictable second constituent. The parafoveal preview of the second constituent was manipulated, with four preview conditions: identical to the correct form; a semantically related character to the second constituent; a semantically unrelated character to the second constituent; and a pseudocharacter. An invisible boundary was set between the two constituents; when the eyes moved across the boundary, the previewed character was changed to its intended form. The main findings were that preview effects occurred for the second constituent of the compound word. Providing an incorrect preview of the second constituent affected fixations on the first constituent, but only when the second constituent was predictable from the first. The frequency of the initial character of the compound constrained the identity of the second character, and this in turn modulated the extent to which the semantic characteristics of the preview influenced processing of the second constituent and the compound word as a whole. The results are considered in relation to current accounts of Chinese compound-word recognition and the constraint hypothesis of Hyönä, Bertram, and Pollatsek ( 2004 ). We conclude that word identification in Chinese is flexible, and parafoveal processing of upcoming characters is influenced both by the characteristics of the fixated character and by its relationship with the characters in the parafovea.

L’impercettibile confine a quasi venticinque anni dalla sentenza n. 203 del 1989 della Corte costituzionale

Il contributo, sottoposto a valutazione, e destinato alla pubblicazione negli Atti del Convegno di studio organizzato dall’ADEC sul tema “Dimensione pubblica e fattore religioso – Stato attuale e prospettive” (Bari, Aula Magna “Aldo Moro”, 17-18 settembre 2009), in corso di stampa SOMMARIO: 1. posizione del Presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano – 2. Laicismo e anticlericalismo – 3. Un’auspicabile prospettiva circa la laicita. ABSTRACT An event that has sparked discussions on neutrality and assumed centrality in the debate on the public dimension of the religious factor is related to the non-participation of Benedict XVI at the inauguration of the academic year at the University of Rome La Sapienza, scheduled for January 17, 2008. In its judgment no. 203/1989, the Constitutional Court stated that neutrality does not imply indifference to religion but the state guarantee for the protection of freedom of religion, under the religious and cultural pluralism. The debate on the issue of the University La Sapienza has fueled confusion about the meaning of the word to make the invisible boundary between neutrality, laicism and anti-clericalism. Decisive contribution to the construction of some carefully sentinels, among which there are those who have authoritatively explained that neutrality is to be understood: ... not as an attitude of estrangement, indifference or hostility of the state and its elites, with respect to the religious consciousness of the people, under the confessional pluralism, atheism is not excluded, but the protection of the equal freedom of all faiths (...) The true neutrality and the true faith are made to compete fairly in the conduct man to the full meaning of the days that are given to live. KEYWORDS: Neutrality, public dimension of the religious factor, laicism, anti-clericalism

Love and Solipsism: Law and Arbitrary Rule in Classical Drama

What distinguishes the rule of law from the lawless, arbitrary rule of brute force — which can almost interchangeably be described as tyranny or as anarchy — is that in a lawful rule the government’s coercive power operates according to principles of generality, regularity, fairness, rationality and public-orientation, whereas the arbitrary or lawless ruler wields power in the service of his (or their) own self-interest, or by mere ipse dixit. Law is to arbitrariness as reason is to mere will. In this paper, I explore the dichotomy between lawful and arbitrary rule as it has been represented in literature. I examine first the primal foundation of lawful rule, as depicted in Aeschylus’ Oresteia, in which law is generated by domesticating the use of force, through persuasion and willing union. Athena creates lawful order, not by fiat, but by marrying the Furies to “Persuasion”: the ambient coercive powers of the people — morally justified, yet dangerously personal urges for vengeance — will now be rationalized in accordance with public, logical, and articulable principles. By contrast, in Shakespeare’s Richard III, we witness the subversion and near-destruction of lawful order by a man who will tear apart the newly framed lawful order and make the state serve his own private ends. The contrast of these two dramas reveals that the tyrant is essentially a solipsist: his ultimate goal is to make the real world obey his say-so. And if law is like love, the tyrant is like the rapist: the forced surrender of intimacy is the best facsimile of love the solipsist can create; but it can never actually be love, because the two are separated by the same invisible and impenetrable boundary that separates truth from falsehood, or genuine loyalty from the rule of terror.I conclude with a look at the dissenter living in a lawless order, as depicted in two variations on the story of Antigone — the first by Sophocles and the second by Jean Anouilh. In both, the lawless, arbitrary rule is challenged in the name of law, and in each, the ruler nearly succeeds in substituting his private realm of mere words for the public realm of actual things. What emerges from this study is that the basic premise of all lawful order — the root of all secure liberty — is that there is a gap between the will of the ruler and the genuine law. Whenever such a gap exists — whenever it is meaningful to deliberate over whether the ruler’s commands are, in fact, law — the society will, to that extent, become one of lawful order and of (at least some) freedom. The link between tyranny and solipsism is that where the ruler’s will is accounted the law, there can be no genuine law, and thus no freedom. The paradox whereby tyranny is lawless is explained by the fact that tyranny is an attempt to impose by convention what does not originate in nature — and in the end, neither physical nature nor the nature of human relationships can be subjected to such commands. The ultimate demand of the lawless ruler(s) is to substitute his (or their) word for the world — to compel the subject to love him (or them). And because that can never be accomplished, arbitrary rule is doomed to eventual collapse.

Adult age differences in the perceptual span during reading.

Following up on research suggesting an age-related reduction in the rightward extent of the perceptual span during reading (Rayner, Castelhano, & Yang, 2009), we compared old and young adults in an N + 2-boundary paradigm in which a nonword preview of word N + 2 or word N + 2 itself is replaced by the target word once the eyes cross an invisible boundary located after word N. The intermediate word N + 1 was always three letters long. Gaze durations on word N + 2 were significantly shorter for identical than nonword N + 2 preview both for young and for old adults, with no significant difference in this preview benefit. Young adults, however, did modulate their gaze duration on word N more strongly than old adults in response to the difficulty of the parafoveal word N + 1. Taken together, the results suggest a dissociation of preview benefit and parafoveal-on-foveal effect. Results are discussed in terms of age-related decline in resilience towards distributed processing while simultaneously preserving the ability to integrate parafoveal information into foveal processing. As such, the present results relate to proposals of regulatory compensation strategies older adults use to secure an overall reading speed very similar to that of young adults.