Two-path Model Research Articles

Adversarial Discriminative Heterogeneous Face Recognition

The gap between sensing patterns of different face modalities remains a challenging problem in heterogeneous face recognition (HFR). This paper proposes an adversarial discriminative feature learning framework to close the sensing gap via adversarial learning on both raw-pixel space and compact feature space. This framework integrates cross-spectral face hallucination and discriminative feature learning into an end-to-end adversarial network. In the pixel space, we make use of generative adversarial networks to perform cross-spectral face hallucination. An elaborate two-path model is introduced to alleviate the lack of paired images, which gives consideration to both global structures and local textures. In the feature space, an adversarial loss and a high-order variance discrepancy loss are employed to measure the global and local discrepancy between two heterogeneous distributions respectively. These two losses enhance domain-invariant feature learning and modality independent noise removing. Experimental results on three NIR-VIS databases show that our proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art HFR methods, without requiring of complex network or large-scale training dataset.

Underwater acoustic communication using Doppler-resilient orthogonal signal division multiplexing in a harbor environment

Underwater acoustic (UWA) channels are one of the historical mobile ultrawideband channels characterized by large delay and Doppler spreads, but reliable UWA communication remains challenging. Here we performed an initial demonstration of the Doppler-resilient orthogonal signal division multiplexing (D-OSDM) technique in an actual sea environment. D-OSDM spreads data symbols in both time and frequency with guardbands to exploit the time and frequency diversity of UWA channels. The experiment was performed in a challenging scenario: the transmitter was fixed on a floating pier, and the receiver was mounted on a moving remote-controlled boat. The harbor UWA channel had a delay spread of 50 ms and a Doppler spread of up to 4.5 Hz, in the presence of additive Gaussian noise, and the combination of two Rayleigh fading models (a two-path model without Doppler spread and a multi-path model with Doppler spread) was able to successfully model the actual environment. Our results also confirmed that a UWA communication link using D-OSDM will deliver excellent reliability even for a harbor UWA channel with a mobile receiver; D-OSDM achieves better communication quality compared to other communication schemes in both simulations and experiments.

Psychological Determinants of Linguistic Purism: National Identification, Conservatism, and Attitudes to Loanwords

Aversion to loanwords may express itself in various ways: deliberate and motivated by ideology of linguistic purism or more implicit and motivated by the strength of one’s national identification and ethnolinguistic vitality. A study of Polish philology students assessed their tendency to choose loanwords versus synonymous native words. The results supported a two-path model of linguistic purism. Social identity (strength of identification) directly predicted avoidance of loanwords, whereas ideological concerns (conservative political views) predicted it indirectly, through purist ideology.

Understanding contact gating in Schottky barrier transistors from 2D channels

In this article, a novel two-path model is proposed to quantitatively explain sub-threshold characteristics of back-gated Schottky barrier FETs (SB-FETs) from 2D channel materials. The model integrates the “conventional” model for SB-FETs with the phenomenon of contact gating – an effect that significantly affects the carrier injection from the source electrode in back-gated field effect transistors. The two-path model is validated by a careful comparison with experimental characteristics obtained from a large number of back-gated WSe2 devices with various channel thicknesses. Our findings are believed to be of critical importance for the quantitative analysis of many three-terminal devices with ultrathin body channels.

A fuzzy set approach to economic crisis, austerity and public health. Part II: How are configurations of crisis and austerity related to changes in population health across Europe?

Based on the ideal type classification of European countries done in Part I of this paper, Part II explores whether the real 'danger' to public health is the interplay between austerity and crisis, rather than recession itself. We constructed two fuzzy sets of changes in population health based on a pooled file of European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data (2008 and 2013) including 29 European countries. The linear probability analyses of 'limiting long-standing illness' and 'less than good' health were restricted to the age group 20-64 years. We performed fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and studied whether configurations of 'severe crisis' and 'austerity' were linked to changes in population health. Overall, the results of this fsQCA do not support the 'crisis-austerity' thesis. Results on 'less than good' health were highly inconsistent, while results on 'limiting long-standing illness', contrary to the thesis, showed a two-path model. Countries with either no severe crisis or no austerity were subsets of the set of countries that experienced deteriorated health. Results also show that several countries combined both paths. This fuzzy set analysis does not support Stuckler and Basu's 'crisis-austerity' thesis, as those European countries that experienced recession and austerity were not consistently the countries with deteriorating health. There may be multiple reasons for this result, including analytical approach and operationalization of key concepts, but also resilient forces such as family support. We suggest more research on the topic based on more recent data and possibly other, or more, dimensions of austerity.

Bayesian Time-of-Flight for Realtime Shape, Illumination and Albedo.

We propose a computational model for shape, illumination and albedo inference in a pulsed time-of-flight (TOF) camera. In contrast to TOF cameras based on phase modulation, our camera enables general exposure profiles. This results in added flexibility and requires novel computational approaches. To address this challenge we propose a generative probabilistic model that accurately relates latent imaging conditions to observed camera responses. While principled, realtime inference in the model turns out to be infeasible, and we propose to employ efficient non-parametric regression trees to approximate the model outputs. As a result we are able to provide, for each pixel, at video frame rate, estimates and uncertainty for depth, effective albedo, and ambient light intensity . These results we present are state-of-the-art in depth imaging. The flexibility of our approach allows us to easily enrich our generative model. We demonstrate this by extending the original single-path model to a two-path model, capable of describing some multipath effects. The new model is seamlessly integrated in the system at no additional computational cost. Our work also addresses the important question of optimal exposure design in pulsed TOF systems. Finally, for benchmark purposes and to obtain realistic empirical priors of multipath and insights into this phenomena, we propose a physically accurate simulation of multipath phenomena.

Path Loss Model for Low Antenna Heights in Residential Areas at Middle VHF Band

A path loss model for low antenna heights below surrounding buildings in residential areas is presented to contribute to the construction of VHF band wireless systems. The model is constructed on the basis of measurement results at 167.65MHz, near center frequency at VHF band. Path loss characteristics in the middle VHF band are compared to those in bands above UHF. The dominant paths in bands above UHF include propagation paths below surrounding buildings, such as paths along roads. However, in the middle VHF band, these paths are instantly attenuated because their 1st Fresnel zone radius is larger than the average building height or road width. The dominant path in the middle VHF band is the over-roof propagation path, and the 1st Fresnel zone of the path is shielded by the buildings and the ground surface. The proposed path loss model has two features. First, it derives the effective height of the ground surface from the terrain profile of the buildings and the ground surface. Second, it uses formulas of a two-path model to take the shielding of the 1st Fresnel zone into account. Finally, it is shown that the proposed model is able to predict the path loss measurement results more accurately than the conventional model.

A two-path model on the effects of positivity and empathy reflected by online reviews: a choice mechanism perspective

This research uses the three choice mechanisms, i.e., cognitive, normative, and affective processes, to examine the impacts of two interrelated aspects regarding online reviews, i.e., positivity of online reviews and empathy reflected by online reviews, on online purchase intentions through two studies. Results reveal that positivity of online reviews is more strongly related to both cognitive and normative processing, whereas empathy reflected in response to searchers' problems is found to influence consumers' affective decision making, thus leading to the development of a two-path model regarding the psychological mechanisms about online reviews. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Channel Modeling and Performance Analysis of Diversity Reception for Implant UWB Wireless Link

SUMMARY This paper aims at channel modeling and bit error rate (BER) performance improvement with diversity reception for in-body to on-body ultra wideband (UWB) communication for capsule endoscope application. The channel characteristics are firstly extracted from 3.4 to 4.8 GHz by using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations incorporated with an anatomical human body model, and then a two-path impulse response channel model is proposed. Based on the two-path channel model, a spatial diversity reception technique is applied to improve the communication performance. Since the received signal power at each receiver location follows a lognormal distribution after summing the two path components, we investigate two methods to approximate the lognormal sum distribution in the combined diversity channel. As a result, the method matching a short Gauss-Hermite approximation of the moment generating function (MGF) of the lognormal sum with that of a lognormal distribution exhibits high accuracy and flexibility. With the derived probability density function (PDF) for the combined diversity signals, the average BER performances for impulse-radio (IR) UWB with non-coherent detection are investigated to clarify the diversity effect by both theoretical analysis and computer simulation. The results realize an improvement around 10 dB on Eb/No at BER of 10−3 for two-branch diversity reception.

Reconfigurable FPGA-based switching path frequency-domain echo canceller with applications to voice control device

Acoustic echo control is of vital interest for hands-free operation of telecommunications equipment. An important property of an acoustic echo canceller is its capability to handle double-talk and be able to operate in real time. When it is applied to intelligent voice control device, it is important to suppress the speech from the device and enhance the speech of the user for speech recognition, where double-talk situation is frequently occurred. In this paper, we propose a novel hardware architecture to support a robust adaptive algorithm in combination with a switching path model to tackle the double-talk situation. The proposed switching path model avoids adapting two filters at the same time during double-talk and prevents the disadvantage of the conventional two-path model. In order to achieve computational efficiency and to meet the rigorous timing requirements, the echo canceller is operated in the frequency domain and its computing power is raised by a hardware accelerator implemented in the FPGA fabric surrounding a PowerPC on a Xilinx XUP V2P platform. Results obtained show the echo canceller is successful in handling double-talk situation and the sub-band implementation has improved convergence significantly. An overall improvement by 82.5 times is achieved when a hardware accelerator is used to perform the critical part of the algorithm over a pure software implementation running on a 300 MHz embedded PowerPC processor.

A detailed morphological study of the vomeronasal organ and the accessory olfactory bulb of cats

The organization of the vomeronasal system (VNS) of fetal, newborn, and adult cats was investigated by microdissection and microscopic examination of sections stained conventionally or with lectins (UEA-1, LEA) or antibodies against proteins Gα(i2) (associated with vomeronasal receptor type1) and Gα(o) (associated with receptor vomeronasal receptor type2). The feline VNS is morphologically similar to that of other mammals. Staining with lectins and anti-Gα(i2) was uniform throughout the sensory epithelium of the vomeronasal organ, and throughout the nervous and glomerular layers of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB); anti-Gα(o) stained no VNS tissue. This organization places the cat together with several other domestic or farm animals (dog, horse, sheep, goat, pig) in a group of mammals with just a single path of communication between the sensory epithelium of the vomeronasal organ and AOB, in contrast to the two-path model found in rodents and other mammals (in which apical and basal sensory epithelium layers project to rostral and caudal AOB areas, respectively). However, the cat differs from the sheep and pig in that the development of its VNS is still incomplete at birth.

Complex Unfolding Kinetics of Single-Domain Proteins in the Presence of Force

Single-molecule force spectroscopy is providing unique, and sometimes unexpected, insights into the free-energy landscapes of proteins. Despite the complexity of the free-energy landscapes revealed by mechanical probes, forced unfolding experiments are often analyzed using one-dimensional models that predict a logarithmic dependence of the unfolding force on the pulling velocity. We previously found that the unfolding force of the protein filamin at low pulling speed did not decrease logarithmically with the pulling speed. Here we present results from a large number of unfolding simulations of a coarse-grain model of the protein filamin under a broad range of constant forces. These show that a two-path model is physically plausible and produces a deviation from the behavior predicted by one-dimensional models analogous to that observed experimentally. We also show that the analysis of the distributions of unfolding forces (p[F]) contains crucial and exploitable information, and that a proper description of the unfolding of single-domain proteins needs to account for the intrinsic multidimensionality of the underlying free-energy landscape, especially when the applied perturbation is small.

Psychopathic and Neuropathic Pathways to Homicide: Examination of Harris and Rice's Two-Path Model of Criminal Violence in Homicide

The present research examined a two-path model of homicide defined by psychopathic and neuropathic pathways. Twenty-six forensic psychiatric inpatients found not guilty due to reason of insanity of homicide or attempted homicides were assessed. A large number of variables derived from standardized neuropsychological psychometric assessment, actuarial and structured risk assessment tools and structured interviews were analysed. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and the Answer Tree program showed that independence of the two pathways was observed from a nomothetic analysis with individual variations understood by the complex variable relationships at an idiographic level.

A Modified SV-Model Suitable for Line-of-Sight Desktop Usage of Millimeter-Wave WPAN Systems

A modified Saleh-Valenzuela (SV) model, which is useful in designing a millimeter-wave WPAN (mmW WPAN) system for line-of-sight (LoS) desktop environments, is proposed. It is demonstrated that a well-known two-path model component is dominantly observed in a typical LoS desktop channel along with the components of the other non-line-of-sight (NLoS) paths. Then, the deterministic two-path model is extended to a statistical two-path model by introducing random variables for the antenna position and merging with the conventional SV-model which is suitable to express NLoS path components. The proposed channel model parameters are extracted in a typical LoS desktop environment, and then the cumulative distribution of total path power gain is discussed using a simulation technique that assumes a specific antenna location scenario. It is shown that the cumulative distribution of total path power gain obtained using the proposed model is useful to estimate the outage probability of the mmW WPAN link.

Ultra-Wideband Time-of-Arrival and Angle-of-Arrival Estimation Using Transformation Between Frequency and Time Domain Signals

This paper presents an ultra wideband (UWB) channel sounding scheme with a technique for time of arrival (TOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) estimation using transformation between time and frequency domain signals. Since the measured UWB power spectrum can be transformed into a time domain signal, both frequency and time domain signals are available for the channel estimation. We propose the TOA estimation using a peak search over time domain signal, and the AOA estimation using MUSIC and AOA histograms. The AOA histogram is counted for AOA samples of discrete frequencies over the UWB bandwidth. Comparing both AOA histograms before and after TOA subtraction, we can determine pairing the elements of TOA vector and those of AOA vector. The anechoic chamber tests indicated that both TOAs and AOAs were precisely resolved for two-path model, even if either TOAs or AOAs were too close to resolve.

Art versus commerce in the movie industry: a Two-Path Model of Motion-Picture Success

Previous studies of the movie industry have raised questions concerning the problematic relationship between the success-related aspects of artistic excellence and commercial appeal. The present article proposes that—when the former is measured by industry recognition (Oscars and other awards) and the latter by market performance (box office and video rentals) and when the former hinges on the evaluative judgments of reviewers and consumers (ratings of excellence) and the latter on the level of buzz among these audience members (amount of attention, word of mouth, or click of mouse)—the two phenomena are essentially separable as independent paths to conceptually distinct and empirically uncorrelated aspects of motion-picture success. An analysis of data for 190 movies from the year 2003 shows that reviewer-and-consumer evaluations and buzz respond differently to a film’s marketing clout (production budget, opening screens, and opening box office) and that these audience responses contribute independently to a film’s industry recognition and market performance along two separable paths. These findings suggest various implications for movie marketers, film producers, actors or actresses, and other members of the motion-picture industry.

Buying a Book as a Christmas Gift: Two Routes to Customer Immersion

Although services and retailing are usually regarded as relevant experiential contexts and investments in creating an experiential environment are growing, little consideration has been given to the investigation of the general consumption experiences and their emotions in retailing. By adopting an ethnographic approach to study the buying processes in two Italian bookstores – a small traditional family-run bookshop and a large international chain store – products that, by definition, are high in perceived complexity and symbolism, we present two distinct business models based on different processes of valorisation of purchasers' emotions. The two-path model towards customer immersion represents different strategies to involve consumers emotionally: one is based on increasing the positive emotional load, the other on decreasing the negative emotional load. Decisions about physical layout, display, services and sales assistance should follow consistently.

A simple method for estimating transient heat transfer in slab-on-ground floors

The problem of calculating transient heat transfer in concrete floor slabs is complicated due to ground coupling, which can require the numerical solution of two or three-dimensional transient conduction equations. This paper presents a simplified method for calculating transient slab-on-ground heat transfer that can be incorporated within hourly simulation programs. The method assumes that there are two primary one-dimensional paths for heat transfer from a ground-coupled floor slab: (1) one-dimensional heat transfer from the perimeter of the slab to the ambient and (2) one-dimensional heat transfer between the slab interior surface and a portion of the soil beneath the slab. The perimeter heat transfer is assumed to occur at quasi-steady state and is characterized in terms of a perimeter heat loss factor (F p). Transient heat transfer within the slab and ground are modeled using a simple thermal circuit employing three nodes with an adiabatic boundary condition at a specified depth within the soil underneath the slab. Although some simulation models consider this type of two-path model, there appears to be no validation of this approach and there is no guidance for specifying perimeter heat loss factors and underfloor soil depths and node locations for the thermal circuit. In the current paper, results from detailed two-dimensional finite-element models for typical floor constructions and soil properties were used to identify (1) locations for nodes within the slab and soil, (2) correlations for soil depth as a function of soil properties associated with the underfloor adiabatic boundary condition, and (3) correlations for perimeter heat loss factor as a function of soil properties and edge insulation levels for different constructions. Transient heat transfer results from the simple model compared well with results from the finite-element program for different floor constructions, edge insulation, soil properties, locations, and times of year.

Ways to make people active: The role of place attachment, cultural capital, and neighborhood ties

This paper tries to reconcile two sets of apparently contradictory results. One is the positive link, postulated in literature, between place attachment and civic activity, the other is the sociological claim that there is a negative relationship between place attachment and a person's social and cultural status (cultural capital), which in turn is known to be the strongest positive predictor of civic involvement. In order to resolve this inconsistency, I postulated two alternative paths leading to civic activity: the social–emotional path, in which the relationship between place attachment and civic activity is mediated by local social capital (neighborhoods ties), and cultural path, consisting of cultural capital and interest in own roots. I also postulated a negative link between place attachment and cultural capital. A representative sample of 1328 subjects, coming from three regions of Poland, differing in historical heritage and objective rootedness of inhabitants, was used for analysis. In a series of structural equations, the two-path model was confirmed both in the whole sample and in each of the three regions separately. Similar results were obtained from a separate analysis run on data clustered into 114 communes.

70-GHz-Band MMIC Transceiver With Integrated Antenna Diversity System: Application of Receiver-Module-Arrayed Self-Heterodyne Technique

Our proposed millimeter-wave self-heterodyne transmission technique is a simple and cost-effective solution to frequency stability problems in millimeter-wave access systems. In addition, this technique enables integration of a high-sensitivity receiver with a combining antenna diversity system that is approximately as effective as a maximal-ratio-combining antenna diversity system for all directions of signal arrival. We explain how our newly developed 70-GHz-band transceiver using the millimeter-wave self-heterodyne transmission technique with a receiver-module array can greatly improve receiver sensitivity for all directions of signal arrival i.e., without affecting the signal reception beam pattern and how this can solve the signal-fading problem in a multipath signal propagation environment. We also theoretically demonstrate that receiver sensitivity improves in proportion to the number of elements in a receiver-module array, and experimentally confirm this using an experimental 70-GHz-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit transceiver with a 4/spl times/2 receiver-module array. We show that millimeter-wave signal propagation can be modeled using a two-path model, and that serious signal fading depends on the transceiver height and transmission distance. Carrier and modulated signal transmission experiments using our developed transceiver have revealed that use of a receiver-module array greatly reduces the signal-fading problem in a multipath signal propagation environment. In the signal transmission experiment, we succeeded in transmitting an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing signal over a 4-m transmission distance with bit-error-free performance.