Data driven estimation of building interior plans

This work investigates constructing plans of building interiors using learned building measurements. In particular, we address the problem of accurately estimating dimensions of rooms when measurements of the interior space have not been captured. Our approach focuses on learning the geometry, orientation and occurrence of rooms from a corpus of real-world building plan data to form a predictive model. The trained predictive model may then be queried to generate estimates of room dimensions and orientations. These estimates are then integrated with the overall building footprint and iteratively improved using a two-stage optimisation process to form complete interior plans. The approach is presented as a semi-automatic method for constructing plans which can cope with a limited set of known information and constructs likely representations of building plans through modelling of soft and hard constraints. We evaluate the method in the context of estimating residential house plans and demonstrate that predictions can effectively be used for constructing plans given limited prior knowledge about the types of rooms and their topology

Task and spatial frequency modulations of object processing: an EEG study.

Visual object processing may follow a coarse-to-fine sequence imposed by fast processing of low spatial frequencies (LSF) and slow processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF). Objects can be categorized at varying levels of specificity: the superordinate (e.g. animal), the basic (e.g. dog), or the subordinate (e.g. Border Collie). We tested whether superordinate and more specific categorization depend on different spatial frequency ranges, and whether any such dependencies might be revealed by or influence signals recorded using EEG. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency (TF) analysis to examine the time course of object processing while participants performed either a grammatical gender-classification task (which generally forces basic-level categorization) or a living/non-living judgement (superordinate categorization) on everyday, real-life objects. Objects were filtered to contain only HSF or LSF. We found a greater positivity and greater negativity for HSF than for LSF pictures in the P1 and N1 respectively, but no effects of task on either component. A later, fronto-central negativity (N350) was more negative in the gender-classification task than the superordinate categorization task, which may indicate that this component relates to semantic or syntactic processing. We found no significant effects of task or spatial frequency on evoked or total gamma band responses. Our results demonstrate early differences in processing of HSF and LSF content that were not modulated by categorization task, with later responses reflecting such higher-level cognitive factors

Streptococcus thermophilus : to survive, or not to survive the gastrointestinal tract, that is the question!

The probiotic market is increasing world-wide as well as the number of products marketed as probiotics. Among the latter, many products contain Streptococcus thermophilus strains at several dosages. However, the scientific evidence that should support the probiotic status of those S. thermophilus strains is often contradictory. This review analyses the scientific literature aimed to assess the ability of S. thermophilus strains to survive the human gastrointestinal tract by discussing the scientific validity of the methods applied for the bacterial recovery and identification from stool samples. This review highlights that in most of the intervention studies reviewed, the identification of S. thermophilus strains from stools was not carried out with the necessary taxonomic accuracy to avoid their misidentification with Streptococcus salivarius, a common human commensal and a species phylogenetically close to S. thermophilus. Moreover, this review highlights how critical the accurate taxonomic identification of S. thermophilus in metagenomics-based studies can be

There are many apps for that: Quantifying the availability of privacy-preserving apps

The adage \there's an app for that" holds true in modern app stores. Indeed, app stores usually go further and provide multiple apps with very similar functionality; examples range from flashlight apps to alarm clocks. We call these functionally-similar apps. When searching for these apps, users are often presented with a vast array of choices, but no distinction is made in the user interface to highlight the relative privacy risks inherent in choosing one app over an- other. Yet the availability of many functionally-similar apps raises the question of whether some apps are significantly less invasive than others. In this paper, we take several steps toward answering this question. We begin by enumer- ating 2 500 groups of functionally-similar apps in the Google Play Store. Within groups of apps, we use static analysis to understand the real-world risks coming from apps with aggressive permission usage. By leveraging an established ranking system, and combining it with real-world data from over 28 000 Android devices, we quantify the improvements that can be made if users installed apps with privacy in mind. We observe that at least 25.6% of apps contain li- braries that gratuitously exploit available permissions and find that 43.5% of apps could be swapped for comparable alternatives that require fewer permissions. Permissions saved may deliver important privacy and security improvements, including preventing access to the calendar (in 24% of cases), sending text messages (12%) and recording audio (8%). This is particularly important for apps which embed third-party libraries, since library code executes with the same permissions as the app itself

The Standard Model Prediction of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment

This article reviews and updates the Standard Model prediction of the muon g-2. QED, electroweak and hadronic contributions are presented, and open questions discussed. The theoretical prediction deviates from the present experimental value by 2-3 standard deviations, if e+e- annihilation data are used to evaluate the leading hadronic term.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures. v2: Updated version to appear in J.Phys.G. Comments and references added, typo corrected in eq.(17

Influence of Deposition Parameters and Thermal Annealing on the Structure and Properties of Nitride Coatings (TiHfZrVNb)N

Results of structure, phase composition, physical and mechanical properties and tribological properties investigations of nitride high-entropy coatings (TiZrHfVNb)N are presented in the paper. Proton microbeam (m-PIXE), X-ray diffraction method, including method of X-ray strains measurements, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis, microhardness testing and nanoindentation were used. Thermal annealing (t = 600 C) influence on defect profiles, structure and element distribution in the coatings was investigated. It was found that thermal treatment of coatings leads to changing of defect profiles and to element redistribution.Also we can say that it influences less on grain size changing. Investigated (TiZrHfVNb)N coatings demonstrate high values of hardness and excellent wear resistance

Towards a plurilingual habitus: engendering interlinguality in urban spaces

This article focuses on the potential of the multilingual city to create spaces in which monolingual hegemonies may be challenged, inclusive, intercultural values may be nurtured, and plurilingualism may be valorised. Following a contextualisation of linguistic diversity in theories of globalisation and superdiversity, discourses of deficit and power are addressed, arguing that the problematisation of multilingualism and pathologisation of plurilingualism reflect a monolingual habitus. Bringing about a shift towards a plurilingual habitus requires a Deep Approach, as it involves a critical revaluing of deep-seated dispositions. It suggests that the city offers spaces, which can engender interlinguality, a construct that includes interculturality, criticality and a commitment to creative and flexible use of other languages in shared, pluralistic spaces. It then proposes critical, participatory and ethnographic research in three multidimensional spaces: the urban school and a potential interlingual curriculum; networks, lobbying for inclusive policy and organising celebratory events in public spaces; and grass roots-level local spaces, some created by linguistic communities to exercise agency and maintain their languages and cultures, and some emerging as linguistically hybrid spaces for convivial encounter

Low-level and high-level modulations of fixational saccades and high frequency oscillatory brain activity in a visual object classification task

Until recently induced gamma-band activity (GBA) was considered a neural marker of cortical object representation. However, induced GBA in the electroencephalogram (EEG) is susceptible to artifacts caused by miniature fixational saccades. Recent studies have demonstrated that fixational saccades also reflect high-level representational processes. Do high-level as opposed to low-level factors influence fixational saccades? What is the effect of these factors on artifact-free GBA? To investigate this, we conducted separate eye tracking and EEG experiments using identical designs. Participants classified line drawings as objects or non-objects. To introduce low-level differences, contours were defined along different directions in cardinal color space: S-cone-isolating, intermediate isoluminant, or a full-color stimulus, the latter containing an additional achromatic component. Prior to the classification task, object discrimination thresholds were measured and stimuli were scaled to matching suprathreshold levels for each participant. In both experiments, behavioral performance was best for full-color stimuli and worst for S-cone isolating stimuli. Saccade rates 200–700 ms after stimulus onset were modulated independently by low and high-level factors, being higher for full-color stimuli than for S-cone isolating stimuli and higher for objects. Low-amplitude evoked GBA and total GBA were observed in very few conditions, showing that paradigms with isoluminant stimuli may not be ideal for eliciting such responses. We conclude that cortical loops involved in the processing of objects are preferentially excited by stimuli that contain achromatic information. Their activation can lead to relatively early exploratory eye movements even for foveally-presented stimuli

Uticaj supstituenata na IR, 1H- i 13C-NMR spektralne podatke N-(supstituisanih fenil)-2-cijanoacetamida - korelaciona analiza

Linear free energy relationships (LFER) were applied to the IR, H-1- and C-13-NMR spectral data of N-(substituted phenyl)-2-cyanoacetamides. A variety of substituents were employed for phenyl substitution and fairly good correlations were obtained using the simple Hammett and the Hammett-Taft dual substituent parameter equations. The correlation results of the substituent induced C-13-NMR chemical shifts (SCS) of the Cl, C=O and N-H atom indicated different sensitivity with respect to electronic substituent effects. A better correlation of the SCSc=O with a combination of electrophllic and nucleophilic substituent constants indicated a significant contribution of extended resonance interaction (pi-delocalization) within the pi(1)-unit. The conformations of the investigated compounds were studied using the OFT B3LYP/6-311G** method and, together with the results of C-13-NMR and IR spectroscopic studies, a better insight into the influence of such a structure on the transmission of electronic substituent effects was obtained.Principi linearnih korelacija slobodnih energija (LFER) su primenjeni na IR, 1H- i 13C-NMR spektralne podatke N-(supstituisanih fenil)-2-cijanoacetamida. Pri sintezi N-(supstituisanih fenil)-2-cijanoacetamida izvršen je zadovoljavajući izbor supstituenata u pogledu elektronskih svojstava kako bi se adekvatno sagledao uticaj elektronskih efekata supstituenata na pomeranja u IR, 1H- i 13C-NMR spektralnim podacima. Primenom proste Hametove jednačine dobijene su zadovoljavajuće korelacije. Na osnovu korelacionih rezultata uočen je primaran uticaj elektronskih efekata na SCS (supstituentom indukovana hemijska pomeranja) vrednosti N-H vodonika, C1 i C=O ugljenika ispitivanih jedinjenja. Korelacioni rezultati za C=O ugljenik se značajno popravljaju ako se koristi kombinacija Ϭ+ i Ϭ- konstanti supstituenata, takozvane elektrofilne i nukleofilne konstante supstituenata, što ukazuje na postojanje značajne proširene rezonancione interakcije supstituenata i elektronske gustine karbonilne grupe. Vrednosti konstanti proporcionalnosti pF i pR za sve atome, ukazuju na približno isti doprinos efekta polja i rezonancionog efekta supstituenata. Efekat polja je nešto izraženji na N-H vodoniku, i za sve atome pokazuje značajne razlike u odnosu na njihov položaj u molekulskoj strukturi ispitivanih jedinjenja. Uticaj efekata supstituenata na IR vibracije istezanja N-H (simetrične i antisimetrične), C=O i CN veze je prevashodno elektronske prirode što se može zaključiti na osnovu dobrih korelacija dobijenih primenom Hametove jednačine i Ϭ parametara supstituenata. Osim toga izvršena je optimizacija geometrije ispitivanih jedinjenja primenom DFT B3LYP/ 6-311G**metode, pri čemu je nađeno da je trans-izomer nešto stabilnji, izuzev u slučaju jedinjenja 3. Supstituisana fenil-grupa i amidna grupa, kod trans-izomera, su približno koplanarne, dok se kod cis- izomera uočava značajna devijacija koja je značajno određena elektronskim efektima prisutnog supstituenta. Takođe je ispitivan položaj cis/trans ravnoteže u ugjen-tetrahloridu, i na osnovu rezultata FT/R analize, kada je prisutan H, CH3, OCH3, Br, i COOH supstituent, nađeno je da je cis izomer u velikom višku, a za ostala jedinjenja utvrđeno je postojanje ravnoteže cis- i trans-izomera