A Dilated Inception Network for Visual Saliency Prediction

Recently, with the advent of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN), the improvements in visual saliency prediction research are impressive. One possible direction to approach the next improvement is to fully characterize the multi-scale saliency-influential factors with a computationally-friendly module in DCNN architectures. In this work, we proposed an end-to-end dilated inception network (DINet) for visual saliency prediction. It captures multi-scale contextual features effectively with very limited extra parameters. Instead of utilizing parallel standard convolutions with different kernel sizes as the existing inception module, our proposed dilated inception module (DIM) uses parallel dilated convolutions with different dilation rates which can significantly reduce the computation load while enriching the diversity of receptive fields in feature maps. Moreover, the performance of our saliency model is further improved by using a set of linear normalization-based probability distribution distance metrics as loss functions. As such, we can formulate saliency prediction as a probability distribution prediction task for global saliency inference instead of a typical pixel-wise regression problem. Experimental results on several challenging saliency benchmark datasets demonstrate that our DINet with proposed loss functions can achieve state-of-the-art performance with shorter inference time.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Transactions on Multimedia. The source codes are available at https://github.com/ysyscool/DINe

Characterization of Alaskan Hot-Mix Asphalt containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Material

In order to properly characterize Alaskan HMA materials containing RAP, this study evaluated properties of 3 asphalt binders typically used in Alaska, PG 52-28, PG 52-40, and PG 58-34, and 11 HMA mixtures containing up to 35% RAP that were either produced in the lab or collected from existing paving projects in Alaska. Various binder and mixture engineering properties were determined, including true high binder grades, complex modulus (|G*|), and phase angle (δ) at high performance temperatures, MSCR recovery rate and compliance, BBR stiffness and m-value, DTT failure stress and strain for binders, and dynamic modulus, flow number, IDT creep stiffness and strength for mixtures. Binder cracking temperatures were determined through Thermal Stress Analysis Routine (TSAR) software along with BBR and DTT data. Mixture cracking temperatures were determined with IDT creep stiffness and strength data. It was found that rutting may not be a concern with Alaskan RAP mix, while low-temperature cracking concerns may still exist in RAP mix in Alaska. A savings of $13.3/ton was estimated for a 25% RAP mix, with consideration of Alaskan situations. Many recommendations for future RAP practice and research are recommended based on testing results and cost analysis.Alaska Department of Transportation Statewide Research Offic

Performance of TenCate Paving Interlayers in Asphalt Concrete Pavements

As a continued effort of a previously completed project entitled “Performance of TenCate Mirafi PGM-G4 Interlayer-Reinforced Asphalt Pavements in Alaska,” this project evaluated two newly modified paving interlayers (TruPave and Mirapave) through overlay, dynamic modulus tests and low-temperature performance tests. A field survey was conducted to further evaluate the performance of three paving interlayers (G4, G50/50, and G100/100) applied to field sections constructed in May 2013 at Milepost 148–156 Richardson Highway in Alaska. Overlay test results indicate that asphalt concrete (AC) with paving interlayers (TruPave and Mirapave) shows lower reduction in peak load, suggesting better cracking resistance. The dynamic modulus measurement of AC with paving interlayers reveals more rational results from the IDT mode test than the AMPT method due to similar stress conditions in the paving interlayer. With paving interlayers, the temperature sensitivity and cracking potential of AC material were reduced according to the results from the IDT creep test. Field survey results confirm that all sections reinforced with paving interlayers (G4, G50/50, and G100/100) had better cracking resistance than the control section.TenCate Geosynthetics North Americ

Thin films flowing down inverted substrates: two dimensional flow

We consider free surface instabilities of films flowing on inverted substrates within the framework of lubrication approximation. We allow for the presence of fronts and related contact lines, and explore the role which they play in instability development. It is found that a contact line, modeled by a commonly used precursor film model, leads to free surface instabilities without any additional natural or excited perturbations. A single parameter D=(3Ca)^{1/3}\cot\alpha$, where$Ca$is the capillary number and$\alpha$is the inclination angle, is identified as a governing parameter in the problem. This parameter may be interpreted to reflect the combined effect of inclination angle, film thickness, Reynolds number and the fluid flux. Variation of$D$ leads to change of the wave-like properties of the instabilities, allowing us to observe traveling wave behavior, mixed waves, and the waves resembling solitary ones

Seeing the invisible: The scope and limits of unconscious processing in binocular rivalry

When an image is presented to one eye and a very different image is presented to the corresponding location of the other eye, they compete for conscious representation, such that only one image is visible at a time while the other is suppressed. Called binocular rivalry, this phenomenon and its deviants have been extensively exploited to study the mechanism and neural correlates of consciousness. In this paper, we propose a framework, the unconscious binding hypothesis, to distinguish unconscious processing from conscious processing. According to this framework, the unconscious mind not only encodes individual features but also temporally binds distributed features to give rise to cortical representation, but unlike conscious binding, such unconscious binding is fragile. Under this framework, we review evidence from psychophysical and neuroimaging studies, which suggests that: (1) for invisible low level features, prolonged exposure to visual pattern and simple translational motion can alter the appearance of subsequent visible features (i.e. adaptation); for invisible high level features, although complex spiral motion cannot produce adaptation, nor can objects/words enhance subsequent processing of related stimuli (i.e. priming), images of tools can nevertheless activate the dorsal pathway; and (2) although invisible central cues cannot orient attention, invisible erotic pictures in the periphery can nevertheless guide attention, likely through emotional arousal; reciprocally, the processing of invisible information can be modulated by attention at perceptual and neural levels