Text classification without negative examples revisit

Traditionally, building a classifier requires two sets of examples: positive examples and negative examples. This paper studies the problem of building a text classifier using positive examples (P) and unlabeled examples (U). The unlabeled examples are mixed with both positive and negative examples. Since no negative example is given explicitly, the task of building a reliable text classifier becomes far more challenging. Simply treating all of the unlabeled examples as negative examples and building a classifier thereafter is undoubtedly a poor approach to tackling this problem. Generally speaking, most of the studies solved this problem by a two-step heuristic: first, extract negative examples (N) from U. Second, build a classifier based on P and N. Surprisingly, most studies did not try to extract positive examples from U. Intuitively, enlarging P by P' (positive examples extracted from U) and building a classifier thereafter should enhance the effectiveness of the classifier. Throughout our study, we find that extracting P' is very difficult. A document in U that possesses the features exhibited in P does not necessarily mean that it is a positive example, and vice versa. The very large size of and very high diversity in U also contribute to the difficulties of extracting P'. In this paper, we propose a labeling heuristic called PNLH to tackle this problem. PNLH aims at extracting high quality positive examples and negative examples from U and can be used on top of any existing classifiers. Extensive experiments based on several benchmarks are conducted. The results indicated that PNLH is highly feasible, especially in the situation where |P| is extremely small.     

Dynamic and contact analysis of a bimodal ultrasonic motor

A bimodal ultrasonic motor, which operates with only one power amplifier, uses two simultaneously excited modes to drive the rotor; a longitudinal mode and a flexural mode. The equations of motion describing the vibrations and contact behavior are derived by Hamilton's principle and the geometry constraint. The Lagrange multiplier method is used to treat the frictional contact problem. The finite element method and numerical integration scheme are used to simulate the dynamic responses of this system with and without contact. Some important factors are studied for the bimodal ultrasonic motor design. The factors include structure design, amplitude of input voltage, phase displacement, exciting frequency, and contact behavior.     

Fabrication of HgBa2CuO x superconductor under atmospheric pressure

We report a simple and safe technology where rather pure Hg-1201 phase superconducting bulk samples can be fabricated. The pellet was heated at about 700°C for only 30 min in open air under atmospheric pressure. We have found that a dehydration process (heating for 20 h at 250°C) is a crucial procedure for success in forming the Hg-1201 phase.     

The Positive Magnetic Susceptibility for Rb3C60 Superconductor and the Differential Paramagnetic Effect

AC magnetic susceptibility of Rb₃C₆₀ superconductor as a function of temperature was measured in an applied static magnetic field perpendicular to the AC magnetic field. The peaks in real part of AC susceptibility curves located in the transitional temperature indicate that there may exist the differential paramagnetic effect (T) = dM/dH > 0 in the specimen. The amplitude of the peak and the temperature of diamagnetic onset are proportional to intensity of the applied field, and upon cooling the peaks occur before the transition temperature of zero field. Through discussing and comparing our experimental result with those reported previously, we have put forward a new opinion on producing condition of the differential paramagnetic effect (DPE).     

A comparison between backscattering coefficients using Gaussian and non-Gaussian surface statistics

This communication provides a comparison between the backscattering coefficients computed using Gaussian versus non-Gaussian surface statistics. The computations are performed for a class of surface height distributions and surface correlation functions. Results indicate that the coherent component of the scattering coefficient is strongly dependent upon the surface height distribution. The noncoherent component also depends on the surface height distribution and the surface root mean square (rms) slope when the rms surface height is large relative to the incident wavelength. On the other hand, when the surface rms height is moderate or small, the noncoherent component is sensitive mainly to the surface height correlation function.     

On Transcoding a B-Frame to a P-Frame in the Compressed Domain

Only a limited number of methods have been proposed to realize heterogeneous transcoding, for example from MPEG-2 to H.263, or from H.264 to H.263. The major difficulties of transcoding a B-picture to a P-picture are that the incoming discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients of the B-frame are prediction errors arising from both forward and backward predictions, whilst the prediction errors in the DCT domain arising from the prediction using the previous frame alone are not available. The required new prediction errors need to be re-estimated in the pixel domain. This process involves highly complex computation and introduces re-encoding errors. We propose a new approach to convert a B-picture into a P-picture by making use of some properties of motion compensation in the DCT domain and the direct addition of DCT coefficients. We derive a set of equations and formulate the problem of how to obtain the DCT coefficients. One difficulty is that the last P-frame inside a GOP with an IBBP structure, for example, needs to be transcoded to become the last P-frame in the IPPP structure, and it has to be linked to the previous reconstructed P-frame instead of to the I-frame. We increased the speed of the transcoding process by making use of the motion activity which is expressed in terms of the correlation between pictures. The whole transcoding process is done in the transform domain, hence re-encoding errors are completely avoided. Results from our experimental work show that the proposed video transcoder not only achieves a speed-up of two to six times that of the conventional video transcoder, but it also substantially improves the quality of the video.     

Spontaneous Generation of Single Vortices and Anti-Vortices in Superconductors with Restricted Geometries

We study the nucleation of vortices in a thin (thickness ≪ penetration depth) mesoscopic superconducting disc in an applied magnetic field perpendicular to the disc (i.e., parallel to the axis of the disc). We write down an expression for the free energy of the system with an arbitrary number of vortices and anti-vortices at finite (non-zero) temperatures. For a given applied field, we minimize the free energy to find the optimal position of the vortices and anti-vortices (the configuration which minimizes the energy). We show that, whereas at zero temperature anti-vortices do not nucleate, anti-vortices do penetrate the disc at finite temperatures. We also calculate the magnetization of the disc as a function of the applied field and hence determine the different configurations possible in which a fixed number of fluxoids can penetrate the disc.     

Nonlinear vibration of an initially stressed laminated plate according to a higher-order theory

The nonlinear behavior of laminated plates in a general state of non-uniform initial stress was studied at large vibration amplitudes. The nonlinear governing equations of this study were derived using a higher-order theory approach. The results were compared with the Mindlin plate theory’s results. The results showed that the higher-order shear deformation terms had a significant influence on the plate in a large amplitude vibration when the thickness ratio decreases and the plate was stacked with less layers. In addition, the effect of Young’s modulus in the thickness direction on the frequency ratio was significant for the two-layered plate. However, the results of the four-layered plates were not affected too much.     

Model-based interpretation of ERS-1 SAR images of Arctic sea ice

Interpretation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of sea ice is complex because of the natural variability of sea ice and sensor-induced effects, such as speckle. Most of the research on SAR image interpretation has focused on the winter months and algorithms were developed to classify sea ice successfully under cold conditions. However, interpretation of SAR images during the seasonal transitions has proved difficult due to rapidly changing weather conditions. In this paper we address the application of SAR during the transition from summer to the fall freeze-up. This period is important because it signals the start of significant new ice growth, which affects the air-ocean heat exchange and injects brine into the upper layers of the ocean. We have interpreted SAR images of the sea ice in terms of the basic ice characteristics by using shipborne radar measurements of sea ice during the freeze-up and models derived from these measurements. We have shown that the model-based approach is effective in interpreting SAR images during this seasonal transition. This work also provides the physical mechanisms responsible for the large increase in backscatter observed at the end of the summer melt season.