Nonconscious control mimics a purposeful strategy: Strength of Stroop-like interference is automatically modulated by proportion of compatible trials.

The magnitude of the Stroop effect is known to be modulated by the proportion of trials on which the irrelevant word and relevant ink color correspond. This has often been attributed to a conscious strategy of increased (or decreased) reliance on the irrelevant words when these are more likely (or less likely) to correspond to the ink colors. However, the present data from a Stroop-like task involving successively presented arrows indicate instead that this type of modulation can be automatic because it can occur even if the irrelevant stimuli are not phenomenally visible. In this case participants cannot determine the proportion of compatible trials to direct their strategy. An automatic, item-specific associative interpretation can account for these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于非锐化掩模的实时自适应图像增强算法

针对传统的非锐化掩模算法的局限性,依据图像中各像素点及以其为中心的若干相邻像素点的均方差值,提出了自适应图像增强算法的原理,并分析其硬件实现方法,然后给出了该算法与其它算法应用于图像增强的对比结果,最后在FPGA（field programmable gate array）实验板上进行验证.实验结果表明,此算法有效的增强图像的细节区域,防止图像边缘区域出现过冲现象,抑制图像平坦区域的噪声放大.因此,该算法取得了良好的视觉效果,硬件实现简单,适合于实时条件下图像的增强.     

Zero aliasing ROM BIST

Signature analyzers are very efficient output response compactors for BIST design. The only limitation of signature analysis is the fault coverage reduction (aliasing) due to the information loss inherent to any data compaction. In this article, in order to increase the effectiveness of ROM BIST, we take advantage from the simplicity of the error patterns generated by ROMs and we show that aliasing free signature analysis can be achieved in ROM BIST.This work was performed when the author was on leave from Minsk Radio Engineering Institute, Computer Department, Belorus.     

DIFFUSION LAG TIME FOR MULTIPLE AND PERIODIC LAMINATES

The permeability and lag time for a heterogeneous diffusion system, in which the diffusivity and partition coefficient for the diffusant are dependent on position, are formulated in terms of a linear asymptotic analysis. A repeated integration of the diffusion equation is used to obtain the time dependence of the total solute release into the receiver, Q(t). The asymptotic form of Q(t) is linear in time. The slope, and intercept of this linear asymptote with the time axis, respectively, give formulas for the steady-state permeability and lag time. These formulas are then applied to diffusion systems of multiple laminates, consisting of a series of different homogeneous slabs. Thus, for the first time, a concise treatment of diffusion in multiple laminates is obtained. The formulas are also applied to periodic laminates, consisting of a series of identical slabs, but with position-dependent diffusivity and partition coefficient. We found that the lag time can be well approximated by (nh))²/(6D_eff), where n and h are, respectively, the number and thickness of individual lamella, and D_eff is an effective diffusivity, for which a relation in terms of the local property distributions is obtained. This approximation becomes more accurate with increasing number of lamellae. At n = 5, the relative error is already within 4%. Finally a procedure is discussed for readily obtaining the lag time for periodic structures consisting of a serial repetition of a multi-laminate.     

What is being masked in object substitution masking?

Object substitution masking (OSM) is said to occur when a perceptual object is hypothesized that is mismatched by subsequent sensory evidence, leading to a new hypothesized object being substituted for the first. For example, when a brief target is accompanied by a longer lasting display of nonoverlapping mask elements, reporting of target features may be impaired. J. T. Enns and V. Di Lollo (2000) considered it an outstanding question whether OSM masks some or all aspects of a target. The authors report three experiments demonstrating that OSM can selectively affect target features. Participants may be able to detect a target while being unable to report other aspects of it or to report the color but not the orientation of a target (or vice versa). We discuss these findings in relation to two other visual phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The importance of information localization in scene gist recognition.

People can recognize the meaning or gist of a scene from a single glance, and a few recent studies have begun to examine the sorts of information that contribute to scene gist recognition. The authors of the present study used visual masking coupled with image manipulations (randomizing phase while maintaining the Fourier amplitude spectrum; random image structure evolution [RISE]; J. Sadr & P. Sinha, 2004) to explore whether and when unlocalized Fourier amplitude information contributes to gist perception. In 4 experiments, the authors found that differences between scene categories in the Fourier amplitude spectrum are insufficient for gist recognition or gist masking. Whereas the global 1/f spatial frequency amplitude spectra of scenes plays a role in gist masking, local phase information is necessary for gist recognition and for the strongest gist masking. Moreover, the ability to recognize the gist of a target image was influenced by mask recognizability, suggesting that conceptual masking occurs even at the earliest stages of scene processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fast and robust face recognition via coding residual map learning based adaptive masking

Robust face recognition (FR) is an active topic in computer vision and biometrics, while face occlusion is one of the most challenging problems for robust FR. Recently, the representation (or coding) based FR schemes with sparse coding coefficients and coding residual have demonstrated good robustness to face occlusion; however, the high complexity of l₁-minimization makes them less useful in practical applications. In this paper we propose a novel coding residual map learning scheme for fast and robust FR based on the fact that occluded pixels usually have higher coding residuals when representing an occluded face image over the non-occluded training samples. A dictionary is learned to code the training samples, and the distribution of coding residuals is computed. Consequently, a residual map is learned to detect the occlusions by adaptive thresholding. Finally the face image is identified by masking the detected occlusion pixels from face representation. Experiments on benchmark databases show that the proposed scheme has much lower time complexity but comparable FR accuracy with other popular approaches.     

Misleading the Colorado potato beetle with an odor blend

Walking tracks of Colorado potato beetles,Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, were recorded on a locomotion-compensator in response to wind, odors of host plantsSolanum tuberosum L. and nonhost plantsLycopersicon hirsutum f.glabratum C.H. Mull, and to mixtures of these plant species. Host-plant odor induced positive anemotactic responses in starved females, whereas odor of the nonhostL. hirsutum was neither repellent nor attractive. The attractiveness of host-plant odor, however, was neutralized in the odor blend of plant species. Masking the attractive host-plant odor will hinder the beetle's searching for host-plant patches, and this principle may be exploited in pest control by mixed cropping.The locomotion-compensator was constructed with financial support from the Foundation for Fundamental Biological Research (BION), which is subsidized by the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO), grant 14-02-02. The first author was supported by a grant from the French Ministry of Industry and Research.     

纳米电路交叉冗余容错技术研究

提出了一种针对纳米电路的数字电路容错设计新方法．该方法基于交叉冗余原理,利用两种二进制错误的不对称性,采用模块化方法对纳米电路进行容错设计．以阵列乘法器为例,采用新方法对电路进行设计和仿真,并结合实验结果与传统的可重构和三模冗余容错方法进行比较．交叉冗余方法无需检测模块及表决器,不会增加系统延时,并且在资源消耗方面远低于传统方法,对纳米电路尤其适用．