Restricted Generative Projection for One-Class Classification and Anomaly Detection

We present a simple framework for one-class classification and anomaly detection. The core idea is to learn a mapping to transform the unknown distribution of training (normal) data to a known target distribution. Crucially, the target distribution should be sufficiently simple, compact, and informative. The simplicity is to ensure that we can sample from the distribution easily, the compactness is to ensure that the decision boundary between normal data and abnormal data is clear and reliable, and the informativeness is to ensure that the transformed data preserve the important information of the original data. Therefore, we propose to use truncated Gaussian, uniform in hypersphere, uniform on hypersphere, or uniform between hyperspheres, as the target distribution. We then minimize the distance between the transformed data distribution and the target distribution while keeping the reconstruction error for the original data small enough. Comparative studies on multiple benchmark datasets verify the effectiveness of our methods in comparison to baselines

Sustainable Apparel Consumption Behavior among U.S. Students

As a result of fast changing fashion trends and declining apparel prices, consumers tend to renew their wardrobe more frequently, buying more garments than ever before (Johansson, 2010). This trend leads to a continual growth in production of textiles, use of non-renewable resources, and increasing disposal rate (Shim, 1995). At the same time, people are becoming more environmentally conscious. In fact, a recent poll showed that 35% of the U.S. consumers were willing to buy and pay more for green products (“U.S. Consumers,” 2010). Although there has been a surge in “green consumption” research, there is a limited understanding about factors influencing sustainable apparel consumption. Only few studies focused on apparel consumption among young consumers. For example, Kim & Damhorst’s (1998) reported that environmental concern and knowledge did not clearly relate to environmentally responsible apparel consumption among university students. The current study explored several critical characteristics that might provide important insights about sustainable apparel consumption: environmentalism, materialism, and knowledge about environmental issues

Conformational change of the AcrR regulator reveals a possible mechanism of induction

The Escherichia coli AcrR multidrug-binding protein represses transcription of acrAB and is induced by many structurally unrelated cytotoxic compounds. The crystal structure of AcrR in space group P2221 has been reported previously. This P2221 structure has provided direct information about the multidrug-binding site and important residues for drug recognition. Here, a crystal structure of this regulator in space group P31 is presented. Comparison of the two AcrR structures reveals possible mechanisms of ligand binding and AcrR regulation