510 research outputs found
Optical Flow Requires Multiple Strategies (but only one network)
We show that the matching problem that underlies optical flow requires
multiple strategies, depending on the amount of image motion and other factors.
We then study the implications of this observation on training a deep neural
network for representing image patches in the context of descriptor based
optical flow. We propose a metric learning method, which selects suitable
negative samples based on the nature of the true match. This type of training
produces a network that displays multiple strategies depending on the input and
leads to state of the art results on the KITTI 2012 and KITTI 2015 optical flow
benchmarks
Ancient Urban Ecology Reconstructed from Archaeozoological Remains of Small Mammals in the Near East
Acknowledgments We especially thank the many archaeologists who collaborated closely with our project and invested pioneering efforts in intensive fine-scale retrieval of the archaeozoological samples that provided the basis for this study: Shai Bar, Amnon Ben-Tor, Amit Dagan, Yosef Garfinkel, Ayelet Gilboa, Zvi Greenhut, Amihai Mazar, Stefan Munger, Ronny Reich, Itzhaq Shai, Ilan Sharon, Joe Uziel, Sharon Zuckerman, and additional key excavation personnel who were instrumental in collection of the samples or in assisting the work including: Shimrit Bechar, Jacob Dunn, Norma Franklin, Egon Lass and Yiftah Shalev. Funding:The research was funded by a post-doctoral grant awarded to L.W. from the European Research Council under the European Communityâs Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007e2013)/ERC grant agreement number 229418. The laboratory work was also supported by funding by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 52/10). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Entangled single-wire NiTi material: a porous metal with tunable superelastic and shape memory properties
NiTi porous materials with unprecedented superelasticity and shape memory
were manufactured by self-entangling, compacting and heat treating NiTi wires.
The versatile processing route used here allows to produce entanglements of
either superelastic or ferroelastic wires with tunable mesostructures. Three
dimensional (3D) X-ray microtomography shows that the entanglement
mesostructure is homogeneous and isotropic. The thermomechanical compressive
behavior of the entanglements was studied using optical measurements of the
local strain field. At all relative densities investigated here ( 25 -
40), entanglements with superelastic wires exhibit remarkable macroscale
superelasticity, even after compressions up to 25, large damping capacity,
discrete memory effect and weak strain-rate and temperature dependencies.
Entanglements with ferroelastic wires resemble standard elastoplastic fibrous
systems with pronounced residual strain after unloading. However, a full
recovery is obtained by heating the samples, demonstrating a large shape memory
effect at least up to 16% strain.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Acta Materiali
MĂ©canique des milieux fibreux auto-enchevĂȘtrĂ©s : application Ă un alliage Ă mĂ©moire de forme de type Nickel-Titane
The aim of this work is to process and characterize for biomedical applications,self-entangled structures made of a single NiTi shape memory fiber. We have optimizeda processing route consisting in entangling and shape-setting a spring bythermomechanical treatments. The samples were characterized in compression andtension, using optical and x-ray tomographic observations. The structures thus obtainedare homogeneous, isotropic, superelastic at room temperature up to strains ofat least 30%, and can become ferroelastic with a shape memory effect up to at least16% strain by an additional heat treatment. The mechanical behavior in compressionis first consolidating and then dilating, while in tension, the samples are slightlyauxetic. A comparison with similar media made of ductile and viscoelastic fibers,as well as with discrete element simulations on friction-free elastic fibers, show thatthe mechanical properties of these self-entangled structures are controlled by theirunique architecture, in-between continuous and discrete media.Lâobjectif de ce travail est dâĂ©laborer et de caractĂ©riser pour des applications biomĂ©dicalesun matĂ©riau auto-enchevĂȘtrĂ© Ă base dâune seule fibre dâalliage Ă mĂ©moire deforme de type Nickel-Titane. Nous avons optimisĂ© un procĂ©dĂ© de fabrication consistantĂ enchevĂȘtrer et figer un ressort par des traitements thermiques. Les Ă©chantillonsont Ă©tĂ© caractĂ©risĂ©s en compression et traction, avec suivi par camĂ©ra optique ettomographie in-situ. Les structures obtenues sont homogĂšnes, isotropes, superĂ©lastiquesĂ tempĂ©rature ambiante jusquâĂ des dĂ©formations dâau moins 30%, et peuventdevenir ferroĂ©lastiques avec un effet mĂ©moire dâau moins 16% par un traitement thermiqueadditionnel. Leur comportement en compression est consolidant puis dilatantet en traction, lĂ©gĂšrement auxĂ©tique. Une comparaison avec des milieux similairesconstituĂ©s de fils ductiles et viscoĂ©lastiques, ainsi quâavec des simulations par Ă©lĂ©mentsdiscrets sur des milieux Ă©lastiques sans frottement, montre que les propriĂ©tĂ©smĂ©caniques des structures auto-enchevĂȘtrĂ©es sont contrĂŽlĂ©es par leur architecturesinguliĂšre, Ă mi-chemin entre milieux continus et discrets
Causes of (and Solutions for?) Financial Crises in Local Governments: Insights From Local Arab Authorities in Israel
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by SAGE Publications in Administration and Society on November 21, 2014, available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399714556501.This article examines the relative impact of internal and external factors on the financial decline of local Arab municipalities in Israel. We employ a unique case study to demonstrate that the negative relationship between local management policies and local financial crises is stronger than any other relationship; in addition, this relationship is expected to hold for other local authorities in Israel and for local authorities in Western countries. The new theoretical approach developed in this study indicates that, with respect to local authorities, the âlocal management approachâ more often explains a financial crisis than other approaches
Antidoping régulations in horses
Equestrian sports are subject to the same antidoping legislation as human competitions, which, in
France, fall under the authority of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Racing however, is governed
by a regulatory body, which is itself controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Interestingly, compared to antidoping control in human competitions, the system used in equestrian
sports is very strict, whether in racing or other equestrian sports. This is due partly to the
financial means provided by the betting industry, but more importantly to the sportâs chosen ethics.
However, there are some differences between antidoping control in racing or in other equestrian
sports.La lutte contre le dopage du
cheval dans les sports Ă©questres est rĂ©gie par la mĂȘme loi que celle traitant du dopage dans
les compétitions sportives humaines. Cette loi réserve au ministÚre de tutelle, le ministÚre
de la jeunesse et des sports, un rÎle principal. A contrario, les courses sont régies par un
rÚglement (code des courses) approuvé par le ministÚre de tutelle qui est le ministÚre de
l'agriculture. Comparé à ce qui est mis en place pour lutter contre le dopage dans les
compétitions sportives humaines, le dispositif construit pour les compétitions de chevaux,
qu'elles soient équestres ou hippiques, est un systÚme performant. Sa force réside dans les
moyens que les enjeux des courses autorisent et surtout, dans les valeurs auxquelles
adhÚrent les filiÚres et dans les politiques qui en découlent. On discernera néanmoins des
différences entre le dispositif des courses et celui des sports équestres
Aperiodic nano-photonic design
The photon scattering properties of aperiodic nano-scale dielectric
structures can be tailored to closely match a desired response by using
adaptive algorithms for device design. We show that broken symmetry of
aperiodic designs provides access to device functions not available to
conventional periodic photonic crystal structures.Comment: 23 pages, LaTex, 8 postscript figure
Robust Reinforcement Learning via Adversarial Kernel Approximation
Robust Markov Decision Processes (RMDPs) provide a framework for sequential
decision-making that is robust to perturbations on the transition kernel.
However, robust reinforcement learning (RL) approaches in RMDPs do not scale
well to realistic online settings with high-dimensional domains. By
characterizing the adversarial kernel in RMDPs, we propose a novel approach for
online robust RL that approximates the adversarial kernel and uses a standard
(non-robust) RL algorithm to learn a robust policy. Notably, our approach can
be applied on top of any underlying RL algorithm, enabling easy scaling to
high-dimensional domains. Experiments in classic control tasks, MinAtar and
DeepMind Control Suite demonstrate the effectiveness and the applicability of
our method
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