Domain Adaptation for Neural Networks by Parameter Augmentation

We propose a simple domain adaptation method for neural networks in a supervised setting. Supervised domain adaptation is a way of improving the generalization performance on the target domain by using the source domain dataset, assuming that both of the datasets are labeled. Recently, recurrent neural networks have been shown to be successful on a variety of NLP tasks such as caption generation; however, the existing domain adaptation techniques are limited to (1) tune the model parameters by the target dataset after the training by the source dataset, or (2) design the network to have dual output, one for the source domain and the other for the target domain. Reformulating the idea of the domain adaptation technique proposed by Daume (2007), we propose a simple domain adaptation method, which can be applied to neural networks trained with a cross-entropy loss. On captioning datasets, we show performance improvements over other domain adaptation methods.Comment: 9 page. To appear in the first ACL Workshop on Representation Learning for NL

Ab initio calculation for electronic structure and optical property of tungsten carbide in a TiCN-based cermet for solar thermal applications

We present an ab initio calculation to understand electronic structures and optical properties of a tungsten carbide WC being a major component of a TiCN-based cermet. We found that the WC has a fairly low-energy plasma excitation $\sim$0.6 eV (2 $\mu$m) and therefore can be a good constituent of a solar selective absorber. The evaluated figure of merit for photothermal conversion is prominently high compared to those of the other materials included in the TiCN-based cermet. The imaginary part of the dielectric function is considerably small around the zero point of the real part of the dielectric function, corresponding to the plasma excitation energy. Therefore, a clear plasma edge appeared, ensuring the high performance of the WC as the solar absorber.Comment: 13pages, 8 figures, 2table

Endoscopic Laryngeal Findings in Japanese Patients with Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Symptoms

Objective. To know the characteristics of endoscopic laryngeal and pharyngeal abnormalities in Japanese patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms (LPRS). Methods. A total of 146 endoscopic images of the larynx and pharynx (60 pairs for the rabeprazole group and 13 pairs for the control group) were presented to 15 otolaryngologists blinded to patient information and were scored according to several variables potentially associated with laryngopharyngeal reflux. The median value of the 15 scores for each item from each image was obtained. The mean pretreatment scores of each item and total score were assessed in both rabeprazole and control groups. In the rabeprazole group, the endoscopic findings before and after the 4-week treatment with rabeprazole were compared. Changes between corresponding duration in the control group were also evaluated. Results. The median and mean pretreatment total score was 3 and 3.02, respectively, from the 73 patients with LPRS. No significant differences were observed before and after treatment in either the rabeprazole or control groups for any item or total score. In 24 patients with a high pretreatment score (total score ≥ 4) from the rabeprazole group, significant decreases in scores for “thick endolaryngeal mucous” (0.54 to 0.17, P = 0.017) and total (4.77 to 3.58, P = 0.0003) were observed after the 4-week treatment

Multi-Party Computation for Modular Exponentiation Based on Replicated Secret Sharing

In recent years, multi-party computation (MPC) frameworks based on replicated secret sharing schemes (RSSS) have attracted the attention as a method to achieve high efficiency among known MPCs. However, the RSSS-based MPCs are still inefficient for several heavy computations like algebraic operations, as they require a large amount and number of communication proportional to the number of multiplications in the operations (which is not the case with other secret sharing-based MPCs). In this paper, we propose RSSS-based three-party computation protocols for modular exponentiation, which is one of the most popular algebraic operations, on the case where the base is public and the exponent is private. Our proposed schemes are simple and efficient in both of the asymptotic and practical sense. On the asymptotic efficiency, the proposed schemes require O(n)-bit communication and O(1) rounds,where n is the secret-value size, in the best setting, whereas the previous scheme requires O(n^2)-bit communication and O(n) rounds. On the practical efficiency, we show the performance of our protocol by experiments on the scenario for distributed signatures, which is useful for secure key management on the distributed environment (e.g., distributed ledgers). As one of the cases, our implementation performs a modular exponentiation on a 3,072-bit discrete-log group and 256-bit exponent with roughly 300ms, which is an acceptable parameter for 128-bit security, even in the WAN setting

Non-volatile optical phase shift in ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide

A non-volatile optical phase shifter is a critical component for enabling large-scale, energy-efficient programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) on a silicon (Si) photonics platform. While ferroelectric materials like BaTiO3 offer non-volatile optical phase shift capabilities, their compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabs is limited. Hence, the search for a novel CMOS-compatible ferroelectric material for non-volatile optical phase shifting in Si photonics is of utmost importance. Hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) is an emerging ferroelectric material discovered in 2011, which exhibits CMOS compatibility due to the utilization of high-k dielectric HfO2 in CMOS transistors. Although extensively studied for ferroelectric transistors and memories, its application in photonics remains relatively unexplored. Here, we show the optical phase shift induced by ferroelectric HZO deposited on a SiN optical waveguide. We observed a negative change in refractive index at a 1.55 um wavelength in the pristine device regardless of the direction of an applied electric filed. We achieved approximately pi phase shift in a 4.5-mm-long device with negligible optical loss. The non-volatile multi-level optical phase shift was confirmed with a persistence of > 10000 s. This phase shift can be attributed to the spontaneous polarization within the HZO film along the external electric field. We anticipate that our results will stimulate further research on optical nonlinear effects, such as the Pockels effect, in ferroelectric HZO. This advancement will enable the development of various devices, including high-speed optical modulators. Consequently, HZO-based programmable PICs are poised to become indispensable in diverse applications, ranging from optical fiber communication and artificial intelligence to quantum computing and sensing

Embedded Planar Power Inductor in an Organic Interposer for Package-Level DC Power Grid

To realize the basic technology of a package-level dc power grid for the next generation power delivery to large scale integrated circuits (LSIs), two types of planar spiral inductors embedded in an organic interposer, for several tens of megahertz switching power supply integrated in LSI package, have been proposed. One is a Zn-Fe ferrite core spiral inductor, and another is a hybrid core spiral inductor, with quasi closed magnetic circuit consisting of the bottom Zn-Fe ferrite core and top carbonyl-iron/epoxy composite core. In this paper, the two types of planar spiral inductors have been fabricated and evaluated. From the experimental results, it was found that the hybrid core planar spiral inductor exhibited higher Q-factor and larger rating dc current than the Zn-Fe ferrite core inductor.ArticleIEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS. 50(11):8401304 (2014)journal articl

Super-long single-molecule tracking reveals dynamic-anchorage-induced integrin function

Single-fluorescent-molecule imaging tracking (SMT) is becoming an important tool to study living cells. However, photobleaching and photoblinking (hereafter referred to as photobleaching/photoblinking) of the probe molecules strongly hamper SMT studies of living cells, making it difficult to observe in vivo molecular events and to evaluate their lifetimes (e.g., off rates). The methods used to suppress photobleaching/photoblinking in vitro are difficult to apply to living cells because of their toxicities. Here using 13 organic fluorophores we found that, by combining low concentrations of dissolved oxygen with a reducing-plus-oxidizing system, photobleaching/photoblinking could be strongly suppressed with only minor effects on cells, which enabled SMT for as long as 12,000 frames (~7 min at video rate, as compared to the general 10-s-order durations) with ~22-nm single-molecule localization precisions. SMT of integrins revealed that they underwent temporary (<80-s) immobilizations within the focal adhesion region, which were responsible for the mechanical linkage of the actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix

How to Make a Secure Index for Searchable Symmetric Encryption, Revisited

Searchable symmetric encryption (SSE) enables clients to search encrypted data. Curtmola et al. (ACM CCS 2006) formalized a model and security notions of SSE and proposed two concrete constructions called SSE-1 and SSE-2. After the seminal work by Curtmola et al., SSE becomes an active area of encrypted search. In this paper, we focus on two unnoticed problems in the seminal paper by Curtmola et al. First, we show that SSE-2 does not appropriately implement Curtmola et al.\u27s construction idea for dummy addition. We refine SSE-2\u27s (and its variants\u27) dummy-adding procedure to keep the number of dummies sufficiently many but as small as possible. We then show how to extend it to the dynamic setting while keeping the dummy-adding procedure work well and implement our scheme to show its practical efficiency. Second, we point out that the SSE-1 can cause a search error when a searched keyword is not contained in any document file stored at a server and show how to fix it