An Universal Image Attractiveness Ranking Framework

We propose a new framework to rank image attractiveness using a novel pairwise deep network trained with a large set of side-by-side multi-labeled image pairs from a web image index. The judges only provide relative ranking between two images without the need to directly assign an absolute score, or rate any predefined image attribute, thus making the rating more intuitive and accurate. We investigate a deep attractiveness rank net (DARN), a combination of deep convolutional neural network and rank net, to directly learn an attractiveness score mean and variance for each image and the underlying criteria the judges use to label each pair. The extension of this model (DARN-V2) is able to adapt to individual judge's personal preference. We also show the attractiveness of search results are significantly improved by using this attractiveness information in a real commercial search engine. We evaluate our model against other state-of-the-art models on our side-by-side web test data and another public aesthetic data set. With much less judgments (1M vs 50M), our model outperforms on side-by-side labeled data, and is comparable on data labeled by absolute score.Comment: Accepted by 2019 Winter Conference on Application of Computer Vision (WACV

Ecological equivalence: a realistic assumption for niche theory as a testable alternative to neutral theory

Hubbell's 2001 neutral theory unifies biodiversity and biogeography by modelling steady-state distributions of species richness and abundances across spatio-temporal scales. Accurate predictions have issued from its core premise that all species have identical vital rates. Yet no ecologist believes that species are identical in reality. Here I explain this paradox in terms of the ecological equivalence that species must achieve at their coexistence equilibrium, defined by zero net fitness for all regardless of intrinsic differences between them. I show that the distinction of realised from intrinsic vital rates is crucial to evaluating community resilience. An analysis of competitive interactions reveals how zero-sum patterns of abundance emerge for species with contrasting life-history traits as for identical species. I develop a stochastic model to simulate community assembly from a random drift of invasions sustaining the dynamics of recruitment following deaths and extinctions. Species are allocated identical intrinsic vital rates for neutral dynamics, or random intrinsic vital rates and competitive abilities for niche dynamics either on a continuous scale or between dominant-fugitive extremes. Resulting communities have steady-state distributions of the same type for more or less extremely differentiated species as for identical species. All produce negatively skewed log-normal distributions of species abundance, zero-sum relationships of total abundance to area, and Arrhenius relationships of species to area. Intrinsically identical species nevertheless support fewer total individuals, because their densities impact as strongly on each other as on themselves. Truly neutral communities have measurably lower abundance/area and higher species/abundance ratios. Neutral scenarios can be parameterized as null hypotheses for testing competitive release, which is a sure signal of niche dynamics. Ignoring the true strength of interactions between and within species risks a substantial misrepresentation of community resilience to habitat los

An Adaptive Approach for Processing Evoked Potentials From Human Auditory Cortex

Presents an adaptive approach for the processing of evoked potentials from the an auditory association cortex in humans. The approach can be conceptualized as a bank of least mean square adaptive signal enhancers. The recording data of each trial is then divided into several segments and each segment of data is input to corresponding adaptive signal enhancers. This approach allows the temporal variations of the evoked potential signal to be estimated across individual trials. This is a powerful tool for both clinical and research neurosciences. Two illustrative cases are shown.published_or_final_versio

Separation dichotomy and wavefronts for a nonlinear convolution equation

This paper is concerned with a scalar nonlinear convolution equation which appears naturally in the theory of traveling waves for monostable evolution models. First, we prove that each bounded positive solution of the convolution equation should either be asymptotically separated from zero or it should converge (exponentially) to zero. This dichotomy principle is then used to establish a general theorem guaranteeing the uniform persistence and existence of semi-wavefront solutions to the convolution equation. Finally, we apply our abstract results to several well-studied classes of evolution equations with asymmetric non-local and non-monotone response. We show that, contrary to the symmetric case, these equations can possess at the same time the stationary, the expansion and the extinction waves.Comment: 15 pages, submitte

The Two Faces of Anomaly Mediation

Anomaly mediation is a ubiquitous source of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking which appears in almost every theory of supergravity. In this paper, we show that anomaly mediation really consists of two physically distinct phenomena, which we dub "gravitino mediation" and "Kahler mediation". Gravitino mediation arises from minimally uplifting SUSY anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to Minkowski space, generating soft masses proportional to the gravitino mass. Kahler mediation arises when visible sector fields have linear couplings to SUSY breaking in the Kahler potential, generating soft masses proportional to beta function coefficients. In the literature, these two phenomena are lumped together under the name "anomaly mediation", but here we demonstrate that they can be physically disentangled by measuring associated couplings to the goldstino. In particular, we use the example of gaugino soft masses to show that gravitino mediation generates soft masses without corresponding goldstino couplings. This result naively violates the goldstino equivalence theorem but is in fact necessary for supercurrent conservation in AdS space. Since gravitino mediation persists even when the visible sector is sequestered from SUSY breaking, we can use the absence of goldstino couplings as an unambiguous definition of sequestering.Comment: 21 pages, 1 table; v2, references added, extended discussion in introduction and appendix; v3, JHEP versio

Felix Alexandrovich Berezin and his work

This is a survey of Berezin's work focused on three topics: representation theory, general concept of quantization, and supermathematics.Comment: LaTeX, 27 page

A Note on Vectorial AdS5_5/CFT4_4 Duality for Spin-jj Boundary Theory

The vectorial holographic correspondences between higher-spin theories in AdS$_5$ and free vector models on the boundary are extended to the cases where the latter is described by free massless spin-$j$ field. The dual higher-spin theory in the bulk does not include gravity and can only be defined on rigid AdS$_5$ background with $S^4$ boundary. We discuss various properties of these rather special higher-spin theories and calculate their one-loop free energies. We show that the result is proportional to the same quantity for spin-$j$ doubleton treated as if it is a AdS$_5$ field. Finally, we consider even more special case where the boundary theory itself is given by an infinite tower of massless higher-spin fields.Comment: 27 pages, version to appear in JHE

Anomalous Behavior Of The Complex Conductivity Of Y_{1-x}Pr_xBa_2Cu_3O_7 Observed With THz Spectroscopy

We have measured the electrodynamic properties of Y_{1-x}Pr_xBa_2Cu_3O_7 single crystal thin films as a function of temperature using coherent THz-time-domain spectroscopy. We obtain directly the complex conductivity $\sigma=\sigma_1+i\sigma_2$, the London penetration depth $\lambda_L$, the plasma frequency $\omega_p$, and the quasiparticle scattering rate $1/\tau$. We find that $1/\tau$ drops exponentially rapidly with $T$ below the critical temperature in {\em all} the superconducting samples, implying that this behavior is a {\em signature} of high-$T_c$ superconductivity. The plasma frequency decreases with increasing Pr content, providing evidence that Pr depletes carriers, leaving the CuO planes {\em underdoped}. Both the conductivity in the THz region and the dc resistivity yield evidence for the opening of a spin gap {\em above} $T_c$.Comment: 9 pages, REVTEX 3.