CIFAR-10: KNN-based Ensemble of Classifiers

In this paper, we study the performance of different classifiers on the CIFAR-10 dataset, and build an ensemble of classifiers to reach a better performance. We show that, on CIFAR-10, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), on some classes, are mutually exclusive, thus yield in higher accuracy when combined. We reduce KNN overfitting using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and ensemble it with a CNN to increase its accuracy. Our approach improves our best CNN model from 93.33% to 94.03%

Nilai Budaya Bahasa Ritual Perang Tanding Pada Etnik Lamaholot Di Pulau Adonara, Flores Timur

Cultural perceptions and values act as a guide to the behavior of a community. This is explained in this article in which the spotlight is focused on a description of the duel ritual among the Lamaholot people. Based on the concept that culture and language are linked, this article contains an explanation of the perceptions of the Lamaholot people towards the duel and the cultural values which are implied in the story of the ritual. The Lamaholot people view the duel as a mechanism for proving one real self. This is closely connected to the cultural value which is contained in the story of the duel ritual. The cultural values that are implied are: self-awareness, justness as a foundation for humanity, and a belief in the role of the ancestors

Pendekatan dalam Penelitian Linguistik Kebudayaan

Cultural linguistics is interdisipliner scientific field as interaction between linguistica and culturology. Both linguistics and cultural studies have distinctive characters, in both philosophy substance and its methodology. This article contains methodolical characteristic description, particularly in concerning with the approach applied in cultural linguistics research. The approaches mentioned consist of structural, semiotic, hermeneutic and phenomenologies, ethic and emic, and ethnographic and discourse approaches. The available approaches are relevant with cultural linguistic concept as analysis of co-variative between language structures and users of cultural structure

VC-dimension of short Presburger formulas

We study VC-dimension of short formulas in Presburger Arithmetic, defined to have a bounded number of variables, quantifiers and atoms. We give both lower and upper bounds, which are tight up to a polynomial factor in the bit length of the formula

Sedimentological and stratigraphic framework of the several hundred thousand years old lacustrine record from Lake Van, Turkey

Within the frame of the International Continental scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) project PALEOVAN, a long and continuous sediment record from Lake Van, a closed lake situated in a climatically sensitive semiarid and tectonically active region in Eastern Anatolia, has been drilled in summer 2010. At two sites, Ahlat Ridge and Northern Basin, sedimentary records of 220 and 140 m were recovered, respectively. With basal ages possibly around 500'000 years, these records span several glacial-interglacial cycles and reach back until the lake’s initial transgression in the Middle Pleistocene. First results from ongoing analysis of core-catcher samples and newly opened cores document the sedimentological and geochemical succession. Two composite profiles of the drill sites were defined. Core catcher-based geochemical data such as proxies of lake’s productivity and catchment alterations show large variations and reflect a rich paleoenvironmental history. Most of the 220 m thick succession consists of carbonate mud, mostly sub-mm-thick laminated and interbedded by either homogenous mud or pyroclastic cm-thick layers. The lowermost sediments from the Ahlat Ridge site represent the initial lake transition as the drilling could not penetrate further and the seismic data indicates coincidence with the ‘acoustic’ basement. Such an early transgressive state of the lake’s history is also supported by the lithology consisting of a gravel unit as an indicator of a beach-like environment, which is overlain by sand deposits containing fresh-water gastropods (Bithynia). Above 200 mblf, the laminated mud clearly indicates that the lake was already deep enough to form anoxic bottom water as the laminations were preserved. This unique paleoclimate archive indicates that great changes of the depositional conditions occurred that hint to a fascinating evolution of the environment and has ideal prerequisites for the investigation of the Quaternary climate evolution in the Near East

Comparing Risk Perceptions and Risk Management in Organic and Conventional Dairy Farming: Empirical Results From Norway

This study was conducted to explore organic and conventional dairy farmers' perceptions of risk and risk management, and to examine relationships between farm and farmer characteristics, risk perceptions, and strategies. The data originate from a survey of conventional (n=363) and organic (n=162) dairy farmers in Norway. Organic farmers had the least risk averse perceptions. Institutional and production risks were perceived as primary sources of risk, with farm support payments at the top. Compared to their conventional colleagues, organic farmers gave more weight to institutional factors related to their production systems. Conventional farmers were more concerned about costs of purchased inputs and animal welfare policy. Organic and conventional farmers' management responses were more similar than their risk perceptions. Financial measures such as liquidity and costs of production, disease prevention, and insurance were perceived as important ways to handle risk. Even though perceptions were highly farmer-specific, a number of socio-economic variables were found to be related to risk and risk management. The primary role of institutional risks implies that policy makers should be cautious about changing policy capriciously and they should consider the scope for strategic policy initiatives that give farmers some greater confidence about the longer term. Further, researchers should pay more attention to institutional risks

SOFT: A synthetic synchrotron diagnostic for runaway electrons

Improved understanding of the dynamics of runaway electrons can be obtained by measurement and interpretation of their synchrotron radiation emission. Models for synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic electrons are well established, but the question of how various geometric effects -- such as magnetic field inhomogeneity and camera placement -- influence the synchrotron measurements and their interpretation remains open. In this paper we address this issue by simulating synchrotron images and spectra using the new synthetic synchrotron diagnostic tool SOFT (Synchrotron-detecting Orbit Following Toolkit). We identify the key parameters influencing the synchrotron radiation spot and present scans in those parameters. Using a runaway electron distribution function obtained by Fokker-Planck simulations for parameters from an Alcator C-Mod discharge, we demonstrate that the corresponding synchrotron image is well-reproduced by SOFT simulations, and we explain how it can be understood in terms of the parameter scans. Geometric effects are shown to significantly influence the synchrotron spectrum, and we show that inherent inconsistencies in a simple emission model (i.e. not modeling detection) can lead to incorrect interpretation of the images.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

Estimation of contaminant transport parameters for a tropical sand in a sand tank model

This research describes the goals, design and implementation of a quasi natural gradient, laboratory scale, sand tank (aquifer) model experiment. The model was used to study the transport of an inorganic tracer (Chloride) in groundwater, within a tropical aquifer (porous medium) material. Three-dimensional sand tank (1.8 m × 0.3 m × 0.8 m) experiments were conducted to investigate contaminant transport and natural attenuation within the sand tank. In all, 360 samples were collected during 24 sampling sessions, for the three days of the tracer experiments in the Sand Tank. The Owena sand is a poorly graded sand with 88.1 % sand and 11.9 % gravel. Geotechnical properties including; coefficient of uniformity Cu = 2.53, coefficient of gradation Cz = 0.181, hydraulic conductivity K = 5.76 x 10-4 m/s, bulk density ρ = 1.9 Mg/m3, effective porosity ne = 0.215 and median grain diameter D50 = 0.55 mm, were determined. Other relevant hydraulic and solute transport parameters, such as dispersion coefficients and dispersivities were also established for the tropical soil

Foraminiferal Assemblage and Palaeoenvironment: A Case Study of Meren 31 Side Tract -2 Well, Offshore Niger Delta

A total of one hundred and thirty seven (137) ditch cutting samples retrieved from a well in shallow offshore western Niger delta were composited to sixty-nine (69) and analyzed to determine the microfossils that characterized and for environmental reconstruction of that portion of the Niger delta. Twenty-two (22) benthonic species aside the indeterminate benthos were found in the interval studied. Prominent among them are the following calcareous species: Lenticulina inornata, Quinqueloculina microcostata, Quinqueloculina Lamarckiana, Heterolepa floridana, Heterolepa. pseudoungeriana, Marginulina costata, Cibicides spp., Amphicoryna scalaris caudata, Lagena spp., and Lagena striata. The arenaceous forms identified include Ammobaculites spp., Haplophragmoides sp., Alveolophragmium crassum, Cyclammina spp. and Poritextularia panamensis. Deep water species identified include Verneuillina sp., Karrerialla spp., and Karreriella siphonella. Two informal benthonic zones were proposed for the interval, which also falls within Agbada Formation. They are Heterolepa Pseudoungeriana Informal Zone (1507 m – 1945 m) and    Lenticulina Inornata Informal Zone (2420 m– 2758 m) suggesting the depth range studied to be deposited during Early to middle Miocene. The sediments were deposited within inner to middle neritic environment, inner neritic environment and coastal deltaic environments. Keywords:  Benthonic, Agbada Formation, Heterolepa Pseudoungeriana, Lenticulina Inornata, paleodepth