A Multi-Feature Selection Approach for Gender Identification of Handwriting based on Kernel Mutual Information

This paper presents a new flexible approach to predict the gender of the writers from their handwriting samples. Handwriting features like slant, curvature, line separation, chain code, character shapes, and more, can be extracted from different methods. Therefore, the multi-feature sets are irrelevant and redundant. The conflict of the features exists in the sets, which affects the accuracy of classification and the computing cost. This paper proposes an approach, named Kernel Mutual Information (KMI), that focuses on feature selection. The KMI approach can decrease redundancies and conflicts. In addition, it extracts an optimal subset of features from the writing samples produced by male and female writers. To ensure that KMI can apply the various features, this paper describes the handwriting segmentation and handwritten text recognition technology used. The classification is carried out using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) on two databases. The first database comes from the ICDAR 2013 competition on gender prediction, which provides the samples in both Arabic and English. The other database contains the Registration-Document-Form (RDF) database in Chinese. The proposed and compared methods were evaluated on both databases. Results from the methods highlight the importance of feature selection for gender prediction from handwriting

van der Waals Bonded Co/h-BN Contacts to Ultrathin Black Phosphorus Devices

Due to the chemical inertness of 2D hexagonal-Boron Nitride (h-BN), few atomic-layer h-BN is often used to encapsulate air-sensitive 2D crystals such as Black Phosphorus (BP). However, the effects of h-BN on Schottky barrier height, doping and contact resistance are not well known. Here, we investigate these effects by fabricating h-BN encapsulated BP transistors with cobalt (Co) contacts. In sharp contrast to directly Co contacted p-type BP devices, we observe strong n-type conduction upon insertion of the h-BN at the Co/BP interface. First principles calculations show that this difference arises from the much larger interface dipole at the Co/h-BN interface compared to the Co/BP interface, which reduces the work function of the Co/h-BN contact. The Co/h-BN contacts exhibit low contact resistances (~ 4.5 k-ohm), and are Schottky barrier free. This allows us to probe high electron mobilities (4,200 cm2/Vs) and observe insulator-metal transitions even under two-terminal measurement geometry

Language Models Can Improve Event Prediction by Few-Shot Abductive Reasoning

Large language models have shown astonishing performance on a wide range of reasoning tasks. In this paper, we investigate whether they could reason about real-world events and help improve the prediction performance of event sequence models. We design LAMP, a framework that integrates a large language model in event prediction. Particularly, the language model performs abductive reasoning to assist an event sequence model: the event model proposes predictions on future events given the past; instructed by a few expert-annotated demonstrations, the language model learns to suggest possible causes for each proposal; a search module finds out the previous events that match the causes; a scoring function learns to examine whether the retrieved events could actually cause the proposal. Through extensive experiments on several challenging real-world datasets, we demonstrate that our framework -- thanks to the reasoning capabilities of large language models -- could significantly outperform the state-of-the-art event sequence models.Comment: NeurIPS 2023 camera-read

Improving Sparse Representation-Based Classification Using Local Principal Component Analysis

Sparse representation-based classification (SRC), proposed by Wright et al., seeks the sparsest decomposition of a test sample over the dictionary of training samples, with classification to the most-contributing class. Because it assumes test samples can be written as linear combinations of their same-class training samples, the success of SRC depends on the size and representativeness of the training set. Our proposed classification algorithm enlarges the training set by using local principal component analysis to approximate the basis vectors of the tangent hyperplane of the class manifold at each training sample. The dictionary in SRC is replaced by a local dictionary that adapts to the test sample and includes training samples and their corresponding tangent basis vectors. We use a synthetic data set and three face databases to demonstrate that this method can achieve higher classification accuracy than SRC in cases of sparse sampling, nonlinear class manifolds, and stringent dimension reduction.Comment: Published in "Computational Intelligence for Pattern Recognition," editors Shyi-Ming Chen and Witold Pedrycz. The original publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

MSIS 2016: a comprehensive update of graduate level curriculum recommendation in Information Systems

The process to revise MSIS 2006, the master's level curriculum recommendation for Information Systems, is getting close to completion. In spring and summer 2016, the joint AIS/ACM task force will continue the process of soliciting comments from various stakeholders, including the academic IS community and employers. The purpose of the AMCIS panel is to give the audience an update of the status of the MSIS 2016 revision process and provide the task force with feedback regarding the draft document. A significant portion of the session will be reserved for conversation. The task force is proposing significant changes to the curriculum content and structure, including the new curriculum's focus on specifying desired graduate competencies instead of articulating courses or knowledge areas/units. Some of the changes are a reflection of the changes in the process used to revise the curriculum: MSIS 2016 will be a result of a truly global process.The MSIS 2016 task force thanks all members of the IS community and other stakeholders of the project for all the invaluable feedback and comments we have received throughout the process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MSIS 2016 global competency model for graduate degree programs in information systems

[Extract] This document, “MSIS 2016: Global Competency Model for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems”, is the latest in the series of reports that provides guidance for degree programs in the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline. MSIS 2016 is the seventh collaborative effort between ACM and AIS (following IS’97, IS 2002, and IS 2010 at the undergraduate level; MSIS 2000 and MSIS 2006 at the graduate level; and CC 2005 as an integrative document).(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Current MSIS students' views on program outcomes

This paper reports the results of a pilot survey sent to current specialized master's students in Information Systems at several universities around the world. The survey was developed to support the MSIS revision process, but the results will also provide insights on the perceptions of current IS master's students regarding their current degree program. The results suggest that the respondents valued individual foundational skills and high-level business competences more than technical or lower-level managerial competences. The study utilized competence specifications from the European e-CF 3.0 model, which was useful and performed well as a competence framework.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Master’s degree programs in information systems: a global view

In this paper, we present an analysis of 254 master's degree programs in Information Systems, offered by 229 universities in 32 countries. The entry requirements usually include a Bachelor's degree in IS or a related subject. In some countries such as USA any kind of Bachelor's degree is acceptable. In a few countries significant relevant work experience can replace or supplement the BSc. The duration of the degrees varies between one to two years, with the student workload between 1350-3200 hours. If we take into consideration the differences in entering the program (from none to four years of IS studies), the gap grows considerably. Most programs require course work in both computing and a domain of practice (such as business), but some have no requirements related to the domain of practice and still others have only modest computing requirements. Degrees with a professional orientation emphasize industry projects and internships, while in several countries a thesis is an essential part of the degree thereby preparing for further studies. A thesis also trains for reading and writing academic papers, thus enabling graduates to tap into current research in their daily work. The variation amongst programs presents a concern for the image of IS as a profession and a challenge for recruiters. The results are discussed in the context of an ongoing project to revise the graduate level model curriculum in Information Systems, with a particular emphasis on the IS profession.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Revising the MSIS 2016 model curriculum: status update and panel discussion

This panel discussion will provide an update of the ongoing work to revise the ACM/AIS graduate level curriculum recommendation for Information Systems (MSIS). The panel will consist of the members of the task force, who will report on a) changes in the direction of the task force's work since summer 2015 position paper; b) results of the fall 2015 data collection; and c) key decisions regarding the curriculum architecture made by the time of the panel. A major part of the panel will be reserved for open discussion and participant feedback, which will directly impact the work of the task force.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Revising the MSIS 2016 model curriculum: status update and panel discussion

This panel discussion will provide an update of the ongoing work to revise the ACM/AIS graduate level curriculum recommendation for Information Systems (MSIS). The panel will consist of the members of the task force, who will report on a) changes in the direction of the task force's work since summer 2015 position paper; b) results of the fall 2015 data collection; and c) key decisions regarding the curriculum architecture made by the time of the panel. A major part of the panel will be reserved for open discussion and participant feedback, which will directly impact the work of the task force.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio