A words-of-interest model of sketch representation for image retrieval

In this paper we propose a method for sketch-based image retrieval. Sketch is a magical medium which is capable of conveying semantic messages for user. It’s in accordance with user’s cognitive psychology to retrieve images with sketch. In order to narrow down the semantic gap between the user and the images in database, we preprocess all the images into sketches by the coherent line drawing algorithm. During the process of sketches extraction, saliency maps are used to filter out the redundant background information, while preserve the important semantic information. We use a variant of Words-of-Interest model to retrieve relevant images for the user according to the query. Words-of-Interest (WoI) model is based on Bag-ofvisual Words (BoW) model, which has been proven successfully for information retrieval. Bag-of-Words ignores the spatial relationships among visual words, which are important for sketch representation. Our method takes advantage of the spatial information of the query to select words of interest. Experimental results demonstrate that our sketch-based retrieval method achieves a good tradeoff between retrieval accuracy and semantic representation of users’ query

A Data-Aided Channel Estimation Scheme for Decoupled Systems in Heterogeneous Networks

Uplink/downlink (UL/DL) decoupling promises more flexible cell association and higher throughput in heterogeneous networks (HetNets), however, it hampers the acquisition of DL channel state information (CSI) in time-division-duplex (TDD) systems due to different base stations (BSs) connected in UL/DL. In this paper, we propose a novel data-aided (DA) channel estimation scheme to address this problem by utilizing decoded UL data to exploit CSI from received UL data signal in decoupled HetNets where a massive multiple-input multiple-output BS and dense small cell BSs are deployed. We analytically estimate BER performance of UL decoded data, which are used to derive an approximated normalized mean square error (NMSE) expression of the DA minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimator. Compared with the conventional least square (LS) and MMSE, it is shown that NMSE performances of all estimators are determined by their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-like terms and there is an increment consisting of UL data power, UL data length and BER values in the SNR-like term of DA method, which suggests DA method outperforms the conventional ones in any scenarios. Higher UL data power, longer UL data length and better BER performance lead to more accurate estimated channels with DA method. Numerical results verify that the analytical BER and NMSE results are close to the simulated ones and a remarkable gain in both NMSE and DL rate can be achieved by DA method in multiple scenarios with different modulations

The Intergenerational Transmission of Education: Evidence from Taiwanese Adoptions

This paper examines the causal effect of parental schooling on children’s schooling using a large sample of adoptees from Taiwan. Using birth-parents’ education to help control for selective placement of children with adoptive parents, we find that adoptees raised with more highly educated parents have higher educational attainment, measured by years of schooling and probability of university graduation. We also find evidence that adoptive father’s schooling is more important for sons’ and adoptive mother’s schooling is more important for daughters’ educational attainment. These results support the notion that family environment (nurture) is important in determining children’s educational outcomes, independent of genetic endowment.intergenerational transmission, education, schooling, adoption

Development of European Small and Medium Sized Enterprises for Reference in China

The small and medium sized enterprises which are predominantly economic superior in the European small countries mainly produce, process, import and export advanced technical products with high added value and scientific content. They facilitate the development of the economy through technical creation, which is also benefited from the highly efficient economy system established cooperatively by government, bank, and non-government organizations. The experience in Europe provides instructive reference for the development of middle and small sized enterprises in China. Key words: small and medium sized enterprises; economy with high efficiency; reference Résumé: Le nombre des PME occupe une place prépondérante dans l’économie européenne. La plupart d’entre elles se spécialisent dans la production, dans la transformation et dans l'importation et l'exportation des produits de haute valeur ajoutée, ou de haute technologie. Elles s'appuient sur l'innovation technologique afin de promouvoir le développement économique. Une économie efficace fondée sur la base d’une coopération étroite entre le gouvernement, les banques, les organisations non gouvernementales a jouéégalement un rôle très important. Le succès de l'expérience européenne est une référence utile pour le développement des PME en Chine. Mots-clés: PME; économie efficace; références 摘 要：歐洲小國經濟中數量占絕對優勢的中小企業以生產、加工和進出口附加值高、科技含量大的高新技術產 品為主，並依靠技術創新推動經濟發展，政府、銀行、非政府機構密切合作建立起的高效率經濟也起了極大的促 進作用。歐洲的成功經驗給中國中小企業發展提供了有益借鑒。 關鍵詞： 中小企業；高效率經濟；借