In this paper, a novel efficient algorithm is presented for locating and tracking object parts in low resolution videos using Lowe's SIFT keypoints with a nearest neighbor object detection approach. Our interest lies in using this information as one step in the process of automatically programming service, household, or personal robots to perform the skills that are being taught in easily obtainable instructional videos. In the reported experiments, the system looked for 14 parts of inanimate and animate objects in 40 (...) natural outdoor scenes. The scenes were frames from a low-resolution instructional video on cleaning golf clubs containing 2,405 frames of 180 by 240 pixels. The system was trained using 39 frames that were half-way between the test frames. Despite the low resolution quality of the instructional video and occluded training samples, the system achieved a recall of 49% with a precision of 71% and an F1 of 0.58, which is better than that achieved by less demanding applications. In order to verify that the reported results were not dependent on the specific video, the proposed technique was applied to another video and the results are reported. (shrink)

To assist in the evaluation process when determining architectures for new robots and intelligent systems equipped with artificial emotions, it is beneficial to understand the systems that have been built previously. Other surveys have classified these systems on the basis of their technological features. In this survey paper, we present a classification system based on a model similar to that used in psychology and philosophy for theories of emotion. This makes possible a connection to thousands of years of discourse on (...) the topic of emotion. Five theories of emotion are described based on an emotion theory model proposed by Power and Dalgleish. The paper provides classifications using a model of 10 new questions, for 14 major research projects that describe implementations or designs for systems that use artificial emotions for either robotics or general artificial intelligence. We also analyze the trends in the usage of various theories and complexity changes over time. (shrink)

Human skin detection is an essential phase in face detection and face recognition when using color images. Skin detection is very challenging because of the differences in illumination, differences in photos taken using an assortment of cameras with their own characteristics, range of skin colors due to different ethnicities, and other variations. Numerous methods have been used for human skin color detection, including the Gaussian model, rule-based methods, and artificial neural networks. In this article, we introduce a novel technique of (...) using the neural network to enhance the capabilities of skin detection. Several different entities were used as inputs of a neural network, and the pros and cons of different color spaces are discussed. Also, a vector was used as the input to the neural network that contains information from three different color spaces. The comparison of the proposed technique with existing methods in this domain illustrates the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach. Tests were done on two databases, and the results show that the neural network has better precision and accuracy rate, as well as comparable recall and specificity, compared with other methods. (shrink)

In a distributed multi-agent system, an idle agent may be available to assist other agents in the system. An agent architecture called intent recognition is proposed in this article to accomplish this with minimal communication. To assist other agents in the system, an agent performing recognition observes the tasks other agents are performing. Unlike the much-studied field of plan recognition, the overall intent of an agent is recognized instead of a specific plan. The observing agent may use capabilities that it (...) has not observed. In this study, the key research question is: What are intent-recognition systems and how can these be used to have agents autonomously assist each other effectively and efficiently? A conceptual framework is proposed to address this question. An implementation of the conceptual framework is tested and evaluated. A set of metrics, including task time and number of communications, is used to compare the performance of plan recognition and intent recognition. This research shows that under certain conditions, an intent-recognition system is more efficient than a plan recognition system. (shrink)

This article presents the design and development of a genetic algorithm to generate long-range transmit codes with low autocorrelation side lobes for radar to minimize target profile estimation error. The GA described in this work has a parallel processing design and has been used to generate codes with multiple constellations for various code lengths with low estimated error of a radar target profile.

Amblyopia, or lazy eye, is a neurological vision disorder that studies have shown to affect two to five percent of the population. Current methods of treatment produce the best visual outcome, if the condition is identified early in the patient's life. Several early screening procedures are aimed at finding the condition while the patient is a child, including an automated vision screening system. This paper aims to use artificial intelligence techniques to automatically identify children who are at risk for developing (...) the amblyopic condition and should therefore be referred to a specialist, i.e., pediatric ophthalmologist. Three techniques, namely, decision tree learning, random forest, and artificial neural network, are studied in this paper in terms of their effectiveness, using metrics of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The features used by the techniques are extracted from images of patient eyes and are based on the color information. The efficacy of pixel color data is investigated with respect to the measurement of the rate of change of the color in the iris and pupil, i.e., color slope features. A 10-fold stratified cross validation procedure is used to compare the effectiveness of the three AI techniques in this medical application domain. (shrink)

We propose a theoretical model to explain the usage of time-inconsistent behavior as a strategy to exploit others when reputation and trust have secondary effects on the economic outcome. We consider two agents with time-consistent preferences exploiting common resources. Supposing that an agent is believed to have time-inconsistent preferences with probability p, we analyze whether she uses this misinformation when she has the opportunity to use it. Using the model originally provided by Levhari and Mirman (Bell J Econ 11(1):322–334, 1980), (...) we determine the optimal degree of present bias that the agent would like to have while pretending to have time-inconsistent preferences and we provide the range of present-bias parameter under which deceiving is optimal. Moreover, by allowing the constant relative risk aversion class of utility form, we characterize the distinction between pretending to be naive and sophisticated. (shrink)

Madrasas and academy can be defined as educational institutions known as schools that were established for different purposes in different periods. Madrasas are non-formal educational institutions where Islamic religious knowledge is taught. Madrasas, which hold an important place in Islamic civilization, are generally built in connection with mosques or prayer rooms. Education in madrasas is provided in areas related to the Islamic religion, such as fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad), tafsir (interpretation of the Quran), (...) and kalam (Islamic theology). The duration of education in madrasas varies between 5-10 years on average and is generally aimed at male students. Since the sciences that madrasas want to teach are Islamic sciences, the language used in education is Arabic.On the other hand, theology academies are institutions recognized by the state in an official manner and cover various subjects. These include the interpretation of religious texts, philosophical and theological analysis of religions, the history of religions and their effects on society, the study of religious rituals and practices, and the social and political impact of religious thoughts. In addition, today's theological academic studies have a broader perspective. They describe the relationship between religion and society, religious freedoms, gender and religion, and contemporary interpretations. In fact, theological academic studies embrace an interdisciplinary approach to understand both the content of religion and the social and cultural effects of religion.These studies are concluded in the form of academic publications, articles, and books. In addition, theology academics participate in conferences, seminars, and discussions to specialize in their fields and share their research. Nowadays, theological academic studies aim to contribute to the development of religious knowledge and understanding, as well as to understand the effects of religion on society as a multidisciplinary discipline. It enables people to understand the diversity of religions and religious thoughts and to examine them in a deeper way.Currently, madrasas and academies continue to exist in different forms. Madrasas mostly operate as religious education institutions in Islamic countries, while academies bear the name of contemporary universities known as higher education institutions. Universities representing the academy offer undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral education in various fields of science. Academies are also used as institutions where scientific research is carried out and scientific meetings are organized. (shrink)

Mula sa iisang lahi ang Pilipinas at Malaysia sang-ayon sa pag-aaral na may kinalaman sa paksaing Austronesyo. May mahabang kasaysayan ng ugnayan ang dalawang bansang ito, di lámang sa ekonomikong aspekto, kundi lalo’t higit sa kultural na batayan, at isa na rito ang paggamit ng mga simbolo sa pagbabatik/pagtatatu na nakaugat pa sa relihiyon ng pag-aanito sa mundong Austronesyo. Bagamat naging parehong kolonya ang dalawang bansa ng mga Kanluranin na nagpalawak di lámang ng kapangyarihan kundi maging ng merkado, hindi tuluyang (...) naalis/nakalimutan ang kalinangang nakaugat sa mga bansang ito. Sa kasalukuyan, nagpapatúloy pa rin ang iláng tradisyonal na pang-araw-araw na búhay ng ilang bahagi ng mga bansang ito gaya ng pagbabatik. Nariyan pa rin ang pagpupukpok o tapping process sa pagbabatik na sa kasalukuyan ay dinarayo pa sa kabundukan ng Cordillera ng mga tagasiyudad upang makapagpatatu kay Whang Od. Gayundin, mayroon pa ring kahalintulad na ganitong paraan ng pagbabatik sa Malaysia, sa kaso halimbawa ng mga Iban, Kayan at Dayak. Hindi kataka-taka sa kasalukuyan na kahit nariyan pa rin ang tradisyonal na paraan ng pagbabatik, naghahalinhinan ang tradisyonal at modernong pagbabatik sa mga bansang ito na ang pinakanag-uugnay ay ang mga simbolismong nakaugat sa kanilang malalim na kasaysayan. (shrink)

The Institute on Religion in the Age of Science (IRAS) asked Ted Peters, an eminent theologian and bioethicist who was at the forefront of the cloning and stem cell debates in the past few decades, and myself, a molecular biologist, to invite scholars from various fields to brainstorm the religious and ethical implications of the CRISPR revolution. We invited keynote speakers, whose talks will be covered here, as well as other speakers and poster presentations. The conference also hosted question and (...) answer sessions, chaplain sessions, and discussions throughout the week at the beautiful Star Island in the summer of 2019. The purpose of this paper is to highlight and sample the discussions and presentations from that conference. I will organize them into three broad topics: CRISPR in science, ethics, and religion. For readers unfamiliar with CRISPR technology, this overview can also serve as an introduction to the field, and a stepping stone for future ideas for CRISPR discussions. (shrink)

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has been the buzzword for genome editing in the past few years, especially with the birth of Lulu and Nana, twin girls who were genetically edited using the CRISPR/Cas system. To discuss this, a group of scientists, theologians, and ethicists gathered at the 2019 Institute on Religion in the Age of Science (IRAS) conference to discuss the implications of CRISPR gene editing. It became quickly apparent through our discussions that this CRISPR revolution will (...) impact not only human medicine, but any application that involves DNA in every organism from bacteria to plants and animals. Moreover, there are multiple stakeholders in this technology—not only the scientific community, but also the business, legal, and religious communities, to name a few. As a scientist myself, I am providing a brief overview of the scientific hopes and concerns about this powerful technology. (shrink)

In this book, the contributors examine how various religious traditions engage with transhumanism and its vision for the future.

In this article, the authors try to review the Paris-Match cover page analyzed by Roland Barthes and introduces a new model of analyzing sign system from a new semiotic approach based on the new definition of the context. This research is based on three layers of the context and shows that understanding the cover page of a magazine or any other kind of text is not only absolute but also somehow relative due to the different background knowledge of the audience. (...) This means that human sees the Context A, or what is designed, in the situation of Context B, or situational context, and interpret based on their Context C, or background knowledge of the audience. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new perspective of analyzing advertising designs from a new semiotic approach based on a new definition of the context. In order to achieve this goal, we will first of all give a definition for advertising design, and then Peirce’s idea about signs and definition of the science called semiotics will be necessary for starting the discussion. This research is based on three levels of context and shows that understanding an advertising design (...) is not absolute but somehow relative because of differences in the background knowledge of the receivers. The conclusion of this research is that people understand advertising design based on their three contexts, which means seeing a so-called Context A, or better, what is designed, the receiver of the message will use a so-called Context B, or the context of situation, and also receives a so-called Context C, or the background knowledge in order to interpret what is selected and combined in Context A. (shrink)

Despite the readily available discussion on counseling supervision models for over a quarter of a century, there is little attention in the literature with respect to how developmental supervision models align with existential philosophy. One model, The Integrated Developmental Model (IDM), is a robust and well-accepted model of supervision with embedded undertones of existentialism requiring scholarly discussion. The primary goal of this article is to emphasize the parallels between the IDM and Sartre’s philosophical principles of existentialism thereby creating a meaning (...) making framework for supervisors to enhance developmental growth of their supervisees. (shrink)

Resenha do livro de GOUW, Arvin M.; GREEN, Brain Patrick; PETER, Ted (orgs.). _Religious transhumanism and its critics_. Lanham, MD: Lexington / Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. 494 p. ISBN 978-1-4985-8413-5.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:James S. Mullican DETERMINISM, FATALISM, AND FREE WILL IN HAWTHORNE A recurrent theme in Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing is the relationship between fatalism and free will. His tales, romances, and notebooks contain explicit and implied references to man's freedom of choice and his consequent responsibility for his acts, as well as to "fatalities" that impel men to various courses of action. Much of the ambiguity in Hawthorne's fiction rests on (...) this conflict between the notions of human freedom and responsibility on one hand and fatalism on the other. Although there is no question that this theme was important for Hawthorne, there is much disagreement concerning what Hawthorne himself believed. Critics have taken virtually every position on the spectrum between the poles of complete freedom and complete fatalism. That this disagreement exists should not be surprising. Hawthorne was an artist, not a philosopher or theologian; an important element of his technique, perhaps essential to his vision of life, was his ambiguity. His dual vision of the world, of matter and spirit, of evil and good, and his emphasis now of one, now of the other, engender disagreement concerning his view of life. His alternate fascination with and apparent rejection of Puritanism have led some to believe he was a predestinarían, others to hold that he was a "libertarian," and at least one critic to write that Hawthorne believed in a "modified predestination." Turner argued that Hawthorne's attitude toward reform led him to fatalistic thinking. Since reform movements touched only the surface manifestations of vice, such movements were useless, in Hawthorne's view. The logical conclusion of such a position, reasoned Turner, was fatalism. "Hence reform which would stir only the superficial outcroppings and would leave untouched the real causes underneath would be futile at best. And since the true sources of evil, so Hawthorne thought, lie largely beyond the reach of human efforts, fatalism was the certain end of his thinking." Turner saw evidence for fatalism 91 92Philosophy and Literature in Hawthorne's fiction also: "... there is a clear suggestion that the decisions [by Hester, Dimmesdale, Rappaccini, Ethan Brand, and Hollingsworth] have been inevitable, that the agent responsible is fate rather than Hawthorne's character." This critic concluded that Hawthorne was convinced that "the universe, including man and man's soul, is governed by inexorable law." Some critics have linked Hawthorne's beliefs regarding free will and fatalism to his attitude toward Calvinism. Schneider wrote, "... Hawthorne translated into empirical truths the essential doctrines of Calvinism.... From the popular doctrine of reform, he returned to the Puritan doctrine of divine sovereignty." Schneider suggested that Hawthorne purified the doctrines of the Puritans and returned them to their original purpose, salvation of the soul. "He recovered what Puritans professed but seldom practiced—the spirit of piety, humility, and tragedy in the face of the inscrutable ways of God." Cowley wrote that Hawthorne "believed in predestination, as the Calvinists did." Mills was of the opinion that Hawthorne was the most sympathetic to the Puritans of the writers of his day, but that Calvinist dogma was moderated and softened in Hawthorne: "He did not accept completely the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, nor did he emphasize the supreme sovereignty of God which was the driving force of Calvinism." Other critics have granted some measure of freedom to Hawthorne's characters. Arvin wrote, "... freedom of choice exists, but on so narrow a basis that, once exercised in the wrong direction, it is forever resigned." Fairbanks held that Hawthorne reserved to man the initial moral choice which set up the chain of necessity, and from that notion Fairbanks drew the conclusion that, "Though often called a fatalist, Hawthorne believed in free will." Schwartz, in an unpublished doctoral dissertation, argued from Hawthorne's life and from his writings that he rejected fatalism in favor of free will. Wagenknecht noted that Hawthorne refused "to accept foreordination and total depravity." Still other critics have emphasized a paradoxical element in Hawthorne 's writing, his acceptance of both horns of the dilemma. Waggoner wrote: "He saw man as immersed in a mystery in which responsibility is at odds with fate. His own natural tendency was to emphasize causation at the... (shrink)