Cross-modal interactions between visual understanding and linguistic processing substantially contribute to the remarkable robustness of human language processing. We argue that the formation of cross-modal referential links is a prerequisite for the occurrence of cross-modal interactions between vision and language. In this paper we examine a computational model for a cross-modal reference formation with respect to its robustness against conceptual underspecification in the visual modality. Thi...

The present study examined whether audiovisual integration of temporal stimulus features in humans can be predicted by the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) model which is based on the weighting of unisensory cues by their relative reliabilities. In an audiovisual temporal order judgment paradigm, the reliability of the auditory signal was manipulated by Gaussian volume envelopes, introducing varying degrees of temporal uncertainty. While statistically optimal weighting according to the MLE ru...

A critical parameter of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is the number of dimensions a user can control independently. One way to increment this number without increasing the mental effort required to operate the system is to stimulate several sensory modalities simultaneously, and to distinguish brain activity patterns when the user focuses attention to different elements of this multisensory input. In this article we show how shifting attention between simultaneously presented tactile and visu...

Lesion studies in animals have associated the amygdala mainly with aversive conditioning, both cued and contextual. However, neurophysiological studies indicate that the amygdala has a role in the processing of positive emotions in some kinds of stimulus-reward learning. The aim of the current study was to extend these findings to humans. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was applied to investigate the neural basis of aversive and appetitive conditioning. In the first study, aversive electri...

Existing methods of obtaining runtime feedback for structure data-layout optimization have several drawbacks, such as large overhead and difficulty composing training sets. As a result, structure data-layout optimization is not widely used. To overcome these drawbacks, a performance monitoring unit (PMU) sampling method was developed with much less overhead and better portability and usability. An algorithm was developed to correct incomplete and inaccurate PMU sampling. With the corrected PMU f...

The interactions among nano-sized giant magnetoresistances (GMRs) which can affect the biosensor operation, were studied using micromagnetic simulations and micromagnetic analysis. The magnetic field energy, the magnetization distribution and the effective magnetic field were simulated for variable spacer distances, aspect ratios and external magnetic fields to study the interactions among the GMR sensors. And the spacer distance should be at least 1000 nm to eliminate interference between 1000 ...

An ultra-low power complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) front-end readout ASIC was developed for a portable digital radiation detector. The ASIC having a charge sensitive amplifier and a semi-Gaussian pulse-shaper was produced using the CSMC 0.5 μm DPDM process. The ENC noise of 363 e at 0 pF with a noise slope of 23 e/pF complies with the stringent low noise requirements. The peaking time was 250 ns at a 100 mV/fC conversion gain (detector capacitance is 20 pF). By operating this fron...

The power consumption by the data cache is important in DSP designs. This study presents an enhanced branch access LRU-SEQ (EBA-LRU-SEQ) policy for data caches in DSP designs to reduce the power consumption. The design is based on the LRU policy with embedded prefetch table to provide branch access. Tests show that the EBA-LRU-SEQ policy reduces the data cache power consumption to 54% of a system with no power control.

A method was developed to estimate EEPROM device life based on the consistency for breakdown charge, Q_BD, for constant voltage time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) and constant current TDDB stress tests. Although an EEPROM works with a constant voltage, Q_BD for the tunnel oxide can be extracted using a constant current TDDB. Once the charge through the tunnel oxide, ΔQ_FG, is measured, the lower limit of the EEPROM life can be rela...

Modeling of Schottky diodes in the CMOS process is a key step in ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder designs. Accurate Schottky diode models need both DC and RF models. Conventional DC models of the Schottky diode fail to predict the forward leakage current, which is crucial for precise simulation results. This paper presents a Schottky diode model with an additional diode which gives the correct forward leakage current. The RF model of the Schottky diode...

Engineering-oriented simulations of quantum mechanical tunneling are often based on density-gradient (DG) theory. This paper presents an analytical solution to the DG equation for quantum tunneling through an ultra-thin oxide in a MOS capacitor with an n+ poly-silicon gate obtained using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Tunneling boundary conditions extend the approximation into the entire region of the poly-silicon gate, oxide barrier, and substrate. An analytical solution in the fo...

A stronger canonical model was developed to improve the performance of automatic pronunciation evaluations. Three different strategies were investigated with speaker adaptive training to normalize variations among speakers, minimum phone error training to identify easily confused phones and maximum likelihood linear regression (MLLR) adaptation to compensate for accent variations between native and non-native speakers. The three schemes were combined to improve the correlation coefficient betwee...

The idea of using a one-time-one-key design has been widely applied in conventional cryptography. With the security theory of conventional cryptology, encryption algorithms are made public while all the secrets are encoded only in the keys. This paper applies chaos theory to conventional cryptography to develop a one-time-one-algorithm design. A general theory is given to generate the clock key, substitution box, permutation box and operational sign functions for a one-time-one-algorithm scheme....

The cluster global time can change in wireless sensor networks due to leader re-elections and node disabilities between two successive synchronizations, which will affect temporal relationships. This paper analyzes cluster global time continuity, using global time change models for the node dynamics. The results prove that defining the global time using the cluster average time (AGT) is more stable than defining it using a single node's local time (SGT). With normally distributed clock-parameter...

The histogram of oriented gradient has been successfully applied in many research fields with excellent performance especially in pedestrian detection. However, the method has rarely been applied to face recognition. Aimed to develop a fast and efficient new feature for face recognition, the original HOG and its variations were applied to evaluate the effects of different factors. An information theory-based criterion was also developed to evaluate the potential classification power of different...