Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards High-Frequency Tracking and Fast Edge-Aware Optimization

This dissertation advances the state of the art for AR/VR tracking systems by increasing the tracking frequency by orders of magnitude and proposes an efficient algorithm for the problem of edge-aware optimization. AR/VR is a natural way of interacting with computers, where the physical and digital worlds coexist. We are on the cusp of a radical change in how humans perform and interact with computing. Humans are sensitive to small misalignments between the real and the virtual world, and tracking at kilo-Hertz frequencies becomes essential. Current vision-based systems fall short, as their tracking frequency is implicitly limited by the frame-rate of the camera. This thesis presents a prototype system which can track at orders of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art methods using multiple commodity cameras. The proposed system exploits characteristics of the camera traditionally considered as flaws, namely rolling shutter and radial distortion. The experimental evaluation shows the effectiveness of the method for various degrees of motion. Furthermore, edge-aware optimization is an indispensable tool in the computer vision arsenal for accurate filtering of depth-data and image-based rendering, which is increasingly being used for content creation and geometry processing for AR/VR. As applications increasingly demand higher resolution and speed, there exists a need to develop methods that scale accordingly. This dissertation proposes such an edge-aware optimization framework which is efficient, accurate, and algorithmically scales well, all of which are much desirable traits not found jointly in the state of the art. The experiments show the effectiveness of the framework in a multitude of computer vision tasks such as computational photography and stereo.
A New Nonlinear Optical Crystal-BaAlBO3F2(BABF)

We have discovered a new nonlinear optical (NLO) alumino-borate BaAlBO3F2 (BABF) crystal. BABF has a structure similar to that of KBe2BO3F2 (KBBF) but can easily be grown as grow large crystals and does not contain toxic elements in its composition. In this paper, we will discuss about the BABF crystal growth and its crystal structure. We have also measured its preliminary optical characteristics. BABF crystal can be grown with dimensions of 15×15×3.5 tmm3. The UV absorption edge of BABF is very short (165 nm). BABF was found to have a powder second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency about twice than that of KH2PO4 (KDP). It exhibits that BABF is an excellent candidate for frequency mixing into the ultraviolet (UV).
HI Searches in the Zone of Avoidance: Past and Present (and Future)

Abstract In the regions of highest optical obscuration and infrared confusion, only 21-cm emission can be used to find galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance. A feasibility study conducted with the 300-ft telescope successfully uncovered galaxies which seem to be consistent with populations of optically-selected low surface brightness galaxies. A complete survey is currently being conducted in the north with the Dwingeloo telescope. The big breakthrough should come in the south, however, with the advent of the Parkes telescope multibeam system.
Biaxially strained extremely-thin body In0.53Ga0.47As-on-insulator metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors on Si substrate and physical understanding on their electron mobility

We report the electrical characteristics of strained In0.53Ga0. 47As-on-insulator (-OI) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) on Si substrates fabricated by a direct wafer bonding (DWB) technique. 1.7% highly strained In0.53Ga0. 47As-OI structures are fabricated on Si substrate by DWB. Strained In0.53Ga0. 47As-OI MOSFETs with Ni-InGaAs metal source/drain (S/D) have been operated with high on-current (Ion)/off-current (Ioff) ratio of ∼105 and good current saturation in output characteristics. MOSFETs with 1.7% tensile strain exhibits 1.65 × effective mobility (μeff) enhancement against In0.53Ga0. 47As MOSFET without strain. We found that this μeff enhancement is attributed to the increase in mobile free electron concentration under tensile strain, which leads to the lowering in the conduction band minimum (CBM) and the increase in the energy difference between CBM and the Fermi level pinning position due to a large amount of interface states by Hall measurements.
Acoustic Relaxations in Ferrite Single Crystals

Acoustical wave attenuation measurements have shown the existence of two types of stress‐induced relaxations and a transformation in the ferrites examined. A loss mechanism due to stress‐induced electron migration of the type Fe++++e⇄Fe++, with an activation energy of 0.03±0.004 ev per electron jump, appears to be common to all ferrites containing di‐ and trivalent ferrous ions on the octahedral sites. A stress‐induced relaxation has been demonstrated in manganese ferrite, with an activation energy of about 0.3 ev per unit process. This relaxation process is sensitive to composition and homogeneity. Finally, a transformation has been observed in manganese zinc ferrite near 10°K, the temperature depending upon composition. A similar transformation probably occurs in manganese ferrite below 1.25°K. Below the transition temperature the intensity of magnetization is found to decrease with decreasing temperature.
Structure-from-motion for systems with perspective and omnidirectional cameras ; Perspektif ve tüm yönlü kamera kullanan sistemler ile hareketten yapı çıkarımı

STRUCTURE-FROM-MOTION FOR SYSTEMS WITH PERSPECTIVE AND OMNIDIRECTIONAL CAMERAS BAŞTANLAR, Yalın Ph.D., Department of Information Systems Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Yasemin YARDIMCI July 2009, 100 pages In this thesis, a pipeline for structure-from-motion with mixed camera types is described and methods for the steps of this pipeline to make it effective and automatic are proposed. These steps can be summarized as calibration, feature point matching, epipolar geometry and pose estimation, triangulation and bundle adjustment. We worked with catadioptric omnidirectional and perspective cameras and employed the sphere camera model, which encompasses single-viewpoint catadioptric systems as well as perspective cameras. For calibration of the sphere camera model, a new technique that has the advantage of linear and automatic parameter initialization is proposed. The projection of 3D points on a catadioptric image is represented linearly with a 6×10 projection matrix using lifted coordinates. This projection matrix is computed with an adequate number of 3D-2D correspondences and decomposed to obtain intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. Then, a non-linear optimization is performed to refine the parameters. For feature point matching between hybrid camera images, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) is employed and a method is proposed to improve the SIFT
Adaptive neural network‐based optimal control of nonlinear continuous‐time systems in strict‐feedback form

This paper focuses on neural network (NN) based optimal control of nonlinear continuous‐time systems in strict‐feedback form when the system dynamics are known by using an adaptive backstepping approach. A single NN‐based adaptive approach is designed to learn the solution of the infinite horizon continuous‐time Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation while the corresponding optimal control input that minimizes the HJB equation is calculated in a forward‐in‐time manner without using value and policy iterations. First, the optimal control problem is solved for a generic multi‐input and multi‐output nonlinear system with a state feedback approach. Then the approach is extended to a single‐input and single‐output nonlinear system by using output feedback via a nonlinear observer. Lyapunov techniques are used to show that all signals are uniformly ultimately bounded and that the approximated control signals approach the optimal control inputs with small bounded error both for the state and output feedback‐based controller designs. In the absence of NN reconstruction errors, asymptotic convergence to the optimal control is demonstrated. Finally, simulation examples are provided to validate the theoretical results. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optical flow algorithm as estimator of horizontal discrepancy between features derived from DEMs: rivers and creeks as case study

Abstract DEMs (grid digital elevation models) are used for a broad spectrum of applications, some of which require deriving features such as drainage networks (rivers, creek, etc.). A precise positioning in the features taken from DEMs is necessary, but frequently DEMs are not homogeneous (e.g. the mapmaker sources vary, cell sizes differ), so that the expected precision fluctuates. Therefore, a measure to estimate the discrepancy between features built from different DEMs would be useful. In particular, we focus on the horizontal discrepancy (HD), which is the lesser studied discrepancy in the literature. Our approach is based in the optical flow (OF) algorithm, which has been used successfully in object movement detection in consecutive images or video records. We establish the analogy between an image and a DEM because both are composed of regular elements, pixels, and cells. The variation in the pixel value between two consecutive images is used by OF to compute movement. We use the variation in the DEM cell value (height) to apply the OF and to estimate the HD between rivers and creeks existing in our DEMs examples. In our study, OF proved to be a good estimator of HD when features were derived from hill and mountain terrain, but was not reliable when the terrain was almost flat. However, most studies in the research literature have indicated that nearly flat terrain poses the most difficulties in forecasting positioning errors. Therefore, we conclude that the OF is a good estimator of the HD between features derived from DEMs.
Global stability of adaptive pole placement algorithms

This paper presents direct and indirect adaptive control schemes for assigning the closed-loop poles of a single-input, single-output system in both the continuous- and discrete-time cases. The resulting closed-loop system is shown to be globally stable when driven by an external reference signal consisting of a sum of sinusoids. In particular, persistent excitation of the potentially unbounded closed-loop input-output data, and hence convergence of a sequential least-squares identification algorithm is proved. The results are applicable to standard sequential least squares, and least squares with covariance reset.
Nonlocal thermal transport in solar flares

A flaring solar atmosphere is modeled assuming classical thermal transport, locally limited thermal transport, and nonlocal thermal transport. The classical, local, and nonlocal expressions for the heat flux yield significantly different temperature, density, and velocity profiles throughout the rise phase of the flare. Evaporation of chromospheric material begins earlier in the nonlocal case than in the classical or local calculations, but reaches much lower upward velocities. Much higher coronal temperatures are achieved in the nonlocal calculations owing to the combined effects of delocalization and flux limiting. The peak velocity and momentum are roughly the same in all three cases. A more impulsive energy release influences the evolution of the nonlocal model more than the classical and locally limited cases. 23 references.
En Pronominalization in French and the Structure of Nominal Expressions

In this paper, I tackle the question of the syntactic source of the clitic en in French, debated in the literature since the late 1970s (Kayne 1977 and Milner 1978). The aim is not only to find out what en pronominalizes but also to provide an analysis of nominal expressions able to account for (i) the quantitative, partitive, and genitive examples discussed by Milner (1978) and for (ii) the fact that du/des NPs can be replaced by en in some contexts only. What I suggest to account for the issues raised by en pronominalization is that quantitative nominals and du/des NPs have a unified structure that takes notions like number, quantity, and count/mass into account and that du/des NPs belong to different categories—that is, that their left periphery is composed differently. The idea is that, in addition to PPs, en can replace different layers of a nominal structure with an articulated left periphery and a fine-grained inflectional domain, in a cartographic spirit. The property underlying all uses of en could be their lack of referentiality, as observed by Gross (1973) for quantitative en.
Laboratory study of the bidirectional reflectance of powdered surfaces: On the asymmetry parameter of asteroid photometric data

We performed laboratory experiments on the bidirectional reflectance of powdered surfaces of dunite, graphite, and Allende (CV3) and Gao (H5) meteorites. The particle size of each sample varied from tens to hundreds of micrometers. The absolute bidirectional reflectance was determined for two ranges of phase angle: from 2° to 80° at 0° angle of incidence and from 2° to 155° at 75° angle of incidence. The phase angle was incremented every 1° in between 2° and 5° and every 10° between 10° and 150°. We determined the Hapke parameters and found that the values of the asymmetry parameter retrieved for most of the samples were positive when the coverage of the phase angle was wide, 2° to 155°, although the values derived from remote sensing instruments on asteroid flyby missions have been negative or nearly zero. Among our sample surfaces, only those of graphite, Allende, and Gao with particle sizes of hundreds micrometers show negative or nearly zero values. The single-scattering albedos determined for the Gao samples are comparable to the values of S-class asteroids, while those for the Allende samples are much larger than those of C-class asteroids.
Hyperplane design techniques for discrete-time variable structure control systems

The design of variable structure control schemes for uncertain discrete-time systems is considered. Previous work in this area which parallels the discrete-time sliding mode philosophy with that for the continuous-time case is reviewed. Theoretical results are presented which indicate that such a parallel approach is not necessarily desirable. A novel design methodology for discrete-time variable structure control systems is then formulated. A numerical example is given to illustrate the results described.
Optimal Transport for Non-Conservative Systems

We study, in finite volume, a grand canonical version of the McKean-Vlasov equation where the total particle content is allowed to vary. The dynamics is anticipated to minimize an appropriate grand canonical free energy; we make this notion precise by introducing a metric on a set of positive Borel measures without pre-prescribed mass and demonstrating that the dynamics is a gradient flow with respect to this metric. Moreover, we develop a JKO-scheme suitable for these problems. The latter ideas have general applicability to a class of second order non-conservative problems. For this particular system we prove, using the JKO-scheme, that (under certain assumptions) convergence to the uniform stationary state is exponential with a rate which is independent of the volume. By contrast, in related conservative systems, decay rates scale - at best - with the square of the characteristic length of the system. This suggests that a grand canonical approach may be useful for both theoretical and computational study of large scale systems.
GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE GRAIN PROTEIN CONTENT IN SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT ( Triticum aestivum L . )

Improvement of grain protein content is the main objective in soft red wheat breeding programs. The main objective of this study was to investigate the mode of inheritance and combining ability of grain protein content in wheat. Seven genetically diverse soft red wheat cultivars were crossed in an incomplete 7×7 diallel fashion. F1 and F2 progenies along with their parents were evaluated in two separate experiments to do F1 and F2 diallel analysis. The results indicated significant differences among the parents for general combining ability and crosses for specific combining ability. Among the parents Ningmai 9 was the best combiner and could be utilized for developing soft wheat cultivars with low protein content. The specific crosses for grain protein content were Ningmai 8×Ningmai 9 and Ningmai 8×Yangmai 5. The additive-dominance model was adequate for grain protein content in F1, while showed partially adequate in F2. Greater value of additive (D) over dominance (H1 and H2 ) demonstrated additive nature of genes for grain protein content in both generations. Grain protein content exhibited high value of narrow sense heritability. The genetic analysis suggested that grain protein content could be improved through pedigree and progeny selection.
On pressure invariance, wake width and drag prediction of a bluff body in confined flow

In the present investigation, the form drag on a bluff body in confined flow is studied. From the observation of invariance in pressure distribution between a disk and a flat plate normal to free upstream in unconfined flow, a linear relation linking the drag to the base pressure is derived when the potential-flow model by Parkinson & Jandali (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 40, 1970, p. 577) is incorporated. A theoretical wake width deduced from well-documented experimental data for a disk is proposed such that the wake Strouhal number is independent of inclination. This width, when combined with the momentum equation and solved simultaneously with the aforementioned linear equation, leads to realistic predictions of the drag and the base pressure. The method is consistent when applied to a cone of arbitrary vertex angle, a circular cylinder at subcritical Reynolds numbers and a sphere at subcritical as well as supercritical Reynolds numbers. The case of the inclined disk is also discussed. As the pressure distribution is invariant under wall constraint, analytical expressions for the effect of confinement on the loading of bluff bodies are derived and found to provide the correct trend of experimental data.
A technique based on non-linear transform and multivariate analysis to merge thermal infrared data and higher-resolution multispectral data

A thermal infrared (TIR) image is a measure of the Earth's surface temperature and TIR emittance; however, its low spatial resolution severely limits its potential applications. Image fusion techniques can be used to fuse a TIR image with higher spatial resolution reflective bands to generate a synthetic TIR image. Because of the weak correlation between TIR and reflective data, such a synthetic image typically contains significant spectral distortion. In this paper, a multivariate analysis technique is used to derive a variable as a linear function of multiple reflective bands and their non-linearly transformed versions, to produce the maximum correlation with the TIR image. The spatial details of the variable are then injected into the TIR image to yield a synthetic image with reduced spectral distortion. In an experiment on Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) TIR and reflective data, the fusion method proposed in this paper outperforms several existing methods in preserving the spectral characteristics of TIR data.
EFFECTS OF SUBTENDED AND VERTEX ANGLES ON THE FREE VIBRATION OF OPEN CONICAL SHELL PANELS: A CONICAL CO-ORDINATE APPROACH

This paper presents a computational investigation on the effects of subtended and vertex angles on the free vibration characteristics of open conical shell panels. Unlike the conventional approximation using a rectangular or cylindrical co-ordinate system, this analysis adopts a natural conical co-ordinate system so that any approximation in geometry is eliminated. The strain and curvature components formulated in this orthogonal conical co-ordinate system have been employed to derive the strain and kinetic energy integrals. The energy functional is minimized in accordance with the Ritz procedure to arrive at a governing eigenvalue equation. Admissible shape functions compromising sets of two-dimensional orthogonal polynomials and a basic function are employed to account for the boundary constraints and to approximate the three-dimensional displacements of the conical shell. Comparison of natural frequency shows excellent agreement with the solution of finite element, finite strip and integral equation methods. The effects of subtended and vertex angles and other geometric parameters on vibration are investigated in a comprehensive parametric study. Selected vibration mode shapes are illustrated to enhance the physical understanding of vibration of such open conical shell panels.
Do Slivan states exist in the Flora family? - II. Fingerprints of the Yarkovsky and YORP effects

Context. It is known that the Yarkovsky e ﬀ ect moves small astroids to larger / smaller semimajor axes depending on their prograde / retrograde spins. The YORP e ﬀ ect inﬂuences asteroid spin periods and spin axis orientations so that they evolve in time. The alignment of the spin vectors and correlations of the spin rates, now known as Slivan states and observed among members of the Koronis family, are interpreted in terms of the YORP e ﬀ ect and spin-orbit resonances. Splitting asteroid families into prograde and retrograde groups has recently been proposed as a result of the Yarkovsky e ﬀ ect. Prograde and retrograde asteroids drift in di ﬀ erent directions, and this has never been observed directly. Aims. The inﬂuence of the Yarkovsky and YORP e ﬀ ects should be observable among objects in asteroid families, especially in the Flora family, which lies close to the Sun and consists of many small objects. Methods. The Flora family asteroids were modelled using the lightcurve inversion technique. As a result the orientation of spin vec- tors, shapes, and sidereal periods of rotation were obtained. Results. Results of modelling of the Flora family asteroids show the family splitting into prograde and retrograde groups as a result of the Yarkovsky e ﬀ ect. The observed ratio between prograde and retrograde asteroids is 2.6. The positions of spin vectors, as well as their similar latitudes suggest, that the Slivan states are observed among the Flora family asteroids. Conclusions. The inﬂuence of the Yarkovsky and YORP e ﬀ ect is clearly visible in the Flora family. The location of the Flora family close to the ν 6 resonance explains the lack of retrograde objects and conﬁrms the excess of retrograde rotators among NEAs and their origin from the ν 6 . The Slivan states that I searched seem to be present among prograde rotators in this family even though they were not expected.
Seasonal Forecasting of Tropical Storms Using Coupled GCM Integrations

The ECMWF Seasonal Forecasting System, based on ensembles of 200-day coupled GCM integrations, contains tropical disturbances that are referred to as model tropical storms in the present paper. Model tropical storms display a genesis location and a seasonal cycle generally consistent with observations, though the frequency of model tropical storms is significantly lower than observed, particularly over the North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific. Several possible causes for the low number of model tropical storms are discussed. The ECMWF Seasonal Forecasting System produces realistic forecasts of the interannual variability of tropical storm frequency over the North Atlantic and the western North Pacific, with strong linear correlations and low rms error obtained when comparing the forecasts to observations. The skill of the seasonal forecasting system in predicting the frequency of tropical storms is likely to be related to its skill in predicting sea surface tem