Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A mid-infrared fast-tunable graphene ring resonator based on guided-plasmonic wave resonance on a curved graphene surface

We propose and numerically analyze an ultra-compact tunable plasmon ring resonator which is composed of monolayer graphene and a graphene ring. The results, calculated using the finite element method, reveal that the resonant frequency can be tuned over a wide frequency range by a small change of Fermi level in the graphene ring. Both a high quality factor and extinction ratio of the resonant mode can be achieved when the plasmonic waves in the ring and the input waveguide are properly coupled. As applications, this proposed resonator can be used to construct an ultra-compact fast-tunable filter, modulator, switch or directional coupler in the mid-infrared range.
Neural networks in applied statistics

Artificial neural networks are computer algorithms or computer programs derived in part from attempts to model the activity of nerve cells. They have been applied to pattern recognition, classification, and optimization problems in the physical and chemical sciences, as well as in other fields. We introduce the principles of the multilayer feedforward network that is among the most commonly used neural networks in practical problems. The relevance of neural network models for the applied statistician is considered using a time series prediction problem as an example. The multilayer feedforward neural network uses a nonlinear function of the predictors to obtain predictions for future time series values. We illustrate the considerations involved in specifying a neural network model and evaluate the accuracy of neural network models relative to the accuracy obtained using other computer-intensive, nonmodel-based techniques.
Maternal and offspring behavior in free‐ranging Japanese and moor macaques: A comparative approach

Female primates represent the most important social partner for their developing offspring. However, mothers may strongly differ in the way they relate to their offspring (e.g., in terms of two different dimensions: protectiveness and rejection). In this study, we aimed to assess how dominance style predicts (i) changes in maternal behavior through offspring development, and (ii) the link between maternal behavior and offspring behavior. We conducted behavioral observations on 34 free‐ranging immatures of two species of macaques with different dominance styles: less tolerant Japanese macaques (JM; Macaca fuscata) and more tolerant moor macaques (MM; Macaca maura). Our results showed that maternal behavior differed between JM and MM: maternal proximity and grooming decreased through offspring development more quickly in MM than in JM, whereas maternal rejection and aggression, which were generally more frequent in JM, decreased with offspring age similarly in both species. In contrast, maternal restraint of offspring decreased similarly with offspring age in both species. Furthermore, dominance style was differentially associated with the link between maternal and offspring behavior: in MM only, maternal grooming predicted an increase of the probability that offspring interacted with partners other than their mothers and engaged in solitary play, whereas maternal rejection predicted a decrease in the occurrence of solitary play. Overall, these results suggest interspecific variation in maternal behavior during offspring's first years of life, and point to the possibility that these differences may have an important role in shaping their behavioral development.
Limits on the density of neutral gas within 100 parsecs from observations of the soft X-ray background

Observations are presented in two soft X-ray bands, the Be band (0.077-0.111 keV) and the B-prime (0.105-0.188 keV), for nine directions in the sky. The ratio of count rates in these two bands remains constant as the rates vary by a factor of three, even though the effective interstellar absorption cross sections in the bands differ by a factor of about 3.5. For a model in which the bulk of the observed soft X-ray emission originates in a uniform low-density region surrounding the sun, the constant ratio between the band rates places an upper limit on the amount of neutral material that can be homogeneously mixed with the X-ray-emitting gas. The 2 sigma upper limit on the H I column density over an average path through the local emitting region is 6.6 x 10 to the 18th/sq cm. If the average path length is about 100 pc, then clouds similar to the one in which the sun is embedded could still have a filling factor as large as 25 percent. 24 refs.
Property investment decision in Batam City

The aim of this research is to find out factors affecting property investment decision in Batam. Investment decision is defined as how a person decides on investment to select the right alternative and type of business. The independent variables in this study are accounting information, self-image/firm-image coincidence, neutral information, advocate recommendations, and personal financial need. The object of this study is property investors in Batam. This study distributed 300 questionnaires and selected 250 questionnaires to be processed/analyzed. The results show that accounting information does not significantly affect the investment decision, meanwhile self-image/firm-image coincidence, neutral information, advocate recommendations, and personal financial need significantly affect investment decision in Batam.
Comparison of the PUSH Band 2.0 and Vicon Motion Capture to Measure Concentric Movement Velocity during the Barbell Back Squat and Bench Press

The purpose of this investigation was to compare concentric movement velocity (CMV) measured with the PUSH Band (v2.0) and a Vicon motion capture system (MC) during the back squat (SQ) and the bench press (BP) resistance exercises (RE). Twelve resistance-trained males (26.0 ± 5.5 years; 175.6 ± 4.9 cm; 96.3 ± 15.8 kg) completed ten repetitions at 50% of one-repetition maximum (1RM), and six repetitions at 75% 1RM for both BP and SQ. Four PUSH devices were utilized and attached to the subject’s right forearm, the center barbell, left and right sides of the barbell. MC markers were placed on top of each PUSH device. An overall analysis using a series of least-squares means contrasts suggested CMV did not differ (p > 0.05) between measurement technologies when position, RE, intensity and repetitions were combined. PUSH exhibited the highest Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC = 0.835–0.961) and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients (r = 0.742–0.949) at the arm and center barbell locations when compared with MC. The measurement of CMV between MC and PUSH compares favorably during moderate (i.e., 50%) and high (75%) intensity SQ and BP RE. These data indicate individuals can use the PUSH band v2.0 to accurately monitor CMV within a RE set for SQ and BP RE.
Learning Approximate Execution Semantics From Traces for Binary Function Similarity

Detecting semantically similar binary functions – a crucial capability with broad security usages including vulnerability detection, malware analysis, and forensics – requires understanding function behaviors and intentions. This task is challenging as semantically similar functions can be compiled to run on different architectures and with diverse compiler optimizations or obfuscations. Most existing approaches match functions based on syntactic features without understanding the functions’ execution semantics. We present Trex, a transfer-learning-based framework, to automate learning approximate execution semantics explicitly from functions’ traces collected via forced-execution (i.e., by violating the control flow semantics) and transfer the learned knowledge to match semantically similar functions. While it is known that forced-execution traces are too imprecise to be directly used to detect semantic similarity, our key insight is that these traces can instead be used to teach an ML model approximate execution semantics of diverse instructions and their compositions. We thus design a pretraining task, which trains the model to learn approximate execution semantics from the two modalities (i.e., forced-executed code and traces) of the function. We then finetune the pretrained model to match semantically similar functions. We evaluate Trex on 1,472,066 functions from 13 popular software projects, compiled to run on 4 architectures (x86, x64, ARM, and MIPS), and with 4 optimizations (O0-O3) and 5 obfuscations. Trex outperforms the state-of-the-art solutions by 7.8%, 7.2%, and 14.3% in cross-architecture, optimization, and obfuscation function matching, respectively, while running 8× faster. Ablation studies suggest that the pretraining significantly boosts the function matching performance, underscoring the importance of learning execution semantics. Our case studies demonstrate the practical use-cases of Trex – on 180 real-world firmware images, Trex uncovers 14 vulnerabilities not disclosed by previous studies. We release the code and dataset of Trex at https://github.com/CUMLSec/trex.
Novel Therapeutic Nutrients Molecules That Protect against Zika Virus Infection with a Special Note on Palmitoleate

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a Flavivirus from the Flaviviridae family and a positive-sense single strand RNA virus. ZIKV infection can cause a mild infection to the mother but can be vertically transmitted to the developing fetus, causing congenital anomalies. The prevalence of ZIKV infections was relatively insignificant with sporadic outbreaks in the Asian and African continents until 2006. However, recent epidemic in the Caribbean showed significant increased incidence of Congenital Zika Syndrome. ZIKV infection results in placental pathology which plays a crucial role in disease transmission from mother to fetus. Currently, there is no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine or therapeutic drug against ZIKV. This review article summarizes the recent advances on ZIKV transmission and diagnosis and reviews nutraceuticals which can protect against the ZIKV infection. Further, we have reviewed recent advances related to the novel therapeutic nutrient molecules that have been shown to possess activity against Zika virus infected cells. We also review the mechanism of ZIKV-induced endoplasmic reticulum and apoptosis and the protective role of palmitoleate (nutrient molecule) against ZIKV-induced ER stress and apoptosis in the placental trophoblasts.
Juveniles are different: substrate selection in juvenile green lizards Lacerta bilineata

The relationship between a reptile and its thermal environment is a key feature of habitat use, which may be impacted by, among others, the requirements for food, avoidance of competitors and predators. Juvenile lizards are subject to the same ecological pressures, but may additionally experience predation or exclusion from prime basking site by adults and hence their capacity to achieve preferred body temperatures. In this paper, we examined basking site selection in juvenile western green lizards, Lacerta bilineata and compared them to basking site availability. Secondly, measurements of morning substrate temperatures at different basking sites were compared to basking site selection over the same period. The results indicated that juveniles selected substrates with fast heating surfaces, for example fallen branches for basking, in greater frequency than their availability but in even greater than expected frequency on the cooler surfaces of clusters of bramble plant. This finding contrasted with basking site selection in adult L. bilineata in a previous study where wood surfaces was preferred over non-wood surfaces whilst avoiding basking on bramble. This illustrates the different ecological requirements between adults and juveniles.
Study of the Reactions of H and D Atoms with Solid C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 at Cryogenic Temperatures

The reactions of the solid thin films of C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 deposited on the silicon substrate at 10 K with cold H and D atoms (~27 K) sprayed over the solid films were studied systematically by thermal desorption mass spectrometry and Fourier transform (FT)-IR spectroscopy. In the reaction of H with C2H2, C2H6 was found to be the major product but C2H4 could not be detected. This is because the first-step addition reaction H + C2H2 → C2H3 is the rate-controlling process, and the following reactions to form the final product C2H6 proceed much faster than the initial one. This finding is in accord with the observation of comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, i.e., C2H2 and C2H6 but no C2H4 were detected in the comas of these comets. In all the reactions investigated, the product yields increased drastically with decrease of temperature from 50 to 10 K. This is most likely to be due to the increase of the sticking probability of H and D atoms on the solid films at lower temperatures. This finding led us to conclude that the chemical evolution taking place on the dust grains via H-atom tunneling reactions becomes efficient only at cryogenic temperatures. The abstraction reaction of D with C2H6, D + C2H6 → DH + C2H5, was found to proceed much slower than the addition reactions of D with C2H4 and C2H2. The rates of reactions of solid C2 hydrocarbons with H atoms sprayed over the solid films were in the order of C2H4 ≫ C2H2 ≫ C2H6. The reactivity of D with C2H2 was considerably lower than that of H. Such a remarkable isotope effect was not found for C2H4.
A Mathematical Framework for Modelling Order Book Dynamics

We present a general framework for modelling the dynamics of limit order books, built on the combination of two modelling ingredients: the order flow, modelled as a general spatial point process, and market clearing, modelled via a deterministic mass transport operator acting on distributions of buy and sell orders. At the mathematical level, this corresponds to a natural decomposition of the infinitesimal generator describing the evolution of the limit order book into two operators: the generator of the order flow and the clearing operator. Our model provides a flexible framework for modelling and simulating order book dynamics and studying various scaling limits of discrete order book models. We show that our framework includes previous models as special cases and yields insights into the interplay between order flow and price dynamics.
Searching for a Relationship between Early Breastfeeding and Cognitive Development of Attention and Working Memory Capacity

Previous research consistently reported that subjects that were exclusively breastfed (eBF) vs. not-exclusively breastfed (neBF) during infancy (0–6 months) showed increased scores of general intelligence measures (e.g., the intelligence quotient). However, the existent literature largely neglected whether breastfeeding also affects specific cognitive processes, such as attention and working memory (WM) capacity. We tested whether eBF vs. neBF subjects showed performance differences in relation to these two core cognitive functions. The Attention Network Test (ANT), to measure alerting, orienting, and conflict, and the Change Colour Task (CCT), to measure visuospatial WM capacity, were administered to 144 participants divided according to age (6-, 10-, and 18-year-old participants) and breastfeeding (eBF or neBF during 0–6 months of life). Importantly, the sub-groups were homogenous in terms of maternal education, a factor potentially affecting the relation between breastfeeding and cognition. While we found increased performance as a function of participants’ age in both tasks, we failed to observe effects related to breastfeeding, as evidenced by Bayesian analyses. These findings highlight for the first time that the pattern of nutrition provided during early infancy does not appear to affect the development of attention and WM capacity, at least starting from the age considered in the present study.
Interaction of a Baroclinic Vortex with Background Shear: Application to Hurricane Movement.

Abstract Most extant studies of tropical cyclone movement consider a barotropic vortex on a β plane. However, observations have shown that real tropical cyclones are strongly baroclinic, with broad anticyclones aloft. Also, the distribution of the large-scale potential vorticity gradient in the tropical atmosphere is very nonuniform. These properties may substantially influence the movement of such storms. Note that the anticyclone above a hurricane will interact with the lower hurricane vortex and induce storm motion. Such interaction can be caused by both the direct effect of ambient vertical shear and the effect of vertical variation of the background potential vorticity gradient. In this paper, an attempt to isolate the effect of background vertical shear is made. The hurricane is represented in a two-layer quasigeostrophic model as a point source of mass and zero potential vorticity air in the upper layer, collocated with a point cyclone in the lower layer. The model is integrated by the method of co.
APPROXIMATION OF EXCEEDANCE PROCESSES IN LARGE POPULATIONS

We consider a population of n individuals. Each of these individuals generates a discrete time branching stochastic process. We study the number of ancestors S(n,t) whose offspring at time t exceeds level θ(t), where θ(t) is some positive valued function. It is proved that S(n,t) may be approximated as t → ∞ and n → ∞ by some stochastic processes with independent increments. AMS Subject Classification: Primary 60J80; Secondary 60G70, 60F05
Semigroups and rings whose zero products commute

Let S be a semigroup with zero 0 and let n ≥ 2. We say that S satisfies for each permutation σ ∈ S n A ring R satisfies ZCn if (.R, .) satisfies ZCn. We show that if S satisfies ZCn for a fixed n ≥ 3, then S also satisfies ZCn+1, but we give an example of a ring R with identity which satisfies ZC2 but does not satisfy ZC3 We show that a semigroup with no nonzero nilpotents satisfiesZCn for all n ≥ 2 and investigate rings that satisfy ZCn.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Mortgage Credit Market

: In order to avoid borrowers' over-indebtedness, Directive 2014/17/EU introduced the obligation to assess the creditworthiness prior to concluding a mortgage loan. To carry out this task, novel technological applications that use artificial intelligence and machine learning are emerging, as well as the use of alternative data, which ensures more predictive power. The purpose of this article is to analyze whether it is possible to use this technology in accordance with Directive 2014/17/EU and the General Data Protection Regulation. It also discusses the possible advantages and challenges that this technology may have
Active Control of Translating Media With Arbitrarily Varying Length

The general control laws for pointwise controllers to dissipate vibratory energies of translating beams and strings with arbitrarily varying length are presented. Special domain and boundary control laws that can be easily implemented result as a special case. Sufficient conditions for uniform stability and uniform exponential stability of controlled systems are established via Lyapunov stability criteria. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the active controllers in stabilizing translating media during both extension and retraction. Optimal gains leading to the fastest rates of decay of vibratory energies of controlled systems are identified. It is shown that under the optimal control gains, translating media can be completely stabilized during extension and retraction.
Vibrational Raman Spectroscopy of the Hydration Shell of Ions

Ionic perturbation of water has important implications in various chemical, biological and environmental processes. Previous studies revealed the structural and dynamical perturbation of water in the presence of ions, mainly with concentrated electrolyte solutions having significant interionic interactions. These investigations highlighted the need of selective extraction of the hydration shell water from a dilute electrolyte solution that is largely free from interionic interactions. Double-difference infrared (DDIR) and Raman multivariate curve resolution (Raman-MCR), as well as MD simulation, provided valuable insight in this direction, suggesting that the perturbed water mainly resides in the immediate vicinity of the ion, called the hydration shell. Recently, we have introduced Raman difference spectroscopy with simultaneous curve fitting (Raman-DS-SCF) analysis that can quantitatively extract the vibrational response of the perturbed water pertaining to the hydration shell of fully hydrated ions/solute. The DS-SCF analysis revealed novel hydrogen-bond (H-bond) structural features of hydration water, such as the existence of extremely weakly interacting water–OH (νmax ~ 3600 cm−1) in the hydration shell of high-charge-density metal ions (Mg2+, Dy3+). In addition, Raman-DS-SCF retrieves the vibrational response of the shared water in the water–shared-ion pair (WSIP), which is different from the hydration shell water of either the interacting cation and anion. Herein, we discuss the perturbation of water H-bonding in the immediate vicinity of cation, anion, zwitterion and hydrophobes and also the inter-ionic interactions, with a focus on the recent results from our laboratory using Raman-DS-SCF spectroscopy.
Functional Integrals in Statistical Physics

The radiation field is used as an example for functional integration calculations. Calculations of fluctuations of both thermal and quantum origin are given. The Landau-Ginzburg functional is used to define the concept of mean function. Fluctuations about the mean functions are discussed. The formal notation of functional integration is used to obtain the statistical-mechanics analog of Noether's theorem. The approach is heuristic, rather than rigorous, throughout.
Real‐Time Seismogeodetic Earthquake Magnitude Estimates for Local Tsunami Warnings

We estimate a seismogeodetic earthquake moment magnitude using unclipped, broadband velocity and displacement waveforms from collocated Global Navigation Satellite Systems and seismic stations located within 800 km epicentral distance for nine 7.2 < Mw ${M}_{w}$ < 9.1 earthquakes. We consider the vertical component of seismogeodetic displacement as an approximate source time function and integrate the associated time series to obtain the seismic moment. By continuing to integrate vertical displacement beyond the initial P‐waves, we obtain rapid estimates of Mw ${M}_{w}$ that are within 0.2 magnitude units for 8 thrust faulting events and within 0.3 units for the single normal faulting event. Because our estimates of the seismic moment are based on the maximum value of integrated displacement, no regression against other source parameters, or distance, is necessary. Our new method shows promise for integration into earthquake and local tsunami early warning systems, including tsunami earthquakes characterized by relatively slow moment release over a longer rupture time, and earthquakes with complex source time functions.