Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Efficient and Accurate Detectors With Dynamic Knowledge Distillation in Remote Sensing Imagery

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have brought a tremendous increase in detection accuracy, but too cumbersome model makes them hard to deploy on low computation edge devices, such as satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. A promising method to tackle this problem is knowledge distillation (KD), which makes models lightweight with satisfactory accuracy. For remote sensing images, the objects are usually environment-related and located in a cluttered scene. The features that objects’ semantic information relies on are tangled. However, existing distillation methods only imitate feature distribution derived from regions, including objects resulting in poor performance. Furthermore, masses of instances generated by teachers are blindly inherited, even if some of them are outliers. In this article, we propose a general and effective KD framework called dynamic knowledge distillation (DKD). First, our framework leverages the dynamic global distillation (GD) module to discover valuable regions from the foreground and background for multiscale features imitation, avoiding ignoring the potential geographical spatial relationship. Second, we propose a dynamic instance selection distillation (ISD) module to give students the ability of self-judgment through the magnitude of detection loss. Third, toward more accurate handling of hard samples in regression, a training-status-aware loss is tailored to guide students mine knowledge about objects with large aspect ratio or small size. Extensive experiments are conducted to show the effectiveness of DKD framework. The detection results on DOTA and NWPU VHR-10 dataset illustrate that our method is suitable for single-stage, two-stage and even anchor-free detectors. It shows the state-of-the-art performance. The code will be publicly available.
OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This study investigates the effect of ownership structure on the financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in three Sub-Saharan Africa countries (Nigeria, Kenya and South–Africa) based on the critical mass indices of their respective bourse. Relevant data from the financial reports of sampled firms were analyzed using the co-integration test and the system-GMM for a period 2010-2019 using Return on Asset, and Tobin-Q as dependent variables while government ownership, block ownership and institutional ownership concentrations were explanatory variables. The empirical results revealed that all the explanatory variables have significant effect on the performance indicators (ROA, TOBIN Q). The result of robustness checks also revealed that both government and institutional ownership concentrations have predominately negative effect on financial performance for the respective countries while block ownership concentration is largely positive for most of the manufacturing firms. The study recommends that policy makers should create favorable policies to encourage balanced investment from all categories of investors and ensure only few owners who have the wherewithal to diversify and attract skills and competencies to improve firm performance. Government should also retain some ownership in foreign and local firms to enhance shareholders’ confidence
Solar energy conversion properties and defect physics of ZnSiP2

Implementation of an optically active material on silicon has been a persistent technological challenge. For tandem photovoltaics using a Si bottom cell, as well as for other optoelectronic applications, there has been a longstanding need for optically active, wide band gap materials that can be integrated with Si. ZnSiP2 is a stable, wide band gap (2.1 eV) material that is lattice matched with silicon and comprised of inexpensive elements. As we show in this paper, it is also a defect-tolerant material. Here, we report the first ZnSiP2 photovoltaic device. We show that ZnSiP2 has excellent photoresponse and high open circuit voltage of 1.3 V, as measured in a photoelectrochemical configuration. The high voltage and low band gap-voltage offset are on par with much more mature wide band gap III–V materials. Photoluminescence data combined with theoretical defect calculations illuminate the defect physics underlying this high voltage, showing that the intrinsic defects in ZnSiP2 are shallow and the minority carrier lifetime is 7 ns. These favorable results encourage the development of ZnSiP2 and related materials as photovoltaic absorber materials.
Studies on ultrawideband filters using stub‐loaded circular and triangular resonators

Compact UWB bandpass filters using stub‐loaded ring and triangular resonators fed with capacitive‐ended interdigital coupled lines are proposed. The proposed structures are fed with capacitive‐ended interdigital coupled lines. The measured insertion loss for ring resonator filter is 1.0 dB and that for triangular resonator is 2.0 dB with corresponding group delays of 0.6 and 0.3 ns, respectively. These filters show sharp transitions at the edges of the UWB passband and improved out‐of‐band performance. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement and satisfy the FCC mask for indoor applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 2917–2922, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23834
Stability and stabilisation of doubly-fed single-frame cascade induction machines

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of the dynamic performance of a doubly-fed single-frame cascade induction machine which can operate synchronously from rest over a wide speed range. The dynamic electromechanical-system equations are developed and theoretical performance boundaries for stable operation are found and compared with experimental results. The nature of its instability and an easily implemented feedback control which stabilises its operation are both described. It is shown that the machine can be operated as a stable variable-speed brushless machine with controllable dynamic response. Its mechanical construction is potentially only a little more complicated than that of a squirrel-cage induction machine.
Vibration characteristics of the capillary in ultrasonic wire bonders

Abstract Currently ultrasonic wire bonders with precision capillary tips are widely used in the packaging industry for bonding wires to ICs and circuits. However, the quality and strength of a bond are affected significantly by the vibration of the bonding capillary. It is, therefore, necessary to study the vibration characteristics of the capillary for better understanding and for developing a non-perturbative and low-cost monitoring device for improving bonding quality control. In this paper, the vibration characteristics of the capillary are presented in terms of natural frequency and vibration modes using finite-element models. The predicted displacement profile along the capillary is compared with the measurement using a non-contact laser interferometer. In general, a good agreement between the prediction and measurement is obtained, and it shows that the interferometer may be a good monitoring tool for characterization of capillary tip vibration, as well as providing a reference for other monitoring devices.
Human visual gamma for color stimuli: When LGN drive is equalized, red is not special

Strong gamma-band oscillations in primate early visual cortex can be induced by spatially homogeneous, high-contrast stimuli, such as color surfaces. Compared to other hues, particularly strong gamma oscillations have been reported for red stimuli. However, precortical color processing and the resultant strength of input to V1 has often not been fully controlled for. This leaves the possibility that stronger responses to some hues were due to differences in V1 input strength. We presented stimuli that had equal luminance and color contrast levels in a color coordinate system based on color responses of the lateral geniculate nucleus, the main input source for area V1. With these stimuli, we recorded magnetoencephalography in 30 human subjects. We found narrowband color-induced gamma oscillations in early visual cortex, which, contrary to previous reports, did not differ between red and green stimuli of equal L-M cone contrast. Notably, blue stimuli with contrast exclusively on the S-cone axis induced very weak gamma responses, as well as smaller event-related fields and poorer change detection performance. The strength of human color gamma responses could be well explained by the strength of thalamic input induced by each hue and does not show a clear red bias when this input strength is properly equalized.
Effect of saturation caused by amplified spontaneous emission on semiconductor optical amplifier performance

The authors have investigated theoretically the effect of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) on the spatial distribution of the carrier density. Measures of the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) performance, such as gain, saturation power and noise figure are derived. It is shown that the saturation due to the ASE strongly affects the SOA performance for device lengths >500 /spl mu/m. The results are compared with experimental data and found to be in good agreement.
Marine Growth on North Sea Fixed Steel Platforms: Insights From the Decommissioning Industry

It is reputed in the Oil & Gas industry that marine growth is overestimated in the North Sea. Can we quantify this overestimation to better tackle the challenges marine growth incurs? This paper provides insight into the intrinsic and diverse nature of marine growth. It documents the biofouling development and the factors that affect it globally. Focus is made on fixed steel platforms in the North Sea approaching the end of their economic lives. A methodology to quantify the weight of marine growth is proposed and illustrated. 28 years after its installation, the weight of marine growth accumulated on Valhall 2/4G jacket located in Southern North Sea is evaluated based on the proposed method. It is confirmed that the current regulations overestimate the weight of marine growth in the North Sea.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Turning end-joining upside down in mitosis

ABSTRACT How cells deal with DNA breaks during mitosis is not well understood. While canonical non-homologous end-joining predominates in interphase, it is inhibited in mitosis to avoid telomere fusions. DNA polymerase θ mediated end-joining appears to be repressed in interphase, but promotes break repair in mitosis. The nature and induction time of breaks might determine their fate during mitosis.
From RCM to predictive maintenance: The InteGRail approach

Taking advantage of semantically enriched condition information, a new approach in the deployment of maintenance processes becomes possible, which can start a migration from time/mileage based maintenance intervals to maintenance that is prioritised based on condition. This is one of the aims of the InteGRail project, an integrated project partially funded by the European commission and led by UNIFE. The project general aim is to show how better information exchange can bring to increased performance of the railway system, following a holistic approach, which involves all areas: rolling stock, infrastructure, train operation and traffic management. Using ontology based RCM data (see also papers on "ontology driven railway RCM data integration" and "engineering knowledge-based condition analysers for on-board intelligent fault classification: a case study"), the project investigated how it can support existing and new methodologies, particularly in the maintenance field, identifying how existing and new applications can be integrated together for better cooperation, using a standard backbone. A major results is that all applications have been based on a common architecture, enabling easier and cheaper interoperability of information systems. This implied to extend the ontology in order to properly express the maintenance processes and support a number of maintenance applications, e.g. the unplanned event manager and the predictive maintenance server. Some key demonstration scenarios, based on prototypes working in real-life condition, are being implemented in order to prove that the concepts can be successfully implemented and that they can bring the expected results. Final delivery is planned at the end of year 2008.
HBV co-infection is associated with persistently elevated liver stiffness measurement in HIV-positive adults: A 6-year single-centre cohort study in Nigeria

Background In Nigeria, the effect of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) on long-term liver outcomes in persons with HIV (PLH) has not been described. We determined changes in liver stiffness measure (LSM) using transient elastography over 6 years in HIV mono-infected and HIV-HBV co-infected Nigerians initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) and factors associated with LSM decline. Methods This single centre, cohort study enrolled ART-naïve HIV mono- and HIV-HBV co-infected adults (≥18 years) at the APIN Public Health Initiatives–supported HIV Care and Treatment Centre at Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, from 7/2011 to 2/2012. LSM at baseline, Years 3 and 6 were analysed using longitudinal models to estimate changes over time and their predictors. Results Data from 100 (31%) HIV-HBV co-infected and 225 (69%) HIV mono-infected participants were analysed. Median LSM at baseline was 6.10 (IQR: 4.60–7.90) kPa in co-infected and 5.10 (IQR: 4.40–6.10) kPa in mono-infected participants. In adjusted analyses, average LSM was not significantly different between Year 0 and 3 (β = 0.02, −0.22 to 0.26, p = 0.87 and Year 0 and 6 (β = −0.02, −0.23 to 0.27, p = 0.88) in both groups (p>0.05), but co-infected participants had significantly higher LSM than mono-infected throughout follow-up (β = 0.018, 0.019–0.28, p < 0.001). Year 3 LSM differed according to ART initiation status by Year 3 (initiators - non-initiators: −0.87, −1.70 to −0.29). Conclusion In this cohort, LSM remained higher among HIV-HBV co-infected versus HIV mono-infected participants throughout follow-up. Our findings emphasize the continuing need for monitoring of liver outcomes in HIV-HBV co-infected populations on ART and the importance of preventing HBV infection among PLH to optimize liver health.
Analysis of a reset-free polarization controller for fast automatic polarization stabilization in fiber-optic transmission systems

We analyze the operation of a reset-free polarization controller comprising three endlessly rotatable wave plates: a first quarter-wave plate followed by a half-wave plate and a second quarter-wave plate, which is rotated synchronously with the first quarter-wave plate. We show that for any arbitrary angular offset between the two quarter-wave plates; the controller allows continuous, reset-free transformations from any varying general input state of polarization into any general output state. An integrated-optic realization of this scheme on z-propagation LiNbO/sub 3/ offers control speeds that well exceed the speed of natural polarization fluctuations in standard single-mode fibers, thus allowing fast automatic polarization stabilization in fiber-optic transmission systems. >
Thawing rate and heating temperature effects on immunoglobulin A and lysozyme activity in human milk

BackgroundThe rate of infants receiving frozen HM is increasing, allowing critically ill preterm infants and infants with working mothers to benefit from the advantages of their mother's milk. The effects of thawing and warming on secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and lysozyme activity in frozen human milk (HM) should be investigated to identify optimal methods for preserving immune factors in frozen HM.MethodsForty mothers that delivered full-term infants provided milk that was frozen and stored at -18°C two months before analyses. We compared the methods involving placing the container in a 4°C refrigerator overnight (slow thawing, ST) and placing it in a container of warm water (rapid thawing, RT). Additionally, we investigated the effect of warming temperature using room temperature (25°C) and physiological temperature (37°C). SIgA concentrations and lysozyme activities in the milk samples were determined by ELISA kits and fluorometric lysozyme activity assay kits, respectively. Data were analyzed by paired t-tests.ResultsSIgA concentrations and lysozyme activity were reduced by 16.5-52.1% and 16.8-39.3% in frozen HM compared to fresh HM, respectively. Significantly higher SIgA concentrations were maintained with slow thawing and warming at 37°C than with rapid thawing and warming at 25°C (p <0.001). Greater lysozyme activity was retained at 25°C with slow thawing than with rapid thawing (p <0.001) and more was preserved at 25°C than at 37°C with slow thawing (p <0.01). ConclusionsThawing HM overnight in the refrigerator before warming has the potential to preserve SIgA levels and lysozyme activity better than thawing immediately after removal from the freezer. Broader temperatures ranges should be analyzed to determine the temperature that minimizes HM SIgA and lysozyme activity losses.Trial registrationNot applicable
Feasibility of performance measurement system for supply chain: a process‐based approach and measures

Nowadays more than ever, supply chain management has gained a tremendous amount of attention from both the academic and practitioner communities. It provides a revolutionary management philosophy to cope with the increasing business competition and economy globalization. However, there exist many puzzles, especially in structure mapping and analysis, and performance measurement. The objective of this paper is to propose a process‐based approach to mapping and analyzing the practically complex supply chain network. Via this approach, a process‐based performance measurement system is proposed, in which a method called performance of activity is used to identify the performance measures and metrics.
Sustainable construction management: introduction of the operational context space (OCS)

Sustainable construction is an emerging field of science that aims at incorporating the general sustainable development concepts into conventional construction practices. While the foundation of knowledge in this field is continuously expanding, sustainable construction is not yet standard industry practice. One major technical barrier that hinders enacting sustainable construction is the absence of an application framework that integrates both sustainability and construction practices at an operational level. This shortcoming is being addressed through a three‐dimensional operational context space (OCS) that achieves the sought integration aspect. The three dimensions of OCS are: (1) project life cycle phases; (2) project executing entities; and (3) sustainability performance parameters. Such OCS facilitates the association of responsibility, by assigning each sustainability requirement to a specific project entity (or entities) during specific project phase(s), and further provides a numerical assessment for construction projects using sustainability as a criterion. Steps of constructing the OCS and how it could be employed in the evaluation and benchmarking of a project's environmental performance are examined, along with sample illustrations in the area of construction waste management.
An Experimental Evaluation of an Atomization-Based Cutting Fluid Application System for Micromachining

An atomization-based cutting fluid application system is developed for micro-end milling. The system was designed to ensure spreading of the droplets on the workpiece surface based on the analysis of the atomized droplet impingement dynamics. The results of the initial experiments conducted to examine the viability of the system show that the cutting forces are lower and tool life is significantly improved with the atomized cutting fluids when compared to dry and flood cooling methods. Also, application of atomized cutting fluid is found to result in good chip evacuation and lower cutting temperature. Experiments were also conducted to study the effect of fluid properties on cutting performance, and the results show that cutting fluids with lower surface tension and higher viscosity perform better in terms of cutting forces.
Model for Predicting Financial Performance of Development and Construction Corporations

Performance forecasting is central to aligning an organization’s operations with its strategic direction. Despite the panoply of approaches to performance predictions, relatively few published studies address model development of financial performance predictions for the construction industry. By analyzing the preceding relationship between financial and economic variables and financial performance, this paper proposes an innovative approach to predicting firm financial performance. First, hypothesis tests using data for 42 development and construction corporations listed in the construction sector of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1997 Q1 and 2006 Q4 uncover useful relationships between financial performance and financial and economic variables. Second, based on these relationships, a three-stage mathematical modeling procedure is used for cross-sectional model estimation, which is subsequently refined to create firm-specific financial performance-forecasting models for four sample firms. The out-of-s.
Transmission of energy down periodically ribbed elastic structures under fluid loading: spatialperiodicity in the pass bands

The paper develops studies of the transmission of energy down a periodically ribbed elastic structure under fluid loading. The form of the coupling between ribs depends on the properties of the Green's function which comprises a subsonic component (Gs) and an acoustic component (Ga). With neglect of Ga there is only local coupling from rib to neighbouring rib and existing results have shown that a frequency pass–/stop–band structure is formed. In a stop band, energy is exponentially localized around a source of excitation, while in a pass band, energy is transmitted without attenuation but with considerable fluctuation in amplitude. The present study concentrates on the general response in the pass bands with, and without, the long–range fluid coupling provided by Ga. The general response of the structure is measured by the force exerted on the membrane at each rib location. Here we demonstrate the existence of solutions where the response is periodic along the rib array. If the Green's function is constructed so that M ribs are coupled by the fluid, then an (M − 1) × (M − 1) propagation matrix can be formed which relates a vector of (M − 1) forces at neighbouring ribs to an adjacent vector. Formulation of the solution in this way demonstrates the existence of periodic solutions and allows the period of the solution to be determined as a function of frequency. Results of direct numerical simulation of the response of large arrays are used to confirm these analytical predictions.