Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Currents Induced by Injected Charge in Junction Detectors

The problem of drifting charge-induced currents is considered in order to predict the pulsed operational characteristics in photo- and particle-detectors with a junction controlled active area. The direct analysis of the field changes induced by drifting charge in the abrupt junction devices with a plane-parallel geometry of finite area electrodes is presented. The problem is solved using the one-dimensional approach. The models of the formation of the induced pulsed currents have been analyzed for the regimes of partial and full depletion. The obtained solutions for the current density contain expressions of a velocity field dependence on the applied voltage, location of the injected surface charge domain and carrier capture parameters. The drift component of this current coincides with Ramo's expression. It has been illustrated, that the synchronous action of carrier drift, trapping, generation and diffusion can lead to a vast variety of possible current pulse waveforms. Experimental illustrations of the current pulse variations determined by either the rather small or large carrier density within the photo-injected charge domain are presented, based on a study of Si detectors.
A fast 2D tissue motion estimator based on the phase of the intensity enables visualization of the propagation of the longitudinal movement in the carotid artery wall

A fast 2D motion estimator has been developed and evaluated. The method does not utilize block-matching or iterative solutions and is thus more computationally efficient and suitable for real-time motion estimation over the entire image. The method has been evaluated on 1) phantom measurements and 2) in vivo on the carotid artery wall of 17 subjects, where measurements of the longitudinal displacement of the intima-media complex were compared to our previously validated method. The mean error of the phantom measurements was 2.0±3.3% (velocities between 2-15 mm/s; approx. 60 million estimations). In the in vivo measurements the mean difference (validated-proposed) was 18±44μm. Further the method has enabled visualization of the propagation of the longitudinal movement in the carotid artery wall. Several different phases of the longitudinal propagation, which seem to be connected to the multi-phasic pattern of the longitudinal movement, can be seen. All phases of the longitudinal propagation seem to originate from the direction of the heart.
Saturated double‐angle method for rapid B1+ mapping

For in vivo magnetic resonance imaging at high field (≥3 T) it is essential to consider the homogeneity of the active B1 field (B1+), particularly if surface coils are used for RF transmission. A new method is presented for highly rapid B1+ magnitude mapping. It combines the double angle method with a B1‐insensitive magnetization‐reset sequence such that the choice of repetition time (TR) is independent of T1 and with a multislice segmented (spiral) acquisition to achieve volumetric coverage with adequate spatial resolution in a few seconds. Phantom experiments confirmed the accuracy of this technique even when TR ≪ T1, with the side effect being lowered SNR. The speed of this method enabled B1+ mapping in the chest and abdomen within a single breath‐hold. In human cardiac imaging, the method enabled whole‐heart coverage within a single 16‐s breath‐hold. Results from phantoms and healthy volunteers at 1.5 T and 3 T are presented. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stack Evaluation of Arbitrary Set-Associative Multiprocessor Caches

We propose a simple solution to the problem of efficient stack evaluation of LRU multiprocessor cache memories with arbitrary set-associative mapping. It is an extension of the existing stack evaluation techniques for all set-associative LRU uniprocessor caches. Special marker entries are used in the stack to represent data blocks (or lines) deleted by an invalidation-based cache coherence protocol. A method of marker-splitting is employed when a data block below a marker in the stack is accessed. Using this technique, one-pass trace evaluation of memory access trace yields hit ratios for all cache sizes and set-associative mappings of multiprocessor caches in a single pass over a memory reference trace. Simulation experiments on some multiprocessor trace data show an order-of-magnitude speed-up in simulation time using this one-pass technique. >
Rhizobial Inoculation Increases Soil Microbial Functioning and Gum Arabic Production of 13-Year-Old Senegalia senegal (L.) Britton, Trees in the North Part of Senegal

Rhizobial inoculation has been widely used in controlled conditions as a substitute for chemical fertilizers to increase plants growth and productivity. However, very little is known about such effects on mature trees in natural habitats. In this study, we investigated the effect of rhizobial inoculation on soil total microbial biomass, mineral nitrogen content, potential CO2 respiration, fluorescein diacetate (FDA), acid phosphatase activities, and gum arabic production by 13-year-old Senegalia senegal (synonym: Acacia senegal) under natural conditions in the north part of Senegal during two consecutive years. Rhizobial inoculation was performed at the beginning of the rainy season (July) for both years with a cocktail of four strains (CIRADF 300, CIRADF 301, CIRADF 302, and CIRADF 303). Rhizospheric soils were collected in both dry and rainy seasons to a depth of 0–25 cm under uninoculated and inoculated trees. Trees were tapped in November (beginning of dry season) using traditional tools. Gum arabic was harvested every 15 days from December to March. The results obtained from both years demonstrated that rhizobial inoculation increased significantly the percentage of trees producing gum arabic, gum arabic production per tree, soil microbial biomass, FDA, and acid phosphatase activities. However, there was no significant effect on C mineralization and mineral nitrogen (N) content. Gum arabic production was positively correlated to rainfall, soil microbial biomass, and mineral nitrogen content. Our results showed a positive effect of rhizobial inoculation on soil microbial functioning and gum arabic production by mature S. senegal trees. These important findings deserve to be conducted in several contrasting sites in order to improve gum arabic production and contribute to increase rural population incomes.
Rapid Turnover of Effector–Memory CD4+ T Cells in Healthy Humans

Memory T cells can be divided into central–memory (TCM) and effector–memory (TEM) cells, which differ in their functional properties. Although both subpopulations can persist long term, it is not known whether they are maintained by similar mechanisms. We used in vivo labeling with deuterated glucose to measure the turnover of CD4+ T cells in healthy humans. The CD45R0+CCR7− TEM subpopulation was shown to have a rapid proliferation rate of 4.7% per day compared with 1.5% per day for CD45R0+CCR7+ TCM cells; these values are equivalent to average intermitotic (doubling) times of 15 and 48 d, respectively. In contrast, the CD45RA+CCR7+ naive CD4+ T cell population was found to be much longer lived, being labeled at a rate of only 0.2% per day (corresponding to an intermitotic time of approximately 1 yr). These data indicate that human CD4+ TEM cells constitute a short-lived cell population that requires continuous replenishment in vivo.
Scattering vs. discrete cosine transform features in visual speech processing

Appearance-based feature extraction constitutes the dominant approach for visual speech representation in a variety of problems, such as automatic speechreading, visual speech detection, and others. To obtain the necessary visual features, typically a rectangular region-of-interest (ROI) containing the speaker’s mouth is first extracted, followed, most commonly, by a discrete cosine transform (DCT) of the ROI pixel values and a feature selection step. The approach, although algorithmically simple and computationally efficient, suffers from lack of DCT invariance to typical ROI deformations, stemming, primarily, from speaker’s head pose variability and small tracking inaccuracies. To address the problem, in this paper, the recently introduced scattering transform is investigated as an alternative to DCT within the appearance-based framework for ROI representation, suitable for visual speech applications. A number of such tasks are considered, namely, visual-only speech activity detection, visual-only and audio-visual sub-phonetic classification, as well as audio-visual speech synchrony detection, all employing deep neural network classifiers with either DCT or scattering-based visual features. Comparative experiments of the resulting systems are conducted on a large audio-visual corpus of frontal face videos, demonstrating, in all cases, the scattering transform superiority over the DCT.
STENOFOLIA Regulates Blade Outgrowth and Leaf Vascular Patterning in Medicago truncatula and Nicotiana sylvestris[C][W][OA]

This study shows that a WUSCHEL-like gene, STENOFOLIA (STF), is required for blade outgrowth, and its deletion accounts for the classical bladeless lam1 phenotype of tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris). STF confers morphogenetic competence to leaf primordial margins and coordinates auxin/cytokinin homeostasis and hormone crosstalk with sugar metabolism, integrating metabolic and developmental signals. Dicot leaf primordia initiate at the flanks of the shoot apical meristem and extend laterally by cell division and cell expansion to form the flat lamina, but the molecular mechanism of lamina outgrowth remains unclear. Here, we report the identification of STENOFOLIA (STF), a WUSCHEL-like homeobox transcriptional regulator, in Medicago truncatula, which is required for blade outgrowth and leaf vascular patterning. STF belongs to the MAEWEST clade and its inactivation by the transposable element of Nicotiana tabacum cell type1 (Tnt1) retrotransposon insertion leads to abortion of blade expansion in the mediolateral axis and disruption of vein patterning. We also show that the classical lam1 mutant of Nicotiana sylvestris, which is blocked in lamina formation and stem elongation, is caused by deletion of the STF ortholog. STF is expressed at the adaxial–abaxial boundary layer of leaf primordia and governs organization and outgrowth of lamina, conferring morphogenetic competence. STF does not affect formation of lateral leaflets but is critical to their ability to generate a leaf blade. Our data suggest that STF functions by modulating phytohormone homeostasis and crosstalk directly linked to sugar metabolism, highlighting the importance of coordinating metabolic and developmental signals for leaf elaboration.
Multiplexed gene control reveals rapid mRNA turnover

Researchers develop a new method to show that messenger RNA molecules live much shorter lives in the cell than previously thought. The rates of mRNA synthesis and decay determine the mRNA expression level. The two processes are under coordinated control, which makes the measurements of these rates challenging, as evidenced by the low correlation among the methods of measurement of RNA half-lives. We developed a minimally invasive method, multiplexed gene control, to shut off expression of genes with controllable synthetic promoters. The method was validated by measuring the ratios of the nascent to mature mRNA molecules and by measuring the half-life with endogenous promoters that can be controlled naturally or through inserting short sequences that impart repressibility. The measured mRNA half-lives correlated highly with those obtained with the metabolic pulse-labeling method in yeast. However, mRNA degradation was considerably faster in comparison to previous estimates, with a median half-life of around 2 min. The half-life permits the estimation of promoter-dependent and promoter-independent transcription rates. The dynamical range of the promoter-independent transcription rates was larger than that of the mRNA half-lives. The rapid mRNA turnover and the broad adjustability of promoter-independent transcription rates are expected to have a major impact on stochastic gene expression and gene network behavior.
Partial Order Reduction for Security Protocols

Security protocols are concurrent processes that communicate using cryptography with the aim of achieving various security properties. Recent work on their formal verification has brought procedures and tools for deciding trace equivalence properties (e.g., anonymity, unlinkability, vote secrecy) for a bounded number of sessions. However, these procedures are based on a naive symbolic exploration of all traces of the considered processes which, unsurprisingly, greatly limits the scalability and practical impact of the verification tools. In this paper, we overcome this difficulty by developing partial order reduction techniques for the verification of security protocols. We provide reduced transition systems that optimally eliminate redundant traces, and which are adequate for model-checking trace equivalence properties of protocols by means of symbolic execution. We have implemented our reductions in the tool Apte, and demonstrated that it achieves the expected speedup on various protocols.
ImageGREP: fast visual pattern matching in image databases

Most current image retrieval systems use holistic comparison that require a global match between images or presegmented object in images. However, often the user of an image database system is interested in a local match between images. For example, `Find images from the database with something like this anywhere in the image,' or `Fine images with something like this in some region of any image in the database,' or `Find images with this spatial configuration of regions like this. ' In this paper, we provide an overview of a new framework that should help to allow these types of queries to be answered efficiently. In order to illustrate the usefulness of our framework, we have developed a complete image retrieval system based on local color information. Our system features fully automatic insertion and very efficient query execution, rivaling the efficiency of systems that can only handle global image comparisons. The query execution engine, called the ImageGREP Engine, can process queries at a speed of approximately 3000 images per second (or better) on a standard workstation when the index can be stored in main memory. In the future, we believe our framework should be used in other domains and applications, to handle queries based on texture or other material properties and perhaps domain specific image properties.
Large Changes in Sea Ice Triggered by Small Changes in Atlantic Water Temperature

The sensitivity of sea ice to the temperature of inflowing Atlantic water across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge is investigated using an eddy-resolving configuration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model with idealized topography. During the last glacial period, when climate on Greenland is known to have been extremely unstable, sea ice is thought to have covered the Nordic seas. The dramatic excursions in climate during this period, seen as large abrupt warming events on Greenland and known as Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events, are proposed to have been caused by a rapid retreat of Nordic seas sea ice. Here, we show that a full sea ice cover and Arctic-like stratification can exist in the Nordic seas given a sufficiently cold Atlantic inflow and corresponding low transport of heat across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. Once sea ice is established, continued sea ice formation and melt efficiently freshens the surface ocean and makes the deeper layers more saline. This creates a strong salinity stratification in the Nordic seas, similar to today’s Arctic Ocean, with a cold fresh surface layer protecting the overlying sea ice from the warm Atlantic water below. There is a nonlinear response in Nordic seas sea ice to Atlantic water temperature with simulated large abrupt changes in sea ice given small changes in inflowing temperature. This suggests that the DO events were more likely to have occurred during periods of reduced warm Atlantic water inflow to the Nordic seas.
An Adaptive Subpixel Mapping Method Based on MAP Model and Class Determination Strategy for Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Imagery

The subpixel mapping technique can specify the spatial distribution of different categories at the subpixel scale by converting the abundance map into a higher resolution image, based on the assumption of spatial dependence. Traditional subpixel mapping algorithms only utilize the low-resolution image obtained by the classification image downsampling and do not consider the spectral unmixing error, which is difficult to account for in real applications. In this paper, to improve the accuracy of the subpixel mapping, an adaptive subpixel mapping method based on a maximum a posteriori (MAP) model and a winner-take-all class determination strategy, namely, AMCDSM, is proposed for hyperspectral remote sensing imagery. In AMCDSM, to better simulate a real remote sensing scene, the low-resolution abundance images are obtained by the spectral unmixing method from the downsampled original image or real low-resolution images. The MAP model is extended by considering the spatial prior models (Laplacian, total variation (TV), and bilateral TV) to obtain the high-resolution subpixel distribution map. To avoid the setting of the regularization parameter, an adaptive parameter selection method is designed to acquire the optimal subpixel mapping results. In addition, in AMCDSM, to take into account the spectral unmixing error in real applications, a winner-take-all strategy is proposed to achieve a better subpixel mapping result. The proposed method was tested on simulated, synthetic, and real hyperspectral images, and the experimental results demonstrate that the AMCDSM algorithm outperforms the traditional subpixel mapping methods and provides a simple and efficient algorithm to regularize the ill-posed subpixel mapping problem.
Controllable fabrication of ultrathin free-standing graphene films

Graphene free-standing film-like or paper-like materials have attracted great attention due to their intriguing electronic, optical and mechanical properties and potential application in chemical filters, molecular storage and supercapacitors. Although significant progress has been made in fabricating graphene films or paper, there is still no effective method targeting ultrathin free-standing graphene films (UFGFs). Here, we present a modified filtration assembly method to prepare these ultrathin films. With this approach, we have fabricated a series of ultrathin free-standing graphene oxide films and UFGFs, up to 40 mm in diameter, with controllable thickness from micrometre to nanoscale (approx. 40 nm) dimensions. This method can be easily scaled up and the films display excellent optical, electrical and electrochemical properties. The ability to produce UFGFs from graphene oxide with a scalable, low-cost approach should take us a step closer to real-world applications of graphene.
Hydrothermal evolution of the morphology, molecular composition, and distribution of organic matter in CR (Renazzo‐type) chondrites

The morphology, molecular composition, and distribution of organic matter (OM) were investigated in a suite of CR chondrites to better constrain its hydrothermal evolution. Multiple focused ion beam sections were extracted from the matrices of seven CR chondrites. Scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy and transmission electron microscopy reveal OM ubiquitously distributed across the CR matrices. OM mainly occurs as either discrete submicron rounded or irregularly shaped vein‐like particles. Two spectral populations of organic particles were identified by carbon K‐edge X‐ray absorption near edge structure (XANES): the most abundant one, similar to insoluble organic matter (IOM) residues, contains aromatic, carbonyl, and carboxylic groups. The second population is more aromatic‐rich and lacks a distinctive carbonyl peak. An additional, ubiquitous organic component occurs associated with amorphous silicates and phyllosilicates. Less aromatic but aliphatic‐ and carboxylic‐rich, this diffuse OM is interpreted as the result of the redistribution of organic compounds by aqueous fluids. The most altered CR1 GRO 95577 contains a more mature OM and highly aliphatic‐ and carboxylic‐rich diffuse OM. This evolution, from the CR2s to the CR1, is comparable to that of terrestrial gas shale maturation involving cracking reactions, releasing bitumen‐like, aliphatic‐, and carboxylic‐rich compounds, and aromatic residues. Our observations support the accretion of soluble OM and its later polymerization to IOM, as well as the maturation of IOM and its partial oxidation, releasing mobile compounds. The differences in GRO 95577 are clearly attributable to the hydrothermal episode(s), but the relative role of water and temperature on the evolution of OM remains elusive.
Image Retrieval using Long-Term Semantic Learning

The automatic computation of features for content-based image retrieval still has difficulties to represent the concepts the user has in mind. Whenever an additional learning strategy (such as relevance feedback) can improve the results of the search, the system performances still depend on the representation of the image collection. We introduce in this paper a supervised optimization of a set of feature vectors. According to an incomplete set of partial labels, the method improves the representation of the image collection, even if the size, the number, and the structure of the concepts are unknown. Experiments have been carried out on a large general database in order to validate our approach.
Extracting Contextual Evaluativity

Recent work on evaluativity or sentiment in the language sciences has focused on the contributions that lexical items provide. In this paper, we discuss contextual evaluativity, stance that is inferred from lexical meaning and pragmatic environments. Focusing on assessor-grounding claims like We liked him because he so clearly disliked Margaret Thatcher, we build a corpus and construct a system employing compositional principles of evaluativity calculation to derive that we dislikes Margaret Thatcher. The resulting system has an F-score of 0.90 on our dataset, outperforming reasonable baselines, and indicating the viability of inferencing in the evaluative domain.
Environmental performance of bioethanol production from oil palm frond petiole sugars in an integrated palm biomass biorefinery

Generation of biofuels from renewable resources such as lignocellulosic biomass is a promising approach to reduce the sole reliability on the depleting fossil fuel. The aim of this work is to assess the potential environmental impact of bioethanol production from oil palm frond in a conceptual oil palm based biorefinery model, utilizing wet disc milling as a pretreatment method. A cradle-to-gate approach was selected, beginning with the harvesting and transportation of the frond petiole from the plantation, followed by production of oil palm frond petiole sugars via pretreatment and saccharification prior to bioethanol fermentation, and finally purification of the fermentation products to obtain anhydrous bioethanol. A life cycle assessment was performed using CML 2 baseline 2000 method (SimaPro v8.0), where ten impact categories were evaluated. It was found that the most significant environmental impact was from sugar recovery process with contribution of more than 90 %. This is mainly due to high power consumption by wet disc milling during pretreatment. Apart from that, production of enzyme and chemicals which were used during saccharification consumes high energy thus contributing major problems to the surrounding. Finding of this study helps to identify the hotspot which can be improved to establish a more energy efficient and greener system for bioethanol production from oil palm frond petiole sugars.