Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient fabrication methodology of wide angle black silicon for energy harvesting applications

In this paper, we report an easy and relatively cost effective fabrication technique of a wide band omnidirectional antireflective black silicon surface based on silicon nanowires (SiNWs). An effective and economical one step silver electroless catalytic etching method in an aqueous solution of AgNO3 and HF is used for the synthesis of the black silicon surface. The formation mechanism for SiNW arrays is explained in terms of a localized nanoelectrochemical cell. The length and diameter of the nanowires were controllable as we found a commensurate relationship between dimensions and the etching time. Different sample sizes were used to prove the technique's large scale production potential. Wide range near zero reflection is reported in the visible region due to the strong trapping and antireflective properties in addition to a wide angle up to ±60°. Raman scattering measurements confirmed the quantum size effect and phonon scattering in the fabricated structure with different diameters. A black silicon surface based on solid and porous SiNWs shows promising potential for photovoltaic, optoelectronic and energy storage applications.
Tunnelless SDN overlay architecture for flow based QoS management

Routing policies determined by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can create sub-optimal communication paths in terms of Quality of Service (QoS). An Overlay Network (ON) architecture enables the definition of custom routing policies between Points of Presence, enabling QoS metrics improvement for a particular application. This work proposes a forwarding strategy to implement a tunnelless overlay architecture, enabling different traffic flows to follow different paths in order to provide different QoS metrics for each one. Besides, the solution does not affect the packets MTU and can be deployed independently of the underlying ISPs. This article introduces a system architecture built over the software-defined networking paradigm, taking advantage of the centralized view of the network resources and the ability to face challenges by deploying applications at the controller level. The main components of the forwarding strategy have been designed, implemented and tested over both an emulated and a real network to demonstrate its feasibility.
All-Silicon Terahertz Metasurface With Sharp Fano Resonance and Its Sensing Applications

The all silicon terahertz metasurface with sharp Fano resonance and its sensing applications with high Q factor have been investigated. Such metasurface, composed of periodic grooves, can be fabricated by deep silicon etching on high-resistivity silicon. When the refractive index of the sample changes, the shifted resonance frequency appears and the resonance intensity can be modulated by altering the surface conductivity. The Q characteristics of the metasurface and the applications of graphene sensing are then analyzed and verified. The results indicates that the Q factor of the metasurface can reach 39857, the standard sensitivity is 16042 nm/RIU, and the FOM is 533. Meanwhile, the characteristics of sensing graphene samples (∼1 nm) are very useful for sensing other ultra-thin materials or biomolecules.
Long-Wavelength InAs/GaSb Superlattice Detectors With Low Dark Current Density Grown by MOCVD

High-performance long-wavelength InAs/GaSb superlattice infrared photodetectors grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition are reported. “Diffusion-limited” behavior has been achieved for three devices with different doping concentration of the absorbers. Increasing the absorber doping concentration from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ 5\times 10^{15}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ 5\times 10^{16}\mathrm {cm}^{-3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> causes reduction of the dark current, decrease of the quantum efficiency, and blue-shift of the cutoff wavelength. The optimal device shows a 50% cutoff wavelength around <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8.6~{\mu }\text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, a dark-current density of only <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$6.8\times 10^{-6}\mathrm {A/cm}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and a peak specific detectivity of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.4\times 10^{12}\mathrm {cm}\cdot \sqrt {\mathrm {Hz}} \cdot \mathrm {W}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at 77 K and a reverse bias of −0.1 V.
Model-Driven Engineering Tools and Languages for Cyber-Physical Systems–A Systematic Literature Review

The development of Cyber-physical Systems (CPS) draws more interest from both researchers and industrial practitioners considering the opportunities they offer in almost all areas of industry. However, the engineering and management of CPS are challenging tasks due to their inherent heterogeneity and complexity characteristics. Regarding the development of CPS, there currently exists no standard methodology owing to the complexity of the domain. One of the key approaches to reduce the development complexity for CPS is Model-driven Engineering (MDE), which is frequently used in many industrial domains for software development to increase the level of platform abstraction. Nevertheless, it is always almost challenging, especially for the new researchers in this field, to determine the appropriate tools and languages to perform a particular MDE activity during CPS development. To the best of our knowledge, there is no guideline that demonstrates which language(s)/tool(s) to use for the various MDE techniques/phases for the development of CPS. This paper presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) study that focuses on identifying and classifying the recent research practices pertaining to CPS development by applying MDE approaches. With the objective of providing a general overview of the field, the study evaluates 140 research papers published during 2010–2018. Accordingly, a precise view of the various MDE tools and languages used in the development life-cycle of CPS, addressed MDE techniques/activities, and targeted CPS components is presented. We believe that the conducted study will guide researchers and practitioners to identify appropriate tools and languages according to the system requirements. It may also help in getting an overall understanding of the research trends for further research and development on the MDE of CPS.
Integrated Direct Single Sideband Modulation Utilizing Sideband Amplification Injection Locking Effect Based on Multi-Section Mutual Injection DFB Laser

An integrated single sideband (SSB) modulation method benefitting from the sideband amplification injection locking (SAIL) effect for radio-over-fiber (ROF) link is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which is based on an integrated multi-section mutual injection (IMSMI) DFB laser. The IMSMI-DFB laser, which overcomes the drawbacks of using discrete devices, simplifies the whole structure. The SAIL effect, which is regulated by the input RF power and bias current of IMSMI-DFB laser, promises a good pathway for adjusting and controlling the modulation frequency, optical carrier to sideband ratio (OCSR), and sideband suppression ratio (SSR), meanwhile, provides high gain in the link. The characteristics of SAIL effect are investigated. The OCSR can be optimized to 0 dB, the SSR is over 26 dB, and the transmission link gain improves over 20 dB from 16 GHz to 26 GHz. The ROF transmission experiments demonstrate that the power fading introduced by fiber dispersion is dramatically eliminated, and the error vector magnitudes (EVMs) of the received 20 MSymbol/s 32 QAM signals at frequencies from17 GHz to 22.3 GHz after 50 km fiber transmission are below 4.8%. This work provides an effective way to realize integrated direct SSB modulation with outstanding features for ROF link.
Suburban Demand Responsive Transit Service With Rental Vehicles

Demand responsive transit (DRT) services in suburban regions serve residents as the complements of the public transportation. Since suburban DRT service usually faces demand fluctuation in some special situations, such as terrible weather, DRT operators have recourse to temporal rental vehicles to satisfy all requests. There are two types of rental contracts. In the first case, the costs of rental vehicles are similar to the costs of owned vehicles, and the multi-trip vehicle routing problem is studied. In the second case, the costs of outbound trips are not covered by DRT companies, and the open vehicle routes are introduced. In this paper, a mixed integer linear programming formulation is proposed to model the route optimization problem of the suburban DRT service, in which the number of rental vehicles and two classes of routes should be decided simultaneously. To solve the proposed model, a branch-and-price algorithm is designed, which has two pricing subproblems to generate two classes of routes, respectively. From the results of experiments, it can be found that the service sequence is introduced, when open routes are involved. Renting vehicles can help DRT companies save operational costs even in daily operations.
Real-Time Network Intrusion Prevention System Based on Hybrid Machine Learning

Recent advancements in network technology and associated services have led to a rapid increase in the amount of data traffic. However, the detrimental effects caused by cyber-attacks have also significantly increased. Network attacks are evolving in various forms. Two primary approaches exist for addressing such threats: signature-based detection and anomaly detection. Although the aforementioned approaches can be effective, they also have certain drawbacks. Signature-based detection is vulnerable to variant attacks, while anomaly detection cannot be used for real-time data traffic. For resolving such issues, this paper proposes a two-level classifier that can simultaneously achieve high performance and real-time classification. It employs level 1 and 2 classifiers internally. The level 1 classifier initially performs real-time detection with moderate accuracy for incoming data traffic. If the data cannot be classified with high probability by the classifier, the classification is delayed until the traffic flow terminates. The level 2 classifier then collects the statistical features of the traffic flow for performing precise classification. Compared to existing techniques, the proposed two-level classification method can achieve superior performance in terms of accuracy and detection time.
Differentiable Architecture Search Based on Coordinate Descent

Neural architecture search (NAS) is an automated method searching for the optimal network architecture by optimizing the combinations of edges and operations. For efficiency, recent differentiable architecture search methods adopt a one-shot network, containing all the candidate operations in each edge, instead of sampling and training individual architectures. However, a recent study doubts the effectiveness of differentiable methods by showing that random search can achieve comparable performance with differentiable methods using the same search cost. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the search cost even for previous differentiable methods. For more efficient differentiable architecture search, we propose a differentiable architecture search based on coordinate descent (DARTS-CD) that searches for optimal operation over only one sampled edge per training step. DARTS-CD is proposed based on the coordinate descent algorithm, which is an efficient learning method for resolving large-scale problems by updating only a subset of parameters. In DARTS-CD, one edge is randomly sampled, in which all the operations are performed, whereas only one operation is applied to the other edges. Weight update is also performed only at the sampled edge. By optimizing each edge separately, as in the coordinate descent that optimizes each coordinate individually, DARTS-CD converges much faster than DARTS while using the network architecture similar to that used for evaluation. We experimentally show that DARTS-CD performs comparably to the state-of-the-art efficient architecture search algorithms, with an extremely low search cost of 0.125 GPU days (1/12 of the search cost of DARTS) on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100. Furthermore, a warm-up regularization method is introduced to improve the exploration capability, which further enhances the performance.
An Overview of Probe-Based Millimeter-Wave/Terahertz Far-Field Antenna Measurement Setups [Measurements Corner]

In recent years, there has been great interest in millimeter-wave (mmwave) and terahertz (THz) technologies due to an increasing demand for ultrahigh data transfer rate. Two novel solutions, i.e., antenna on chip (AoC) and antenna in package (AiP), have been proposed for the development of highly integrated radio and radar systems [1]-[5]. To measure the antenna characteristics of AoC and AiP, a reliable probe-based mm-wave/THz antenna measurement setup became essential. Over the last 20 years, the world has witnessed the prosperous development of various mmwave/THz antenna measurement setups, most of which can be divided into two types, i.e., probe-station and quasi-in-air based. The former type has a feature that allows the testing equipment to be compactly established on a large metal stage, which has been widely used for near-field based and as part of the farfield-based setups [6]-[10]. The antenna under test (AUT) is maintained on a wafer chuck placed on the stage and thus, only the radiation pattern in the upper half-space is measurable due to the metal stage obstruction. The latter type reduces the defect by using an extended supporting structure to hold the AUT in midair away from the stage so that the radiation patterns in both the upper and lower half-spaces are measurable. Many setups of this type measure antennas at far-field distances, and some of them are also compatible with near-field testing. Compared to probe-station based, quasi-inair based takes up much more space and is less compact.
A Novel Long Slot Air-Filled Substrate Integrated Waveguide Fixed-Beam Leaky-Wave Antenna

A new leaky-wave antenna based on air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) with fixed-beam performance is proposed in this paper. On the top face of SIW, a long gap is etched as radiator. The design can radiate at a fixed angle within a wide band, since the electromagnetic waves can travel in the air in the form of fast wave. The simulated results reveals that the relative bandwidth of the proposed design operates more than 28.6% from 12-16 GHz frequency range and the measured main beam deviation is 60° with only varies ±2°. Besides, the simulated maximal gain is from 13.8 to 16 dBi, while the measured peak gain reaches up to 15.3 dBi during the working frequency range.
Performance Analysis of the Two-Piecewise Linear Companding Technique on Filtered-OFDM Systems

Filtered orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (F-OFDM) is one of the most prominent waveform candidates when it comes to fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication and beyond. This paper analyzes the performance of the F-OFDM system in terms of the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) and bit error rate (BER). The F-OFDM system exhibits a high PAPR, which introduces earnest deterioration in its performance. Consequently, an efficient PAPR-reduction technique has been recommended to reduce the effect of the high value of PAPR of the F-OFDM system. The prospective two-piecewise companding (TPWC) scheme effectively reduces the peak power by analyzing large and small amplitudes individually, so its outcome has both piecewise linear and continuous characteristics. The performances of different PAPR reduction techniques are compared in terms of PAPR complementary cumulative distribution functions and BERs. It is shown that the proposed TPWC transform can significantly reduce PAPR with reduced computational complexity compared with conventional companding techniques.
Toxicological profile for chlorine

DISCLAIMER The use of company or product name(s) is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. A Toxicological Profile for Chlorine, Draft for Public Comment was released in October 2007. This edition supersedes any previously released draft or final profile. Toxicological profiles are revised and republished as necessary. For information regarding the update status of previously released profiles, contact ATSDR at: iv CHLORINE This page is intentionally blank. v CHLORINE FOREWORD This toxicological profile is prepared in accordance with guidelines* developed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The original guidelines were published in the Federal Register on April 17, 1987. Each profile will be revised and republished as necessary. The ATSDR toxicological profile succinctly characterizes the toxicologic and adverse health effects information for these toxic substances described therein. Each peer-reviewed profile identifies and reviews the key literature that describes a substance's toxicologic properties. Other pertinent literature is also presented, but is described in less detail than the key studies. The profile is not intended to be an exhaustive document; however, more comprehensive sources of specialty information are referenced. The focus of the profiles is on health and toxicologic information; therefore, each toxicological profile begins with a public health statement that describes, in nontechnical language, a substance's relevant toxicological properties. Following the public health statement is information concerning levels of significant human exposure and, where known, significant health effects. The adequacy of information to determine a substance's health effects is described in a health effects summary. Data needs that are of significance to protection of public health are identified by ATSDR. Each profile includes the following: (A) The examination, summary, and interpretation of available toxicologic information and epidemiologic evaluations on a toxic substance to ascertain the levels of significant human exposure for the substance and the associated acute, subacute, and chronic health effects; (B) A determination of whether adequate information on the health effects of each substance is available or in the process of development to determine levels of exposure that present a significant risk to human health of acute, subacute, and chronic health effects; and (C) Where appropriate, identification of toxicologic testing needed to identify the types or levels of exposure that may present significant risk of adverse health effects in humans. The principal audiences for the toxicological profiles are …
The Use of U-Net Lite and Extreme Gradient Boost (XGB) for Glaucoma Detection

Glaucoma has been credited to be the foremost cause of preventable loss of sight in the world second only to cataract. Its effect on the eye is usually irreversible and can only be prevented by early detection. In this paper, we developed a glaucoma detection technique. This technique includes a modified U-Net model called ‘U-Net lite’ and an extreme gradient boost (XGB) algorithm. The novel U-Net lite model is designed to have fewer parameters than the original U-Net model. The U-Net lite’s parameters are 40 times fewer than the original U-Net model which makes the proposed model faster and cheaper to train. The proposed model is utilized to segment both the optic cup and the optic disc from the fundus images. The extreme gradient boost algorithm is utilized to analyze extracted features from segmented optic cups and discs and hence detect glaucoma. The proposed U-Net lite model was both trained and tested on the DRIONS, DRISHTI-GS, RIM-ONE V2 and the RIM-ONE V3 databases. When tested for optic disc segmentation on the four databases, the model achieved the following average dice-scores: 0.96 on RIM-ONE V3, 0.97 on RIM-ONE V2, 0.96 on DRIONS, and 0.97 on DRISHTI-GS. The XGB algorithm achieved an accuracy of 88.6% and an AUC-ROC of 93.6 % in detecting glaucoma from the RIM-ONE V3 and DRISHTI-GS database. The proposed glaucoma detection technique achieves a state-of-the-art accuracy and is useful for observing structural changes in an optic cup and optic disc.
Magnetic Field Energy Harvesting From Current-Carrying Structures: Electromagnetic-Circuit Coupled Model, Validation and Application

Magnetic field energy harvesters (MFEHs) from current-carrying structures/conductors are usually modelled as decoupled electromagnetic and electrical systems. The current-carrying structures may affect the performance of MFEH through the generation of the eddy current and the alteration of the magnetic reluctance. Moreover, the load circuit affects the current generated in the coil and therefore the flux density and eddy current generated. The effects of the current-carrying structure and the load circuit cannot be fully described by the decoupled models. This work develops a finite element model (FEM) that fully couples the electromagnetic and electrical systems by simulating both the magnetic field and eddy current distribution of an MFEH connected to an electrical circuit. The FEM first simulates the coil inductance and resistance of a magnetic field energy harvester (MFEH) placed close to a current-carrying structure exemplified by a rail track. The FEM then simulates the outputs of the MFEH connected to an electrical circuit consisting of a compensating capacitor and optimal load resistor determined by the first step. An MFEH was fabricated and tested under a section of current-carrying rail track. Both experiment and simulation show an increase of both coil resistance and inductance when the MFEH is placed close to the rail track. The good agreement between experimental and simulation results validates that the FEM can predict the full-matrix performances of the MFEH, including the coil parameters, power output and magnetic flux density under the influence of the current-carrying structure and the load circuit. Simulation results reveal that in addition to the permeability of the magnetic core, the electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability of the current-carrying structure considerably affect the performance of the MFEH, which cannot be predicted by decoupled models.
Fully Quadrature Subcarrier-Index Shift Keying for Efficient Underwater Acoustic Communications

A novel fully quadrature subcarrier-index shift keying orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (FQSISK-OFDM) modulation scheme for underwater acoustic communications (UWAC) is proposed in this paper. In the FQSISK, the data is conveyed by active and non-active OFDM-subcarriers indices. Moreover, the active odd and even subcarriers are marked with separable predefined dummy variables (DV). Herein, the DV <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm \delta $ </tex-math></inline-formula> (i.e., it can take any predefined value), and its quadrature <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm j\delta $ </tex-math></inline-formula> are exploited to distinguish between active even and odd subcarriers. Hence, the possibility of power leakage from active to non-active subcarriers is reduced, which minimizes the effect of severe UWAC inter-carrier-interface (ICI). Moreover, the spectral efficiency of the FQSISK hardly depends on the subcarriers grouping size, which reduces the proposed FQSISK decoder complexity significantly. The simulation results demonstrate the proposed FQSISK superiority, as it achieves higher spectral and energy efficiencies than the plain OFDM and the recently introduced OFDM index modulation (OFDM-IM) techniques.