Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Archivus: A Multimodal System for Multimedia Meeting Browsing and Retrieval

This paper presents Archivus, a multi-modal language-enabled meeting browsing and retrieval system. The prototype is in an early stage of development, and we are currently exploring the role of natural language for interacting in this relatively unfamiliar and complex domain. We briefly describe the design and implementation status of the system, and then focus on how this system is used to elicit useful data for supporting hypotheses about multimodal interaction in the domain of meeting retrieval and for developing NLP modules for this specific domain.
BOUNCE: Sentiment Classification in Twitter using Rich Feature Sets

The widespread use of Twitter makes it very interesting to determine the opinions and the sentiments expressed by its users. The shortness of the length and the highly informal nature of tweets render it very difficult to automatically detect such information. This paper reports the results to a challenge, set forth by SemEval-2013 Task 2, to determine the positive, neutral, or negative sentiments of tweets. Two systems are explained: System A for determining the sentiment of a phrase within a tweet and System B for determining the sentiment of a tweet. Both approaches rely on rich feature sets, which are explained in detail.
Optimization of on-chip spiral inductors using coupled NN and TLBO algorithms for low-loss lumped-element CMOS power dividers

An efficient layout-level optimization technique based on NN+TLBO algorithm is presented to maximize the quality factor of on-chip spiral inductors at a given frequency. A multi-layer artificial neural network (ANN) is developed to model the on-chip inductors. TLBO algorithm is used in order to optimize the layout space for the on-chip spiral inductors considering constraints of design specifications and desired accuracy level. A four-way K-band lumped-element power divider (PD) is designed in 0.18m CMOS technology to validate the characterized spiral inductor. The PD achieves an insertion loss less than 2.1 dB, an input return loss better than 10 dB, an output return loss less than 12 dB, and a port-to-port isolation higher than 14 dB from 18 to 26 GHz (K-Band). The chip area is about 0.415 mm 2 including bonding pads.
Molecular Characterization of an rsmD-Like rRNA Methyltransferase from the Wolbachia Endosymbiont of Brugia malayi and Antifilarial Activity of Specific Inhibitors of the Enzyme

ABSTRACT The endosymbiotic organism Wolbachia is an attractive antifilarial drug target. Here we report on the cloning and expression of an rsmD-like rRNA methyltransferase from the Wolbachia endosymbiont of Brugia malayi, its molecular properties, and assays for specific inhibitors. The gene was found to be expressed in all the major life stages of B. malayi. The purified enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli was found to be in monomer form in its native state. The activities of the specific inhibitors (heteroaryl compounds) against the enzyme were tested with B. malayi adult and microfilariae for 7 days in vitro at various concentrations, and NSC-659390 proved to be the most potent compound (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 0.32 μM), followed by NSC-658343 (IC50, 4.13 μM) and NSC-657589 (IC50, 7.5 μM). On intraperitoneal administration at 5 mg/kg of body weight for 7 days to adult jirds into which B. malayi had been transplanted intraperitoneally, all the compounds killed a significant proportion of the implanted worms. A very similar result was observed in infected mastomys when inhibitors were administered. Docking studies of enzyme and inhibitors and an in vitro tryptophan quenching experiment were also performed to understand the binding mode and affinity. The specific inhibitors of the enzyme showed a higher affinity for the catalytic site of the enzyme than the nonspecific inhibitors and were found to be potent enough to kill the worm (both adults and microfilariae) in vitro as well as in vivo in a matter of days at micromolar concentrations. The findings suggest that these compounds be evaluated against other pathogens possessing a methyltransferase with a DPPY motif and warrant the design and synthesis of more such inhibitors.
Benthic Nutrient Fluxes from Mangrove Sediments of an Anthropogenically Impacted Estuary in Southern China

Mangroves serve as either sinks or sources for inorganic and organic nutrients and can mitigate anthropogenic nutrient pollution, control the production in adjacent systems, and prevent eutrophication. To better understand the nutrient dynamics in a subtropical mangrove, we employed a three-way approach in the Nanliu River Estuary, southern China: Pore water profiles and sediment incubations revealed benthic early diagenesis as well as sediment–water exchange of dissolved nutrients and oxygen, while tidal sampling of estuarine and mangrove water identified source and sink functions of the entire mangrove forest. Fluxes of oxygen during incubations were always directed into the sediment, indicating heterotrophy of the system. There was a net uptake of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, mainly caused by nitrate influx, while ammonium and nitrite showed variable flux direction. Despite high pore water concentrations, phosphate and silica showed net uptake. Fluxes of dissolved organic carbon were generally low except for high efflux in the dark following a storm event. Due to the combination of small forest area and strong anthropogenic nutrient input, the net sink function for dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus provides no significant buffer against the eutrophication of coastal waters.
A review on porous polymer composite materials for multifunctional electronic applications

ABSTRACT This review is focused on the rapidly expanding field of porous materials for the sensor, actuator, energy storage and energy generation application. The synthesis methods to produce excellent porous composites and designs required for the domestic applications are also discussed. The properties of the porous composite materials are characterized and compared with non-porous polymer composite materials. In addition, porous materials based on polymer blends and their controllable synthesis methods for adjusting anticipated properties are highlighted. The properties, processing methods, applications, limitations, challenges and promising directions of porous composite materials for imminent advancement in this field are discussed. Graphical Abstract
A General Framework for Low-Resolution Receivers for MIMO Channels

The capacity of a discrete-time multi-input multioutput (MIMO) Gaussian channel with output quantization is investigated for different analog receiver architectures. A general formulation of this problem is proposed in which the antenna outputs are processed by analog combiners while sign quantizers are used for analog/digital conversion. The configuration of the analog combiners is chosen as a function of the channel realization, so that capacity can be maximized over the set of available configurations for a fixed number of sign quantizers. To exemplify this approach, three analog receiver architectures of increasing generality are considered: (a) sign quantization of the antenna outputs, (b) antenna selection and multilevel quantization and (c) linear combining of the antenna outputs and multilevel quantization. By comparing the largest attainable rates for a given number of sign quantizers, it is possible to quantify the limiting rate advantages provided by each of the receiver analog architectures. In particular, it is shown that sign quantization of the antenna outputs is sufficient, among all possible receiver architectures studied, to attain the optimal high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance for MIMO receiver in which the number of antennas is larger than the number of sign quantizers.
Potholes on the Royal Road

It is still unclear how an evolutionary algorithm (EA) searches a fitness landscape, and on what fitness landscapes a particular EA will do well. The validity of the building-block hypothesis, a major tenet of traditional genetic algorithm theory, remains controversial despite its continued use to justify claims about EAs. This paper outlines a research program to begin to answer some of these open questions, by extending the work done in the royal road project. The short-term goal is to find a simple class of functions which the simple genetic algorithm optimizes better than other optimization methods, such as hill-climbers. A dialectical heuristic for searching for such a class is introduced. As an example of using the heuristic, the simple genetic algorithm is compared with a set of hillclimbers on a simple subset of the hyperplane-defined functions, the pothole functions.
FTP Security Extensions

This document defines extensions to the FTP specification STD 9, RFC 959, "FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)" (October 1985). These extensions provide strong authentication, integrity, and confidentiality on both the control and data channels with the introduction of new optional commands, replies, and file transfer encodings.
VisHive: Supporting web-based visualization through ad hoc computational clusters of mobile devices

Current web-based visualizations are designed for single computers and cannot make use of additional devices on the client side, even if today’s users often have access to several, such as a tablet, a smartphone, and a smartwatch. We present a framework for ad hoc computational clusters that leverage these local devices for visualization computations. Furthermore, we present an instantiating JavaScript toolkit called VisHive for constructing web-based visualization applications that can transparently connect multiple devices—called cells—into such ad hoc clusters—called a hive—for local computation. Hives are formed either using a matchmaking service or through manual configuration. Cells are organized into a master–slave architecture, where the master provides the visual interface to the user and controls the slaves and the slaves perform computation. VisHive is built entirely using current web technologies, runs in the native browser of each cell, and requires no specific software to be downloaded on the involved devices. We demonstrate VisHive using four distributed examples: a text analytics visualization, a database query for exploratory visualization, a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise clustering running on multiple nodes, and a principal component analysis implementation.
Design of an integral field unit for SWIMS and its milling process fabrication with an ultra-high precision machine tool

SWIMS-IFU is an image-slicer integral field unit designed for Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph (SWIMS) of the University of Tokyo Atacama observatory 6.5m telescope. Its field-of-view, slice width and slice number are 17.2 ′′ × 12.8 ′′, 0.4 ′′ and 26, respectively. Due to the space limitation inside SWIMS, the IFU should fit in the dimension of 60mm×170mm×220mm. After finishing development of optical design, we have conducted tolerance analysis. The results show that the probability of vignetting of less than 5% is ∼90%, although at a slice of one side it drops to 50%. We plan to fabricate the mirror arrays monolithically by a ball-end milling with an ultra-high precision machine tool, and have conducted a demonstration process to prove its feasibility. Our requirement for shape error is less than 100 nm P-V and that for surface roughness is less than 10 nm r.m.s. Results of the latest demonstration satisfies the requirement. We will fabricate the mirror arrays and the support structures in 2018, and the IFU will be installed into SWIMS in 2019.
Identification of Closely Spaced but Distinct Transcription Initiation Sites for the Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 Latency-Associated M2 Gene

ABSTRACT Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) infection of mice provides a tractable small-animal system for assessing viral requirements for establishment of and reactivation from latency. The M2 gene product has no homology to any known proteins but has been shown to play a role in both the establishment of MHV68 latency and reactivation from latency. Furthermore, we have recently shown that M2 expression in primary murine B cells leads to enhanced proliferation, survival, and differentiation toward a preplasma memory B-cell phenotype (A. M. Siegel, J. H. Herskowitz, and S. H. Speck, PLoS Pathog. 4:e1000039, 2008). Previous studies have characterized the structure of the M2 transcript, but to date there has been no characterization of the M2 promoter, additional open reading frames (ORFs) in the M2 region, or identified splice acceptor and splice donor sites present in the previously characterized M2 gene transcript. Here we report (i) the identification and disruption of a novel transcript that encodes a short, previously unreported ORF (M2b) located in the intron between exon 1 and exon 2 of the M2 transcript; (ii) the identification of clustered but distinct M2 gene transcription initiation sites suggesting the presence of multiple promoters involved in regulating M2 gene transcription; (iii) the characterization in vivo of recombinant MHV68 harboring deletions within the identified M2 promoter region; and (iv) the in vivo analysis of recombinant MHV68 harboring mutations that ablate either the identified M2 splice acceptor or splice donor site. Finally, our 5′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends in conjunction with splice acceptor mutation analyses confirmed that all detected M2 gene transcripts expressed during MHV68 infection in mice splice into the M2 ORF downstream of the first AUG codon, providing strong evidence that initiation of the M2 gene product arises from the second AUG codon located at residue 8 in the M2 ORF. This initial detailed analysis of M2 gene transcription in vivo will aid future studies on regulation of M2 gene expression.
Visualization/animation of programs in Alma: obtaining different results

Alma, a system for program animation, receives as input a computer program and produces a sequence of visualizations that will describe its functionality. The system generates automatically program animations basing this process on the internal representation of those programs. The back-end of this system works over an execution tree (DAST - decorated abstract syntax tree), implementing the animation algorithm. This algorithm uses two bases of rules; visualizing rules (to associate graphical representation with program elements creating a visual description of the program state) and rewriting rules (to change the program state). In this paper, the main goal will be to present the extensibility of the system in the sense of adding or modifying inputs and outputs. We also discuss the characteristics of Alma's architecture that make this possible.
Scan chain design for test time reduction in core-based ICs

The size of the test vector set forms a significant factor in the overall production costs of ICs, as it defines the test application time and the required pin memory size of the test equipment. Large core-based ICs often require a very large test vector set for a high test coverage. This paper deals with the design of scan chains as transport mechanism for test patterns from IC pins to embedded cores and vice versa. The number of pins available to accommodate scan test is given, as well as the number of scan test patterns and scannable flip flops of each core. We present and analyze three scan chain architectures for core-based ICs, which aim at a minimum test vector set size. We give experimental results of the three architectures for an industrial IC. Furthermore we analyze the test time consequences of reusing cores with fixed internal scan chains in multiple ICs with varying design parameters.
Growth, structure, and properties of selected two-dimensional materials from density functional theory investigations

After an initial decade of excitement brought by the successful isolation of graphene and discovery of its exotic properties, the attention of the scientific community turned to other 2-D materials that could provide diversity in terms of useful properties without relying on increasingly complex engineering of graphene-based 2-D layers or nanostructures. In this arena, a range of materials have been either experimentally synthesized or theoretically hypothesized, the most important currently being hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), molybdenum disulphide, silicene, phosphorene, and maxenes –among others. Some of the key issues of current importance in 2-D research are synthesis of specific 2-D materials, effects of the substrates on the morphology and properties of 2-D layers, and control of the properties through synthesizing different 2-D polymorphs: this thesis addresses particular problems falling under these three distinct themes. Specifically, parts of the thesis focus on phosphorene and hBN growth, morphology of hBN on palladium, and range of mechanical and electronic properties obtained from different 2-D silica polymorphs. For the phosphorene growth, the thesis advances the idea that the phosphorene can in fact grow by chemical vapor deposition on metals, provided that they are covered with hBN or graphene so as to prevent the formation of metal phosphides. For the multilayer hBN growth, results in this thesis support a recently proposed notion that adsorption of one precursor activates the adsorption and dehydrogenation of ammonia (the second precursor), which leads to the formation of second hBN layer and beyond when the metal substrate is already passivated by the firt hBN layer. Another chapter of this thesis shows a phenomenological model and density functional theory calculations explaining experimentally-observed novel morphologies of hBN on palladium. Lastly, this thesis shows examples of how polymorphs of 2-D silica can lead to diverse electronic properties ranging from insulating to metallic.
Effect of surfactants and additives on electrical discharge machining of Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide

In this paper, a comparative study of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) on Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide (RB-SiC) by using different types of surfactants and additives powder has been carried out. The EDM oil type Low Smell (LS) used in the experiment was mixed with different surfactants namely Span 20, Span 80, Span 83 and Span 85. Additives powder that were used to verify the machining performance are Carbon Nanofiber (CNF), Carbon Nano Powder (CNP) and Carbon Powder (CP). These powders are different in terms of size and shape. In this study, the change of material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear ratio (EWR), surface roughness and spark gap was investigated. The result shows that the surfactant and additives added dielectric fluid not only improves MRR and spark gap, but also reduces the EWR. The addition of surfactant might prevent the agglomeration of powders, and caused the powders dispersed well in the dielectric fluid. Therefore, electro discharge frequency will be increased, leading to a higher MRR and spark gap. However, the improvement of surface finish is not significant after addition of surfactant. For comparison, combination of surfactant Span 80 and CNF is more significant in improving machining efficiency of RB-SiC compared to the others type of surfactant and additives.
Investigation into the phase noise of wavelength-tunable semiconductor lasers for coherent systems

Wavelength-tunable semiconductor lasers have found widespread applications in many fields, such as optical communication systems and high-resolution spectroscopy, due to their wavelength-flexibility and reconfigurability. Wavelength-tunable semiconductor lasers with low phase noise are important in applications where coherent detection scheme is required, so it is therefore imperative to have a good understanding of the phase noise of these devices. This talk will present our investigations on the complicate phase noise characteristics of the wavelength tunable semiconductor lasers, and will specifically demonstrate results with two types of multi-section DBR based laser (the SGDBR and the MGY devices) for their applications in coherent systems.
Morphological contrast index based on the Weber's law

In this article, a morphological contrast index based on the Weber's law is proposed to quantify the contrast in a processed image. This measure involves the contours of the image along with its background. The proposal made here is applied to detect the image with higher contrast, and also identify the enhanced image most similar to the original. Moreover, the contrast index is compared with other four indexes reported in the current literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 22, 137–144, 2012
An Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Ferrofluids on the Efficiency of Novel Parabolic Trough Solar Collector Under Laminar Flow Conditions

ABSTRACT The paper is related to the use of magnetic nanofluids (ferrofluids) in a direct absorption solar parabolic trough collector, which enhances thermal efficiency compared to conventional solar collectors. By applying the right magnetic intensity and magnetic field direction, the thermal conductivity of the fluid increased higher than typical nanofluids. Moreover, the ferrofluids exhibit excellent optical properties. The external magnetic source is installed to alter the thermo-physical properties of the fluid, and the absorber tube does not have selective surface allowing ferrofluids to absorb the incoming solar irradiance directly. In this paper, an experimental investigation of the performance of small scale direct absorption solar collector using ferrofluids as an absorber was conducted. Nanoparticle concentrations of 0.05 vol% at the operational temperatures between 19°C and 40°C were used in the current study. The results show that using ferrofluids as a heat transfer fluid increases the efficiency of solar collectors. In the presence of the external magnetic field, the solar collector efficiency increases to the maximum, 25% higher than the conventional parabolic trough. At higher temperatures, the ferrofluids show much better efficiency than conventional heat transfer fluid. The study indicated that nanofluids, even of low-content, have good absorption of solar radiation, and can improve the outlet temperatures and system efficiencies. The study shows the potential of using ferrofluids in the direct absorption solar collector.
Holomorphic matrix models

This is a study of holomorphic matrix models, the matrix models which underlie the conjecture of Dijkgraaf and Vafa. I first give a systematic description of the holomorphic one-matrix model. After discussing its convergence sectors, I show that certain puzzles related to its perturbative expansion admit a simple resolution in the holomorphic set-up. Constructing a `complex' microcanonical ensemble, I check that the basic requirements of the conjecture (in particular, the special geometry relations involving chemical potentials) hold in the absence of the hermiticity constraint. I also show that planar solutions of the holomorphic model probe the entire moduli space of the associated algebraic curve. Finally, I give a brief discussion of holomorphic ADE models, focusing on the example of the A2 quiver, for which I extract explicitly the relevant Riemann surface. In this case, use of the holomorphic model is crucial, since the hermitean approach and its attending regularization would lead to a singular algebraic curve, thus contradicting the requirements of the conjecture. In particular, I show how an appropriate regularization of the holomorphic A2 model produces the desired smooth Riemann surface in the limit when the regulator is removed, and that this limit can be described as a statistical ensemble of `reduced' holomorphic models.