Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resonant and non-resonant dielectric coatings for high efficiency solar cells

Micro-/Nanoscale surface patterning has been extensively applied to solar cells to increase absorptivity and hence photocurrent. However, this approach could also be detrimental to solar cells' performance because of the enhanced surface recombination arising from increased surface area, which can decrease the open-circuit voltage. In this regard, we introduce two new classes of antireflection coatings (ARCs) based on dielectric materials that do not require surface patterning on active materials: a transparent, flexible paper that relies on nonresonant optical scattering and silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanosphere arrays that rely on collective optical resonances. For the transparent paper-based ARCs, there is reduced reflection on a Si cell for all wavelengths due to a combination of index contrast and surface texturing. It is also shown that power conversion efficiencies are improved for all angles of incident illumination, which reduce the need for expensive tracking of the sun's position. For the SiO2 nanosphere array-based ARCs, we show that there is a high absorptivity enhancement (> 20%) on a Si substrate. From experiments and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations, we confirm that the absorptivity enhancement is due to the combinational effects of whispering gallery-like mode excitation within the nanospheres and thin-film interference effects. We also show that the wavelengths for whispering gallery-like resonance excitation can be tuned by either changing the diameter of the nanospheres or using other materials instead of SiO2 (e.g., silicon nitride (Si3N4), titanium dioxide (TiO2), etc.). Because these dielectric ARCs can be made with an easy and scalable processes, they are excellent candidates to replace conventional thin-film-based antireflection coatings that require complicated high-temperature vacuum deposition processes.
Discrimination of fearful and angry emotional voices in sleeping human neonates: a study of the mismatch brain responses

Appropriate processing of human voices with different threat-related emotions is of evolutionarily adaptive value for the survival of individuals. Nevertheless, it is still not clear whether the sensitivity to threat-related information is present at birth. Using an odd-ball paradigm, the current study investigated the neural correlates underlying automatic processing of emotional voices of fear and anger in sleeping neonates. Event-related potential data showed that the fronto-central scalp distribution of the neonatal brain could discriminate fearful voices from angry voices; the mismatch response (MMR) was larger in response to the deviant stimuli of anger, compared with the standard stimuli of fear. Furthermore, this fear–anger MMR discrimination was observed only when neonates were in active sleep state. Although the neonates' sensitivity to threat-related voices is not likely associated with a conceptual understanding of fearful and angry emotions, this special discrimination in early life may provide a foundation for later emotion and social cognition development.
Paired feature constraints for latent dirichlet topic models

Non Parametric Bayes models, so called family of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Topic Models have found application in various aspects of pattern recognition like sentiment analysis, information retrieval, question answering etc. The topics induced by LDA are used for later tasks such as classification, regression(movie ratings), ranking and recommendation. Recently various approaches are suggested to improve the utility of topics induced by LDA using various side-information such as labeled examples and labeled features. Pair-Wise feature constraints such as cannot-link and must-link, represent weak-supervision and are prevalent in domains such as sentiment analysis. Though must-link constraints are relatively easier to incorporate by using dirichlet tree, the cannot-link constraints are harder to incorporate using the dirichlet forest. In this paper we proposed an approach to address this problem using posterior constraints. We introduced additional latent variables for capturing the constraints, and modified the gibbs sampling algorithm to incorporate these constraints. Our method of Posterior Regularization has enabled us to deal with both types of constraints seamlessly in the same optimization framework. We have demonstrated our approach on a product sentiment review data set which is typically used in text analysis.
Visual Exploration of Nasal Airflow

Rhinologists are often faced with the challenge of assessing nasal breathing from a functional point of view to derive effective therapeutic interventions. While the complex nasal anatomy can be revealed by visual inspection and medical imaging, only vague information is available regarding the nasal airflow itself: Rhinomanometry delivers rather unspecific integral information on the pressure gradient as well as on total flow and nasal flow resistance. In this article we demonstrate how the understanding of physiological nasal breathing can be improved by simulating and visually analyzing nasal airflow, based on an anatomically correct model of the upper human respiratory tract. In particular we demonstrate how various information visualization (InfoVis) techniques, such as a highly scalable implementation of parallel coordinates, time series visualizations, as well as unstructured grid multi-volume rendering, all integrated within a multiple linked views framework, can be utilized to gain a deeper understanding of nasal breathing. Evaluation is accomplished by visual exploration of spatio-temporal airflow characteristics that include not only information on flow features but also on accompanying quantities such as temperature and humidity. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth visual exploration of the physiological function of the nose over several simulated breathing cycles under consideration of a complete model of the nasal airways, realistic boundary conditions, and all physically relevant time-varying quantities.
Spoofing in 2D face recognition with 3D masks and anti-spoofing with Kinect

The problem of detecting face spoofing attacks (presentation attacks) has recently gained a well-deserved popularity. Mainly focusing on 2D attacks forged by displaying printed photos or replaying recorded videos on mobile devices, a significant portion of these studies ground their arguments on the flatness of the spoofing material in front of the sensor. In this paper, we inspect the spoofing potential of subject-specific 3D facial masks for 2D face recognition. Additionally, we analyze Local Binary Patterns based coun-termeasures using both color and depth data, obtained by Kinect. For this purpose, we introduce the 3D Mask Attack Database (3DMAD), the first publicly available 3D spoofing database, recorded with a low-cost depth camera. Extensive experiments on 3DMAD show that easily attainable facial masks can pose a serious threat to 2D face recognition systems and LBP is a powerful weapon to eliminate it.
Inter-Procedural Static Slicing Using Advanced Caching Algorithm *

Since the notion of program slicing was introduced in the early 80’s, the area has seen a continuous evolution. While the more recent approach of dynamic slicing gained significant interest, static slicing has also been widely studied. Original methods used dataflow analysis techniques, later different approaches using multi-graphs were formed. Although these improved algorithms offer the capability to slice real-world application s, their usability is still heavily confined by their resource intensive characteristics. In this paper an advanced caching algorithm intended to decrease average complexity of SDG-based static slicing is proposed. Caching different for mal parameter setups of a procedure might imply significant speed growth since re-computing dependences between formal input and output parameters is avoidable.
Real Exchange Rates and Fundamentals: A Cross-Country Perspective

This paper employs newly constructed measures for productivity differentials, external imbalances, and commodity terms of trade to estimate a panel cointegrating relationship between real exchange rates and a set of fundamentals for a sample of 48 industrial countries and emerging markets. It finds evidence of a strong positive relation between the CPI-based real exchange rate and commodity terms of trade. The estimated impact of productivity growth differentials between traded and nontraded goods, while statistically significant, is small. Increases in net foreign assets and in government consumption tend to be associated with appreciating real exchange rates.
Ultrashort and progressive 4sU-tagging reveals key characteristics of RNA processing at nucleotide resolution

RNA synthesis and decay rates determine the steady-state levels of cellular RNAs. Metabolic tagging of newly transcribed RNA by 4-thiouridine (4sU) can reveal the relative contributions of RNA synthesis and decay rates. The kinetics of RNA processing, however, had so far remained unresolved. Here, we show that ultrashort 4sU-tagging not only provides snapshot pictures of eukaryotic gene expression but, when combined with progressive 4sU-tagging and RNA-seq, reveals global RNA processing kinetics at nucleotide resolution. Using this method, we identified classes of rapidly and slowly spliced/degraded introns. Interestingly, each class of splicing kinetics was characterized by a distinct association with intron length, gene length, and splice site strength. For a large group of introns, we also observed long lasting retention in the primary transcript, but efficient secondary splicing or degradation at later time points. Finally, we show that processing of most, but not all small nucleolar (sno)RNA-containing introns is remarkably inefficient with the majority of introns being spliced and degraded rather than processed into mature snoRNAs. In summary, our study yields unparalleled insights into the kinetics of RNA processing and provides the tools to study molecular mechanisms of RNA processing and their contribution to the regulation of gene expression.
A neuro-dynamic programming approach to call admission control in integrated service networks : the single link case

We formulate the call admission control problem for a single link in an integrated service environment as a Markov Decision Problem. In principle, an optimal admission control policy can be computed using methods of Dynamic Programming. However, as the number of possible states of the underlying Markov Chain grows exponentially in the number of customer classes, Dynamic Programming algorithms for realistic size problems are computationally infeasible. We try to overcome this so-called "curse of dimensionality" by using methods of Neuro-Dynamic Programming (NDP for short). NDP employs simulation-based algorithms and function approximation techniques to find control policies for large-scale Markov Decision Problems. We apply two methods of NDP to the call admission control problem: the TD(O) algorithm and Approximate Policy Iteration. We assess the performance of these methods by comparing with two heuristic policies: a policy which always accepts a new customer when the required resources are available, and a threshold policy. 1 This research was supported by a contract with Siemens AG, Munich, Germany.
The Destruction of a Safe Haven Asset?

Gold has been a store of value for centuries and a safe haven for investors in the past decades. However, the increased investment in gold for speculative or hedging purposes has changed the safe haven property. We demonstrate theoretically and empirically that investor behaviour has the potential to destroy the safe haven property of gold. The results suggest that an asset cannot be both an investment asset and an effective safe haven asset. This finding has important implications for financial stability since assets are more likely to exhibit excess comovement and volatility in the absence of a safe haven.
Extracellular Polysaccharides of Rhodococcus rhodochrous S-2 Stimulate the Degradation of Aromatic Components in Crude Oil by Indigenous Marine Bacteria

ABSTRACT Rhodococcus rhodochrous S-2 produces extracellular polysaccharides (S-2 EPS) containing d-glucose, d-galactose, d-mannose, d-glucuronic acid, and lipids, which is important to the tolerance of this strain to an aromatic fraction of (AF) Arabian light crude oil (N. Iwabuchi, N. Sunairi, H. Anzai, M. Nakajima, and S. Harayama, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:5073-5077, 2000). In the present study, we examined the effects of S-2 EPS on the growth of indigenous marine bacteria on AF. Indigenous bacteria did not grow significantly in seawater containing AF even when nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron nutrients were supplemented. The addition of S-2 EPS to seawater containing nutrients and AF resulted in the emulsification of AF, promotion of the growth of indigenous bacteria, and enhancement of the degradation of AF by the bacteria. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analyses show that addition of S-2 EPS to the seawater containing nutrients and AF changed the composition of the bacterial populations in the seawater and that bacteria closely related to the genus Cycloclasticus became the major population. These results suggest that Cycloclasticus was responsible for the degradation of hydrocarbons in AF. The effects of 15 synthetic surfactants on the degradation of AF by indigenous marine bacteria were also examined, but enhancement of the degradation of AF was not significant. S-2 EPS was hence the most effective of the surfactants tested in promoting the biodegradation of AF and may thus be an attractive agent to use in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated marine environments.
PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonate) in serum is negatively associated with testosterone levels, but not with semen quality, in healthy men.

Ulla Nordström Joensen1,*, Bruno Veyrand2, Jean-Philippe Antignac2, Martin Blomberg Jensen1, Jørgen Holm Petersen1, Philippe Marchand2, Niels Erik Skakkebæk1, Anna-Maria Andersson1, Bruno Le Bizec2, and Niels Jørgensen1 University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Section 5064, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark LUNAM Université, Oniris, Laboratoire d’Etude des Résidus et Contaminants dans les Aliments (LABERCA), USC INRA 1329, Nantes F-44307, France
The Antecedents and Consequences of Sense of Community on Social Networking Sites

Evolution of information technologies facilitates new forms of communication and enables emergence of virtual communities. One key question which has been debated among researchers is whether virtual communities represent bona fide communities or if they are better described as networks of individuals. We draw on research in traditional offline communities, which emphasizes psychological sense of community as the focal construct for understanding community dynamics, and we develop a nomological framework of antecedents and consequences associated with sense of community. We evaluate the framework in a survey of 638 Facebook users. We find that sense of place associated with the social networking site and social interactions contribute to the development of sense of community among social networking site users. We also find that sense of community is a key attitudinal factor affecting information sharing and intentions to remain a member of the social networking site.
Determining modes of low frequency oscillations based on power oscillation flows in the tie lines

This paper proposed a new algorithm to perform the online determination of the low frequency oscillation modes in large interconnected power system. First, the generator's active power and its speed deviation were represented in the form of generalized phasor and the relationship between their phase angles was deduced. Then a simple system was constructed to illustrate the correspondence between the power oscillation flows in the tie lines and the low frequency oscillation modes. Theoretical analysis indicates that different oscillation modes correspond to different phase angle combinations, and vice versa. The small signal stability of the SE Australian power system was analyzed by PSS/E. The analysis reveals that both of the operating point and modeling deepness have essentially no effect on the correspondence between oscillation modes and phase angle combinations. Finally the procedure to use the algorithm in practical power system was given, and it was applied to the Eastern China power grid. Results indicate that the algorithm proposed by this paper is able to determine the low frequency oscillation modes online and is helpful for the monitoring of low frequency oscillation.
Characteristics of Sagittal Vertebral Alignment in Flexion Determined by Dynamic Radiographs of the Cervical Spine

Study Design. This study was conducted to depict the change patterns of intervertebral motion of the cervical spine during flexion, upright, and extension positions using dynamic radiographs. Special interest was focused on the flexion position. Objectives. To find reliable criteria for judging the normal intervertebral flexibility based on a survey of the normal population. Methods. The lateral dynamic radiographs of 75 normal subjects were analyzed by digitization and computer calculation. The characteristics of intervertebral positions were investigated using flexion radiographs. Results. From extension to flexion, the angles of intervertebral angular displacement changed from lordosis with different degrees to nearly 0°, which means the adjacent endplates are almost parallel, except at C1–C2; the intervertebral translation changes from slightly retrolisthetic to zero displacement. Using C2–C3 as a baseline to calculate the intervertebral differences of angular displacement and translation in flexion radiographs, nearly all the intervertebral differences of angular displacement were less than 7°, and those of translation were less than 0.06 mm. Conclusions. Qualitative changes from extension to flexion and quantitative values of intervertebral differences in flexion radiographs help define the normal flexibility of the cervical spine more accurately.
Dark Matter and Baryon Fraction at the Virial Radius in Abell 2256

We combine high-quality ASCA and ROSAT X-ray data to constrain the radial dark matter distribution in the primary cluster of Abell 2256, free from the assumption of gas isothermality. Both instruments indicate that the temperature declines with radius. The region including the central galaxy has a multicomponent spectrum, which results in a wide range of allowed central gas temperatures. We find that the secondary subcluster has a temperature and luminosity typical of a rich cluster; however, the ASCA temperature map shows no signs of an advanced merger in this double system. It is therefore assumed that the primary cluster is in hydrostatic equilibrium. The data then require dark matter density profiles steeper than ρ ∝ r-2.5 in the cluster outer part. Acceptable models have a total mass within r = 1.5 h-1 Mpc (approximately the virial radius) of 6.0 ± 1.5 × 1014 h-1 M☉ at the 90% confidence level. This is about 1.6 times smaller than the mass derived assuming isothermality. The gas fraction is correspondingly higher and is 0.08 ± 0.02 h-3/2. A lower limit on the fraction of gas in the total local density at the same radius is 0.09 h-3/2, which is twice the isothermal value. Near the center, dark matter profiles with and without central cusps are consistent with the data. Our inferred total mass inside the X-ray core (r = 0.26 h-1 Mpc) is 1.28 ± 0.08 × 1014 h-1 M☉, which exceeds the isothermal value by a factor of 1.4. Although the confidence intervals above may be underestimates, since they do not include uncertainties arising from asymmetry and departures from hydrostatic equilibrium, the behavior of the mass distribution, if applicable to other clusters, can bring X-ray and lensing mass estimates into better agreement but aggravate the "baryon catastrophe. " The observed considerable increase in the gas content with radius, not anticipated by simulations, may imply that a significant fraction of thermal gas energy comes from sources other than gravity and merger shocks, such as supernovae-driven galactic winds, for example.
Injury and Inflammation from Resuscitation of the Preterm Infant

We review information about how the preterm lung can be injured with the initiation of mechanical ventilation at birth. Although multiple variables such as pressure, tidal volume, positive end expiratory pressure, and the gas used for ventilation may contribute to the injury, the relative contribution of each is not known. Recent studies demonstrate that injury caused by initial high tidal volume is amplified by subsequent mechanical ventilation. A model for gas inflation of the fluid-filled lung may explain why even low tidal volumes may injure the preterm lung, and why the injury may initially occur to the small airways. Ventilation strategies that minimize injury need to be developed.
Institutional Repository A hybrid discrete re y algorithm for solving multi-objective exible job shop scheduling problems

Firefly Algorithm (FA) is a nature-inspired optimization algorithm that can be successfully applied to continuous optimization problems. However, lot of practical problems are formulated as discrete optimization problems. In this paper a hybrid discrete firefly algorithm (HDFA) is proposed to solve the multi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP). FJSP is an extension of the classical job shop scheduling problem that allows an operation to be processed by any machine from a given set along different routes. Three minimization objectives the maximum completion time, the workload of the critical machine and the total workload of all machines are considered simultaneously. This paper also proposes firefly algorithm’s discretization which consists of constructing a suitable conversion of the continuous functions as attractiveness, distance and movement, into new discrete functions. In the proposed algorithm discrete firefly algorithm (DFA) is combined with local search (LS) method to enhance the searching accuracy and information sharing among fireflies. The experimental results on the well-known benchmark instances and comparison with other recently published algorithms shows that the proposed algorithm is feasible and an effective approach for the multi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problems.