Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tuning the plasmonic resonance of Cu2−xS nanocrystals: effects of the crystal phase, morphology and surface ligands

A simple low-cost and phosphine-free colloidal method was developed to prepare disk-shaped Cu2−xS nanocrystals (NCs) with different crystal structures and basal planes, which could be manipulated effectively by varying the Cu : S feed molar ratios and the amount of surfactants. The near-infrared (NIR) localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength could be tuned from 1133 to 1512 nm with the crystal phase changing from CuS (covellite) to monoclinic Cu7S4 (roxbyite) and Cu31S16 (djurleite). Phase transformation had more important effects on tuning the plasmonic resonance than the surface interaction of the deprotonated carboxyl functional group of oleic acid. Moreover, the crystal phase could transform from covellite to djurleite and the morphology underwent a transition from nanodisks to nanospheres when the post-treatment temperature of CuS nanodisks by dodecanethiol (DDT) was increased to 120 °C, but only a size decrease took place at room temperature. As a result, a slight red-shift of the LSPR wavelength was observed at room temperature, but an obvious red-shift from 1140 to 1910 nm with the change in crystal structure and morphology. The post-treatment temperature played an important role in tuning the plasmonic resonance of the products, which was closely associated with the variation of the crystal structure, morphology and surface properties.
ByteWise: A case study in neural network obfuscation identification

Researchers taking advantage of recent advancements in neural networks have made leaps in many fields such as image recognition, natural language processing, and speech recognition. However, little work has been done with neural networks in the field of binary analysis. Recently, researchers have used neural networks to recognize function boundaries in binaries, using only the bytes of the programs as features. In this paper, we extend their work to detect the bytes of bogus basic blocks added in the dead branches of opaque predicates. We perform a case study using the bogus control flow transformation offered by Obfuscator-LLVM. We detect the bytes of bogus basic blocks with a 94% F1 score. This information can be used to prune code for static reverse engineering. We believe this line of research will yield optimized triage, reverse engineering tools, and malware detection based on obfuscation identification using neural networks.
Psychotherapy for bulimia nervosa on symptoms of depression: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE Depressive symptoms are an important risk factor and consequence of binge eating and purging behavior in bulimia nervosa (BN). Although psychotherapy is effective in reducing symptoms of BN in the short- and long-term, it is unclear whether psychotherapy for BN is also effective in reducing depressive symptoms. This meta-analysis examined the efficacy of psychotherapy for BN on depressive symptoms in the short- and long-term. METHOD Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on BN that assessed depressive symptoms as an outcome were identified. Twenty-six RCTs were included. RESULTS Psychotherapy was more efficacious at reducing symptoms of depression at post-treatment (g = 0.47) than wait-lists. This effect was strongest when studies delivered therapist-led, rather than guided self-help, treatment. No significant differences were observed between psychotherapy and antidepressants. There was no significant post-treatment difference between CBT and other active psychological comparisons at reducing symptoms of depression. However, when only therapist-led CBT was analyzed, therapist-led CBT was significantly more efficacious (g = 0.25) than active comparisons at reducing depressive symptoms. The magnitude of the improvement in depressive symptoms was predicted by the magnitude of the improvement in BN symptoms. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that psychotherapy is effective for reducing depressive symptoms in BN in the short-term. Whether these effects are sustained in the long-term is yet to be determined, as too few studies conducted follow-up assessments. Moreover, findings demonstrate that, in addition to being the front-running treatment for BN symptoms, CBT might also be the most effective psychotherapy for improving the symptoms of depression that commonly co-occur in BN.
On the Northern Annular Mode Surface Signal Associated with Stratospheric Variability

The wintertime northern annular mode (NAM) at the surface is known to undergo slow intra-seasonal variations in association with stratospheric variability which leads the surface signal by up to several weeks. The relative contributions, however, of potentially relevant stratospheretroposphere coupling mechanisms are not yet fully understood. In this study the relative roles, of (i) the downward effect of the zonal-mean secondary circulation induced by quasi-geostrophic (QG) adjustment to stratospheric wave drag and radiative damping and (ii) of wave drag local to the troposphere, are estimated. For this purpose, a spectral tendency equation of the QG zonal-mean zonal wind is derived, and used, in a first step, to obtain the external mechanical forcing which, in the QG framework, drives exactly the observed stratospheric and tropospheric daily NAM. In a second step, the equation is then integrated in time to reconstruct the daily NAM, but with the forcing restricted to either stratospheric or tropospheric levels, each case leaving a characteristic NAM surface signal. The relative roles of the above-mentioned mechanisms are found to be of similar quantitative importance, but to differ in a qualitative sense. The downward effect of stratospheric QG adjustment is responsible for the initiation of the NAM surface signal, whereas subsequently local tropospheric wave drag actively maintains and persists the signal over several weeks. Furthermore, the downward effect of QG adjustment to stratospheric radiative damping is shown to have only a minor impact, compared to that from stratospheric wave drag. The robustness of these conclusions is demonstrated by a sensitivity study with respect to various model parameters.
Grip Strength and Its Relationship to Police Recruit Task Performance and Injury Risk: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Suitable grip strength is a police occupational requirement. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between grip strength, task performance and injury risk in a police population. Retrospective data of police recruits (n = 169) who had undergone basic recruit training were provided, including handgrip strength results, occupational task performance measures (consisting of police task simulations [SIM], tactical options [TACOPS] and marksmanship assessments) and injury records. Left hand grip strength (41.91 ± 8.29 kg) measures showed a stronger correlation than right hand grip strength (42.15 ± 8.53 kg) with all outcome measures. Recruits whose grip strength scores were lower were significantly more susceptible to failing the TACOPS occupational task assessment than those with greater grip strength scores, with significant (p ≤ 0.003) weak to moderate, positive correlations found between grip strength and TACOPS performance. A significant (p < 0.0001) correlation was found between grip strength, most notably of the left hand, and marksmanship performance, with those performing better in marksmanship having higher grip strength. Left hand grip strength was significantly associated with injury risk (r = −0.181, p = 0.018) but right hand grip strength was not. A positive association exists between handgrip strength and police recruit task performance (notably TACOPS and marksmanship) with recruits who scored poorly on grip strength being at greatest risk of occupational assessment task failure.
Resilient Transactive Control for Systems With High Wind Penetration Based on Cloud Computing

One of the main shortcomings, caused by high penetration of wind power, is intermittency of generation. For integrating high penetration of wind power, the frequency regulation and the transactive control systems are modified to be sufficiently resilient against fluctuations of wind power and malicious cyber threats. Here, a hierarchical state-space model is presented for the frequency regulation and the transactive control systems in a smart grid environment. To achieve a resilient control, a framework based on cloud computing is proposed for the communication network. Benefits and challenges of the cloud-based framework are also described in this paper. To optimize the operation of the proposed framework, control parameters are tuned robustly by using the edge theorem. Finally, the performance of proposed control system is evaluated in the case study section.
Supporting system for fishery resource management utilizing convolutional neural network

In recent years, the amount of parent fish stock of Pacific bluefin tuna is decreasing. For this reason, efforts are underway to protect tuna resources in countries around the world. In Japan, an upper limit value of the catch amount is set, and when there is a possibility that the catch amount may exceed the upper limit value, the fishing operation is refrained to protect tuna resources. The set-net fishing covered in this research is a passive fishing method, it is almost impossible to avoid or catch only certain fish species. In addition, if the fixed net fishing is prohibited, the income of fishermen is lost because of fish species other than tuna aren't also caught. In this paper, we propose a method aiming at compatibility between resource protection of tuna and income guarantee of fishermen. An acoustic image of the 30-minute interval obtained by the fish finder is divided into a plurality of divided images, and whether or not the response of tuna is included by convolution neural network (CNN). Finally, based on the identification result of the divided image, it is judged whether the acoustic data of 30 minutes includes tuna. In this paper, to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, we derived the discrimination accuracy of the proposed method, and we also estimated the tuna resource protection effect when applying the proposed method, and the decrease rate of catch.
Can Elevated Air [CO2] Conditions Mitigate the Predicted Warming Impact on the Quality of Coffee Bean?

Climate changes, mostly related to high temperature, are predicted to have major negative impacts on coffee crop yield and bean quality. Recent studies revealed that elevated air [CO2] mitigates the impact of heat on leaf physiology. However, the extent of the interaction between elevated air [CO2] and heat on coffee bean quality was never addressed. In this study, the single and combined impacts of enhanced [CO2] and temperature in beans of Coffea arabica cv. Icatu were evaluated. Plants were grown at 380 or 700 μL CO2 L-1 air, and then submitted to a gradual temperature rise from 25°C up to 40°C during ca. 4 months. Fruits were harvested at 25°C, and in the ranges of 30–35 or 36–40°C, and bean physical and chemical attributes with potential implications on quality were then examined. These included: color, phenolic content, soluble solids, chlorogenic, caffeic and p-coumaric acids, caffeine, trigonelline, lipids, and minerals. Most of these parameters were mainly affected by temperature (although without a strong negative impact on bean quality), and only marginally, if at all, by elevated [CO2]. However, the [CO2] vs. temperature interaction strongly attenuated some of the negative impacts promoted by heat (e.g., total chlorogenic acids), thus maintaining the bean characteristics closer to those obtained under adequate temperature conditions (e.g., soluble solids, caffeic and p-coumaric acids, trigonelline, chroma, Hue angle, and color index), and increasing desirable features (acidity). Fatty acid and mineral pools remained quite stable, with only few modifications due to elevated air [CO2] (e.g., phosphorous) and/or heat. In conclusion, exposure to high temperature in the last stages of fruit maturation did not strongly depreciate bean quality, under the conditions of unrestricted water supply and moderate irradiance. Furthermore, the superimposition of elevated air [CO2] contributed to preserve bean quality by modifying and mitigating the heat impact on physical and chemical traits of coffee beans, which is clearly relevant in a context of predicted climate change and global warming scenarios.
Three fidelity criteria in image enhancement

The crucial issue in image quality enhancement is the fidelity issue. Three fidelity criteria (3FC) are proposed in image quality enhancement. FC 1 is that the information entropy of the enhanced image should not be bigger than the original image. FC 2 is that the constituents of the enhanced image should not be bigger than the original. FC 3 that the color relationship in the enhanced image is not changed when comparing with the original. Our studies point out that the image enhancement methods based on histogram equalization and Retinex do not meet three fidelity criteria in image quality enhancement.
Research Status and Technological Analysis of Producing High Magnetic Induction Grain-oriented Silicon Steel by Thin Slab Casting and Rolling Process

The current status and development trend of production process for high magnetic induction grain-oriented silicon steel are summarized.The research status of producing high magnetic induction grain-oriented silicon steel by thin slab casting and rolling process at home and abroad is introduced.The potential technical advantages of producing high magnetic induction grain-oriented silicon steel by thin slab casting and rolling process are obtained by analyzing in terms of process characteristics,thermal history,grain controlling,and inhibit controlling compared to traditional processes.Based on these technical advantages,the key technical difficulties to be solved in thin slab casting and rolling process are put forward.
Fabrication and Characterization of Chelate-Setting β-Tricalcium Phosphate Cements with Enhanced Bioresorbability

A novel chelate-setting β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) cement with anti-washout properties have been fabricated previously. This cement has been set on the basis of chelating ability of inositol phosphate (IP6). In this study, the ball-milling and surface-modification conditions of starting β-TCP cement powders were optimized in terms of bioresorbability. Starting powders were prepared by simultaneously ball-milling at 300 rpm for 3 h with 1 mm diameter ZrO2 beads and surface-modifying with 40 cm3 of 3000 ppm IP6 solution. The resulting starting powder was consisted of β-TCP single phase, and had high specific surface area of 48.3 m2∙g-1. Cement pastes were prepared by mixing the starting powder and the aqueous solution composed of 2.5 mass% sodium hydrogen phosphate, 1.5 mass% citric acid and 1.0 mass% sodium alginate at a powder/liquid ratio of 1/0.90 [g∙cm-3] for 2 min. After setting in pure water for 72 h, compressive strength of the cement specimens was higher than that of human cancellous bone. Dissolution rate of Ca2+ ions was measured by according to Japanese Industrial Standard T 0330-3. The results of Ca2+ ions dissolution rate test demonstrated that the cement specimens derived from the above starting powder were the highest dissolution rate among examined ones. This cement would be expected as bone fillers with high bioresobability.
Planning with Trust for Human-Robot Collaboration

Trust is essential for human-robot collaboration and user adoption of autonomous systems, such as robot assistants. This paper introduces a computational model which integrates trust into robot decision-making. Specifically, we learn from data a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) with human trust as a latent variable. The trust-POMDP model provides a principled approach for the robot to (i) infer the trust of a human teammate through interaction, (ii) reason about the effect of its own actions on human behaviors, and (iii) choose actions that maximize team performance over the long term. We validated the model through human subject experiments on a table-clearing task in simulation (201 participants) and with a real robot (20 participants). The results show that the trust-POMDP improves human-robot team performance in this task. They further suggest that maximizing trust in itself may not improve team performance.
MutS2 Promotes Homologous Recombination in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT Bacterial MutS proteins are subdivided into two families, MutS1 and MutS2. MutS1 family members recognize DNA replication errors during their participation in the well-characterized mismatch repair (MMR) pathway. In contrast to the well-described function of MutS1, the function of MutS2 in bacteria has remained less clear. In Helicobacter pylori and Thermus thermophilus, MutS2 has been shown to suppress homologous recombination. The role of MutS2 is unknown in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. In this work, we investigated the contribution of MutS2 to maintaining genome integrity in B. subtilis. We found that deletion of mutS2 renders B. subtilis sensitive to the natural antibiotic mitomycin C (MMC), which requires homologous recombination for repair. We demonstrate that the C-terminal small MutS-related (Smr) domain is necessary but not sufficient for tolerance to MMC. Further, we developed a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system to test if the inducible prophage PBSX was the underlying cause of the observed MMC sensitivity. Genetic analysis revealed that MMC sensitivity was dependent on recombination and not on nucleotide excision repair or a symptom of prophage PBSX replication and cell lysis. We found that deletion of mutS2 resulted in decreased transformation efficiency using both plasmid and chromosomal DNA. Further, deletion of mutS2 in a strain lacking the Holliday junction endonuclease gene recU resulted in increased MMC sensitivity and decreased transformation efficiency, suggesting that MutS2 could function redundantly with RecU. Together, our results support a model where B. subtilis MutS2 helps to promote homologous recombination, demonstrating a new function for bacterial MutS2. IMPORTANCE Cells contain pathways that promote or inhibit recombination. MutS2 homologs are Smr-endonuclease domain-containing proteins that have been shown to function in antirecombination in some bacteria. We present evidence that B. subtilis MutS2 promotes recombination, providing a new function for MutS2. We found that cells lacking mutS2 are sensitive to DNA damage that requires homologous recombination for repair and have reduced transformation efficiency. Further analysis indicates that the C-terminal Smr domain requires the N-terminal portion of MutS2 for function in vivo. Moreover, we show that a mutS2 deletion is additive with a recU deletion, suggesting that these proteins have a redundant function in homologous recombination. Together, our study shows that MutS2 proteins have adapted different functions that impact recombination.
On dc faults in multi-terminals VSC-HVDC systems

Dc faults in multi-terminals High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Voltage Source Converter (VSC) systems are studied in this paper. The fault contributions of each component (coming from ac side or dc side) in the dc fault current are investigated through time simulations. Matlab simulation package is used in which an exciting two terminals HVDC-VSC model is extended to a 3 terminals HVDC-VSC model. The dc fault is occurred in the dc network connecting the three HVDC-VSC converters. Results of time simulations of dc fault current showed that the fault current experiences two main distinct periods; a decaying discharging current period fed by the energy storing elements in the dc side, and a delayed period of a fault current fed by the ac side. The first period is instantaneous and occurs just after the fault time and of very high peak current.
MODELING OF CHIP BED PACKING IN A CONTINUOUS KRAFT COOKING DIGESTER

OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION HELSINKI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY P.O. BOX 1000, FI-02015 TKK http://www.tkk. fi Author Sampsa Laakso Name of the dissertation Modeling of chip bed packing in a continuous kraft cooking digester Manuscript submitted January 20, 2008 Manuscript revised October 2, 2008 Date of the defence 12.12. 2008 Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Department Forest Products Technology Laboratory Chemical Pulping and Envir onmental Technology Field of research Chemical Pulping Opponent(s) Professor Richard Gustafson, University of Washington, USA Supervisor Professor Olli Dahl Instructor Dr. Panu Tikka Abstract This work focused on modeling of the chip bed packing phenomena in a continuous kraft cooking digester. A better understanding of chip bed packing would make it possible to optimize chip flow conditions in the digester, thereby ensuring uniform fiber quality and production efficiency.This work focused on modeling of the chip bed packing phenomena in a continuous kraft cooking digester. A better understanding of chip bed packing would make it possible to optimize chip flow conditions in the digester, thereby ensuring uniform fiber quality and production efficiency. Chips are fed continuously into the digester, with the chip flow forming a solid bed. As the solid chip bed moves slowly downwards, cooking reactions proceed, which leads to softening of the chips. The softening of chips and the process conditions, flows and gravitational, are major variables affecting the chip bed packing. A new computer model, TKK Packing Simulator, was created to study the chip bed packing in a continuous digester. The simulator was verified against mill-scale conditions by conducting measurements in a continuous cooking plant. The packing simulator was found to give an accurate picture of the process flows inside the continuous digester. As digesters have grown bigger, controlling the liquor flows in the chip bed has become increasingly important. A tracer test was used to verify the liquor flow, which can be far from ideal in a modern digester. It is important to have optimal packing and flow conditions inside the digester, because too high packing and channeling of the liquor flow leads to non-uniform cooking, production disturbances and impaired fiber quality. The simulator developed in the present research can be used to determine optimal packing and flow conditions.
Energy-Aware Participant Selection for Smartphone-Enabled Mobile Crowd Sensing

Mobile crowd sensing systems have been widely used in various domains but are currently facing new challenges. On one hand, the increasingly complex services need a large number of participants to satisfy their demand for sensory data with multidimensional high quality-of-information (QoI) requirements. On the other hand, the willingness of their participation is not always at a high level due to the energy consumption and its impacts on their regular activities. In this paper, we introduce a new metric, called “QoI satisfaction ratio,” to quantify how much collected sensory data can satisfy a multidimensional task's QoI requirements in terms of data granularity and quantity. Furthermore, we propose a participant sampling behavior model to quantify the relationship between the initial energy and the participation of participants. Finally, we present a QoI-aware energy-efficient participant selection approach to provide a suboptimal solution to the defined optimization problem. Finally, we have compared our proposed scheme with existing methods via extensive simulations based on the real movement traces of ordinary citizens in Beijing. Extensive simulation results well justify the effectiveness and robustness of our approach.