Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparation of PVA/TiO2 Composites Nanofibers by using Electrospinning Method for Photocatalytic Degradation

PVA/TiO2 composites nanofibers have been prepared by using electrospinning method. Electrospinning was performed at a voltage of 15 kV, with a tip-collector distance of 14 cm. The PVA/TiO2 composites nanofibers were characterized by FTIR, SEM, and EDAX. The results showed that PVA/TiO2 composites nanofibers were successfully formed. SEM observation showed that the nanofibers has several hundred nanometers with a smooth surface and have TiO2 nanoparticle distributed in the nanofibers. FTIR result shows a functional group of PVA and EDAX result demonstrates the presence of TiO2 in the nanofibers. The photocatalytic activity of PVA/TiO2 composites nanofibers were investigated for the degradation of methylene blue under UV light. The PVA/TiO2 composite nanofibers suspending in the dye solution have dye removal of 70% dye was degraded in 5 h. As a comparison, the TiO2 powder that has dye removal of 95% dye was degraded in 5 h. Photocatalytic activity of PVA/TiO2 nanofiber was lower than TiO2 powder, but PVA/TiO2 nanofiber was more efficient than TiO2 powder regarding process treatments photocatalytic.
Detection of Edges in Spectral Data II. Nonlinear Enhancement

We discuss a general framework for recovering edges in piecewise smooth functions with finitely many jump discontinuities, where $[f](x):=f(x+)-f(x-) \neq 0$. Our approach is based on two main aspects--- localization using appropriate concentration kernels and separation of scales by nonlinear enhancement. To detect such edges, one employs concentration kernels, $K_\epsilon(\cdot)$, depending on the small scale $\epsilon$. It is shown that odd kernels, properly scaled, and admissible (in the sense of having small $W^{-1,\infty}$-moments of order ${\cal O}(\epsilon)$) satisfy $K_\epsilon*f(x) = [f](x) +{\cal O}(\epsilon)$, thus recovering both the location and amplitudes of all edges. As an example we consider general concentration kernels of the form $K^\sigma_N(t)=\sum\sigma(k/N)\sin kt$ to detect edges from the first $1/\epsilon=N$ spectral modes of piecewise smooth f's. Here we improve in generality and simplicity over our previous study in [A. Gelb and E. Tadmor, Appl. Comput. Harmon. Anal. , 7 (1999), pp. 101--135]. Both periodic and nonperiodic spectral projections are considered. We identify, in particular, a new family of exponential factors, $\sigma^{exp}(\cdot)$, with superior localization properties. The other aspect of our edge detection involves a nonlinear enhancement procedure which is based on separation of scales between the edges, where $K_\epsilon*f(x)\sim [f](x) \neq 0$, and the smooth regions where $K_\epsilon*f = {\cal O}(\epsilon) \sim 0$. Numerical examples demonstrate that by coupling concentration kernels with nonlinear enhancement one arrives at effective edge detectors.
Interphase FISH screening for the LCR‐mediated common rearrangement of isochromosome 17q in primary myelofibrosis

Non‐allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) between low‐copy repeats (LCRs) has been implicated recently in somatic rearrangements including isochromosome i(17q), which is associated with hematologic malignancies as well as solid tumors. In hematological malignancies, the most common i(17q) breakpoint results from LCR‐mediated NAHR, which creates a dicentric chromosome, idic(17)(p11.2). We report an elderly patient who presented with primary myelofibrosis (MF) with myeloid metaplasia (MMM), associated with idic(17)(p11.2) as the sole chromosomal abnormality, making this the first idic(17)(p11.2) myeloproliferative case reported in which the breakpoints are mapped to the breakpoint cluster region in proximal 17p. The rearrangement breakpoint maps to the previously defined LCR cluster, further suggesting that the genomic architecture of proximal 17p may be responsible for the formation of the majority of i(17q) cases. We describe our development of a rapid screening test using interphase FISH to detect idic(17)(p11.2), discuss the potential prognostic value of this molecular diagnostic test, and examine the relevance of LCR‐mediated NAHR to common rearrangements in neoplasms. Am. J. Hematol. 79:309–313, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An approach for functionally graded cladding of composite material on austenitic stainless steel substrate through microwave heating

In the present work, functionally graded clads of Ni-SiC material have been developed on austenitic stainless steel (SS-304) substrate through 2.45 GHZ domestic microwave applicator. The functionally graded clads were processed by the concept of hybrid heating with varying exposed microwave power levels from 180 to 900 W. The optimum exposure time of 900 W microwave power was varied with compositional gradient and it is from 300 s to 420 s. The maximum thickness achieved for functionally graded clads was 2 mm at optimum exposure power and time. The microstructural analysis of developed clads reveals that the partial mutual diffusion between each successive layer took place and it confirms the metallurgical bonding in between. The typical flower like structure of Ni-matrix has been observed in clads where the SiC particles were uniformly dispersed. The maximum functionally graded clads micro-hardness of 1020 ± 30 HV were achieved.
Seeding and Harvest: A Framework for Unsupervised Feature Selection Problems

Feature selection, also known as attribute selection, is the technique of selecting a subset of relevant features for building robust object models. It is becoming more and more important for large-scale sensors applications with AI capabilities. The core idea of this paper is derived from a straightforward and intuitive principle saying that, if a feature subset (pattern) has more representativeness, it should be more self-organized, and as a result it should be more insensitive to artificially seeded noise points. In the light of this heuristic finding, we established the whole set of theoretical principles, based on which we proposed a two-stage framework to evaluate the relative importance of feature subsets, called seeding and harvest (S&H for short). At the first stage, we inject a number of artificial noise points into the original dataset; then at the second stage, we resort to an outlier detector to identify them under various feature patterns. The more precisely the seeded points can be extracted under a particular feature pattern, the more valuable and important the corresponding feature pattern should be. Besides, we compared our method with several state-of-the-art feature selection methods on a number of real-life datasets. The experiment results significantly confirm that our method can accomplish feature reduction tasks with high accuracy as well as low computing complexity.
Clustering multivariate functional data

Model-based clustering is considered for Gaussian multivariate functional data as an extension of the univariate functional setting. Principal components analysis is introduced and used to define an approximation of the notion of density for multivariate functional data. An EM like algorithm is proposed to estimate the parameters of the reduced model. Application on climatology data illustrates the method.
Evolution pattern of collision cascades in bcc V with different grain boundary structures: an atomic scale study

Abstract In this paper, by means of atomic-scale simulations, we investigate modifications of the evolution pattern of collision cascades in bcc vanadium (V) with different grain boundary (GB) structures on picosecond (ps) timescale. In primary damage state, in agreement with previous results of bcc and fcc bi-crystals, we find that the GBs in V are biased towards interstitials. The biased absorption of interstitials over vacancies reduces the in-cascade annihilation of vacancy-interstitial pairs and leads to aggregation of more number of vacancies in the grains interiors. The sessile vacancies accumulate in the bulk and form immobile vacancy clusters; in contrast, the glissile interstitials disperse in the damage zone and mostly diffuse in the form of single self-interstitial atoms (SIAs)/di-interstitials towards the GB region. Moreover, meanwhile, as we discuss the mechanisms that reduce (or increase) the concentration of defects in bi-crystal structures on picosecond timescale, we study the energetics of defects in close vicinity of pristine GBs, as an alternative driving force that facilitates formation and accumulation of defects in the GB regions. Finally, in a prolonged irradiation, we examine stability and sink properties of the damaged GBs. The results reveal that, irrespective of GB structure, the presence of grain boundaries leads to aggregation of more number of vacancies in the grain interiors in continuous bombardment. Overall, based on the results obtained in the primary damage event and the prolonged irradiation, we conclude that the GBs in bcc V act as efficient defect sinks on the simulated time frame.
Energy Efficiency and Spectral Efficiency Tradeoff for Asymmetric Two-Way AF Relaying With Statistical CSI

Both energy efficiency (EE) and spectral efficiency (SE) are two important design criteria that can hardly be achieved simultaneously. In this paper, we investigate the EE-SE tradeoff for a two-way relaying system with amplify-and-forward (AF) strategy. Applying a unified EE-SE tradeoff metric, a power-allocation problem is formulated as the joint EE and SE maximization problem with a tradeoff factor. In particular, only statistical channel-state information (CSI) is required, and the asymmetric traffic requirements are taken into consideration in our design. Through the exploitation of the theorem of nonlinear fractional programming, a unique closed-form optimum solution is obtained, and some useful insights are also achieved. It has been proved that the provided optimal solution is Pareto optimal for EE-SE optimization. Utilizing these results, one can flexibly make the tradeoff between EE and SE by simply setting the tradeoff factor. Simulation results highlight the effect of the proposed power-allocation scheme.
Metallic laser clad coatings: on the pirocessing-microstructure-property relationships

A thick metallic coating that is resistant against high loading impact, severe wear and corrosion at high temperatures can be produced through the laser clad method. This work introduces the Orientation Imagining Microscopy based on electron backscatter diffraction in a scanning electron microscope as a very powerful instrument for studying relationships between processing parameters and the microstructure of individual laser tracks and final coatings formed by overlap. The study has been performed on thick (similar to 1mm) Co-based coatings prepared by a 2 kW CW Nd:YAG laser cladding on 42CrMo4 steel substrate using Substantially different laser beam scanning speeds. OIM provides new insights into the microstructure of laser clad coatings and yields very useful information concerning the directional grow of individual grains, the solidification texture and the shape of solidification front during laser cladding. Strong correlations between these parameters and laser cladding speed as well as the presence of internal interfaces with the sharp microstructural and mechanical properties changes are presented and discussed.
Reduction operations in parallel discrete event simulations

Building on Reynolds's hardware/software framework for parallel discrete event simulation (PDES), we establish a number of novel and best known results based on the use of reduction-based computing to support PDES. We demonstrate the utility of reduction-based computing to a spectrum of well-known PDES synchronization protocols, such as conservative techniques and Time Warp. We enhance the hardware portion of this framework at three levels: (1) we define a virtual computation model, (2) we develop a functional design, and (3) we present a detailed implementation of this design. Each of the preceding steps is based on correctness criteria we establish here. We develop novel algorithms for performing reduction-based message acknowledgments. We prove the correctness of one of them, a single phase acknowledgment algorithm that takes advantage of the existence of global virtual time. Finally, we introduce target-specific reductions, a very promising strategy for disseminating near-perfect state information in PDES's. A target-specific reduction is one where each logical process receives synchronization information (reduced values) only from those logical processes on which it is logically dependent. We demonstrate that the computation of target-specific values can have a sub-quadratic sequential time complexity. Supporting empirical results clearly demonstrate that target-specific reductions will provide significant time and space savings in PDES's.
Fabrication of layer-by-layer electrospun composite membranes based on polylactic acid (PLA) and poly (caprolactone) (PCL)/Chitosan

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that applies the principles of engineering and life sciences towards the tissue development. Scaffolds can provide physical support and carry growth factors to the target cells. In this study, multi-layered composite scaffolds or membranes were fabricated using poly (lactic acid) PLA and by blending of synthetic polycaprolactone (PCL) and natural Chitosan layer-by-layer with a multilayer electrospinning technique. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), water contact angle measurement (WCA) and water uptake were measured to characterize the multilayered scaffolds. Using optimized solution concentrations and processing parameters, the composite PLA and PCL/Chitosan was successfully fabricated layer-by-layer. It was found that the composite microfibrous membranes were homogenous. No beads were observed in the microfibers of the membranes. The composite layer-by layer membrane had enhanced wettability and water uptake properties than single layered membranes
Analysing Snapshot Isolation

Snapshot isolation (SI) is a widely used consistency model for transaction processing, implemented by most major databases and some of transactional memory systems. Unfortunately, its classical definition is given in a low-level operational way, by an idealised concurrency-control algorithm, and this complicates reasoning about the behaviour of applications running under SI. We give an alternative specification to SI that characterises it in terms of transactional dependency graphs of Adya et al., generalising serialization graphs. Unlike previous work, our characterisation does not require adding additional information to dependency graphs about start and commit points of transactions. We then exploit our specification to obtain two kinds of static analyses. The first one checks when a set of transactions running under SI can be chopped into smaller pieces without introducing new behaviours, to improve performance. The other analysis checks whether a set of transactions running under a weakening of SI behaves the same as when it running under SI.
Cooperative positioning/orientation control of mobile heterogeneous anisotropic sensor networks for area coverage

This article examines the coordination problem of the nodes' motion in a heterogeneous anisotropic mobile sensor network for area coverage purposes. The mobile agents are assumed to have non-uniform with varying scaling sensing ability around themselves. The nodes' sensor footprint is allowed to be any arbitrary compact planar set, while the coordination scheme accounts for rotation of the latter. The domain sensed by the swarm is partitioned via the proposed distributed scheme that differentiates for standard Voronoi-alike distance-based metrics. The distributed cooperative scheme developed manages to lead the group towards an area-optimal configuration via proper control of the movement and rotation of each sensing node. Numerical results are provided in order to indicate the efficiency of the proposed technique.
Efficient and rapid degradation of Congo red dye with TiO2 based nano-photocatalysts

Degradation of Congo red (CR) dye with TiO2 based nano-photocatalyst (NPC) loaded with Nd3+ and Er3+ ions is reported. The chemical route of synthesis through co-precipitation/hydrolysis (CPH) was employed to produce NPCs with general composition TiO2[R2O3]x, {x = 0.1, 0.2; R □ Nd, Er} and particle size within 12 − 16 nm. Photocatalytic degradation under visible light was measured in terms of the percent degradation of CR in 180 min (C180′), time taken to degrade to half of the initial CR concentration (t1/2) and apparent rate constant (kobs). For both doping types, values of C180′ close to 100% were obtained with x = 0.2 NPCs, indicating complete removal of the dye. For the same NPCs, very high values of kobs were found; 2.91 × 10−2 min−1 and 2.36 × 10−2 min−1, for Nd3+ and Er3+ loaded NPCs, respectively, suggesting very rapid degradation. Other NPCs with x = 0.1, also showed reasonably good and fast degradation of CR. The observations may be attributed to the small particle size of the NPCs. Moreover, from the DRS results it is observed that the addition of Nd3+ and Er3+ ions apparently introduces intermediate energy levels within the band gap of TiO2. Such new levels seem to support photocatalysis because they act as electron traps leading to effective suppression of the undesired e−/h+ recombination. To some meaningful extent they also facilitate the absorption of visible irradiations required in the process.
Validation of 3 Food Outlet Databases: Completeness and Geospatial Accuracy in Rural and Urban Food Environments

Despite interest in the built food environment, little is known about the validity of commonly used secondary data. The authors conducted a comprehensive field census identifying the locations of all food outlets using a handheld global positioning system in 8 counties in South Carolina (2008–2009). Secondary data were obtained from 2 commercial companies, Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) (Short Hills, New Jersey) and InfoUSA, Inc. (Omaha, Nebraska), and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and geospatial accuracy were compared. The field census identified 2,208 food outlets, significantly more than the DHEC (n = 1,694), InfoUSA (n = 1,657), or D&B (n = 1,573). Sensitivities were moderate for DHEC (68%) and InfoUSA (65%) and fair for D&B (55%). Combining InfoUSA and D&B data would have increased sensitivity to 78%. Positive predictive values were very good for DHEC (89%) and InfoUSA (86%) and good for D&B (78%). Geospatial accuracy varied, depending on the scale: More than 80% of outlets were geocoded to the correct US Census tract, but only 29%–39% were correctly allocated within 100 m. This study suggests that the validity of common data sources used to characterize the food environment is limited. The marked undercount of food outlets and the geospatial inaccuracies observed have the potential to introduce bias into studies evaluating the impact of the built food environment.
Springback Reduction in Tailor Welded Blank with High Strength Differential by Using Multi‐Objective Evolutionary and Genetic Algorithms

The springback behavior on two sides of TWIP (twinning‐induced plasticity) and mild steels tailor welded blank (TWB) is considerably different due to the large difference in strength. To reduce springback defects in a U‐draw bending process of such TWB, different non‐constant blank holding force (BHF) profiles on two sides of the blank are applied in this study. A systematic approach to obtain optimal BHF‐stroke profiles, which helps to reduce the springback is proposed. Control of the variable BHF aims at increasing the uniformity in through‐thickness of the stress component along the stretching direction, while decreasing the risk of failure due to over‐stretching. Therefore, the optimal condition would require satisfying two conflicting objectives simultaneously: (i) minimize springback deformation and (ii) minimize the forming severity, leading to a Pareto‐optimal problem. The optimization procedure consists of sampling design, finite element (FE) simulations, metamodeling, and finally the calculation of a Pareto‐frontier. Generated outputs from FE simulations on statistically significant sampling points are used for the construction of metamodels of optimum accuracy and complexity, which, in turn, are used to evaluate the output for any set of inputs, replacing the computing intensive FE simulations. A novel genetic algorithms based multi‐objective optimization technique is subsequently applied for optimization.
Quantifier Scope in Categorical Compositional Distributional Semantics

In previous work with J. Hedges, we formalised a generalised quantifiers theory of natural language in categorical compositional distributional semantics with the help of bialgebras. In this paper, we show how quantifier scope ambiguity can be represented in that setting and how this representation can be generalised to branching quantifiers.
Finite-State Back-Transliteration for Marathi

Abstract In this paper, we describe the creation of an open-source, finite-state based system for back-transliteration of Latin text in the Indian language Marathi. We outline the advantages of our system and compare it to other existing systems, evaluate its recall, and evaluate the coverage of an open-source morphological analyser on our back-transliterated corpus.
Dynamic Multi-Swarm Particle Swarm Optimizer with a Novel Constraint-Handling Mechanism

In this paper, a novel constraint-handling mechanism based on multi-swarm is proposed. Different from the existing constraints handling methods, the sub-swarms are adaptively assigned to explore different constraints according to their difficulties. The new mechanism is combined in dynamic multi-swarm optimizer (DMS-PSO) for handling constrained real-parameter optimization problems and sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method is combined to improve its local search ability. The performance of the modified DMS-PSO on the set of benchmark functions provided by CEC2006 [1] is reported.
Changes in central delay of soleus H reflex after facilitatory or inhibitory conditioning in humans.

1. Central delay (CD) changes after facilitatory or inhibitory conditioning of the soleus H reflex have been investigated in a group of normal subjects as a function of the conditioning and test stimulus intensities and also as a function of the Hmax/Mmax ratio. Both facilitation and inhibition of the reflex response have been obtained by conditioning stimulation of the ipsilateral tibial nerve at suitable conditioning-test stimulus intervals. CD changes have been extrapolated from the variations of the time interval between afferent and efferent neural volleys underlying the H reflex, directly recorded from the sciatic nerve. 2. The CD was significantly decreased by facilitatory and increased by inhibitory conditioning. Facilitatory CD changes were positively related to test stimulus strength (at a given conditioning stimulus intensity) and negatively related to conditioning stimulus strength (at a given test stimulus intensity). Both trends were reversed after inhibitory conditioning. The effectiveness of facilitatory conditioning was positively related to the individual Hmax/Mmax ratio whereas a negative relationship could be observed after inhibitory conditioning. 3. Also, the "conditioning threshold" (the minimal conditioning stimulus strength affecting the reflex size) and the "maximal conditioning effect" (the conditioning stimulus intensities leading to either the saturation of the facilitatory effect or the suppression of the reflex response) were significantly related to the Hmax/Mmax ratio. 4. We suggest that temporal changes in the H reflex pathway after facilitatory or inhibitory conditioning stimuli depend both on the size of the motoneuronal pool underlying the reflex response, as determined by the test stimulus intensity, and on the individual excitability of the motoneuronal pool, as defined by the Hmax/Mmax ratio. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)