Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracting Complex Dielectric Properties From Reflection-Transmission Mode Spectroscopy

Material characterization of homogeneous dielectric slabs using reflection–transmission mode spectroscopy can be problematic due to the ambiguity from a phasor term. A comprehensive analytical review of methods for calculating the normalized power spectra, to extract the effective complex dielectric properties of a sample, is undertaken. Three generic power response models (zero-order, power propagation, and electric-field propagation) are derived; these models act as a consolidated mathematical framework for the whole paper. With our unified engineering approach, the voltage-wave propagation, transmission line, and telegrapher’s equation transmission line models are then independently derived; the first two giving the same mathematical solutions, whereas the third generates the same numerical results, as the exact electric-field propagation model. Mathematically traceable simulation results from the various models are compared and contrasted using an arbitrarily chosen data set (window glass) from 1 to 100 THz. We show how to extract the approximate effective complex dielectric properties using time-gated time-domain spectroscopy and also the exact values with our theoretical graphical techniques from the first-order reflectance and transmittance. Our approach is then taken further by considering all the Fabry–Pérot reflections with the frequency- and space-domain spectroscopy. With the scalar reflection–transmission mode infrared spectroscopy, we model the threshold conditions between the solution space that gives the single (exact) solution for the complex refractive index and the solution space that gives multiple mathematical solutions. By knowing threshold conditions, it is possible to gain a much deeper insight, in terms of the sample constraints and metrology techniques that can be adopted, to determine the single solution. Finally, we propose a simple additional measurement/simulation step to resolve the ambiguity within the multiple solution space. Here, sample thickness is arbitrary and no initial guesses are required. In theory, the result from this paper allows for the exact extraction of complex dielectric properties using simpler and lower cost scalar reflection–transmission mode spectroscopy.
Towards a software oriented approach to control disadvantaged networks

Disadvantaged networks are characterised to be different than traditional IP networks in terms of dynamism, bandwidth availability, link errors, quality of service etc. The requirements of users of these mobile networks are constantly scaling up over the time and combined with the additional component of mobility of network elements which poses a severe challenge of reconfiguring the resources for better usage. Also there is a requirement of quick network convergence under dynamic conditions. In traditional networks where data and control planes are combined it is very difficult to find the point of error in the network because each node in the network operates autonomously to make its own forwarding decisions, QoS polices, Access Control Lists and packet filters. The challenge is to provide quick network convergence with multiple survivable paths and alternate routing with less down time and minimum packet loss.
T1‐ or T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging: what is the best choice to evaluate atrophy of the hippocampus?

Magnetic resonance imaging is part of the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD) through the evaluation of hippocampal atrophy. The objective of this study was to evaluate which sequence of T1‐weighted (T1WI) and T2‐weighted (T2WI) imaging allowed the best visual evaluation of hippocampal atrophy.
A −242dB FOM and −75dBc-reference-spur ring-DCO-based all-digital PLL using a fast phase-error correction technique and a low-power optimal-threshold TDC

To improve efficiency in the use of silicon, there have been many efforts to develop ring-oscillator-based clock generators with low jitter. A PLL using a fast phase-error correction (FPEC) technique [1] is one promising architecture. By emulating the phase-realignment mechanism of an injection-locked clock multiplier (ILCM), the FPEC PLL can achieve ultra-low jitter that is almost comparable to that of ILCMs. In addition, since the FPEC PLL has an integrator in its transfer function, it can also achieve a low reference spur and a high multiplication factor (N), which is different from ILCMs. However, the FPEC PLL of an analog implementation in [1] has difficulty maintaining optimal loop characteristics, which vary easily due to PVT variations or a change in the output frequency. To facilitate the calibration of loop characteristics, the FPEC can be implemented in an all-digital PLL (ADPLL), increasing the control word of a DCO, DFCW, in a very short duration, TFPEC, as shown in Fig. 25.4. 1. Since the FPEC technique can rapidly remove the accumulated jitter of the DCO from the previous reference period, fREF, the variance of the output jitter, VAR[JOUT](f), becomes saw-tooth-shaped along with the accumulating jitter. In a conventional ADPLL, the accumulated jitter is removed gradually over TREF, so the variance of the jitter is nearly constant [2]. This difference enables the FPEC ADPLL to have much lower RMS jitter, σRMS. However, the FPEC ADPLL is limited in its ability to achieve extremely low jitter, i.e., it cannot reduce σRMS as much as analog FPEC PLLs can. This is because typical ADPLL TDCs provides less precise information regarding the oscillator jitter than a PD does in analog PLLs. When it detects a timing error, τerr, a TDC generates a digitized value, DTDC; thus, the amount of error to be corrected becomes rather than τerr. This results in a quantization error, τq, thereby increasing σrms. To minimize τq (or Ε[τq2]), the resolution of a TDC must be improved significantly to a level at which the quantity of jitter can be distinguished, but this is difficult when a typical CMOS process is used. Even if the design itself were possible, additional power would be required to generate many evenly spaced time thresholds.
Race-Related Cognitive Test Bias in the Active Study: A Mimic Model Approach

The present study investigated evidence for race-related test bias in cognitive measures used in the baseline assessment of the ACTIVE clinical trial. Test bias against African Americans has been documented in both cognitive aging and early life span studies. Despite significant mean performance differences, Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) models suggested most differences were at the construct level. There was little evidence that specific measures put either group at particular advantage or disadvantage and little evidence of cognitive test bias in this sample. Small group differences in education, cognitive status, and health suggest positive selection may have attenuated possible biases.
Factors associated with postoperative renal sinus invasion and perinephric fat invasion in renal cell cancer: treatment planning implications

In patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), postoperative upstaging including perinephric fat invasion (PNI) and renal sinus invasion (RSI) leads to unfavorable oncological outcomes. Determining the preoperative risk factors for postoperative upstaging could be beneficial for treatment planning. In this study, 267 RCC patients who underwent radical nephrectomy were studied retrospectively. The RSI incidence was significantly greater than that of PNI. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with RSI, PNI, and RSI plus PNI had poorer disease-free-survival than those with neither RSI nor PNI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that a tumor extension into the sinus, an irregular tumor-sinus border, and an irregular tumor shape in CT/MRI imaging were independent risk factors for RSI. And a tumor larger than 5 cm, an irregular tumor-perinephric fat border, and a tumor necrosis were independent risk factors for PNI. Subgrouping of patients into low-, moderate-, and high-risk groups according to these factors, revealed a direct association between the risk factors and PNI/RSI incidence. In conclusion, in patients with RCC, preoperative risk factors associated with postoperative upstaging could be assessed by imaging data obtained using CT or MRI. Preoperative Risk group classification would be clinically useful for patient counseling and treatment planning.
Reduction in Structural Disorder and Functional Complexity in the Thermal Adaptation of Prokaryotes

Genomic correlates of evolutionary adaptation to very low or very high optimal growth temperature (OGT) values have been the subject of many studies. Whereas these provided a protein-structural rationale of the activity and stability of globular proteins/enzymes, the point has been neglected that adaptation to extreme temperatures could also have resulted from an increased use of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), which are resistant to these conditions in vitro. Contrary to these expectations, we found a conspicuously low level of structural disorder in bacteria of very high (and very low) OGT values. This paucity of disorder does not reflect phylogenetic relatedness, i.e. it is a result of genuine adaptation to extreme conditions. Because intrinsic disorder correlates with important regulatory functions, we asked how these bacteria could exist without IDPs by studying transcription factors, known to harbor a lot of function-related intrinsic disorder. Hyperthermophiles have much less transcription factors, which have reduced disorder compared to their mesophilic counterparts. On the other hand, we found by systematic categorization of proteins with long disordered regions that there are certain functions, such as translation and ribosome biogenesis that depend on structural disorder even in hyperthermophiles. In all, our observations suggest that adaptation to extreme conditions is achieved by a significant functional simplification, apparent at both the level of the genome and individual genes/proteins.
Stereoscopic image tamper detection and self-recovery using hierarchical detection and stereoscopic matching

Abstract. We propose a new watermarking algorithm for stereoscopic image tamper detection and self-recovery in three-dimensional multimedia services. Initially, left and right views of stereoscopic image are divided into nonoverlapping 2×2 blocks in order to improve the accuracy of tamper localization in an image. As the left and right views of a stereoscopic image are not independent from each other but have an inter-view relationship, every block of a stereoscopic image is classified into matching block or nonmatching block and then block disparities are obtained. Both matching blocks in the left and right views have similar pixel values, so that fewer bits are allocated for recovery watermark generation, which can increase the quality of watermarked stereoscopic images. A hierarchical tamper-detection strategy with a four-level checkup is presented to improve the accuracy of tamper localization. Additionally, two copies of block (matching block and nonmatching block) information are embedded into the stereoscopic image, and it assures the quality of tampered recovery. For the nonmatching block recovery, two copies of the partner block are embedded into their chaotic mapping blocks, which supply the second chance for tamper recovery. For the matching block recovery, the inter-view relationship between tampers of left and right views supplies the third chance for tamper recovery. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can not only detect and locate tampers in stereoscopic image more accurately but also recover the tampered regions better, compared with other algorithms.
Performance of Risk Measures in China's Stock Markets

This article examines the efficiency of five risk m easures in the framework of portfolio optimization for the stocks of four China’s stock markets and investigates which rmeasure has the best performance in making asse t allocation decisions. The data used are the historical monthly stock returns from 1998 to 2002. Although the down side risk measures are thought to be consistent with investor s’ actual perception of risk, our finding shows tha t the traditional Mean-Variance model is much more efficient and has t he best performance in forming global minimum risk portfolios among all five risk measures.
Amadori-glycated phosphatidylethanolamine enhances the physical stability and selective targeting ability of liposomes

Liposomes consisting of 100% phosphatidylcholine exhibit poor membrane fusion, cellular uptake and selective targeting capacities. To overcome these limitations, we used Amadori-glycated phosphatidylethanolamine, which is universally present in animals and commonly consumed in foods. We found that liposomes containing Amadori-glycated phosphatidylethanolamine exhibited significantly reduced negative membrane potential and demonstrated high cellular uptake.
Compound Semiconductor-Based Thin-Film and Flexible Optoelectronics.

xv Chapter I: Introduction 1 1.1 Overview of III-V compound semiconductors . 1 1.1.1 Bonding in compound semiconductors . 1 1.1.2 Crystalline structure of compound semiconductors . 3 1.1.3 Built-in strain in compound semiconductors . 5 1.2 Crystal growth methods . 6 1.2. 1 Bulk crystalline substrate growth . 6 1.2. 2 Epitaxy . 8 1.3 Applications of compound semiconductors for optoelectronic devices . 11 1.3. 1 Photovoltaic cells . 11 1.3. 2 Photodiodes . 12 1.3. 3 Light emitting diodes. 12 1.3. 4 Lasers . 13 1.3. 5 Field effect transistors . 13 1.4 Technology challenges . 14 1.5 Thesis overview . 15
Space-time scene manifolds

The space of images is known to be a nonlinear sub-space that is difficult to model. This paper derives an algorithm that walks within this space. We seek a manifold through the video volume that is constrained to lie locally in this space. Every local neighborhood within the manifold resembles some image patch. We call this the scene manifold because the solution traces the scene outline. For a broad class of inputs the problem can be posed as finding the shortest path in a graph and can thus be solved efficiently to produce the globally optimal solution. Constraining appearance rather than geometry gives rise to numerous new capabilities. Here we demonstrate the usefulness of this approach by posing the well-studied problem of mosaicing in a new way. Instead of treating it as geometrical alignment, we pose it as an appearance optimization. Since the manifold is constrained to lie in the space of valid image patches, the resulting mosaic is guaranteed to have the least distortions possible. Any small part of it can be seen in some image even though the manifold spans the whole video. Thus it can deal seamlessly with both static and dynamic scenes, with or without 3D parallax. Essentially, the method simultaneously solves two problems that have been solved only separately until now: alignment and mosaicing.
Interaction mechanisms of screw dislocations with and twin boundaries in Mg

Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to investigate the interactions between screw partials and the and twin boundaries in Mg. In the twin, the interaction was attractive and the partials were absorbed readily in the boundary. In the twin, however, they passed through the twin boundary because of a repulsive interaction when a large applied strain was applied. The total energy including the dislocation core energy and the twin boundary energy was found to be similar before and after the absorption of the partials in the twin boundary, while it increased upon the absorption of the partial in the twin boundary. The origins of the total energy variations are discussed from a crystallographic viewpoint.
Harnessing the power of knowledge management for innovation

Innovation, the successful exploitation of new ideas, is integration of knowledge with action. Researchers have discovered that knowledge, which includes what the organisation knows, how it uses what it knows and how fast it can know something new, offers a competitive edge to an organisation (Adams and Lamont, 2003; Sinha et al., 2012; McLaughlin and Caraballo, 2013). This paper makes a contribution by conceptualising and empirically testing a knowledge-based framework for innovation by taking up the case of the Indian IT/ITeS sector, specifically, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) members. The authors surveyed 435 respondents from 46 companies. The findings reveal that five out of nine knowledge management (KM) practices surveyed are relevant, namely culture and leaders' support, KM processes and networking and alliances. However, statistically, the fourth practice, namely, KM strategy, and the fifth, training and development of employees for KM, are not very successful as predictors.
Mechanical and wear properties of HPT-biomedical titanium: A review

Titanium (Ti) based alloys are widely used in biomedical implants due to their low density, excellent corrosion resistance and good biocompatibilities. In recent years, growing interest in sever plastic deformation (SPD) has stimulated research and development on the techniques to attain refining of the grain size to the submicrometer or even nanometer level. The mechanical and wear properties determining the application of Ti in medicine may be improved via SPD. High pressure torsion (HPT) technique is one of the approaches available for improving the mechanical and wear properties of biomedical Ti materials. Accordingly, this article is designed to examine most recent state of the art scientific works related to the developments in mechanical properties and wear resistance of biomedical Ti materials processed by HPT. A comprehensive review in this area is systematically presented.
Giardia duodenalis Surface Cysteine Proteases Induce Cleavage of the Intestinal Epithelial Cytoskeletal Protein Villin via Myosin Light Chain Kinase

Giardia duodenalis infections are among the most common causes of waterborne diarrhoeal disease worldwide. At the height of infection, G. duodenalis trophozoites induce multiple pathophysiological processes within intestinal epithelial cells that contribute to the development of diarrhoeal disease. To date, our understanding of pathophysiological processes in giardiasis remains incompletely understood. The present study reveals a previously unappreciated role for G. duodenalis cathepsin cysteine proteases in intestinal epithelial pathophysiological processes that occur during giardiasis. Experiments first established that Giardia trophozoites indeed produce cathepsin B and L in strain-dependent fashion. Co-incubation of G. duodenalis with human enterocytes enhanced cathepsin production by Assemblage A (NF and S2 isolates) trophozoites, but not when epithelial cells were exposed to Assemblage B (GSM isolate) trophozoites. Direct contact between G. duodenalis parasites and human intestinal epithelial monolayers resulted in the degradation and redistribution of the intestinal epithelial cytoskeletal protein villin; these effects were abolished when parasite cathepsin cysteine proteases were inhibited. Interestingly, inhibition of parasite proteases did not prevent degradation of the intestinal tight junction-associated protein zonula occludens 1 (ZO-1), suggesting that G. duodenalis induces multiple pathophysiological processes within intestinal epithelial cells. Finally, this study demonstrates that G. duodenalis-mediated disruption of villin is, at least, in part dependent on activation of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). Taken together, this study indicates a novel role for parasite cathepsin cysteine proteases in the pathophysiology of G. duodenalis infections.
Ontogeny of Sex-Related Differences in Foetal Developmental Features, Lipid Availability and Fatty Acid Composition

Sex-related differences in lipid availability and fatty acid composition during swine foetal development were investigated. Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the mother were strongly related to the adequacy or inadequacy of foetal development and concomitant activation of protective growth in some organs (brain, heart, liver and spleen). Cholesterol and triglyceride availability was similar in male and female offspring, but female foetuses showed evidence of higher placental transfer of essential fatty acids and synthesis of non-essential fatty acids in muscle and liver. These sex-related differences affected primarily the neutral lipid fraction (triglycerides), which may lead to sex-related postnatal differences in energy partitioning. These results illustrate the strong influence of the maternal lipid profile on foetal development and homeorhesis, and they confirm and extend previous reports that female offspring show better adaptive responses to maternal malnutrition than male offspring. These findings may help guide dietary interventions to ensure adequate fatty acid availability for postnatal development.
A 3-D Gabor Phase-Based Coding and Matching Framework for Hyperspectral Imagery Classification

As manual labeling is very difficult and time-consuming, the labeled samples used to train a supervised classifier are generally limited, which become one of the biggest challenge for hyperspectral imagery classification. In order to tackle this issue, a recent trend is to exploit the structure information of materials, as which reflects the region homogeneity in the spatial domain and offers an invaluable complement to the spectral information. In this respect, 3-D Gabor wavelets have been introduced to extract joint spectral-spatial features for hyperspectral images. One the one hand, the features extracted by 3-D Gabor wavelets lead to very good performance for classification. On the other hand, its drawbacks, i.e., big number of features and high computational cost, limit its applicability. In this paper, a 3-D Gabor-wavelet-based phase coding and Hamming distance-based matching (3DGPC-HDM) framework is developed for hyperspectral imagery classification. The proposed method, instead of taking into account the large volume of Gabor magnitude features, exploits the Gabor phase features with certain orientations (i.e., the direction parallel to the spectral axis), which are then encoded by a simple quadrant bit coding scheme. After that, a normalized Hamming distance matching (HDM) method is adopted to determine the similarity of two samples, and the nearest neighbor classifier is routinely utilized for pixelwise recognition. Finally, experiments on three real hyperspectral data sets show that the proposed 3DGPC-HDM leads to very good performance. Comparisons with the state-of-the-art methods in the literature, in terms of both classifier complexity and generalization ability from very small training sets, are also included.