Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of lateral resolution and reduction of batwings in vertical scanning white-light interferometry

The precise and fast acquisition of three-dimensional geometrical data of micro-components is mainly performed by two alternative measuring techniques, either vertical scanning white-light interferometry (SWLI) or confocal microscopy. Both are capable of measuring micro-structured surfaces with a very high precision while recording image sequences during a so-called depth scan. For most applications the axial resolution of these systems is sufficient. Though, in certain applications the lateral resolution of a measurement system is far more critical. In addition, there are several approaches to define the lateral resolution in 3D microscopy. In this paper, we discuss some physical approaches to improve lateral resolution and transfer characteristics in SWLI. As a contribution to the EC-funded project "NanoCMM" we developed a special kind of Linnik white-light interferometer, which provides a lateral resolution well below one micrometer even for working distances of more than 5 mm. The resolution enhancement was achieved by wavelength reduction, i.e. LEDs emitting in the blue and near UV range were used for illumination. We compare the results obtained from a silicon pitch standard based on different illumination sources with a conventional Mirau interferometer providing the same magnification. Finally, in another setup we show that the batwing effect can be successfully reduced by using a confocal aperture in the illumination path of the interferometer. The combination of these different modifications clearly improves SWLI measurement results in comparison with those performed by conventional white-light interferometers.
Robust Clustering in Generalized Bounded Confidence Models

Bounded confidence models add a critical theoretical ingredient to the explanation of opinion clustering, opinion polarisation, and the persistence of opinion diversity, assuming that individuals are only influenced by others who are sufficiently similar and neglect actors with too different views. However, despite its enormous recognition in the literature, the bounded confidence assumption has been criticized for being able to explain diversity only when implemented in a very strict and unrealistic way. The model is unable to explain patterns of opinion diversity when actors are sometimes influenced also by others who hold distant views, even when these deviations from the bounded-confidence assumption are rare and random. Here, we echo this criticism but we also show that the model's ability to explain opinion diversity can be regained when another assumption is relaxed. Building on modeling work from statistical mechanics, we include that actors' opinion changes do not only result from social influence. When other influences are modelled as random, uniformly distributed draws, then robust patterns of opinion clustering emerge also with the relaxed implementations of bounded confidence. The results holds under both communication regimes: the updating to the average of all acceptable opinions as in the model of Hegselmann and Krause (2002) and random pair-wise communication as in the model of Deffuant et al. (2000). We discuss implications for future modelling work and point to gaps in empirical research on influence.
Sample pooling in 2‐D gel electrophoresis: A new approach to reduce nonspecific expression background

Protein expression alterations unrelated to an investigated phenotype are accumulated in most cell line models during establishment. Performing a whole proteome screening of lymphoma cell lines, we established a method to reduce the influence of protein expression unrelated to the distinct investigated phenotype. In 2‐D PAGE, the comprehensive analysis of a large number of protein spots would be simplified by pooling cell line samples of the investigated phenotype. Applying this pooling approach, unrelated alterations of single samples are ‘muted’ by dilution. Analysing two different lymphoma subtypes (follicular and mantle cell lymphoma) by this method, spots originating in only single cell lines were reduced by 72% (650/900), whereas even modestly altered expression of protein spots detected in all lines were reliably detected in the pooled protein gels. We conclude that our pooling approach is a preferable approach to reliably detect a common protein expression pattern and may even allow proteomic analysis of clinical samples with limited amounts of sample material, even with minimal cell numbers as low as 1×106.
Volume behavior of interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels composed of polyacrylic acid-co-poly(vinyl sulfonic acid)/polyaniline as an actuator

Polyacrylic acid-co-poly(vinyl sulfonic acid)/polyaniline interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels were prepared, and an electrical stimulus was applied to the IPN hydrogels in an electrolyte solution, where the IPN hydrogels underwent a change in volume. The IPN hydrogels showed a reversible change in volume on switching the electrical stimulus between the positive and negative electrodes, showing a contraction and expansion of the IPN hydrogels, respectively. The magnitude of the change in volume of the IPN hydrogels increased with increasing applied voltage. The behavior of the IPN hydrogels was very sensitive to the applied electrical stimulus, and this is important in actuator applications.
Comparison of various adhesion contact theories and the influence of dimensionless load parameter

Three models, JKR (Johnson, Kendall and Roberts), DMT (Derjaguin, Muller, and Toporov) and MD (Maugis-Dugdale), are compared with the Hertz model in dealing with nano-contact problems. It has been shown that both the dimensionless load parameter, P = P /(πΔγR), and the transition parameter have significant influences on the contact area at micro/nano-scale and should not be ignored in nano-indentation tests.
RUBBLE-PILE RESHAPING REPRODUCES OVERALL ASTEROID SHAPES

There have been attempts in the past to fit the observed bulk shapes (axial ratios) of asteroids to theoretical equilibrium figures for fluids, but these attempts have not been successful in many cases, evidently because asteroids are not fluid bodies. So far, however, the observed distribution of asteroid macroscopic shapes has never been attributed to a common cause. Here, we show that a general mechanism exists, capable of producing the observed shape distribution. We base our approach on the idea that aggregates of coherent blocks held together mostly by gravity (gravitational aggregates) can change their shape under the action of external factors, such as minor collisions, that break the interlocking of the constituent blocks, thus allowing them to asymptotically evolve toward fluid equilibrium. We show by numerical simulations that this behavior can produce a shape distribution compatible with the observations. Our results are shown to be consistent with a simple interpretation based on the topology of the potential energy field for rotating bodies. Also, they suggest that most asteroids have an internal structure that is at least partially fragmented, consistent with constraints derived from large asteroids (diameters >100 km) with satellites.
COL2A1 gene disruption by a balanced translocation t(12;15)(q13;q22.2) in familial stickler syndrome

COL2A1 Gene Disruption by a Balanced Translocation t(12;15)(q13;q22.2) in Familial Stickler Syndrome Céline Dupont,* Clarisse Baumann, Nathalie Le Du, Elise Schaefer, Fabien Guimiot, Lucile Boutaud, Yline Capri, Emmanuel Spaggiari, Azzedine Aboura, Brigitte Benzacken, and Anne-Claude Tabet AP-HP, Department of Genetic-Cytogenetic Unit, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France AP-HP, Department of Genetic-Clinical Genetic Unit, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France Cytogenetic Laboratory, Evreux, France AP-HP, Department of Developmental Biology, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France AP-HP, Cytogenetic Laboratory, Hopital Jean Verdier, Bondy, France University Paris 13, Paris, France
Thin film polycrystalline Si by a novel solution growth technique [for solar cells]

A solution growth technique has been developed capable of depositing large grain (up to 20-30 /spl mu/m) Si films at temperatures no higher than 650/spl deg/C for application as the base in a-Si:H/poly-Si heterojunction solar cells. XRD analysis of the deposited films show a strong (111) preferred orientation, depending on the use of a wetting agent during growth. A well-defined grain structure is seen by SEM examination. Films deposited using an In-Si solution are p-type; those from Sn-Si solutions are n-type. Carrier concentrations range from the low 10/sup 16/ cm to the mid 10/sup 17/ cm range. Conductivities as high as 0.2 (/spl Omega/ cm)/sup -1/ were measured. Hall effect measurements showed hole mobilities as high as /spl sim/30 cm/sup 2/ V/sup -1/ s/sup -1/. Photoresponse is reduced for films deposited with a wetting agent.
Improvement of a Distributed Algorithm for Solving Linear Equations

This paper performs further improvement to a distributed algorithm for solving linear algebraic equations via multi-agent networks recently developed by Mou et al., in which all agents’ states converge exponentially fast to the same solution to a group of linear equations by assuming each agent knows only part of the linear equations and its nearby neighbors’ states. We first prove that the algorithm proposed by Mou et al. with special initialization is able to achieve the solution that is closest to a given point in the Euclidean distance. Second, we eliminate the required initialization step used by Mou et al. by a modification to the update equation. Both analytical and numerical results are provided for validation.
The influence of channel models on simulated MIMO performance

The paper shows that the simulated performance of MIMO systems is strongly influenced by the choice of the channel model. We investigated the performance of uncoded 4/spl times/4 and 6/spl times/8 MIMO systems without channel knowledge at the transmitter when using either measurement data directly, the well-known 'Kronecker' model or a novel channel model that eliminates some of the deficiencies of the 'Kronecker' model. We found up to 5 dB difference in the required SNR for a specific target BER for the different channel models considered. The popular 'Kronecker' model, apart from predicting the mutual information inaccurately, also renders the BER erroneously when compared to measurement, whereas the novel channel model performs better in both quantities.
PTV: Intelligent Personalised TV Guides

Although today’ s world offers us unprecedented access to greater and greater amounts of electronic information, we are faced with significant problems when it comes to finding the right information at the right time ‐ this is the essence of the information overload problem. One of the proposed solutions to this problem is to develop technologies for automatically learning about the implicit and explicit preferences of individual users in order to customise and personalise the search for relevant information. In this paper we describe the development of the PTV system (Personalised Television Listings ‐ http://www.ptv.ie) which tackles the information overload problem associated with modern TV listings data, by providing an Internet-based personalised TV listings service so that each registered user receives a daily TV guide that has been specially compiled to suit their particular viewing preferences.
3D Dynamic Simulation for Random-Distributed Aggregate Model of Plain Concrete

Since meso-structure of plain concrete can not be observed directly, numerical simulation is the main approach to obtain the model coincident with the real structure on statistics. By applying the discrete element method, we have developed the 3D dynamic simulation for random aggregate model of plain concrete. According to the real ration of mass, the spatial positions of aggregate have been obtained, which is more close-grained compared with the random-distributed models based on Monte Carlo method. Compared with the geometrical generating algorithm for 2D random polyhedral aggregate, the algorithm for 2D or 3D random polyhedral aggregate is simpler. The results are the foundation for further studying the interface fracture and chloride diffused channels.
Extracting and Learning an Unknown Grammar with Recurrent Neural Networks

Simple second-order recurrent networks are shown to readily learn small known regular grammars when trained with positive and negative strings examples. We show that similar methods are appropriate for learning unknown grammars from examples of their strings. The training algorithm is an incremental real-time, recurrent learning (RTRL) method that computes the complete gradient and updates the weights at the end of each string. After or during training, a dynamic clustering algorithm extracts the production rules that the neural network has learned. The methods are illustrated by extracting rules from unknown deterministic regular grammars. For many cases the extracted grammar outperforms the neural net from which it was extracted in correctly classifying unseen strings.
Correctness Guarantees for the Composition of Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise Control

This paper develops a control approach with correctness guarantees for the simultaneous operation of lane keeping and adaptive cruise control. The safety specifications for these driver assistance modules are expressed in terms of set invariance. Control barrier functions (CBFs) are used to design a family of control solutions that guarantee the forward invariance of a set, which implies satisfaction of the safety specifications. The CBFs are synthesized through a combination of sum-of-squares program and physics-based modeling and optimization. A real-time quadratic program is posed to combine the CBFs with the performance-based controllers, which can be either expressed as control Lyapunov function conditions or as black-box legacy controllers. In both cases, the resulting feedback control guarantees the safety of the composed driver assistance modules in a formally correct manner. Importantly, the quadratic program admits a closed-form solution that can be easily implemented. The effectiveness of the control approach is demonstrated by simulations in the industry-standard vehicle simulator Carsim. Note to Practitioners—Safety is of paramount importance for the control of automated vehicles. This paper is motivated by the problem of designing controllers that are provably correct for the simultaneous operation of two driver assistance modules, lane keeping and adaptive cruise control. This is a challenging problem partially, because the lateral and longitudinal dynamics of the vehicles are coupled, with few results known to exist that provide formal guarantees. In this paper, we employ an assume-guarantee formalism between these two subsystems, such that they can be considered individually; based on that, we use optimization to design safe sets that serves as “supervisors” for vehicle behavior, such that the trajectories of the closed-loop system are confined within the safe sets using predetermined bounds on wheel force and steering angle. The feedback controller is constructed by solving convex quadratic programs online, which can also be given in closed form, making the implementation much easier. One particular advantage of this control approach is that the safety set and the performance controller can be designed separately, which enables the integration of a legacy controller into a correct-by-construction solution.
pgmcc: a TCP-friendly single-rate multicast congestion control scheme

We present a single rate multicast congestion control scheme(pgmcc) which is TCP-friendly and achieves scalability, stability and fast response to variations in network conditions. pgmcc is suitable for both non-reliable and reliable data transfers; it uses a window-based TCP-like controller based on positive ACKs and run between the sender and a group's representative, the acker. The innovative part of pgmcc is a fast and low-overhead procedure to select (and track changes of) the acker, which permits us to consider the acker as a moving receiver rather than a changing one. As such, the scheme is robust to measurement errors, and supports fast response to changes in the receiver set and/or network conditions. The scheme has been implemented in the PGM protocol, and the paper presents a number of experimental results on its performance.
Prevalence of abnormalities influences cytologists' error rates in screening for cervical cancer.

CONTEXT Medical screening tasks are often difficult, visual searches with low target prevalence (low rates of disease). Under laboratory conditions, when targets are rare, nonexpert searchers show decreases in false-positive results and increases in false-negative results compared with results when targets are common. This prevalence effect is not due to vigilance failures or target unfamiliarity. OBJECTIVE To determine whether prevalence effects could be a source of elevated false-negative errors in medical experts. DESIGN We studied 2 groups of cytologists involved in cervical cancer screening (Boston, Massachusetts, and South Wales, UK). Cytologists evaluated photomicrographs of cells at low (2% or 5%) or higher (50%) rates of abnormality prevalence. Two versions of the experiment were performed. The Boston, Massachusetts, group made decisions of normal or abnormal findings using a 4-point rating scale. Additionally, the group from South Wales localized apparent abnormalities. RESULTS In both groups, there is evidence for prevalence effects. False-negative errors were 17% (higher prevalence), rising to 30% (low prevalence) in the Boston, Massachusetts, group. The error rate was 27% (higher prevalence), rising to 42% (low prevalence) in the South Wales group. (Comparisons between the 2 groups are not meaningful because the stimulus sets were different.) CONCLUSIONS These results provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, that experts are not immune to the effects of prevalence even with stimuli from their domain of expertise. Prevalence is a factor to consider in screening for disease by human observers and has significant implications for cytology-based cervical cancer screening in the post-human papillomavirus vaccine era, when prevalence rates of high-grade lesions in the population are expected to decline.
Bonsai Trees in Your Head: How the Pavlovian System Sculpts Goal-Directed Choices by Pruning Decision Trees

When planning a series of actions, it is usually infeasible to consider all potential future sequences; instead, one must prune the decision tree. Provably optimal pruning is, however, still computationally ruinous and the specific approximations humans employ remain unknown. We designed a new sequential reinforcement-based task and showed that human subjects adopted a simple pruning strategy: during mental evaluation of a sequence of choices, they curtailed any further evaluation of a sequence as soon as they encountered a large loss. This pruning strategy was Pavlovian: it was reflexively evoked by large losses and persisted even when overwhelmingly counterproductive. It was also evident above and beyond loss aversion. We found that the tendency towards Pavlovian pruning was selectively predicted by the degree to which subjects exhibited sub-clinical mood disturbance, in accordance with theories that ascribe Pavlovian behavioural inhibition, via serotonin, a role in mood disorders. We conclude that Pavlovian behavioural inhibition shapes highly flexible, goal-directed choices in a manner that may be important for theories of decision-making in mood disorders.
BOR3D: A use-case-oriented software framework for 3-D object recognition

3-D object recognition has become a major research topic. New low-cost sensors hit the market making 3-D vision affordable for anyone. On the software side, promising open-source tools and libraries have prospered recently. The most important one, regarding 3-D data processing, undoubtedly is the Point Cloud Library (PCL). From an integrator's point of view, the main benchmarks applied to such a library are the amount of use cases that can be implemented and the effort that is entailed. We have noticed that the scientific community pays little attention to these needs. We hope to change this situation by proposing a framework that is primarily inspired by the PCL. Clearly separating the roles of its users, it leaves integration to the integrators and algorithms to the specialists. This way we hope to provide a means for development teams to participate in the recent advances even if they do not have a special focus on machine vision.
Content-aware Load Balancing for Distributed Backup

When backing up a large number of computer systems to many different storage devices, an administrator has to balance the workload to ensure the successful completion of all backups within a particular period of time. When these devices were magnetic tapes, this assignment was trivial: find an idle tape drive, write what fits on a tape, and replace tapes as needed. Backing up data onto deduplicating disk storage adds both complexity and opportunity. Since one cannot swap out a filled disk-based file system the way one switches tapes, each separate backup appliance needs an appropriate workload that fits into both the available storage capacity and the throughput available during the backup window. Repeating a given client's backups on the same appliance not only reduces capacity requirements but it can improve performance by eliminating duplicates from network traffic. Conversely, any reconfiguration of the mappings of backup clients to appliances suffers the overhead of repopulating the new appliance with a full copy of a client's data. Reassigning clients to new servers should only be done when the need for load balancing exceeds the overhead of the move. In addition, deduplication offers the opportunity for content-aware load balancing that groups clients together for improved deduplication that can further improve both capacity and performance; we have seen a system with as much as 75% of its data overlapping other systems, though overlap around 10% is more common. We describe an approach for clustering backup clients based on content, assigning them to backup appliances, and adapting future configurations based on changing requirements while minimizing client migration. We define a cost function and compare several algorithms for minimizing this cost. This assignment tool resides in a tier between backup software such as EMC NetWorker and deduplicating storage systems such as EMC Data Domain.