Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performances and stability of a 2.4 ton Gd organic liquid scintillator target for ν̄e detection

In this paper we report the performance and the chemical and physical properties of a 2 × 1.2 ton organic liquid scintillator target doped with Gd up to ∼ 0.1%, and the results of a 3 year long stability survey of the target. In particular we have measured and monitored the optical and fluorescent properties of the Gd-doped liquid scintillator (LS), the amount of both Gd and primary fluor in solution, and the performance of the two Gd doped targets as neutron detectors, namely neutron capture efficiency and average capture time. The experimental survey is ongoing, the targets being continuously monitored. From the spectrophotometric measurements performed on samples periodically extracted along the three years, we can exclude, at 99% C.L. level, a degradation of the light transmittance of the Gd-doped liquid scintillator larger than 1% y-1; from the in-tank measurements no significant decrease of the neutron capture efficiency and neutron capture time is observed. This is the largest stable Gd-doped organic liquid scintillator target ever produced and continuously operated for a long period.
Modeling of concrete mattress for shore protection by plax is 2D

Traditionally, shore protection revetments are designed by limit equilibrium method developed by Pilarczyk (Pilarczyk, et.al, 1998; Breteler, et.al, 1998; Pilarczyk, 2003). The method is also applicable for determining thickness of concrete mattress required to withstand a certain height of waves. However, the method cannot predict deformation of concrete mattress subjected to repetitive wave loads. This paper elaborates the modeling of concrete mattress against the dynamic loading of waves by means of Finite Element Method (Plaxis 2D). It is found that the conventional method is adequate in determining thickness of concrete mattress required against wave height with a factor of safety against lift off in the order of 3.5. The movement of the concrete mattress can be assessed by simulating the wave loads as a concentrated sinusoidal dynamic load at the point of wave impact.
On The Teachers Role in Interactive Prototyping

Abstract The industrial design students are increasingly involved with the development of functional interactable prototypes. There is complexity in both the concept generation and the implementation, something that the design students need to be able to cope with. We approach the prototyping in the light of representing a design idea, moving from concept towards a physical manifestation, and discuss the concept-imposed minimum towards the complexity of a prototype. While a combination of methods, such as cardboard-mockups, and wizard-of-oz can be used to evaluate simpler design ideas, they simply fall short with a complex device, as there are too many things happening. Thus, an approach is needed for developing complex prototypes. We examine five different prototypes, and discuss the role of the teacher in each. Drawing from the concept, prototyping practice, and the required complexity, we suggest stages of complexity for the development, and a more active participation from the teacher.
Single-beam ion source enhanced growth of transparent conductive thin films

A single-beam ion source was developed and used in combination with magnetron sputtering to modulate the film microstructure. The ion source emits a single beam of ions that interact with the deposited film and simultaneously enhances the magnetron discharge. The magnetron voltage can be adjusted over a wide range, from approximately 240 to 130 V, as the voltage of the ion source varies from 0 to 150 V, while the magnetron current increases accordingly. The low-voltage high-current magnetron discharge enables a ‘soft sputtering mode’, which is beneficial for thin-film growth. Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited at room temperature using a combined single-beam ion source and magnetron sputtering. The ion beam resulted in the formation of polycrystalline ITO thin films with significantly reduced resistivity and surface roughness. Single-beam ion-source-enhanced magnetron sputtering has many potential applications in which low-temperature growth of thin films is required, such as coatings for organic solar cells.
Voltage Regulation and Power Loss Minimization in Radial Distribution Systems via Reactive Power Injection and Distributed Generation Unit Placement

Distributed Generation (DG) has become an essential part of the smart grids due to the widespread integration of renewable energy sources. Reactive power compensation is still one of most important research topics in smart grids. DG units can be used for reactive power compensation purposes, therefore we can improve the voltage profile and minimize power losses in order to improve the power quality. In this paper two methods will be used to accomplish the mentioned tasks; the first technique depends on the reactive power demand change of the proposed network loads, whereas the second technique uses an algorithm to control DG units according to the measured voltage values in the feeders to generate the needed reactive power. Both methods were applied to different scenarios of DG unit positions and different reactive power values of loads. The chosen DG unit is made up of a Type-4 wind farm which could be used as a general unit where it is able to control reactive power generation in a wider range separately from active power. The simulation results show that using these two methods, the voltage profile could be improved, power losses reduced and the power factor increased according to the placement of DG units.
Recent advances in optoelectronic properties and applications of two-dimensional metal chalcogenides

Since two-dimensional (2D) graphene was fabricated successfully, many kinds of graphene-like 2D materials have attracted extensive attention. Among them, the studies of 2D metal chalcogenides have become the focus of intense research due to their unique physical properties and promising applications. Here, we review significant recent advances in optoelectronic properties and applications of 2D metal chalcogenides. This review highlights the recent progress of synthesis, characterization and isolation of single and few layer metal chalcogenides nanosheets. Moreover, we also focus on the recent important progress of electronic, optical properties and optoelectronic devices of 2D metal chalcogenides. Additionally, the theoretical model and understanding on the band structures, optical properties and related physical mechanism are also reviewed. Finally, we give some personal perspectives on potential research problems in the optoelectronic characteristics of 2D metal chalcogenides and related device applications.
Feasibility study of a multi-layer liquid-crystal-based non-pixel X-ray detector

The recent study of digital X-ray detectors in medical diagnostics has focused on high-resolution image acquisition. Digital X-ray detectors use either a direct or an indirect method of converting X-ray into an electric charge. Indirect systems have low resolution due to blurring of light from the scintillator. In contrast, direct systems have higher resolution than indirect systems, but they are expensive, and systems that have large areas are difficult. This paper proposes a new structure for a non-pixel detector in order to resolve these problems by constructing multiple layers, including photoconductor and liquid crystal (LC) cell layers. First, simulations were conducted to measure changes in the transmittance and electric field of the LC cell under different applied voltages and different thicknesses of a glass layer between the LC and the photoconductor. Subsequently, non-pixel X-ray films having an optimized structure were fabricated using the optimal glass thickness and voltage obtained from the simulation results. In a previous study, X-ray film was fabricated from an LC and a photoconductor by a single integrated production process. In this study, the fabrication process was divided into two steps to prevent damage to the X-ray conversion materials caused by the high temperature used to manufacture the LC cell. The photoconductor layer was fabricated by screen-printing at room temperature on the LC cell. HgI2 was used as the photoconductor material and an aluminum reflective layer was then deposited. The photoconductor was approximately 150–250μm thick. The linear range of LC twisting was acquired by measuring the transmittance-voltage curve; when a voltage of 1.3V to 2.2V is applied to the LC layer, the LC molecules can be twisted by 10%–90%. The charge generated in the photoconductor and the transmission efficiency of the LC were measured using the modulation potential. The results of this study indicate that an LC-based non-pixel detector is feasible for application in digital X-ray systems.
Circularly conformal patch array antenna with omnidirectional or electronically switched directive beam

A circularly conformal array antenna of double stacked microstrip patches is presented in two radiation versions: omnidirectional and electronically switched directive beam. Every single element is disposed on an eight-faced regular prism structure built in 3D print technology. The omnidirectional pattern is achieved in the azimuth plane by using a microstrip uniform power divider to equally excite the circular antenna. The switched directive beam coverage is obtained by replacing the uniform power divider with an electronically switched power divider. Four switched beams of 90° angular separation are digitally configured. A fractional matching bandwidth of 17.2% has been measured for both omnidirectional and switched beam prototypes. The conformal antenna was entirely manufactured by using both printed circuit board and 3D printing technologies. Therefore, a very compact, low cost and light weight antenna design has been implemented, suitable to many applications such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, wireless local area network, unmanned aerial vehicles or direction finding.
Estimation of gas turbine technical condition using machine learning methods

This paper considers the method to estimate the technical condition of gas turbine power for natural gas transportation, using machine learning methods. Source data was used to archive gas-dynamic parameters from the automatic control system of the gas turbine. The method is based on changing the enthalpy of the natural gas before and after the centrifugal gas compressor is used for creating a dataset with measured parameters and power from the gas turbine. The actual power is determined from the line of modes for a certain period. The software is implemented using Python and the Scikit-learn library is used to create machine learning models. A mean average percentile error is chosen as the model quality criterion. In this paper, different sets of feature parameters and sample sizes are researched by the quality of the prediction machine learning models. Recommendations on the use of models are given. It has been established that the approach is not applicable for predicting future technical condition without the presence of data on a similar technical condition in the training sample. It is recommended to use the described approach to determine the technical condition in a period of operation in the past.
On the correlation functions of the domain wall six-vertex model

We propose an (essentially combinatorial) approach to the correlation functions of the domain wall six-vertex model. We reproduce the boundary 1-point function determinant expression of Bogoliubov, Pronko and Zvonarev, then use that as a building block to obtain analogous expressions for boundary 2-point functions. The latter can be used, at least in principle, to express more general boundary (and bulk) correlation functions as sums over (products of) determinants.
The Science benefits and preliminary design of the southern hemisphere gravitational wave detector AIGO

The proposed southern hemisphere gravitational wave detector AIGO increases the projected average baseline of the global array of ground based gravitational wave detectors by a factor ∼4. This allows the world array to be substantially improved. The orientation of AIGO allows much better resolution of both wave polarisations. This enables better distance estimates for inspiral events, allowing unambiguous optical identification of host galaxies for about 25% of neutron star binary inspiral events. This can allow Hubble Law estimation without optical identification of an outburst, and can also allow deep exposure imaging with electromagnetic telescopes to search for weak afterglows. This allows independent estimates of cosmological acceleration and dark energy as well as improved understanding of the physics of neutron star and black hole coalescences. This paper reviews and summarises the science benefits of AIGO and presents a preliminary conceptual design.
A new submodelling technique for multi-scale finite element computation of electromagnetic fields: Application in bioelectromagnetism

Complex multi-scale Finite Element (FE) analyses always involve high number of elements and therefore require very long time of computations. This is caused by the fact, that considered effects on smaller scales have greater influences on the whole model and larger scales. Thus, mesh density should be as high as required by the smallest scale factor. New submodelling routine has been developed to sufficiently decrease the time of computation without loss of accuracy for the whole solution. The presented approach allows manipulation of different mesh sizes on different scales and, therefore total optimization of mesh density on each scale and transfer results automatically between the meshes corresponding to respective scales of the whole model. Unlike classical submodelling routine, the new technique operates with not only transfer of boundary conditions but also with volume results and transfer of forces (current density load in case of electromagnetism), which allows the solution of full Maxwell's equations in FE space. The approach was successfully implemented for electromagnetic solution in the forward problem of Magnetic Field Tomography (MFT) based on Magnetoencephalography (MEG), where the scale of one neuron was considered as the smallest and the scale of whole-brain model as the largest. The time of computation was reduced about 100 times, with the initial requirements of direct computations without submodelling routine of 10 million elements.
Fusion with CS-LBP and HOG for Vehicle Make and Model Recognition

Local binary pattern (LBP) has widely used in face recognition with extracting texture feature, for the high statistical histogram dimensions of LBP and unable to effectively express the edge and direction information of image, so a method which is called fusion with blocking CS-LBP and HOG features is proposed, and applied vehicle recognition. At first, the vehicle image is extracted texture feature with blocking CS-LBP operator, which is calculated the texture histogram for each sub-block, and then the HOG feature of the original image is extracted, as well as the HOG feature which is based on the CS-LBP, finally, the blocking CS-LBP feature is fused with these two different HOG features. The experiments are implemented on the vehicle image databases, the results show that the proposed method can be obtained a higher recognition with K neighbor classification.
Damping identification in multiple degree-of-freedom systems using an energy balance approach

The dissipation of energy in a vibrating structure is often neglected or oversimplified in engineering design. However, there are many cases where an accurate model of damping is necessary and an effective identification is required in order to predict instabilities or unwanted vibrations of the system. The paper presents a method which balances the energy input by a sinusoidal force with the energy dissipated by damping mechanisms in order to locate and identify damping. If a complete set of measurements is available, there is no need to know or to evaluate the mass and stiffness matrices and the only data needed are the time histories of the response of the structure excited with a set of single-frequency harmonic excitations. The method has been validated by numerical simulations and tested on a real structure, a clamped aluminium beam with a magnetic eddy current dashpot.
Stability analysis and dynamic energy management of PV-hybrid storage based DC microgrid

PV-hybrid storage based DC microgrid is an effective large-scale application of PV generation. In this paper, the stability of the PV-hybrid storage based DC microgrid is analyzed based on the source-load impedance model and the stability rule is presented. Furthermore, the dynamic energy management strategy of PV-hybrid storage based DC microgrid is developed to both ensure the stable operation of the DC microgrid and realize the full utilization of the PV generation energy. A downscaled DC microgrid experimental prototype is developed and the detailed experimental results validate the correctness and feasibility of theoretical analysis and energy management strategy.
Piggyback resistive Micromegas

Piggyback Micromegas is a novel readout architecture where the anode element is made of a resistive layer on a ceramic substrate. The resistive layer is deposited on the thin ceramic substrate by an industrial process which provides a large dynamic range of resistivity (106 to 1010 MΩ/□). The particularity of this new structure is that the active part is entirely dissociated from the read-out element. This gives a large flexibility on the design of the anode structure and the readout scheme. Without significant loss, signals are transmitted by capacitive coupling to the read-out pads. The detector provides high gas gain, good energy resolution and the resistive layer assures spark protection for the electronics. This assembly could be combined with modern pixel array electronic ASICs. First tests with different Piggyback detectors and configurations will be presented. This structure is adequate for cost effective fabrication and low out gazing detector. It was designed to perform in sealed mode and its long term stability has been extensively studied. In addition perspectives on the future developments will be evoked.
Inspection of the metal composite materials using a combination of X-ray radiography and Neutron Imaging

Neutron Imaging and X-ray radiography are complementary methods from the point of view of the visibility and contrast of the material imaged. One potential application is the observation of the behavior of so-called `metal composite materials', in which metallic and light material parts are combined. This material type is commonly used in the aerospace industry. Neutron Imaging is a suitable tool for the observation of the structure of light materials in an environment of heavier elements like metals. X-ray radiography on other hand is an appropriate tool for the observation of geometry of metal components inside an environment of lighter materials.
Ring artifacts removal from synchrotron CT image slices

Ring artifacts can occur in reconstructed images from x-ray Computerized Tomography (CT) as full or partial concentric rings superimposed on the scanned structures. Due to the data corruption by those ring artifacts in CT images, qualitative and quantitative analysis of these images are compromised. In this paper, we propose to correct the ring artifacts on the reconstructed synchrotron radiation (SR) CT image slices. The proposed correction procedure includes the following steps: (1). transform the reconstructed CT images into polar coordinates; (2) apply discrete two-dimensional (2D) wavelet transform to the polar image to decompose it into four image components: low pass band image component, as well as the components from horizontal, vertical and diagonal details bands; (3). apply 2D Fourier transform to the vertical details band image component only, since the ring artifacts become vertical lines in the polar coordinates; (4). apply Gaussian filtering in Fourier domain along the abscissa direction to suppress the vertical lines, since the information of the vertical lines in Fourier domain is completely condensed to that direction; (5). perform inverse Fourier transform to get the corrected vertical details band image component; (6). perform inverse wavelet transform to get the corrected polar image; (7). transform the corrected polar image back to Cartesian coordinates to get the CT image slice with reduced ring artifacts. This approach has been successfully used on CT data acquired from the Biomedical Imaging and Therapy (BMIT) beamline in Canadian Light Source (CLS), and the results show that the ring artifacts in original SR CT images have been effectively suppressed with all the structure information in the image preserved.
X-ray detection with Micromegas with background levels below 10−6keV−1cm−2s−1

Micromegas detectors are an optimum technological choice for the detection of low energy x-rays. The low background techniques applied to these detectors yielded remarkable background reductions over the years, being the CAST experiment beneficiary of these developments. In this document we report on the latest upgrades towards further background reductions and better understanding of the detectors' response. The upgrades encompass the readout electronics, a new detector design and the implementation of a more efficient cosmic muon veto system. Background levels below 10−6keV-1cm-2s-1 have been obtained at sea level for the first time, demonstrating the feasibility of the expectations posed by IAXO, the next generation axion helioscope. Some results obtained with a set of measurements conducted in the x-ray beam of the CAST Detector Laboratory will be also presented and discussed.
Estimation of UAV flight time and Battery Consumption for photogrammetric application using multiple machine learning algorithms

In recent years, important research has been conducted in Machine Learning (ML), especially on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Adaptive-Network Based Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) and Particle Swarm Optimization-Fuzzy Inference System (PSO-FIS) algorithms are popular ML algorithms like ANN. In terms of their working architecture and results, ANN, ANFIS, and PSO-FIS algorithms can obtain useful solutions for different nonlinear problems. This study evaluated the performance of the ANN, ANFIS, and PSO-FIS algorithms and compared the estimation results. Regarding the application, the test and target data was obtained from the flights performed with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), including how long the UAV operates (i.e., Flight Time, FT) and how much battery the UAV consumes during the flight (i.e., Battery Consumption, BC). To obtain FT and BC outputs, sixty-five pre- and post-flight data tables were created. The best iterations for estimating the outputs using the three ML algorithms (considering the minimum/maximum values, RMSE, R, and R2) were determined and discussed based on the training, validation, and test estimations.