Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
© 2019 Ashutosh Makrand Dhekne WIRELESS SENSING: MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION AND LOCALIZATION BY ASHUTOSH MAKRAND DHEKNE DISSERTATION

Wireless signals are everywhere around us, and they have truly revolutionized the world by all standards. When one thinks of this revolution, one envisions the advances in wireless communication—TV broadcasts, FM radios, WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular mobile phones, and even wireless chips inside the human body. What gets less appreciated, however, is that wireless signals can also be a powerful sensor. The fact that wireless signals touch and penetrate all objects in our environment, and bounce back, make them a powerful lens to view our world through. This thesis focuses on using wireless signals as sensors. We will explore how modifications to wireless signal propagation can reveal the physical properties of the materials that these signals have passed through. This enables identification of materials without touching them or performing any chemical analysis on them. We will show the ability to distinguish between closely related liquids, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, or distilled water and mineral water, by simply passing wireless signals through the liquids, and analyzing the signals that emerge on the other side. The propagation delay of wireless signals when passing through air can reveal the distance between a transmitter and a receiver. We show how this primitive can be extended for localization with applications to sports, battlefields, and emergency response. Through modifications to the distance measurement mechanisms, we show how localization is possible even when wireless devices are constantly under motion. We end by discussing future directions in which both of these sensing techniques can be extended. Under the right conditions, it might be possible to localize an object to 5mm precision with applications in robotic machines, augmented reality, and virtual reality. We then discuss the possibility of using reflections of wireless signals, for example, to determine soil moisture content in agricultural fields.
Racial, Ethnic and Educational Disparities in Pharmaceutical Expenditures

This paper identifies differences in prescription drug utilization as a potential mechanism for the well known racial/ethnic and educational gradients in health. A two-part model predicts that, on average, blacks and Hispanics spend $350 and $560 less than whites respectively and that an additional 4 years of education increases prescription drug expenditures by $155. These documented disparities occur for two primary reasons: first, there are differences in the probability of being diagnosed with a disease; and second, there are gradients in expenditures conditional on diagnosis. Access related factors can only explain a small fraction of the black-white (≈ 3%) and Hispanic-white (≈ 14%) differentials, although a slightly larger fraction of the education gradient is due to differences in access (≈ 34%).
Excitons Diffusion Length, Tree Dimensionless Numbers and Mean Temperature Dependence of Semiconductor Performance Including Excitons

The author, taking into account the non-uniformity of dissociation, the recombination of excitons in the depletion region, as well as the variability of the coefficients as a function of temperature, used dimensional analysis. Thus, by grouping together the physical parameters, dependent and independent variables, he generates dimensionless numbers. Among the latter, we have the ratio between the diffusion time and the lifetime of the charge carriers (Fourier number); the ratio between the imposed heat flux and that thermal conduction (heating factor) and the ratio between the mobility of the excitons and that of the electrons. The motivation of the author is on the one hand to show the influence of these dimensionless numbers on the diffusion lengths of the charge carriers and on the other hand their influence and that of the diffusion lengths on the total photocurrent density of the carriers. Therefore, he studied the effects of the mean temperature and those of the mobility ratio on the total density of the photocurrent. In order to carry out such work, the author opted for the finite volume method combined with an iterative line-by-line relaxation method of the Gauss-Seidel type as a method of solving his physical problem.
Method of Image Block Denoising Based on Adaptive Total Variation

---------------------------------------- ************************ ---------------------------------- Abstract: To overcome the shortcomings of traditional total variation (TV) denoising algorithm that is sensitive to noise and easy to blur, we propose an algorithm of image block denoising based on adaptive total variation for the cell image denoising. This algorithm uses image block method to segment cell image into flat region and edged region, then adaptively select the isotropic 2-norm total variation image denoising model for flat region or the anisotropic 1-norm one for edged region according to the local gray mean grads. To solve the border processing problem of blocked image, we just copy the neighboring pixels to fill the image border. Experimental results showed that, when adding Gaussian noise of 0 mean and variance of 0.01 to the blurred image, the method of image block denoising based on adaptive total variation can increase the Peak Signal-to-noise Ratio (PSNR) of the noise image by 10.72dB. Compared with the traditional denoising algorithms, our algorithm can not only preserve more texture details of the edge region, but also efficiently suppress the noise of the flat region, making it more suitable for biomedical cell image denoising.
Modeling, stress distribution and the change of ground behavior during excavation of Tehran city underground tunnel

From these factors the tunnel form, dimensions, depth, the tunnel drilling method, presence of water, etc. can be mentioned. Achieving an optimized design requires identification of effective parameters and the relationships among them. Effective design parameters include stability of the tunnel face, horizontal and vertical displacement, seismic wave, and shrinkage phenomenon, etc. Also considering the importance of the structural stability on the ground surface above the tunnel, especially in the urban tunnels, the settlement level of the ground surface must be considered. In this study the stability of an 8m width and height horseshoe sectioned tunnel located in Tehran alluvium having been projected for water transmission has been technically analyzed using the FLAC 2D software and the comparison wad made using empirical and analytical methods. The results showed that the maximum settlement resulting from design step using software is 14.9 mm which is almost consistent with the value obtained from the empirical relationship, and the difference estimation lies within the acceptable range (0.7%). Also the obtained horizontal displacement shows that the maximum displacement within the 25m distance from the tunnel axis (on both sides) is 2mm and the values obtained from the empirical relationship showed that the maximum horizontal displacement occurs on the 25m distance from the tunnel axis.
Embedded rough surfaces in a 3D constitutive model for concrete

A two-phase contact model is proposed for the simulation of aggregate interlock behaviour within cracked concrete. The cracked material is decomposed into fine and coarse components, from which the local stress is obtained in a process similar to that used in the theory of mixtures. The model is validated against experimental data from some shear-normal tests. Despite some discrepancies between measured and predicted stress values, the numerical predictions have similar trends to those of the experimental results.
A systematic reappraisal of the Australian Aphroteniinae (Diptera: Chironomidae) with dating from vicariance biogeography

Abstract. The chironomid subfamily Aphroteniinae is revised for the Australian fauna. The larval‐based genus Anaphrotenia Brundin is synonymized with Aphroteniella Brundin, and Anaphrotenia lacustris Brundin with Aphroteniella filicomis Brundin, and all stages redescribed and illustrated. A second Australian species, Aphroteniella tenuicornis Brundin, has been reared and the larva is described and the pupa and male redescribed here.
ON THE PHYLOGENY AND HIGHER CLASSIFICATION OF THE OLIGOCHAETA

Abstract— The 50 oligochaete taxa representing all families of “opisthoporous” oligochaetes (Aliuroididae, earthworms and aquatic “megadriles”) together with two representatives of the Haplotaxidac and three examples of “microdiles” were subjected to cladistic analysis using the PAUP program. Sixty‐eight characters used in the analyses were derived from a comprehensive range of somatic and genital systems. The optimal result, in terms of maximal number of characters and taxa and of parsimony, produced two trees (consistency index 0.362) differing only in the placement of the monotypic clade for the family Lumbriculidae. From a line originating from the presumed octogonadial ancestor, the following branches were derived, in sequence from the basal to most derived (new taxa asterisked): subclass Randiellata* (order Randiellida*, Randiellidae); subclass Tubificata* (order Tubificida, Tubincidae, Naididae computed and others not computed); subclass Lumbriculata* (order Lumbriculida, Lumbriculidae); superorder Haplotaxidea* (order Haplotaxida, Haplotaxidae); order Moniligastrida (Moniligastridae); suborder Alluroidina (Aliuroididae and Syngenodrilidae); cohort Aquamegadrili* (with, in succession, superfamilice Sparganophiloidea, Sparganophilidae; Biwadriloidea, Biwadrilidac, and Almoidca—Lutodrilidac and Almidae, including Criodrilus); superfamily Eudriloidea*, superfamily Lumbricoidea and, as the adelphotaxon of the latter, the superfamily Megascolecoidea. Intermediate nodes were given the following names, with the adelpholaxon through to the Megascolecoidea, M, in parentheses: subclass Diplotesticulata (Haplotaxidea—M); superorder Metagynopohora* (Moniligastrida—M); order Opisthopora (Alluroidina M); suborder Crassiclitellata* (Aquamegadrili — M); cohort Terrimegadrili* (Ocnerodriloidea M); unnamed (Eudriloidea M); unnamed (Lumbricoidea and Megascolecoidea). Recognition of the Randiellata, which alone were added intuitively and not computed, and the position of the Lumbriculata, are tentative. Location of the Lumbricoidea as the adelphotaxon of a restricted Megascoecloidea is heuristic, but the alternative depiction of lumbricoids in some analyses, as the adelphotaxon of an ocnerodrilid‐eudrilid‐megascolecoid clade (the conventional Megascolecoidea s. lat.), is not conclusively dismissed.
Generalized uncertainty principle in resonant detectors of gravitational waves

With the direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) by advanced LIGO detector, a new ‘window’ to quantum gravity phenomenology has been opened. At present, these detectors achieve the sensitivity to detect the length variation (δL), O≈10−17−10−21 metre. Recently a more stringent upperbound on the dimensionless parameter β 0, bearing the effect of generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) has been given which corresponds to the intermediate length scale lim=β0lpl∼10−23m . Hence the flavour of the GUP can be realised by observing the response of the vibrations of phonon modes in such resonant detectors in the near future. In this paper, therefore, we calculate the resonant frequencies and transition rates induced by the incoming GWs on these detectors in the GUP framework. It is observed that the effects of the GUP bears its signature in both the time independent and dependent part of the gravitational wave-harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian. We also make an upper bound estimate of the GUP parameter.
Non-ideal gas dynamics under confinement: rarefaction effect, dense effect and molecular interaction

The effects of volume exclusion and long-range intermolecular attraction are investigated by the simplified kinetic model for surface-confined inhomogeneous fluids. Gas dynamics of the ideal gas, the hard-sphere fluid and the real gas are simulated by the Boltzmann equation, the Enskog equation and the simple kinetic equation, respectively. Only the Knudsen minimum appears for the ideal gas, while both the Knudsen minimum and the Knudsen maximum occur for the hard-sphere fluid and the real gas under certain confinements, beyond which the maximum and minimum may disappear. The Boltzmann equation and the Enskog equation overestimates and underestimates the mass flow rate of the real gas dynamics under confinement, respectively, where the volume exclusion and the long-range intermolecular attractive potential among molecules are not ignorable. With the increase of the channel width, gas dynamics of the hard-sphere fluid and the real gas tends to the Boltzmann prediction gradually. The density inhomogeneity, which hinders the flow under confinement, is more obvious when the solid fraction is larger. The anomalous slip occurs for real gas under constant confinement. The flow at a smaller Knudsen number (larger solid fraction or channel width) contributes more practical amount of mass transfer, although the rarefaction effects is more prominent at larger Knudsen numbers. The temperature has no effect on density and velocity profiles of the ideal gas and the hard-sphere fluid, but the energy parameter among the real gas molecules decreases with the increasing temperature and the real gas dynamics tends to the hard-sphere ones consequently.
On the Widom factors for $L_p$ extremal polynomials

We continue our study of the Widom factors for $L_p(\mu)$ extremal polynomials initiated in [4]. In this work we characterize sets for which the lower bounds obtained in [4] are saturated, establish continuity of the Widom factors with respect to the measure $\mu$, and show that despite the lower bound $[W_{2,n}(\mu_K)]^2\geq 2S(\mu_K)$ for the equilibrium measure $\mu_K$ on a compact set $K\subset\mathbb R$ the general lower bound $[W_{p,n}(\mu)]^p\geq S(\mu)$ is optimal even for measures $d\mu=wd\mu_K$ with polynomial weights $w$ on $K\subset\mathbb R$. We also study pull-back measures under polynomial pre-images introduced in [16, 23] and obtain invariance of the Widom factors for such measures. Lastly, we study in detail the Widom factors for orthogonal polynomials with respect to the equilibrium measure on a circular arc and, in particular, find their limit, infimum, and supremum and show that they are strictly monotone increasing with the degree and strictly monotone decreasing with the length of the arc.
On some limitations of probabilistic models for dimension-reduction: illustration in the case of one particular probabilistic formulation of PLS.

Partial Least Squares (PLS) refer to a class of dimension-reduction techniques aiming at the identification of two sets of components with maximal covariance, in order to model the relationship between two sets of observed variables $x\in\mathbb{R}^p$ and $y\in\mathbb{R}^q$, with $p\geq 1, q\geq 1$. El Bouhaddani et al. (2017) have recently proposed a probabilistic formulation of PLS. Under the constraints they consider for the parameters of their model, this latter can be seen as a probabilistic formulation of one version of PLS, namely the PLS-SVD. However, we establish that these constraints are too restrictive as they define a very particular subset of distributions for $(x,y)$ under which, roughly speaking, components with maximal covariance (solutions of PLS-SVD), are also necessarily of respective maximal variances (solutions of the principal components analyses of $x$ and $y$, respectively). Then, we propose a simple extension of el Bouhaddani et al.'s model, which corresponds to a more general probabilistic formulation of PLS-SVD, and which is no longer restricted to these particular distributions. We present numerical examples to illustrate the limitations of the original model of el Bouhaddani et al. (2017).
An in-depth investigation of 11 pulsars discovered by FAST

We present timing solutions and analyses of 11 pulsars discovered by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). These pulsars were discovered using an ultra-wide bandwidth receiver in drift-scan observations made during the commissioning phase of FAST, and were then confirmed and timed using the 64-m Parkes Radio Telescope. Each pulsar has been observed over a span of at least one year. Highlighted discoveries include PSR J0344-0901, which displays mode-changing behaviour and may belong to the class of so-called `swooshing' pulsars (alongside PSRs B0919+06 and B1859+07); PSR J0803-0942, whose emission is almost completely linearly polarised; and PSRs J1900-0134 and J1945+1211, whose well defined polarisation angle curves place stringent constraints on their emission geometry. We further discuss the detectability of these pulsars by earlier surveys, and highlight lessons learned from our work in carrying out confirmation and monitoring observations of pulsars discovered by a highly sensitive telescope, many of which may be applicable to next-generation pulsar surveys. This paper marks one of the first major releases of FAST-discovered pulsars, and paves the way for future discoveries anticipated from the Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST Survey (CRAFTS).
Different electromagnetic physical representations of the Dirac's oscillator according with its spatial dimension

Dirac's oscillator (DO) is one of the most studied systems in the Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and in the physical-mathematics. In particular, we show that this system has an unique property which it has not ever seen in other known systems: According to its spatial dimensionality, DO represent physical systems with very different electromagnetic nature. So far in the literature, it has been proved using the covariant method the gauge invariance of the Dirac's oscillator potential. It has also shown that in (3+1)dimensions the DO represents a relativistic and electrically neutral fermion with magnetic dipole momentum, into a dielectric medium with spherical symmetry and under the effect of an electric field which depends of the radial distance. In this work,and using the same methodology, we show that (2+1) dimensional DO represents a 1/2-spin relativistic fermion under the effect of a uniform and perpendicular external magnetic field; whereas in (1+1) dimensions DO reproduces a relativistic and electrically charged fermion interacting with a linear electric field. Additionally, we prove that DO does not have chiral invariance, independent of its dimensionality, due to the interaction potential which breaks explicitly the chiral symmetry $U(1)_R \times U(1)_L$ but it preserves the global gauge symmetry $U(1)$.
An examination of applicability of face recognition sensors in public facilities

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the usability and applicability of face recognition sensors in public spaces to collect customer footfall data, which could then be analysed and evaluated for facility design and planning Methodology: Nine OMRON sensors were provided for the project and installed at five locations in a public facility for three months. The project was carried out by a local consortium with the cooperation of local technology-based Small Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), business organisations, and a local university. Collected data was analysed using data-mining software to develop a result report with diagrams, and reveal issues and potential for practical application in the future. Findings: It has been found that this technology could be applied for further consumer behavioural analysis, for example, analysing the relationship between product displays and purchasing behaviour, or looking at the link between consumers’ attributes and their buying behaviour. Moreover, the collected data can be further studied to develop a more detailed analysis of the relationships between the data collected from different points of installation. A critical issue found was about how to protect the privacy of the people whose data the sensors collected (i.e., image rights, and other privacy-related issues), which suggests the need for guidelines on ethical data collection and raises questions on how to get agreement from potential participants in the experiment. Implication and limitation: Although it was acknowledged that this project remained at pilot level and would need to expand before more robust implications and recommendations could be developed, the experimental outcome suggests that face recognition sensors have the potential for commercial use. Collecting and analysing customers’ behavioural data can contribute to marketing strategy and planning. The study also discusses the necessity of enhancing business opportunities through open innovation, in this case based on a consortium inviting local technology-oriented SMEs, universities, and other stakeholders to support the local economy. The implications of this study could inspire others to start new businesses and to support the local economy and small enterprises.
In-memory Implementation of On-chip Trainable and Scalable ANN for AI/ML Applications

Traditional von Neumann architecture based processors become inefficient in terms of energy and throughput as they involve separate processing and memory units, also known as~\textit{memory wall}. The memory wall problem is further exacerbated when massive parallelism and frequent data movement are required between processing and memory units for real-time implementation of artificial neural network (ANN) that enables many intelligent applications. One of the most promising approach to address the memory wall problem is to carry out computations inside the memory core itself that enhances the memory bandwidth and energy efficiency for extensive computations. This paper presents an in-memory computing architecture for ANN enabling artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications. The proposed architecture utilizes deep in-memory architecture based on standard six transistor (6T) static random access memory (SRAM) core for the implementation of a multi-layered perceptron. Our novel on-chip training and inference in-memory architecture reduces energy cost and enhances throughput by simultaneously accessing the multiple rows of SRAM array per precharge cycle and eliminating the frequent access of data. The proposed architecture realizes backpropagation which is the keystone during the network training using newly proposed different building blocks such as weight updation, analog multiplication, error calculation, signed analog to digital conversion, and other necessary signal control units. The proposed architecture was trained and tested on the IRIS dataset which exhibits $\approx46\times$ more energy efficient per MAC (multiply and accumulate) operation compared to earlier classifiers.
Dynamic Partial Removal: A Neural Network Heuristic for Large Neighborhood Search

This paper presents a novel neural network design that learns the heuristic for Large Neighborhood Search (LNS). LNS consists of a destroy operator and a repair operator that specify a way to carry out the neighborhood search to solve the Combinatorial Optimization problems. The proposed approach in this paper applies a Hierarchical Recurrent Graph Convolutional Network (HRGCN) as a LNS heuristic, namely Dynamic Partial Removal, with the advantage of adaptive destruction and the potential to search across a large scale, as well as the context-awareness in both spatial and temporal perspective. This model is generalized as an efficient heuristic approach to different combinatorial optimization problems, especially to the problems with relatively tight constraints. We apply this model to vehicle routing problem (VRP) in this paper as an example. The experimental results show that this approach outperforms the traditional LNS heuristics on the same problem as well. The source code is available at \href{this https URL}{this https URL}.