Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive Measurement of Anisotropic Material Appearance

We present a practical adaptive method for acquisition of the anisotropic BRDF. It is based on a sparse adaptive measurement of the complete four-dimensional BRDF space by means of one-dimensional slices which form a sparse four-dimensional structure in the BRDF space and which can be measured by continuous movements of a light source and a sensor. Such a sampling approach is advantageous especially for gonioreflectometer-based measurement devices where the mechanical travel of a light source and a sensor creates a significant time constraint. In order to evaluate our method, we perform adaptive measurements of three materials and we simulate adaptive measurements of ten others. We achieve a four-times lower reconstruction error in comparison with the regular non-adaptive BRDF measurements given the same count of measured samples. Our method is almost twice better than a previous adaptive method, and it requires from twoto five-times less samples to achieve the same results as alternative approaches.
Unified framework for the second law of thermodynamics and information thermodynamics based on information geometry

Information geometry, that is a differential geometric method of information theory, gives a natural definition of informational quantity from the projection theorem. In this letter, we report that the second law of thermodynamics can be obtained from this projection onto the manifold of reversible dynamics. We also show that the recent result in stochastic thermodynamics with information theory, called as the second law of information thermodynamics, is also regarded as the projection onto the manifold of local reversible dynamics. The hierarchy of these second laws can be discussed in terms of inclusion property of manifolds.
COMPLEXITY REDUCED CHANNEL ESTIMATION IN WIMAX ENVIRONMENT FOR MIMO – OFDM SYSTEM

Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) are considered to be major methods for the ensuing high performance in next generation mobile communications. The undesirable effects on the transmitted signals need to be addressed and eliminated to improve the capacity of the systems. These effects depend on the physical properties of the channel. Hence, there is a need to provide perfect estimate of the channel to counteract these effects and thereby delivering precise base-band processes at the receiving end of the system such as signal demodulation and decoding. In this paper, the channel between multiple antenna elements are investigated and analysed for optimum technique with less complexity and less power requirement to estimate the characteristics of the channel. The bit error rate (BER) and normalised mean square error (NMSE) of the channels in MIMO-OFDM systems are examined for different channel tracking techniques. The simulation results are measured to investigate the working of the system model with different algorithms over Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access channel. An efficient QRD method is suggested in this paper based on the available system resources and specifications.
ENCODING CATEGORY TREES INTO WORD- EMBEDDINGS USING GEOMETRIC APPROACH

We present a novel method to implicitly encode a tree-structured category information into word-embeddings, resulting in super-dimensional ball representations (n-ball embedding for short). Inclusion relations among n-balls precisely encode subordinate relations among categories. The cosine similarity function is enriched by category information. A large n-ball dataset is constructed using geometrical method, which achieves zero energy cost in embedding tree structures into word embedding. A new benchmark dataset is created for predicting the category of unknown words. Experiments show that n-ball embeddings, carried with category information, significantly out-perform word-embeddings in the neighbourhood test, while only slightly change the original word-embeddings. Experiment results also show that n-ball embeddings demonstrate surprisingly good performance in validating the category of unknown word. Source codes and data-sets are free for public access https://github.com/gnodisnait/nball4tree.git and https://github.com/gnodisnait/bp94nball.git.
SYNTHESIS OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES THROUGH ULTRASONIC SPRAY PYROLYSIS AND ITS APPLICATION IN PRINTED ELECTRONICS

This work presents a review of Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis (USP) as a technique for the synthesis of gold nanoparticle (AuNPs). The synthesis mechanism involved the preparation of the precursor solution from Au (III) Acetate and the study of the process parameters. AuNPs were characterized with different techniques, such as DLS, UV-vis and SEM-EDX analyses. In the second step, the AuNPs` ink was prepared with the following procedure: (i) Concentration of the AuNPs through Rotavapor, (ii) Filtration of the concentrated AuNPs through Amicon Ultra 15 Centrifugal Filters. Then, it was used directly for printing on an Ag plate. In the final part, we present some information about AuNPs` future applications, which could be in printed electronics with conducted patterns.
Summer retreat of Arctic sea ice: Role of summer winds

The unprecedented retreat of first‐year ice during summer 2007 was enhanced by strong poleward drift over the western Arctic induced by anomalously high sea‐level pressure (SLP) over the Beaufort Sea that persisted throughout much of the summer. Comparison of the tracks of drifting buoys with monthly mean SLP charts shows a substantial Ekman drift. By means of linear regression analysis it is shown that Ekman drift during summer has played an important role in regulating annual minimum Arctic sea‐ice extent in prior years as well. In combination, the preconditioning by events in prior years, as represented by an index of May multi‐year ice, and current atmospheric conditions, as represented by an index of July–August–September SLP anomalies over the Arctic basin account for ∼60% of the year‐to‐year variance of September sea‐ice extent since 1979.
Hiccup accretion in the swinging pulsar IGR J18245-2452

The source IGR J18245-2452 is the fifteenth discovered accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar and the first neutron star to show direct evidence of a transition between accretion- and rotation-powered emission states. These swings provided the strongest confirmation to date of the pulsar recycling scenario. During the two XMM-Newton observations that were carried out while the source was in outburst in April 2013, IGR J18245-2452 displayed a unique and peculiar X-ray variability. In this work, we report on a detailed analysis of the XMM-Newton data and focus on the timing and spectral variability of the source. In the 0.4-11 keV energy band, IGR J18245-2452 continuously switched between lower and higher intensity states, with typical variations in flux by factor of ~100 on time scales as short as a few seconds. These variations in the source intensity were sometimes accompanied by dramatic spectral hardening, during which the X-ray power-law photon index varied from Γ = 1.7 to Γ = 0.9. The pulse profiles extracted at different count-rates, hardnesses, and energies also showed a complex variability. These phenomena were never observed in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, at least not on such a short time-scale. Fast variability was also found in the 5.5 and 9 GHz ATCA radio observations that were carried out for about 6 h during the outburst. We interpret the variability observed from IGR J18245-2452 in terms of a hiccup accretion phase, during which the accretion of material from the inner boundary of the Keplerian disk is reduced by the onset of centrifugal inhibition of accretion, possibly causing the launch of outflows. Changes across accretion and propeller regimes have been long predicted and reproduced by magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, but have never observed to produce as extreme a variability as that shown by IGR J18245-2452.
Hydrogenated Graphene Nanoribbons for Spintronics

We show how hydrogenation of graphene nanoribbons at small concentrations can open venues toward carbon-based spintronics applications regardless of any specific edge termination or passivation of the nanoribbons. Density-functional theory calculations show that an adsorbed H atom induces a spin density on the surrounding orbitals whose symmetry and degree of localization depends on the distance to the edges of the nanoribbon. As expected for graphene-based systems, these induced magnetic moments interact ferromagnetically or antiferromagnetically depending on the relative adsorption graphene sublattice, but the magnitude of the interactions are found to strongly vary with the position of the H atoms relative to the edges. We also calculate, with the help of the Hubbard model, the transport properties of hydrogenated armchair semiconducting graphene nanoribbons in the diluted regime and show how the exchange coupling between H atoms can be exploited in the design of novel magnetoresistive devices.
Paleoproductivity, ventilation, and organic carbon burial in the Santa Barbara Basin (ODP Site 893, off California) since the last glacial

Biogenic burial rates and coccolith assemblage data were generated for the past 16 ka at ODP Site 893 in the Santa Barbara Basin, off California, to determine if dysoxic events in the basin were related to changes in marine productivity. Coccolith abundance data show that changes in surface water conditions did indeed change in concert with oxygen levels at the sea floor. However, organic carbon burial rates varied independently, indicating that oxygenation of the water column is related mainly to intermediate water ventilation. A strong correlation of organic carbon burial rates with lithogenic, and to a lesser extent with carbonate and opal accumulation rates confirms recent conclusions that the export of organic carbon from the sea surface is largely controlled by the presence of ballast minerals.
Significance of angular unconformities between Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the northwestern segment of the Zagros fold–thrust belt, Kurdistan Region, NE Iraq

Abstract In this study, two angular unconformities are found and analysed for the first time in the Mesozoic–Cenozoic succession in the northwestern segment of the Zagros fold–thrust belt (ZFTB) in the Kurdistan Region. The first unconformity exists between Lower Cretaceous and Paleocene–Eocene rocks and the second between the Campanian Shiranish Formation and the Maastrichtian Tanjero Formation. Each of these unconformities is found in two different localities in the Zagros Imbricate Zone (i.e. the highly deformed zone immediately SW of the Zagros Suture) of the ZFTB of the Kurdistan Region near the border with Iran. The study uses recent geological mapping, structural and stratigraphic analyses in addition to using previous biozonation of the stratigraphic units that bound the two unconformities. The first unconformity was initiated with obduction of the ophiolite and Lower Cretaceous radiolarite onto the passive margin of the Arabian plate. This unconformity formed during an early phase of the Zagros orogeny, which is associated with the developing of a foreland basin, and resulted in the folding of the radiolarites and their uplift to form high-relief land. The erosion of this high-relief land resulted in the formation of the Paleocene–Eocene Red Bed Series and their deposition on the folded radiolarite. The timing of the deformation that caused this unconformity is hard to determine; however, its stratigraphic position may suggest that it possibly is related to post-Cenomanian movements. The second unconformity is between the tilted Campanian Shiranish Formation (hemipelagite) and Tanjero Formation (500 m of conglomerate in the more proximal area). These unconformities indicate that deformation and uplift of the sedimentary units was variable during ophiolite obduction in this part of the ZFTB. We argue that deformation, ophiolite obduction and collision are likely to have varied in space and time along the c. 2000 km long ZFTB.
Enabling Automatic Password Change in Password Managers Through Crowdsourcing

Password managers can immensely increase password security, for laymen and experts alike. One reason for the low adoption is a lack of automatic password change. In this paper, we describe our work on extending password managers towards automatic password change on the web. The main idea is that users can teach the password managers how to change their password on a speciﬁc website using a recorder module and share this information (blueprints) with other users, eﬀectively crowdsourcing the creation of these blueprints. Parts of the proposal were implemented as an add-on for the Firefox browser and evaluated in a user study. Our results show that our proposal is viable and usable.
The Propagation of Financial Extremes

What drives extreme economic events? Motivated by recent theory, and events in US subprime markets, we begin to open the black box of extremes. Specifically, we extend standard economic analysis of extreme risk, allowing for dynamics and endogeneity. We explain how endogenous extremes may arise in an economy of individuals who engage in resource transfers. Our model suggests that susceptibility to extremes depends on differences in marginal substitution rates. Using over a century of daily stock price data, we construct empirical probabilities of extremes, and document interesting dynamic behavior. We find evidence that extremes are endogenous. This latter finding raises the possibility that control of extremes is a public good, and that extreme events may be an important market failure for regulators and central banks to correct.
High-resolution teleseismic tomography of upper-mantle structure using an a priori three-dimensional crustal model

SUMMARY The effect of an a priori known 3-D crustal model in teleseismic tomography of upper-mantle structure is investigated. We developed a 3-D crustal P-wave velocity model for the greater Alpine region, encompassing the central and western Alps and the northern Apennines, to estimate the crustal contribution to teleseismic traveltimes. The model is constructed by comparative use of published information from active and passive seismic surveys. The model components are chosen to represent the present large-scale Alpine crustal structure and for their significant effect on the propagation of seismic wavefields. They are first-order structures such as the crust‐mantle boundary, sedimentary basins and the high-velocity Ivrea body. Teleseismic traveltime residuals are calculated for a realistic distribution of azimuths and distances by coupling a finite-difference technique to the IASP91 traveltime tables. Residuals are produced for a synthetic upper-mantle model featuring two slab structures and the 3-D crustal model on top of it. The crustal model produces traveltime residuals in the range between −0.7 and 1.5 s that vary strongly as a function of backazimuth and epicentral distance. We find that the non-linear inversion of the synthetic residuals without correcting for the 3-D crustal structure erroneously maps the crustal anomalies into the upper mantle. Correction of the residuals for crustal structure before inversion properly recovers the synthetic slab structures placed in the upper mantle. We conclude that with the increasing amount of high-quality seismic traveltime data, correction for near-surface structure is essential for increasing resolution in tomographic images of upper-mantle structure.
Stochastic domain wall depinning in permalloy nanowires with various types of notches

Stochastic phenomena in magnetic nanowires based on domain wall (DW) motion is scientifically important thus to understand and control such behaviors are very meaningful. Here we report on the investigation of pinning and depinning of DWs in permalloy nanowires with six types of longitudinally asymmetric notches using focused magneto-optic Kerr effect (FMOKE) magnetometer and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The hysteresis loops obtained by FMOKE indicate the generation of one or two distinct depinning fields by creating one notch close to the edge of the nanowires, in comparison multiple depinning processes occur in the nanowires with two identical notches symmetrically placed along the transverse direction, indicating more remarkable stochastic DW depinning phenomena. The MFM images verify the existence of DW in each type of nanowires and the DW sizes in the latter kind of nanowires are generally larger than those in the former ones. These observations can be explained by considering the thermal perturbation and edge or surface roughness effects in nanowires.
Superradiant clock laser on an optical lattice

An almost light less laser 1 this way Vladan Vuletic describes the concept of a superradiant laser. What sounds a little bit confusing, should build the basis for a new kind of a ultra frequency-stable laser. An ideal superradiant laser operating on an optical clock transition of a noninteracting ensemble of cold trapped atoms is predicted to exhibit extreme frequency stability and accuracy even far below mHz linewidth. In any concrete setup a sufficiently large number of atoms have to be confined and optically pumped within an optical cavity. Using a magic wavelength lattice minimizes light shifts and allows almost uniform collective coupling to the cavity mode. Nevertheless, the atoms will also be subject to dipole-dipole interaction and undergo collective spontaneous decay limiting the ultimate frequency stability of the device. In the high density limit the Dicke superradiant linewidth enhancement, which is directly proportional to the atom number, broadens the laser line and nearest neighbor couplings will induce line shifts and fluctuations of the absolute laser frequency. We estimate the magnitude and scaling of these effects by direct numerical simulations of few atom systems for different geometries and various densities. Fortunately, for Strontium in a regularly filled magic wavelength configuration, dipole-dipole interaction is small and the suppression of collective spontaneous emission can lead to subradiant line narrowing in such a laser. Vladan Vuletic, Nature 484 (2013)
A new syntactic-semantic interface for ArabTAG an Arabic Tree Adjoining grammar

For a reliable natural language processing (NLP), it is important to know how to link the meaning of a statement or a sentence to its syntactic structure. The link between semantic and syntax can be established using a syntax-semantic interface that allows the construction of sentence meaning. In this paper, we present a new approach, which built a tree adjoining grammar to represent the syntax and the semantic of modern standard Arabic. In the first part, we detail the process that automatically generates this grammar using Arab-XMG meta-grammar. Then we explain how we have established the link between syntax and semantic and how we have introduced the semantic frame -based dimension into the meta-grammar using Arabic Verbnet.
Exact exchange for correlated electrons

A density functional based “exact exchange for correlated electrons” (EECE) method of electronic structure determination, intended as an improved initial point for the description of systems containing correlated electrons, is proposed and its implementation is described. This approach bears strong resemblance to certain methods already in use: in implementation it is much like the LDA+U method with the important distinction that it is parameter‐free; in concept has much in common with previous ‘exact exchange’ and self‐interaction corrected approaches. The EECE method is applied to several systems with varying correlation strengths and characters (FeF2, NiO, hcp Gd, FeAl) and the results are compared with those obtained by LDA +U and Hartree–Fock methods as well as results within the local spin density and generalized gradient approximations to density functional theory. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Recent Macroeconomic Dynamics and Agriculture in Historical Perspective

This article explores the similarities, differences, and implications from the 1970s-1980s experience for the macroeconomic dynamic that may arise from the 2008 price spike and subsequent recession. Role of monetary policy (deviations from Taylor rule) is assessed. This is an argument that has not been too prominent in public discourse about causes of the financial crisis or the policies undertaken to restore stability to financial markets and avoid an even deeper downturn than occurred. The “misery index” is compared across the past and recent macroeconomic events. Effects on agriculture of exchange rates are reviewed, effects dependent on currency values and interest rates that can change quickly and in unexpected ways.
Fluoride in Groundwater of Aiyar Sub-basin in Tiruchirappalli District , Tamil Nadu , India

The nature and extent of high fluoride concentration in groundwater from Aiyar sub-basin in Tiruchirappalli district were collected during post-monsoon (January 2015) and pre-monsoon (May 2015) seasons. During post-monsoon, the fluoride is the above permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L, but in pre-monsoon, only two samples recorded fluoride as above the permissible limit. The depth to water table was from 37’ to 90’ during pre-monsoon and it was 36’ to 100’ during post-monsoon. Due to the failure of monsoon in the study area, the depth to water table increases during post-monsoon, but the concentration of fluoride increases drastically in all the samples. The lower aquifer and the residence time of groundwater are attributed to the increase of fluoride during post-monsoon season. The region affected by higher fluoride concentration reflects dental and skeletal fluorosis. Gibb’s diagram reveals rock-water interaction. Remedial measures were suggested to the areas that are affected by fluoride.
Tracking and Erosion Resistance of Silicon Rubber Samples Subjected to Environmental Conditions

Assessment of the material degradation properties in the laboratory similar to the field conditions is still a challenge. In the present work an attempt is made to study the effect of environment circumstances on the tracking and erosion resistance. The evaluation of tracking and erosion resistance of Silicone Rubber insulator samples is carried out for the normal and different acidic solution simulating acid rain. The conditions of pollution/ contamination severity level are also taken into consideration by keeping the conductivity of solution approximately 2.5 mS/m. A new experimental arrangement is set up based on the IEC 60587 and ASTM D-2303 standards. The constant voltage method is employed to find the relative performance of silicone rubber samples of different chemical composition. Comparative analysis is done for the acid rain solution and the standard solution of NH4Cl. Harmonic analysis is carried out using the obtained leakage currents and physico-chemical analysis involving SEM EDAX is carried out on treated samples to verify the surface morphology.