Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Situation Awareness Recognition Using EEG and Eye-Tracking data: a pilot study

Since situation awareness (SA) plays an important role in many fields, the measure of SA is one of the most concerning problems. Using physiological signals to evaluate SA is becoming a popular research topic because of their advantages of non-intrusiveness and objectivity. However, previous studies mainly exploited the use of single physiological signals such as electroencephalogram (EEG) or eye tracking. The multi-modal SA recognition is still a research gap. Therefore, this work conducts a pilot study to investigate SA recognition by using two modalities: EEG and eye tracking data. Specifically, an optimized Stroop test that is more compatible with the definition of SA was used to induce different states of SA and collect physiological data. Furthermore, a random vector functional link-based stacking (RVFL-S) model was proposed to perform the multi-modal SA recognition. Experiment results showed that using the combination of EEG and eye tracking data can boost the performance of SA recognition. Moreover, the proposed RVFL-S model can effectively integrate the classification information from two modalities. It showed better performance than baseline methods, achieving 77.62% leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) average accuracy. This was around 5% improvement compared with the baseline classification models with input of only one modality. This pilot study demonstrated that the use of multi-modality is a potential strategy for SA recognition.
SOLAR HARD X-RAY SOURCE SIZES IN A BEAM-HEATED AND IONIZED CHROMOSPHERE

Solar flare hard X-rays (HXRs) are produced as bremsstrahlung when an accelerated population of electrons interacts with the dense chromospheric plasma. HXR observations presented by Kontar et al. using the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager have shown that HXR source sizes are three to six times more extended in height than those predicted by the standard collisional thick target model (CTTM). Several possible explanations have been put forward including the multi-threaded nature of flare loops, pitch-angle scattering, and magnetic mirroring. However, the nonuniform ionization (NUI) structure along the path of the electron beam has not been fully explored as a solution to this problem. Ionized plasma is known to be less effective at producing nonthermal bremsstrahlung HXRs when compared to neutral plasma. If the peak HXR emission was produced in a locally ionized region within the chromosphere, the intensity of emission will be preferentially reduced around this peak, resulting in a more extended source. Due to this effect, along with the associated density enhancement in the upper chromosphere, injection of a beam of electrons into a partially ionized plasma should result in an HXR source that is substantially more vertically extended relative to that for a neutral target. Here we present the results of a modification to the CTTM, which takes into account both a localized form of chromospheric NUI and an increased target density. We find 50 keV HXR source widths, with and without the inclusion of a locally ionized region, of ∼3 Mm and ∼0.7 Mm, respectively. This helps to provide a theoretical solution to the currently open question of overly extended HXR sources.
MAGNETAR GIANT FLARES IN MULTIPOLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS. II. FLUX ROPE ERUPTIONS WITH CURRENT SHEETS

We propose a physical mechanism to explain giant flares and radio afterglows in terms of a magnetospheric model containing both a helically twisted flux rope and a current sheet (CS). With the appearance of a CS, we solve a mixed boundary value problem to get the magnetospheric field based on a domain decomposition method. We investigate properties of the equilibrium curve of the flux rope when the CS is present in background multipolar fields. In response to the variations at the magnetar surface, it quasi-statically evolves in stable equilibrium states. The loss of equilibrium occurs at a critical point and, beyond that point, it erupts catastrophically. New features show up when the CS is considered. In particular, we find two kinds of physical behaviors, i.e., catastrophic state transition and catastrophic escape. Magnetic energy would be released during state transitions. This released magnetic energy is sufficient to drive giant flares, and the flux rope would, therefore, go away from the magnetar quasi-statically, which is inconsistent with the radio afterglow. Fortunately, in the latter case, i.e., the catastrophic escape, the flux rope could escape the magnetar and go to infinity in a dynamical way. This is more consistent with radio afterglow observations of giant flares. We find that the minor radius of the flux rope has important implications for its eruption. Flux ropes with larger minor radii are more prone to erupt. We stress that the CS provides an ideal place for magnetic reconnection, which would further enhance the energy release during eruptions.
Bell Pepper Crop Disease Detection Using Convolution Neural Network

In chime pepper Agriculture in India is considerably more than simply getting nourishment professionally. Agribusiness represents a huge area of the Indian economy, as India is one of the world’s top exporters of food, grains, and other horticultural items. Over 70% of India’s rustic populace depends on farming for their vocation. Consistently, 42% of harvests are annihilated, bringing about critical misfortunes for Indian ranchers, with bother harm representing 15.7 percent of yield harm. Subsequently, early identification of plant illness is basic to shield the whole plant from harm. The conventional strategy for distinguishing sicknesses when changes are noticeable on plant leaves is ineffectual in light of the fact that the whole plant is hurt at that point. All things being equal, new strategies, for example, picture handling and PC vision calculations ought to be used to identify illness at a beginning phase. The procedure used ought to take into consideration precise and careful illness analysis, to such an extent that the pesticides and bug sprays utilized don’t debase soil quality, and that the boundless utilization of a lot of pesticides and insect sprays hurts crop wellbeing straightforwardly or by implication. Since misfortunes happen when crop quality or amount is hurt, early and exact recognition of plant illness is basic. Accordingly, we applied the Laplacian channel and Unsharp covering procedure for picture handling and Canny edge discovery for picture division for early sickness recognizable proof. Convolution brain organization, a profound learning arrangement model, is the grouping model we’re utilizing in this venture.
Joint Task Offloading, Resource Sharing and Computation Incentive for Edge Computing Networks

Edge computing is a promising technology to enable edge servers (ESs) to share computing resources for task offloading. Due to the selfish characteristic of the ESs, how to design an efficient computation incentive mechanism with the appropriate task offloading and resource allocation strategies is an essential issue. In this letter, a contract-based framework is proposed to deal with the joint task offloading, resource sharing and computation incentive (TORSCI) issue under the asymmetric information scenario. A three-dimensional task-resource-reward contract is investigated to motivate the potential ESs to participate in resource sharing. Then, based on the individual rationality and incentive compatibility conditions, the joint TORSCI optimization problem is formulated to achieve the maximum utility of the cloud server. By deriving necessary and sufficient conditions, an optimal contract is designed to obtain the joint task offloading, resource sharing and computation incentive strategy with an efficient heuristic algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed contract-based incentive approach.
Anisotropic inflation with derivative couplings

We thank Gianmassimo Tasinato for discussions. S. K. was supported by IKERBASQUE, the Basque Foundation for Science, and the Basque Government (IT-979-16), and Spanish Ministry MINECO (FPA2015-64041-C2-1P). I. Z. was partially supported by the STFC Grants No. ST/N001419/1 and No. ST/L000369/1. S. K. would like to thank the Physics Department at Swansea University for warm hospitality and the College Research Fund for financial support. J. H. was supported by a Swansea College of Science Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) Research Scholarship funded partly by Swansea University and partly by the STFC.
Mentoring Practices of Novice English Teachers

Mentoring is a professional rapport in which an experienced professional supports novice teachers in the premature phases of their profession to develop and progress their teaching career by sharing their teaching skills, experiences and knowledge. This article examines the English language teachers’ understanding and practices of mentoring along with my experiences. I employed a descriptive phenomenological research design to explore the lived experiences of teachers about mentoring. Four English teachers teaching at the secondary level were purposively selected as the participants for the study from two community schools of Rupandehi, Nepal. I used interviews as a technique for collecting information from the participants. The finding of the study shows teachers’ positive mentoring experiences as they are satisfied with mentoring practices. The study also shows that the common mentoring practices the English teachers employed were peer support, profession-related workshops, training, conferences and seminars. The study may contribute to boost professional competency in their teaching career having effective mentoring experiences and practices with some insightful ideas.
Generating a subwavelength far-field focal spot using a spherical layer

The focal-spot size that is formed by the optical system is one of the main factors in determining the size of objects that can be resolved in imaging. A lens generates a diffraction-limited far-field focal spot which for the optimal case of a uniform illumination, has a full width at half maximum (FHHM) of $\lambda$ in the lateral axes and $3\lambda$ in the axial axis. Here, we utilize resonances in a setup of a spherical layer to generate a far-field subwavelength focal spot at the origin arising from a TM $l=1$ vector spherical harmonic. To remove the degeneracy associated with the $l=1$ eigenfunctions of the composite medium, we situate current sources on an axis perpendicular to the spherical layer. The focal spot at the origin is smaller in volume by a factor of up to 27 compared with the one generated by a lens. While there are contributions to the electric field from the other modes in the field expansion and the incoming field, they become negligible close to the resonance. Potential applications are high-resolution three dimensional imaging and precise electromagnetic ablation.
CMB anisotropies from patchy reionisation and diffuse Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

Anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) can be induced during the later stages of cosmic evolution, and in particular during and after the Epoch of Reionisation. Inhomogeneities in the ionised fraction, but also in the baryon density, in the velocity fields and in the gravitational potentials are expected to generate correlated CMB perturbations. We present a complete relativistic treatment of all these effects, up to second order in perturbation theory, that we solve using the numerical Boltzmann code {\SONG}. The physical origin and relevance of all second order terms are carefully discussed. In addition to collisional and gravitational contributions, we identify the diffuse analogue of the blurring and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects. Our approach naturally includes the correlations between the imprint from patchy reionisation and the diffuse SZ effects thereby allowing us to derive reliable estimates of the induced temperature and polarisation CMB angular power spectra. In particular, we show that the B-modes generated at intermediate length-scales (ℓ ≃ 100) have the same amplitude as the B-modes coming from primordial gravitational waves with a tensor-to-scalar ratio r=10−4.
A minority view on the majority: A personal meeting summary on the explosion mechanism of supernovae

Abstract I present my minority view that the majority (or even all) of core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are driven by jets rather than by neutrinos, and that the majority of type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) reach their explosion via the core degenerate scenario. New simulations presented at the meeting did not achieve an explosion of CCSNe. I critically examine other arguments that where presented in support of the neutrino-driven model, and present counter arguments that support the jet-driven explosion mechanism. The jets operate via a negative jet feedback mechanism (JFM). The negative feedback mechanism explains the explosion energy being several times the binding energy of the core in most CCSNe. We do not know yet what mechanism explodes massive stars and we do not know yet what evolutionary route leads white dwarfs to explode as SN Ia, and so we must be open to different ideas and critically examine old notions.
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DETECTION OF THE DOUBLE PULSAR SYSTEM J0737−3039 IN THE FAR-ULTRAVIOLET

We report on detection of the double pulsar system J0737−3039 in the far-UV with the Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar-blind Channel detector aboard Hubble Space Telescope. We measured the energy flux F = (4.6 ± 1.0) × 10−17 erg cm−2 s−1 in the 1250–1550 Å band, which corresponds to the extinction-corrected luminosity L ≈ 1.5 × 1028 erg s−1 for the distance d = 1.1 kpc and a plausible reddening E(B − V) = 0.1. If the detected emission comes from the entire surface of one of the neutron stars with a 13 km radius, the surface blackbody temperature is in the range T ≃ (2–5) × 105 K for a reasonable range of interstellar extinction. Such a temperature requires an internal heating mechanism to operate in old neutron stars, or, less likely, it might be explained by heating of the surface of the less energetic Pulsar B by the relativistic wind of Pulsar A. If the far-ultraviolet emission is non-thermal (e.g., produced in the magnetosphere of Pulsar A), its spectrum exhibits a break between the UV and X-rays.
Optimal tuning rules for an absolutely stable nonlinear PI controller with a practical application

Tuning nonlinear controllers which can be easily implemented in real-time applications is a challenging task since stability in the controlled loop has to be guaranteed. In this work, a set of new tuning rules for nonlinear PI controllers applied to first-order plus dead time systems is presented. The design method guarantees the asymptotic stability of the control system while providing optimal performance. Moreover, the tuning rules offer good robustness in the presence of process variations and disturbance. This controller is easy to implement and the efficacy of the method is shown through various simulations. Furthermore, the real-time implementation of the tuning rule on a control loop for an airflow process is shown.
Long-term variations of turbulent transport coefficients in a solar-like convective dynamo simulation

The Sun, aside from its eleven year sunspot cycle is additionally subject to long term variation in its activity. In this work we analyse a solar-like convective dynamo simulation, containing approximately 60 magnetic cycles, exhibiting equatorward propagation of the magnetic field, multiple frequencies, and irregular variability, including a missed cycle and complex parity transitions between dipolar and quadrupolar modes. We compute the turbulent transport coefficients, describing the effects of the turbulent velocity field on the mean magnetic field, using the test-field method. The test-field analysis provides a plausible explanation of the missing cycle in terms of the reduction of $\alpha_{\phi\phi}$ in advance of the reduced surface activity, and enhanced downward turbulent pumping during the event to confine some of the magnetic field at the bottom of the convection zone, where local maximum of magnetic energy is observed during the event. At the same time, however, a quenching of the turbulent magnetic diffusivities is observed, albeit differently distributed in depth compared to the other transport coefficients. Therefore, dedicated mean-field modelling is required for verification.
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field of the Barnard 1 Star-forming Region

We present the POL-2 850 μm linear polarization map of the Barnard 1 clump in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations survey at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a trend of decreasing polarization fraction as a function of total intensity, which we link to depolarization effects toward higher-density regions of the cloud. We then use the polarization data at 850 μm to infer the plane-of-sky orientation of the large-scale magnetic field in Barnard 1. This magnetic field runs north–south across most of the cloud, with the exception of B1-c, where it turns more east–west. From the dispersion of polarization angles, we calculate a turbulence correlation length of 5.0 ± 2. ″5 (1500 au) and a turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio of 0.5 ± 0.3 inside the cloud. We combine this turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio with observations of NH3 molecular lines from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey to estimate the strength of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field through the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method. With a plane-of-sky amplitude of 120 ± 60 μG and a criticality criterion λc = 3.0 ± 1.5, we find that Barnard 1 is a supercritical molecular cloud with a magnetic field nearly dominated by its turbulent component.
THE c2d SPITZER SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF ICES AROUND LOW-MASS YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS. IV. NH3 AND CH3OH

NH3 and CH3OH are key molecules in astrochemical networks leading to the formation of more complex N- and O-bearing molecules, such as CH3CN and CH3OCH3. Despite a number of recent studies, little is known about their abundances in the solid state. This is particularly the case for low-mass protostars, for which only the launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope has permitted high-sensitivity observations of the ices around these objects. In this work, we investigate the ∼8–10 μm region in the Spitzer IRS (InfraRed Spectrograph) spectra of 41 low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs). These data are part of a survey of interstellar ices in a sample of low-mass YSOs studied in earlier papers in this series. We used both an empirical and a local continuum method to correct for the contribution from the 10 μm silicate absorption in the recorded spectra. In addition, we conducted a systematic laboratory study of NH3- and CH3OH-containing ices to help interpret the astronomical spectra. We clearly detect a feature at ∼9 μm in 24 low-mass YSOs. Within the uncertainty in continuum determination, we identify this feature with the NH3 ν2 umbrella mode and derive abundances with respect to water between ∼2% and 15%. Simultaneously, we also revisited the case of CH3OH ice by studying the ν4 C–O stretch mode of this molecule at ∼9.7 μm in 16 objects, yielding abundances consistent with those derived by Boogert et al. based on a simultaneous 9.75 and 3.53 μm data analysis. Our study indicates that NH3 is present primarily in H2O-rich ices, but that in some cases, such ices are insufficient to explain the observed narrow FWHM. The laboratory data point to CH3OH being in an almost pure methanol ice, or mixed mainly with CO or CO2, consistent with its formation through hydrogenation on grains. Finally, we use our derived NH3 abundances in combination with previously published abundances of other solid N-bearing species to find that up to 10%–20% of nitrogen is locked up in known ices.
Collective Enhancement and Suppression of Excitation Decay in Optical Lattices

We calculate radiative lifetimes of collective electronic excitations of atoms in an infinite one dimensional lattice. The translational symmetry along the lattice restricts the photon wave vector component parallel to the lattice to the exciton wave number and thus the possible emission directions. The resulting radiation damping rate and emission pattern of the exciton strongly deviates from independent atom. For some wave numbers and polarizations the excitons superradiantly decay very fast, while other excitons show zero radiation damping rate and form propagating meta-stable excitations. Such states could be directly coupled via tailored evanescent fields from a nearby fiber.
Jack, master or both? The invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis performs better than a native coccinellid despite divergent trait plasticity

The plasticity of performance traits can promote the success of biological invasions and therefore, precisely estimating trait reaction norms can help to predict the establishment and persistence of introduced species in novel habitats. Most studies focus only on a reduced set of traits and rarely include trait variability that may be vital to predicting establishment success. Here, using a split-brood full-sib design, we acclimated the globally invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis and a native co-occurring and competing species Cheilomenes lunata to cold, medium and warm temperature regimes, and measured critical thermal limits, life-history traits, and starvation resistance. We used the conceptual framework of “Jack, Master or both” to test predictions regarding performance differences of these two species. The native C. lunata had a higher thermal plasticity of starvation resistance and a higher upper thermal tolerance than H. axyridis . By contrast, H. axyridis had a higher performance than C. lunata for preoviposition period, fecundity and adult emergence from pupae. We combined trait responses, transport duration and propagule pressure to predict the size of the populations established in a novel site following cold, medium and warm scenarios. Although C. lunata initially had a higher performance than the invasive species during transport, more individuals of H. axyridis survived in all simulated environments due to the combined life-history responses, and in particular, higher fecundity. Despite an increased starvation mortality in the warm scenario, given a sufficient propagule size, H. axyridis successfully established. This study underscores how the combination and plasticity of multiple performance traits can strongly influence establishment potential of species introduced into novel environments.
Dark Energy and Dark Matter in a Model of an Axion Coupled to a Non-Abelian Gauge Field

We study cosmological field configurations (solutions) in a model in which the pseudo-scalar phase of a complex field couples to the Pontryagin density of a massive non-abelian gauge field, in analogy to how the Peccei-Quinn axion field couples to the $SU(3)$-color gauge field of QCD. Assuming that the self-interaction potential of the complex scalar field has the typical {\it Mexican hat} form, we find that the radial fluctuations of this field can act as {\it Dark Matter}, while its phase may give rise to tracking {\it Dark Energy}. In our model, Dark-Energy domination will, however, not continue for ever. A new component of dark matter, namely the one originating from the gauge field, will dominate in the future.