Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulation and Modeling of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Process

The deposition of thin film layers from th e vapor phase is accomplished through several techniques. We review the physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques and equipment that are in common use in the high-volume production of coatings that find application in the optical, display, decorative and tribological. Specific PVD processes and coating materials have been developed and optimized for each application. It is well established that low pressure physical vapor deposition processes such as thermal evaporation and the many variants of sputtering utilize nearly collision less vapor transport to a substrate. This results in line-of-sight deposition. The deposition of uniform coatings on complex shapes using these approaches therefore requires substrate rotation or a multiple evaporation source strategy. In many cases, the line-of-sight requirement precludes the use of these processes entirely. Recently, developed rarefied gas jet based deposition processes, however, operate at much higher pressures where many gas phase collisions occur. Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) simulations have been used to understand the fundamental phenomena involved and to identify the role of the process conditions on the coating's uniformity.
Perceptual speech coding using time and frequency masking constraints

This paper presents a new wide-band speech coding system based on a fast wavelet packet transform algorithm as well as a formulation of temporal and spectral psychoacoustic models of masking. The proposed FFT-like overlapped block orthogonal transform allows us to approximate the auditory critical band decomposition in an efficient manner, which is a major advantage over previous approaches that used uniform filter banks. As a result of such a decomposition, the perceptually tuned time-frequency structure of the original speech signal is preserved. This allows us to make use of the temporal and spectral properties of the human auditory system to decrease the average bit rate of the encoder, while perceptually hiding the quantization error.
Inside the Black Box of Ability Peer Effects: Evidence from Variation in the Proportion of Low Achievers in the Classroom

We estimate the extent of ability peer effects and explore the mechanisms through which they operate. Using within-school variation in the proportion of low-ability students in Israeli schools, we find that the proportion of low-ability peers has a negative effect on the performance of regular students. An exploration of the underlying mechanisms show that, relative to regular students, low-ability students report higher levels of satisfaction with their teachers. However, a higher proportion of low-ability students has detrimental effects on teachers’ pedagogical practices and on the quality of inter-student and student–teacher relationships, and increases the level of violence and classroom disruptions.
Learning Semantic Correlations for Cross-Media Retrieval

This paper proposes a novel cross-media retrieval approach. First, an isomorphic subspace is constructed based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to learn multi-modal correlations of media objects; second, polar coordinates are used to judge the general distance of media objects with different modalities in the subspace. Since the integrity of semantic correlations is not likely learned from limited training samples, users' relevance feedback is used to accurately refine cross-media similarities. We also propose methods to map new media objects into the learned subspace, and any new media object would be taken as query example. Experiment results show that our approaches are effective for cross-media retrieval, and meanwhile achieve a significant improvement over content-based image retrieval and content-based audio retrieval.
Automatic identification of non-anaphoric anaphora in spoken dialog

Identification of non-anaphoric anaphora is an important step towards a full anaphora resolution. In this paper, we present an automatic identification approach for this task. In our work, some novel features are proposed, which are based on dependency grammars, surrounding words and their POS tags. All the features are automatically extracted using a part-of-speech (POS) tagger and a dependency parser. Our experiments are on a commonly available dialogue corpus, Trains-93. Several machine learning algorithms are used in the experiments, including CME, CRF and SVM. Results show that compared to the approaches used in the previous work, our algorithm is simpler and achieves a higher accuracy.
A 10-b Fourth-Order Quadrature Bandpass Continuous-Time $\Sigma \Delta $ Modulator With 33-MHz Bandwidth for a Dual-Channel GNSS Receiver

A fourth-order quadrature bandpass continuous-time sigma–delta modulator for a dual-channel global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver is presented. With a bandwidth (BW) of 33 MHz, the modulator is able to digitalize the downconverted GNSS signals in two adjacent signal bands simultaneously, realizing dual-channel GNSS reception with one receiver channel instead of two independent receiver channels. To maintain the loop-stability of the high-order architecture, any extra loop phase shifting should be minimized. In the system architecture, a feedback and feedforward hybrid architecture is used to implement the fourth-order loop-filter, and a return-to-zero (RZ) feedback after the discrete-time differential operation is introduced into the input of the final integrator to realize the excess loop delay compensation, saving a spare summing amplifier. In the circuit implementation, power-efficient amplifiers with high-frequency active feedforward and antipole-splitting techniques are employed in the active RC integrators, and self-calibrated comparators are used to implement the low-power 3-b quantizers. These power saving techniques help achieve superior figure of merit for the presented modulator. With a sampling rate of 460 MHz, current-steering digital–analog converters are chosen to guarantee high conversion speed. Implemented in only 180-nm CMOS, the modulator achieves 62.1-dB peak signal to noise and distortion ratio, 64-dB dynamic range, and 59.3-dB image rejection ratio, with a BW of 33 MHz, and consumes 54.4 mW from a 1.8 V power supply.
Image steganography method using K-means clustering and encryption techniques

Steganography involves hiding of text, image or any sensitive information inside another image, video or audio in such a way that an attacker will not be able to detect its presence. Steganography is, many times, confused with cryptography as both the techniques are used to secure information. The difference lies in the fact that steganography hides the data so that nothing appears out of ordinary while cryptography encrypts the text, making it difficult for an outsider to infer anything from it even if they do attain the encrypted text. Both of them are combined to increase the security against various malicious attacks. Image Steganography uses an image as the cover media to hide the secret message. In this paper, we propose an image steganography method which clusters the image into various segments and hides data in each of the segment. Various clustering algorithms can be used for image segmentation. Segmentation involves huge set of data in the form of pixels, where each pixel further has three components namely red, green and blue. K-means clustering technique is used to get accurate results. Therefore, we use K-means clustering technique to get accurate results in a small time period.
Architecture and download behavior of Xunlei:A measurement-based study

this paper presents a measurement-based study of Xunlei, a young but increasingly popular P2P application currently mainly used in China. Due to its proprietary protocols and data encryption, packet-level data was analyzed in order to infer the network architecture and the superior download behavior, Xunlei's main key to success. We identify Xunlei's core-server layer with a clear division of tasks. We found that Xunlei increases download speeds by applying multi-source technology in an effective way, which includes (inappropriate) direct linking. Finally, we reveal that Xunlei utilizes UDP as main transport protocol both for bulk file transfer and IPTV streaming. As the first comprehensive study on Xunlei, this paper provides new insights for researchers and application designers, and contributes to a better understanding of the Internet.
IMPACT OF FUNCTIONAL DELAY TEST COMPACTION ON TRANSITION FAULT COVERAGE

Compact test sets are very important for degrading the cost of testing the very large-scale integrated circuits by reducing the test application time. Small test sets also lessen the test storage requirements. The only way to compact functional delay fault tests is to enable multi-input transitions in test pattern pairs. The goal of the paper is to analyze the impact of multi-input transitions in test pattern pairs on the transition fault coverage. The performed research shows that the quality of functional delay fault MIT tests in regard of detection of structural level transition faults is higher than that of functional delay fault SIT tests. However, the application of MIT tests instead of SIT tests for transition fault detection may as well decrease the transition fault coverage. The reasons are in changed conditions of signal propagation from circuit input to circuit output. The possible ways to increase the quality of MIT tests are proposed in this work as well.
Path-tracking for tractor-trailers with hitching of both the on-axle and the off-axle kind

Results relevant to path-tracking control for a tractor-2-trailers vehicle with one coupling joint 'on axle' and the other 'off axle', are developed. In the case of off axle hitchings with a negative offset, these results are based on input/output linearization and extend controller design procedures already available for vehicles of which the coupling joints are all 'on axle' or all 'off axle'. In the case of off axle hitchings with a positive offset, exact linearization is no longer applicable and the problem is solved using Jacobian linearization. Convergence and robustness properties of the ensuing controllers are illustrated by means of simulation. Extension of these results to more general tractor-n-trailers vehicles is discussed.
Binary tree based on-line video summarization

This paper describes our method for the TRECVID 2008 BBC rushes summarization task, a fully on-line video abstraction algorithm with customizable memory and computation requirements which enables the application of different abstraction criteria. The algorithm is based on the dynamic generation of binary trees which model the different choices for abstract output. In this work the generic abstraction algorithm as well as the specific abstraction criteria applied for the BBC rushes summarization task are presented together with an overview of the algorithm capabilities.
American Journal of Epidemiology Original Contribution Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight among Us Adults

The association of psychosocial stress with weight gain may have important implications for clinical practice and workplace and public health interventions. To determine whether multiple domains of psychosocial stress were associated with weight gain from 1995 to 2004, the authors analyzed a nationally representative longitudinal cohort of 1,355 men and women in the United States. Change in body mass index was assessed for multiple domains of psychosocial stress related to work, personal relationships, life constraints, and finances, controlling for other factors associated with weight gain. All analyses were stratified by sex and weighted to account for the complex survey design. Among men with high baseline body mass index, weight gain was associated with increasing levels of psychosocial stress related to job-related demands (P < 0.001 for interaction with baseline body mass index), lack of skill discretion (P ¼ 0.014), lack of decision authority (P ¼ 0.026), and difficulty paying bills (P ¼ 0.004). Among women with high baseline body mass index, weight gain was associated with job-related demands (P < 0.001 for interaction with baseline body mass index), perceived constraints in life (P < 0.001), strain in relations with family (P ¼ 0.016), and difficulty paying bills (P ¼ 0.010). Interventions to address psychosocial stress may limit weight gain among overweight and obese men and women. Psychosocial stress has been implicated as a risk factor for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and cancer (1–7). The association between stress and long-term weight gain is less clear. Stress may contribute to changes in dietary behaviors that lead to weight change, with various effects related to sex (8–10), baseline body mass index (11), or cortisol reactivity in response to stress (12, 13). These factors may cause some people to gain more weight under stressful circumstances, while others may gain less weight or even lose weight when stressed. Cross-sectional studies have reported only weak associations between psychosocial stress and body mass index (14). Three longitudinal cohort studies conducted in populations outside the United States have produced mixed results. Kivimaki et al. (11) used the Whitehall study, a prospective cohort of British civil servants, to analyze the prospective association between work stress and weight change over 5 years. They found that greater job strain and lesser job control at baseline were associated with weight gain among men who were overweight or obese at baseline, but a similar association was not observed among women. Brunner et …
Extensive Horizontal Gene Transfer during Staphylococcus aureus Co-colonization In Vivo

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal and major pathogen of humans and animals. Comparative genomics of S. aureus populations suggests that colonization of different host species is associated with carriage of mobile genetic elements (MGE), particularly bacteriophages and plasmids capable of encoding virulence, resistance, and immune evasion pathways. Antimicrobial-resistant S. aureus of livestock are a potential zoonotic threat to human health if they adapt to colonize humans efficiently. We utilized the technique of experimental evolution and co-colonized gnotobiotic piglets with both human- and pig-associated variants of the lineage clonal complex 398, and investigated growth and genetic changes over 16 days using whole genome sequencing. The human isolate survived co-colonization on piglets more efficiently than in vitro. During co-colonization, transfer of MGE from the pig to the human isolate was detected within 4 h. Extensive and repeated transfer of two bacteriophages and three plasmids resulted in colonization with isolates carrying a wide variety of mobilomes. Whole genome sequencing of progeny bacteria revealed no acquisition of core genome polymorphisms, highlighting the importance of MGE. Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage recombination and integration into novel sites was detected experimentally for the first time. During colonization, clones coexisted and diversified rather than a single variant dominating. Unexpectedly, each piglet carried unique populations of bacterial variants, suggesting limited transmission of bacteria between piglets once colonized. Our data show that horizontal gene transfer occurs at very high frequency in vivo and significantly higher than that detectable in vitro.
Combined local search strategy for learning in networks of binary synapses

Learning in networks of binary synapses is known to be an NP-complete problem. A combined stochastic local search strategy in the synaptic weight space is constructed to further improve the learning performance of a single random walker. We apply two correlated random walkers guided by their Hamming distance and associated energy costs (the number of unlearned patterns) to learn a same large set of patterns. Each walker first learns a small part of the whole pattern set (partially different for both walkers but with the same amount of patterns) and then both walkers explore their respective weight spaces cooperatively to find a solution to classify the whole pattern set correctly. The desired solutions locate at the common parts of weight spaces explored by these two walkers. The efficiency of this combined strategy is supported by our extensive numerical simulations and the typical Hamming distance as well as energy cost is estimated by an annealed computation.
A Rao–Blackwellized Particle Filter for Adaptive Beamforming With Strong Interference

A particle filter approach is proposed for adaptive narrowband beamforming in the presence of strong interference and uncertain steering vector of interest signal. From the viewpoint of subspace decomposition, we first describe the known subspace projection beamformer as an orthogonal component of the steering vector that is perpendicular to the interference space. Then a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter algorithm is designed to estimate the subspace projection beamforming weights. All steps including the important sampling, weight updating, resampling and analytical computation have been discussed in detail. Finally, the overall adaptive beamforming algorithm is summarized and the computational complexity analysis is presented. The main contribution of this paper is to apply and formulate Rao-Blackwellized particle filtering to estimate the distribution over the subspace projection beamforming weights. Different from other two particle-filter-based beamformers proposed by Li and Chandrasekar, it is a STI-based method with unknown source steering vector. The sampled state variables are the signal power, noise power and a model parameter for beamformer weights transition; the marginalized analytical state variables are the subspace projection beamforming weights; and the measurements are a series of constructed signal samples by using the estimated projection operator and random noise loading. Numerical simulations show that the proposed beamformer outperforms linearly constrained minimum variance, subspace projection, Bayesian and other two particle-filter-based beamformers. After convergence, it has similar performance to the optimal max-SINR beamformer which uses the true steering vector and ideal interference-plus-noise covariance matrix.
Frameless Stereotactic Aspiration for Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Subsequent Fibrinolysis Using Urokinase

Objectives The optimal management of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate technical results and clinical outcomes of frameless stereotactic aspiration and fibrinolysis using urokinase performed in a single center. Materials and Methods The subjects of this study were 62 consecutive patients with spontaneous ICH who were treated with frameless stereotactic aspiration and subsequent fibrinolysis using urokinase between February 2009 and June 2010 in our hospital. The surgical results, procedure-related complications, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Results A total of 62 patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 54 years (range, 32-86). The mean initial Glasgow coma scale score was 7.7 (range 5-11). The mean initial hemorrhage volume was 43 cm3 (range 30-70). Seven patients (11.2%) died of respiratory failure (four patients), postoperative edema (two patients), and heart disease (one patient). There were seven cases of procedure-related complications (11.2%), including malpositioning of catheters (two patients), pneumocephalus (one patient), and rebleeding (four patients, 6.4%). At the three-month follow-up, a good outcome (three-month Glasgow outcome scale > 3) was noted in 32 patients (51.6%). Conclusions Frameless stereotactic aspiration and subsequent fibrinolytic thearpy using urokinase for spontaneous ICH is a simple and safe procedure with low mortality and rebleeding rate.
A general method for partial point set matching

In applications such as stereo matching, content-baaed image retrieval, object recognition, and radiotherapy alignment, a major problem is finding a transformation which matches part of a point set A to some part of another point set El. For example, A could consist of points extracted from the left image, query image, object model, or patient body data at the planning stage, while the other point set B is formed by points from the right image, database image, range data, or patient body points at the radiation stage. In this short communication, we will present a method for finding transformations which map some subset of A within a specified Hausdorff distante of B, while deciding whether such transformations exists. This method is general in the sense that it works for points of arbitrary dimension, and various clawes of transformations, including scaling, general linear transformation, rotation, translation, scaling and translation, affine transformation, and rigid motion,
Bacterial Yield from Quantitative Cultures of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid in Patients with Pneumonia on Antimicrobial Therapy

Background/Aims Early diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial choice are crucial when managing pneumonia patients, and quantitative culture of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid is considered a useful method for identifying pneumonia pathogens. We evaluated the quantitative yield of BAL fluid bacterial cultures in patients being treated with antimicrobials and attempted to identify factors predictive of positive BAL cultures. Methods Patients over 18 years old and whose BAL fluid was subjected to quantitative culture to identify the organism causative of pneumonia between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2009, were included. We reviewed the results of BAL fluid bacterial cultures and the clinical records, laboratory tests, and radiographic findings of the patients. Results BAL was performed on 340 patients with pneumonia. A positive BAL culture, defined as isolation of more than 104 colony forming units/mL bacteria, was documented in 18 (5.29%) patients. Of these, 9 bacteria isolated from 10 patients were classified as probable pathogens. The most frequently isolated bacteria were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. No independent predictive factor for positive BAL cultures was identified. Conclusions The yield of quantitative BAL fluid bacterial culture in patients already on antimicrobials was low. Clinicians should be cautious when performing a BAL culture in patients with pneumonia who are already on antimicrobials.
Objective Formalization, Perceived Formalization and Perceived Red Tape

Abstract This research uses survey data and count data of formal rules in a Dutch organization to investigate the relationships between an objective measure of formalization and subjective measures of formalization and red tape. We find that red tape perceptions are related to perceptions of formalization. Second, we find that perceived formalization is weakly, significantly related to objective measures of formalization but that objective formalization measures do not correspond to higher levels of red tape perceptions. We conclude that red tape and formalization are distinct concepts, but question the claim that formalization is a necessary condition for red tape.