Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
All-Optical Switch with Switch-Off Time Unrestricted by Carrier Lifetime

We propose a symmetric Mach-Zehnder-type all-optical switch which is based on the nonlinear refractive index change induced in semiconductors. Unlike most all-optical switches, the switch-off time, as well as the switch-on time, of this novel device is not limited by the usually slow carrier lifetime, allowing a very fast switching speed. Its switching characteristics are theoretically examined under various conditions. It is shown that the device offers a nearly square modulation characteristic that is suitable for most switching applications.
Scientific Evidence from Space - A Review of Spaceborne Remote Sensing Applications at the Science-Policy Interface

On a daily basis, political decisions are made, often with their full extent of impact being unclear. Not seldom, the decisions and policy measures implemented result in direct or indirect unintended negative impacts, such as on the natural environment, which can vary in time, space, nature, and severity. To achieve a more sustainable world with equitable societies requires fundamental rethinking of our policymaking. It calls for informed decision making and a monitoring of political impact for which evidence-based knowledge is necessary. The most powerful tool to derive objective and systematic spatial information and, thus, add to transparent decisions is remote sensing (RS). This review analyses how spaceborne RS is used by the scientific community to provide evidence for the policymaking process. We reviewed 194 scientific publications from 2015 to 2020 and analysed them based on general insights (e.g., study area) and RS application-related information (e.g., RS data and products). Further, we classified the studies according to their degree of science–policy integration by determining their engagement with the political field and their potential contribution towards four stages of the policy cycle: problem identification/knowledge building, policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy monitoring and evaluation. Except for four studies, we found that studies had not directly involved or informed the policy field or policymaking process. Most studies contributed to the stage problem identification/knowledge building, followed by ex post policy impact assessment. To strengthen the use of RS for policy-relevant studies, the concept of the policy cycle is used to showcase opportunities of RS application for the policymaking process. Topics gaining importance and future requirements of RS at the science–policy interface are identified. If tackled, RS can be a powerful complement to provide policy-relevant evidence to shed light on the impact of political decisions and thus help promote sustainable development from the core.
The radio galaxy Centaurus B

Centaurus B (PKS B1343−601) is one of the brightest and closest radio galaxies, with flux density ∼250 Jy at 408 MHz and redshift 0.01215, but it has not been studied much because of its position (i) close to the Galactic plane (it is also known as G309.6+1.7 and Kes 19) and (ii) in the southern sky. It has recently been suggested as the centre of a highly obscured cluster behind the Galactic plane. We present radio observations made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope to study the jets and lobes. The total intensity and polarization radio images of the FR I jets are used to determine the jet brightness and width variations, magnetic field structure and fractional polarization. The equipartition pressure calculated along the jets declines rapidly over the first 1 arcmin from the galaxy reaching a constant pressure of 10−13 h−4/7 Pa in the lobes blown in the intracluster medium.
Computation of free-surface flows using the finite-volume method and moving grids

Abstract This article outlines the development and application of an interface-tracking algorithm for computation of free-surface flows using the finite-volume method and moving grids. The kinematic boundary condition and the space conservation law are used to determine the position and shape of the free-surface interface. Several test cases are selected to demonstrate the method's accuracy and applicability for calculation of two- and three-dimensional free-surface flows. The approach can easily be implemented in any existing finite-volume method using either structured or unstructured grids.
Multiple-scattering resonances and structural effects in the x-ray-absorption near-edge spectra of Fe II and Fe III hexacyanide complexes

The x-ray-absorption near-edge structure (XANES) at the Fe$K$ edge of ${\mathrm{K}}_{3}$Fe${(\mathrm{CN})}_{6}$ and ${\mathrm{K}}_{4}$Fe${(\mathrm{CN})}_{6}$ has been measured and interpreted by means of multiple-scattering calculations. The theory is able to account for the XANES over a 40-eV energy range. We demonstrate that the quasidiatomic "shape resonances" arising from multiple scattering within the CN groups play an important role in the XANES and suggest that this may be a common feature of XANES of metal atoms bound to molecular groups (e.g., CO, CN,.) containing multiple bonds. The effects on the XANES of bond-length changes and distortions of the coordination geometry of the Fe${(\mathrm{CN})}_{6}$ cluster have been estimated. The different XANES spectra of ${[\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e}{(\mathrm{CN})}_{6}]}^{2+}$ and of ${[\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e}{(\mathrm{CN})}_{6}]}^{3+}$ have been interpreted in terms of charge-induced structural modifications. Comparison of XANES with extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) and diffraction data shows that XANES can be used as a quantitative probe of local structure distortions which are not detected by EXAFS.
MLRS-RL: An Energy-Efficient Multilevel Routing Strategy Based on Reinforcement Learning in Multimodal UWSNs

In recent years, multimodal underwater wireless sensor networks (M-UWSNs) have attracted widespread concern in academia. Due to the complex underwater communication environment and the increasing marine applications, it is a crucial issue for M-UWSNs to design an energy-efficient routing strategy that can satisfy multiple transmission latency requirements of different marine applications. Reinforcement learning (RL) approaches with distributed dynamic optimization ability provide a prospective way to solve the aforementioned problem. Therefore, we propose an improved RL framework and then design an energy-efficient multilevel routing strategy (MLRS-RL) based on this framework for multiple transmission latency requirements. In MLRS-RL, a method of model knowledge collection based on the time backoff principle is proposed to preliminarily learn the network environment information before network operates. The convergence speed of the RL framework can be accelerated by utilizing the model knowledge. Then, underwater nodes use the improved RL model to calculate the transmission rewards that data packets with different transmission latency requirements are sent to different candidate relay nodes. Finally, a cooperative transmission strategy using multiple relay nodes is designed to further improve the reliability of data transmission. We verify the effectiveness of the MLRS-RL strategy in terms of packet delivery ratio, transmission latency, energy efficiency, network lifetime, and delivery quantity.
CEREBRAL AMYLOID ANGIOPATHY-RELATED INFLAMMATION PRESENTING WITH A STROKE-LIKE EPISODE

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is characterised by β-amyloid deposition in the walls of small to medium sized arteries of the cerebral cortex and the leptomeninges. In a significant proportion of patients, CAA is the probable cause of non-traumatic primary cerebral haemorrhage, particularly in those who are over 55 years of age and have controlled blood pressure. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation (CAA-ri) is an uncommon and aggressive subtype of CAA, which is thought to be caused by an immune reaction to the deposits of β-amyloid. It has a variety of presentations that can mimic other focal and diffuse neurological disorders. Radiographically, its classic presentation is asymmetric cortical or subcortical white matter hyperintense foci due to multiple microhaemorrhages on T2-weighted or fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images. Although definite diagnosis requires brain and leptomeningeal biopsy, diagnostic criteria for probable CAA-ri based on a combination of clinical and radiological features were validated in 2015. We describe a patient with probable CAA-ri mimicking stroke and review the clinical and radiological features important for a proper differential diagnosis between ischaemic stroke (IS) and CAA-ri, and its subsequent appropriate treatment. LEARNING POINTS MRI is a crucial tool for the diagnostic evaluation of cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation (CAA-ri). A high index of suspicion and awareness of CAA-ri is necessary for correct diagnosis in stroke-like presentations of the condition. The treatment of choice for CAA-ri is empirical corticosteroid therapy, which is associated with clinical and radiological improvement.
High-resolution neural temperature sensor using fiber Bragg gratings

We demonstrate a novel high-resolution neural temperature sensor using two fiber Bragg gratings (FBG's) and a modular artificial neural network which is used to learn the mapping relation among frequency, temperature, and the normalized transmission power spectrum. Because of the fast computational ability of the modular artificial neural network and the sensitivity of FBG's, the sensor can make high-resolution temperature and frequency measurements in real time. The experimental results show that the temperature resolution of this sensor can reach 0.005/spl deg/C.
Design and Experimental Investigation of a Vibro-Impact Capsule Robot for Colonoscopy

Uptake of capsule endoscopy in the large intestine has been very limited due to both the risk of missed lesions and the often prolonged transit time, making it an unviable alternative to standard colonoscopy. In this letter, we presented a controllable and easy-to-use diagnostic tool, equipping a novel vibration module inside a capsule robot for colonoscopy. The capsule's motion was controlled by applying an external alternating electromagnetic field to the capsule's inner magnet to generate vibrations and impacts on the main body of the capsule. To optimise its motion, we provided a numerical solution for calculating its electromagnetic force and used it to guide a hand-held control panel for navigating the robot. The robot was firstly examined in a large intestine simulator modelled based on the colon-rectal morphometrics, and then tested in an ex vivo environment using porcine intestines. We verified the performance of the robot travelling through the entire intestine with the maximum speeds of 54 mm/s and 40 mm/s in the simulator and the ex vivo environment, respectively. It was found that altering the control frequency of the panel can help the robot to pass through various morphometrics, in particular the sharp turnings at the segment junctions.
An Empirical Assessment of the Contribution of 5G in Vertical Industries: A Case for the Transportation Sector

5G has been heralded as a critical, decisive technology for verticals’ digital transformation. It targets innovative technical capabilities, allowing dedicated and improved communication mechanisms, going beyond the mere performance increase experienced by past generations’ evolution. Despite the literature already envisaging the application of 5G-enabled solutions in vertical-based deployments, there is still a lack of experimental insights shedding light on the actual feasibility of 5G capabilities in specific vertical deployments. This gap is particularly evident in verticals that did not traditionally rely on mobile network solutions for their communication needs, such as safety-related control signals in railway operations. This paper aims to fill this gap by delivering an extensive empirical analysis performed through a 5G-enabled railway deployment. We designed and implemented a joint testbed, which allows us to faithfully reproduce two important transportation railway use cases that leverage 5G communications involving the vertical, communication service solutions operator, and integration actors. There, we expose the necessary integration engineering behind the enablement of 5G capabilities in such scenarios, considering the highly safety-certified and standardized environment of railway vertical sector regulations (which never considered the utilization of mobile networks in their development). We empirically demonstrate the performance capability achieved by the 5G-enabled network using two different systems, a carrier-grade one and an open-development one, in light of the required key performance indicators. To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first field trial and empirical evaluation of the suitability of 5G with the implementation of a 5G-enabled railway cross-level scenario within the transportation context.
The ChatGPT Effect on AI-Themed Cryptocurrencies

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that provides users with detailed responses and accurate answers to any questions. It has garnered significant attention after its launch in November 2022. We analyze the returns of AI-themed crypto assets around the launch and widespread attention towards ChatGPT. We reveal significant abnormal returns for AI tokens after the launch of ChatGPT, up to 41% over the course of two weeks. Moreover, 90% of tokens exhibit positive abnormal returns. This suggests that the attention towards ChatGPT and AI in general has transitioned to cryptocurrency markets, resulting in positive price effects for AI-related cryptocurrencies.
Growth Regulation in the Larvae of the Lepidopteran Pieris brassicae: A Field Study

Simple Summary Size and shape are important features of most living beings, and the capacity of the organism to regulate size and shape during growth, containing the effects of developmental disturbances of different origins, is considered a key adaptation. Through a morphological study on the larvae of the cabbage butterfly Pieris brassicae, reared in conditions close to the natural environment, we found that the regulatory mechanisms for limiting the effects of developmental disturbances, known to be effective under strictly controlled, very stable laboratory conditions, are also effective during growth under more natural environmental conditions. This study may contribute to better characterization of these regulatory mechanisms and their combined effects in the developmental interactions between the organism and its environment. Abstract Size and shape are important determinants of fitness in most living beings. Accordingly, the capacity of the organism to regulate size and shape during growth, containing the effects of developmental disturbances of different origin, is considered a key feature of the developmental system. In a recent study, through a geometric morphometric analysis on a laboratory-reared sample of the lepidopteran Pieris brassicae, we found evidence of regulatory mechanisms able to restrain size and shape variation, including bilateral fluctuating asymmetry, during larval development. However, the efficacy of the regulatory mechanism under greater environmental variation remains to be explored. Here, based on a field-reared sample of the same species, by adopting identical measurements of size and shape variation, we found that the regulatory mechanisms for containing the effects of developmental disturbances during larval growth in P. brassicae are also effective under more natural environmental conditions. This study may contribute to better characterization of the mechanisms of developmental stability and canalization and their combined effects in the developmental interactions between the organism and its environment.
Simultaneous Estimation of Submerged Floating Tunnel Displacement and Mooring Cable Tension through FIR Filter-Based Strain and Acceleration Fusion

A submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is a tunnel structure that floats approximately 50 m below the water surface and is anchored to the seabed by mooring cables. It is a new alternative to conventional bridges and immersed tunnels. There have been ongoing efforts to construct SFTs worldwide, and the integrity of these SFTs needs to be monitored throughout their lifespan. This study simultaneously estimated the tunnel displacement and mooring cable tension force using acceleration and strain measurements to assess the integrity of an SFT. First, strain measurements were transformed to displacement using simplified mode shapes and mode-scaling factors, which did not require the true mode shapes of the SFT. The mode-scaling factors were automatically estimated using initial strain and acceleration measurements. Then, the strain-based displacement was combined with the acceleration measurement using a finite impulse response filter to improve the displacement estimation accuracy. In addition, the tension force of a mooring cable was estimated from the displacement at the connection between the tunnel and mooring cable. The feasibility of the proposed technique was examined through a series of numerical simulations and laboratory tests on an 8 m-long aluminum SFT mock-up structure.
Adaptive Control for Modified Projective Synchronization-Based Approach for Estimating All Parameters of a Class of Uncertain Systems: Case of Modified Colpitts Oscillators

A method of estimation of all parameters of a class of nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems is considered, based on the modified projective synchronization (MPS). The case of modified Colpitts oscillators is investigated. Through a suitable transformation of the dynamical system, sufficient conditions for achieving synchronization are derived based on Lyapunov stability theory. Global stability and asymptotic robust synchronization of the considered system are investigated. The proposed approach offers a systematic design procedure for robust adaptive synchronization of a large class of chaotic systems. The combined effect of both an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and an artificial perturbation is numerically investigated. Results of numerical simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
A Comparison of the Immunometabolic Effect of Antibiotics and Plant Extracts in a Chicken Macrophage-like Cell Line during a Salmonella Enteritidis Challenge

Immunometabolic modulation of macrophages can play an important role in the innate immune response of chickens triggered with a multiplicity of insults. In this study, the immunometabolic role of two antibiotics (oxytetracycline and gentamicin) and four plant extracts (thyme essential oil, grape seed extract, garlic oil, and capsicum oleoresin) were investigated on a chicken macrophage-like cell line (HD11) during a Salmonella Enteritidis infection. To study the effect of these substances, kinome peptide array analysis, Seahorse metabolic assay, and gene expression techniques were employed. Oxytetracycline, to which the bacterial strain was resistant, thyme essential oil, and capsicum oleoresin did not show any noteworthy immunometabolic effect. Garlic oil affected glycolysis, but this change was not detected by the kinome analysis. Gentamicin and grape seed extract showed the best immunometabolic profile among treatments, being able to both help the host with the activation of immune response pathways and with maintaining a less inflammatory status from a metabolic point of view.
Likelihood ratio test for one-sided hypothesis of covariance matrices of two normal populations

The likelihood ratio test is derived for a one-sided hypothesis about the covariance matrices from two multivariate normal populations. In the case of equal sample sizes, the limiting distribution of -21og ⋀n is given, where ⋀n denotes the likelihood ratio criterion. When dimension p=2, for some alternatives, the power of -21og ⋀n of size 0.05 is compared with those of several well-known test statistics using Monte Carlo Methods.
Interferometric seismoelectric Green's function representations

SUMMARY Interferometric Green's function representations can be used to retrieve a Green's function between two receiver stations, effectively turning one receiver into a source. Through reciprocity theorems of the convolution and correlation types, we derive interferometric Green's function representations for coupled electromagnetic and seismic wave propagation in 1-D. These representations express a symmetrized Green's function in terms of correlations of sources distributed throughout the domain of reciprocity and on its boundary. The main challenge for practical implementation is the necessity of sources throughout a domain. Numerical examples show how this constraint can be relaxed for different configurations. In a configuration of two layers bounded by a vacuum, seismic noise sources behind the interface can be used to recover seismoelectric reflection responses that suffer from small amplitude losses, but are not corrupted by spurious events.
Why does metabolism scale with temperature

At a fundamental level, all of ecology is underpinned by the laws of thermodynamics, the conservation of matter and the general physical principles that dictate how gases and liquids move. Taken altogether, this indicates that there is nothing special about the way organisms function; physiology and ecology are simply physics and chemistry writ complex. In a stimulating review, Lawton (1999) argued that ecology has no laws comparable to physics, but does have what he called widely observable tendencies. These provide a structure for ecology, but they cannot be deduced from first principles. The complication here is scale. At small scales organisms do things that can be analysed, understood and relatively easily predicted. At very large scales (typically continental or global) patterns emerge that can be described statistically; explanations for these global patterns are proving more elusive and this is the challenge of the rapidly developing field of macroecology (Brown 1995). At intermediate scales we are faced with a mixture of contingent case studies and weak generalizations (Lawton 1999). The emerging field of complexity has much to offer here (Maurer 1999), but as yet its impact on mainstream ecology has been small. Organism size has long been recognized as a major factor in ecology and in the 1980s a number of attempts were made to use allometric or scaling techniques to provide a theoretical framework for understanding ecology (Peters 1983; Calder 1984; Schmidt-Nielsen 1984). Despite the stronger claims that allometry provided a theory of size (Peters 1983), the field of scaling has not provided the conceptual framework that is needed, although it has supplied useful analytical tools for studies of energy flow through aquatic food webs (Kerr & Dickie 2001). The problem we face is that a statistical description of phenomena is of limited use if we do not also have a sound understanding of the underlying processes that produce the patterns we observe and describe.
A wavelet-based quadtree driven stereo image coding

In this work, a new stereo image coding technique is proposed. The new approach integrates the coding of the residual image with the disparity map. The latter computed in the wavelet transform domain. The motivation behind using this transform is that it imitates some properties of the human visual system (HVS), particularly, the decomposition in the perspective canals. Therefore, using the wavelet transform allows for better perceptual image quality preservation. In order to estimate the disparity map, we used a quadtree segmentation in each wavelet frequency band. This segmentation has the advantage of minimizing the entropy. Dyadic squares in the subbands of target image that they are not matched with other in the reference image constitutes the residuals are coded by using an arithmetic codec. The obtained results are evaluated by using the SSIM and PSNR criteria.