Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A canonical approach to the quantization of the damped harmonic oscillator

We provide a new canonical approach for studying the quantum mechanical damped harmonic oscillator based on the doubling of degrees of freedom approach. Explicit expressions for Lagrangians of the elementary modes of the problem, characterizing both forward and backward time propagation, are given. A Hamiltonian analysis, showing the equivalence with the Lagrangian approach, is also done. Based on this Hamiltonian analysis, the quantization of the model is discussed.
A broadband spectral analysis of 4U 1702-429 using XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX data

Context. Most of the X-ray binary systems containing neutron stars classified as Atoll sources show two different spectral states, referred to as soft and hard. Moreover, a large number of these systems show a reflection component relativistically smeared in their spectra, which provides information on the innermost region of the system. Aims. Our aim is to investigate the poorly studied broadband spectrum of the low-mass X-ray binary system 4U 1702-429, which was recently analysed combining XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL data. The peculiar value of the reflection fraction brought us to analyse further broadband spectra of 4U 1702-429. Methods. We re-analysed the spectrum of the XMM-Newton/INTEGRAL observation of 4U 1702-429 in the 0.3–60 keV energy range and we extracted three 0.1–100 keV spectra of the source analysing three observations collected with the BeppoSAX satellite. Results. We find that the XMM-Newton/INTEGRAL spectrum is well fitted using a model composed of a disc blackbody plus a Comptonised component and a smeared reflection component. We used the same spectral model for the BeppoSAX spectra, finding that the addition of a smeared reflection component is statistically significant. The best-fit values of the parameters are compatible to each other for the BeppoSAX spectra. We find that the reflection fraction is 0.05−0.01+0.3 for the XMM-Newton/INTEGRAL spectrum and between 0.15 and 0.4 for the BeppoSAX ones. Conclusions. The relative reflection fraction and the ionisation parameter are incompatible between the XMM-Newton/INTEGRAL and the BeppoSAX observations and the characteristics of the Comptonising corona suggest that the source was in a soft state in the former observation and in a hard state in the latter.
Optimized effective potential made simple: Orbital functionals, orbital shifts, and the exact Kohn-Sham exchange potential

The optimized effective potential (OEP) is the exact Kohn-Sham potential for explicitly orbital-dependent energy functionals, e.g., the exact exchange energy. We give a proof for the OEP equation which does not depend on the chain rule for functional derivatives and directly yields the equation in its simplest form: a certain first-order density shift must vanish. This condition explains why the highest-occupied orbital energies of Hartree-Fock and exact exchange OEP are so close. More importantly, we show that the exact OEP can be constructed iteratively from the first-order shifts of the Kohn-Sham orbitals and that these can be calculated easily. The exact exchange potential v x (r) for spherical atoms and three-dimensional sodium clusters is calculated. Its long-range asymptotic behavior is investigated, including the approach of c x (r) to a nonvanishing constant in particular spatial directions. We calculate total and orbital energies and static electric dipole polarizabilities for the sodium clusters employing the exact exchange functional. Exact OEP results are compared to the Krieger-Li-Iafrate and local density approximations.
The Effect of Deposition Potential on the Electrodeposition of Platinum Nanoparticles for Ethanol Electrooxidation

Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were successfully prepared using square wave pulse deposition technique by varying the upper potential. The X-ray energy dispersive spectrum pattern confirmed the formation of Pt nanoparticles on the fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass substrate. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that the potential of 0.60 V was able to produced a large number of Pt particles with a unique morphology. The ethanol electrooxidation test conducted using cyclic voltammetry showed that Pt0.60v has the lowest charge transfer resistance value showing high catalytic activity which could be associated to the increase of particle number and its active sites that activated the redox reactions in the system.
New radiocarbon dates for ornamented Mesolithic objects from north-west Poland: chronology and regional connections in the western Baltic region

Abstract During the northern European Mesolithic, new types of objects were ornamented with different geometric motifs. Many examples, however, are stray finds and their dating is poorly understood. The authors present new AMS radiocarbon dates for ornamented artefacts from Pomerania that contribute to an absolute chronology of Mesolithic art and allow for new consideration of connections between cultural groups in the western Baltic region. A baton, featuring an anthropomorphic figure, dates to the end of the Boreal period; three other objects date to the early Atlantic period, revealing a combination of regional and local innovations. The results demonstrate the value of absolute dating of stray finds for refining knowledge of wider cultural trends.
Sampled-Data Stabilization for Stochastic Systems Subject to Input Saturation and Its Application to Synchronization of Two Chua’s Circuits

In this brief, we focus on the stabilization problem of a class of stochastic nonlinear systems under periodic sampled-data state feedback subject to input saturation. An auxiliary variable is introduced to handle the saturation nonlinearity as well as to characterize the estimate of the region of attraction of the origin (RAO). After discretizing the continuous-time systems and obtaining the iterative relations of sampling instants, sufficient stabilization criteria are established in the form of parametric conditions. Both mean square exponential stability and almost sure stability are considered. Based on our results, the relations among the estimate of RAO and controller gain, sampling period can be analysed clearly, which is demonstrated in the example. An application for synchronization of two Chua’s Circuits is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.
Metrics of Mobility: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Travel Behavior

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted typical travel behavior worldwide. In the United States (U.S.), government entities took action to limit its spread through public health messaging to encourage reduced mobility and thus reduce the spread of the virus. Within statewide responses to COVID-19, however, there were different responses locally. Likely some of these variations were a result of individual attitudes toward the government and health messaging, but there is also likely a portion of the effects that were because of the character of the communities. In this research, we summarize county-level characteristics that are known to affect travel behavior for 404 counties in the U.S., and we investigate correlates of mobility between April and September (2020). We do this through application of three metrics that are derived via changepoint analysis—initial post-disruption mobility index, changepoint on restoration of a “new normal,” and recovered mobility index. We find that variables for employment sectors are significantly correlated and had large effects on mobility during the pandemic. The state dummy variables are significant, suggesting that counties within the same state behaved more similarly to one another than to counties in different states. Our findings indicate that few travel characteristics that typically correlate with travel behavior are related to pandemic mobility, and that the number of COVID-19 cases may not be correlated with mobility outcomes.
A hybrid convolutional neural network‐support vector machine architecture for classification of super‐resolution enhanced chromosome images

This article offers a framework of a hybrid convolution neural network (CNN) – support vector machine (SVM) model for the classification of human metaphase chromosome images. In this model, the features extracted by CNN were fed to the SVM classifier to label the chromosomes into 24 classes. Classification accuracy is generally affected by low‐resolution chromosome images. Hence, in the proposed work, a Laplacian pyramidal super‐resolution network (LaPSRN) was deployed to improve input chromosome images resolution before feeding them to the classifier network. The experimentation showed that due to LaPSRN, resolution‐enhanced images are obtained, which has improved the classification accuracy by 3% compared to the architecture without a super‐resolution block. In addition, instead of using the usual ReLU function in CNN architecture, a Swish activation function was utilized, which enhanced the validation accuracy by 0.8%. After experimenting with various hyper‐parameters for the CNN SVM architecture, the ADAM optimizer with step decay outperformed the other standard optimizers. The novel part of this work is the combination of Laplacian pyramidal super‐resolution with the hybrid CNN‐SVM model, which has not been employed yet for chromosome classification tasks as per our knowledge. The proposed hybrid CNN SVM architecture with the Swish activation function and super‐resolution techniques was tested on the metaphase chromosome images from the BioImLab dataset, and an improved classification accuracy of 94.6% was obtained. Moreover, the standard metrics for classification like F1 score, precision, support, and the confusion matrix values of the proposed CNN model with SVM classifier are superior to the prevailing CNN architectures for chromosome images.
Black Hole Entropy in General Relativity

The Bekenstein-Hawking formula relates the black hole entropy and horizon area. Semiclassical entropy computations have relied on an action principle that fixes a gauge dependent and classically unobservable boundary three-geometry and renders elusive a precise physical notion of both energy and entropy in de Sitter backgrounds. Instead, we impose gauge invariant boundary conditions and report the background independent action for black hole formation. Assuming standard arguments for the relation between the action and entropy, we reproduce the Bekenstein-Hawking formula and motivate a quantization of the phase-space volume. This background independent approach applies to spacetimes of arbitrary energy density and enables a radically conservative framework for semiclassical gravity.
Assessing individual differences in attitudes towards touch in treatment settings: Introducing the touch & health scale

Individuals commonly receive touch in treatment settings, but there is limited research on how they perceive it. The current project sought to address this gap by: 1) developing the Touch & Health Scale (THS) - a novel instrument to measure attitudes to touch in treatment settings 2) assessing inter-individual differences in THS scores, and 3) examining the association between individuals’ THS scores and wellbeing. Data of a large U.K. adults sample (N > 12,000) were used. THS showed Cronbach’s α between 0.636 and 0.816 and significant correlations (p < 0.001) with day-to-day attitudes to touch. THS scores differed as a function of extraversion and avoidant attachment style. Participants with more positive attitudes to touch in treatment settings showed greater wellbeing. Overall, the study highlights the importance of a personalised approach to touch in treatment settings and provides a new scale that may act as a screening tool for this purpose.
Robustness study of gray distribution characteristics in true and false target recognition

Setting false targets is one of the important means of battlefield camouflage. The survivability of protected targets largely depends on the effect of photoelectric deception and jamming of false targets. The comprehensive use of robust image features plays a key role in correctly evaluating the photoelectric deception jamming efficiency of false targets and quickly identifying true and false targets. The existing efficiency evaluation models lack systematic research on the robustness of various image features in different environments. There are common problems of single target background and incomplete consideration of environmental factors, which lead to the instability of the extracted target image features, and then affect the evaluation results. Given the above problems, two kinds of environmental conditions are set: the change of observation distance and the change of atmospheric attenuation intensity. The experimental environment is simulated by an equivalent simulation method. After filtering the target background interference and extracting the target subject image and features, the similarity measurement method is used to calculate the similarity between true and false target subject images. By comparing the changes of gray distribution, contour, and texture feature similarity value, the robustness ranking and change reasons of features under different environmental conditions are summarized. At the same time, experiments are designed to verify the robustness of gray distribution features. The results show that the gray distribution feature has strong robustness, and the combination of gray distribution feature on the battlefield can effectively help officers and soldiers identify true and false targets in a complex environment.
Mechanism of contact between a droplet and an atomically-smooth substrate

When a droplet gently lands on an atomically-smooth substrate, it will most likely contact the underlying surface in about 0.1 second. However, theoretical estimation from fluid mechanics predicts a contact time of 10 to 100 seconds. What causes this large discrepancy and how does nature speed up contact by two orders of magnitude? To probe this fundamental question, we prepare atomically-smooth substrates by either coating a liquid film on glass or using a freshly-cleaved mica surface, and visualize the droplet contact dynamics with 30nm resolution. Interestingly, we discover two distinct speed-up approaches: (1) droplet skidding due to even minute perturbations breaks rotational symmetry and produces early contact at the thinnest gap location, and (2) for the unperturbed situation with rotational symmetry, a previously-unnoticed boundary flow around only 0.1mm/s expedites air drainage by over one order of magnitude. Together these two mechanisms universally explain general contact phenomena on smooth substrates. The fundamental discoveries shed new light on the contact and drainage research.
ATG9A and ATG13 Cooperate to Drive Basal Autophagy

ATG9A and ATG13 Cooperate to Drive Basal Autophagy Daniel Morgan Poole Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry BYU Doctor of Philosophy Autophagy, as the name suggests, is a cellular process of self-eating in which cytoplasmic debris is engulfed by a double membrane vesicle dubbed the autophagosome and is ultimately degraded and recycled by proteases in the lysosome. The process is initiated by a group of core ATG proteins, including a multi-pass transmembrane protein called ATG9A. Although ATG9A has been shown to be essential for both stress induced and basal autophagy, its mechanism and interaction network remain largely illusive. Our current study employs BioID proteomics to identify a network of interactors, including regulators of membrane fusion and vesicle trafficking, such as TRAPP, EARP, GARP, exocyst, AP-1 and AP-4 complexes, as well as members of the ULK1 autophagy kinase complex. Further investigations confirm that two components of the ULK1 complex, ATG13 and ATG101, directly interact with ATG9A. Using CRISPR, we show that deletion of ATG13 or ATG101 disrupts ATG9A trafficking and causes an accumulation of ATG9A at p62/SQSTM1-positive ubiquitin clusters. Lentivirus reconstitution and split-mVenus approaches using an ULK1 binding deficient mutant of ATG13 reveal that ATG9A interacts with ATG13 and ATG101 in an ULK1-independent manner. Together, these data reveal ATG9A interactions in vesicle trafficking and autophagy pathways, including a role for an ULK1independent ATG13 complex in regulating ATG9A.
Prediction approach of compression loss in bent-axis piston pump with cavitation

Compression loss is one of the volumetric losses of bent-axis piston pumps, and its accurate evaluation is the basis for predicting the effective flow rate and volumetric efficiency of bent-axis piston pumps. The effect of changes in gas content on the effective bulk modulus rarely is considered in the existing compression loss models, which does not apply to the compression loss of bent-axis piston pumps under cavitation. However, cavitation exists in the actual work, especially in increasing the speed of the bent-axis piston pump. To solve this problem, a compression loss model is proposed. Firstly, the modified Henry’s law and the simplified transport equations of gas are used to describe the oil gas content under cavitation, and the effective bulk modulus equation is established. Then, combined with the definition of compressibility, the compression loss model of the bent-axis piston pump is proposed. Finally, the compression loss of the bent-axis piston pump under different operating conditions is analyzed through simulation, and the results are verified by experiment. The results show that the model prediction results are a good agreement with the experimental results under different operating conditions. The conclusions provide a new method for evaluating the effective flow rate and volumetric efficiency in the bent-axis piston pump.
Records and information management in evidence-based decision-making public schools in South Africa

Records are important assets in the decision-making process and promote transparency and accountability. The successful provision of educational and training services in public schools relies on reliable and authentic records. Thus, evidence-based decision-making can help address the challenges in the basic education sector in public schools. The challenges manifest as weaknesses between the different sectors and departments responsible for early childhood development services and poor quality of school education outcomes in public schools. The said challenges were identified in the National Development Plan 2030 and their resolution can contribute to the achievement of education and training goals. The main purpose of this study was to outline the role played by records and information management in supporting evidence-based decision-making in public schools in South Africa. This study adopted the qualitative research approach and used content analysis to identify challenges hindering national development plan goal achievement in the basic education sector. A content analysis of available literature consisting of policy documents, internet sources, books and journal papers was used to identify and describe the challenges and propose solutions. It is guided by the Association of Records Managers and Administrators’ Generally Accepted Record Keeping Principles as a framework. The study found that poor educational outcomes could be improved through proper records management practices enabling evidence-based decision-making to thrive. The study recommends that governmental bodies in South Africa utilise the power of records and information management to enable goal achievement, with the professional assistance rendered by the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA) and provincial archives.
Teachers College and the Rise of Public Education in Latin America

This special issue is the beginning of a much larger research project to document the impact of Teachers College (TC), Columbia University, on the development of public systems of education in Latin America and around the world. The articles presented in this issue are the work of scholars focusing on the educational careers of TC graduates who returned to Latin America, analyzing how these graduates’ experiences as students in New York shaped their trajectories as educational leaders. It focuses on a highly influential initiative in TC's history, namely, the International Institute (1923– 1938), and its effects on Latin American education. In the fall of 2010, I was invited by Professor George Bond to make a presentation at the Lawrence A. Cremin Seminar and Lecture Series at Teachers College. I named my presentation “Teachers College and the Rise of Mexican Public Education. ” As I prepared it, my interest in learning more about the influence of TC abroad was awakened. For that lecture, I focused only on Mexico, but I started collecting research materials and learning more about the connections between TC and Latin America. In the articles that follow, you will be able to learn in depth about Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. The research process needed to create this deepening of perspective on the history of TC and on the development of public education in Latin America is complex, given that it is difficult to conduct research on the history of TC through its own institutional archives. The TC Archive was officially closed in the 1990s, and its staff members were dispersed or terminated. Besides materials still available at TC, the research supporting these articles is based on archives in the United States, as well as foundations, education institutions, TC alumni, and distinguished educational leaders’ archives in their countries. The topics discussed in each article highlight the influence of TC on different schooling systems. Each of the articles focuses on alumni whose legacies are still pervasive in the schooling systems in their countries. Their conceptions about education
Hybrid graphene/silicon Schottky photodiode with intrinsic gating effect

We propose a hybrid device consisting of a graphene/silicon (Gr/Si) Schottky diode in parallel with a Gr/SiO2/Si capacitor for high-performance photodetection. The device, fabricated by transfer of commercial graphene on low-doped n-type Si substrate, achieves a photoresponse as high as 3 A W−1 and a normalized detectivity higher than 3.5×1012 cm Hz1/2 W−1 in the visible range. It exhibits a photocurrent exceeding the forward current because photo-generated minority carriers, accumulated at Si/SiO2 interface of the Gr/SiO2/Si capacitor, diffuse to the Gr/Si junction. We show that the same mechanism, when due to thermally generated carriers, although usually neglected or disregarded, causes the increased leakage often measured in Gr/Si heterojunctions. We perform extensive I–V and C-V characterization at different temperatures and we measure a zero-bias Schottky barrier height of 0.52 eV at room temperature, as well as an effective Richardson constant A** = 4×10−5 A cm−2 K−2 and an ideality factor n≈3.6, explained by a thin (<1 nm) oxide layer at the Gr/Si interface.