Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of guided-wave plasmon polariton modes in a high-index dielectric MIM structure

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface charge density oscillations localized to a metal-dielectric interface. In addition to being considered as promising candidates for a variety of applications, structures that support SPPs, including metal-insulator-metal (MIM) multilayers, are of fundamental interest because of the variety of collective plasmonic modes they support. Previously, a particular class of “forbidden” plasmon polariton modes (PPMs) was proposed that includes plasmon polariton modes confined to a region of dispersion space not typically accessible to surface-constructed collective excitations. Specifically, for these modes, known as Guided Wave PPMs (GW-PPMs), due to the dielectric asymmetry of the central layer, the solution to the wave equation in the center insulator layer is oscillatory while remaining surface bound both to the supporting substrate and the exposed surface. These modes are supported by a simple physical structure that results from a minor symmetry modification of the traditional MIM structure, specifically the use of a central insulator layer with a higher refractive index than the supporting substrate. However, they display fundamental properties that are distinctly different from those of standard SPPs and from recently reported hybrid plasmonic modes. While GW-PPMs have been explored theoretically, they have not yet been realized experimentally. In this article, we present the first experimental demonstration of GW-PPMs. Specifically, we excite and detect GW-PPMs at visible frequencies and match model predictions to experimental results with remarkable accuracy using minimal parameter fitting. In addition to the experimental detection, we calculate and report on other interesting and relevant features of the detected modes, including the associated electric field profiles, confinement values, and propagation lengths, and discuss in terms of the applications-relevance of GW-PPMs.Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface charge density oscillations localized to a metal-dielectric interface. In addition to being considered as promising candidates for a variety of applications, structures that support SPPs, including metal-insulator-metal (MIM) multilayers, are of fundamental interest because of the variety of collective plasmonic modes they support. Previously, a particular class of “forbidden” plasmon polariton modes (PPMs) was proposed that includes plasmon polariton modes confined to a region of dispersion space not typically accessible to surface-constructed collective excitations. Specifically, for these modes, known as Guided Wave PPMs (GW-PPMs), due to the dielectric asymmetry of the central layer, the solution to the wave equation in the center insulator layer is oscillatory while remaining surface bound both to the supporting substrate and the exposed surface. These mode.
Optimization of Edible Coating Formulation Using Response Surface Methodology for Delaying the Ripening and Preserving Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Fruits

Tomato is a climacteric fruit that has a short shelf life under natural conditions. However, some treatments can be applied in order to extend the shelf life and improve the quality of fruits. The present study aimed at formulating a coating solution based on coffee leaf extract, starch, and Gum Arabic in order to extend the postharvest shelf life of tomato. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimal concentrations of the different abovementioned components in the coating, for better delay the ripening process of tomatoes. The central composite design (CCD) was generated, and the effect of different factors on the shelf life and quality (percent ripening, firmness, physiological loss of mass, pH, chlorophylls a and b contents, lycopene, and β-carotene contents) of tomato fruits were determined 14 days after treatment and stored at room temperature. Chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents as well as firmness of treated fruits were higher than those of control fruits. In addition, treated fruits recorded low lycopene and β-carotene contents, physiological loss of mass, pH, and ripening percentage compared to control fruits. Coffee leaf extract had a significant effect ( p < 0.05 ) on chl a content, pH, and ripening percentage. On the other hand, starch and Gum Arabic did not significantly ( p > 0.05 ) influence pH, physiological loss of mass, and percentage of ripening. The interaction between coffee leaf extract and starch (X1X2) had the most significant effect ( p < 0.05 ) on the studied parameters. The results showed that the experimental data could be adequately fitted into a second-order polynomial model with coefficients of determination greater than 80% for all variables studied. The optimal coating formulation consisted of 78.5 g/l coffee leaves extract, 56 g/l starch, and 9.5% Gum Arabic. There was no significant difference between the experimental and predicted data.
A Novel Prototype-Assisted Contrastive Adversarial Network for Weak-Shot Learning With Applications: Handling Weakly Labeled Data

This article is concerned with weak-shot learning, a practical yet challenging scenario in transfer learning where only a limited amount of weakly labeled data are available in the target domain. The key insights of weak-shot learning are focused on assigning fine-grained labels to target data and matching class-specific features across domains. In this article, a new prototype-assisted contrastive adversarial (PACA) network for weak-shot learning is proposed to make full use of the deterministic information from well-annotated data and the auxiliary information from weakly annotated data. Specifically, a prototypical pseudolabel learning mechanism is introduced to improve the credibility and robustness of pseudolabel estimation by fully exploiting prototype representations and weakly supervised information. Furthermore, a contrastive adversarial discrepancy strategy is developed to simultaneously reduce domain gaps at the global and local levels, providing compact intraclass features and distinguishable interclass features for weak-shot learning. The prototypical pseudolabel learning and contrastive adversarial discrepancy are designed to be updated alternately to eliminate pseudolabel noise in the target domain, which helps improve the transferability of domain-invariant features. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on the cross-domain tasks of pipeline fault diagnosis, indicating that the proposed PACA network provides a promising tool for this practical industrial problem.
Assessment indices of littoral habitat condition for lakes in Maine and New England, United States

Abstract Deeds J, Amirbahman A, Hugger K, Kaufmann PR, Matthews LJ, Merrell K, Norton SA. 2023. Assessment indices of littoral habitat condition for lakes in Maine and New England, United States. Lake Reserv Manage. 39:141–155. Littoral habitat is critical for lake biota but is adversely affected by residential shoreland development through the loss and reduced structural complexity of lakeshore vegetation. There currently exists no assessment methodology for evaluating littoral habitat condition of individual lakes in the northeastern United States. We addressed this assessment need by creating multimetric indices of littoral habitat condition that focus on lakeshore residential development as the primary stressor. We did this by using habitat metrics derived primarily from National Lake Assessment (NLA) physical habitat (PHAB) survey field observations to create linear discriminant analysis (LDA) models that assign lakeshore stations into littoral habitat condition categories. Lake PHAB survey data were used from New England NLA surveys, as well as state-level surveys completed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Prediction success rates in New England models averaged 83%. The Maine LDA models, which used finer scale survey methods, had an average prediction success rate of 89%. We used 95% bootstrapped confidence intervals to make assessment designations of natural (meeting reference quality), diminished (not meeting reference quality), or intermediate (existing between natural and diminished) littoral habitat condition for each lake. Our results show that efficacious single-lake littoral habitat assessments may be completed within the framework of NLA PHAB methodology, but confidence in assessment results, and therefore better informed management decisions, can be improved with finer scale observation data.
Physical Aspects of Min Oscillations in Escherichia Coli

The subject of this thesis is the generation of spatial temporal structures in living cells. Specifically, we studied the Min-system in the bacterium Escherichia coli. It consists of the MinC, the MinD, and the MinE proteins, which play an important role in the correct selection of the cell division site. The Min-proteins oscillate between the two cell poles and thereby prevent division at these locations. In this way, E. coli divides at the center, producing two daughter cells of equal size, providing them with the complete genetic patrimony. Our goal is to perform a quantitative study, both theoretical and experimental, in order to reveal the mechanism underlying the Min-oscillations. Experimentally, we characterize the Min-system, measuring the temporal period of the oscillations as a function of the cell length, the time-averaged protein distributions, and the in vivo Min-protein mobility by means of different fluorescence microscopy techniques. Theoretically, we discuss a deterministic description based on the exchange of Minproteins between the cytoplasm and the cytoplasmic membrane and on the aggregation current induced by the interaction between membrane-bound proteins. Oscillatory solutions appear via a dynamic instability of the homogenous protein distributions. Moreover, we perform stochastic simulations based on a microscopic description, whereby the probability for each event is calculated according to the corresponding probability in the master equation. Starting from this microscopic description, we derive Langevin equations for the fluctuating protein densities which correspond to the deterministic equations in the limit of vanishing noise. Stochastic simulations justify this deterministic model, showing that oscillations are resistant to the perturbations induced by the stochastic reactions and diffusion. Predictions and assumptions of our theoretical model are compatible with our experimental findings. Altogether, these results enable us to propose further experiments in order to quantitatively compare the different models proposed so far and to test our model with even higher precision. They also point to the necessity of performing such an analysis through single cell measurements.
Estimating thermospheric neutral densities using ISR-observations during active HF-radio wave ionospheric heating experiment

In this study we present a method to estimate neutral thermospheric densities using ISR-observations following a sequence of high-frequency radio wave ionospheric heating modifications in the vicinity of the ionosphere peak density altitude (hmF2), and the results from two different days of observations with low geomagnetic activity levels (AP≤ 4) that are compared to the MSIS model. Slight discrepancies between the estimated neutral thermospheric densities and the MSIS model was found for the 18th of October, where the total density was a factor 0.98±0.02 of MSIS at the hmF2, with increasing deviations at higher altitudes, ending at a factor 0.94 ± 0.04 at 300 km. The main thermospheric neutral constituents, O, N2 and O2 were estimated to a factor 1.05 ± 0.03, 0.950 ± 0.002 and 0.73 ± 0.03 of the MSIS modelled constituents at hmF2, respectively, with all factors slightly decreasing with altitude. The 15th of August achieved less electron heating at hmF2 due to a widespread electron content and high absorption in the E and D regions, and had significantly more noise making the standard errors in the estimates far exceed a reasonable density for quiet geomagnetic activities, at a factor 0.98 ± 0.37 of MSIS, making the result from the 15th of August inconclusive. The findings from the observations has shown that this method can if observationdata from several individual heating-cycles are used extract the neutral thermospheric densities within reasonable certainty, if the thermospheric-ionospheric condition allow for repeated measurements.
CFD computations of the second round of MEXICO rotor measurements

A comparison, between selected wind tunnel data from the NEW MEXICO measuring campaign and CFD computations are shown. The present work, documents that a state of the art CFD code, including a laminar turbulent transition model, can provide good agreement with experimental data. Good agreement is shown for the integral loads, radial distributions of blades forces, pressure distributions, and the velocity profiles up- and downstream of the rotor.
Multiplex PCR-Lateral Flow Dipstick Method for Detection of Thermostable Direct Hemolysin (TDH) Producing V. parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is usually found in seafood and causes acute gastroenteritis in humans. Therefore, a detection method of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus is necessary. Multiplex PCR combined with lateral flow dipstick (LFD) assay was developed to detect pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus. Biotin-, FAM-, and Dig-conjugated primers targeting thermolabile hemolysin (TLH) and thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) genes were used for multiplex PCR amplification. The condition of the method was optimized and evaluated by agarose gel electrophoresis and universal lateral flow dipstick. The specificity assay was evaluated using strains belonging to seven foodborne pathogen species. The sensitivity of the method was also evaluated using DNA in the concentration range of 0.39–100 ng/reaction. The artificial spiking experiment was performed using 10 g of shrimp samples with an enrichment time of 0, 4, and 8 h with 101, 102, and 103 CFU of V. parahaemolyticus. The developed multiplex PCR-LFD assay showed no non-specific amplification with a limit of the detection of 0.78 ng DNA/reaction visualized by agarose gel electrophoresis and 0.39 ng DNA with LFD assay. The artificial spiking experiment demonstrated that this method could detect pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus at 10 CFU/10 g shrimp samples following a 4 h of enrichment. Multiplex PCR-LFD assay was therefore established for detecting pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus with high sensitivity and specificity and might be a useful tool to develop a detection kit used in the food safety sector.
Experimental validation of an ultra-thin metasurface cloak for hiding a metallic obstacle from an antenna radiation at low frequencies

We demonstrate numerically and experimentally an ultra-thin (≈ λ/240) metasurface-based invisibility cloak for low frequency antenna applications. We consider a monopole antenna mounted on a ground plane and a cylindrical metallic obstacle of diameter smaller than the wavelength located in its near-field. To restore the intrinsic radiation patterns of the antenna perturbed by this obstacle, a metasurface cloak consisting simply of a metallic patch printed on a dielectric substrate is wrapped around the obstacle. Using a finite element method based commercial electromagnetic solver, we show that the radiation patterns of the monopole antenna can be restored completely owing to electromagnetic modes of the resonant cavity formed between the patch and obstacle. The metasurface cloak is fabricated, and the concept is experimentally demonstrated at 125 MHz. Performed measurements are in good agreement with numerical simulations, verifying the efficiency of the proposed cloak.
Aerodynamic analysis of tiltrotors in hovering and propeller modes using advanced Navier-Stokes computations

Existing helicopter aerodynamic design and analysis tools require adaption and validation for tiltrotor configurations before they can be used by industry. In this paper, the application of a Computational Fluid Dynamics tool to an isolated tiltrotor is presented as an example of the on-going development work in AgustaWestland. Simulations for hovering and propeller cases have been performed and compared with published experimental data and a good agreement has been found. The discussion includes the application of an overset mesh approach.
A Compound Decoupling Control Strategy for DFIG Considering PLL under Weak Grid

As one of the main types of wind power generation, doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) has been widely used with the rapid development of new energy. In this paper, the mechanism of insufficient stability of DFIG control system under weak grid is investigated. By constructing small signal model of DFIG in weak grid, the influence loop of phase-locked loop (PLL) on current closed-loop control is analyzed. Based on the small signal model, a compound decoupling control strategy considering the effect of PLL is proposed, which effectively improves the stability margin of DFIG in weak grid. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified by experiments.
Development and Applications of a Coupled Particle Deposition - Dynamic Mesh Morphing Approach for the Numerical Simulation of Gas Turbine Flows

The presence and accretion of airborne particulates, including ash, sand, dust, and other compounds, in gas turbine engines can adversely affect performance and life of components. Engine experience and experimental work has shown that the thickness of accreted layers of these particulates can become large relative to the engine components on which they form. Numerical simulation to date, using a variety of flow coupling models, has largely ignored the effects of resultant changes in the passage geometry due to the build-up of deposited particles. This paper will focus on updating the boundaries of the flow volume geometry by integrating the deposited volume of particulates on the solid surface. Numerical models of small particulate turbulent motion and stick/bounce models are developed and integrated within commercial software to perform 3D fluid simulations to capture the deposition behaviour. The technique is implemented using a novel, coupled deposition-dynamic mesh morphing approach to the simulation of particulate-laden flows using RANS modelling of the bulk fluid, and Lagrangian-based particulate tracking. On an iterative basis the calculated particle deposition distributions are used to modify the surface topology by altering the locations of surface nodes. The mesh, continuous phase solution, and particle tracking are then recalculated, from which the mesh is again modified. The sensitivity to the modelling time steps employed is explored. This mesh morphing technique is further refined through the application of the particle stick-bounce model of Bons et al. [1] and the Continuous RandomWalk model. An impingement geometry case is used to assess the validity of the technique, and a passage with film cooling holes is interrogated. The paper illustrates that for engine realistic levels of internal deposition this can lead to a significant disparity in the local aerodynamic flow field. Modelling of several internal flow fields have been investigated to illustrate the use of the technique. Differences are seen for all of the sticking and solid phase motion models employed. Notably, there are real discrepancies in using commercial and bespoke models. At small solid particle sizes considerable disparity is observed between the discrete and continuous random walk modelling approaches, while the position and level of accretion is altered through the use of a non-isotropic stick and bounce model.
Encoding the Intrinsic Interaction Information for Vehicle Trajectory Prediction

Due to their strong dependence on high-definition (HD) maps, mainstream methods cannot make accurate predictions of vehicle trajectories under missing map conditions or in dynamically changing scenarios. In this article, the interaction features intrinsic in traffic scenes are utilized and the implicit traffic priors related to vehicle motion in the scene are extracted to improve the accuracy of vehicle trajectory prediction when no HD map is available. First, a graph attention network is constructed to encode the motion state and local interactions between vehicles at each historical timestamp. Then a bi-axial Transformer is introduced to alternately update the global interaction and vehicle motion features. At the same time, a multi-scale structure is proposed to fuse the high-level behavior logic and low-level motion primitives of the agent vehicle. Finally, a trajectory decoder is used to output multi-modal vehicle trajectories. The proposed model was trained and evaluated using the Argoverse1 Forecasting dataset. The experimental results show that all metrics of this method were better than the no-HD map ablations of mainstream prediction models, and even better than some mainstream prediction methods with HD map encoding. In addition, a Lidar-based physical perception platform was set up on an experimental vehicle, and the generalization capability of the proposed method was validated in real traffic scenes.
Investigating expression of IGF-1 candidate gene for growth-associated microsatellite genotypes in a resource population of RIR chicken

Present study was undertaken to analyze relative expression of IGF-1 gene in liver and breast muscle, and to investigate probable association of chicken growth-linked microsatellite genotypes with IGF-1 gene expression in a resource population of RIR chicken. In this experiment, 114 birds of combined sexes were screened for growth-associated microsatellite genotypes and 25 alleles were separated through 3.4% MetaPhore agarose gel electrophoresis with their sizes ranging from 97 bp at MCW0010 to 349 bp at LEI0071. Twelve birds of either sexes comprising equally from these birds were selected at the age of 12 weeks for gene expression study by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR method. Higher 40-ΔCt value was considered as higher expression. Least squares analysis of variance revealed that birds’ hatch factor had significant effect on relative mRNA expression of IGF-1 gene in liver tissue other than breast muscle. Birds from the second hatch showed higher expression (35.86±1.120) in liver tissue in comparison to the chicks from first hatch (32.58±0.792). The results also evidenced that the liver tissue had higher expression (34.22±0.690) than that in the breast muscle (33.923±0.186) tissue. The males had numerically higher expressions in both the tissues as compared to female birds. The microsatellites could not demonstrate significant genotypic differences in IGF-1 gene expression in liver and breast muscle tissues of the birds. It is suggested to study a large sample to investigate significant variation in IGF-1 gene expression in the birds under different sexes and growth-linked microsatellite genotypes to draw a valid conclusion.
Self-regulated Learning in Secondary Level English Textbooks in China

This paper explores the place of self-regulated learning in English language curriculum in China with a special focus on the analysis of English textbooks prescribed for secondary schools in Guangdong. Four textbooks prescribed for two semesters of grades 7 and 8 each, and curriculum of the same level were analyzed to explore to what extent the self-regulated learning has been adopted in the curriculum and textbooks. The findings reveal that both curriculum and textbooks promote self-regulation, which supports to achieve the curricular goals of learning a language. The implications are that such an exclusive focus on self-regulatory processes in the textbooks has a high potential to realize the goal of promoting self-initiated and independent learning in China’s secondary education.