Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Principal component and Voronoi skeleton alternatives for curve reconstruction from noisy point sets

Surface reconstruction from noisy point samples must take into consideration the stochastic nature of the sample. In other words, geometric algorithms reconstructing the surface or curve should not insist on matching each sampled point precisely. Instead, they must interpret the sample as a “point cloud” and try to build the surface as passing through the best possible (in the statistical sense) geometric locus that represents the sample. This work presents two new methods to find a piecewise linear approximation from a Nyquist-compliant stochastic sampling of a quasi-planar C 1 curve C(u):R → R 3, whose velocity vector never vanishes. One of the methods combines principal component analysis (PCA) (statistical) and Voronoi-Delaunay (deterministic) approaches in an entirely new way. It uses these two methods to calculate the best possible tape-shaped polygon covering the flattened point set, and then approximates the manifold using the medial axis of such a polygon. The other method applies PCA to find a direct piecewise linear approximation of C(u). A complexity comparison of these two methods is presented, along with a qualitative comparison with previously developed ones. The results show that the method solely based on PCA is both simpler and more robust for non-self-intersecting curves. For self-intersecting curves, the Voronoi-Delaunay based medial axis approach is more robust, at the price of higher computational complexity. An application is presented in the integration of meshes created from range images of a sculpture to form a complete unified mesh.
Effects of Missing Data Methods in SEM Under Conditions of Incomplete and Nonnormal Data

ABSTRACT Using Monte Carlo simulations, this research examined the performance of four missing data methods in SEM under different multivariate distributional conditions. The effects of four independent variables (sample size, missing proportion, distribution shape, and factor loading magnitude) were investigated on six outcome variables: convergence rate, parameter estimate bias, MSE of parameter estimates, standard error coverage, model rejection rate, and model goodness of fit—RMSEA. A three-factor CFA model was used. Findings indicated that FIML outperformed the other methods in MCAR, and MI should be used to increase the plausibility of MAR. SRPI was not comparable to the other three methods in either MCAR or MAR.
Masked Graph Convolutional Network for Small Sample Classification of Hyperspectral Images

The deep learning method has achieved great success in hyperspectral image classification, but the lack of labeled training samples still restricts the development and application of deep learning methods. In order to deal with the problem of small samples in hyperspectral image classification, a novel small sample classification method based on rotation-invariant uniform local binary pattern (RULBP) features and a graph-based masked autoencoder is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the RULBP features of hyperspectral images are extracted, and then the k-nearest neighbor method is utilized to construct the graph. Furthermore, self-supervised learning is conducted on the constructed graph so that the model can learn to extract features more suitable for small sample classification. Since the self-supervised training mainly adopts the masked autoencoder method, only unlabeled samples are needed to complete the training. After training, only a small number of samples are used to fine-tune the graph convolutional network, so as to complete the classification of all nodes in the graph. A large number of classification experiments on three commonly used hyperspectral image datasets show that the proposed method could achieve higher classification accuracy with fewer labeled samples.
A bioinformatics approach to characterize a hypothetical protein Q6S8D9_SARS of SARS-CoV

Characterization as well as prediction of the secondary and tertiary structure of hypothetical proteins from their amino acid sequences uploaded in databases by in silico approach are the critical issues in computational biology. Severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which is responsible for pneumonia alike diseases, possesses a wide range of proteins of which many are still uncharacterized. The current study was conducted to reveal the physicochemical characteristics and structures of an uncharacterized protein Q6S8D9_SARS of SARS-CoV. Following the common flowchart of characterizing a hypothetical protein, several sophisticated computerized tools e.g., ExPASy Protparam, CD Search, SOPMA, PSIPRED, HHpred, etc. were employed to discover the functions and structures of Q6S8D9_SARS. After delineating the secondary and tertiary structures of the protein, some quality evaluating tools e.g., PROCHECK, ProSA-web etc. were performed to assess the structures and later the active site was identified also by CASTp v.3. 0. The protein contains more negatively charged residues than positively charged residues and a high aliphatic index value which make the protein more stable. The 2D and 3D structures modeled by several bioinformatics tools ensured that the proteins had domain in it which indicated it was functional protein having the ability to trouble host antiviral inflammatory cytokine and interferon production pathways. Moreover, active site was found in the protein where ligand could bind. The study was aimed to unveil the features and structures of an uncharacterized protein of SARS-CoV which can be a therapeutic target for development of vaccines against the virus. Further research are needed to accomplish the task.
Evaluation and Refinement of Generalized B-splines

Evaluation and Refinement of Generalized B-Splines Ian Daniel Henriksen Department of Mathematics, BYU Master of Science In this thesis a method for direct evaluation of Generalized B-splines (GB-splines) via the representation of these curves as piecewise functions is presented. A local structure is introduced that makes the GB-spline curves more amenable to the integration used in constructing bases of higher degree. This basis is used to perform direct computation of piecewise representation of GB-spline bases and curves. Algorithms for refinement using these local structures are also developed.
Psychosocial Impact of Virtual Cancer Care through Technology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Simple Summary Modern technology now enables the remote delivery of cancer care, often called telemedicine. Despite the many potential advantages, it is still not known whether a lack of in-person contact with clinicians may affect the psychosocial health of cancer patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine whether totally or partially replacing conventional face-to-face hospital care with telemedicine deteriorates quality of life, anxiety, psychological distress, or depression of adult people with cancer. The results of the eight included randomized trials seem to indicate that telemedicine does not worsen psychosocial health. On the contrary, we observed improvements in favor of telemedicine in all considered outcomes. Possible explanations are that technology improves access to information and facilitates contact with clinicians, and that being followed at home reduces uneasiness. Future research should identify which patients may benefit from telemedicine, and those for whom traditional in-person visits remain the best option. Abstract This meta-analysis of RCTs aimed to determine whether replacing face-to-face hospital care with telemedicine deteriorates psychosocial outcomes of adult cancer patients, in terms of quality of life (QoL), anxiety, distress, and depression. RCTs on interventions aimed at improving patient psychosocial outcomes were excluded. MEDLINE, EmBASE, and PsycInfo were searched on 13 May 2022 without language or date restrictions. In total, 1400 records were identified and 8 RCTs included (4434 subjects). Study methodological quality was moderate. Statistically significant improvements were observed in favor of the intervention for QoL (SMD = 0.22, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.43, p = 0.04), anxiety (SMD = −0.17, 95% CI −0.30 to −0.04, p < 0.01), and global distress (SMD = −0.38, 95% CI −0.51 to −0.25, p < 0.01). A meta-analysis on depression could not be performed. In subgroup analyses, the intervention appeared to be more beneficial for patients receiving active treatment vs. follow-up, for “other cancer types” vs. breast cancer, and for “other modes of administration” vs. telephone. Given the many potential advantages of being assisted at home, telemedicine appears to be a viable option in oncology. However, more research is necessary to determine the types of patients who may benefit the most from these alternative care modalities.
Dicing of Thin Silicon Wafers with Ultra-Short Pulsed Lasers in the Range from 200 fs up to 10 ps

In this paper the influence of the pulse duration in a range of 200 fs up to 10 ps on the cutting process of thin silicon is investigated. The experiments are carried out with a Light Conversion Pharos with various pulse durations between 200 fs and 10 ps. The laser is operated at the second harmonic wavelength of 515 nm and a repetition rate of 200 kHz. Although the ablation threshold, which is determined with the method of Liu [1], amounts 0,27 J/cm² for 0,2, 1 and 10 ps, one can find extremely different ablation behavior during the cutting experiments. It turns out that independent from pulse energy and pulse overlap, the shortest pulse duration at 200 fs leads to a deeper cutting depth and furthermore to a higher cutting speed. This difference can be explained with higher pulse peak intensities and shorter interaction time between laser and material for the 200 fs pulse duration. Nevertheless the general ablation geometry is very similar for all tested pulse durations. We explain this with a simple geometric model. This model considers the projection from a Gaussian beam profile in an existing cutting kerf.
Influence of Melt‐Peridotite Interactions on Deformation and Seismic Properties of the Upper Mantle Beneath a Destroyed Craton: A Case Study of the Damaping Peridotites From the North China Craton

Extensive melt‐peridotite interactions had been documented in the lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton (NCC), a prime example of destroyed cratons in the world. Yet the impacts of melt‐peridotite interactions on the deformation and seismic anisotropy of the NCC upper mantle remain unclear. Here we studied in detail the microstructure, crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of minerals, and seismic properties of 26 peridotite xenoliths from the Damaping area of the NCC. The studied samples can be classified into two groups: weakly to nonfoliated and strongly foliated. Petrographic and microstructural observations suggest that multiple melt‐peridotite interactions and at least two stages of deformation had influenced samples from both microstructural groups. Dislocation creep in response to a transpression deformation led to the [010]‐fiber type olivine CPOs in most samples. Variable degrees of annealing followed the last stage of deformation. Due to a higher degree of melt‐peridotite interactions, which had promoted nondislocation creep, and more extensive annealing, olivine and pyroxene in the strongly foliated samples developed weaker CPOs. This in turn leads to weaker maximum P wave propagation anisotropy and S wave polarization anisotropy for this microstructural group. Our data, therefore, cast light on a strong control of intensity of melt‐peridotite interactions on deformation and seismic properties of the upper mantle beneath the NCC. If foliation and lineation are vertical and horizontal, respectively, the measured SKS splitting parameters can be well explained by the “fossil” anisotropy frozen in the lithospheric mantle, with no need to invoke asthenospheric flow as a source of the anisotropy.
The generating function for coincidence site lattices in the cubic system

The derivation of the generating function given by Bleris & Delavignette [Acta Cryst. (1981), A37, 779- 786] is simplified and made rigorous. It is shown that their main result can also be deduced directly from Grimmer [Acta Cryst. (1974), A30, 685-688]. The following applications of the generating function are described: determining all rotations that generate coincidence site lattices (CSLs) by giving their axis and angle or their matrix, determining the equivalence classes of rotations with respect to cubic symmetry and the 180° and minimum-angle rotations that they contain, determining the number of rotations in each equivalence class and the total number of rotations that generate a CSL with given unit-cell volume Σ. We also discuss how a basis for the CSL can be computed and how a bicrystal with a plane grain boundary can be characterized.
Novel microstrip left-handed resonator with dual notched bands and its application in miniaturized triple-band 3-dB power divider

A novel microstrip left-handed resonator (LHR) is proposed in this paper by embedding narrow central symmetric spiral lines in the rectangular gap of the main microstrip line. According to the EM simulated results, the proposed LHR has two narrow notched bands, which is produced by the magnetic resonance and sudden change of the effective permeability and effective permittivity; the phase characteristics of the proposed LHR show that there are two frequency points with −90-degree phase shift and one frequency point with +90-degree phase shift in the passbands. According to the electromagnetic characteristics of the proposed LHR, we use it to replace the 70.7 Ω transmission line of conventional Wilkinson power divider, and a compact triple-band 3-dB power divider is presented. After fabrication, the presented triple-band power divider is measured by using Anritsu ME7808A vector network analyzer, the measured and simulated results are in good agreement with each other, showing that, the fabricated power divider operating at 2.20, 3.40, and 7.50 GHz with bandwidths of 84.5, 35.8, and 15.2%; in the passbands, the return loss is better than 15 dB, the insertion loss is between 3.4 ± 0.2 dB, and the isolation between port 2 and 3 is better than 20 dB. Moreover, the out-of-band rejection among three operating bands is also very good, which benefits from the two narrow notched bands. Simultaneously, the effective area of the fabricated power divider is 0.121 λg by 0.116 λg (where λg is the guided wavelength at 2.20 GHz), about 55.2% relative to that of conventional one operating at 2.20 GHz. Besides, the presented power divider is uniplanar, and there is no defected ground structure or lumped element.
Applying the Powell's Symmetrical Technique to Conjugate Gradient Methods with the Generalized Conjugacy Condition

ABSTRACT This article proposes new conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization by applying the Powell symmetrical technique in a defined sense. Using the Wolfe line search conditions, the global convergence property of the method is also obtained based on the spectral analysis of the conjugate gradient iteration matrix and the Zoutendijk condition for steepest descent methods. Preliminary numerical results for a set of 86 unconstrained optimization test problems verify the performance of the algorithm and show that the Generalized Descent Symmetrical Hestenes-Stiefel algorithm is competitive with the Fletcher-Reeves (FR) and Polak-Ribiére-Polyak (PRP+) algorithms.
Modified ADRC Design of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Based on Improved Memetic Algorithm

In this paper, a novel modified auto disturbance rejection control (ADRC) design of a permanent magnet synchronous motor based on the improved memetic algorithm (IMA) is proposed. Firstly, there is an obvious system ripple caused by the defect that the optimal control function used in traditional ADRC cannot be differentiable and smooth at the segment point; aiming at weakening the system ripple effectively, the proposed method constructs a novel differentiable and smooth optimal control function to modify the ADRC design. Furthermore, aiming at improving the integration parameters optimization effect effectively, a novel improved memetic algorithm is proposed for obtaining the optimal parameters of ADRC. Specifically, an IMA with high-quality balance based on an adaptive nonlinear decreasing strategy for the convergence factor, Gaussian mutation mechanism, improved learning mechanism with the high-quality balance between competitive and opposition-based learning (OBL) and an elite set maintenance mechanism based on fusion distance is proposed so that these strategies can improve the optimization precision by a large margin. Finally, the experiment results of the PMSM speed control practical cases show that the ADRC based on IMA has an apparent better optimization effect than that of fuzzy PI, traditional ADRC based on the genetic algorithm and an improved ADRC based on improved moth–flame optimization.
Natural Selection and Scale Invariance

This review points out that three of the essential features of natural selection—competition for a finite resource, variation, and transmission of memory—occur in an extremely simple, thermalized molecular population, one of colliding “billiard balls” subject to an anisotropy, a directional flux of energetic molecules. The emergence of scaling behavior, scale invariance, in such systems is considered in the context of the emergence of complexity driven by Gibbs free energy, the origins of life, and known chemistries in planetary and astrophysical conditions. It is suggested that the thermodynamic formalism of statistical multifractality offers a parallel between the microscopic and macroscopic views of non-equilibrium systems and their evolution, different from, empirically determinable, and therefore complementing traditional definitions of entropy and its production in living systems. Further, the approach supports the existence of a bridge between microscopic and macroscopic scales, the missing mesoscopic scale. It is argued that natural selection consequently operates on all scales—whether or not life results will depend on both the initial and the evolving boundary conditions. That life alters the boundary conditions ensures nonlinearity and scale invariance. Evolution by natural selection will have taken place in Earth’s fluid envelope; both air and water display scale invariance and are far from chemical equilibrium, a complex condition driven by the Gibbs free energy arising from the entropy difference between the incoming solar beam and the outgoing infrared radiation to the cold sink of space acting on the initial conditions within evolving boundary conditions. Symmetry breaking’s role in the atmospheric state is discussed, particularly in regard to aerosol fission in the context of airborne bacteria and viruses in both current and prebiotic times. Over 4.4 billion years, the factors operating to support natural selection will have evolved along with the entire system from relative simplicity to the current complexity.
Preservice Teacher Action Research: Making Meaning and Generating Knowledge Through Inquiry

This article analyzes the ways in which action research during preservice teacher education influences the development of a critical inquiry stance. By following eight preservice teachers as they conducted action research in their final semester of student teaching, this article demonstrates how action research created the space for preservice teachers to engage in practical and critical inquiry, which allowed participants the opportunity to develop a critical inquiry stance, to varying degrees. Discussed are the disparate ways participants thought about the meaning they made and the knowledge they generated during their action research assignment. The freedom action research granted preservice teacher to make meaning of their classroom instruction, generate knowledge, and bridge the gap between theory and practice, instruction and learning, and their students and themselves, allowed for the development of a critical inquiry stance. Findings suggest that through inquiry, preservice teachers disrupted the hierarchy of knowledge generation in teaching, as they theorized instruction, problematized pedagogy, and improved their teaching practices.
Two-step Attribute Reduction Method Based on Fuzzy Rough Sets Dependency

To acquire the minimum attribute reduction of the dataset with continual attribute value,a two-step reduction method is proposed based on fuzzy rough sets.The concept of dependency is extended and the dependency relationship between condition attributes can be measured on the basis of the extended concept.The candidate attributes are first selected by calculating the attribute importance.Then,the candidate attributes are reduced using the dependency between attributes and of the single attribute importance.The redundant attribute is reduced via this operation.Experimental results show that the strategy can efficiently reduce the attribute dimension without sacrificing the classification accuracy.
Experimental comparison of sonoporation and electroporation in cell transfection applications

An experimental study has been performed for cell suspensions to compare efficiency of cell transfection. It was demonstrated that electroporation was superior to sonoporation in terms of viability (65.8±2.3% vs 50.8±4.15%) and transfection efficiency (15.83±3.5% vs 7.53±0.4%) for Jurkat lymphocytes (nonprimary cells), and sonoporation was better in terms of viability (64.8±1.51% vs 53.7±1.53%) and transfection efficiency (2.73±0.21% vs 0.43±0.06%) for human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (primary cells). The electroporation was performed using a Gene Pulser® II Apparatus with voltage of 250 V, and the sonoporation was achieved using 2-MHz pulsed ultrasound exposure (ISPPA=80 W/cm2) assisted with encapsulated bubbles (Optison®).
The scattering properties of a membrane constrained on a small circular region

A membrane occupies the plane z = 0 in a Cartesian coordinate system and is surrounded by a compressible fluid of wave speed c. The system is activated by a time–harmonic sound wave and the membrane is free to undergo transverse vibrations in response to the fluid loading, except for a small circular disc region (x2 + y2 < a2, z = 0) that is constrained to have zero displacement. This might represent the effect of a rivet or of a thin circular strut perpendicular to the plane of the membrane. By allowing for the incident and reflected waves for an infinite plane with no constraints, the problem is readily reduced to that in which there is no incident field, but with vibrations induced by a given time-harmonic normal velocity on the disc region. An asymptotic solution is sought in the small disc limit ε = ka → 0, where k = ω/c is the acoustic wave number and ω is the radian frequency. The inner and outer expansions are shown to involve gauge functions that are not simply powers of ε but which have the form εn (τ – lnε)−m, where τ is a constant.