Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantum Information and Convex Optimization

This thesis is concerned with convex optimization problems in quantum information theory. It features an iterative algorithm for optimal quantum error correcting codes, a postprocessing method for incomplete tomography data, a method to estimate the amount of entanglement in witness experiments, and it gives necessary and sufficient criteria for the existence of retrodiction strategies for a generalized mean king problem.
Creation and Validation of a Photonumeric Scale for Assessment of Infraorbital Hollows

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. BACKGROUND Validated clinical scales are needed to assess aesthetic improvement of the infraorbital hollows (IOHs) after treatment with dermal fillers. OBJECTIVE To develop an IOHs scale and establish its reliability and sensitivity for grading subjects in clinical trials or routine practice. METHODS AND MATERIALS The Teoxane IOHs Scale (TIOHS), a 5-grade photonumeric scale, was developed based on real-subject photographs and validated through photographic and live subjects' evaluation. RESULTS Clinician intra- and inter-rater agreements during the TIOHS validation were excellent. The mean intrarater-weighted Kappa score between the 2 sessions of photographic validation was 0.92, while inter-rater interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.92 for the combined sessions. The average intrarater-weighted Kappa score and inter-rater ICC for the live validation reached 0.80 and 0.76, respectively. In addition, evaluators identified clinically significant differences between photographs of subjects presenting a 1-grade or 2-grade difference in 82% and 86% of cases, respectively. CONCLUSION The intrarater Kappa scores and inter-rater ICCs met their predetermined acceptance criteria of >0.70. The TIOHS is a repeatable and reproducible clinician-reported outcome for health care providers to classify IOHs in clinical trials and routine patient care. A 1-grade difference on the TIOHS can detect a clinically meaningful difference in infraorbital hollowing.
Protective Effect of Fucoxanthin on Zearalenone-Induced Hepatic Damage through Nrf2 Mediated by PI3K/AKT Signaling

Hepatotoxic contaminants such as zearalenone (ZEA) are widely present in foods. Marine algae have a wide range of potential applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food products. Research is ongoing to develop treatments and products based on the compounds found in algae. Fucoxanthin (FXN) is a brown-algae-derived dietary compound that is reported to prevent hepatotoxicity caused by ZEA. This compound has multiple biological functions, including anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer properties. Furthermore, FXN is a powerful antioxidant. In this study, we examined the effects of FXN on ZEA-induced stress and inflammation in HepG2 cells. MTT assays, ROS generation assays, Western blots, and apoptosis analysis were used to evaluate the effects of FXN on ZEA-induced HepG2 cell inflammation. Pre-incubation with FXN reduced the cytotoxicity of ZEA toward HepG2 cells. FXN inhibited the ZEA-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1 β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Moreover, FXN increased HO-1 expression in HepG2 by activating the PI3K/AKT/NRF2 signaling pathway. In conclusion, FXN inhibits ZEA-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in hepatocytes by targeting Nrf2 via activating PI3K/AKT signaling.
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte, platelet-to-lymphocyte and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratios, any association with metabolic syndrome?

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a critical health concern associated with an elevated risk of chronic health problems including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. There are shreds of evidence that novel inflammatory ratios including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte, platelet-to-lymphocyte and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratios serve as prognostic biomarkers for metabolic syndrome (MetS). This hypothesis was investigated in a cohort of the Iranian population. Methods: selection of MetS + subjects was based on the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria 3 (NCEP ATP 3). The control group consisted of participants negative for any of the five MetS criteria. Demographic and laboratory data were extracted from the Tabari cohort study. Results: A total of 1930 subjects including 965 Mets positive and 965 MetS criteria negative participants were evaluated. Diabetes (84.8%), hypertension (48.9%), hypertriglyceridemia (81.7%), low HDL cholesterol (70.3%), and high waist circumference (78.9%) were observed in patients. There were no differences between NLR (1.66±0.71 vs. 1.69±0.72 P=0.42), LMR (11.23±3.13 vs. 11.30±11.99, P= 0.86) and PLR (113.85±68.67 vs 114.11±35.85, P=0.91) between case and control groups, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed no association between ratios and MetS risk even after adjusting for potential confounders including age, gender, living place, and BMI. Conclusion: In a relatively large population from Northern Iran, no association was observed between CBC-derived inflammatory ratios and the presence of MetS.
Reliability and validity of a new accelerometer (Wimu®) system for measuring velocity during resistance exercises

This study had two main goals. The first was to determine the reliability of the Wimu® system (accelerometer) for mean velocity measurements during resistance exercises at 40% and 80% 1 repetition maximum (1RM). The second was to compare the results for the Wimu system to a linear encoder (gold standard) for mean velocity measurements when clipped to the bar during back squat exercises using the Smith machine. In all, 23 trained men (aged 22.3 ± 3.2 years) participated in this study. At maximum velocity in the concentric phase, they performed 10 repetitions with 40% 1RM and eight repetitions with 80% 1RM while using the Wimu system and T-Force linear encoder simultaneously to record data. Reliability was analysed using intraclass correlation, standard error of measurement and coefficient of variation. The validity was assessed using R2, intraclass correlation and Bland-Altman plots. The differences in test–retest reliability of both systems and systematic biases were non-significant (p = 0.08–0.85) and very close to 0. The random errors averaged ±0.010 m/s. All the calculated coefficient of variations were less than 5% and all measurements had high intraclass correlations (mean: 0.936). Least-square linear regression and intraclass correlations for validity were very close to 1. Significant systematic biases were observed between the linear encoder and the Wimu system (p < 0.001), although the effect sizes were small (0.21–0.44) and standard error of the estimate in concentric and eccentric phases at both intensities was less than 0.030. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the Wimu system is a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of mean velocity during the back squat exercise using the Smith machine. These findings could help coaches and sport researchers evaluate athletes performing resistance exercises similar to squats with a reliable, valid and portable tool.
Direct Investigation of Collective Phenomena In Patterned Ising-like Arrays Using High-Resolution Kerr Microscopy

Magnetic systems with interacting ferromagnetic single-domain elements are a useful landscape to explore a wide range of fundamental and technological phenomena. In this dissertation, we consider a system of interacting ferromagnetic islands with perpendicular anisotropy. Islands are lithographically-defined to be single-domain and are arranged into large arrays with geometries that are geometrically frustrated and unfrustrated. We explore field-driven local and global magnetic switching behavior using a home-built diffraction-limited magneto-optical Kerr microscope wherein individual islands in each array are isolated, indexed, and tracked in the presence of an applied external field. Global and local switching behavior is directly accessed through analysis island switching fields in the presence of magnetic hysteresis loops. We first explore the considerations regarding lithographic definition of disconnected islands and deposition of Co/Pt multilayers with strong perpendicular anisotropy. The thickness and number of stacked Co/Pt bilayers as well as deposition method significantly affect the strength of perpendicular anisotropy. We find sputter deposition of a 8-stack bilayer of Co0.3 nm/Pt1 nm optimizes strong perpendicular anisotropy with square hysteresis loops. Our experimental sample contains several sets of ordered arrays with varying geometry and inter-island spacing. Each island is single-domain with length scales amenable to Kerr imaging such that magnetic degrees of freedom are optically accessible. We next discuss the development, calibration, and operation of a home-built magneto-optical Kerr microscope. The Kerr microscope uses a xenon stabilized white light source, Glan-Thompson polarizers, and a 100x oil objective lens to illuminate a sample with linear polarized light. A cooled CCD camera receives the reflected light and transmits it to the computer in a sequence timed with the application of an external magnetic field. We use LabVIEW software to isolate, index, track, and extract intensity information and corresponding switching fields asso-
Constancy and Goodness of Fit Test for Time Series Models

In this thesis, we concentrate on the constancy test of parameter and goodness of fit test for time series models. For the constancy test, we consider two cusum type test procedures to detect parameter change. The first one is cusum type retrospective test to detect parameter change in the past given observations and the other one is cusum type sequential test that sequentially monitor the constancy of parameters based on historical sample. First, we apply the cusum type retrospective test to various time series model and investigate their limiting distribution. We derive its limiting null distribution and report a simulation result that validates our test. Second, we apply a monitoring procedure to detect change of the parameter in random coefficient model. Moreover, we develop a monitoring procedure to detect change of the copula parameter in strong mixing processes. We propose two monitoring procedures based on the cumulative sums of scores and the fluctuations of copula parameter estimates. Further, we investigate the asymptotic properties of our monitoring procedures under both the null of no change in the copula parameter and its alternative. We also illustrate a simulation study and a real data analysis. Finally, for goodness of fit test, we consider the maximum entropy test. We apply this test to GARCH model and AR(∞) model. Its asymptotic distribution is derived under the null hypothesis. Through a simulation study, it is demonstrated that the proposed test performs adequately. Particularly, a bootstrap method is employed to cope with small samples. We also conduct a real data analysis for illustration.
Correlation between excitation index and Eddington ratio in radio galaxies

We use a sample of 111 radio galaxies with redshift z < 0.3 to investigate their nuclear properties. The black hole masses of the sources in this sample are estimated with the velocity dispersion/luminosity of the galaxies, or the width of the broad-lines. We find that the excitation index, the relative intensity of low and high excitation lines, is correlated with the Eddington ratio for this sample. The size of the narrow-line region (NLR) was found to vary with ionizing luminosity as RNLR ∝ Lion0.25 (Liu et al. 2013). Using this empirical relation, we find that the correlation between the excitation index and the Eddington ratio can be reproduced by photoionization models. We adopt two sets of spectral energy distributions (SEDs), with or without a big blue bump in ultraviolet as the ionizing continuum, and infer that the modeled correlation between the excitation index and the Eddington ratio is insensitive to the applied SED. This means that the difference between high excitation galaxies and low excitation galaxies is not caused by the different accretion modes in these sources. Instead, it may be caused by the size of the NLR.
Factors influencing oviposition behaviour of the invasive pest, Drosophila suzukii, derived from interactions with other Drosophila species: potential applications for control

Abstract Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) or spotted wing Drosophila is a worldwide invasive pest of soft‐ and stone‐fruit production. Female D. suzukii lay their eggs in ripening fruit and the hatched larvae damage fruit from the inside, rendering it unmarketable and causing significant economic loss. Current methods to reduce D. suzukii population in the field primarily rely on chemical insecticides which are not a sustainable long‐term solution and increase the risk of resistance developing. Several studies demonstrate that when D. suzukii encounter or coexist with other Drosophila on a food source, this is usually a disadvantage to D. suzukii, leading to reduced oviposition and increased larval mortality. These effects have potential to be exploited from a pest management perspective. In this review we summarise recent research articles focusing on the interspecific interactions between D. suzukii and other Drosophila species aimed at understanding how this drives D. suzukii behaviour. Potential semiochemical and microbiome impacts are postulated as determinants of D. suzukii behaviour. Development of control practices focusing on reducing D. suzukii populations and deterring them from laying eggs by utilising factors that drive their behaviour are discussed. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Bloody noise: The impact of blood‐flow artifacts on registration

Blood‐flow artifacts present a serious challenge for most, if not all, volumetric analytical approaches. We utilize T1‐weighted data with prominent blood‐flow artifacts from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) multisite agglomerative dataset to assess the impact that such blood‐flow artifacts have on registration of T1‐weighted data to a template. We use a heuristic approach to identify the blood‐flow artifacts in these data; we use the resulting blood masks to turn the underlying voxels to the intensity of the cerebro‐spinal fluid, thus mimicking the effect of blood suppression. We then register both the original data and the deblooded data to a common T1‐weighted template, and compare the quality of those registrations to the template in terms of similarity to the template. The registrations to the template based on the deblooded data yield significantly higher similarity values compared with those based on the original data. Additionally, we measure the nonlinear deformations needed to transform the data from the position achieved by registering the original data to the template to the position achieved by registering the deblooded data to the template. The results indicate that blood‐flow artifacts may seriously impact data processing that depends on registration to a template, that is, most all data processing.
Role of interface potential barrier, Auger recombination and temporal coherence in In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dot-based p-i-n light emitting diodes

In this work, we investigate the mechanisms that control the electroluminescence from p-i-n heterostructures containing self-assembled In0.5Ga0. 5As quantum dots embedded inside a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0. 7As quantum well as a function of temperature and applied bias. Our results reveal that the carrier dynamics at the interface between the quantum dot and the quantum well play a crucial role in the electroluminescence emission. At low temperatures, two distinct emission bands are observed. Initially at low bias current, we observe broad emissions from the quantum wells and wetting layers. Another dominant and sharp emission at lower energy arises from the quantum dots, but only at higher bias currents. We discuss how a potential barrier between the quantum dots and quantum well can control the density of injected carriers undergoing optical recombination. We have also investigated the role of carrier capture and escape, quantum-confined stark effect and band-filling effects in the electroluminescence emission. In addition, we demonstrate how measurements of temporal coherence of individual spectral peaks, can detect the presence of Auger recombination in quantum dots under high injection currents. Interestingly, a significant increase in the temporal coherence of quantum dot emissions is observed, which could be due to a decrease in Auger recombination with increasing temperature.
Search for heavy neutrinos with the CMS experiment and studies for the upgrade of its electromagnetic calorimeter

In this thesis, the search for heavy right-handed neutrinos through the decay of a right-handed W (Wʀ) boson into two leptons and two jets with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The Wʀ boson decays into a lepton and a massive neutrino (Nʀ), and the neutrino decays into another lepton of the same flavor and into a pair of jets. The data collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV during 2016 and corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb ⁻¹ were used for this analysis. These heavy neutrinos are missing in the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics and thus they are important to shed light on physics beyond the SM. My main contributions were the simulation and validation of the signal samples, the estimation of one of the main backgrounds, the production of the 1D and 2D limits on the Wʀ cross section (as a function of the Wʀ mass and of the Wʀ mass versus Nʀ mass), and the systematics and statistical analysis. The results obtained with this analysis give the most stringent limits to date.Studies on the upgrade of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter for the LHC Phase II, that foresees a partial replacement of the electronics in the barrel, are also presented. My main contributions were in the preparation of the setup and in the data taking of test beams performed at the H4 beam line in the SPS North Area of CERN, whose goal was to study the performance of the prototype for the new Very-Front-End boards (CATIA chips with 160 MHz ADC), and in studying the shapes and noise of the signals collected by a matrix of 5 x 5 crystals calculating their timing and energy resolution.The document starts with a theoretical introduction about the Standard Model and the physics beyond the Standard Model, in particular on heavy neutrinos, followed by a description of the CMS detector and its electromagnetic calorimeter. The upgrade studies on the electromagnetic calorimeter are presented in a dedicated chapter, then the analysis on the search for heavy neutrinos and an overview on the overall neutrino physics at the LHC and other experiments are described.
Succinct quantum testers for closeness and $k$-wise uniformity of probability distributions

We explore potential quantum speedups for the fundamental problem of testing the properties of closeness and $k$-wise uniformity of probability distributions. \textit{Closeness testing} is the problem of distinguishing whether two $n$-dimensional distributions are identical or at least $\varepsilon$-far in $\ell^1$- or $\ell^2$-distance. We show that the quantum query complexities for $\ell^1$- and $\ell^2$-closeness testing are $O\rbra{\sqrt{n}/\varepsilon}$ and $O\rbra{1/\varepsilon}$, respectively, both of which achieve optimal dependence on $\varepsilon$, improving the prior best results of \hyperlink{cite.gilyen2019distributional}{Gily{\'e}n and Li~(2019)}. \textit{$k$-wise uniformity testing} is the problem of distinguishing whether a distribution over $\cbra{0, 1}^n$ is uniform when restricted to any $k$ coordinates or $\varepsilon$-far from any such distributions. We propose the first quantum algorithm for this problem with query complexity $O\rbra{\sqrt{n^k}/\varepsilon}$, achieving a quadratic speedup over the state-of-the-art classical algorithm with sample complexity $O\rbra{n^k/\varepsilon^2}$ by \hyperlink{cite.o2018closeness}{O'Donnell and Zhao (2018)}. Moreover, when $k = 2$ our quantum algorithm outperforms any classical one because of the classical lower bound $\Omega\rbra{n/\varepsilon^2}$. All our quantum algorithms are fairly simple and time-efficient, using only basic quantum subroutines such as amplitude estimation.
Robust graph-based methods for overcoming the curse of dimensionality

Graph-based two-sample tests and graph-based change-point detection that utilize a similarity graph provide a powerful tool for analyzing high-dimensional and non-Euclidean data as these methods do not impose distributional assumptions on data and have good performance across various scenarios. Current graph-based tests that deliver efficacy across a broad spectrum of alternatives typically reply on the $K$-nearest neighbor graph or the $K$-minimum spanning tree. However, these graphs can be vulnerable for high-dimensional data due to the curse of dimensionality. To mitigate this issue, we propose to use a robust graph that is considerably less influenced by the curse of dimensionality. We also establish a theoretical foundation for graph-based methods utilizing this proposed robust graph and demonstrate its consistency under fixed alternatives for both low-dimensional and high-dimensional data.
Explicit Hopcroft's Trick in Categorical Partition Refinement

Algorithms for partition refinement are actively studied for a variety of systems, often with the optimisation called Hopcroft's trick. However, the low-level description of those algorithms in the literature often obscures the essence of Hopcroft's trick. Our contribution is twofold. Firstly, we present a novel formulation of Hopcroft's trick in terms of general trees with weights. This clean and explicit formulation -- we call it Hopcroft's inequality -- is crucially used in our second contribution, namely a general partition refinement algorithm that is \emph{functor-generic} (i.e. it works for a variety of systems such as (non-)deterministic automata and Markov chains). Here we build on recent works on coalgebraic partition refinement but depart from them with the use of fibrations. In particular, our fibrational notion of $R$-partitioning exposes a concrete tree structure to which Hopcroft's inequality readily applies. It is notable that our fibrational framework accommodates such algorithmic analysis on the categorical level of abstraction.
Exploring a Test Data-Driven Method for Selecting and Constraining Metamorphic Relations

Identifying and selecting high-quality Metamorphic Relations (MRs) is a challenge in Metamorphic Testing (MT). While some techniques for automatically selecting MRs have been proposed, they are either domain-specific or rely on strict assumptions about the applicability of a pre-defined MRs. This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of MetaTrimmer, a method for selecting and constraining MRs based on test data. MetaTrimmer comprises three steps: generating random test data inputs for the SUT (Step 1), performing test data transformations and logging MR violations (Step 2), and conducting manual inspections to derive constraints (Step 3). The novelty of MetaTrimmer is its avoidance of complex prediction models that require labeled datasets regarding the applicability of MRs. Moreover, MetaTrimmer facilitates the seamless integration of MT with advanced fuzzing for test data generation. In a preliminary evaluation, MetaTrimmer shows the potential to overcome existing limitations and enhance MR effectiveness.