Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability study and control methods for small-wattage high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps

The increasing speed of modern power electronics opens a way to study the stability of high-intensity-discharge lamps at very-high-frequency operation. In this paper, a lamp stability study based on a simplified theory on acoustic resonance frequency distribution in a small-wattage metal-halide (MH) lamp is presented. The frequency characteristic of a low-wattage MH lamp has been analyzed. Up to 700 kHz, extensive experiments using resonant-type electronic ballast have been conducted on 35-W MH lamps to investigate different control methods for avoiding acoustic resonance. The results indicate that a randomized switching scheme cannot always eliminate are instabilities caused by acoustic resonances in small-wattage MH lamps. The stability frequency regions should be identified. A stable arc can be obtained when the lamp is operated above the highest acoustic resonance frequency.
Measuring bioavailable trace metals by diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT): soil moisture effects on its performance in soils

Conventional methods of measuring labile chemical species of trace metals in soil solutions, such as chemical competition following centrifuging, are inadequate if the speciation changes during sampling and extraction. A new technique, diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), measures labile species of trace metals in natural waters and sediments in situ. A well‐defined diffusive gel layer distinguishes it from other resin‐based techniques. It perturbs the soil in a controlled way by introducing an in situ local sink for metal ions. Resulting fluxes to the device are quantitatively measured, allowing assessment of re‐supply kinetics and in some cases measurement of in situ soil solution concentrations. We used DGT to measure fluxes of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in a sludge‐treated soil at various moisture contents (27–106%). Replicate measurements showed that the precision of DGT‐measured fluxes was within 10%. For moisture contents exceeding the field capacity (42%), the DGT response reflected soil water concentrations. At smaller moisture contents, changes related to tortuosity and dilution were reflected in the measurements. This technique has the potential for in situ measurements in the field where it should provide quantitative flux data on individual soils and provide a good surrogate for bioavailable metal.
Os filhos únicos na transição para a idade adulta: análise do seu percurso escolar e profissional

The main goal of this paper is to analyze the academic and work achievement of the only children in their early adulthood. Data were taken from an ongoing longitudinal study that followed a large sample of participants from elementary public schools until their late twenties. Regarding academic attainment it was found that, as young adults, the only children had achieved more school grades than their peers; but when participants were distributed in two subsamples the differences between the only children and children with siblings disappeared in the last subsample. Regarding professional achievement, it was found that only children started to work later and took fewer jobs than their peers. No other differences were found between the two groups in the remaining variables of academic and professional achievement in early adulthood. Possible implications of these findings for education of the only child at school or in the family are discussed.
Enhanced photocatalytic cytotoxic activity of Ag@Fe-doped TiO2 nanocomposites against human epithelial carcinoma cells

Fe-doped TiO2 nanopowders with controlled molar-atomic ratios of iron to titanium oxide (in percentage) ranging from nominal 1 to 10% were synthesized by a new simple sol–gel method. Metallic Ag nanoparticles were successfully deposited on the nanopowder of the Fe-doped TiO2 surface by citrate reduction of AgNO3 in water/CH3CN mixture. The molar ratio of iron to TiO2, phase formation, bandgaps, crystallinity, catalytic and plasmonic properties of the resultant composites were systematically investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, EDX, and photoluminescence spectral analyses. The photocatalytic activity of Ag@Fe-doped TiO2 composite nanoclusters was evaluated through photocatalytic killing of cancer cells. For the photocatalytic killing of cancer cells under visible light irradiation, as-prepared Ag@Fe-doped TiO2 nanopowders exhibited higher activity than Fe-doped TiO2. The promoting effect of the Ag nanoparticles deposited on the Fe-doped TiO2 surface showed strong absorption in the visible region due to localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag and inhibited the recombination of photoelectrons and holes rather than only Fe-doped TiO2. The cytotoxic cell killing efficiency depends on the molar ratio of Fe content to TiO2. The optimum Fe content in Fe-doped TiO2 was determined to be 5% due to the Fe/TiO2 molar ratio. Based on the obtained results, a plausible mechanism was also proposed.
Contribution of Ion Channels in Pain Sensation

Nociceptive pain can be subdivided into somatic pain (cutaneous or deep tissues) and visceral pain (pain in the internal organs). Nociceptive pain occurs when nociceptors are stimulated in response to substances that are released from damaged or infl amed tissue. This combination of substances is called the ‘infl ammatory soup’ and it includes extracellular protons, nucleotides, nerve growth factor, serotonin, bradykinin, and others. 2 The nociceptor peripheral terminals can also respond to mechanical and thermal stimuli (Fig.1). Nociceptive pain can be sharp, dull or aching. It is usually time limited (diminishes once the tissue damage heals) and serves a protective purpose. 2, 7, 8
Polarization-controlled, photodriven bending in monodomain liquid crystal elastomer cantilevers

We report on the fast and optically controlled angular bending of cantilevers made from liquid crystal polymer networks functionalized with azobenzene moieties (azo-LCN). For potential applications such as adaptive optics, photoresponsive cantilevers should rapidly deform to controlled angles while maintaining a modulus that can accomplish appreciable mechanical work. This work demonstrates cantilevers made of monodomain azo-LCN containing pendant (side chain) azobenzene mesogens with a storage modulus of 1.4 GPa bend 85° in less than 300 ms upon exposure to 442 nm irradiation. Moreover, the bending angle of these monodomain azo-LCN cantilevers can be controlled by the polarization angle of the source relative to the long-axis of the cantilever. The bending performance (deformation angle and speed) of this monodomain system is compared to a polydomain analogue. The impact of azobenzene concentration, laser intensity, and thickness on these parameters is also presented.
Studies on the validity of the Einstein viscosity law and Stokes' law of sedimentation

Ultracentrifugal studies on polystyrene latex particles (PSL) in solutions of different densities prepared either from mixtures of H2O and D2O or from various concentrations of sucrose in water yielded a value, by interpolation, of 1.0520 for the density of solution in which the particles neither sediment nor float. Considerations of these results plus the nature of the particles lead to the conclusion that the partial specific volume of the polystyrene latex particles is (1/1.0520) cc. /g. , a value in agreement with the bulk specific volume of solid polystyrene. Evidence is presented for PSL to support the view that the effective hydrodynamic volume is equal to the partial specific volume, so that volume fractions can be determined from the partial specific volume and the dry weight concentration. Measurements of the viscosity of suspensions of polystyrene latex particles over a broad concentration range showed that the intrinsic viscosity was 2.5, in confirmation of the theory of Einstein. At concentrations above 2% by volume a square term in concentration, with coefficient about 10, and also a cubic term are needed to satisfy the data. From the partial specific volume of the latex particles and the value of the sedimentation coefficient extrapolated to infinite dilution, a value of 2640 ± 12 A. was calculated for the diameter of the particles from Stokes' law. This value is in excellent agreement with values obtained by electron microscopy, light scattering, and low angle x-ray scattering. This agreement amounts to a satisfactory test of Stokes' law for particles not much larger than some of the viruses. Studies of the dependence of sedimentation coefficient on concentration indicate that existing theories are not completely satisfactory and that the influence of backward flow of liquid during the sedimentation of the solute particles is appreciable.
Detection limits in photothermal microscopy

We show how to push the detection limits in photothermal microscopy towards weaker single absorbers, by a systematic optimization of signal and noise sources. In particular, we (i) maximize the power of the probe laser beam, (ii) select optimal optical and thermal properties for the medium embedding the absorber, and (iii) thermally isolate the absorber from the glass substrate. These different experimental conditions are optimized in turn with single immobilized gold nanoparticles. We demonstrate the detection of a dissipated power of 3 nW with a signal-to-noise ratio of 8, and an integration time of 10 ms. This corresponds to a less than 0.1 K surface temperature rise for a 20 nm-diameter gold nanosphere (0.4 K for 5 nm). As an example of the achieved detection sensitivity, we show simultaneous photothermal and fluorescence detection of individual 20 nm fluorescent beads, each containing about 20 Nile red dye molecules.
Novel Nano‐Structured Silica‐Based Electrolytes Containing Quaternary Ammonium Iodide Moieties

A series of new hybrid organic‐inorganic molecules were prepared either by grafting of aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) on silica nanoparticles followed by quaternarization of the nitrogen with ethyl, heptyl and isopropyl iodides or by grafting of N,N,N‐triethyl‐3‐(triethoxysilyl)propan‐1‐aminium iodide and N,N,N‐tridodecyl‐3‐(triethoxysilyl)propan‐1‐aminium iodide onto the silica nanoparticles. These new materials were used as iodide sources in the preparation of electrolyte solutions for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The performance of DSSCs was studied as a function of the nature of the solvent, the nature of the dye, the concentration of the modified silica in the electrolyte system and the silica content introduced during the hybrid synthesis. An efficiency of 8.5 % was obtained for solar cells containing the triethyl ammonium iodide salt at a concentration of 1 M in either acetonitrile (AN) or 3‐methoxypropionitrile (MPN) under an illumination of 10 mW cm–2, the equivalent of 0.1 Sun at AM 1.5G. At 1 Sun (100 mW cm–2, efficiencies of 6.6 % and 5.1 % were recorded for the AN and MPN‐based electrolytes, respectively.
Heat adaptation towards improve survival of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 during the spray drying of Sudanese fermented Medida

This study examined the survival of Bifidobacterium longum BB 536 following the spray drying and during the storage of Medida, a fermented Sudanese cereal porridge. Medida was produced using 225 g flour of two days malted brown rice; blended in 0.405 L distilled water and cooked in 1 L boiling water. 150 g skim milk was added followed by sterilization; and the mixture was inoculated with B. longum BB536 and incubated until the biomass reached approximately 9 Log CFU/ml. Spray drying inlet temperature was regulated at 160oC. The strain BB536 survivability at different outlet temperatures (95, 85, and 75oC), powder rehydration times (15 and 30 min) and mild heat adaptations (50 and 45oC) prior to spray drying were evaluated. The viable count at 95oC outlet temperature recorded only 2.48 Log CFU/g but improved to 4.28 ± 0.30 log CFU due to decrease outlet temperature to 85oC. Using 45oC heat adaptation for 30 min and 85oC outlet temperature, high viability of 7.82 ± 0.30 Log CFU/g meeting the requirement of probiotic foods was attained. Moreover, the population obtained did not reveal any significant cells reduction during 60 days refrigeration storage showing survivability maintenance of 88.31%. Therefore, the current investigation demonstrated that development of fermented probiotic Medida powder from malted brown rice flour is possible employing suitable outlet temperature and heat adaptation.
Electrochemical Etch Stop Obtained by Accumulation of Free Carriers without P‐N Junction

The formation of etch-stop layers in silicon micromachining is important in fabricating three-dimensional structures. Etch-stop layers also are important in fabricating SOI-material with BESOI-technique. We present here an electrochemical etch stop, MIS-stop, similar to the p-n etch-stop technique, with a significant difference in that the n-type layer is formed by accumulation of electrons. Hence, the etch-stop layer contains only the bulk impurities, which positively affects further processing
In-situ Determination of the Population of Nuclear Spin States of H2 Injected to the 22-Pole Trap

We evaluate a population of ortho nuclear spin states in H2 gas in the 22-pole linear radio-frequency trap using N + ions as a chemical probe. The rate coecient of the reaction N + + H2 ! NH + + H strongly depends on the nuclear spin states of the H2 molecules at the temperature 11 K. To achieve astrophysically relevant conditions in other our experiments, we convert the normal H2 gas (25% of the molecules in para-states) to H2 gas with a distribution of the nuclear spin states corresponding to the temperatures in prestellar cores (> 99 % in para-states at temperatures 20 K) by a catalytic converter (para-hydrogen generator). Tests by the aforementioned probing reaction show that the abundance of ortho-H2 in such H2 gas is (0:5 0:2)% in the trap. Para-to-ortho back-conversion of H2 gas in the generator's outlet tube was studied and its rate was estimated to lie in the interval (10 4 ; 10 2 )s 1 .
Determination of copper(II) and cadmium(II) based on ternary CuInS2 quantum dots

Water-soluble CuInS2 ternary quantum dots (QDs) capped by mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) were directly synthesized in aqueous solution, and were then applied to the detection of Cu2+ and Cd2+ ions. The ternary QDs exhibited obvious photoluminescence (PL) quenching in the presence of Cu2+ and marked enhancement in the presence of Cd2+ respectively. Other physiological cations such as K+, Ca2+ Mg2+ and Zn2+ had no effect on the PL intensity under similar conditions. The detection limits were 0.1 µmol L−1 for Cu2+ and 0.19 µmol L−1 for Cd2+. The fluorescence quenching of the ternary CuInS2 QDs by Cu2+ could be explained by the reduction of Cu2+ to Cu+ on the surface of the QDs, whereas the fluorescence enhancement by Cd2+ was attributed to activation of surface states. Ternary QDs modified by sufficient Cd2+ showed enhanced sensitivity for Cu2+ determination compared with unmodified QDs, and a detection limit of 0.037 µmol L−1 was obtained for Cu2+. Utilizing the property that Cu2+ can be easily removed by addition of iodide, we could eliminate the interference of Cu2+ on the Cd2+ detection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the selective detection of Cu2+ and Cd2+ by quenching and enhancing the fluorescence of the near-infrared CuInS2 QDs in aqueous solution. This novel method has been successfully applied to the detection of trace Cu2+ and Cd2+ in real water samples with satisfactory results.
On switching H∞ controllers for a class of linear parameter varying systems

We consider switching H∞ controllers for a class of linear parameter varying (LPV) systems scheduled along a measurable parameter trajectory. The candidate controllers are selected from a given controller set according to the switching rules based on the scheduling variable. We provide sufficient conditions to guarantee the stability of the switching LPV systems in terms of the dwell time and the average dwell time. Our results are illustrated with an example, where switching between two robust controllers is performed for an LPV system. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multi-dimensional iodocuprates of 4-cyanopyridinium and N,N′-dialkyl-4,4′-bipyridinium: syntheses, structures and dielectric properties

Solvothermal reactions of CuI with 4-cyanopyridine (4-cypy) or 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bipy) and alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol) in the presence of I2 and a trace amount of water in acetonitrile gave rise to a family of multi-dimensional iodocuprate complexes of 4-cyanopyridinium and N,N′-dialkyl-4,4′-bipyridinium including {[MC]2[Cu4(μ3-I)4(μ-I)2]}n (MC+ = N-methyl-4-cyanopyridium) (1), {[PC][(Cu2I4)1/4(Cu2I4)1/4]}n (PC+ = N-propyl-4-cyanopyridinium) (2), {[iPC][(Cu2I4)1/4((Cu1/2)4I4)1/4]}n (iPC+ = N-isopropyl-4-cyanopyridium) (3), {[EV]1/4[((Cu1/2)4I4)1/4]}n (EV2+ = N,N′-diethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium) (4) and {[PV]1/2[(Cu2I4)1/4((Cu1/2)4I4)1/4]}n (PV2+ = N,N′-dipropyl-4,4′-bipyridinium) (5). The resulting 4-cyanopyridinium and viologen cations were generated in situ via the cleavage of the C–O bond of alcohols followed by alkylation of 4-cypy or 4,4′-bipy. X-ray analysis revealed that compound 1 consists of a unique three-dimensional anionic [Cu4I6]n2n− framework while compounds 2–5 contain one-dimensional anionic [Cu2I4]n2n− chains that are enclosed into different cationic channels formed by either 4-cyanopyridinium or N,N′-dialkyl-4,4′-bipyridinium. The dielectric properties of 1–5 were investigated.
Improving Detection of Disease Re-emergence Using a Web-Based Tool (RED Alert): Design and Case Analysis Study

Background Currently, the identification of infectious disease re-emergence is performed without describing specific quantitative criteria that can be used to identify re-emergence events consistently. This practice may lead to ineffective mitigation. In addition, identification of factors contributing to local disease re-emergence and assessment of global disease re-emergence require access to data about disease incidence and a large number of factors at the local level for the entire world. This paper presents Re-emerging Disease Alert (RED Alert), a web-based tool designed to help public health officials detect and understand infectious disease re-emergence. Objective Our objective is to bring together a variety of disease-related data and analytics needed to help public health analysts answer the following 3 primary questions for detecting and understanding disease re-emergence: Is there a potential disease re-emergence at the local (country) level? What are the potential contributing factors for this re-emergence? Is there a potential for global re-emergence? Methods We collected and cleaned disease-related data (eg, case counts, vaccination rates, and indicators related to disease transmission) from several data sources including the World Health Organization (WHO), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Bank, and Gideon. We combined these data with machine learning and visual analytics into a tool called RED Alert to detect re-emergence for the following 4 diseases: measles, cholera, dengue, and yellow fever. We evaluated the performance of the machine learning models for re-emergence detection and reviewed the output of the tool through a number of case studies. Results Our supervised learning models were able to identify 82%-90% of the local re-emergence events, although with 18%-31% (except 46% for dengue) false positives. This is consistent with our goal of identifying all possible re-emergences while allowing some false positives. The review of the web-based tool through case studies showed that local re-emergence detection was possible and that the tool provided actionable information about potential factors contributing to the local disease re-emergence and trends in global disease re-emergence. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first tool that focuses specifically on disease re-emergence and addresses the important challenges mentioned above.
CycleGAN-based Object Detection under Night Environments

Recently, image-based object detection has made great progress with the introduction of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Many trials such as Region-based CNN, Fast R-CNN, and Faster R-CNN, have been proposed for achieving better performance in object detection. YOLO has showed the best performance under consideration of both accuracy and computational complexity. However, these data-driven detection methods including YOLO have the fundamental problem is that they can not guarantee the good performance without a large number of training database. In this paper, we propose a data sampling method using CycleGAN to solve this problem, which can convert styles while retaining the characteristics of a given input image. We will generate the insufficient data samples for training more robust object detection without efforts of collecting more database. We make extensive experimental results using the day-time and night-time road images and we validate the proposed method can improve the object detection accuracy of the night-time without training night-time object databases, because we converts the day-time training images into the synthesized night-time images and we train the detection model with the real day-time images and the synthesized night-time images.
The Ability of L2 LSTM Language Models to Learn the Filler-Gap Dependency

In this paper, we investigate the correlation between the amount of English sentences that Korean English learners (L2ers) are exposed to and their sentence processing patterns by examining what Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) language models (LMs) can learn about implicit syntactic relationship: that is, the filler–gap dependency. The filler–gap dependency refers to a relationship between a (wh-)filler, which is a wh-phrase like ‘what’ or ‘who’ overtly in clause-peripheral position, and its gap in clause-internal position, which is an invisible, empty syntactic position to be filled by the (wh-)filler for proper interpretation. Here to implement L2ers’ English learning, we build LSTM LMs that in turn learn a subset of the known restrictions on the filler-gap dependency from English sentences in the L2 corpus that L2ers can potentially encounter in their English learning. Examining LSTM LMs’ behaviors on controlled sentences designed with the filler-gap dependency, we show the characteristics of L2ers' sentence processing using the information-theoretic metric of surprisal that quantifies violations of the filler-gap dependency or wh-licensing interaction effects. Furthermore, comparing L2ers’ LMs with native speakers’ LM in light of processing the filler-gap dependency, we not only note that in their sentence processing both L2ers’ LM and native speakers’ LM can track abstract syntactic structures involved in the filler-gap dependency, but also show using linear mixed-effects regression models that there exist significant differences between them in processing such a dependency.
Thermal decomposition reactions of N-alkylated 2-aminobiphenyls to carbazole and phenanthridine

Thermal cyclization reactions were examined by passing vapors of N-alkylated 2-aminobiphenyls 1a-c and 2 over calcium oxide at 450-600°C under nitrogen carrier gas. The reactions yielded 9-methylcarbazole 3, carbazole 4, phenanthridine 5 and phenanthrene 6. The major product for the reactions of 1a, 1b and 2 was phenanthridine 5 while that of 1c was carbazole 4.