Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphology-dependent optical anisotropies in organic semiconductors

Author(s): Brown, Steven | Advisor(s): Schuller, Jon A; Palmstrom, Christopher J | Abstract: Organic semiconductors tend to have highly ordered, anisotropic morphologies. These structural anisotropies lead to optical anisotropies which we have shown directly affect the efficiency of photonic devices such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Measuring the direction-dependent optical properties of organic films would thus give unique insights into film structure and inform the design of organic optoelectronics. In this work we develop momentum-resolved spectroscopies to precisely measure the emitting and absorbing dipole strengths as well as complex refractive indices of uniaxial organic films. We then demonstrate how these techniques can be used to investigate film morphology by measuring the tilt angle and processing-dependent structural changes in the polymer system P(NDI2OD-T2). Finally, we show how molecular orientation impacts device properties by studying changes in surface plasmon dispersion and photoluminescence enhancement in films of the small molecule p-SIDT(FBTTh2)2 on gold.
Research on MetaData Server of High Reliability

The most immediate effect of object-based storage is the offloading of space management from storage applications.MetaData Server(MDS) is responsible for the logical view management and provides unique naming space.To play an important role of navigation for MDS,this paper proposes a method of master/slave/standby chain backup.It can provide a continuous serving and ensure high reliability of MDS without adding any hardware device.
THE SYNTHESIS, THERMAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYVINYLCHLORIDE/GRAPHENE OXIDE (PVC/GO) COMPOSITES

In this study, the thermal and structural changes were observed in polyvinylchloride / graphene oxide (PVC/GO) composites in different amounts of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1 wt. %. To this aim, GO was prepared from natural graphite by Hummers method. XRD results of GO indicated that the interlayer distance increased from 0.33 nm to 0.88 nm. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis results showed that oxygen content increased from 22.59 % to 47.95 % after the oxidation process. These features suggested that the GO sample, mainly oxygen-containing functional groups, was oxidized. PVC/GO composites were prepared by colloidal blending. XRD results of all composites indicated the GO layers well-dispersed in polymer matrix. SEM analysis revealed that the composites with 0.1 and 0.5 wt. % GO filler exhibited a uniform composite with highly porous and micro porous morphology respectively. TGA and DSC analysis showed that the use of minimum amount of GO in PVC matrix did not provide an important improvement on the thermal stability of the examined composites.
Welfare Properties of Profit Maximizing Recommender Systems: Theory and Results from a Randomized Experiment

Recommender systems have been introduced to help consumers navigate large sets of alternatives. They usually lead to more sales, which may increase consumer surplus and firm profit. In this paper, we ask whether firms may hurt consumers when they choose which recommender systems to use. We use data from a large scale field experiment ran using the video-on-demand system of a large telecommunications provider to measure the price elasticity of demand for movies placed in salient and non-salient slots on the TV screen. During this experiment, the firm randomized the slots in which movies were recommended to consumers as well as their prices. This setting readily allows for identifying the effects of price and slot on demand and thus compute consumer surplus. We find empirical evidence that consumers are less price elastic towards movies placed in salient slots. Using the outcomes of this experiment we simulate how consumer surplus and welfare change when the firm implements several recommender system, namely one that maximizes profit. We show that this system hurts both consumer surplus and welfare relative to the systems designed to maximize the latter. We also show that, at least in our setting, the system that maximizes profit does not generate less consumer surplus than some recommender systems often used in practice, such as content-based, lists of most sold, most rated and highest rated products. Yet, how much extra rent the firm can extract from strategically placing movies in salient slots is still a function of the popularity and quality of movies used to do so. Ultimately, our results question whether recommender systems embed mechanisms that extract excessive surplus from consumers, which may call for better scrutiny.
Estimating technical efficiency and the metatechnology ratio using the metafrontier approach for cropping systems in Kebbi State , Nigeria

The study applied a metafrontier model, which is developed based on the idea that different groups of cropping systems use different technology set. The analysis is applied to the meta-cost efficiency of 98 monocroppers and 158 intercroppers. The results reveal that based on the metatechnology ratio, millet/cowpea group were more technically efficient followed by the sorghum/cowpea group. The sorghum groups were less technically efficient. This suggests that crop diversification in order to manage risk sources has the potential of improving crop productivity in Kebbi State. Crop combinations, however, prove to play an important role. Care should be taken to select the optimal combination of crops to include in the intercropping system.
Fuzzy control of wing rock for slender delta wings

Fuzzy logic-based roll controllers are designed to control wing-rock motion of a free-to-roll stinged delta wing. The dynamics of an aircraft is a complex function of flight conditions. The free-to-roll stinged delta wing permits investigation of these variations, as well as the highly nonlinear dynamics of limit cycle at high angle-of-attack. A rule-base fuzzy logic control (FLC) is designed to suppress wing rock phenomena. The goal is to demonstrate the ability of FLC to capture qualitative control strategies and implement highly flexible control behaviors. A database FLC design method is used to improve performance characteristics to a level compatible with the performance of an optimal linear controller while maintaining high performance throughout the whole flight envelope. <<ETX>>
CAPER: A Cross-Application Permissioned Blockchain

Despite recent intensive research, existing blockchain systems do not adequately address all the characteristics of distributed applications. In particular, distributed applications collaborate with each other following service level agreements (SLAs) to provide different services. While collaboration between applications, e.g., cross-application transactions, should be visible to all applications, the internal data of each application, e.g, internal transactions, might be confidential . In this paper, we introduce CAPER , a permissioned blockchain system to support both internal and cross-application transactions of collaborating distributed applications. In CAPER, the blockchain ledger is formed as a directed acyclic graph where each application accesses and maintains only its own view of the ledger including its internal and all cross-application transactions. CAPER also introduces three consensus protocols to globally order cross-application transactions between applications with different internal consensus protocols. The experimental results reveal the efficiency of CAPER in terms of performance and scalability.
STUDY FOR MONITORING OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE TRENDS ( SMART ) : A Surveillance of Gram-negative Bacilli Causing Urinary Tract Infections in Inpatients

International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IJBLS) 2017 Vo1. 6, No. 1&2:12-16 Received: April 01, 2017 Revised: June 20, 2017 Accepted: September 29, 2017 *Corresponding Author: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Nazil Salleh, Department of Health Sciences, University Selangor, Shah Alam City Campus, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel: (+603) – 5522 3471, Fax: (+603) – 5522 4323, Email: drnazil@unisel.com Original Article
A low bit rate wavelet-based image coder for transmission over hybrid networks

To handle the increased demand of personal communications over networks, a low bit rate wavelet based image coder is developed for use in multimedia transmissions. The HC-RIOT (Hbomogenous Cbonnected-Rbegion Ibnterested Obrdered Tbransmission) image coder provides a single coded bitstream that can be decoded at different data rates, which permits transmission over varying bandwidth network connections and is receivable by several different performance levels of decoders. This approach uses a wavelet-based transform combined with a two-stage ZTE/SPIHT entropy coder to create a bitstream with properties of progressive transmission, scalability, and perceptual optimization after a minimum bit rate is reached. A wavelet block chain (WBC) method is used in the initial coding of the low-low (LL) subband to separate and label homogenous regions of the image to the decoder without additional overhead in the bitstream. This information is then used to increase coding efficiency in the modified SPIHT module by the creation of a List of Insignificant Regions (LIR). In addition, perceptual quality of low bit rate images can be enhanced by zeromap filtering and weighting of the wavelet coefficients, which can be targeted down to specific regions of interest. Also the WBC method is shown to possibly assist in a spatio-temporal segmentation and object identification type scheme. The transmission format is initially comprised of a highly compressed base layer, which transmits at a fixed bit rate to provide a minimal quality image, and two enhancement layers, which provide progressive transmission of improvements to the base layer image. This three-layer format is compatible with an unequal channel protection strategy, which is used for error resiliency of transmission through networks. The image coder is designed to operate efficiently from 0.04 bpp to 0.4 bpp (200–20:1 compression ratio), which is suitable for low bit rate transmissions. The overall objective is to develop an image codec for transmission over hybrid networks at low bit rates, which also considers its integration into a video object coder as part of its design.
Equivalence of the Projected Forward Dynamics and the Dynamically Consistent Inverse Solution

—The analysis, design, and motion planning of robotic systems, often relies on its forward and inverse dynamic models. When executing a task involving interaction with the environment, both the task and the environment impose constraints on the robot’s motion. For modeling such systems, we need to incorporate these constraints in the robot’s dynamic model. In this paper, we deﬁne the class of Task-based Constraints (TbC) to prove that the forward dynamic models of a constrained system obtained through the Projection-based Dynamics (PbD), and the Operational Space Formulation (OSF) are equivalent. In order to establish such equivalence, we ﬁrst generalize the OSF to a rank deﬁcient Jacobian. This generalization allow us to numerically handle redundant constraints and singular conﬁgurations, without having to use different controllers in the vicinity of such conﬁgurations. We then reformulate the PbD constraint inertia matrix, generalizing all its previous distinct algebraic variations. We also analyse the condition number of different constraint inertia matrices, which affects the numerical stability of its inversion. Furthermore, we show that we can recover the operational space control with constraints from a multiple Task-based Constraint abstraction.
Promoted neutrophil respiratory burst makes elimination of mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms more difficult by enhancing alginate production

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections. This pathogen usually forms biofilms (BFs) and undergoes mucoid conversion during chronic lung infections in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or cystic fibrosis (CF). These infections can result in excessive inflammation, leading to immune-mediated tissue damage, particularly through the action of recruited white blood cells, known as neutrophils. Most studies have focused on multiple strategies of P. aeruginosa BFs in overcoming these deleterious conditions in the host. However, the effects of immune response on P. aeruginosa BFs have received little attention. Objective: The current study sought to determine whether the neutrophil respiratory burst, a key part of neutrophil antibacterial activities, affects mucoid P. aeruginosa BFs. Methods: Using in vivo models of BF infections, this study evaluated the impact of an enhanced neutrophil respiratory burst on mucoid P. aeruginosa BFs, investigating the structure and bacterial counts of P. aeruginosa BFs, pathological changes, and inflammatory response in the lungs and alginate synthesis. Conclusion: Results showed that infections were more severe with more robust BFs. There was more severe tissue damage and immune response, along with greater alginate production, when the neutrophil respiratory burst was enhanced. This suggests that a promoted neutrophil respiratory burst may make the elimination of mucoid P. aeruginosa BFs more difficult by enhancing alginate production.
Availability and toxicity of pendimethalin to aquatic microorganisms

The characterization of bioavailability and toxicity of pesticides is necessary for the assessment of environmental risk caused by these chemicals. Pendimethalin is a dinitroaniline herbicide used for selective control of most annual grasses and many annual broad-leaved weeds in several crops. The technical formulation of this herbicide, Stomp 330, has been approved in Lithuania and is applied to winter rye, barley, maize, winter wheat, as well as to some vegetable crops. The objective of this study was 1) to evaluate the bioavailability and toxicity of pendimethalin to three species of aquatic microorganisms: green microalgae Selenastrum capricornutum, ciliate protozoa Tetrahymena thermophila and luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri; 2) to compare the toxicity of pendimethalin-standard (pure compound) and technical formulation of herbicide Stomp 330 to the microorganisms tested. The growth of algae S. capricornutum was most sensitive to pendimethalin (the value of EC50 for pendimethalinstandard – 52 μg/l) In the tests with T. thermophila and V. fischeri, the values of EC50 for pendimethalin were above the water solubility level of this compound (0.3 mg/l). The effect of Stomp 330 on bacterial bioluminescence appeared in a shorter time as compared to the effect of pure pendimethalin. The difficulty in evaluating the bioavailability and toxicity of poorly watersoluble substances to microbial cells is discussed.
Qos Provisioning for Energy Efficiency in Mobile Ad-Hoc Network

In mobile ad-hoc networks Quality of Service (QoS) of a multicast routing protocol is one of the most key performance metrics. Slotconditions and network topology frequently change (Topology dynamic), and in order to achieve a certain level of QoS, complexalgorithms and protocols are needed. Network graph conditionsare neglected during the design of aexisting multicast protocol. However, vulnerability against network graph errors can severely affect theperformance of a multicast protocol. To address this here the author proposesanenergy efficient network graph pre-processing approach to enable traffic engineering and enhance the performance of energy efficiency in terms of network efficiency by QoSprovisioning, to cater the multicast routing issue in MANETS.In this approach prioritized admission control (PAC) scheme is implemented to improvise D2D (Device to Device) communications into cellular network to overcome the limitations of MANETs.
Research on Web Service Testing

As an evolutionary technology,Web services poses new challenges for software testing.Web service testing need to be adaptive to distributed coordinated environment.To ensure the quality of Web services,services need to be verified and validated at different levels including infrastructure,unit and integration,from different perspectives inclu- ding functionality,performance,reliability,security,etc.The paper analyzes the issues of web service testing and gives an overview of testing techniques on SOAP protocol verification,WSDL extension,and model-based verification tech- niques of composite service specification.It finally discusses future research and practice on Web service testing.
Volumetric Atmospheric Effects Rendering

In search of a better and more realistic game environment, graphic designers together with game developers have implemented a new way to render cloudscapes. The standard way of rendering clouds consists of skyboxes with flat textures that follow the player in the scene, and it works well in 3D scenes where the camera is expected to be far away from the clouds. But in open world games where the position of the camera cannot be assumed, skyboxes give a static impression and flat textures can give artifacts. Volumetric clouds are dynamic and look realistic but can also be easily manipulated which is something game designers require. Rendering volumetric clouds is a compute-intensive process which makes it difficult to use in real-time applications. This thesis presents a way of rendering volumetric clouds in Unity by using precalculated 3D cloud textures and real-time shader calculations.
Seroprevalence and risk factor associated with respiratory viral pathogens in dual-purpose cattle of Aguachica, Rio de Oro, and La Gloria municipalities in Cesar department, Colombia

Aim: The research was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and risk factor associated with respiratory viral pathogens in dual-purpose cattle of Aguachica, Rio de Oro and La Gloria municipalities in Cesar department, Colombia. Materials and Methods: The seroprevalence study was done from the random sampling (n=1000) of blood collected from 29 dual-purpose herds, located in three municipalities (Aguachica, Rio de Oro, and La Gloria) of Cesar department. The presence of antibodies against bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), and bovine parainfluenza-3 virus (BPI-3V) in the samples was detected by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Epidemiological data were obtained using a questionnaire administered to the owner or manager of each herd. Results: The overall highest seroprevalence was observed for BHV-1 (94.7%), followed by BRSV (98.6%), BVDV (35.2%), and BPI-3V (47.1%). Regarding the seroprevalence by municipalities, there was a statistical association (p<0.05) for BVDV; however, for BRSV, BHV-1, and BPI-3V, no statistical association was found (p>0.05) between seropositive values and the municipalities, indicating that animal was seropositive in similar proportions in the three municipalities. Female sex and older animals (>24 months) were a significant risk factor for BHV-1 and BPI-3V infection. Regarding the clinical signs, there was a statistical association (p<0.05) between the seropositive values of BVDV and most of clinical signs observed, except for abortion. Conclusion: This research confirms the high seroprevalence of the respiratory viral pathogens in nonvaccinated cattle within the study areas. Therefore, appropriate sanitary management practices and routine vaccination programs should be adopted to reduce the seroprevalence of these infectious agents.
Preliminary Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) of Duke Reclaimer System: Ultrafiltration, Granular Activated Carbon, and Electrolysis Liquid Treatment System

BMGF OPP: OPP1173370 (Sanitation Technology Cluster) Project #: 013C ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This work is, in whole, supported by a grant, OPP1173370 (Sanitation Technology Cluster), from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through Duke University’s Center for WaSH-AID. All opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this work are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation, Duke, or the Center.
Bayesian Neural Network Models for Censored Data

Neural networks are considered by many to be very promising tools for classification and prediction. The flexibility of the neural network models often result in over‐fit. Shrinking the parameters using a penalized likelihood is often used in order to overcome such over‐fit. In this paper we extend the approach proposed by FARAGGI and SIMON (1995a) to modeling censored survival data using the input‐output relationship associated with a single hidden layer feed‐forward neural network. Instead of estimating the neural network parameters using the method of maximum likelihood, we place normal prior distributions on the parameters and make inferences based on derived posterior distributions of the parameters. This Bayesian formulation will result in shrinking the parameters of the neural network model and will reduce the over‐fit compared with the maximum likelihood estimators. We illustrate our proposed method on a simulated and a real example.
Analysis of censored recidivism data using a proportional hazards-type model

In using regressional failure rate techniques for the study of the effects of individual characteristics and correctional factors on the future criminal behaviour of offenders, researchers often fail to recognize that some of these effects may diminish significantly with time. We describe how the simple proportional hazards model can be adapted to account for such transient effects. We also demonstrate how the new version closely reflects the characteristics of the recidivism process, as it recognizes that some of the individuals under study may desist from criminal activity. The data analysed concern the criminal records of some 307 males. The data have been analysed using a suite of programs not designed to deal specifically with this problem. The output, both tabular and graphical, shows the exploratory data analysis to establish the reasonableness of the models, the estimation of parameters, and the validation of results.
Role of Corporate Reputation , Brand Awareness & Expected Service Quality on Consumer Attitudinal Loyalty : A study on Telecommunication sector of Patna

In recent years, the corporate image concept has attracted a lot of interest among managers, consultants and academicians. In this era of severe competition corporate image is increasingly become pivotal for telecom companies, to create differentiation. The research aims at enriching the knowledge and understanding of the impact of corporate image, brand awareness and expected service quality on consumer’s attitudinal loyalty in telecommunication services. On the basis of extensive literature review, three hypotheses have been formulated and a hypothetical model has been developed for this study. Descriptive analysis was used to explain the demographics of the sample. For testing the hypotheses a multiple regression method has been applied and the result shows that perceived service on consumer attitudinal loyalty. It has also been found that corporate reputation and brand awareness has not much role on consumer attitudinal loyalty in telecommunication sector in Patna, which is partially contradictory to some of the earlier research works.
Chinese Part-of-speech Tagging Based on Conditional Random Fields

In recent years,conditional random fields is widely used in various types of sequence data labeling,hundreds of millions of features will be extended out in the context modeling using CRFs for Chinese part of speech tagging,feature template set is optimized after in-depth analysis of the context features.We further studied the relations of the feature template set and the training model size,tagging accuracy for Chinese part-of-speech tagging via using maximum entropy model.Experimental results show that optimized feature set of templates is the overall optimum.