Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High performance RF-microwave multilayer integrated components for wireless applications

Future high-performance wireless communication applications such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) around 5GHz require low power and high quality integrated transceiver solutions. The integration of RF front-end especially poses a great challenge to these applications as traditional system on chip (SOC) approach is quite inefficient. A system on package approach can address the problems in an optimum way. In this paper we present a comparison of different passive element fabrication choices. These passives are to be fabricated between different modules on an MCM-D substrate. Inductors and capacitors are compared on the bases of their Q-factors and SRF (self resonance frequency). RF receiver module for 5GHz wireless LAN applications is implemented using benzocyclobutene (BCB) as interlayer material.
Bidirectional Location Privacy Protection Schemes against Internal Adversary in WSN

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of numerous small nodes that collect and spread the information for many different types of applications. The major use of WSN is tracking and monitoring the objects, such that the observed objects are also needed the protection. For instance, a WSN can often deploy in hostile environments to detect and collect interested events such as the appearance of a rare animal. However, due to the open characteristic of wireless communications, an adversary can detect the location of a source or sink in networks. Thus the location privacy of both the source and sink becomes a censorious problem in WSNs. Previous research only focuses on the location privacy of the source or sinks independently. A new research proposes the implementation of four location privacy schema to deliver messages from source to sink, which can protect the end-to-end location privacy against local eavesdropper. But, the introduced four location privacy schemes have different performance on protecting the single stationary source, sink or both. As the proposed work, we plan to decompose the provided schemes and analyze the safety period, end to end latency, energy consumption by introduce the new scheme "The tree diversionary protection" for location privacy at source and sink respectively. Also focusing on optimal combination can be discovered to achieve a highest end to end location privacy protection for multiple mobile sources. Simulation results show that our scheme is very effective to improve the privacy protection while maximizing the network lifetime.
Communication Mode Selection and Pricing Mechanism for Relaying Based Device-to-Device Communications

In this paper, the communication mode selection issue as well as pricing mechanism in relaying enhanced device-to-device (D2D) communications is discussed. By considering the user density within the cell, the problem of “when D2D relaying mode should be selected? ” is explored. Furthermore, based on game theoretical approach, the optimal pricing strategy is proposed so as to encourage D2D relaying behavior among D2D peers. Considering user’s demands and D2D devices’ constraint ability, the proposed mechanism is based on the user’s payoff model. Simulation results demonstrate that under game theoretical model, the proposed scheme can achieve the maximal utility for D2D devices when the reasonable price is adopted, hence better user experience can be obtained.
The Interaction between Product Market and Financing Strategy: The Role of Venture Capital

Venture capital financing is widely believed to be influential for new innovative companies. We provide empirical evidence that venture capital financing is related to product market strategies and outcomes of start-ups. Using a unique hand-collected database of Silicon Valley high-tech start-ups we find that innovator firms are more likely to obtain venture capital than imitator firms. Venture capital is also associated with a significant reduction in the time to bring a product to market, especially for innovators. Our results suggest significant interrelations between investor types and product market dimensions, and a role of venture capital for innovative companies. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Advanced active quenching circuits for single-photon avalanche photodiodes

Commercial photon-counting modules, often based on actively quenched solid-state avalanche photodiode sensors, are used in wide variety of applications. Manufacturers characterize their detectors by specifying a small set of parameters, such as detection efficiency, dead time, dark counts rate, afterpulsing probability and single photon arrival time resolution (jitter), however they usually do not specify the conditions under which these parameters are constant or present a sufficient description. In this work, we present an in-depth analysis of the active quenching process and identify intrinsic limitations and engineering challenges. Based on that, we investigate the range of validity of the typical parameters used by two commercial detectors. We identify an additional set of imperfections that must be specified in order to sufficiently characterize the behavior of single-photon counting detectors in realistic applications. The additional imperfections include rate-dependence of the dead time, jitter, detection delay shift, and "twilighting. " Also, the temporal distribution of afterpulsing and various artifacts of the electronics are important. We find that these additional non-ideal behaviors can lead to unexpected effects or strong deterioration of the system's performance. Specifically, we discuss implications of these new findings in a few applications in which single-photon detectors play a major role: the security of a quantum cryptographic protocol, the quality of single-photon-based random number generators and a few other applications. Finally, we describe an example of an optimized avalanche quenching circuit for a high-rate quantum key distribution system based on time-bin entangled photons.
Texture and microstructure in co-sputtered Mg-M-O (M = Mg, Al, Cr, Ti, Zr, and Y) films

Mg-M-O solid solution films (M = Mg, Al, Cr, Ti, Zr, and Y) with various M contents are grown employing reactive co-sputtering by varying the target-to-substrate distance. It is shown that all films are biaxially aligned. When the two cathodes are equipped with the same target material (Mg), the in-plane alignment is determined by the cathode closest to the substrate, i.e., by the largest material flux. In the case of nearly equal material fluxes from the two cathodes, double in-plane orientation is observed. This is also the case for the Mg-Al-O and Mg-Cr-O films, while the Mg-Ti-O, Mg-Zr-O and Mg-Y-O films exhibit single in-plane orientation. Pole figures indicate that the grains in Mg-M-O (M different than Mg) are titled; in the Mg-Al-O, Mg-Cr-O, and Mg-Ti-O films, the grains tilt towards the Al, Cr, and Ti metal flux, respectively, while the grain tilt of the Mg-Zr-O and Mg-Y-O films is found to be towards the Mg metal flux. Furthermore, SEM cross-sectional images of the Mg-M-O films reveal columnar m.
A Sequential Orientation Kalman Filter for AHRS Limiting Effects of Magnetic Disturbance to Heading Estimation

This paper deals with three dimensional orientation estimation algorithm for an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) based on nine-axis inertial/magnetic sensor signals. In terms of the orientation estimation based on the use of a Kalman filter (KF), the quaternion is arguably the most popular orientation representation. However, one critical drawback in the quaternion representation is that undesirable magnetic disturbances affect not only yaw estimation but also roll and pitch estimations. In this paper, a sequential direction cosine matrix-based orientation KF for AHRS has been presented. The proposed algorithm uses two linear KFs, consisting of an attitude KF followed by a heading KF. In the latter, the direction of the local magnetic field vector is projected onto the heading axis of the inertial frame by considering the dip angle, which can be determined after the attitude KF. Owing to the sequential KF structure, the effects of even extreme magnetic disturbances are limited to the roll and pitch estimations, without any additional decoupling process. This overcomes an inherent issue in quaternion-based estimation algorithms. Validation test results show that the proposed method outperforms other comparison methods in terms of the yaw estimation accuracy during perturbations and in terms of the recovery speed.
Effect of dual-band semiconductor laser transurethral resection of prostate on efficacy, stress response and quality of life in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objective: To explore the effect of dual-band semiconductor laser transurethral resection of prostate on efficacy, stress response and quality of life in patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: 126 cases of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia treated in our hospital during January 2014 to January 2015 were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 63 cases in each. Patients in control group were treated with Transurethral Resection of Prostate (TURP). Patients in observation group were treated with Dual-Band Semiconductor Laser Transurethral Resection of Prostate (DBSCLTURP). The surgical indications, change of maximum urinary flow rate, post-voiding residual urine volume, IPSS score, BI index scores, quality of life before surgery and 3 months after surgery, as well as serum Cor and E levels before and 7 days after surgery were compared. Results: Blood loss, postoperative indwelling catheter time, postoperative bladder irrigation time, postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complications in observation group were better than that in control group (p<0.05). In both groups maximum urinary flow rate significantly increased after 3 months, and post-voiding residual urine volume decreased significantly (P<0.05). Maximum urinary flow rate in observation group was higher than the control group 3 months after surgery, and postvoiding residual urine volume lower than the control group (P<0.05). Levels of serum Cor and E increased significantly 7 days after surgery in both groups, but with smaller extent of increase in observation group (P<0.05). In observation group serum Cor, E level was lower than the control group 7 days after surgery (P<0.05). In both groups, IPSS score decreased significantly after 3 months, while the BI index score increased significantly after 3 months (P<0.05). In observation group, IPSS score after 3 months was significantly lower than the control group, and the BI index scores after 3 months was higher (P<0.05). In observation group, bodily pain, mental health, physical function, physical occupation, emotional function, social function, vitality, general health after 3 months were better than the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The effect of dual-band semiconductor laser transurethral resection of prostate in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia was significant, with little effect on the stress response. It can significantly improve the quality of life of patients, with important research value.
An exploration of IPAC educational intervention research: What do we mean by education?

Background: Education is considered an important component of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) practice. A shift has occurred from exploring how education plays a role in changing healthcare provider infection control practices to increased interest in the use of multimodal interventions. However, several comprehensive systematic literature reviews have identified theoretical, conceptual and methodological challenges in IPAC educational intervention research. Methods: To gain deeper insight into the challenges, a qualitative review was conducted using a content analysis of 122 papers published between 1989 and 2017. Results: IPAC educational practice and research is predominantly informed by the traditional educational paradigm of knowledge acquisition, with a commitment to quantitative research methodologies that treat education as a static tool. Limited attention is given to educational theories, teaching and learning concepts and instructional
Identification of Gene-environment Interactions in Cancer Prognosis Studies Using Penalization

High-throughput cancer studies have been extensively conducted, searching for genetic risk factors independently associated with prognosis beyond clinical and environmental risk factors. Many studies have shown that the gene-environment interactions may have important implications. Some of the existing methods, such as the commonly adopted single-marker analysis, may be limited in that they cannot accommodate the joint effects of a large number of genetic markers or use ineffective marker identification techniques. In this study, we analyze cancer prognosis studies, and adopt the AFT (accelerated failure time) model to describe survival. A weighted least squares approach, which has the lowest computational cost, is adopted for estimation. For the identification of G×E interactions and main effects, we adopt a group sparse penalization approach, which has an intuitive formulation, can accommodate the joint effects of a large number of markers, and is computationally affordable. Simulation study shows satisfactory performance of the penalization approach. Analysis of an NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) prognosis study with SNP measurements shows that the proposed approach may identify markers with important implications and satisfactory prediction performance and reproducibility. Analysis of a follicular lymphoma gene expression study is also conducted.
Resonant Structure in the Kuiper Disk: An Asymmetric Plutino Disk

In order to develop a dynamical model of the Kuiper disk, we run numerical integrations of particles originating from source bodies trapped in the 3 : 2 external mean motion resonance with Neptune to determine what percentage of particles remain in the resonance for a variety of particle and source body sizes. The dynamical evolution of the particles is followed from source to sink with Poynting-Robertson light drag, solar wind drag, radiation pressure, the Lorentz force, neutral interstellar gas drag, and the effects of planetary gravitational perturbations included. We find that the number of particles in the 3 : 2 resonance increases with decreasing β (i.e., increasing particle size) for the cases in which the initial source bodies are small (≤10 km in diameter) and that the percentage of particles in resonance is not significantly changed by either the addition of the Lorentz force, as long as the potential of the particles is small (≈5 V), or the effect of neutral interstellar gas drag. The brightness of the entire Kuiper disk is calculated using a model composed of 500 μm diameter particles and fits well with upper limits to the Kuiper disk brightness and previous estimates. A disk with a size-frequency distribution weighted toward large particles, which are more likely to remain in resonance, may have a stronger, more easily identifiable resonant signature than a disk composed of small particles.
Top Management Team Demographic Diversities, Generic Strategy and Firm Performance in Marketing Social Research Association (MSRA) in Kenya

This study investigated the relationship between Top Management Team (TMT) demographic diversities and firm performance using generic strategies as intervening variable in the Marketing and Social Research Association (MSRA) firms in Kenya. First, the relationship between TMT characteristics diversities and generic strategy was analyzed. Second, the link between generic strategy and firm performance was estimated. Mixed methods research design was used to critically investigate the relationship between the latent exogenous and endogenous variables of this study. The mixed research design used in this study was triangulation design, which was mainly transformation design model. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis, using IBM SPSS AMOS version 21. The study found out that the homogenous demographic diversities among the top management team members had statistically significant effect on cost leadership strategy (p = 0.012). Besides, cost leadership strategy showed a statistically significant positive relationship on firm performance (p = 0.005). The findings of this study implied that organizations need to know and develop the best composition of top management team based on their demographic diversities in relation to the environment. Besides, the organizations need to empower the TMT members using monetary and nonmonetary incentives to further improve performance. Last but not least, the compositions of TMT in marketing research firms need to embrace gender diversity.
GENETIC STRUCTURE IN POPULATIONS OF FUCUS VESICULOSUS (PHAEOPHYCEAE) OVER SPATIAL SCALES FROM 10 M TO 800 KM 1

Recent studies showing consequences of species’ genetic diversity on ecosystem performance raise the concern of how key ecosystem species are genetically structured. The bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus L. is a dominant species of macroalga in the northern Atlantic, and it is particularly important as a habitat‐forming species in the Baltic Sea. We examined the genetic structure of populations of F. vesiculosus with a hierarchical approach from a within‐shore scale (10 m) to a between‐seas scale (Baltic Sea–Skagerrak, 800 km). Analysis of five microsatellite loci showed that population differentiation was generally strong (average FST = 12%), being significant at all spatial scales investigated (101, 103, 104–5, 106 m). Genetic differentiation between seas (Baltic Sea and Skagerrak) was substantial. Nevertheless, the effects of isolation by distance were stronger within seas than between seas. Notably, Baltic summer‐reproducing populations showed a strong within‐sea, between‐area (70 km) genetic structure, while Baltic autumn‐reproducing populations and Skagerrak summer‐reproducing populations revealed most genetic diversity between samples within areas (<1 km). Despite such differences in overall structure, Baltic populations of summer‐ and autumn‐reproducing morphs did not separate in a cluster analysis, indicating minor, if any, barriers to gene flow between them. Our results have important implications for management and conservation of F. vesiculosus, and we raise a number of concerns about how genetic variability should be preserved within this species.
Comparative Study of Sampling Methods for Online Social Networks

The properties of online social networks are of great interests to the general public as well as IT professionals. Often the raw data are not available and the summaries released by the service providers are sketchy. Thus sampling is needed to reveal the hidden properties and structure of the underlying network. This thesis conducts comparative studies on various sampling methods, including Random Node(RN), Random Walk(RW) and Random Edge(RE) samplings. The properties to be discovered include the average degree and population size of the network. Additionally, this thesis proposes a new sampling method called STAR sampling and applies this method to an online social network Weibo. Furthermore, visualization of network structure is studied to explain the impact of network structure on the performance of sampling methods. We show that RE sampling is better than RN sampling in general. This result is supported by over 20 real-world networks.
Experimentally Accessible Lower Bounds for Genuine Multipartite Entanglement and Coherence Measures

Experimentally quantifying entanglement and coherence are extremely important for quantum resource theory. However, because the quantum state tomography requires exponentially growing measurements with the number of qubits, it is hard to quantify entanglement and coherence based on the full information of the experimentally realized multipartite states. Fortunately, other methods have been found to directly measure the fidelity of experimental states without quantum state tomography. Here we present a fidelity-based method to derive experimentally accessible lower bounds for measures of genuine multipartite entanglement and coherence. On the one hand, the method works for genuine multipartite entanglement measures including the convex-roof extended negativity, the concurrence, the G-concurrence, and the geometric measure for genuine multipartite entanglement. On the other hand, the method also delivers observable lower bounds for the convex roof of the $l_{1}$-norm of coherence, the geometric measure of coherence, and the coherence of formation. Furthermore, all the lower bounds are based on the fidelity between the chosen pure state and the target state, and we obtain the lower bounds of several real experimental states as examples of our results.
Developing and Implementing Instrumentation for Digital High School Curricula: A Regional Study of a Rubric for Instructional Quality

As our world has continued to become more dependent on digital communication and collaboration, online learning environments have become more sophisticated. Demand for online and/or hybrid learning materials has increased, not only in higher education arenas, but in elementary and secondary schools, as well. This study describes the development and implementation of an evaluative rubric for high school digital curricula created for a United States regional consortium of school districts, charged with expanding quality digital learning environments for their students. Digital instructional units for ten high school courses were created by collaborative teacher design teams, with each team consisting of 4-7 teachers. With the goal of creating 1/3 of a year’s curriculum, teams developed 2-4 units per course in the first year. A total of 30 units were developed and evaluated. In collaboration with project partners, developed the NWOi3 Evaluation Rubric for Digital Curriculum that was used to assess curriculum units and consisted of 36 criteria organized by eight areas: 1) Overview, 2) Learning Targets, 3) Instructor Support, 4) Accessibility, 5) Instructional Materials, 6) Learner Interaction and Engagement, 7) Technology, and 8) Assessment. A variety of sources contributed to rubric development: Quality Matters K-12 Secondary Rubric (Quality Matters, 2017), Blended Course Peer Review Form (Blended Learning Toolkit, 2014), and the National Standards for Quality Online Programs (International Association for K-12 Online Learning [iNACOL], 2011). The evaluation process utilized a team of reviewers: five content experts, and three curriculum/ technology experts. A third evaluator then summarized the two reviews for every unit, providing a score for each criterion along with detailed comments and feedback. The process of how rubric results were analyzed and reported is described along with the challenges encountered.