Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time of flight positron emission tomography towards 100ps resolution with L(Y)SO: an experimental and theoretical analysis

Scintillation crystals have a wide range of applications in detectors for high energy and medical physics. They are recquired to have not only good energy resolution, but also excellent time resolution. In medical applications, L(Y)SO crystals are commonly used for time of flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET). This study aims at determining the experimental and theoretical limits of timing using L(Y)SO based scintillators coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Measurements are based on the time-over-threshold method in a coincidence setup utilizing the ultra-fast amplifier-discriminator NINO and a fast oscilloscope. Using a 2 × 2 × 3 mm3 LSO:Ce codoped 0.4% Ca crystal coupled to a commercially available SiPM (Hamamatsu S10931-050P MPPC), we achieve a coincidence time resolution (CTR) of 108±5ps FWHM measured at E=511keV. We determine the influence of the data acquisition system to 27±2ps FWHM and thus negligible as compared to the CTR. This shows that L(Y)SO scintillators coupled to SiPM photodetectors are capable of achieving very good time resolution close to the desired 100ps FWHM for TOF-PET systems. To fully understand the measured values, we developed a simulation tool in MATLAB that incorporates the timing properties of the photodetector, the scintillation properties of the crystal and the light transfer within the crystal simulated by SLITRANI. The simulations are compared with measured data in order to determine their predictive power. Finally we use this model to discuss the influence of several important parameters on the time resolution like scintillation rise- and fall time and light yield, as well as single photon time resolution (SPTR) and the detection efficiency of the SiPM. In addition we find the influence of photon travel time spread in the crystal not negligible on the CTR, even for the used 2 × 2 × 3 mm3 geometry.
Obstacles and optimisation in weak-beam dark-field tomography of defects

Weak-beam dark field tomography of dislocations has so far been done in a heuristic way with little theoretical analysis of how to optimise the technique. In this paper a more quantitative analysis of the limits of WBDF tomography is summarised. It can be shown that the object reconstructed from WBDF images by a conventional tomography algorithm is the locus of dislocation images laid down as central slices at the appropriate tilt angles, as would be intuitively expected. By comparison with projections of the displacement field, a reconstruction from dark-field images gives a better indication of the dislocation's path than a projection of the displacement field itself. Reconstruction is performed on a simulated tilt series of stacking fault images; the resulting structure follows the correct plane but is a 3D array of rods, not a flat plane. This is produced by the 'movement' of dynamical fringes in the stacking fault images as the sample is tilted and is an example of WBDF images being suboptimal for tomography. Finally, the influence of misalignment between the tilt axis and systematic row is modelled, and is shown to degrade the reconstruction, especially in the out-of-plane direction. This misalignment changes the excitation error with tilt, which introduces another variable to the reconstruction process and breaks the requirement that the images be a straight-ray projection of a monotonic function of the required parameter.
k- and spin-dependent hybridization effects in Ce monolayer

Here we present applications of the periodic Anderson model (PAM) to consideration of wave vector (k)- and spin-dependent hybridization effects in Ce metal. It was shown that k-dependent splitting of the 4f ionization peak of Ce/W(1 10) are correctly described in the framework of the PAM (Coulomb repulsion between two f electrons localized on the same lattice site Uff→∞). Our results show that the wave vector is conserved upon hybridization. In case of the magnetically ordered Ce monolayer, spin- and angle-resolved resonant photoemission spectra reveal spin-dependent changes of the Fermi-level peak intensities (which reflect the hybridization strength). That indicate a spin-dependence of 4f hybridization and, thus, of 4f occupancy and local moment. The phenomenon was also described in the framework of PAM by 4f electron hopping into the exchange split Fe 3d derived bands that form a spin-gap at the Fermi energy around the T point of the surface Brillouin zone.
Measuring doping profiles of silicon detectors with a custom-designed probe station

Silicon detectors are often used in High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments as tracking and vertexing devices. Many scientific institutes are equipped with setups able to electrically characterize those detectors e.g. for quality assurance reasons. Such probe stations can be easily extended to measure resistivities and doping profiles in the bulk material and in doped regions by using the Spreading Resistance Probe (SRP) technique. After an introduction to the method, this paper describes how an existing probe station, that has been used for electrical measurements on strip detectors, has been modified to perform SRP measurements. The presented results prove that the method is reliable and capable of characterizing doping regions as thin as one micron. Beside profiling implants, SRP measurements have the potential to deliver the basis for investigations of bulk material defects in heavily irradiated samples.
IoT Applications to Smart Campuses and a Case Study

Internet of Things (IoT) concepts are now being broadly investigated for actual deployment initiatives. Although ecosystem-wide architectures and standards are still slowly evolving and/or still lacking, some progress is being made; standardization fosters flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and ubiquitous deployment. Applications range from infrastructure and critical-infrastructure support (for example smart grid, smart city, smart building, and transportation), to end-user applications such as e-health, crowdsensing, and further along, to a multitude of other applications where only the imagination is the limit. This article discusses a specific example of an IoT application supporting Smart Campuses. Smart Campuses are part of a continuum that spans cities at the large-scale end to smart buildings at the small-scale end, and encompass universities, business parks, hospitals, housing developments, correctional facilities, and other real estate environments. The specific Use Case example covered in this article relates to an actual project to automate some key functions at a set of large campuses, but the nature of the campus is not directly revealed. After a review of the applicable IoT and control technologies, this Best Practices article describes technological solutions that were employed to support the requisite control functions and serves as an example for the applicability of IoT to Smart Campus applications.
Aerodynamic Design of Centrifugal Compressor for Heavy Duty Truck Applications

The transport sector is one of many markets facing new challenges in the pursuit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The people at Volvo Powertrain in Malmo are continuously working to develop new and improved techniques that are able to live up to the ever-increasing legislations. A well performing turbocharger is an essential part of the combustion engine in order to reduce the fuel consumption and CO2- emissions. The engineers of today have powerful tools at their disposal that help them with the task of designing, developing and analysing these kinds of components. Advanced calculations such as CFD can be performed thanks to the great computational power of computers, a task that would seem impossible by hand. These tools have been used to create a new design for one of Volvo’s in-house turbo compressors for heavy duty vehicle application, with the purpose of improving the performance. The parts of the compressor that were subject to the design update are the impeller and diffuser. The in-house-compressor was first analysed in three operating points in the CFD- simulation program Star-CCM+. These results would constitute the benchmark for the new design. Using the in-house-compressor design as a starting point, new designs for the impeller and diffuser were made using the software package TURBOdesign Suite. The new impeller design was then put through iterations of optimizations in TURBOdesign and CFD-simulations in Star-CCM+ in the same three operating points as the in-house-compressor. The new diffuser design didn’t go through any optimizations. The results from the CFD-simulations of the final new impeller and diffuser designs were finally compared to those of the in-house-compressor to discern the differences in performance between the two designs. The new design displays higher efficiencies in all three operating points, with the biggest improvement in the design point where the efficiency is 1.8%-points higher. The flow analysis shows that the new design has more even flows; it however doesn’t achieve as high flows as the in-house-compressor. One explanation for this may be the more tangential diffuser vanes of the new diffuser design. Consequently, the diffuser of the in-house-compressor performs better than the new one in the high operating point (high mass flow). The leading edge of the impeller blades were found to be a bit too thin in the stress and vibration analyses in order to pass the criterion that Volvo has on the strength of the blade with regards to the eigenfrequency. Future studies may want to look into further designs of the diffuser vane since only one new diffuser design was tested together with the new impeller. This could lead to achieving higher flow rates. Furthermore, the leading edge of the impeller blade should be made thicker in order to pass the strength criteria. Since this can lead to a slightly smaller throat area in the impeller this alteration should be accompanied by adjustments to counteract this, for example a reduction of the blade and meridional hub angle at the inlet. (Less)
Shape descriptors for mode-shape recognition and model updating

The most widely used method for comparing mode shapes from finite elements and experimental measurements is the Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC), which returns a single numerical value and carries no explicit information on shape features. New techniques, based on image processing (IP) and pattern recognition (PR) are described in this paper. The Zernike moment descriptor (ZMD), Fourier descriptor (FD), and wavelet descriptor (WD), presented in this article, are the most popular shape descriptors having properties that include efficiency of expression, robustness to noise, invariance to geometric transformation and rotation, separation of local and global shape features and computational efficiency. The comparison of mode shapes is readily achieved by assembling the shape features of each mode shape into multi-dimensional shape feature vectors (SFVs) and determining the distances separating them.
Sick building syndrome: are we doing enough?

ABSTRACT Health and well-being are vitally important aspects of people centric building design and are the roots of productivity. Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a collection of factors that can negatively affect physical health in several ways. Besides physical health is also related to psychological well-being because the human body is one interactive biological system. This paper focuses on reviewing the current state of knowledge on building sickness syndrome which has been prevalent as a building illness since the 1970s especially in offices and schools. While the concepts of intelligent, smart and sustainable buildings have gained considerable attention during recent decades, there is now increasing attention being given to designing healthy buildings. This study provides a review about SBS symptoms. Several negative effects of SBS are identified and potential solutions are advocated. Finally, the study stresses the role of built environment and concludes that ongoing research towards tackling SBS and developing healthy indoor environments should not be limited to a single formula as any health-related building design approach is dependent on several interacting factors.
The Multiple-Update-Infill Sampling Method Using Minimum Energy Design for Sequential Surrogate Modeling

Computer experiments are widely used to evaluate the performance and reliability of engineering systems with the lowest possible time and cost. Sometimes, a high-fidelity model is required to ensure predictive accuracy; this becomes computationally intensive when many computational analyses are required (for example, inverse analysis or uncertainty analysis). In this context, a surrogate model can play a valuable role in addressing computational issues. Surrogate models are fast approximations of high-fidelity models. One efficient way for surrogate modeling is the sequential sampling (SS) method. The SS method sequentially adds samples to refine the surrogate model. This paper proposes a multiple-update-infill sampling method using a minimum energy design to improve the global quality of the surrogate model. The minimum energy design was recently developed for global optimization to find multiple optima. The proposed method was evaluated with other multiple-update-infill sampling methods in terms of convergence, accuracy, sampling efficiency, and computational cost.
Estimation of time-of-flight based on threshold and peak analysis method for microwaves signals reflected from the crack

ABSTRACT This paper will propose a new approach for Time-of-flight (TOF) estimation based on the peak analysis and threshold method, signal processing procedure developed to precisely evaluate crack position in pipes. In order to acquire a crack position, TOF of the waves reflected from the crack can be estimated from the time domain signal. In this regard, to obtain a crack position with sufficient accuracy, there is a necessity to enhance precision of the measured TOF. First, the original signal is denoised by the wavelet transform smoothed with Savitzky–Golay filtering. Next, to extract appropriate peak, Hilbert Transform is used to construct the signal envelope. After applying peak extraction technique to the signal envelope, the time of the extracted peak has been considered as a TOF. Finally, crack position has been evaluated by calculating group velocities of the propagated waves in each waveguide of the detection system and test pipe.
Load Model Verification, Validation and Calibration Framework by Statistical Analysis on Field Data

Abstract Accurate load models are critical for power system analysis and operation. A large amount of research work has been done on load modeling. Most of the existing research focuses on developing load models, while little has been done on developing formal load model verification and validation (V&V) methodologies or procedures. Most of the existing load model validation is based on qualitative rather than quantitative analysis. In addition, not all aspects of model V&V problem have been addressed by the existing approaches. To complement the existing methods, this paper proposes a novel load model verification and validation framework that can systematically and more comprehensively examine load model’s effectiveness and accuracy. Statistical analysis, instead of visual check, quantifies the load model’s accuracy, and provides a confidence level of the developed load model for model users. The analysis results can also be used to calibrate load models. The proposed framework can be used as a guidance to systematically examine load models for utility engineers and researchers. The proposed method is demonstrated through analysis of field measurements collected from a utility system.
Zoophonics keyboards: A venue for technology integration in kindergarten

Integrating technology into the early childhood curriculum can be frustrating. The question is how do you use the technology to support your teaching rather than teach the technology simply to learn about computers? Teachers need to view technology as simply another accessible tool to augment instruction. The Zoo-phonics keyboard project described below combined one school's current phonics program with technology, in such a way that the literacy instruction remained at the core of design. This project provides the teacher with a technology enhanced strategy they can use today to support their teaching.
Resetting global expectations from agricultural biofuels

Aggressive renewable energy policies have helped the biofuels industry grow at a rate few could have predicted. However, while discourse on the energy balance and environmental impacts of agricultural biofuel feedstocks are common, the potential they hold for additional production has received considerably less attention. Here we present a new biofuel yield analysis based on the best available global agricultural census data. These new data give us the first opportunity to consider geographically-specific patterns of biofuel feedstock production in different regions, across global, continental, national and sub-national scales. Compared to earlier biofuel yield tables, our global results show overestimates of biofuel yields by ∼100% or more for many crops. To encourage the use of regionally-specific data for future biofuel studies, we calculated complete results for 20 feedstock crops for 238 countries, states, territories and protectorates.
A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain

A two-stage MMIC power amplifier has been realized by use of a 1-μm InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT). The cascode structure, low-loss matching networks, and low-parasite cell units enhance the power gain. The optimum load impedance is determined from load-pull simulation. A coplanar waveguide transmission line is adopted for its ease of fabrication. The chip size is 1.5 × 1.7 mm2 with the emitter area of 16 × 1 μm × 15 μm in the output stage. Measurements show that small signal gain is more than 20 dB over 75.5–84.5 GHz and the saturated power is 16.9 dBm @ 79 GHz with gain of 15.2 dB. The high power gain makes it very suitable for medium power amplification.
UV curing imprint lithography for micro-structure in MEMS manufacturing

Imprint lithography has been gaining popularity as a new method to fabricate microelectro mechanical systems. The main advantages of the IL are its extremely low set-up cost, high replicating accuracy and extended fabricating critical dimension. Compare to traditional optical lithography, IL has the advantages of being able to fabricate complex pattern structure with high-aspect ratio. However, the thermal and loading errors can reduce pattern transferring fidelity. In this paper, UV curing method is used in IL process which can avoid the heat distortion of tools. Additionally, a six-step loading process for template pressing into resist film is developed. The performance of this process include: the loading locus is continuous with very high accuracy (10nm), the press releaseing control (accuracy up to 1 psi) can reduce and avoid the distortion of template structure and stage supports. This process can achieve a residual layer with thickness of 20nm and avoid the elastic stamp distorted (under 20nm) at the same time. The press force can reach up to 300 psi for 6 cm2 pattern size but the friction force during demould process can be reduced to 30 psi. Experimental results reveal that it is a novel and robust process with high fidelity in micro/nano structures manufacturing.
Portable atom interferometry: investigation on magnetic shielding techniques for compact quantum sensors

Focus of this thesis are the magnetic shielding aspects of a mobile atom interferometer, developed under the Gravity Gradient Technologies and Opportunities Programme (GGtop). This system has been used as a test bed for new compact technologies with the aim to perform outdoor gravity gradient measurements. A finite element analysis model was used for optimising magnetic shielding design, aiming to reach a field attenuation factor of the order of 103, by mu-metal. The research was extended to alternative shielding techniques with the intention to push current technology towards next generation portable atomic sensors. Initially, Metglas foil was used to create lightweight cylindrical shielding housings. The performance goal was approached by a total of 37 foil wrappings around two coaxial cylinders. However, material inhomogeneities affected the magnetic field uniformity. The second approach exploits additive manufacturing of permalloy-80 for 3D-printing compact shielding structures. Process optimisation was undertaken by fabricating approximately 70 small bulk samples under different printing parameters, while 6 cylindrical shield prototypes were produced for preliminary shielding tests. Application of post heat treatments enhanced shielding effectiveness by a factor of up to ~ 15, indicating that a performance closer to mu-metal could potentially be reached by further process optimisation.
SU(N) gauge theories in the presence of a topological term

We review recent results on the θ dependence of the ground-state energy and spectrum of four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories, where θ is the coefficient of the CP-violating topological term F F̃ in the Lagrangian. In particular, we discuss the results obtained by Monte Carlo simulations of the lattice formulation of QCD, which allow the investigation of θ dependence around θ = 0 by determining the moments of the topological charge distribution, and their correlations with other observables. The results for N = 3 and larger values of N support the scenario obtained by general large-N scaling arguments. [A longer write-up, along with a full list of references, can be found at [1]]
16SrRNA sequencing as tool for identification of Salmonella spp isolated from human diarrhea cases

This study was conducted in different location of Babylon, (75) clinical specimens were collected, obtained from patients suffering from severe diarrhea were attended to Merjan teaching hospital and Private clinics in Babylon province, and suffer from severe diarrhea that was associated with fever as diagnosed by physician, The period of specimens collection extended from September 2017 to January 2018. Results showed that out of 75 studied specimens of patients, 14 specimens were Salmonella positive (18.66 %). Salmonella isolates were isolated and identified by using bacterial culturing on selective media and confirming tests such as 16S rRNA gene amplification, all results of these diagnosis methods referred to all isolates belong to Salmonella spp. Depending on sequencing method for nucleotide sequence for 660 bp of 16S rRNA gene we sent only 10 isolates to registration these sequences in Gene Bank-NCBI for diagnosis of these isolates on species level and obtaining accession numbers then phylogeny. Ten accession numbers were obtained from 16SrRNA and registration of 10 sequences of 16SrRNA gene at gene bank-NCBI include one accession number (MH109326.1) for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, Five accession numbers (MH156032.1, MH109512.1, MH109501.1, MH155972.1 and MH156033.1 )belong to Salmonella enterica sub.sp enterica serovar Typhi. While Salmonella enterica sub.sp enterica serovar Paratyphi recorded under two accession number (MH155974.1 and MH156039) and Salmonella enterica sub.sp enterica serovar Enteritidis recorded under two accession number (MH109386.1 and MH155973.1) respectively.