Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why is Six Sigma so successful?

There can be little doubt that Motorola, General Electric, Black and Decker, Allied Signal (now Honeywell), ABB and Bombardier, have achieved impressive business performance in recent years. Their annual reports document this success. Furthermore, in several cases, the Annual Report clearly attributes this success to having followed a Six Sigma strategy. Not surprisingly, many other companies wish to learn what Six Sigma can do for them, and their first question is 'What exactly is Six Sigma? '. Unfortunately it is rather difficult, if not impossible, to define Six Sigma in one or two sentences. This paper identifies the essential elements of Six Sigma. Some are obvious, such as the extensive use of statistical techniques by employees known as Blackbelts. However, other more subtle, but very important, features of Six Sigma are concealed within the business culture of these successful companies. It is clear to those who have participated in this success, that any company embarking on Six Sigma will not succeed if it focuses on statistics whilst failing to develop a supporting culture.
SOLVING LARGE-SCALE RATIONAL-EXPECTATIONS MODELS

We explore alternative approaches to numerical solutions of large rational-expectations models. We discuss and compare several current alternatives, focusing on the trade-offs in accuracy, space, and speed. The models range from representative-agent models with many goods and capital stocks, to models of heterogeneous agents with complete or incomplete asset markets. The methods include perturbation and projection methods. We show that these methods are capable of analyzing moderately large models even when we use only elementary, general-purpose numerical methods.
Discrimination of the Silent Gap in Two‐Tone Sequences of Different Frequencies

Pairs of two‐tone sequences were presented in such a way that listeners could adjust the time interval separating the onsets of the two tones in the second pair, so that the gap or rhythmic repetitiveness appeared to be the same in the second as in the first pair. The pairs consisted of two 20‐msec tone bursts with 2.5‐msec rise time and 10‐msec fall time. The time interval separating the onsets of the tones in the first, or standard, pair was 40 msec. Responses were observed as a function of the frequency of the fourth tone, the standard pair being of one frequency (1 kHz), while the variable pair began at the same frequency but ended with a different one. As the frequency difference increases up to 250 Hz, the time interval in the variable pair for apparent equality of gap decreases, as does the variability in judgments. Beyond a difference of 250 Hz, both quantities increase. These results are consistent with those of earlier time discrimination experiments [P. L. Divenyi, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 49, 127 (1971)] and may relate to the time required to shift the listening band from one frequency to another.
Control of a free-space adaptive optical interconnect using a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator for beam steering

This paper is a revision of a paper presented at the SPIE Conference on Micro-Optics, VCSELs, and Photonic Interconnects, Apr. 2004, Strasbourg, France. The paper appears (unrefereed) in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5453. An adaptive beam position control system is reported, for use in alignment correction for free-space parallel optical interconnects at the board-to-board level. A liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) displaying binary phase gratings is used as a diffractive optical element to steer the beam. The design and implementation of a feedback controller for the SLM are presented, and shown in experimental results to completely correct for step disturbances within 1 to 2 sample periods. Extension of the system to tolerate random vibrations is considered, in terms of both the required SLM technology and the design of the control algorithms. The discussion highlights some of the trade-offs in choosing components when using this technology to correct for different levels of vibration.
Multilevel resistance switching in Cu/TaOx/Pt structures induced by a coupled mechanism

We report on multilevel bipolar resistance switching in Cu/amorphous-TaOx/Pt structures controlled by a coupled mechanism. The devices could be reproducibly programmed into three nonvolatile resistance states, and the on/off ratios between all neighboring states are >20. It is speculated that the switching between the high resistance state and the intermediate resistance state originates from a phase transformation between Ta2O5 and TaO2, while the low resistance state is induced by the formation of Cu filaments. This structure might be promising for developing multilevel logic and memory devices with high reliability. It may also serve as a model system for investigating the coupling effect between different switching mechanisms.
Multi-color quantum dot stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (qSTORM)

Although Single Molecule Localization (SML) techniques have pushed the resolution of fluorescence microscopy beyond the diffraction limit, the accuracy of SML has been limited by the brightness of the fluorophores. The introduction of Quantum Dots (QD) for SML promises to overcome this barrier, and the QD Blueing technique provides a novel approach to SML microscopy. QDs have a higher quantum yield and absorption cross-section, making them brighter, thereby providing a higher accuracy of localization. The blueing technique is also faster and more quantitative than other SML techniques such as dSTORM. The initial bleaching step required by dSTORM is not necessary and each QD is imaged only once as its emission spectrum moves through the blueing window in contrast to dSTORM where the same molecule might be imaged multiple times. Single color QD Blueing has been demonstrated. However in biological imaging, multi-color imaging is essential for understanding the samples under study. Here we introduce two color superresolution microscopy using QD Blueing on biological samples. We demonstrate simultaneous imaging of microtubules and mitochondria in HepG2 cells with a localization accuracy of 40nm. We further show how QD Blueing can be optimized through the control of the sample mounting medium.
On the Nature of Soft Gamma Repeaters

Limits on the lack of persistence X-ray flux from the three known soft gamma repeaters (SGR), 0526-66, 1806-20 and 1900+14, are presented. Other reported nondetections in the infrared, optical and X-ray bands are discuted. The ratios of burst peak flux for these SGRs are consistent with a Large Magellanic Cloud distance for 0526-66 and approximately galactocentric distances for 1806-20 and 1900+14. Energy release mechanisms and models deriving the burst energy from neutron star quakes for source distances of 10 kpc are analysed.
Rumors of Psychedelics, Psychotropics and Related Derivatives in Vachellia and Senegalia in Contrast with Verified Records in Australian Acacia

There are almost 1000 species of Acacia sensu stricto in Australia, while the 44 species and 4 subspecies in southern Africa were taxonomically revised in the year 2011 to Senegalia and Vachellia. There are rumors of a chemical similarity between the Australian Acacia and their southern African sister genera. Chemical analysis has unequivocally demonstrated the presence of tryptamines (i.e., DMT), β-carbolines, histamines, and phenethylamines in Australian species. However, reliable published data were not found in support of similar alkaloids in southern African (or even African) species, indicating the need for exploratory phytochemical analysis. Interestingly, the Australian species are more like the Vachellia and Senegalia from the Americas. While many reliable chemical studies have been found, there are several more that report only tentative results. Tentative data and anecdotal accounts are included in the current review to guide researchers to areas where further work can be done. For example, the current review encourages further phytochemical work to confirm if the two metabolite families, tryptamine and β-carboline alkaloids, occur together in a single specimen. Tryptamines and β-carbolines are the prerequisite ingredients of the South American psychotropic drink ayahuasca, which utilizes two different species to create this synergistic combination. These observations and others are discussed in light of geochemical variability, the potential ethnobotanical implications, and the need for further research to confirm or nullify anecdotal reports and tentative chromatographic/spectroscopic data in southern African species.
Detection of radio continuum emission from Herbig-Haro objects 1 and 2 and from their central exciting source.

The region in Orion containing HH 1 and HH 2 was observed with the VLA at 20, 6, and 2 cm on several occasions from 1981 to 1984. At lower resolution, four continuum sources were detected. Two of these sources coincide positionally with HH 1 and HH 2. At 6 cm and higher resolution, HH 1 is resolved into at least two components. The emission is probably bremsstrahlung originating in the same region where the visible line emission is produced. This is the first detection of radio continuum from classic Herbig-Haro objects. At a position closely centered between HH 1 and HH 2, an object that can be interpreted as the energy source of the system was detected. The central source spectrum is S(nu) of about nu to the alpha power, where alpha = 0.4 + or - 0.2, suggesting a stellar wind. Finally, the fourth radio continuum source coincides positionally with an H2O maser and is probably excited by an independent star. There is evidence of time variability in its radio flux. No emission was detected from the Cohen-Schwartz (1979) star at the 0.1 mJy level.
Light Emission from Hydrodynamic Cavitation

The characteristics of light emission from hydrodynamic cavitation are given. Changes were examined for small variations in water temperature, pressure, and gas content. Using oxygen, nitrogen, and xenon dissolved in water, the shapes, intensities, and pulse height spectra for individual light pulses were determined. With this information, combined with time integrated spectrophotometric data, the validity of some current theories is considered.
A 500 MHz carbon nanotube transistor oscillator

Operation of a carbon nanotube field effect transistor (FET) oscillator at a record frequency of 500 MHz is described. The FET was fabricated using a large parallel array of single-walled nanotubes grown by chemical vapor deposition on ST-quartz substrates. Matching of the gate capacitance with a series inductor enabled greater than unity net oscillator loop gain to be achieved at 500 MHz.
Interaction trees: exploring the differential effects of an intervention programme for breast cancer survivors

Summary. The breast cancer education intervention (BCEI) is a tailored psychoeducational intervention programme aiming to improve the quality of life of breast cancer survivors. Borrowing the idea of recursive partitioning and following the convention of classification and regression trees, an exploratory procedure, termed interaction trees, is proposed to understand better the differential effects of the BCEI on longitudinal quality‐of‐life data. The resultant tree model identifies several objectively defined subgroups: in some groups the BCEI is quite effective whereas in others it may not be. Based on the final tree structure, a permutation test is used to assess the overall treatment‐by‐covariate interaction. In addition, a variable importance ranking feature is facilitated via random forests of interaction trees to help to determine important effect modifiers of the BCEI.
A systems theory approach to the feedback stabilization of infinitesimal and finite-amplitude disturbances in plane Poiseuille flow

A systems theory framework is presented for the linear stabilization of two-dimensional laminar plane Poiseuille flow. The governing linearized Navier-Stokes equations are converted to control-theoretic models using a numerical discretization scheme. Fluid system poles, which are closely related to Orr-Sommerfeld eigenvalues, and fluid system zeros are computed using the control-theoretic models. It is shown that the location of system zeros, in addition to the well-studied system eigenvalues, are important in linear stability control. The location of system zeros determines the effect of feedback control on both stable and unstable eigenvalues. In addition, system zeros can be used to determine sensor locations that lead to simple feedback control schemes. Feedback controllers are designed that make a new fluid-actuator-sensorcontroller system linearly stable. Feedback control is shown to be robust to a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The systems theory concepts of modal controllability and observability are used to show that feedback control can lead to short periods of highamplitude transients that are unseen at the output. These transients may invalidate the linear model, stimulate nonlinear effects, and/or form a path of ‘bypass’ transition in a controlled system. Numerical simulations are presented to validate the stabilization of both single-wavenumber and multiple-wavenumber instabilities. Finally, it is shown that a controller designed upon linear theory also has a strong stabilizing effect on two-dimensional finite-amplitude disturbances. As a result, secondary instabilities due to infinitesimal three-dimensional disturbances in the presence of a finite-amplitude two-dimensional disturbance cease to exist.
Aharonov-Bohm effect for bound states in Kaluza-Klein theory

Using Kaluza-Klein theory we study the quantum mechanics of a scalar particle in the background of a chiral cosmic string and of a magnetic cosmic string. We show that the wave functions and the energy spectra associated with the particle depend on the global features of those space–times. These dependences represent the analogs of the well-known Aharonov–Bohm effect. This effect appears as the sum of two contributions, one of gravitational origin and the other of electromagnetic origin.
Neutron diffraction and thermal studies of amorphous CS2 realised by low-temperature vapour deposition

We have succeeded in preparing amorphous carbon disulphide (CS2) by depositing its vapour on a cold substrate at 10 K. Complete formation of the amorphous state has been confirmed by neutron diffraction and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The amorphous sample crystallised at ca. 70 K, which is lower than the hypothetical glass transition temperature (92 K) estimated from the DTA data of the (CS2)x(S2Cl2)1 − x binary mixture. CS2, a symmetric linear tri-atomic molecule, is the simplest of the amorphised molecular substances whose structural and thermal information has been reported so far. Comparison of the static structure factors S(Q) has shown that the orientational correlation of CS2 molecules may be much stronger in the amorphous state than in the liquid state at higher temperature.
PURE INJECTIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF QUIVERS

Let R be a ring and Q be a quiver. In this paper we give an- other definition of purity in the category of quiver representations. Under such definition we prove that the class of all pure injective representations of Q by R-modules is preenveloping. In case Q is a left rooted semi-co- barren quiver and R is left Noetherian, we show that every cotorsion flat representation of Q is pure injective. If, furthermore, R is n-perfect and F is a flat representation Q, then the pure injective dimension of F is at most n.
Regimes of drop morphology in oblique impact on deep fluids

Oblique impact of single drops on deep fluids at various impact angles $\alpha $ is studied for a wide Weber number range (15$\,{\le}\,$We$\,{\le}\,$249), where $\alpha $ is varied between 5.4$^\circ$ and 64.4$^\circ$ with respect to the target surface, and drop and target consist of the same fluid (water/glycerol). In the range of studied parameters, coalescence always takes place. Below a critical level of the Weber number We$_{N}$ formed with the normal velocity component, We$_{N}\,{<}\, 10$, capillary waves are produced on the drop and target surface in the first stage after impact. For We$_{N}\,{>}\, 10$, a lamella is ejected from the target surface and drop volume for which both experimental and numerical evidence is given. For We$\,{<}\, 140$ and $\alpha \,{<}\, 23^\circ$, the drop spreads on the target surface with no visible immersion of drop fluid into the target fluid. Outside this range, a partial immersion of drop fluid can be seen: for We$_{N}\,{>}\,$10, it occurs in the front part of the spreading drop; for $\alpha \,{>}\,$23$^\circ$, in the rear part of the impact crater. The spreading patterns of the drop fluid are visualized with dyed drop fluid once it has come to rest after impact. In many cases, patterns of high complexity and strong sensitivity to the impact conditions can be seen which are very reproducible for similar impact conditions. The mechanisms underlying capillary wave or lamella formation and the partial immersions of drop fluid are discussed and their relevance for pattern formation is taken into account.
Robust automatic classification method for hyperspectral imagery

In this paper, we propose a new approach to the classification of hyperspectral images. The main problem with supervised methods is that the learning process heavily depends on the quality of the training data set. In remote sensing, the training set is useful only for simultaneous images or for images with the same classes taken under the same conditions; and, even worse, the training set is frequently not available. On the other hand, unsupervised methods are not sensitive to the number of labelled samples since they work on the whole image. Nevertheless, relationship between clusters and classes is not ensured. In this context, we propose a combined strategy of supervised and unsupervised learning methods that avoids these drawbacks and automates the classification process. The method is based on the general formulation of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. This method is applied to crop cover recognition of six hyperspectral images from the same area acquired with HyMap spectrometer during the DAISEX99 campaign. For classification purposes, six different classes are considered in this area: corn, wheat, sugar beet, barley, alfalfa, and soil. Classification accuracy results are compared to common methods: ISODATA, Learning Vector Quantization, Gaussian Maximum Likelihood, Expectation-Maximization, and Neural Networks. The good performance confirms the validity of the proposed approach in terms of accuracy and robustness.
Theoretical modelling of CD and ORD spectra of suspensions with large nonspherical particles

The paper is devoted to the theoretical investigation of the circular dichroism (CD) and optical rotatory dispersion (ORD) spectra of turbid layers with large particles of arbitrary shapes. The cases of oriented cylinders and spheroids are considered in detail. It is assumed that the optical thickness of layers is low and the refractive index of scatterers is close to the refractive index of a host medium, which is usually the case for bio-liquids. It is found that the simple correction function allows to transform CD and ORD spectra measured for turbid layers to that of particles. This result could be of importance for studies of living cells molecular structure changes during their life cycles.
SU‐FF‐J‐85: Inter‐Observer Variation In The Planning Of Head/Neck Radiotherapy

Purpose: Understanding inter‐observer variation is not only important for evaluating deformable image registration (DIR) which can be used to automatically transform the manual contours of a treatment plan into daily contours facilitating offline or online adaptive radiotherapy, but also helps physicians set reasonable margins on the regions of interest (ROI) when they make treatment plans. The purpose of this study is to determine the observer variation for Head/Neck patients using the implemented radial‐difference approach and the common‐area method to study the observer‐drawn contour pairs. Method and Materials: Two sets of images for each of seven head and neck patients were taken several weeks apart, and the original image sets were used for treatment plans. For each image set, the ROIs: Primary GTV, Nodal GTV, Cord, left Parotid, and right Parotid were contoured by three experienced physicians. The difference of two contours drawn by different physicians was measured using: (1) the radial difference of the paired contours where the center‐mass of a contour is used as the origin of the polar coordinate system, and (2) the ratio of the common area of two contours over the total area of those contours, R=2[C1∩C2/(C1∪C2)]. Results for all the ROI are plotted in histograms to quantify the observer variation. Results: The radial differences for primary GTV, nodal GTV, cord, left parotid, and right parotid are 2.7 ± 2.0 mm, 2.4 ± 1.9 mm, 1.8 ± 0.8 mm, 2.6 ± 2.1 mm, and 2.5 ± 1.9 mm, respectively, and the values of R are 0.75 ± 0.14, 0.82 ± 0.11, 0.82 ± 0.07, 0.80 ± 0.10, and 0.80 ± 0.12, respectively. Conclusion: The inter‐observer variations in the planning of Head/Neck patients are about 3 mm for Cord and 5 mm for the others. These values place an upper limit on the accuracy of DIR algorithm.
The density dependence of the Hanle effect in the resonance line of atomic magnesium

The change in the Hanle effect of the singlet resonance line of neutral barium has been studied over a wide range of density. The low density region has been used to confirm a lifetime of 8.37 ± 0.08 ns for the 6s6p1P1 level. We have determined the cross sections for the relaxation of the multipole moment of order 2 for collisions of the excited level with the ground level and with the metastable 6s5d1D2 level, and comparisons are made with the measured value of for the ground level with theoretical predictions.
Evidence of an irradiated accretion disc in XTE J1818−245

The X-ray transient source XTE J1818−245 went through an outburst in 2005 that was observed during a multiwavelength campaign from radio to soft γ-rays. Observations in V and R optical bands with the 1-m Swope telescope allowed the discovery of a new bright source. As we aimed to reveal the nature of the companion star, we performed new optical observations with the ESO/NTT telescope at La Silla, both in photometry and spectroscopy. We confirm the optical counterpart found by the Swope telescope, but the spectral type of the secondary star could not be identified. The spectrum showed a blue-dominated shape and an Hα emission line was detected, indicating that the optical emission was dominated by the presence of an accretion disc. The broad-band spectral energy distribution revealed that the outer parts of the accretion disc had to be irradiated by its inner parts to explain the optical emission. New observations of XTE J1818−245 in quiescence are needed to find the nature of the companion star. Moreover, radio-to-X-ray strictly simultaneous observations of transient black holes are needed to disentangle the importance of jets and irradiated accretion discs in the infrared–optical–ultraviolet domain.