Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear Analysis of a Flexible Beam Actuated by a Couple of Active SMA Wire Actuators

A B S T R A C T There are two different ways of using SMA wires as actuators for shape control of flexible structures; which can be either embedded within the composite laminate or externally attached to the structure. Since the actuator can be placed at different offset distances from the beam, external actuators produce more bending moment and, consequently, considerable shape changes with the same magnitude of the actuation force comparing to the embedded type. Such a configuration also provides fast convection which is very important in shape control applications that require a high-frequency response of SMA actuators. Although combination and modeling of externally-attached SMA actuator wires and strips have been considered by many researchers, these studies have some weaknesses neglecting them yields a number of errors between theoretical and experimental results. In this work, the aforementioned limitations of attaching actuators to the smart structures have been removed and a flexible beam actuated by two active SMA actuators is nonlinearly modeled. The Brinson constitutive equations and thermoelectric equations for SMA materials are coupled with the nonlinear beam behavior and the coupled system of equations is numerically solved for some particular practical cases. The analysis method done in this paper can be easily extended to the complicated smart structure with externally-attached SMA wires.
Deformable mirror based remote focusing for fast three-dimensional microscopy

We present a deformable mirror based remote focusing method for three-dimensional imaging in high-resolution microscopy systems. The method relies on predefined mirror mode arrays that are obtained during initial mirror training step with a low complexity wavefront-sensing module. The imaging plane can be refocused over distances over a hundred times greater than the original depth of field of the objective lens along the optical axis at millisecond rates. We will demonstrate the combination of the remote focusing method with spatiotemporally focused two-photon excitation applied to three-dimensional imaging of biological samples.
TAURUS observations of the [O III] cone in NGC 1068

TAURUS observations of the [O III] λ5007 emission from NGC 1068 show that most of the high-excitation line emission originates in an edge-brightened cone. The morphology, excitation, and kinematic properties of this [O III] cone all imply that the line-emitting gas is photoionized by a highly anisotropic nuclear radiation field. The edge-brightening makes possible an accurate determination of the cone parameters, and hence the parameters of the collimated nuclear radiation field; we derive a PA of 31°±3° and a projected opening angle of 40°±3°.
Dynamics of Multiple Stellar Populations in Globular Clusters

Abstract The results of numerous spectroscopic and photometric studies have revealed the presence of multiple stellar populations in many globular clusters. In this paper we summarize the results of our recent studies on the dynamical evolution of multiple-population clusters, the implications of the structural properties of multiple-population clusters for the evolution of binary stars, and the possible contribution of globular clusters to the assembly of the Galactic halo.
Adsorption of uranium by amination mesoporous molecular sieve HMS, using response surface methodology

ABSTRACT In this study, amino modified mesoporous silica (HMS-TEEPA-TEA) was used for the first time to remove uranium (VI) from aqueous solution. The synthesized HMS-TEEPA-TEA was characterized by SEM, EDS, FTIR, BET and XPS techniques. The present work attempted to optimize and compare the adsorption process parameters like pH, adsorbate concentration, and adsorbent dose using Box-Behnken designs of response surface methodology. The adsorption amount and removal rate reached 337.26 mg/g and 99.57%, respectively. Model P> F < 0.0001 in this experiment (generally P > F < 0.05 is considered significant), indicating that the model is extremely significant and can be considered as highly referable for its predicted response values. The fit of the data to the Langmuir isotherm and the proposed secondary kinetics indicates that the adsorption process is monolayer and chemical in nature. The effect of copper on HMS-TEEPA-TEA adsorption is more complex than other background ions. The removal of uranium (VI) by HMS-TEEPA-TEA remained above 80% for four consecutive experiments with repeated adsorbent use. The results indicate that HMS-TEEPA-TEA is an effective adsorbent for the removal of uranium (VI) from aqueous solutions with the advantages of low cost, high availability and easy production.
A new family of point processes which are characterized by their second moment properties

The most widely used probabilistic model of a series of “events” occurring randomly in a time or space continuum is the Poisson process. It is the proper basis for statistical analysis when general information about the rate of occurrence of events is the primary purpose of an investigation, or when the assumption of independent occurrences is reasonable and valid. A unified treatment of the statistical methods for estimating parameters in stationary and non-stationary Poisson models, and tests of the Poisson assumption against various alternatives, is contained in the lucid monograph by Cox and Lewis [6].
Surrogacy in Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Group A Streptococcus [Letter]

1. The authors in this study have isolated and tested a total of 23 isolates of S. pyogenes against following antibiotics: erythromycin (15 μg), azithromycin (15 μg), tetracycline (), chloramphenicol (30 μg), clindamycin (2 μg), vancomycin (30 μg), ceftriaxone (30 μg), and penicillin (10 μg). However, CLSI guidelines states that penicillin is tested as a surrogate for cefazolin, cefepime, ceftaroline, cephradine, cephalothin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftizoxime, imipenem, ertapenem, and meropenem for groups A, B, C, and G beta-hemolytic streptococci. Penicillin is also surrogate for cefaclor, cefdinir, cefprozil, ceftibuten, cefuroxime, and cefpodoxime for group A beta-hemolytic streptococci.
Color integration in biomass-derived carbon dots to realize one-step white light

ABSTRACT In this work, the extract of mango leaf was chosen as a green raw material, and ethylenediamine (EDA) as a supporting material for a controllable one-step reaction to realizing white light. During the reaction, EDA could balance the precursor consumption, and participated in the formation of the carbon dots (CDs). The final integrated emitting color of the materials could be adjusted to white light with a one-step hydrothermal treatment. The composite solution was directly coated on a commercial 365 nm light-emitting diode (LED) chip without a polymer matrix and showed a stable white light with CIE coordinates of (0.326, 0.328). This work developed an interesting method for tuning the reaction process in a complex system and provided a simple way of realizing an integrated white light with a single wavelength excitation. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Contour–Context Joint Blind Image Inpainting Network for Molecular Sieve Particle Size Measurement of SEM Images

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images generated in the experiment of high-throughput molecular sieves catalysts contain particle size information of various molecular sieves. However, a certain proportion of molecular sieves in SEM images are occluded due to their characteristics of cluster distribution, which cause difficulties to measure the particle size of these occluded molecular sieves. In this article, we leverage the image inpainting technique to reconstruct missing regions and then calculate the particle size. Aiming at the problem that the generated regions of recent image inpainting methods exist blurriness in contour and context, we propose a contour–context joint blind image inpainting (CCBII) network, which is specifically a two-stage model with full utilization of edge information to reconstruct the contour and context of these occluded molecular sieve images. In the first stage, the edge of occluded region is reconstructed. In the second stage, the reconstructed edge is introduced through downsampling (DS) and skip connection (SN) to generate images with complete contour. Meanwhile, a novel encoder loss (EL) is proposed to motivate the encoder to extract more reasonable features. Compared with the existing methods, our model achieved more integral results visually and higher quantitative metrics. Thus, our approach can accurately predict the particle size from reconstructed molecular sieve images.
Adjoint Sensitivity and Finite-Time Normal Mode Disturbances during Blocking

Abstract The finite-time normal mode instability of four-dimensional space–time basic states has been studied for cases of block development over the Gulf of Alaska, over the North Atlantic, and over southern Greenland using a two-level tangent linear model. The authors find three generic types of finite-time normal modes, denoted as “recurring,” “traveling,” and “flip” modes. The dominant finite-time normal modes associated with block development have large-scale structures in the respective blocking regions; they tend to closely reflect the structures of the developing blocks. The time evolution in the tangent linear model of finite-time adjoint modes has been examined for each of the three cases of block development. These adjoint modes have faster than normal mode exponential growth. The initial structures of the dominant adjoint modes are characterized by small-scale baroclinic wave trains located primarily upstream of the blocking region. As the disturbances grow explosively, they increase their sca.
Decoding Reinforcement Learning for Newcomers

The Reinforcement Learning (RL) paradigm is showing promising results as a generic purpose framework for solving decision-making problems (e.g., robotics, games, finance). The aim of this work is to reduce the learning barriers and inspire young students, researchers and educators to use RL as an obvious tool to solve robotics problems. This paper provides an intelligible step-by-step RL problem formulation and the availability of an easy-to-use interactive simulator for students at various levels (e.g., undergraduate, bachelor, master, doctorate), researchers and educators. The interactive tool facilitates the familiarization with the key concepts of RL, its problem formulation and implementation. In this work, RL is used for solving a robotics 2D navigational problem where the robot needs to avoid collisions with obstacles while aiming to reach a goal point. A navigational problem is simple and convenient for educational purposes, since the outcome is unambiguous (e.g., the goal is reached or not, a collision happened or not). Due to a lack of open-source graphical interactive simulators concerning the field of RL, this paper combines theoretical exposition with an accessible practical tool to facilitate the apprehension. The results demonstrated are produced by a Python script that is released as open-source to reduce the learning barriers in such innovative research topic in robotics.
Simulation and analysis of 1.55 μm double-fused vertical-cavity lasers

Using a comprehensive numerical model, we analyze the first long-wavelength (1.55 μm) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating continuous-wave at room temperature (up to 33 °C). These double-fused lasers employ strain-compensated InGaAsP multi-quantum wells sandwiched between GaAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflectors that are fused on both sides of the InP spacer. The two-dimensional model includes drift and diffusion of electrons and holes, finite-element thermal analysis, calculation of the internal optical field at threshold, and k⋅p band structure computations. The simulation shows excellent agreement with a large variety of experimental characteristics. Internal laser parameters like optical losses and injection efficiency are obtained. The thermal conductivity of the multilayer mirror is found to be only one third of the value expected. Temperature dependent absorption and Auger recombination within the active region as well as lateral leakage currents are identified as dominating loss mecha.
Resting energy expenditure in Korean type 2 diabetes patients: comparison between measured and predicted values

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Estimation of energy demand using resting energy expenditure (REE) is a reasonable approach for optimizing glycemic control and weight management in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to compare REE predictions and objective measurements in patients with T2DM in Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS This study enrolled 36 participants with T2DM (age range, 20–60 years). Anthropometric variables including height, weight, waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, body fat, body fat percentage, and total body weight were measured using bioimpedance. REE was evaluated using indirect calorimetry. The measured REE values were compared to values estimated using five predictive equations: the Harris-Benedict, Mifflin, Owen, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), and Schofield equations. This study evaluated the associations between measured REE values and anthropometric/clinical data, including height, weight, and age, using multivariate linear regression. RESULTS The mean measured REE value was 1891.79 ± 288.03 kcal/day (male), 1,502.00 ± 202.96 kcal/day (female). REE estimates generated from the Mifflin equation showed the largest differences from measured REE values, whereas estimates derived from the FAO/WHO equation were the closest to the measured REE values. This study also identified associations between measured REE values and various anthropometric/clinical variables. CONCLUSION The accuracy of REE prediction equations is critically important in promoting the efficacy of dietary counseling and the effective treatment of diabetes. Our results indicate the need for additional studies informing more suitable methods for determining the energy requirements of Korean patients with T2DM.
Flight Capacity and Response to Habitat Drying of Endemic Diving Beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) in Arkansas (USA)

The ability to colonize new habitat is essential for wild populations affected by disturbance or other forms of habitat change. For aquatic insects in small streams, overland flight is an important strategy for dispersal when barriers to in-stream migration exist and when populations are isolated in upland habitats. Two Ozark-endemic water beetles (Heterosternuta sulphuria and Heterosternuta phoebeae) have shown little overlap in distributions, with the former frequently occurring in small upland watersheds and the latter occurring in aquatic habitats farther downstream in larger watersheds. Because H. sulphuria has been associated with perennial aquatic habitats, we hypothesized that H. sulphuria individuals could exhibit low capacity for flight, thereby affecting population distributions over time. Laboratory flight observations showed that zero individuals of H. sulphuria flew (n = 67), whereas 17 of 76 individuals of H. phoebeae were observed to fly. Stream habitat drying experiments provided further evidence of the weak capacity for flight and overland migration of H. sulphuria, with low probabilities of survivorship in microhabitats exposed to drying. Weak flight capacity and apparent intolerance to habitat drying have important implications for the evolutionary history and conservation of H. sulphuria in small Ozark streams exposed to variable flow regimes and stream margins vulnerable to disturbances.
Quick response in fast fashion omnichannel: exploring cost sharing effect

Facing the rapid value decline issue in the fast fashion product (FFP) industry, improving quick response (QR) capability will allow a FFP supply chain to deliver products to customers faster and capture more value. On this basis, the value compensate through QR effort and the coordination strategy for a FFP supply chain in an omnichannel context is investigated. Characterizing the regularity of product value attenuation and also QR effort as the key decision variable in a FFP omnichannel, five differential game theoretical decision models are formulated, solved and compared, including: (i) without cost sharing model under a decentralized decision; (ii) manufacturer-led unilateral cost sharing model under a decentralized decision; (iii) retailer-led unilateral cost sharing model under a decentralized decision; (iv) bilateral cost sharing under a decentralized decision; (v) bilateral cost sharing model under a coordination decision. The corresponding numerical and sensitivity analyses are conducted on a calibrated real-world fast fashion product, and have found that, in order to achieve higher total profit, a cost sharing contract mechanism is better than a without cost sharing contract mechanism; a bilateral mechanism is better than a unilateral mechanism; and a coordination mechanism is better than a decentralized mechanism. The theoretical themes developed in this study imply that FFP omnichannel practitioners should put more resource and energy in coordinating their QR efforts in the supply chain. Importantly, they should collaborate closely to confine the cost of QR effort investment through a smart selection of the right QR technologies and a better utilization of these technologies to develop and support a highly sense-and-respond supply chain operation method.
The Impact of User Experience Design on Customer Satisfaction in E-commerce Websites

Abstract: User experience design (UXD) has become increasingly important in e-commerce website development, as it plays a crucial role in shaping customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study aims to investigate the impact of UXD on customer satisfaction in e-commerce websites. A mixed-methods research design was employed, involving a survey of 500 online shoppers and semi-structured interviews with 10 e-commerce website designers. The findings show that UXD has a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, with factors such as ease of navigation, clarity of product information, visual design, and speed of page loading being the most influential. The study also reveals that personalization and customization features can enhance customer satisfaction, as they provide a more personalized and engaging shopping experience. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of mobile optimization, as customers increasingly use mobile devices to shop online. These findings have significant implications for e-commerce website development, as they suggest that UXD should be a top priority for website designers and developers in order to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Residents’ interest in landscape value trade related to wind energy: application of the attitude–behavior framework to willingness to pay

ABSTRACT Reducing the undesirable outcomes of wind power (WP) in the vicinity of homes with forest management practices can increase the acceptance of WP. If forest owners would avoid clear felling and use light forest management close to homes towards wind turbines, residents might be interested in paying for such a ‘landscape shield’ in the payment for ecosystem services (PES) context. The majority (83.7%) of the survey sample from Finland were interested in participating in the PES mechanism. On average, they were willing to pay €80.9 per hectare annually to participate in landscape value trade arranging a landscape shield against wind turbines. We applied the attitude–behavior framework to understand the factors and structures underlying residents’ willingness to pay (WTP). The analysis emphasized the importance of intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms over socio-demographic variables in explaining WTP. WTP and the intention to contribute to the cost of the landscape shield were determined by the intention to discuss landscape protection with forest owners and further by the attitudes towards the landscape shield and the interest of neighbors it. This result strongly emphasizes the importance of communication, both with the providers and other consumers of the service.
Constraining Characteristic Morphological Wavelengths for Venus Using Baltis Vallis

One of Venus' most enigmatic landforms is Baltis Vallis, the longest channel on the surface (∼7,000 km long). We identify a possible mid‐channel island that implies a south to north flow direction during formation. However, since the flow direction of Baltis Vallis is otherwise not well constrained, we analyze topographic conformity in both flow directions. In either case, topography appears to be altered across most analyzed wavelengths after the formation of Baltis Vallis. Fourier analysis shows two ranges of prominent wavelengths, 225 ± 15 km and ∼3,500 ± 1,200 km. The shorter wavelengths correspond to deformation belts that cross Venus' low plains. The longest is plausibly associated with the dynamic uplift wavelength of the crust by mantle plumes, but is less robustly detected. Higher resolution observations provided by the VERITAS and EnVision missions can help resolve the source location of Baltis Vallis and constrain if the longest wavelength postdated the canale's formation.
A Survey on Identity and Access Management for Cross-Domain Dynamic Users: Issues, Solutions, and Challenges

Access control management in a heterogeneous cloud environment, where the number of users is growing, is a daunting task for service providers. Efficiency is heavily reliant on shared resources in a modern cloud computing culture. Although data or service sharing is highly appreciated for collaborative projects, preserving identity and access management security is challenging in this context. The difficulties encountered are diverse, including a single point of failure, incompatibility, dynamic user groups, trust establishment, and revocation. Despite extensive research, certain obstacles and issues need to be addressed. In this article, challenges in access management in centralized and decentralized identity governance are grouped into different categories and accompanied by background information on the topic. Studies and implemented projects have been evaluated regarding their value and flaws. Traditional approaches, such as centralized and federated identity, as well as more futuristic methods, such as blockchain-based decentralized identity, AI/ML access management, and ABE schema, have been investigated while writing this paper. A comparative evaluation of the proposed studies has been included, where the differences and similarities can be observed.