cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The white dwarf population within 40 pc of the Sun
Creators: name: Torres, S.
name: García-Berro, E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The white dwarf luminosity function is an important tool to understand the properties of the Solar neighborhood, like its star formation history, and its age. Here we present a population synthesis study of the white dwarf population within 40~pc from the Sun, and compare the results of this study with the properties of the observed sample. We use a state-of-the-art population synthesis code based on Monte Carlo techniques, that incorporates the most recent and reliable white dwarf cooling sequences, an accurate description of the Galactic neighborhood, and a realistic treatment of all the known observational biases and selection procedures. We find a good agreement between our theoretical models and the observed data. In particular, our simulations reproduce a previously unexplained feature of the bright branch of the white dwarf luminosity function, which we argue is due to a recent episode of star formation. We also derive the age of the Solar neighborhood employing the position of the observed cut-off of the white dwarf luminosity function, obtaining ~8.9+-0.2 Gyr. We conclude that a detailed description of the ensemble properties of the population of white dwarfs within 40pc of the Sun allows us to obtain interesting constraints on the history of the Solar neighborhood.
description: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A
Effect of Diffusions on Si Surface Passivation
Creators: name: Jin, H.
name: Jellett, W.E.
name: Zhang, C.
name: Weber, K.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: Wafer-Based Silicon Solar Cells and Materials Technology
Mono- and Multicrystalline Silicon Cells and Materials, Processing Technology of

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 1342-1345
description: Besides of forming pn junction, both Boron and Phosphorus diffusions have the effect of increasing the Si surface defect density. Electronic Spin Resonance measurements on (111) surfaces show that the density of the chief interface defect, the Pb center, increases as a result of a diffusion. Lifetime-Voltage measurements indicate that both B and P diffused Si surfaces have greater recombination velocities under accumulation conditions, than undiffused samples. Hydrogenated and dehydrogenated interface for (111) and (100) Si are investigated.
A survey of the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy members’ research involvement, and associated enablers and barriers
Creators: name: Stewart, Derek
name: Paudyal, Vibhu
name: Cadogan, Cathal
name: Hazen, Ankie
name: Okuyan, Betul
name: Lutters, Monika
name: Henman, Martin
name: Fialová, Daniella
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences

description: Background Building research capacity of European Society of Clinical Pharmacy (ESCP) members aligns to the organisation’s aim of advancing research. Objective To determine members’ aspirations and needs in research training and practice, and to explore ways in which ESCP could provide support. Setting ESCP’s international membership. Method Cross-sectional survey of members in 2018, followed by focus groups with samples of respondents attending an ESCP symposium. Survey items were: research activities; interests, experience and confidence; and Likert statements on research conduct. Principal component analysis (PCA) clustering of Likert statements from a previous study was used, with scores for each component calculated. Focus groups discussed barriers to research and how ESCP could provide support. Data analysis involved collating and comparing all themes. Main outcome measures Research interest, experience and confidence; attitudinal items; barriers to research; ESCP support. Results The response rate was 16.7% (83/499), with 89.2% (n = 74) involved in research and 79.5% (n = 66) publishing research in the preceding 2 years. While overwhelmingly positive, responses were more positive for research interest than experience or confidence. PCA component scores (support/opportunities, motivation/outcomes, and roles/characteristics) were positive. Thirteen members participated in focus groups, identifying barriers of: insufficient collaboration; lack of knowledge, skills, training; unsupportive environment; insufficient time; and limited resources. ESCP could support through mentorship, collaboration, education and funding. Conclusion Study participants were highly active, interested, experienced, confident and positive regarding research. There is an opportunity for ESCP to harness these activities and provide support in the form of mentoring, education and training, and facilitating collaboration.Other Information Published in: International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11096-020-01054-9
Terahertz Saturable Absorption in Superconducting Metamaterials
Creators: name: Keiser, George R.
name: Zhang, Jingdi
name: Zhao, Xiaoguang
name: Zhang, Xin
name: Averitt, Richard D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present a superconducting metamaterial saturable absorber at terahertz frequencies. The absorber consists of an array of split ring resonators (SRRs) etched from a 100nm YBaCu3O7 (YBCO) film. A polyimide spacer layer and gold ground plane are deposited above the SRRs, creating a reflecting perfect absorber. Increasing either the temperature or incident electric field (E) decreases the superconducting condensate density and corresponding kinetic inductance of the SRRs. This alters the impedance matching in the metamaterial, reducing the peak absorption. At low electric fields, the absorption was optimized near 80% at T=10K and decreased to 20% at T=70K. For E=40kV/cm and T=10K, the peak absorption was 70% decreasing to 40% at 200kV/cm, corresponding to a modulation of 43%.
Perspectives of future pharmacists on the potential for development and implementation of pharmacist prescribing in Qatar
Creators: name: Diab, Mohammad Issam
name: Ibrahim, Angham
name: Abdallah, Oraib
name: El-Awaisi, Alla
name: Zolezzi, Monica
name: Ageeb, Rwedah Anwar
name: Elkhalifa, Wishah Hamza Imam
name: Awaisu, Ahmed
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences

description: Background Pharmacists in many developed countries have been granted prescribing authorities under what is known as “non-medical prescribing” or “pharmacist prescribing”. However, such prescribing privileges are not available in many developing countries. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the perspectives of future pharmacists (recent pharmacy graduates and pharmacy students) on pharmacist prescribing and its potential implementation in Qatar. Methods A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used: (1) a cross-sectional survey using a pre-tested questionnaire and; (2) focus group discussions to allow for an in-depth understanding of the issue, with a focus on pharmacists prescribing competencies as well as barriers for its implementation. Main outcome measures Future pharmacists’ perspectives and attitudes towards pharmacist prescribing in Qatar. Results The majority of the respondents (94.4%) indicated awareness of the prescribing competency related to selecting treatment options. Furthermore, the majority (92.4%) believed that pharmacists should undergo prescribing training and accreditation before been legally allowed to prescribe, a point that was reiterated in the focus group discussions. Participants generally expressed support for collaborative and supplementary prescribing models when developing prescribing frameworks for Qatar. Four categories emerged under the theme barriers to implementation of pharmacist prescribing: lack of prescribing competency, pharmacist mindset, lack of accessibility to patient records and counseling rooms, and diversity of education and training background. Conclusion The majority of recent pharmacy graduates and students were in favor of pharmacist prescribing been implemented in Qatar. However, a special training program was deemed necessary to qualify pharmacists to prescribe safely and effectively.Other Information Published in: International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11096-019-00946-9
The telomeric protein TERF2/TRF2 impairs HMGB1-driven autophagy
Creators: name: Iachettini, Sara
name: Ciccarone, Fabio
name: Maresca, Carmen
name: Angelo, Carmen D’
name: Petti, Eleonora
name: Di Vito, Serena
name: Ciriolo, Maria Rosa
name: Zizza, Pasquale
name: Biroccio, Annamaria
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Cancer

description: TERF2/TRF2 is a pleiotropic telomeric protein that plays a crucial role in tumor formation and progression through several telomere-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Here, we uncovered a novel function for this protein in regulating the macroautophagic/autophagic process upon different stimuli. By using both biochemical and cell biology approaches, we found that TERF2 binds to the non-histone chromatin-associated protein HMGB1, and this interaction is functional to the nuclear/cytoplasmic protein localization. Specifically, silencing of TERF2 alters the redox status of the cells, further exacerbated upon EBSS nutrient starvation, promoting the cytosolic translocation and the autophagic activity of HMGB1. Conversely, overexpression of wild-type TERF2, but not the mutant unable to bind HMGB1, negatively affects the cytosolic translocation of HMGB1, counteracting the stimulatory effect of EBSS starvation. Moreover, genetic depletion of HMGB1 or treatment with inflachromene, a specific inhibitor of its cytosolic translocation, completely abolished the pro-autophagic activity of TERF2 silencing. In conclusion, our data highlighted a novel mechanism through which TERF2 modulates the autophagic process, thus demonstrating the key role of the telomeric protein in regulating a process that is fundamental, under both physiological and pathological conditions, in defining the fate of the cells. Abbreviations: ALs: autolysosomes; ALT: alternative lengthening of telomeres; ATG: autophagy related; ATM: ATM serine/threonine kinase; CQ: Chloroquine; DCFDA: 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein diacetate; DDR: DNA damage response; DHE: dihydroethidium; EBSS: Earle’s balanced salt solution; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; GFP: green fluorescent protein; EGFP: enhanced green fluorescent protein; GSH: reduced glutathione; GSSG: oxidized glutathione; HMGB1: high mobility group box 1; ICM: inflachromene; IF: immunofluorescence; IP: immunoprecipitation; NAC: N-acetyl-L-cysteine; NHEJ: non-homologous end joining; PLA: proximity ligation assay; RFP: red fluorescent protein; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TIF: telomere-induced foci; TERF2/TRF2: telomeric repeat binding factor 2.
Dissipative structures in the resonant interaction of laser radiation with nonlinear dispersive medium
Creators: name: Aleksić, Branislav N.
name: Uvarova, Liudmila A.
name: Aleksić, Najdan B.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Electronics, sensors and digital hardware
Atomic, molecular and optical physics

description: The article presents the results of studies on the stability of dissipative structures (DS) arising in the resonant interaction of laser radiation with a nonlinear medium. Resonant interaction is modeled by the one dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with a nonconservative cubic–quintic nonlinearity. The areas of existence of stable DS solutions have been determined analytically using a variational approach and confirmed numerically by extensive numerical simulations.Other Information Published in: Optical and Quantum Electronics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11082-021-03017-4
Fast Measurements of Effective Optical Reflectivity Using a Conventional Flatbed Scanner
Creators: name: Korte, L.
name: Bastide, S.
name: Lévy-Clément, C.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: Wafer-Based Silicon Solar Cells and Materials Technology
Mono- and Multicrystalline Silicon Cells and Materials, Processing Technology of

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 1431-1436
description: The use of a conventional flatbed scanner as a means to assess the optical properties of multicrystalline silicon wafers after texturization has been explored. It was found that it is necessary to i) introduce an additional diffusor between the wafer under test and the scanner’s document glass, and b) to obtain scans in four perpendicular directions of the wafer. Averaging over the four scans gives a reflectivity map with a resolution of ~ 0.1x0.1 mm². It is shown that the map can be calibrated to yield a spatially resolved image of the effective reflectivity of the wafer, with an accuracy of about 1%. Furthermore, the difference image of two scans in different directions contains additional information on the directional dependence of reflectivity. It is envisaged that in combination with etching procedures that are selective to grain orientation, the information contained in the difference images can be used to obtain grain orientation maps similar to electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) pictures. Acquisition and processing times of the images are below one minute, and equipment cost a few 100 €, making the technique suitable both for rapid prototyping in the lab and for process control in production.
Cubic quintic Ginzburg Landau equation as a model for resonant interaction of EM field with nonlinear media
Creators: name: Aleksić, Branislav N.
name: Uvarova, Liudmila A.
name: Aleksić, Najdan B.
name: Belić, Milivoj R.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Electronics, sensors and digital hardware
Atomic, molecular and optical physics

description: In this work, we investigate the possibility of approximating saturable nonlinearity, which is commonly used in complex Ginzburg–Landau equation (CGLE) for modelling resonant interaction of an electromagnetic field with nonlinear media, with cubic-quintic (CQ) nonlinearity. To validate the suggested approximations, we use variational method to estimate 2D analytical solutions of the CGLE with both saturable and CQ nonlinearity. The paper compares three ways to determine parameters of the CQ approximation and discusses the obtained results in terms of accuracy.Other Information Published in: Optical and Quantum Electronics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11082-020-02271-2
Light-Induced Degradation and Regeneration in Compensated Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon
Creators: name: Dubois, S.
name: Enjalbert, N.
name: Garandet, J.P.
name: Monna, R.
name: Kraiem, J.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: Wafer-Based Silicon Solar Cells and Materials Technology
Mono- and Multicrystalline Silicon Cells and Materials, Processing Technology of

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 1437-1440
description: This study is devoted to the effects of the Light-Induced-Degradation (LID) and Light-Induced-Regeneration (LIR) in strongly compensated Solar-Grade (SoG) multicrystalline (mc) silicon (Si) solar cells. We show that p-type compensated SoG Si is particularly sensitive to LID due to high amounts of boron and oxygen concentrations. This is less the case for compensated n-type Si because the recombination strength of these complexes is lower in n-Si, and furthermore it is possible that for low resistivity values, less complexes are formed in n-Si. Then we studied the LID kinetics in compensated SoG mc-Si solar cells and show that the LID kinetics are much slower in compensated Si than in usual uncompensated Si and cannot be described by the existing models. We discuss how the formation of Boron-Oxygen complexes may be altered by the effects of compensation. We show then that the process of LIR can be successfully transposed to compensated SoG mc-Si, and study the stability of the regenerated state.
On different aspects of the optical rogue waves nature
Creators: name: Belić, Milivoj R.
name: Nikolić, Stanko N.
name: Ashour, Omar A.
name: Aleksić, Najdan B.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Applied mathematics
Electronics, sensors and digital hardware

description: Rogue waves are giant nonlinear waves that suddenly appear and disappear in oceans and optics. We discuss the facts and fictions related to their strange nature, dynamic generation, ingrained instability, and potential applications. We present rogue wave solutions to the standard cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation that models many propagation phenomena in nonlinear optics. We propose the method of mode pruning for suppressing the modulation instability of rogue waves. We demonstrate how to produce stable Talbot carpets—recurrent images of light and plasma waves—by rogue waves, for possible use in nanolithography. We point to instances when rogue waves appear as numerical artefacts, due to an inadequate numerical treatment of modulation instability and homoclinic chaos of rogue waves. Finally, we display how statistical analysis based on different numerical procedures can lead to misleading conclusions on the nature of rogue waves. Other Information Published in: Nonlinear Dynamics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11071-022-07284-y
3D Study of a Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell: Influence of Applied Magnetic Field on the Electrical Parameters
Creators: name: Dieng, A.
name: Sow, M.L.
name: Mbodji, S.
name: Samb, M.L.
name: Ndiaye, M.
name: Thiame, M.
name: Barro, F.I.
name: Sissoko, G.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2009
Subjects: Advanced Photovoltaics
Fundamental Studies

description: 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 473-476
description: In this paper, we present a theoretical 3D study of an applied magnetic field influence on the electrical characteristics and
parameters of a polycrystalline silicon solar cell in frequency modulation under polychromatic illumination. The influence of the
applied magnetic field on the diode current density Jd, the P-V and I-V curves and the electrical parameters such as series resistance
Rs, parallel equivalent resistance Rp and capacitance C of a polycrystalline silicon solar cell is then discussed.
Talbot carpets by rogue waves of extended nonlinear Schrödinger equations
Creators: name: Nikolić, Stanko N.
name: Ashour, Omar A.
name: Aleksić, Najdan B.
name: Zhang, Yiqi
name: Belić, Milivoj R.
name: Chin, Siu A.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Applied mathematics
Electronics, sensors and digital hardware

description: We present analytical and numerical double-periodic solutions of the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation and its extended versions in the form of Talbot carpets. The breathers and rogue waves of different orders are obtained using numerical simulations, starting from the initial conditions calculated by the Darboux transformation. To suppress undesirable aspects of modulation instability leading to homoclinic chaos, Fourier mode pruning procedures are invented to preserve and maintain the twofold periodicity of carpets. The novelty of this paper is analytical Talbot carpets for Hirota–quintic equation and ability to obtain them dynamically by controlling the growth of the Fourier modes. In addition, the new period-matching procedure is also described for periodic rogue waves that can be utilized to produce Talbot carpets without mode pruning. Tablot carpets may find future utility in optoplasmonic nanolithography.Other Information Published in: Nonlinear Dynamics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11071-019-05042-1
High-Resolution Imaging of Water Maser Emission in the active galaxies NGC 6240 and M51
Creators: name: Hagiwara, Yoshiaki
name: Edwards, Philip G.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present the results of observations of 22GHz H2O maser emission in NGC 6240 and M51 made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Two major H2O maser features and several minor features are detected toward the southern nucleus of NGC 6240. These features are redshifted by about 300 km/s from the galaxy's systemic velocity and remain unresolved at the synthesized beam size. A combination of our two-epoch observations and published data reveals an apparent correlation between the strength of the maser and the 22GHz radio continuum emission, implying that the maser excitation relates to the activity of an active galactic nucleus in the southern nucleus rather than star-forming activity. The star-forming galaxy M51 hosts H2O maser emission in the center of the galaxy; however, the origin of the maser has been an open question. We report the first detection of 22GHz nuclear radio continuum emission in M51. The continuum emission is co-located with the maser position, which indicates that the maser arises from active galactic nucleus-activity and not from star-forming activity in the galaxy.
description: 11 pages, 8 figures
Cascade and locally dissipative realizations of linear quantum systems for pure Gaussian state covariance assignment
Creators: name: Ma, Shan
name: Woolley, Matthew J.
name: Petersen, Ian R.
name: Yamamoto, Naoki
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: Optimization and Control (math.OC)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: This paper presents two realizations of linear quantum systems for covariance assignment corresponding to pure Gaussian states. The first one is called a cascade realization; given any covariance matrix corresponding to a pure Gaussian state, we can construct a cascaded quantum system generating that state. The second one is called a locally dissipative realization; given a covariance matrix corresponding to a pure Gaussian state, if it satisfies certain conditions, we can construct a linear quantum system that has only local interactions with its environment and achieves the assigned covariance matrix. Both realizations are illustrated by examples from quantum optics.
description: This article is an extension of the conference paper arXiv:1408.2290 by S. Ma, M. J. Woolley, I. R. Petersen and N. Yamamoto
Virtual reality for ambulance simulation environment
Creators: name: Halabi, Osama
name: Salahuddin, Tooba
name: Karkar, Abdel Ghani
name: Alinier, Guillaume
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Distributed computing and systems software
Graphics, augmented reality and games

description: Simulations are beneficial in evaluating clinicians’ empirical competencies through practical skills, prioritizing, and decision-making as part of patient care scenarios generally run in a full-scale physical context. However, such simulations require physical space, manufacturing, and replacement of damaged or used equipment. On the other hand, virtual reality (VR) computerized simulators are comparatively modern instruments for use in practical training. VR can be employed to simulate real-world situations without the actual need for physical devices. This work presents an ambulance patient compartment VR simulation that can be used by emergency medical services (EMS) staff to customize the configuration of the ambulance patient compartment according to their preference as well as for vehicle orientation or training purposes. The proposed simulation can be used repeatedly enabling the paramedics to access equipment in a fully immersive and safe environment. The user studies have demonstrated the usability and perceived effectiveness of the proposed simulation.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-12980-3
Engineering charge ordering into multiferroicity
Creators: name: He, Xu
name: Jin, Kui-juan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Multiferroic materials have attracted great interests but are rare in nature. In many transitional metal oxides, charge ordering and magnetic ordering coexist, so that a method of engineering charge-ordered materials into ferroelectric materials would lead to a large class of multiferroic materials. We propose a strategy for designing new ferroelectric or even multiferroic materials by inserting a spacing layer into each two layers of charge-ordered materials and artificially making a superlattice. One example of the model demonstrated here is the perovskite (LaFeO$_3$)$_2$/LaTiO$_3$ (111) superlattice, in which the LaTiO$_3$ layer acts as the donor and the spacing layer, and the LaFeO$_3$ layer is half doped and performs charge ordering. The collaboration of the charge ordering and the spacing layer breaks the space inversion symmetry, resulting in a large ferroelectric polarization. As the charge ordering also leads to a ferrimagnetic structure, the (LaFeO$_3$)$_2$/LaTiO$_3$ is multiferroic. It is expected that this work can encourage the designing and experimentally implementation of a large class of multiferroic structures with novel properties.
Innovative Electric Model of n+p Silicon Solar Cells
Creators: name: Macku, R.
name: Koktavy, P.
name: Skarvada, P.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2009
Subjects: Advanced Photovoltaics
Fundamental Studies

description: 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 439-443
description: This paper is intended to present the results of our research whose objective consists in describing the
behaviour of silicon solar cells, which have been prepared using the diffusion technology. In general, heavy current
densities are being observed in the specimens. Why it is so, is the subject of our study. To describe the behaviour of the
solar cells, we are using U-I characteristics. We suggest the physical nature of an unconventional behavior of the solar
cells without apparent local avalanche and thermal breakdowns by means of electrical model. The model is based on our
knowledge of the solar cell production technology, in which the solar cell p+n junction arises through the diffusion of
gaseous dopants on the top as well as at the bottom of the substrate. In consequence, an n+pn+ bipolar transistor structure
is arising. This structure is suppressed in the course of the rear contact creation, however, not throughout the whole
volume. A mathematical description of the equivalent circuit model will be put forward, in which the solar cell current
will be expressed by means of a transcendent equation. The applicability of the theoretical model has been verified by
comparing with the K4 and Z1 specimen's characteristic. By approximating the measured curves by our theoretical
circuit function we managed to get new pieces of information concerning the processes taking place in the specimen.
Heat transport in nonuniform superconductors
Creators: name: Richard, Caroline
name: Vorontsov, Anton B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We calculate electronic energy transport in inhomogeneous superconductors using a fully self-consistent non-equilibrium quasiclassical Keldysh approach. We develop a general theory and apply it a superconductor with an order parameter that forms domain walls, of the type encountered in Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state. The heat transport in the presence of a domain wall is inherently anisotropic and non-local. Bound states in the nonuniform region play a crucial role and control heat transport in several ways: (i) they modify the spectrum of quasiparticle states and result in Andreev reflection processes, and (ii) they hybridize with impurity band and produce local transport environment with properties very different from those in uniform superconductor. As a result of this interplay, heat transport becomes highly sensitive to temperature, magnetic field and disorder. For strongly scattering impurities we find that the transport across domain walls at low temperatures is considerably more efficient than in the uniform superconducting state.
description: 14 pages, 13 figures
The mosaic multiple stellar populations in $ω$ Centauri : the Horizontal Branch and the Main Sequence
Creators: name: Tailo, Marco
name: Di Criscienzo, Marcella
name: D'Antona, Francesca
name: Caloi, Vittoria
name: Ventura, Paolo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We interpret the stellar population of $ω$ Centauri by means of a population synthesis analysis, following the most recent observational guidelines for input metallicities, helium and [(C+N+O)/Fe] contents. We deal at the same time with the main sequences, sub-giant and horizontal branch data. The reproduction of the observed colour magnitude features is very satisfying and bears interesting hints concerning the evolutionary history of this peculiar stellar ensemble. Our main results are: 1) no significant spread in age is required to fit the colour-magnitude diagram. Indeed we can use coeval isochrones for the synthetic populations, and we estimate that the ages fall within a $\sim 0.5$ Gyr time interval; in particular the most metal rich population can be coeval (in the above meaning) with the others, if its stars are very helium--rich (Y$\sim$0.37) and with the observed CNO enhancement ([(C+N+O)/Fe] = + 0.7); 2) a satisfactory fit of the whole HB is obtained, consistent with the choice of the populations providing a good reproduction of the main sequence and sub giant data. 3) the split in magnitude observed in the red HB is well reproduced assuming the presence of two stellar populations in the two different sequences observed: a metal poor population made of stars evolving from the blue side (luminous branch) and a metal richer one whose stars are in a stage closer to the zero age HB (dimmer branch). This modelization also fits satisfactorily the period and the [Fe/H] distribution of the RR Lyrae stars.
description: 13 pages, 7 figure, 3 tables
Sound of guns: digital forensics of gun audio samples meets artificial intelligence
Creators: name: Raponi, Simone
name: Oligeri, Gabriele
name: Ali, Isra Mohamed
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Computer vision and multimedia computation
Distributed computing and systems software

description: Classifying a weapon based on its muzzle blast is a challenging task that has significant applications in various security and military fields. Most of the existing works rely on ad-hoc deployment of spatially diverse microphone sensors to capture multiple replicas of the same gunshot, which enables accurate detection and identification of the acoustic source. However, carefully controlled setups are difficult to obtain in scenarios such as crime scene forensics, making the aforementioned techniques inapplicable and impractical. We introduce a novel technique that requires zero knowledge about the recording setup and is completely agnostic to the relative positions of both the microphone and shooter. Our solution can identify the category, caliber, and model of the gun, reaching over 90% accuracy on a dataset composed of 3655 samples that are extracted from YouTube videos. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of applying Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in gunshot classification eliminating the need for an ad-hoc setup while significantly improving the classification performance.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-12612-w
Disruption of Molecular Clouds by Expansion of Dusty H II Regions
Creators: name: Kim, Jeong-Gyu
name: Kim, Woong-Tae
name: Ostriker, Eve C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Dynamical expansion of H II regions around star clusters plays a key role in dispersing the surrounding dense gas and therefore in limiting the efficiency of star formation in molecular clouds. We use a semi-analytic method and numerical simulations to explore expansion of spherical dusty H II regions and surrounding neutral shells and the resulting cloud disruption. Our model for shell expansion adopts the static solutions of Draine (2011) for dusty H II regions and considers the contact outward forces on the shell due to radiation and thermal pressures as well as the inward gravity from the central star and the shell itself. We show that the internal structure we adopt and the shell evolution from the semi-analytic approach are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations. Strong radiation pressure in the interior controls the shell expansion indirectly by enhancing the density and pressure at the ionization front. We calculate the minimum star formation efficiency $ε_{min}$ required for cloud disruption as a function of the cloud's total mass and mean surface density. Within the adopted spherical geometry, we find that typical giant molecular clouds in normal disk galaxies have $ε_{min} \lesssim 10$%, with comparable gas and radiation pressure effects on shell expansion. Massive cluster-forming clumps require a significantly higher efficiency of $ε_{min} \gtrsim 50$% for disruption, produced mainly by radiation-driven expansion. The disruption time is typically of the order of a free-fall timescale, suggesting that the cloud disruption occurs rapidly once a sufficiently luminous H II region is formed. We also discuss limitations of the spherical idealization.
description: 23 pages, 14 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ
Smartphone-based food recognition system using multiple deep CNN models
Creators: name: Fakhrou, Abdulnaser
name: Kunhoth, Jayakanth
name: Al Maadeed, Somaya
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Computer vision and multimedia computation
Distributed computing and systems software

description: People with blindness or low vision utilize mobile assistive tools for various applications such as object recognition, text recognition, etc. Most of the available applications are focused on recognizing generic objects. And they have not addressed the recognition of food dishes and fruit varieties. In this paper, we propose a smartphone-based system for recognizing the food dishes as well as fruits for children with visual impairments. The Smartphone application utilizes a trained deep CNN model for recognizing the food item from the real-time images. Furthermore, we develop a new deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model for food recognition using the fusion of two CNN architectures. The new deep CNN model is developed using the ensemble learning approach. The deep CNN food recognition model is trained on a customized food recognition dataset.The customized food recognition dataset consists of 29 varieties of food dishes and fruits. Moreover, we analyze the performance of multiple state of art deep CNN models for food recognition using the transfer learning approach. The ensemble model performed better than state of art CNN models and achieved a food recognition accuracy of 95.55 % in the customized food dataset. In addition to that, the proposed deep CNN model is evaluated in two publicly available food datasets to display its efficacy for food recognition tasks.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11329-6
Non-linear elastic effects in phase field crystal and amplitude equations: Comparison to ab initio simulations of bcc metals and graphene
Creators: name: Hüter, C.
name: Friák, M.
name: Weikamp, M.
name: Neugebauer, J.
name: Goldenfeld, N.
name: Svendsen, B.
name: Spatschek, R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate non-linear elastic deformations in the phase field crystal model and derived amplitude equations formulations. Two sources of non-linearity are found, one of them based on geometric non-linearity expressed through a finite strain tensor. It reflects the Eulerian structure of the continuum models and correctly describes the strain dependence of the stiffness. In general, the relevant strain tensor is related to the left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor. In isotropic one- and two-dimensional situations the elastic energy can be expressed equivalently through the right deformation tensor. The predicted isotropic low temperature non-linear elastic effects are directly related to the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state with bulk modulus derivative $K'=4$ for bcc. A two-dimensional generalization suggests $K'_{2D}=5$. These predictions are in agreement with ab initio results for large strain bulk deformations of various bcc elements and graphene. Physical non-linearity arises if the strain dependence of the density wave amplitudes is taken into account and leads to elastic weakening. For anisotropic deformations the magnitudes of the amplitudes depend on their relative orientation to the applied strain.
description: 16 pages
Augmented reality flavor: cross-modal mapping across gustation, olfaction, and vision
Creators: name: Halabi, Osama
name: Saleh, Mohammad
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Distributed computing and systems software
Graphics, augmented reality and games

description: Gustatory display research is still in its infancy despite being one of the essential everyday senses that human practice while eating and drinking. Indeed, the most important and frequent tasks that our brain deals with every day are foraging and feeding. The recent studies by psychologists and cognitive neuroscientist revealed how complex multisensory rely on the integration of cues from all the human senses in any flavor experiences. The perception of flavor is multisensory and involves combinations of gustatory and olfactory stimuli. The cross-modal mapping between these modalities needs to be more explored in the virtual environment and simulation, especially in liquid food. In this paper, we present a customized wearable Augmented Reality (AR) system and olfaction display to study the effect of vision and olfaction on the gustatory sense. A user experiment and extensive analysis conducted to study the influence of each stimulus on the overall flavor, including other factors like age, previous experience in Virtual Reality (VR)/AR, and beverage consumption. The result showed that smell contributes strongly to the flavor with less contribution to the vision. However, the combination of these stimuli can deliver richer experience and a higher belief rate. Beverage consumption had a significant effect on the flavor belief rate. Experience is correlated with stimulus and age is correlated with belief rate, and both indirectly affected the belief rate.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11321-0
Improving text-to-image generation with object layout guidance
Creators: name: Zakraoui, Jezia
name: Saleh, Moutaz
name: Al-Maadeed, Somaya
name: Jaam, Jihad Mohammed
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Computer vision and multimedia computation
Distributed computing and systems software

description: The automatic generation of realistic images directly from a story text is a very challenging problem, as it cannot be addressed using a single image generation approach due mainly to the semantic complexity of the story text constituents. In this work, we propose a new approach that decomposes the task of story visualization into three phases: semantic text understanding, object layout prediction, and image generation and refinement. We start by simplifying the text using a scene graph triple notation that encodes semantic relationships between the story objects. We then introduce an object layout module to capture the features of these objects from the corresponding scene graph. Specifically, the object layout module aggregates individual object features from the scene graph as well as averaged or likelihood object features generated by a graph convolutional neural network. All these features are concatenated to form semantic triples that are then provided to the image generation framework. For the image generation phase, we adopt a scene graph image generation framework as stage-I, which is refined using a StackGAN as stage-II conditioned on the object layout module and the generated output image from stage-I. Our approach renders object details in high-resolution images while keeping the image structure consistent with the input text. To evaluate the performance of our approach, we use the COCO dataset and compare it with three baseline approaches, namely, sg2im, StackGAN and AttnGAN, in terms of image quality and user evaluation. According to the obtained assessment results, our object layout guidance-based approach significantly outperforms the abovementioned baseline approaches in terms of the accuracy of semantic matching and realism of the generated images representing the story text sentences.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11038-0
Text-to-picture tools, systems, and approaches: a survey
Creators: name: Zakraoui, Jezia
name: Saleh, Moutaz
name: Al Ja’am, Jihad
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Computer vision and multimedia computation
Distributed computing and systems software

description: Text-to-picture systems attempt to facilitate high-level, user-friendly communication between humans and computers while promoting understanding of natural language. These systems interpret a natural language text and transform it into a visual format as pictures or images that are either static or dynamic. In this paper, we aim to identify current difficulties and the main problems faced by prior systems, and in particular, we seek to investigate the feasibility of automatic visualization of Arabic story text through multimedia. Hence, we analyzed a number of well-known text-to-picture systems, tools, and approaches. We showed their constituent steps, such as knowledge extraction, mapping, and image layout, as well as their performance and limitations. We also compared these systems based on a set of criteria, mainly natural language processing, natural language understanding, and input/output modalities. Our survey showed that currently emerging techniques in natural language processing tools and computer vision have made promising advances in analyzing general text and understanding images and videos. Furthermore, important remarks and findings have been deduced from these prior works, which would help in developing an effective text-to-picture system for learning and educational purposes.Other Information Published in: Multimedia Tools and Applications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-7541-4
Silicon Quantum Dot Absorber Layers for All-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells: Optical and Electrical Characterisation
Creators: name: Löper, P.
name: Hartel, A.
name: Künle, M.
name: Hiller, D.
name: Janz, S.
name: Hermle, M.
name: Zacharias, M.
name: Glunz, S.W.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2009
Subjects: Advanced Photovoltaics
New Materials, Cells and Modules

description: 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 434-438
description: Silicon carbide thin films that incorporate silicon nanocrystals are investigated. The optical band gap of
the films is controlled by the deposition and annealing conditions. The band gap of as-deposited films was varied
between 2.1 eV and 3 eV. Si0.5C0.5 films were successfully doped in-situ with B2H6 and conductivities of 5·10-5 S/cm
to 2·10-4 S/cm were obtained. Temperature dependent conductivity shows that the conductivity follows an Arrhenius
relation for certain temperature regimes. However, the temperature dependence over a larger temperature range is not
Arrhenius-like, which is in agreement with previous results.
Describing the heavy-ion above-barrier fusion using the bare potentials resulting from Migdal and M3Y double-folding approaches
Creators: name: Gontchar, Igor
name: Chushnyakova, Maria
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Systematic calculations of the Coulomb barrier parameters for collisions of spherical nuclei are performed within the framework of the double folding approach. The value of the parameter $B_Z=Z_PZ_T/(A^{1/3}_P+(A^{1/3}_P)$ (which estimates the Coulomb barrier height) varies in these calculations from 10 MeV up to 150 MeV. The nuclear densities came from the Hartree-Fock calculations which reproduce the experimental charge densities with good accuracy. For the nucleon-nucleon effective interaction two analytical approximations known in the literature are used: the M3Y and Migdal forces. The calculations show that Migdal interaction always results in the higher Coulomb barrier. Moreover, as $B_Z$ increases the difference between the M3Y and Migdal barrier heights systematically increases as well. As the result, the above barrier fusion cross sections calculated dynamically with the M3Y forces and surface friction are in agreement with the data. The cross sections calculated with the Migdal forces are always below the experimental data even without accounting for the dissipation.
description: 13 pages, 5 figures