cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Probability of forming gaps in the GD-1 stream by close encounters of globular clusters
Creators: name: Doke, Yuka
name: Hattori, Kohei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: One of the most intriguing properties of the GD-1 stellar stream is the existence of three gaps. If these gaps were formed by close encounters with dark matter subhalos, the GD-1 stream opens an exciting window through which we can see the size, mass, and velocity distributions of the dark matter subhalos in the Milky Way. However, in order to use the GD-1 stream as a probe of the dark matter substructure, we need to disprove that these gaps are not due to the perturbations from baryonic components of the Milky Way. Here we ran a large number of test particle simulations to investigate the probability that each of the known globular clusters (GCs) can form a GD-1-like gap, by using the kinematical data of the GD-1 stream and GCs from Gaia EDR3 and by fully taking into account the observational uncertainty. We found that the probability that all of the three gaps were formed by GCs is as low as $1.7\times10^{-5}$ and the expected number of gaps formed by GCs is only $0.057$ in our fiducial model. Our result highly disfavors a scenario in which GCs form the gaps. Given that other baryonic perturbers (e.g., giant molecular clouds) are even less likely to form a gap in the retrograde-moving GD-1 stream, we conclude that at least one of the gaps in the GD-1 stream was formed by dark matter subhalos if the gaps were formed by flyby perturbations.
description: Main text 15 pages, References 1 page, Appendix 4 pages. 9 figures. 3 tables. ApJ accepted
Path-Based Program Repair
Creators: name: Riener, Heinz
name: Ehlers, Rüdiger
name: Fey, Görschwin
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Programming Languages (cs.PL)
subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: We propose a path-based approach to program repair for imperative programs. Our repair framework takes as input a faulty program, a logic specification that is refuted, and a hint where the fault may be located. An iterative abstraction refinement loop is then used to repair the program: in each iteration, the faulty program part is re-synthesized considering a symbolic counterexample, where the control-flow is kept concrete but the data-flow is symbolic. The appeal of the idea is two-fold: 1) the approach lazily considers candidate repairs and 2) the repairs are directly derived from the logic specification. In contrast to prior work, our approach is complete for programs with finitely many control-flow paths, i.e., the program is repaired if and only if it can be repaired at the specified fault location. Initial results for small programs indicate that the approach is useful for debugging programs in practice.
description: In Proceedings FESCA 2015, arXiv:1503.04378
(1211) Clara Tate
Creators: name: Professions, Victorian
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 220201 Business and Labour History
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: History
subject: 140203 Economic History
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: This three-year research project began in January 2014 and investigated whether, during the Victorian period, the professions formed a distinct self-sustaining social group with its own mores and values. The project looked at 16,000 individuals drawn from census data for Alnwick, Brighton, Bristol, Dundee, Greenock, Leeds, Merthyr Tydfil, Morpeth, and Winchester. The research project was funded by the UK Economic & Social Research Council and was based at the Universities of Oxford and Northumbria.
Optimizing the scale of markets for water quality trading
Creators: name: Schnier, Kurt E.
name: Chen, Yanyou
name: Doyle, Martin W.
name: Patterson, Lauren A.
name: Yates, Andrew J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: Applying market approaches to environmental regulations requires establishing a spatial scale for trading. Spatially large markets usually increase opportunities for abatement cost savings but increase the potential for pollution damages (hot spots), vice versa for spatially small markets. We develop a coupled hydrologic-economic modeling approach for application to point source emissions trading by a large number of sources and apply this approach to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) within the watershed of the second largest estuary in the U.S. We consider two different administrative structures that govern the trade of emission permits: one-for-one trading (the number of permits required for each unit of emission is the same for every WWTP) and trading ratios (the number of permits required for each unit of emissions varies across WWTP). Results show that water quality regulators should allow trading to occur at the river basin scale as an appropriate first-step policy, as is being done in a limited number of cases via compliance associations. Larger spatial scales may be needed under conditions of increased abatement costs. The optimal scale of the market is generally the same regardless of whether one-for-one trading or trading ratios are employed.
On the Physical Requirements for a Pre-Reionization Origin of the Unresolved Near-Infrared Background
Creators: name: Helgason, Kári
name: Ricotti, Massimo
name: Kashlinsky, Alexander
name: Bromm, Volker
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The study of the Cosmic Near-Infrared Background (CIB) light after subtraction of resolved sources can push the limits of current observations and infer the level of galaxy and black hole activity in the early universe. However, disentangling the relative contribution from low- and high-redshift sources is not trivial. Spatial fluctuations of the CIB exhibit a clustering excess at angular scales $\sim 1^\circ$ whose origin has not been conclusively identified. We explore the likelihood that this signal is dominated by emission from galaxies and accreting black holes in the early Universe. We find that, if the first small mass galaxies have a normal IMF, the light of their ageing stars (fossils) integrated over cosmic time contributes a comparable amount to the CIB as their pre-reionization progenitors. However, the measured fluctuation signal is too large to be produced by galaxies at redshifts $z>8$ unless their star formation efficiencies are much larger than those inferred from the observed Lyman-dropout population. In order to produce the observed level of CIB fluctuation without violating constraints from galaxy counts and the electron optical depth of the IGM, minihalos at $z>12$ must form stars with efficiency $f_\star \gtrsim 0.1$ and, although a top-heavy IMF is preferred, have a very low escape fraction of ionizing radiation, $f_{\rm esc}<0.01$. If instead the CIB fluctuations are produced by high-$z$ black holes, one requires vigorous accretion in the early universe reaching $ρ_{\rm acc} \gtrsim 10^5M_\odot{\rm Mpc^{-3}}$ by $z\simeq 10$. This growth must stop by $z \sim 6$ and be significantly obscured not to overproduce the soft cosmic X-ray background (CXB) and its observed coherence with the CIB. We therefore find the range of suitable possibilities at high-$z$ to be narrow, but could possibly be widened by including additional physics and evolution at those epochs.
description: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
(1205) Anne Wilson
Creators: name: Professions, Victorian
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 220201 Business and Labour History
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: History
subject: 140203 Economic History
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: This three-year research project began in January 2014 and investigated whether, during the Victorian period, the professions formed a distinct self-sustaining social group with its own mores and values. The project looked at 16,000 individuals drawn from census data for Alnwick, Brighton, Bristol, Dundee, Greenock, Leeds, Merthyr Tydfil, Morpeth, and Winchester. The research project was funded by the UK Economic & Social Research Council and was based at the Universities of Oxford and Northumbria.
Using Model-Checking Techniques for Component-Based Systems with Reconfigurations
Creators: name: Hufflen, Jean-Michel
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS)
subject: Formal Languages and Automata Theory (cs.FL)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: C.1.3; D.2.4; D.2.11

description: Within a component-based approach allowing dynamic reconfigurations, sequences of successive reconfiguration operations are expressed by means of reconfiguration paths, possibly infinite. We show that a subclass of such paths can be modelled by finite state automata. This feature allows us to use techniques related to model-checking to prove some architectural, event, and temporal properties related to dynamic reconfiguration. Our method is proved correct w.r.t. these properties' definition.
description: In Proceedings FESCA 2015, arXiv:1503.04378
A Retrospective Evaluation of the Storm Surge Produced by Hurricane Gustav (2008): Forecast and Hindcast Results
Creators: name: Westerink, Joannes J.
name: Luettich Jr, Richard A.
name: Forbes, Cristina
name: Mattocks, Craig A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: The evolution and convergence of modeled storm surge were examined using a high-resolution implementation of the Advanced Circulation Coastal Ocean and Storm Surge (ADCIRC) model for Hurricane Gustav (2008). The storm surge forecasts were forced using an asymmetric gradient wind model (AWM), directly coupled to ADCIRC at every time step and at every grid node. A total of 20 forecast advisories and best-track data from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) were used as input parameters into the wind model. Differences in maximum surge elevations were evaluated for ensembles comprised of the final 20, 15, 10, and 5 forecast advisories plus the best track. For this particular storm, the final 10-12 forecast advisories, encompassing the last 2.5-3 days of the storm's lifetime, give a reasonable estimate of the final storm surge and inundation. The results provide a detailed perspective of the variability in the storm surge due to variability in the meteorological forecast and how this changes as the storm approaches landfall. This finding is closely tied to the consistency and accuracy of the NHC storm track forecasts and the predicted landfall location and, therefore, cannot be generalized to all storms in all locations. Nevertheless, this first attempt to translate variability in forecast meteorology into storm surge variability provides useful insights for guiding the potential use of storm surge models for forecast purposes. Model skill was also evaluated for Hurricane Gustav by comparing observed water levels with hindcast modeled water levels forced by river flow, tides, and several sources of wind data. The AWM (which ingested best-track information from NHC) generated winds that were slightly higher than those from NOAA's Hurricane Research Division (HRD) HWind analyses and substantially greater than the North American Mesoscale (NAM) model. Surge obtained using the AWM more closely matched the observed water levels than that computed using HWind; however, this may be due to the neglect of the contribution of wave setup to the surge, especially in exposed areas. Several geographically distinct storm surge response regimes, some characterized by multisurge pulses, were identified and described.
Supplementary information from Predation shapes sperm performance surfaces in guppies
Creators: name: Devigili, Alessandro
name: Evans, Jonathan P.
name: Fitzpatrick, John L.
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Ecology

description: Sperm velocity is a key determinant of competitive fertilization success in many species. Selection is therefore expected to favour the evolution of faster sperm when the level of sperm competition is high. However, several aspects can determine the direction and strength of selection acting on this key performance trait, including ecological factors that influence both sperm competition and the strength of selection acting on correlated traits that may constrain evolutionary responses in sperm velocity. Here, we determine how a key ecological variable, the level of predation, shapes sperm swimming speed across 18 Trinidadian populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata). We use performance analysis, a statistical tool akin to the familiar methods of multivariate selection analyses, to determine how the level of predation influences sperm velocity (modelled as a performance trait) when accounting for correlated pre- and postcopulatory traits that are also impacted by predation. We show that predation affects the combination of pre- and postcopulatory traits that ultimately predict sperm performance. Overall, we report evidence for disruptive relationships between sperm performance and combinations of ornaments and sperm morphology, but the specific combinations of traits that predict sperm velocity depended on the level of predation. These analyses underscore the complex nonlinear interrelationships among pre- and postcopulatory traits and the importance of considering key ecological factors that may ultimately change the way that multiple traits interact to determine a trait's performance value. As such, our results are likely to be broadly applicable across systems where selection is influenced by ecological conditions.
The Magellanic Stream: break up and accretion onto the hot Galactic corona
Creators: name: Tepper-Garcia, Thor
name: Bland-Hawthorn, Joss
name: Sutherland, Ralph S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Magellanic HI Stream (~2x10^9 Msun [d/55 kpc]^2) encircling the Galaxy at a distance 'd' is arguably the most important tracer of what happens to gas accreting onto a disk galaxy. Recent observations reveal that the Stream's mass is in fact dominated (3:1) by its ionised component. Here we revisit the origin of the mysterious H-alpha recombination emission observed along much of its length that is overly bright (~150-200 milli-Rayleigh) for the known Galactic ultraviolet background (~20-40 mR / [d/55 kpc]^2). In an earlier model, we proposed that a slow shock cascade was operating along the Stream due to its interaction with the extended Galactic hot corona. We find that, for a smooth coronal density profile, this model can explain the bright H-alpha emission if the coronal density satisfies 2 < (n / 10^{-4} cm^{-3}) < 4 at d = 55 kpc. But in view of updated parameters for the Galactic halo and mounting evidence that most of the Stream must lie far beyond the Magellanic Clouds (d>55 kpc), we revisit the shock cascade model in detail. At lower densities, the HI gas is broken down by the shock cascade but mostly mixes with the hot corona without significant recombination. At higher densities, the hot coronal mass (including the other baryonic components) exceeds the baryon budget of the Galaxy. If the H-alpha emission arises from the shock cascade, the upper limit on the smooth coronal density constrains the Stream's mean distance to < 75 kpc. If, as some models indicate, the Stream is even further out, either the shock cascade is operating in a regime where the corona is substantially mass-loaded with recent gas debris, or an entirely different ionization mechanism is responsible.
description: Significant expansion of the parameter space explored in response to referee's comments. ApJ accepted
title: Computational models of concept formation: Cognitive chunks and neural engrams
Creators: name: Bennett, Dmitry
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: A key issue in cognitive science concerns the fundamental psychological processes that underlie the formation and retrieval of concepts in the short-term and long-term memory (STM and LTM, respectively). This thesis tackled this question from two opposite levels of understanding mental phenomena: the level of cognitive psychology and the level of neuroscience. On the cognitive psychology side, the thesis advanced Chunking Theory and its computational embodiment CHREST to propose a single model that accounts for significant aspects of concept formation in the domains of literature and music. The proposed model inherits CHREST’s architecture with its integrated STM/LTM stores, while also adding a moving attention window and an “LTM chunk activation” mechanism. These additions address the overly destructive nature of primacy effects in discrimination network based architectures and expand Chunking Theory to account for learning, retrieval and categorisation of complex sequential symbolic patterns – namely real-life text and written music scores. The model was trained through exposure to labelled stimuli and learned to categorise classical poets/writers and composers. On the neuroscience side, the thesis replicated the categorisation experiments above with a Deep Learning/Artificial Neural Network (ANN) architecture. The results of both categorisation experiments showed qualitative, quantitative and functional similarities between the cognitive and the neural modelling approaches. Both CHREST and ANN models were then tasked with simulating/predicting human music categorisation performance. Structured interviews with six music conservatory students established their musical history as well as their performance on categorisation of novel musical pieces. Individual models were then made for every participant – these were trained and tested on the same data as their human counterparts. Both models were found to have good overall fit to the human data. These findings offer further support to the mechanisms proposed by Chunking Theory, connect them to the neural network modelling approach, and make further inroads towards integrating concept formation theories into a Unified Theory of Cognition (Newell, 1990).
Geometric Filterless Photodetectors for Mid-infrared Spin Light
Creators: name: Wei, Jingxuan
name: Chen, Yang
name: Li, Ying
name: Li, Wei
name: Xie, Junsheng
name: Lee, Chengkuo
name: Novoselov, Kostya S
name: Qiu, Cheng-Wei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: Applied Physics (physics.app-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Free-space circularly polarized light (CPL) detection, requiring polarizers and waveplates, has been well established, while such spatial degree of freedom is unfortunately absent in integrated on-chip optoelectronics. So far, those reported filterless CPL photodetectors suffer from the intrinsic small discrimination ratio, vulnerability to the non-CPL field components, and low responsivity. Here, we report a distinct paradigm of geometric photodetectors in mid-infrared exhibiting colossal discrimination ratio, close-to-perfect CPL-specific response, a zero-bias responsivity of 392 V/W at room temperature, and a detectivity of ellipticity down to 0.03$^o$ Hz$^{-1/2}$. Our approach employs plasmonic nanostructures array with judiciously designed symmetry, assisted by graphene ribbons to electrically read their near-field optical information. This geometry-empowered recipe for infrared photodetectors provides a robust, direct, strict, and high-quality solution to on-chip filterless CPL detection and unlocks new opportunities for integrated functional optoelectronic devices.
Electronic Supplementary Material from Factors affecting blue carbon variability in eelgrass sediments implied from depth profiles from Variation of carbon contents in eelgrass (Zostera marina) sediments implied from depth profiles.
Creators: name: Kindeberg, Theodor
name: Röhr, Emilia
name: Per-Olav Moksnes
name: Boström, Christoffer
name: Holmer, Marianne
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Environmental Science
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Seagrass meadows are able to store significant amounts of organic carbon in their underlying sediment, but global estimates are uncertain partly owing to spatio-temporal heterogeneity between and within areas and species. In order to provide robust estimates, there is a need to better understand the fate of, and mechanisms behind, organic carbon storage. In this observational study, we analyse a suite of biotic and abiotic parameters in sediment cores from 47 different eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds spanning the distributional range of the Northern Hemisphere. Depth profiles of particulate organic carbon (POC) revealed three patterns of vertical distribution where POC either increased, decreased or showed no pattern with sediment depth. These categories exhibited distinct profiles of δ13C and C : N ratios, where high POC profiles had a proportionally larger storage of eelgrass-derived material whereas low POC profiles were dominated by phytoplanktonic and macroalgal material. However, high POC did not always translate into high carbon density. Nevertheless, this large-scale dataset provides evidence that the variability in organic matter source in response to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes affects the potential role of eelgrass beds as POC sinks, particularly where eelgrass decline is observed.
title: Impacts of climate change on the planktonic food web in the European Arctic
Creators: name: Price, Elliott
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: Across the globe, planktonic consumer resource interactions are being altered by changing environmental conditions. Climate change is altering the distributions of both phytoplankton and zooplankton, thus modifying the base of the food web, which has consequences for the feeding environment of consumers and predators with knock on effects for population viability. In the Arctic, inflows of Atlantic waters are strengthening, which is increasing sea surface temperatures, weakening stratification and transporting temperate and sub-Arctic plankton species deeper into the Arctic interior. In other regions, increased sea ice melt is freshening and stratifying the water column, causing phenological shifts to phytoplankton blooms. These heterogenous alterations have direct effects to zooplankton feeding and the wider food web. Our knowledge of the responses of zooplankton feeding within the planktonic Arctic food web is limited due to the highly seasonal nature of the Arctic environment that adds to food web complexity. Untangling this complexity remains a challenge if we are to accurately predict and understand the functioning of marine food webs in the Arctic. In this thesis I aim to resolve the spatial and interannual feeding ecology the calanoid copepods Calanus in the Arctic. I use multivariate statistical techniques on an abundance Continuous Plankton Recorder dataset to define the feeding environment for Calanus and a dual biomarker approach of isotope analysis and DNA gut content analysis to estimate the feeding strategies of Calanus. These dietary descriptors are contextualised by environmental parameters derived from CTD casts, remote sensing databases and models. Changes to the food environment for Calanus were variable on both spatial and interannual scales, these include differences in net primary production, and in the phytoplankton assemblage. The drivers of these changes were factors that altered the strength of stratification, which impact nutrient delivery and primary production in the surface. Despite these changes, Calanus were consistently omnivorous, occupying the trophic level 2.5. In some regions, the smaller C. finmarchicus/glacialis had a slightly higher TP than the larger C. hyperboreus, likely due to the earlier termination of feeding by the latter. In water masses with low productivity and strong stratification, the niches of these two Calanus groups were separated, indicating different resource utilization. Whereas in highly productive regions, there was high niche overlap, suggesting the sharing of resources. The high plasticity of Calanus indicates that, providing the nutritional quality of dietary items is maintained, they should continue to transfer essential lipids to the rest of the food web despite the regionally specific changes in stratification and net primary production rates.
A novel CRISPR-based malaria diagnostic capable of Plasmodium detection, species differentiation, and drug-resistance genotyping
Creators: name: Hennelly, C.M.
name: Mulogo, E.M.
name: Lin, J.T.
name: Boyce, R.M.
name: Cunningham, C.H.
name: Phanzu, F.
name: Tshefu, A.
name: Mwandagalirwa, K.
name: Ubalee, R.
name: Parr, J.B.
name: Juliano, J.J.
name: Thwai, K.L.
name: Kalonji, A.
name: Hathaway, N.
Publisher: name: Elsevier B.V.
Year: 2021

description: Background: CRISPR-based diagnostics are a new class of highly sensitive and specific assays with multiple applications in infectious disease diagnosis. SHERLOCK, or Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing, is one such CRISPR-based diagnostic that combines recombinase polymerase pre-amplification, CRISPR-RNA base-pairing, and LwCas13a activity for nucleic acid detection. Methods: We developed SHERLOCK assays capable of detecting all Plasmodium species known to cause human malaria and species-specific detection of P. vivax and P. falciparum, the species responsible for the majority of malaria cases worldwide. We further tested these assays using a diverse panel of clinical samples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Thailand and pools of Anopheles mosquitoes from Thailand. In addition, we developed a prototype SHERLOCK assay capable of detecting the dihydropteroate synthetase (dhps) single nucleotide variant A581G associated with P. falciparum sulfadoxine resistance. Findings: The suite of Plasmodium assays achieved analytical sensitivities ranging from 2•5-18•8 parasites per reaction when tested against laboratory strain genomic DNA. When compared to real-time PCR, the P. falciparum assay achieved 94% sensitivity and 94% specificity during testing of 123 clinical samples. Compared to amplicon-based deep sequencing, the dhps SHERLOCK assay achieved 73% sensitivity and 100% specificity when applied to a panel of 43 clinical samples, with false-negative calls only at lower parasite densities. Interpretation: These novel SHERLOCK assays demonstrate the versatility of CRISPR-based diagnostics and their potential as a new generation of molecular tools for malaria diagnosis and surveillance. Funding: National Institutes of Health (T32GM007092, R21AI148579, K24AI134990, R01AI121558, UL1TR002489, P30CA016086)
title: Advanced Antenna Designs for 5G Communications
Creators: name: Hua, Qiang
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2025

description: Base station antennas have been developed in the past four decades due to the evolution of cellular communication technologies. This thesis focuses on the development of 5G base station antennas and addresses some of their challenges. When upgrading to higher frequency bands for 5G, it is challenging to realize a superior mobile network because the path loss and multipath effects become more severe, especially for the coverage. Since base station antennas are well established and matured, there is little room for further development with the traditional approach. When entering the 5G era, more wireless systems and applications become part of our daily lives and the global economy. A significant challenge is how to make the wireless systems multifunctional and reconfigurable over an ultra-wideband or multi-bands. Nevertheless, the development of new material has provided a new and promising path for further developing antennas. Both indoor and outdoor base station antennas are required to support 5G networks with better performance (wide bandwidth, stable radiation pattern, etc.) and coexist with the current 2G/3G/4G networks. Meanwhile, small size, low profile and less-cost antennas are preferred. Thus, this thesis makes four significant contributions to address the above-stated problems and challenges. They can be summarized as follow: 1. A novel compact quadruple band indoor base station antenna for 2G/3G/4G/5G mobile communication systems was presented, which covers 0.69 – 0.96 GHz, 1.7 – 2.7 GHz, 3.3 – 3.8 GHz and 4.8 – 5.0 GHz with a compact size. A new optimization method was employed to optimize the antenna. 2. Two wideband (3.3 – 5.0 GHz) and dual-band (3.3 – 3.8 GHz and 4.8 – 5.0 GHz) dual-polarized outdoor base station antennas were proposed for 5G applications. Both antennas cover the desired operating frequency bands. They have high port-to-port isolation, stable radiation pattern and compact size. 3. A compact dual-polarized ultra-wideband base station antenna based on new material was designed and simulated for 5G applications. The proposed antenna covers the frequency bands from 2.29 to 5.09 GHz with a compact size and has better isolation between the two ports. It also has a simple structure. 4. An ultra-wideband waveguide and a wideband cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna were designed based on the new material. The ultra-wideband waveguide is achieved by loading the new material, which covers 0.5 to 16 GHz with a simple construction. The dielectric resonator antenna has a simple structure and wide bandwidth.
Lightweight Temporal Attention Encoder - Pre-trained weights
Creators: name: Garnot, Vivien Sainte Fare
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020

description: Pre-trained weights for the Pixel-Set Encoder + Lightweight Temporal Attention Encoder architecture for agricultural parcel classification on Sentinel-2 satellite image time series. This architecture is presented in the following paper: Lightweight Temporal Self-Attention for Classifying Satellite Image Time Series
 https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.00586 The PyTorch code associated is located in the following github repository:
 https://github.com/VSainteuf/lightweight-temporal-attention-pytorch
Landscape and selection of vaccine epitopes in SARS-CoV-2
Creators: name: Beck, W.
name: Vensko, S.
name: Sandor, A.M.
name: Routh, E.
name: Woods, R.J.
name: Willis, C.
name: Haber, C.
name: Grant, O.C.
name: Garness, J.
name: Fini, M.
name: Heiss, K.
name: Vincent, B.G.
name: Kodysh, J.
name: Carpenter, B.
name: Stadler, V.
name: Krajewski, K.
name: Woods, A.
name: Sambade, M.
name: O'Donnell, T.
name: Weiss, J.
name: Ting, J.P.Y.
name: Smith, C.C.
name: Garrison, E.
name: Entwistle, S.
name: Gentry, K.M.
name: Heise, M.
name: Rubinsteyn, A.
name: Olsen, K.S.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central Ltd
Year: 2021

description: Background: Early in the pandemic, we designed a SARS-CoV-2 peptide vaccine containing epitope regions optimized for concurrent B cell, CD4+ T cell, and CD8+ T cell stimulation. The rationale for this design was to drive both humoral and cellular immunity with high specificity while avoiding undesired effects such as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Methods: We explored the set of computationally predicted SARS-CoV-2 HLA-I and HLA-II ligands, examining protein source, concurrent human/murine coverage, and population coverage. Beyond MHC affinity, T cell vaccine candidates were further refined by predicted immunogenicity, sequence conservation, source protein abundance, and coverage of high frequency HLA alleles. B cell epitope regions were chosen from linear epitope mapping studies of convalescent patient serum, followed by filtering for surface accessibility, sequence conservation, spatial localization near functional domains of the spike glycoprotein, and avoidance of glycosylation sites. Results: From 58 initial candidates, three B cell epitope regions were identified. From 3730 (MHC-I) and 5045 (MHC-II) candidate ligands, 292 CD8+ and 284 CD4+ T cell epitopes were identified. By combining these B cell and T cell analyses, as well as a manufacturability heuristic, we proposed a set of 22 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine peptides for use in subsequent murine studies. We curated a dataset of ~ 1000 observed T cell epitopes from convalescent COVID-19 patients across eight studies, showing 8/15 recurrent epitope regions to overlap with at least one of our candidate peptides. Of the 22 candidate vaccine peptides, 16 (n = 10 T cell epitope optimized; n = 6 B cell epitope optimized) were manually selected to decrease their degree of sequence overlap and then synthesized. The immunogenicity of the synthesized vaccine peptides was validated using ELISpot and ELISA following murine vaccination. Strong T cell responses were observed in 7/10 T cell epitope optimized peptides following vaccination. Humoral responses were deficient, likely due to the unrestricted conformational space inhabited by linear vaccine peptides. Conclusions: Overall, we find our selection process and vaccine formulation to be appropriate for identifying T cell epitopes and eliciting T cell responses against those epitopes. Further studies are needed to optimize prediction and induction of B cell responses, as well as study the protective capacity of predicted T and B cell epitopes.
Aspirations and Practice of Model Documentation: Moving the Needle with Nudging and Traceability
Creators: name: Bhat, Avinash
name: Coursey, Austin
name: Hu, Grace
name: Li, Sixian
name: Nahar, Nadia
name: Zhou, Shurui
name: Kästner, Christian
name: Guo, Jin L. C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The documentation practice for machine-learned (ML) models often falls short of established practices for traditional software, which impedes model accountability and inadvertently abets inappropriate or misuse of models. Recently, model cards, a proposal for model documentation, have attracted notable attention, but their impact on the actual practice is unclear. In this work, we systematically study the model documentation in the field and investigate how to encourage more responsible and accountable documentation practice. Our analysis of publicly available model cards reveals a substantial gap between the proposal and the practice. We then design a tool named DocML aiming to (1) nudge the data scientists to comply with the model cards proposal during the model development, especially the sections related to ethics, and (2) assess and manage the documentation quality. A lab study reveals the benefit of our tool towards long-term documentation quality and accountability.
description: To be published in proceedings of CHI 2023
(1203) Katharine Wilson
Creators: name: Professions, Victorian
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 220201 Business and Labour History
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: History
subject: 140203 Economic History
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: This three-year research project began in January 2014 and investigated whether, during the Victorian period, the professions formed a distinct self-sustaining social group with its own mores and values. The project looked at 16,000 individuals drawn from census data for Alnwick, Brighton, Bristol, Dundee, Greenock, Leeds, Merthyr Tydfil, Morpeth, and Winchester. The research project was funded by the UK Economic & Social Research Council and was based at the Universities of Oxford and Northumbria.
title: The practice of practices: Chinese independent architectural design from 1949
Creators: name: Ye, Nan
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: Chinese private architects’ offices first appeared in the 1920s. After establishing the People’s Republic of China [PRC] in 1949, the government banned private architects’ firms and merged architects into state-owned design organisations. Since its establishment in the 1950s, China’s architectural design institute system has become the dominant architectural design industry in the country. It was not until the Economic Reform and Opening-up in 1978 that individual-led architectural design firms were allowed to reopen. These newly emerged practices with the intention to realise unique ideas in their architectural design were regarded as independent practices. With over three decades of development since the 1980s, Chinese independent architectural practices lacked a systematic review in contemporary Chinese architectural history. Most research focused on their built works without noticing the dilemma they confronted in practice. The research systematically reviews China’s independent practices from 1949 to the 2000s, discussing the triggers behind their disappearance in the 1950s and their re-emergence after the reform and opening up. Given that the history of Chinese independent architectural practices is nonlinear with sporadic emergence at the beginning, the research applies Michel Foucault’s genealogical method in reviewing the history. Focusing on the mutual production of “power” and “knowledge”, the research examines the various restricting and promoting powers around architects’ practice and the knowledge generated by these powers. Based on Ian Bentley’s opportunity space theory, the research also establishes a new conceptual framework to reflect the relationship between practice patterns and architectural forms, discussing the independence in cases of architectural practices in different periods. The research also analyses the interactive relationship between independent practices and the broader industry to re-understand the current condition in China’s architectural design industry.
A Model of Layered Architectures
Creators: name: Marmsoler, Diego
name: Malkis, Alexander
name: Eckhardt, Jonas
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: D.2.11 [Software Engineering]: Software Architectures | Patterns

description: Architectural styles and patterns play an important role in software engineering. One of the most known ones is the layered architecture style. However, this style is usually only stated informally, which may cause problems such as ambiguity, wrong conclusions, and difficulty when checking the conformance of a system to the style. We address these problems by providing a formal, denotational semantics of the layered architecture style. Mainly, we present a sufficiently abstract and rigorous description of layered architectures. Loosely speaking, a layered architecture consists of a hierarchy of layers, in which services communicate via ports. A layer is modeled as a relation between used and provided services, and layer composition is defined by means of relational composition. Furthermore, we provide a formal definition for the notions of syntactic and semantic dependency between the layers. We show that these dependencies are not comparable in general. Moreover, we identify sufficient conditions under which, in an intuitive sense which we make precise in our treatment, the semantic dependency implies, is implied by, or even coincides with the reflexive-transitive closure of the syntactic dependency. Our results provide a technology-independent characterization of the layered architecture style, which may be used by software architects to ensure that a system is indeed built according to that style.
description: In Proceedings FESCA 2015, arXiv:1503.04378
Deliverable 3.1. Dissemination, Communication and Education Plan
Creators: name: Ochoa, Amelia
name: López, Laura
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: deliverable, dissemination, communication, education, renewable energy, renewable fuels and chemicals

description: This document, D3.1 Dissemination, Communication and Education Plan, is a deliverable of the SUNRISE Project, which is funded by the European Union’s H2020 Programme under Grant Agreement No. 816336. The Dissemination, Communication and Education Plan identifies the main dissemination and communication objectives of the project and the activities and tools that will be defined and implemented in the current action and in future endeavours according to the target audiences. The plan includes an evaluation of the initial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and proposes changes and additions to be taken into account in the short and long-term. In addition, an evaluation annex (Annex 1) is attached to the current document, containing the evaluation of the dissemination and communication activities carried out during the first months of the action. This analysis serves as the basis to propose changes in the initial plan and KPIs and define the backbone of the future strategies for dissemination, communication and education.
Electronic Supplementary Material from Factors affecting blue carbon variability in eelgrass sediments implied from depth profiles from Variation of carbon contents in eelgrass (Zostera marina) sediments implied from depth profiles
Creators: name: Kindeberg, Theodor
name: Röhr, Emilia
name: Per-Olav Moksnes
name: Boström, Christoffer
name: Holmer, Marianne
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Environmental Science
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Seagrass meadows are able to store significant amounts of organic carbon in their underlying sediment but global estimates are uncertain partly due to spatio-temporal heterogeneity between areas and species. In order to provide robust estimates, there is a need to better understand the fate of, and mechanisms behind, organic carbon storage. In this observational study, we analyse a suite of biotic and abiotic parameters in sediment cores from 47 different eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds spanning the distributional range of the Northern Hemisphere. Depth profiles revealed three patterns of vertical distribution where POC either increased, decreased or showed no distinct pattern with sediment depth. These categories exhibited distinct profiles of δ13C and C:N ratios, where high POC profiles had a proportionally larger storage of eelgrass-derived material whereas low POC profiles were dominated by phytoplanktonic and macroalgal material. However, high POC did not always translate into high carbon density. Though high POC did not always translate into high carbon density, this large-scale dataset evidences that the variability in organic matter source in response to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes affects the potential role of eelgrass beds as POC sinks, particularly where eelgrass decline is observed.
A Formal Approach based on Fuzzy Logic for the Specification of Component-Based Interactive Systems
Creators: name: Koutsoumpas, Vasileios
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: Logic in Computer Science (cs.LO)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Formal methods are widely recognized as a powerful engineering method for the specification, simulation, development, and verification of distributed interactive systems. However, most formal methods rely on a two-valued logic, and are therefore limited to the axioms of that logic: a specification is valid or invalid, component behavior is realizable or not, safety properties hold or are violated, systems are available or unavailable. Especially when the problem domain entails uncertainty, impreciseness, and vagueness, the appliance of such methods becomes a challenging task. In order to overcome the limitations resulting from the strict modus operandi of formal methods, the main objective of this work is to relax the boolean notion of formal specifications by using fuzzy logic. The present approach is based on Focus theory, a model-based and strictly formal method for componentbased interactive systems. The contribution of this work is twofold: i) we introduce a specification technique based on fuzzy logic which can be used on top of Focus to develop formal specifications in a qualitative fashion; ii) we partially extend Focus theory to a fuzzy one which allows the specification of fuzzy components and fuzzy interactions. While the former provides a methodology for approximating I/O behaviors under imprecision, the latter enables to capture a more quantitative view of specification properties such as realizability.
description: In Proceedings FESCA 2015, arXiv:1503.04378
title: Mechanistic studies of solar fuel generation at electrode surfaces
Creators: name: Saeed, Khezar
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: Solar fuel generation addresses the inherent intermittency of solar energy and can be part of the global solution to tackling climate change. The idea involves harnessing solar energy to drive chemical reactions to produce high energy density fuels. Thus, when the Sun is not shining, the sustainably produced fuels can be converted to energy to meet demands. Key to the future wide-scale adoption of this process is the development of efficient solar fuel generation devices from cheaper, more stable and abundant materials. Mechanistic studies on both state-of-the-art (and expensive) materials as well as the cheaper, less efficient alternatives can provide vital information on both efficient catalytic process and causes of inefficiencies in cheaper materials. This mechanistic understanding can be used to inform the design of improved materials in the future. In situ vibrational spectroscopy can provide direct chemical information on the identity of surface intermediates, making it a powerful tool in mechanistic studies. Unfortunately, almost all solar fuel reactions occur at heterogeneous interfaces and the spectroscopic response is often dominated by the inactive bulk of these materials. Surface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopies are inherently blind to the majority of the bulk response, thus selectively providing mechanistic information from the catalytically active interface. This thesis explores the development of several surface-sensitive spectroscopic experiments for studying photo- and electrocatalytic water splitting materials to produce hydrogen and oxygen as the solar fuels. Electrochemical shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is used to detect surface intermediates at state-of-the-art hydrous iridium oxide electrodes. In situ vibrational sum frequency generation is applied to studying the interfacial water structure at hematite and TiO2 electrode surfaces under water oxidation conditions. Finally, photoinduced absorption and electric field-induced second harmonic generation spectroscopy are used to follow slow surface hole kinetics and understand the impact of surface trap states on interfacial electric fields.