pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Cr doped ZnO\ud
microrods prepared by spray pyrolysis

A series of Cr-doped ZnO micro-rod arrays were fabricated by a spray pyrolysis method. X-ray diffraction patterns\ud
of the samples showed that the undoped and Cr-doped ZnO microrods exhibit hexagonal crystal structure. Surface\ud
morphology analysis of the samples has revealed that pure ZnO sample has a hexagonal microrod morphology. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies, the Cr 2p3/2 binding energy is found to be 577.34 eV indicating that the electron binding energy of the Cr in ZnO is almost the same as the binding energy of Cr3+ states in Cr2O3. The optical band gap Eg decreases slightly from 3.26 to 3.15 eV with the increase of actual Cr content from x = 0.00 to 4.63 at % in ZnO. Photoluminescence studies at 10 K show that the incorporation of chromium leads to a relative increase of deep level band intensity. It was also observed that Cr doped samples clearly showed ferromagnetic behavior; however, 2.49 % Cr doped ZnO showed remnant magnetization higher than that of 1.07 % and 4.63 % Cr doped samples, while 4.63 % Cr doped ZnO samples had a coercive field higher than the other dopings
The rhetoric and reality of SMEfriendly procurement

Small- and medium-sized enterprise-friendly policies are central to public procurement. The extent to which these policies have been put into practice has gone largely untested. To address this gap, a survey of SMEs’ reported\ud
experiences of policy implementation was conducted. Ireland served as the research context. Policy implementation was found to be limited. Company size\ud
was a significant predictor of SMEs’ experiences, with micro-enterprises more negative than small or medium-sized enterprises. The authors explain the policy–\ud
practice divide and make recommendations for improvement
A multispectral vision system to evaluate enzymatic browning in fresh-cut apple slices

The main objective of this study was to develop a vision system that is able to classify fresh-cut apple slices according to the development of enzymatic browning. The experiment was carried out on ‘Granny Smith’ apple slices stored at 7.5 °C for 9 days (n = 120). Twenty-four samples were analyzed per day: at zero time and after storage for 1, 3, 7 and 9 days, which corresponds to treatments t0, t1, t3, t7 and t9 respectively. Multispectral images were acquired from the samples by employing a 3-CCD camera centered at the infrared (IR, 800 nm), red (R, 680 nm) and blue (B, 450 nm) wavelengths. Apple slices were evaluated visually according to a visual color scale of 1–5 (where 1 corresponds to fresh samples without any browning and 5 to samples with severe discoloration), to obtain a sensory evaluation index (ISE) for each sample. Finally, for each sample and for each treatment, visible (VIS) relative reflectance spectra (360–740 nm) were obtained. In order to identify the most related wavelengths to enzymatic browning evolution, unsupervised pattern recognition analysis of VIS reflectance spectra was performed by principal components analysis (PCA) on the autoscaled data. Maximum loading values corresponding to the B and R areas were observed. Therefore, a classification procedure was applied to the relative histograms of the following monochromatic images (virtual images), which were computed pixel by pixel: (R − B)/(R + B), R − B and B/R. In all cases, a non-supervised classification procedure was able to generate three image-based browning reference classes (BRC): Cluster A (corresponding to the t0 samples), Cluster B (t1 and t3 samples) and Cluster C (t7 and t9 samples). An internal and an external validation (n = 120) were carried out, and the best classifications were obtained with the (R − B)/(R + B) and B/R image histograms (internal validation: 99.2% of samples correctly classified for both virtual images; external validation: 84% with (R − B)/(R + B) and 81% with B/R). The camera classification was evaluated according to the colorimetric measurements, which were usually utilized to evaluate enzymatic browning development (CIE L*a*b* color parameters and browning index, BI) and according to ISE. For both validation phases a*, b*, BI and ISE increased while L* values decreased with image-based class number, thereby reflecting their browning state
A new initialization procedure for the distributed estimation of distribution algorithms

Estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) are one of the most promising paradigms in today’s evolutionary computation. In this field, there has been an incipient activity in the so-called parallel estimation of distribution algorithms (pEDAs). One of these approaches is the distributed estimation of distribution algorithms (dEDAs). This paper introduces a new initialization mechanism for each of the populations of the islands based on the Voronoi cells. To analyze the results, a series of different experiments using the benchmark suite for the special session on Real-parameter Optimization of the IEEE CEC 2005 conference has been carried out. The results obtained suggest that the Voronoi initialization method considerably improves the performance obtained from a traditional uniform initialization
Implication of the oep16-1 mutation in a flu-independent, singlet oxygen-regulated cell death pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

Singlet oxygen is a prominent form of reactive oxygen species in higher plants. It is easily formed from molecular oxygen by triplet–triplet interchange with excited porphyrin species. Evidence has been obtained from studies on the flu mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana of a genetically determined cell death pathway that involves differential changes at the transcriptome level. Here we report on a different cell death pathway that can be deduced from the analysis of oep16 mutants of A. thaliana. Pure lines of four independent OEP16-deficient mutants with different cell death properties were isolated. Two of the mutants overproduced free protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) in the dark because of defects in import of NADPH:Pchlide oxidoreductase A (pPORA) and died after illumination. The other two mutants avoided excess Pchlide accumulation. Using pulse labeling and polysome profiling studies we show that translation is a major site of cell death regulation in flu and oep16 plants. flu plants respond to photooxidative stress triggered by singlet oxygen by reprogramming their translation toward synthesis of key enzymes involved in jasmonic acid synthesis and stress proteins. In contrast, those oep16 mutants that were prone to photooxidative damage were unable to respond in this way. Together, our results show that translation is differentially affected in the flu and oep16 mutants in response to singlet oxygen
A model for inter-module analysis and optimizing compilation

Recent research into the implementation of logic programming\ud
languages has demonstrated that global program analysis can be used to speed up execution by an order of magnitude. However, currently such global program analysis requires the program to be analysed as a whole: sepárate compilation of modules is not supported. We describe and empirically evalúate a simple model for extending global program\ud
analysis to support sepárate compilation of modules. Importantly, our model supports context-sensitive program analysis and multi-variant specialization of procedures in the modules
A review on probabilistic graphical models in evolutionary computation

Thanks to their inherent properties, probabilistic graphical models are one of the prime candidates for machine learning and decision making tasks especially in uncertain domains. Their capabilities, like representation, inference and learning, if used effectively, can greatly help to build intelligent systems that are able to act accordingly in different problem domains. Evolutionary algorithms is one such discipline that has employed probabilistic graphical models to improve the search for optimal solutions in complex problems. This paper shows how probabilistic graphical models have been used in evolutionary algorithms to improve their performance in solving complex problems. Specifically, we give a survey of probabilistic model building-based evolutionary algorithms, called estimation of distribution algorithms, and compare different methods for probabilistic modeling in these algorithms
Design and analysis of helium Brayton power cycles for HiPER reactor

Helium Brayton cycles have been studied as power cycles for both fission and fusion reactors obtaining high thermal efficiency. This paper studies several technological schemes of helium Brayton cycles applied for the HiPER reactor proposal. Since HiPER integrates technologies available at short term, its working conditions results in a very low maximum temperature of the energy sources, something that limits the thermal performance of the cycle. The aim of this work is to analyze the potential of the helium Brayton cycles as power cycles for HiPER. Several helium Brayton cycle configurations have been investigated with the purpose of raising the cycle thermal efficiency under the working conditions of HiPER. The effects of inter-cooling and reheating have specifically been studied. Sensitivity analyses of the key cycle parameters and component performances on the maximum thermal efficiency have also been carried out. The addition of several inter-cooling stages in a helium Brayton cycle has allowed obtaining a maximum thermal efficiency of over 36%, and the inclusion of a reheating process may also yield an added increase of nearly 1 percentage point to reach 37%. These results confirm that helium Brayton cycles are to be considered among the power cycle candidates for HiPER
The effect of boundary conditions in the numerical\ud
solution of 3-D thermoelastic problems

After the extensive research on the capabilities of the\ud
Boundary Integral Equation Method produced during the\ud
past years the versatility of its applications has been well\ud
founded. Maybe the years to come will see the in-depth\ud
analysis of several conflictive points, for example, adaptive integration, solution of the system of equations, etc. This line is clear in academic research. In this paper we comment on the incidence of the manner of imposing the boundary conditions in 3-D coupled problems. Here the effects are particularly magnified: in the first place by the simple model used (constant elements) and secondly by the process of solution, i.e. first a potential problem is solved and then the results are used as data for an elasticity problem. The errors add to both processes and small disturbances, unimportant in separated problems, can produce serious errors in the final results. The specific problem we have chosen is especially interesting. Although more general cases (i.e. transient)can be treated, here the domain integrals can be converted into boundary ones and the influence of the manner in which boundary conditions are applied will reflect the whole importance of the problem
Influence of different organoclays on the curing, morphology, and dynamic mechanical properties of an epoxy adhesive

The thermal, mechanical, and adhesive properties of nanoclay-modified adhesives were investigated. Two organically modified montmorillonites: Cloisite 93A (C93A) and Nanomer I.30E (I.30E) were used as reinforcement of an epoxy adhesive. C93A and I.30E are modified with tertiary and primary alkyl ammonium cations, respectively. The aim was to study the influence of the organoclays on the curing, and on the mechanical and adhesive properties of the nanocomposites. A specific goal was to compare their behavior with that of Cloisite30B/epoxy and Cloisite15A/\ud
epoxy nanocomposites that we have previously studied. Both\ud
C30B and C15A are modified with quaternary alkyl ammonium\ud
cations. Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the clays accelerate the curing reaction, an effect that is related to the chemical structure of the ammonium cations. The three Cloisite/nanocomposites showed intercalated clay structures,the interlayer distance was independent of the clay content. The I.30E/epoxy nanocomposites presented exfoliated structure due to\ud
the catalytic effect of the organic modifier. Clay-epoxy nanocompo-sites showed lower glass transition temperature (Tg) and higher values of storage modulus than neat epoxy thermoset, with no significant differences between exfoliated or intercalated nanocom-posites. The shear strength of aluminum joints using clay/epoxy adhesives was lower than with the neat epoxy adhesive. The wáter aging was less damaging for joints with I.30E/epoxy adhesive
Determination of the influence of specific building regulations in smart buildings

The automation of domestic services began to be implemented in buildings since the late nineteenth century, and today we are used to terms like ‘intelligent buildings’, ‘digital home’ or ‘domotic buildings’. These concepts tell us about constructions which integrate new technologies in order to improve comfort, optimize energy consumption or enhance the security of users. In conjunction, building regulations have been updated to suit the needs of society and to regulate these new facilities in such structures. However, we are not always sure about how far, from the quantitative or qualitative point of view, legislation should regulate certain aspects of the building activity. Consequently, content analysis is adopted in this research to determine the influence of building regulations in the implementation of new technologies in the construction process. This study includes the analysis of different European regulations, the collection and documentation of such guidelines that have been established and a study of the impact that all of these have had in the way we start thinking an architectural project. The achievements of the research could be explained in terms of the regulatory requirements that must be taken into account in order to achieve a successful implementation of a home automation system, and the key finding has been the confirmation of how the design of smart buildings may be promoted through specific regulatory requirements while other factors, such as the global economic situation, do not seem to affect directly the rate of penetration of home automation in construction
Local optimal scale in a hierarchical segmentation method for satellite image: an OBIA approach for the agricultural landscape

Overrecentdecades,remotesensinghasemergedasaneffectivetoolforimprov- ing agriculture productivity. In particular, many works have dealt with the problem of identifying characteristics or phenomena of crops and orchards on different scales using remote sensed images. Since the natural processes are scale dependent and most of them are hierarchically structured, the determination of optimal study scales is mandatory in understanding these processes and their interactions. The concept of multi-scale/multi- resolution inherent to OBIA methodologies allows the scale problem to be dealt with. But for that multi-scale and hierarchical segmentation algorithms are required. The question that remains unsolved is to determine the suitable scale segmentation that allows different objects and phenomena to be characterized in a single image. In this work, an adaptation of the Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) algorithm to perform a multi-scale hierarchi- cal segmentation of satellite images is proposed. The selection of the optimal multi-scale segmentation for different regions of the image is carried out by evaluating the intra- variability and inter-heterogeneity of the regions obtained on each scale with respect to the parent-regions defined by the coarsest scale. To achieve this goal, an objective function, that combines weighted variance and the global Moran index, has been used. Two different kinds of experiment have been carried out, generating the number of regions on each scale through linear and dyadic approaches. This methodology has allowed, on the one hand, the detection of objects on different scales and, on the other hand, to represent them all in a sin- gle image. Altogether, the procedure provides the user with a better comprehension of the land cover, the objects on it and the phenomena occurring
Optical absorption coefficients of gold nanorods through acoustic waves in an optical hyperthermia system

The irradiation of small suspensions of gold nanorods (GNRs) using laser pulses at 808nm and 25KHz, produces a series of effects occurring during the interaction of each laser pulse with the amount of gold nanorods in suspension. The result of the interaction laser-GNRs is the generation of acoustic waves, which may influence on cell death in an optical hyperthermia therapy system. Therefore the identification and characterization of acoustic signals and their absorption coefficients is performed in a phantom based in a neutral gelatin system, in order to able to identify and quantify the influence of these acoustic waves in cell death in optical hyperthermia essays
Simple mathematical approach to solar cell/panel behavior based on datasheet information

new explicit mathematical expression is used to describe the behavior of a photovoltaic device (solar cell/panel), that is, its I-V curve, based on the characteristic points normally included in the manufacturers’ datasheets. This expression consists of two simple equations, one for voltage levels lower than the voltage at the maximum power point, V < Vmp, and the other one for voltage levels above this point, V > Vmp. The first equation is defined with two of the three characteristic points (short circuit and maximum power points), whereas the second one is defined with the current and voltage levels at maximum power point, the open circuit voltage, and a constant that can be adjusted based on: 1) the best fitting to the data within the bracket [Vmp, Voc], or 2) one point within this bracket, or 3) the slope of the I-V curve at the open circuit point, or 4) an estimation of that slope. Results of the solar cell/panel behavior analysis obtained with the proposed methodology, are similar to the ones obtained with the well-known 1-diode/2-resistor equivalent circuit model, in terms of accuracy
Improved rapid transit network design model: considering transfer effects

The rail rapid transit network design problem aims at locating train alignments and stations, maximizing demand coverage while competing with the current existing networks.\ud
We present a model formulation for computing tight bounds of the linear relaxation of the problem where transfers are also introduced. The number of transfers within a trip is a decisive attribute for attracting passengers: transferring is annoying and undesirable for passengers. We conduct computational experiments on different networks and show how we are able to solve more efficiently problems that have been already solved; sensitivity analysis on\ud
several model parameters are also performed so as to demonstrate the robustness of the new formulation
Order Restricted Inference for Oscillatory Systems for Detecting Rhythmic Signals

Many biological processes, such as cell cycle, circadian clock, menstrual cycles, are governed by oscillatory systems consisting of numerous components that exhibit rhythmic patterns over time. It is not always easy to identify such rhythmic components. For example, it is a challenging problem to identify circadian genes in a given tissue using time-course gene expression data. There is a great potential for misclassifying non-rhythmic as rhythmic genes and vice versa. This has been a problem of considerable interest in recent years. In this article we develop a constrained inference based methodology called Order Restricted Inference for
Oscillatory Systems (ORIOS) to detect rhythmic signals. Instead of using mathematical functions (e.g. sinusoidal) to describe shape of rhythmic signals, ORIOS uses mathematical inequalities. Consequently, it is robust and not limited by the biologist’s choice of the mathematical model. We studied the performance of ORIOS using simulated as well as real data obtained from mouse liver, pituitary gland and data from NIH3T3, U2OS cell
lines. Our results suggest that, for a broad collection of patterns of gene expression, ORIOS has substantially higher power to detect true rhythmic genes in comparison to some popular methods, while also declaring substantially fewer non-rhythmic genes as rhythmic.Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [MTM2015-71217-R]Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte [FPU14/04534]Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) [Z01 ES101744-04
Analysis of stabilised output error methods

In the paper, analysis of stabilised output-error methods (SOEMs) for parameter estimation of unstable aircraft is presented. These methods overcome the numerical difficulties encountered in parameter estimation of unstable systems by utilising measured states. The methods, along with the output error method and the equation error method, are briefly described for the sake of comparison. However, the main idea of the paper is to present asymptotic analysis of the SOEM. The results of application of SOEMs to simulated data of an unstable/augmented aircraft are presente
AlphaRad, a new integrated CMOS System-on-Chip for high efficiency alpha particles counting

An integrated System-on-Chip (SoC) has been designed in 0.6 \mu m CMOS mixed analog/digital technology, and tested for high rate alpha particle Counting. The sensor is the most innovative part of the chip, with a total active area of 2 x 2.5 mm x 5 mm. The two-stage charge-to-voltage amplification scheme includes a numerical block for offset compensation. Designed with a gain of 700, the chip has been tested in alpha sources: a very high signal over noise ratio was obtained, leading to a detection efficiency of 5 MeV alpha particles close to 100%. The chip is working at room temperature and has been tested tip to 300 kHz reset frequency. Future applications of this SoC will focus on detection of fast and thermal neutrons free of gamma contamination
The continuity of the cosmic ray spectra measured by classical and giant EAS arrays

The extrapolation of the original cosmic ray primary spectrum derived from the size spectrum measured in the Akeno classical EAS array coincides with the spectrum measured recently by the Hires Stereo experiment. After revisiting the calibrations carried in the overlapping energy region around $10^{18}eV$, we discuss the consequences of the different approaches in classical arrays and giant surface arrays. The data is obtained from the size spectrum registration in the Akeno experiment with a modest space grid of $30$ to $100$m, instead of $1$km or more in giant arrays using density estimators in place of size and different absorption treatments for inclined cascades. While the analysis of those circumstances suggest a reduction of the energy converted from the estimators in giant surface arrays, the consistency of classical and fluorescence measurements gives more support to the GZK prediction
Very heavy fission fragments produced in the spallation reaction $^{238}$U+p at 1 A GeV

18 pages, latex, elsart.cls, 7 figures, submitted to Nuclear Physics A - PACSFission Fragments from 1 A GeV $^{238}$U ions impinging a hydrogen target were studied using the fragment separator FRS from GSI for magnetic selection including ray-tracing, and $\Delta$E-ToF techniques. From the kinematics of the fragments, binary fission can be assigned as production process up to very heavy fragments. Fission fragments were identified as far as $^{184}$Re for the first time. Cross sections are measured and found in the range of 500 $\mu$b to 5 $\mu$b. Isobaric cross sections decrease smoothly with increasing mass. Beyond tungsten, fission fragments are hidden in the more abundant spallation evaporation residues. Fission cross sections of 283 isotopes of Gd to Re in the mass range 147 to 184 were obtained. All fragments result from fission of excited parent nuclei and after emission of secondary neutron