410 research outputs found

    Tunable transform-limited pulse generation using self-injection locking of an FP laser

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    Wavelength-tunable, near transform-limited pulses have been generated using a Fabry-Perot laser diode coupled to a fiber loop containing a fiber Fabry-Perot resonator (FFPR) and a polarization controller. The ratio of transmitted to reflected light from the loop can be adjusted using the polarization controller. Single-mode operation of the gain-switched laser is achieved by self-injection locking, which is induced by light reflected from the fiber loop. The resulting output pulse has a time-bandwidth product of 0.4 and is tunable over about 15 nm by varying the tuning voltage of the FFPR

    Has financial fair play changed European football?

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    In 2011 UEFA, the governing body of European football, introduced the Financial Fair Play Regulation (FFPR), consisting of a set of financial restraints to be met by clubs as a prerequisite for participation to its competitions. The aim of the FFPR was to introduce financial discipline into the clubs' decision-making processes, and ultimately protect the long-term viability of the European football industry. The reform was criticized because of possible unintended detrimental consequences. In particular, Peeters and Szymanski 2014 provided a model-based ex-ante simulation analysis showing that the reform would increase the profitability of clubs, but also tilt the competitive balance in favor of the top teams, thus reducing the interest of fans and investors as one of the main attractions in sports is precisely that the best team does not always win. Exploiting an original dataset between the seasons 2007-2008 and 2019-2020, we provide an ex-post econometric evaluation of the effects of the introduction of the FFPR revealing causal evidence that largely vindicates those ex-ante predictions

    Automated turnkey microcomb for low-noise microwave synthesis

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    Microresonator-based optical frequency comb (microcomb) has the potential to revolutionize the accuracy of frequency synthesizer in radar and communication applications. However, fundamental limit exists for low noise microcomb generation, especially in low size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) package. Here we resolve this limit, by the demonstration of an automated turnkey microcomb, operating close to its low quantum-limited phase noise, within a compact setup size of 85 mm * 90 mm * 25 mm. High quality factor fiber Fabry-Perot resonator (FFPR), with Q up to 4.0 * 10^9, is the key for both low quantum noise and pump noise limit, in the diode-pump case in a self-injection locking scheme. Low phase noise of -80 and -105 dBc/Hz at 100 Hz, -106 and -125 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz, -133 and -148 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz is achieved at 10.1 GHz and 1.7 GHz repetition frequencies, respectively. With the simultaneous automated turnkey, low-noise and direct-diode-pump capability, our microcomb is ready to be used as a low-noise frequency synthesizer with low SWaP-C and thus field deployability

    Specific hygiene procedures and practices assessment : a cross-sectional study in fresh fishery product retailers of Lisbon’s traditional food markets

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    Research Areas: Food Science & TechnologyThis study aimed to assess the compliance of specific hand hygiene and food contact surfaces hygiene in fresh fishery product retailers (FFPR) and its relation to socio-demographic characteristics that might influence the observed procedures and practices. A cross-sectional study was conducted in traditional food markets’ FFPRs (N = 74) using interviews and audits for data collection purposes. Results revealed that women were overrepresented among FFPR managers; most were over 50 years of age and had a long working experience in fish retail activities, despite a low educational level. The majority had attended training courses in food hygiene, safety, and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points-based procedures. Both documental assessment and hand hygiene procedures and practices verification revealed a low level of compliance. Many documents supporting hygiene practices were lacking. Several non-conforming requisites were identified related to the handwashing procedure and equipment and to glove wearing practices. A higher level of compliance was obtained in food contact surfaces hygiene procedures and practices verification, with complete hygiene procedures applied and proper cleaning of utensils and chemical products management in several cases. These findings reflect an ambiguous understanding and misconceptions related to hygiene procedures and practices, suggesting the need to improve and update FFPR food handler training regarding basic food hygiene and safety.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Introducing a salary cap in UEFAÂŽs professional football leagues : would the special status of lex sportiva prevail over EU law?

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    The relationship between the sporting governing bodies and the EU authorities has long been a tumultuous one. Sporting governing bodies have supported most of their controversial decisions on the doctrine of the specificity of sports, under which it has been hard to define a threshold for the legality of their actions. The introduction of Article 165 TFEU in 2009 and several prominent case law by the CJEU has helped to sustain this unique sui generis status of lex sportiva in the EU. In this context, the financial issues for clubs have arisen as one of the main topics in this controversial matter. This thesis seeks to embrace the specific issue of players’ salaries in European football leagues, which have considerably increased in the recent past, and the acceptance of salary caps by EU law. Players’ salaries represent the largest component of operating costs to club owners and salary caps place a limit on the amount of money that a club can spend on players’ salaries. Salary caps are a unique area for social, economic and legal studies, and its impact has been widely acknowledged. This thesis provides a legal assessment on the current structure of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations, with the break-even rule being considered as a soft type of salary cap, as well as a legal assessment on the eventual introduction of a hard salary cap. It concludes that the current Financial Fair Play Regulations are most likely in breach of EU law and that a hard salary cap will be a better candidate to qualify for an exemption under EU law and be deemed as legal. Nevertheless, it also concludes that the commonly known US hard salary caps are in fact soft types of salary caps and that the introduction of a truly hard salary cap in European football would be an innovative solution resulting in an uncertain legal assessment provided in a case-by-case analysis by the CJEU

    Writing Desire: The Love Letters of Frieda Fraser and Edith Williams

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    This dissertation analyzes the intimate relationship produced by and reflected in the written correspondence between Frieda Fraser and Edith Williams, arguably the largest correspondence of its kind in North America. Frieda Fraser was a professor of microbiology at the University of Toronto and Edith Williams was one of the first female veterinarians in Canada. Their correspondence was written from 1924 to 1927 and then intermittently from 1933 to 1943. This dissertation contends that Frieda’s and Edith’s correspondence was a place wherein the women created a self-defined sexual description that was in dialogue with cultural discourses that denoted the meaning of the modern lesbian. Frieda and Edith referred to themselves as “devoted women,” their designation of a sexual subjectivity that marked their differentiation from these discourses. Edith and Frieda arrived upon a unique notion of romantic devotion, shaped alongside an awareness of contemporary depictions of the lesbian in literature, in science, and in the theatre. This dissertation analyzes how two middle-class Canadian women came to live their lives as “devoted women” within a culture that did not recognize, nor mirror their sexual identities. Affected by modernism, Edith’s and Frieda’s letter-writing produced, enhanced, and helped the women define their desire for one another. Moreover, the women’s devoted relationship benefitted their medical careers and their medical careers benefitted their partnership. In relation to family and profession this dissertation asks to what degree was discretion employed in order to preserve their relationship? In focusing on the correspondence, this dissertation is more than an exercise in “finding the lesbians” in Canadian history: it asks “how did the lesbians find themselves?

    Practical Phase Retrieval Using Double Deep Image Priors

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    Phase retrieval (PR) concerns the recovery of complex phases from complex magnitudes. We identify the connection between the difficulty level and the number and variety of symmetries in PR problems. We focus on the most difficult far-field PR (FFPR), and propose a novel method using double deep image priors. In realistic evaluation, our method outperforms all competing methods by large margins. As a single-instance method, our method requires no training data and minimal hyperparameter tuning, and hence enjoys good practicality

    Improving Fairness in Deepfake Detection

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    Despite the development of effective deepfake detection models in recent years, several recent studies have demonstrated that biases in the training data utilized to develop deepfake detection models can lead to unfair performance for demographic groups of different races and/or genders. Such can result in these groups being unfairly targeted or excluded from detection, allowing misclassified deepfakes to manipulate public opinion and erode trust in the model. While these studies have focused on identifying and evaluating the unfairness in deepfake detection, no methods have been developed to address the fairness issue of deepfake detection at the algorithm level. In this work, we make the first attempt to improve deepfake detection fairness by proposing novel loss functions to train fair deepfake detection models in ways that are agnostic or aware of demographic factors. Extensive experiments on four deepfake datasets and five deepfake detectors demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of our approach in improving the deepfake detection fairness
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