Quantitative Analysis of Dynamic Behaviours of Rural Areas at Provincial Level Using Public Data of Gross Domestic Product

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Parameter Extraction and Uncertainty in Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopic Measurements

Terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy is emerging as a powerful tool to characterise samples both chemically and physically. In this work different methods of estimating spectroscopic parameters of a sample, its thickness and the uncertainty of these estimates is presented. A number of case studies are also examined including paracetamol polymorphs and a method of creating a spectroscopic simulant of Semtex-H is presented. Approximation of the sample spectroscopic parameters, real refractive index and absorption coeficient were formed by building up a simple model of the samples interaction with THz radiation. Methods of correcting unwrapping error in the real refractive index were developed, including a method to correct in the presence of discontinuities in the refractive index itself. These approximations were then applied to extract parameters of both lactose and paracetamol samples. An algorithm to generate spectroscopic simulants was developed and applied to Semtex-H. These simulants consisted of simple mixtures of inert compounds, which were measured and found to have similar spectrum to the target sample. Methods of fitting resonant models to the sample response were developed to extract both the spectroscopic parameters and sample thickness. These were refined by calibrating for the Gaussian beam profile of the THz radiation, which was shown to increase the accuracy of the extracted thickness. The thickness and spectroscopic parameters of a lactose sample were measured with temperature, and it was found that the spectroscopic parameter change was underestimated when thickness was assumed constant. A resonant model for multilayered samples was then developed and used to characterise IPA in a flowcell measurement. This was then combined with a method of time segmentation of the sample response, to extract spectroscopic parameters and sample thickness simultaneously. This was then applied to a two layer sample, to extract the spectroscopic parameters of a silicon and a quartz layer from a single measurement. Finally, methods of propagating the uncertainty from the time domain to the spectroscopic parameters were developed. These were based on a multivariate normal statistical model of the measurements andwere compared to numerical bootstrap and Monte–Carlo estimates. These were used to develop confidence intervals for the extracted refractive index, absorption coefficient and thickness. These methods were applied to both a lactose and quartz sample

Intelligent autonomous pollination for future farming - a micro air vehicle conceptual framework with artificial intelligence and human-in-the-loop

Food security is one of the societal challenge topics. As one-third of all food consumed by humans relies on animal pollination currently, this research provides an emerging solution to food supply reduction caused by population shrinking of natural pollinators, so as to reduce its impact on ecological relationships, ecosystem conservation and stability, genetic variation in the crop plant community, floral diversity, specialisation and evolution. This paper develops a conceptual technical roadmap of autonomous pollination for future farming using robotic micro air vehicle pollinators (MPrs). The research provides new insights into autonomous design and manufacture and into possible ways to increase the production efficiency which shortens the time from lab to market. The autonomous MPrs are realized using artificial intelligence and human expertise in the loop for smart agricultural industry. Further, this work identifies scientific and technological advances that are expected to translate, within proposed regulatory frameworks, into the pervasive use of MPrs for agricultural applications and beyond

Experimental and Model-based Terahertz Imaging and Spectroscopy for Mice, Human, and Phantom Breast Cancer Tissues

The goal of this work is to investigate terahertz technology for assessing the surgical margins of breast tumors through electromagnetic modeling and terahertz experiments. The measurements were conducted using a pulsed terahertz system that provides time and frequency domain signals. Three types of breast tissues were investigated in this work. The first was formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from human infiltrating ductal and lobular carcinomas. The second was human tumors excised within 24-hours of lumpectomy or mastectomy surgeries. The third was xenograft and transgenic mice breast cancer tumors grown in a controlled laboratory environment to achieve more data for statistical analysis. Experimental pulsed terahertz imaging first used thin sections (10-30 μm thick) of fixed breast cancer tissue on slides. Electromagnetic inverse scattering models, in transmission and reflection modes, were developed to retrieve the tissue refractive index and absorption coefficient. Terahertz spectroscopy was utilized to experimentally collect data from breast tissues for these models. The results demonstrated that transmission mode is suitable for lossless materials while the reflection model is more suitable for biological materials where the skin depth of terahertz waves does not exceed 100 µm. The reflection model was implemented to estimate the polarization of the incident terahertz signal of the system, which was shown to be a hybridization of TE and TM modes. Terahertz imaging of three-dimensional human breast cancer blocks of tissue embedded in paraffin was achieved through the reflection model. The terahertz beam can be focused at depths inside the block to produce images in the x-y planes (z-scan). The time-of-flight analysis was applied to terahertz signals reflected at each depth demonstrating the margins of cancerous regions inside the block as validated with pathology images at each depth. In addition, phantom tissues that mimic freshly excised infiltrating ductal carcinoma human tumors were developed with and without embedded carbon nanometer-scale onion-like carbon particles. These particles exhibited a strong terahertz signal interaction with tissue demonstrating a potential to greatly improve the image contrast. The results presented in this work showed, in most cases, a significant differentiation in terahertz images between cancer and healthy tissue as validated with histopathology images

Standoff Sensing Technology Based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: Advanced Targeting, Surveillance and Reconnaissance in Security and Architectural Heritage Applications

Due to the ability to perform simultaneous, multi-element and real-time analysis without pretreatment and doing from a distance, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in standoff mode is now considered a cutting-edge analytical technology. All these features have allowed its application in various fields such as security, environment, cultural heritage protection and space exploration, among the more outstanding. Nonetheless, the fact of working to long distances involves greater difficulties than in a lab-scale. Thus, in a first part of this memory, the behavior of the analytical signal has been assessed. On the other hand, a second part demonstrates the applicability of the technique in standoff mode for solving real-life problems. • Fundamental studies 1. Main causes affecting the uncertainty of the analytical signal in standoff LIBS. One of the most sensitive issues in standoff LIBS is maybe the large variability observed in the analytical response of distant targets. Therefore, in this work, a standoff LIBS sensor has been used to assessment of the laser beam delivering up to a distant target as well as the properties of the light emitted from the plasma induced gathered by the sensor. • Applications standoff LIBS 1. Evaluation of the Cultural Heritage: Malaga Cathedral. Cultural heritage is a valuable source of history and a unique and irreplaceable legacy of our past. While sometimes an artwork can be transported to the laboratory for its analysis, in other cases this option is not feasible. The ease compaction in mobile platforms of LIBS instrumentation for in situ analysis, allows for moving the system sensor to the location of the sample. For first time a standoff LIBS system has been used to characterize and analyze the composition of building materials as well as potential sources of contamination in a historic building on difficult to access areas, since this technology only requires a clear line of sight to the target. I. Location and identification of explosive-contaminated fingerprint. Nowadays, it is clear that the detection of explosives due to numerous terrorist attacks requires a special attention. LIBS is an attractive technology to anticipating this type of threats. In the present work, the ability of a mobile LIBS sensor to locate and identify fingerprints of explosives residues (DNT, TNT, RDX, PETN and chloratite ) on different surfaces (aluminum and glass) from a minimum distance of 30m has been demonstrated. Chemical distribution maps of the different residues with 100% effectiveness were developed. However, despite the effectiveness of the technique in the localization and detection of explosives residues, one of the main problems is the identification of products that share a similar elemental composition, and thus a similarity in the analytical response. In this memory have been developed and implemented chemometric algorithms, which are capable of adapting to different working ranges, to distinguish residues of organic explosives of traces of dairy products, such as olive oil, motor oil, hand cream, gasoline, fuel oil, etc. on a metal surface (aluminum). This strategy allows categorize the residues assessed with a 100% accuracy and error rates below 5 %. II. Forensic studies for the determination of radiological material. Although radioactivity has numerous applications in everyday life, the danger of a radiological dispersal event, either by natural causes or malicious (dirty bombs) is more than evident. Therefore, the detection and identification of explosives as well as their monitoring and quantification from a safe location is demanded. The potential of standoff LIBS to scan, analyze and quickly characterize the radiological contamination in various objects of street furniture has been here evaluated. The results have demonstrated the selectivity and sensitivity of the technology to detect radioactive surrogates such as Co, Ba, Sr, Cs, Ir and U on substrates of aluminum, clay, concrete and glass. It have been also demonstrated the capabilities of the technique for simultaneous and in situ analysis of explosive and radiological evidence in a post-detonation scenario