Defying Gravity: Migrant Children Education System in Beijing, China policies, NGOs, and market as factors

Special Studies Experience, Summer 2012 -- Beijing, Chinahttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110200/1/Poster_Hsu.Chih-Chieh.pd

Probing highly collimated photon-jets with deep learning

Many extensions of the standard model (SM) predict the existence of axion-like particles and/or dark Higgs in the sub-GeV scale. Two new sub-GeV particles, a scalar and a pseudoscalar, produced through the Higgs boson exotic decays, are investigated. The decay signatures of these two new particles with highly collimated photons in the final states are discriminated from the ones of SM backgrounds using the Convolutional Neural Networks and Boosted Decision Trees techniques. The sensitivities of searching for such new physics signatures at the Large Hadron Collider are obtained

Obstacle-Resistant Deployment Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks

[[abstract]]Node deployment is an important issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Sensor nodes should be efficiently deployed in a predetermined region in a low-cost and high-coverage-quality manner. Random deployment is the simplest way to deploy sensor nodes but may cause unbalanced deployment and, therefore, increase hardware costs and create coverage holes. This paper presents the efficient obstacle-resistant robot deployment (ORRD) algorithm, which involves the design of a node placement policy, a serpentine movement policy, obstacle-handling rules, and boundary rules. By applying the proposed ORRD, the robot rapidly deploys a near-minimal number of sensor nodes to achieve full sensing coverage, even though there exist unpredicted obstacles with regular or irregular shapes. Performance results reveal that ORRD outperforms the existing robot deployment mechanism in terms of power conservation and obstacle resistance and, therefore, achieves better deployment performance.[[incitationindex]]SC

Novel Codon-optimization Genes Encoded in Chlorella for Triacylglycerol Accumulation

AbstractMicroalgae have been recognized as one of the potential resources for biodiesel production based on its fast growth or its high total lipid content depending on species. Expression of Kennedy pathway genes, which encodes GPAT, LPAAT, PAP, and DGAT for increasing the metabolic flux towards the TAG storage in Chlorella sp. from 20 to 46 wt% and total lipid accumulation from 35 to 60wt.% corresponding to each specific gene combination under autotrophy, compare to the wild type (vector only). The highest TAG content was found in cells expressing a quadruple-gene construct (GPAT-LPAAT-PAP-DGAT) in the Kennedy pathway, corresponding to 46wt.% of TAG and 60wt.% of total lipid content. This work provides the optimization of TAG production in Chlorella sp. can be achieved by manipulating the selected genes, in turns making commercially producing biodiesel practical

Disordered Fe vacancies and superconductivity in potassium-intercalated iron selenide (K2-xFe4+ySe5)

The parent compound of an unconventional superconductor must contain unusual correlated electronic and magnetic properties of its own. In the high-Tc potassium intercalated FeSe, there has been significant debate regarding what the exact parent compound is. Our studies unambiguously show that the Fe-vacancy ordered K2Fe4Se5 is the magnetic, Mott insulating parent compound of the superconducting state. Non-superconducting K2Fe4Se5 becomes a superconductor after high temperature annealing, and the overall picture indicates that superconductivity in K2-xFe4+ySe5 originates from the Fe-vacancy order to disorder transition. Thus, the long pending question whether magnetic and superconducting state are competing or cooperating for cuprate superconductors may also apply to the Fe-chalcogenide superconductors. It is believed that the iron selenides and related compounds will provide essential information to understand the origin of superconductivity in the iron-based superconductors, and possibly to the superconducting cuprates

A Study on the Effect of Design Factors of Slim Keyboard's Tactile Feedback

With the rapid development of computer technology, the design of computers and keyboards moves towards a trend of slimness. The change of mobile input devices directly influences users' behavior. Although multi-touch applications allow entering texts through a virtual keyboard, the performance, feedback, and comfortableness of the technology is inferior to traditional keyboard, and while manufacturers launch mobile touch keyboards and projection keyboards, the performance has not been satisfying. Therefore, this study discussed the design factors of slim pressure-sensitive keyboards. The factors were evaluated with an objective (accuracy and speed) and a subjective evaluation (operability, recognition, feedback, and difficulty) depending on the shape (circle, rectangle, and L-shaped), thickness (flat, 3mm, and 6mm), and force (35±10g, 60±10g, and 85±10g) of the keyboard. Moreover, MANOVA and Taguchi methods (regarding signal-to-noise ratios) were conducted to find the optimal level of each design factor. The research participants, by their typing speed (30 words/ minute), were divided in two groups. Considering the multitude of variables and levels, the experiments were implemented using the fractional factorial design. A representative model of the research samples were established for input task testing. The findings of this study showed that participants with low typing speed primarily relied on vision to recognize the keys, and those with high typing speed relied on tactile feedback that was affected by the thickness and force of the keys. In the objective and subjective evaluation, a combination of keyboard design factors that might result in higher performance and satisfaction was identified (L-shaped, 3mm, and 60±10g) as the optimal combination. The learning curve was analyzed to make a comparison with a traditional standard keyboard to investigate the influence of user experience on keyboard operation. The research results indicated the optimal combination provided input performance to inferior to a standard keyboard. The results could serve as a reference for the development of related products in industry and for applying comprehensively to touch devices and input interfaces which are interacted with people

A Study on the Effect of Design Factors of Slim Keyboard's Tactile Feedback

With the rapid development of computer technology, the design of computers and keyboards moves towards a trend of slimness. The change of mobile input devices directly influences users' behavior. Although multi-touch applications allow entering texts through a virtual keyboard, the performance, feedback, and comfortableness of the technology is inferior to traditional keyboard, and while manufacturers launch mobile touch keyboards and projection keyboards, the performance has not been satisfying. Therefore, this study discussed the design factors of slim pressure-sensitive keyboards. The factors were evaluated with an objective (accuracy and speed) and a subjective evaluation (operability, recognition, feedback, and difficulty) depending on the shape (circle, rectangle, and L-shaped), thickness (flat, 3mm, and 6mm), and force (35±10g, 60±10g, and 85±10g) of the keyboard. Moreover, MANOVA and Taguchi methods (regarding signal-to-noise ratios) were conducted to find the optimal level of each design factor. The research participants, by their typing speed (30 words/ minute), were divided in two groups. Considering the multitude of variables and levels, the experiments were implemented using the fractional factorial design. A representative model of the research samples were established for input task testing. The findings of this study showed that participants with low typing speed primarily relied on vision to recognize the keys, and those with high typing speed relied on tactile feedback that was affected by the thickness and force of the keys. In the objective and subjective evaluation, a combination of keyboard design factors that might result in higher performance and satisfaction was identified (L-shaped, 3mm, and 60±10g) as the optimal combination. The learning curve was analyzed to make a comparison with a traditional standard keyboard to investigate the influence of user experience on keyboard operation. The research results indicated the optimal combination provided input performance to inferior to a standard keyboard. The results could serve as a reference for the development of related products in industry and for applying comprehensively to touch devices and input interfaces which are interacted with people

Hemispheric dispersion of radioactive plume laced with fission nuclides from the Fukushima nuclear event

Radioactivities of particulate 131I and 137Cs released from the Fukushima nuclear accident were monitored in a regional aerosol network including two high mountain sites (central Taiwan and Tibetan Plateau). The results were integrated with data measured elsewhere around the world, with special focus on the mid-latitudes. The hemispheric transport of the Fukushima radiation clouds (FRCs) by the westerlies took $18 days, displaying an exponential-like decrease eastward, with a dilution factor of at least five orders of magnitude following a full circuit around the globe. The initial two waves of FRCs may travel at different atitudes: the first one at$3–4 km, whereas the second one up to 5 km or more. 131I and 137Cs were fractionated during transport, with 137Cs concentrated in the shallower layer, susceptible to depositional removal, while 131I moving faster and higher. This accident may be exemplified to identify some atmospheric processes on the hemispheric scale