Gravitational effects of condensate dark matter on compact stellar objects

We study the gravitational effect of non-self-annihilating dark matter on compact stellar objects. The self-interaction of condensate dark matter can give high accretion rate of dark matter onto stars. Phase transition to condensation state takes place when the dark matter density exceeds the critical value. A compact degenerate dark matter core is developed and alter the structure and stability of the stellar objects. Condensate dark matter admixed neutron stars is studied through the two-fuid TOV equation. The existence of condensate dark matter deforms the mass-radius relation of neutron stars and lower their maximum baryonic masses and radii. The possible effects on the Gamma-ray Burst rate in high redshift are discussed

A Journey into the City. Migrant Workers' Relation with the Urban Space and Struggle for Existence in Xu Zechen's Early Jingpiao Fiction

In contemporary China, rural-urban migrants constitute a new urban subject with entirely new identity-related issues. This study aims at demonstrating how literature can be a valid field in investigating such evolving subjectivities, through an analysis of Xu Zechen’s early novellas depicting migrants’ vicissitudes in Beijing. Combining a close reading of the texts and a review of the main social problems characterising rural-urban migration in China, this paper focuses on the representation of the identity crisis within the migrant self in Xu’s stories, taking into account the network of meanings employed by the writer to signify the objective and subjective tension between the city and the countryside

Open-set face recognition using transduction

Abstract: This paper motivates and describes a novel realization of transductive inference that can address the Open Set face recognition task. Open Set operates under the assumption that not all the test probes have mates in the gallery. It either detects the presence of some biometric signature within the gallery and finds its identity or rejects it, i.e., it provides for the “none of the above ” answer. The main contribution of the paper is Open Set TCM – kNN (Transduction Confidence Machine – k Nearest Neighbors), which is suitable for multi-class authentication operational scenarios that have to include a rejection option for classes never enrolled in the gallery. Open Set TCM – kNN, driven by the relation between transduction and Kolmogorov complexity, provides a local estimation of the likelihood ratio needed for detection tasks. We provide extensive experimental data to show the feasibility, robustness, and comparative advantages of Open Set TCM – kNN on Open Set identification and watch list (surveillance) tasks using challenging FERET data. Last, we analyze the error structure driven by the fact that most of the errors in identification are due to a relatively small number of face patterns. Open Set TCM- kNN is shown to be suitable for PSEI (pattern specific error inhomogeneities) error analysis in order to identify difficult to recognize faces. PSEI analysis improves biometric performance by removing a small number of those difficult to recognize faces responsible for much of the original error in performance and/or by using data fusion

Open world face recognition with credibility and confidence measures

Abstract. This paper describes a novel framework for the Open World face recognition problem, where one has to provide for the Reject option. Based upon algorithmic randomness and transduction, a particular form of induction, we describe the TCM-kNN (Transduction Confidence Machine – kNearest Neighbor) algorithm for Open World face recognition. The algorithm proposed performs much better than PCA and is comparable with Fisherfaces. In addition to recognition and rejection, the algorithm can assign credibility (“likelihood”) and confidence (“lack of ambiguity”) measures with the identification decisions taken. 1

Motion Prediction Using VCGeneralization Bounds

This paper describes a novel application of Statistical Learning Theory (SLT) for motion prediction. SLT provides analytical VC-generalization bounds for model selection; these bounds relate unknown prediction risk (generalization performance) and known quantities such as the number of training samples, empirical error, and a measure of model complexity called the VC-dimension. We use the VC-generalization bounds for the problem of choosing optimal motion models from small sets of image measurements (flow). We present results of experiments on image sequences for motion interpolation and extrapolation; these results demonstrate the strengths of our approach. 1

Giant and dynamically tunable plasmonic circular dichroism in graphene ribbons and Z-shaped metal metamaterials

Plasmonic chirality has drawn a lot of attention owing to its strong and tunable circular dichroism (CD) effects and its desirable applications in bio-sensing, chiral molecules analysis, etc. In this work, the CD response in the mid-infrared region of a metamaterial consisting of Z-shaped metal array and graphene ribbons has been studied theoretically. Benefiting from symmetry breaking and electromagnetic coupling effect, the strong CD signal is generated by the metamaterial and the maximum CD value could reach 22%, which is much larger than that of reported graphene-based chiral systems. In particular, the intensity and peak position of the CD response could be dynamically controlled by the Fermi level in a large range. Meanwhile, the CD response also could be actively controlled by changing the number and the width of graphene ribbons, the distance between the graphene ribbons and Z-shaped metal array, and so on. Furthermore, the CD effect is sensitive to the ambient medium. Therefore, the graphene ribbons and metal metamaterial could be potentially utilized in bio-sensing and related fields

Amorfrutins Relieve Neuropathic Pain through the PPARγ/CCL2 Axis in CCI Rats

Neuropathic pain is a public health problem. Although many pharmaceuticals are used to treat neuropathic pain, effective and safe drugs do not yet exist. In this study, we tested nociceptive responses in CCI rats, and ELISA assay was performed to examine the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. We found that amorfrutins significantly reduce the pain behaviors in CCI rats and suppress the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-6, and IL-1β) and chemokines (CCL2/CCR2) in the spinal cord. However, concurrent administration of a PPARγ antagonist, GW9662, reversed the antihyperalgesic effect induced by amorfrutins. The results indicate that amorfrutins inhibit the inflammation and chemokine expression by activating PPARγ, thus relieving neuropathic pain in CCI rats. Therefore, PPARγ-CCL2/CCR2 pathway might represent a new treatment option for neuropathic pain

Effect of Sand-Frying-Triggered Puffing on the Multi-Scale Structure and Physicochemical Properties of Cassava Starch in Dry Gel

This study revealed the underlying mechanisms involved in the puffing process of dried cassava starch gel by exploring the development of the puffed structure of gel upon sand-frying, chiefly focused on the changes in the multi-scale structure and the physicochemical properties of starch. The results suggested that the sand-frying-induced puffing proceeded very fast, completed in about twenty seconds, which could be described as a two-phase pattern including the warming up (0~6 s) and puffing (7~18 s) stages. In the first stage, no significant changes occurred to the structure or appearance of the starch gel. In the second stage, the cells in the gel network structure were expanded until burst, which brought about a decrease in moisture content, bulk density, and hardness, as well as the increase in porosity and crispness when the surface temperature of gel reached glass transition temperature of 125.28 °C. Upon sand-frying puffing, the crystalline melting and molecular degradation of starch happened simultaneously, of which the latter mainly occurred in the first stage. Along with the increase of puffing time, the thermal stability, peak viscosity, and final viscosity of starch gradually decreased, while the water solubility index increased. Knowing the underlying mechanisms of this process might help manufacturers produce a better quality of starch-based puffed products