Provenance analysis for instagram photos

As a feasible device fingerprint, sensor pattern noise (SPN) has been proven to be effective in the provenance analysis of digital images. However, with the rise of social media, millions of images are being uploaded to and shared through social media sites every day. An image downloaded from social networks may have gone through a series of unknown image manipulations. Consequently, the trustworthiness of SPN has been challenged in the provenance analysis of the images downloaded from social media platforms. In this paper, we intend to investigate the effects of the pre-defined Instagram images filters on the SPN-based image provenance analysis. We identify two groups of filters that affect the SPN in quite different ways, with Group I consisting of the filters that severely attenuate the SPN and Group II consisting of the filters that well preserve the SPN in the images. We further propose a CNN-based classifier to perform filter-oriented image categorization, aiming to exclude the images manipulated by the filters in Group I and thus improve the reliability of the SPN-based provenance analysis. The results on about 20, 000 images and 18 filters are very promising, with an accuracy higher than 96% in differentiating the filters in Group I and Group II

Low-Symmetry Rhombohedral GeTe Thermoelectrics

High-symmetry thermoelectric materials usually have the advantage of very high band degeneracy, while low-symmetry thermoelectrics have the advantage of very low lattice thermal conductivity. If the symmetry breaking of band degeneracy is small, both effects may be realized simultaneously. Here we demonstrate this principle in rhombohedral GeTe alloys, having a slightly reduced symmetry from its cubic structure, to realize a record figure of merit (zT ∼ 2.4) at 600 K. This is enabled by the control of rhombohedral distortion in crystal structure for engineering the split low-symmetry bands to be converged and the resultant compositional complexity for simultaneously reducing the lattice thermal conductivity. Device ZT as high as 1.3 in the rhombohedral phase and 1.5 over the entire working temperature range of GeTe alloys make this material the most efficient thermoelectric to date. This work paves the way for exploring low-symmetry materials as efficient thermoelectrics. Thermoelectric materials enable a heat flow to be directly converted to a flow of charge carriers for generating electricity. The crystal structure symmetry is one of the most fundamental parameters determining the properties of a crystalline material including thermoelectrics. The common belief currently held is that high-symmetry materials are usually good for thermoelectrics, leading to great efforts having historically been focused on GeTe alloys in a high-symmetry cubic structure. Here we show a slight reduction of crystal structure symmetry of GeTe alloys from cubic to rhombohedral, enabling a rearrangement in electronic bands for more transporting channels of charge carriers and many imperfections for more blocking centers of heat-energy carriers (phonons). This leads to the discovery of rhombohedral GeTe alloys as the most efficient thermoelectric materials to date, opening new possibilities for low-symmetry thermoelectric materials. Cubic GeTe thermoelectrics have been historically focused on, while this work utilizes a slight symmetry-breaking strategy to converge the split valence bands, to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity and therefore realize a record thermoelectric performance, all enabled in GeTe in a rhombohedral structure. This not only promotes GeTe alloys as excellent materials for thermoelectric power generation below 800 K, but also expands low-symmetry materials as efficient thermoelectrics

南海北部珊瑚Ba/Ca比值的季节变化及其环境意义

利用等离子体质谱技术分析了取自海南岛南部沿岸的现代滨珊瑚高分辨率的Ba／Ca比值。结果表明，该珊瑚的Ba／Ca比值具有明显的双峰态的季节变化，其中春季和秋季Ba／Ca比值较高，而冬、夏两季则较低。海南岛南部及邻近地区季节降雨的变化所控制的陆源Ba输入是这些珊瑚Ba／Ca比值变化的重要控制因素，而该区夏季相对较高的表层海水生产力可能也对其有重要影响。High-resolution Ba/Ca ratios of a modern Porites coral from Sanya Bay, offshore of Hainan Island, were measured by ICP-MS. The results exhibit seasonal periodical ventilation of the coralline Ba/Ca ratios with higher Ba/ca ratios in spring and autumn and lower in winter and summer. variation of the terrestrial Ba flux to this area,which was controlled by seasonal precipitation of Southern Hainan Island and surmunded areas, is the key role to these Ba/Ca patterns. On the other hand, the relatively high surface productivity of the area in summer may contribute to the lower Ba/Ca ratios of the coral.postprin

Preliminary study on TIMS U-Th dating technique and their application

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) U-Th technique in dating purecarbonate has been established in our laboratory and was used to determine the ages of the Holocene coral samples from the South China Sea and a National Reference Material of uranium-series, GBW04413. The TIMS results of GBW04413 are in good agreement with their reference data determined from α-couning, indication that the ages by TIMS U-Th method are reliable. The TIMS ages of the coral samples older than 5ka have slightly older TIMS U-Th ages than their [14] C ages, which agrees with previous studies [12, 13, 16].尝试了用热电离质谱方法测定南海第四纪珊瑚的U- Th 年龄, 并利用国家铀系年龄标准物质GBW04413 来监测分析结果的合理性。结果显示, GBW04413 的TIMS 年龄与作为推荐值的A记数方法测定结果一致, 反映出其可靠性; 而年龄在1ka 左右的珊瑚样品的TIMS 年龄与14C 年龄一致, >5ka 样品的TIMS 年龄老于14C 年龄, 体现两种方法的系统差别。published_or_final_versio

Simple networks on complex cellular automata: From de Bruijn diagrams to jump-graphs

We overview networks which characterise dynamics in cellular automata. These networks are derived from one-dimensional cellular automaton rules and global states of the automaton evolution: de Bruijn diagrams, subsystem diagrams, basins of attraction, and jump-graphs. These networks are used to understand properties of spatially-extended dynamical systems: emergence of non-trivial patterns, self-organisation, reversibility and chaos. Particular attention is paid to networks determined by travelling self-localisations, or gliders.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figure

Evaluation of alternative horizontal well designs for gas production from hydrate deposits in the Shenhu area, South China Sea

Gas hydrate deposits were confirmed in the Shenhu Area, the north slope of South China Sea during a drilling expedition in 2007. Hydrate deposits in the area are distributed in disseminated forms in forams-rich clay sediments with permeable overburden and underburden layers. Production of gas from such a type of hydrate deposits is very challenging. In this study, we develop a numerical approach for investigation of gas production strategies by horizontal wells and preliminary estimation of the production potential based on the limited data that are currently available. Numerical models are built to represent the typical hydrate deposits in the area, including the thickness of the Hydrate-Bearing Layer (HBL), hydrate saturation, water depth, temperature at the sea floor, initial thermal gradient and pressure distribution. The models are used to simulate the different production schemes and well designs. In this paper, production strategies of horizontal well system with combination of depressurization and thermal stimulation are investigated through numerical models. Gas production potential from the deposits and effectiveness of the different production methods are evaluated. The simulation results indicate that with current technology, gas production from Shenhu hydrate deposits may not be economically efficient for all the production strategies we have investigated. Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

Effects of surface tension on the size-dependent ferroelectric characteristics of free-standing BaTiO3 nano-thin films

Intrinsic surface tension of nanoscale ferroelectric thin film tends to induce tensile stress in its surface layer, whereas the other portion of the film is subjected to compression to maintain mechanical balance. A continuum-based phase-field model accounting for such surface effect has been set up to investigate the evolution of domain structure and thickness-dependent ferroelectric properties of free-standing BaTiO 3 nano-thin films. It was observed that both remnant polarization and coercive field decrease with a decrease of film thickness and increase of surface tension, and that, for film thickness ranging from 10-20 nm, both properties decreased sharply at the surface strain 2-3ε 0 (ε 0 being the spontaneous strain). Further decrease in film thickness or increase in surface tension could result in loss of ferroelectricity. Such a critical state for the ferroelectric-to-paraelectric transition has also been established for the range of film thickness 4-20 nm. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

MAC Performance Analysis for Drive-Thru Internet Networks with Rayleigh Capture

© 2013 IEEE. In practical radio transmissions, channel capture is a dominating factor that affects wireless network performance. The capture effect can occur in wireless network when packets arrive with different powers. Packets with high power can effectively swamp low power packets, such that they are received successfully, when otherwise a collision would have occurred. We present a vehicular network performance-prediction model for a Rayleigh capture channel in Drive-thru Internet scenario. The model incorporates the capture effect into a 2-D Markov chain modeling the high-node mobility and distributed coordination function broadcast scheme. The performance-prediction model unveils the impacts of mobility velocity and number of vehicles on the throughput in a Rayleigh capture channel. We use a vehicular traffic flow model to predict vehicular movement on road by aggregating all vehicles into a flow. Simulation results confirm that our performance-prediction model accurately predicts the performance of traveling vehicles with Rayleigh capture channel in the Drive-thru Internet scenario. We demonstrate that using our performance-prediction model, we can obtain optimal contention window value, by which the best system throughput can be reached without wasting contention time. This is also proved by Anastasi et al

A magnetically shielded instrument for magnetoresistance and noise characterizations of magnetic tunnel junction sensors

A magnetically shielded setup was developed for characterizing magnetoresistance (MR) and noise properties of magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) sensors. A mu-metal shielding is installed to avoid the interference of external magnetic disturbance. Both MR curves and noise power spectra of MTJ sensors can be obtained for further data analysis. Moreover, a hard-axis magnetic field can be applied to eliminate the hysteresis and the linear field response of MTJ sensors can be measured. The preliminary measurement results on MTJ sensors are presented to illustrate the characterization capabilities of this setup. © 2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 2010 IEEE International Conference of Electronic Devices and Solid-State Circuits (EDSSC), Hong Kong, 15-17 December 2010. In Proceedings of EDSSC, 2010, p. 1-