Analysis and comparison of resistive, ferroelectric and pyroelectric uncooled bolometers for electronic imaging systems

The performance parameters (responsivity (Rv). detectivity (D*), total noise and response time) of resistive, pyroelectric and ferroelectric bolometer detectors are dependent on a large number of key variables including chopping frequercy, the input impedance and voltage noise of the readout circuitry, the structure dependent parameters (particularly thermal conductance and thermal capacitance), and material properties such as dielectric constant, pyroelectric coefficient, loss tangent and thin film thickness. The interrelationship between the key variables and their influence on performance is often complex and not easily discerned for the three major types of thermal detectors: resistive, pyroelectric and ferroelectric bolometers. In this thesis research, the dependence of Rv, D* and total noise on these key parameters were analyzed and written as equations from which computer calculations could easily be made. The analyzed results were used to compare the pertbrmance of the three types of sensors for present-day structure and material characteristics and also for material characteristics and structures that night be developed in the future

Experimental analysis of gene assembly with TopDown one-step real-time gene synthesis

Herein we present a simple, cost-effective TopDown (TD) gene synthesis method that eliminates the interference between the polymerase chain reactions (PCR) assembly and amplification in one-step gene synthesis. The method involves two key steps: (i) design of outer primers and assembly oligonucleotide set with a melting temperature difference of >10°C and (ii) utilization of annealing temperatures to selectively control the efficiencies of oligonucleotide assembly and full-length template amplification. In addition, we have combined the proposed method with real-time PCR to analyze the step-wise efficiency and the kinetics of the gene synthesis process. Gel electrophoresis results are compared with real-time fluorescence signals to investigate the effects of oligonucleotide concentration, outer primer concentration, stringency of annealing temperature, and number of PCR cycles. Analysis of the experimental results has led to insights into the gene synthesis process. We further discuss the conditions for preventing the formation of spurious DNA products. The TD real-time gene synthesis method provides a simple and efficient method for assembling fairly long DNA sequence, and aids in optimizing gene synthesis conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first report that utilizes real-time PCR for gene synthesis

Generalized Activation via Multivariate Projection

Activation functions are essential to introduce nonlinearity into neural networks, with the Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) often favored for its simplicity and effectiveness. Motivated by the structural similarity between a shallow Feedforward Neural Network (FNN) and a single iteration of the Projected Gradient Descent (PGD) algorithm, a standard approach for solving constrained optimization problems, we consider ReLU as a projection from R onto the nonnegative half-line R+. Building on this interpretation, we extend ReLU by substituting it with a generalized projection operator onto a convex cone, such as the Second-Order Cone (SOC) projection, thereby naturally extending it to a Multivariate Projection Unit (MPU), an activation function with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. We further provide mathematical proof establishing that FNNs activated by SOC projections outperform those utilizing ReLU in terms of expressive power. Experimental evaluations on widely-adopted architectures further corroborate MPU's effectiveness against a broader range of existing activation functions

Distributed optimization algorithm for discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems with nonuniform stepsizes

This paper is devoted to the distributed optimization problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems, where the communication topology is jointly strongly connected and the dynamics of each agent is the first-order or second-order integrator. A new distributed algorithm is first designed for each agent based on the local objective function and the local neighbors' information that each agent can access. By a model transformation, the original closed-loop system is converted into a time-varying system and the system matrix of which is a stochastic matrix at any time. Then, by the properties of the stochastic matrix, it is proven that all agents' position states can converge to the optimal solution of a team objective function provided the union communication topology is strongly connected. Finally, the simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the distributed algorithm proposed in this paper

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) graptolites from the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin (Qinghai, China)

A restudy of the early Darriwilian graptolites from the Dameigou section in the Qaidam Basin provides some new information for graptolite biostratigraphy. The section contains a number of biserial faunas and easily identifiable Holmograptus Kozlowski, 1957, which are the marked faunas of the early Darriwilian. According to the biostratigraphic occurrences of the species, the Levisograptus dentatus Zone and the Holmograptus lentus Zone are identified from the Qaidam Basin. At the same time, the identification of these two graptolite zones provides materials for replacing the old, long-ranging Amplexograptus confertus Zone