Evolution of superconductivity in K2-xFe4+ySe5: Spectroscopic studies of X-ray absorption and emission.

This study investigates the evolution of superconductivity in K2-xFe4+ySe5 using temperature-dependent X-ray absorption and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering techniques. Magnetization measurements show that polycrystalline superconducting (SC) K1.9Fe4.2Se5 has a critical temperature (T c) of ∼31 K with a varying superconducting volume fraction, which strongly depends on its synthesis temperature. An increase in Fe-structural/vacancy disorder in SC samples with more Fe atoms occupying vacant 4d sites is found to be closely related to the decrease in the spin magnetic moment of Fe. Moreover, the nearest-neighbor Fe-Se bond length in SC samples exceeds that in the non-SC (NS) sample, K2Fe4Se5, which indicates a weaker hybridization between the Fe 3d and Se 4p states in SC samples. These results clearly demonstrate the correlations among the local electronic and atomic structures and the magnetic properties of K2-xFe4+ySe5 superconductors, providing deeper insight into the electron pairing mechanisms of superconductivity

Improved reflectance reconstruction for multispectral imaging by combining different techniques

Author name used in this publication: John H. XinAuthor name used in this publication: Si-Jie Shao2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Reflectance reconstruction for multispectral imaging by adaptive Wiener estimation

Author name used in this publication: Si-Jie ShaoAuthor name used in this publication: John H. Xin2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Optimal selection of representative colors for spectral reflectance reconstruction in a multispectral imaging system

Author name used in this publication: John H. XinAuthor name used in this publication: Si-Jie Shao2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Channel selection for multispectral color imaging using binary differential evolution

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Autofocus for multispectral camera using focus symmetry

Author name used in this publication: Si-Jie ShaoAuthor name used in this publication: John H. Xin2011-2012 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Early growth response gene-2 (Egr-2) regulates the development of B and T cells

The study was supported by Arthritis Research UK. Copyright @ 2011 Li et al.BACKGROUND: Understanding of how transcription factors are involved in lymphocyte development still remains a challenge. It has been shown that Egr-2 deficiency results in impaired NKT cell development and defective positive selection of T cells. Here we investigated the development of T, B and NKT cells in Egr-2 transgenic mice and the roles in the regulation of distinct stages of B and T cell development. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The expression of Egr1, 2 and 3 were analysed at different stages of T and B cell development by RT-PCT and results showed that the expression was strictly regulated at different stages. Forced expression of Egr-2 in CD2+ lymphocytes resulted in a severe reduction of CD4+CD8+ (DP) cells in thymus and pro-B cells in bone marrow, which was associated with reduced expression of Notch1 in ISP thymocytes and Pax5 in pro-B cells, suggesting that retraction of Egr-2 at the ISP and pro-B cell stages is important for the activation of lineage differentiation programs. In contrast to reduction of DP and pro-B cells, Egr-2 enhanced the maturation of DP cells into single positive (SP) T and NKT cells in thymus, and immature B cells into mature B cells in bone marrow. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that Egr-2 expressed in restricted stages of lymphocyte development plays a dynamic, but similar role for the development of T, NKT and B cells.This article is provided by the Brunel Open Access publishing fund

Clothes size prediction from dressed-human silhouettes

© 2017, Springer International Publishing AG. We propose an effective and efficient way to automatically predict clothes size for users to buy clothes online. We take human height and dressed-human silhouettes in front and side views as input, and estimate 3D body sizes with a data-driven method. We adopt 20 body sizes which are closely related to clothes size, and use such 3D body sizes to get clothes size by searching corresponding size chart. Previous image-based methods need to calibrate camera to estimate 3D information from 2D images, because the same person has different appearances of silhouettes (e.g. size and shape) when the camera configuration (intrinsic and extrinsic parameters) is different. Our method avoids camera calibration, which is much more convenient. We set up our virtual camera and train the relationship between human height and silhouette size under this camera configuration. After estimating silhouette size, we regress the positions of 2D body landmarks. We define 2D body sizes as the distances between corresponding 2D body landmarks. Finally, we learn the relationship between 2D body sizes and 3D body sizes. The training samples for each regression process come from a database of 3D naked and dressed bodies created by previous work. We evaluate the whole procedure and each process of our framework. We also compare the performance with several regression models. The total time-consumption for clothes size prediction is less than 0.1, s and the average estimation error of body sizes is 0.824, cm, which can satisfy the tolerance for customers to shop clothes online

Economic transition and speculative urbanisation in China: gentrification versus dispossession

Gentrification requires properties to be available for investment through market transactions. In mainland China which has gone through transition from a planned to a market economy, it is necessary to unleash decommodified real estate properties and make them amenable to investment. This entails inhabitants’ dispossession to dissociate them from claiming their rights to the properties and to their neighbourhoods. This paper argues that while China’s urban accumulation may have produced new-build gentrification, redevelopment projects have been targeting dilapidated urban spaces that are yet to be fully converted into commodities. This means that dispossession is a precursor to gentrification. Dispossession occurs through both coercion and co-optation, and reflects the pathdependency of China’s socialist legacy. The findings contribute to the debates on contextualising the workings of gentrification in the global South, and highlight the importance of identifying multiple urban processes at work to produce gentrification and speculative urban accumulation