Bias Control Research Articles

Arbitrary bias control of LiNbO3 based Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators for QKD system

Quantum key distribution (QKD) can help distant agents to share unconditional secret keys, and the achievable secret key rate can be enhanced with the help of decoy-state protocol. To implement QKD experimentally, the agents are supposed to accurately transmit a number of different intensity pulses with the LiNbO3 based Mach-Zehnder (LNMZ) intensity modulator. However, the bias drift of LNMZ intensity modulator may affect the performance of a QKD system. In this letter, we reveal a simple RC circuit model to demonstrate the bias drift in the LNMZ intensity modulator. And based on the model, we propose a multi-step bias stable scheme to control the bias working point. Experimental result shows that our scheme can eliminate the bias drift of at arbitrary working point within a long time range. Besides, there is no need of any feedback mechanisms in the scheme. This means our scheme will not lead to any increasement in system complexity, making it more suitable for a QKD system.

Pain Education and Knowledge (PEAK) Consensus Guidelines for Neuromodulation: A Proposal for Standardization in Fellowship and Training Programs.

The need to be competent in neuromodulation is and should be a prerequisite prior to completing a fellowship in interventional pain medicine. Unfortunately, many programs lack acceptable candidates for these advanced therapies, and fellows may not receive adequate exposure to neuromodulation procedures. The American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN) desires to create a consensus of experts to set a minimum standard of competence for neurostimulation procedures, including spinal cord stimulation (SCS), dorsal root ganglion stimulation (DRG-S), and peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS). The executive board of ASPN accepted nominations for colleagues with excellence in the subject matter of neuromodulation and physician education. This diverse group used peer-reviewed literature and, based on grading of evidence and expert opinion, developed critical consensus guides for training that all accredited fellowship programs should adopt. For each consensus point, transparency and recusal were used to eliminate bias, and an author was nominated for evidence grading oversight and bias control. Pain Education and Knowledge (PEAK) Consensus Guidelines for Neuromodulation sets a standard for neuromodulation training in pain fellowship training programs. The consensus panel has determined several recommendations to improve care in the United States for patients undergoing neuromodulation. As neuromodulation training in the United States has evolved dramatically, these therapies have become ubiquitous in pain medicine. Unfortunately, fellowship programs and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) pain program requirements have not progressed training to match the demands of modern advancements. PEAK sets a new standard for fellowship training and presents thirteen practice areas vital for physician competence in neuromodulation.

Control of Criminal Intelligence: An Evaluation of the Lithuanian Situation in Light of International Practice

Abstract This article analyses problems arising in the field of control of criminal intelligence. In order to prevent human rights violations, each state must have a well-functioning mechanism in place to control criminal intelligence actions. The article analyses the activities of the entities responsible for the legality of criminal intelligence activities and, taking into account international practice, reveals the gaps in the legal regulation in Lithuania and the shortcomings in the activities of the institutions responsible for controlling criminal intelligence. Prosecutors, while participating in the process of sanctioning criminal intelligence actions, also examine complaints against these actions, which not only leads to a biased control, but also, as the study has shown, contradicts the case law of the ECtHR. The article also analyses the problems related to the freedom of criminal intelligence entities to choose the court that will hear their applications. The study concludes that the current situation, which restricts a person’s access to information about criminal intelligence actions against him/her, is incompatible with international practice and violates the human right to judicial protection. The article provides suggestions for establishing a specialised independent criminal intelligence control institution in Lithuania.

Fast Frequency Control Strategy for Direct Drive Wind Turbines Considering the Suppression of Secondary Frequency Drop in the Power Grid

Inertia and damping in the power system are important parameters in frequency regulation and oscillation suppression. Inertia will reduce the rate and amplitude of frequency changes after active power sudden changes. Damping in the system can effectively suppress low-frequency oscillations after grid disturbances. As the penetration rate of wind turbines increases, it will significantly reduce the effective inertia in the power grid and reduce the friendliness of wind power grid connection. To provide better frequency support for the power grid in the event of large disturbances in the power system, this paper proposes a fast frequency control strategy for wind farms that considers the suppression of secondary frequency dips in the power grid. The strategy combines frequency droop control with grid frequency bias control and evaluates the kinetic energy reserve online based on wind power prediction and hourly speed, thus balancing the frequency regulation and suppression of secondary frequency dips in the power grid. A 2.5 MW direct drive wind turbine simulation model was built based on the PSCAD simulation platform, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed comprehensive control strategy.

Current‐Driven Switching of Néel Vector of an Antiferromagnetic Insulator Thin Film

AbstractManipulation of antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials as active elements provides a crucial combination of electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties for spintronics. This study shows how the spin current generated in heavy metal is induced by spin‐orbit torque into an adjacent AFM insulator. The bulk unpinned spins of the AFM layer drive a spin current that is transmitted to the top ferromagnet. This mechanism allows the electrical control of the exchange bias, coercive field, and blocking temperature of the system. Further support is provided by a model calculation that quantitatively describes the effect of the spin current injection into the AFM.

Urbanization is positively associated with global perceptual style

More and more people are moving to cities, resulting in more than half of the world's population living today in urban areas. The impact of the physical environment on cognition has been a subject of study in environmental psychology, but the findings have been inconclusive due to its complexity. While some studies have indicated a negative correlation between urbanization and cognitive abilities, others have found no significant effects. The current study investigates the relationship between urbanicity, multitasking abilities, and perceptual style. Specifically, the study aims to determine whether individuals living in highly urban environments exhibit different multitasking abilities compared to those living in low urbanicity environments and whether perceptual style mediates this relationship. Previous research suggests that rural residents show a local perceptual bias and better attentional control, which may affect their multitasking abilities. Participants were recruited from two distinct postcode areas in the UK classified as urbanicity-high and urbanicity-low based on the percentage of urban features present. Our study found no association between urbanicity and multitasking abilities. However, additional analyses revealed that other variables related to the engagement with their physical environment, such as time spent outdoors, and time spent in nature were associated with multitasking abilities. This goes in line with the previous research showing the restorative effects that short-term exposure to nature can have on cognition. Additionally, we examined the relationship between urbanicity and perceptual style using a global-local visual processing task. In line with previous research, dwellers living in highly urban areas showed a global bias as compared to those living in less urban areas. Overall, our results suggest that the physical environment in which people live is associated with the way they process visual information.

Bias control approach based on VMD and LIA demodulation of a lithium niobate polarization controller.

A bias control approach is an automatic lock working point algorithm based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) and lock-in amplification (LIA) demodulation for a lithium niobate polarization controller (LNPC). Commonly, the dither voltage applied to the LNPC is much smaller than the bias voltage to avoid the influence of the dither signal on the output light, which reduces the polarization control accuracy of the LNPC. In this paper, we use VMD and LIA, with which the polarization control accuracy of LNPC can be improved, to extract and amplify the dither signal to compensate the drift half-wave of LNPC. The light intensity fluctuations of the output polarized light in vertical or horizontal directions are less than 0.017%.

Relationship between attentional bias and stimulus control: An observational study of real-world eating patterns

BackgroundAttentional bias towards food related stimuli has been proposed as a potential target for dieting intervention, however the evidence supporting a relationship between attentional bias and food intake is mixed. Theory holds that food related attentional bias should be positively associated with measures of stimulus-controlled eating, and that implicit processes such as impulsivity moderate this association. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the proposed relationship between food-related attentional bias and stimulus control exists, and whether it is moderated by impulsivity. MethodA community sample of 68 participants completed a food-related attentional bias task and impulsiveness scale during a laboratory visit, after which they recorded their real-world eating in real-time over 14 days using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). During this time, participants also responded to 4–5 randomly timed assessments per day. Food outlet presence (e.g., fast food restaurants, cafes, corner stores etc.) was assessed during both eating and non-eating assessments. EMA data was then used to determine levels of stimulus controlled eating for each participant. FindingsSubstantial variation was seen in both our measure of both food-related attentional bias (Range: 33.9 to 80.0) and in the degree to which the participant's eating could be categorised as being under stimulus control (Range: 0.50 to 0.93). However, food-related attentional bias scores were not a significant independent predictor of stimulus control and nor was this relationship moderated by impulsivity. ConclusionContrary to theoretical predictions, we found no evidence that of an association between attentional bias, impulsivity, and stimulus control. More work is needed to better understand the implicit processes underlying eating behaviour in the real-world.

Cognitive correlates of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Auditory hallucinations (AHs) are one of the central symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Current cognitive models of AH implicate source monitoring, top-down processes, and inhibitory control. However, research combining these processes is limited. Our study aimed to examine how source monitoring bias, top-down processes, and inhibitory control contribute to AHs in individuals with SSD. Eighty seven patients (aged 18–45 years) with SSD were included in the analyses. Participants completed cognitive tasks assessing source monitoring (Action Memory Task), top-down processes (False Perception Task; FPT), and inhibitory control (Auditory Go/NoGo task). AH was positively associated with response bias on the FPT. Correlations between AH and the other cognitive tasks were nonsignificant. Source monitoring errors correlated positively with response bias measures and negatively with Hits on the FPT. PANSS total score was positively correlated with source monitoring bias and False Alarms on the Go/NoGo task. The severity of disorganized symptoms was related to Source Monitoring Errors and False Alarms in the Go/NoGo task. Negative symptoms were associated with Hits and False Alarms in the Go/NoGo task.Future studies are necessary to further elucidate the relationships between different cognitive processes that may be related to clinical symptoms of psychosis.

Fairness and generalisability in deep learning of retinopathy of prematurity screening algorithms: a literature review

BackgroundRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease responsible for more than 30 000 blind children worldwide. Its diagnosis and treatment are challenging due to the lack of specialists, divergent...

A high-efficiency magnetic suspension actuator with reluctance-balanced permanent magnet biasing and flux-based control

A high-efficiency magnetic suspension actuator with reluctance-balanced permanent magnet biasing and flux-based control

Machine Learning-Assisted Watermarking via Bias Control of Electro-Optical Modulator

We propose an optical watermarking strategy based on precise bias tuning of an electro-optical modulator and a convolutional neural network-enabled decoder. This scheme can be used for identity authentication at the physical layer of optical networks. This method is demonstrated with a transmission demo of about 250 kbit/s watermarking data in a 10-Gbit/s public 20-km communication. The watermarking data is modulated on the bias states of the modulator based on the precise and stable bias control technique. The watermark embedding has been verified to make almost no impact on the 20-km public transmission. For the legal receiver, the invisible watermark data can be extracted with the aid of the convolutional neural network-enabled decoder to verify the legality of the received data. Only one optical source is needed in the proposed scheme and the watermarking is integrated into the public signal naturally. We analyzed and verified the influence of watermarking data on the bit error rate and the channel capacity of the public data. The privacy and security of watermarking data are also analyzed.

The role of government policy, social infrastructure and Fengshui in intending to buy tourism real estate.

People typically purchase residential properties for two reasons: to live in or invest. However, both purposes necessitate careful consideration before deciding because high financial costs are involved, and housing loans are typically considered necessary for this purpose. Customers' demands are constantly changing, becoming more complicated with higher requirements. The focus of this research is on tourism real estate selection. This market in Vietnam is still new and emerging and has encountered numerous issues regarding government policy, finance, and land authorization for constructing, owning, and managing. Because the form of tourism real estate is still new, customers are hesitant about investing in or buying these properties. Hence, to compete in the current fiercely real estate industry, real estate firms must understand their customers' expectations by frequently involving customer research in the company's strategy. However, there is still a lack of research on the connection between these factors and individual expectations in the well-known philosophy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), leading to behavioral intentions. Therefore, to fulfill the gap in the previous literature, this paper aims to investigate the connection between these factors with core variables of TPB, hence, addressing the current problems in the real estate industry. 471 valid respondents in Vietnam were collected for data analysis through two survey approaches. PLS-SEM was used to test hypotheses due to the relationship complication in the conceptual models. The results show that government policy influences attitudes and perceived behavioral control, whereas social infrastructure affects social norms and perceived behavioral control. Moreover, Fengshui ambient condition also positively influences all three core factors: attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control. Finally, these factors impact on intention to buy tourism real estate. Through results, this paper has developed a purchase intention model through social aspects of the tourism real estate industry. In addition, this paper demonstrates the connection between social factors and individuals' expectations for a purchase intention, providing the importance of the government's role, architecture style, and social infrastructure in the marketing literature of the real estate industry. As a result, managers and governments need to take advantage of new releases of government regulations in time to enhance customers' positive attitudes toward purchasing tourism real estate. Moreover, social infrastructure and Fengshui conditions are crucial to establishing social norms and perceived control, aiming to leverage the intention to purchase tourism real estate. Thereby, recommendations of marketing strategies based on these findings were suggested to attain the optimal result for sales. Finally, this research also includes some limitations. Hence, suggestions for further research were also provided, such as possible moderation, possible mediating effects, or control of data bias.

The educational and parenting test for home-based childcare: a socially valid self-rating instrument

IntroductionHome-based childcare is increasingly becoming the focus of research, policy and public interest. Self-assessment of quality can increase the social validity of quality improvement efforts among stakeholders. A new online self-assessment tool for parents and non-relative providers of home-based childcare is introduced that has been developed in Germany, the Educational and Parenting Test for Home-Based Childcare (EPT; in German: ‚Bildungs- und Erziehungstest für TagesElternBetreuung BET‘).MethodsIn two studies, the social validity of the EPT was investigated: a stakeholder study with 45 parents and 12 non-relative caregivers, and an expert study with nine experts of child pedagogy. The stakeholders rated the EPT survey (N = 57) and the subsequent report of test results (n = 22). The experts evaluated the survey and the feedback report based on vignettes of three fictitious test results (i.e., below average, average, and above average quality). Criteria included face validity, measurement quality, controllability (i.e., comprehensiveness), freedom of response, freedom of pressure, counseling quality, usefulness, control of bias, and privacy protection.ResultsMost aspects of social validity achieved good to very good ratings. All three samples graded the EPT survey as “good.” If the stakeholders felt that their educational quality was undervalued, they rated the report of test results worse (rs(20) = 0.52, p = 0.02). Five of seven experts would recommend the EPT to others.DiscussionBased on participants’ comments, the instrument was thoroughly revised. The EPT is a socially valid instrument for assessing and developing quality in home-based childcare.

Spectroscopic characterization of the quantum linear-zigzag transition in trapped ions

While engineered quantum systems are a general route to the manipulation of multipartite quantum states, access in a physical system to a continuous quantum phase transition under sufficient control offers the possibility of an intrinsic source of entangled states. To this end we realize the quantum version of the linear-zigzag structural transition for arrays of up to five ground state-cooled ions held in a linear Paul trap and we demonstrate several of the control requirements towards entangled-state interferometry near the critical point. Using in situ spectroscopy we probe the energy level structure and occupation of the soft mode associated with the structural transition, and show a stable critical point and majority ground state occupation crossing the transition. We resolve biases arising from trap electrode asymmetries that change the nature of the transition, show that they can be suppressed by varying the ion number, and demonstrate control of the transition bias using optical dipole forces.

Development of a SiPM Pixel prototype for the Large-Sized Telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. CTA consists of different telescope types of which the largest ones (Large-Sized Telescopes, LSTs) cover the lower energy range, between 20GeV and 200GeV. The first LST is currently being commissioned at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands. Its camera has 1855 photomultipliers (PMTs) with 1.5 inch cathodes. Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are increasingly becoming valid alternatives to PMTs also in gamma-ray astronomy. In the context of the LST project, there is an effort to study a novel Advanced Camera, equipped with SiPMs and a completely redesigned electronics based on a fully digital approach. To study and develop solutions on the sensors of these camera, we built a prototype camera module with a fully re-designed pre-amplifying stage and sensor bias control while re-using the digitizing and triggering stages of the existing LST camera module. We report on the design choices made to achieve the highest performance in terms of timing and charge resolution and the laboratory measurements validating those choices.

Scientific studies on Krav Maga: state of the art

This study aimed to analyze and synthesize the main concepts about Krav Maga in the last four decades. This is a review of the academic literature with a qualitative approach and a narrative nature. The searched databases are PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO, Index Medicus, Capes Platform, ProQuest Digital Dissertations, Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) and Google Scholar, between the years 1982 and 2022. Empirical studies with cross-sectional, longitudinal, case, control and randomized design were included, and books and private websites were excluded. The textual corpus was processed by the IRaMuTeQ software. Forty-four studies met the eligibility criteria, of which eighteen conceptualized Krav Maga as “self-defense”, twelve as “fighting”, seven as “hand-to-hand combat”, four as “self-defense art”, three as “cultural heritage” and immaterial” and another as a “hybrid system”. The main aspects evoked and addressed in the research were: Operational and Military, Historical, Pedagogical, Psychosocial and Physiological. Most studies had low to moderate methodological quality, indicating the need for greater control of biases in future research. In addition, it was evidenced that Krav Maga is a system, or method developed for self-defense, however, it is a polysemic term, and cannot be understood in a uniform and linear way.

Adenocarcinoma of the Bladder: Assessment of Survival Advantage Associated With Radical Cystectomy and Comparison With Urothelial Bladder Cancer

To evaluate the association between radical cystectomy (RC) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM) in patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the bladder (ACB). Moreover, to directly compare the survival advantage of RC between ACB vs. urothelial bladder cancer (UBC). Non-metastatic muscle-invasive ACB and UBC patients were identified within Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (SEER 2000-2018). All analyses were stratified between RC vs. no-RC, in either organ-confined (OC: T2N0M0) or non-organ-confined (NOC: T3-4N0M0 or TanyN1-3M0) stages. Propensity score matching (PSM), cumulative incidence plots, competing risks regression (CRR) analyses, and 3 months' landmark analyses were performed. Overall, 1,005 ACB and 47,741 UBC patients were identified, of whom 475 (47%) and 19,499 (41%) were treated with RC, respectively. After PSM, comparison between RC vs. no-RC applied to 127 vs. 127 OC-ACB, 7,611 vs. 7,611 OC-UBC, 143 vs. 143 NOC-ACB, and 4,664 vs. 4,664 NOC-UBC patients. 36-month CSM rates in RC vs. no-RC patients were 14 vs. 44% in OC-ACB, 18 vs. 39% in OC-UBC, 49 vs. 66% in NOC-ACB, and 44 vs. 56% in NOC-UBC patients. In CRR analyses, the effect of RC on CSM yielded a hazard ratio of 0.37 in OC-ACB, of 0.45 in OC-UBC, of 0.65 in NOC-ACB and of 0.68 in NOC-UBC patients (all P values<0.001). Landmark analyses virtually perfectly replicated the results. In ACB, regardless of stage, RC is associated with lower CSM. The magnitude of this survival advantage was greater in ACB than in UBC, even after control for immortal time bias.

Switchless Dual-Power-Mode Fully Differential HBT Power Amplifier for Mobile Applications

This study proposes a switchless dual-power-mode (DPM) power amplifier (PA), which operates independently in high-powermode (HPM) and low-power mode (LPM) to improve the efficiency. The DPM PA optimizes the output impedances using bias control of the PA and the proposed bidirectional output matching structure with a transformer (TF) for each power mode with no switches for isolation between the LPM and the HPM with high passive efficiency. The proposed output structure realizes a high impedance in the nonoperating mode network to ensure that the operating mode network realizes the optimal impedance by utilizing bidirectional matching of the off characteristics of transistors and TF output for each mode. The differential DPM PA is implemented using a 2- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \mathrm{m}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process on a nine-layer printed circuit board with low insertion loss to demonstrate the proposed structure. The HPM and LPM, operating independently, achieved the gains of 24–25.5 and 11.4–12.9 dB and the saturated output power of 34.2–34.8 and 23.2–23.5 dBm, with a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 44.4%–49% and 32%–34.4%, respectively, under a continuous-wave (CW) signal test of over 5.15–5.925 GHz. The proposed PA error vector magnitude (EVM) is tested with 160 MHz of a 64-quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) signal and achieves the average output powers of 24.5 and 14 dBm (EVM <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$=$</tex-math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ -$</tex-math> </inline-formula> 32 dB) and a PAE of 10.5% and 10.1% for HPM and LPM with digital predistortion, respectively.

A 0.053 mm2 10-bit 10-ks/s 40-nW SAR ADC with pseudo single ended switching procedure for bio-related applications

This paper presents a power and area efficient pseudo single ended switching ADC for portable biomedical signal monitoring applications. The switching method features an 8-bit binary-weighted DAC array with a novel layout method called limited bottom-plate routing (LBPR) maintaining both feasibility and symmetry, a dynamic biased comparator and dynamic control logic. As a result, the proposed ADC saves 96.7% power consumption and 87.5% area occupation compared with conventional SAR ADC. Also, a novel DAC array layout method is promoted maintaining both feasibility and symmetry. A prototyped chip including a proposed ADC is fabricated in a 0.13 μm CMOS process. On condition of 0.6 V supply voltage and 10 kS/s sampling rate, the measured signal-to-noise-distortion (SNDR) and spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) are 57.8 dB and 64.3 dB, respectively. Besides, the ADC consumes only 40 nW power and 0.053 mm2 area achieving a figure-of-merit (FoM) of 6.26 fJ/conversion-step. Low power and low area occupation make it a good candidate for biomedical signal monitoring applications.