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62,038,537 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioMedical%20Engineering%20OnLine | BioMedical Engineering OnLine is a peer-reviewed online-only open access scientific journal covering biomedical engineering. It was established in 2002 and is published by BioMed Central. The editors-in-chief are Ervin Sejdic (University of Pittsburgh and Fong-Chin Su (National Cheng Kung University). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2018 impact factor of 2.013.
References
External links
BioMed Central academic journals
Online-only journals
Academic journals established in 2002
English-language journals
Biomedical engineering journals | BioMedical Engineering OnLine | [
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 107 | [
"Biological engineering",
"Bioengineering stubs",
"Biotechnology stubs",
"Medical technology stubs",
"Medical technology"
] |
62,038,652 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui%20Wu | Hui Wu () is a Chinese materials chemist and engineer. She is a senior scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research. Wu researches the synthesis, structure, solid state chemistry, and properties of complex oxides and hydrides. She received the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for producing an entirely new route to synthesizing hydrogen-storage materials for fuel cells based on the complex chemistry of amines and boranes.
Education
In 1999, Wu completed a dual B.S. in materials science and engineering and environmental science and engineering at Tsinghua University (THU). In 2001, she earned a M.S. in materials science and engineering at THU. She conducted her master's thesis, Structure Characterization and Performance of Porous Chemical Adsorbents for Indoor-Air Purification under advisor Feiyu Kang. Wu completed a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at University of Pennsylvania in 2005. Her dissertation was titled Non-stoichiometric Ordered Perovskites for Microwave Applications. Wu's doctoral advisor was Peter K. Davies. From 2005 to 2007, Wu conducted a postdoc as research associate in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research. Her postdoctoral advisor was Terrence J. Udovic. She researched the development and processing of novel metal hydride materials for hydrogen storage and hydrogen-storage materials using neutron scattering techniques.
Career
From 2007 to 2015, Wu worked as a scientist in the NIST Center for Neutron Research and for the department of materials science and engineering at University of Maryland, College Park. In 2015, she was promoted to senior scientist at NIST.
Research
Wu's background is in advanced materials development including the development of novel materials for energy-related applications (hydrogen-storage and full cell), synthesis and characterization of new materials for nanoelectronics applications, and the study of materials used for indoor air purification. Wu is also experienced in solid state physics and chemistry including X-ray and neutron scattering, electron microscopy, and thermal analysis.
Awards and honors
In 2004, Wu won the best poster award at the Materials Research Society Solid State Chemistry Symposium. In 2005, she won the University of Pennsylvania S. J. Stein Prize for or superior achievement in the field of new or unique materials or applications for materials in electronics. Wu was honored with the outstanding poster presentation at the 14th annual NIST chapter of Sigma Xi poster competition. In 2010, Wu received the Sidhu Award from the Pittsburgh Diffraction Society for her exceptional contribution to the structural investigation of new materials for energy storage applications. In 2017, she received the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for producing an entirely new route to synthesizing hydrogen-storage materials for fuel cells based on the complex chemistry of amines and boranes. In 2018, she was recognized by Clarivate Analytics as a highly cited researcher in the field of Cross-Field.
References
Living people
21st-century American chemists
21st-century American engineers
21st-century Chinese engineers
21st-century American women engineers
American materials scientists
American women chemists
Chinese materials scientists
Chinese women chemists
21st-century Chinese women engineers
Chinese expatriate academics in the United States
National Institute of Standards and Technology people
People's Republic of China emigrants to the United States
Tsinghua University alumni
University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Women materials scientists and engineers
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Place of birth missing (living people)
Solid state chemists | Hui Wu | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Technology"
] | 712 | [
"Solid state chemists",
"Women materials scientists and engineers",
"Materials scientists and engineers",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
62,038,875 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oidiodendron%20cereale | Oidiodendron cereale is a species of ascomycetes fungi in the order Helotiales. This fungus is found globally in temperate climates where average summer temperatures are below 25 °C, but there have been scattered reports from tropical and subtropical environments. It is predominantly found in soil, but little is known regarding their ecological roles in nature. However, an enzymatic study from Agriculture Canada showed that O. cereale can break down a variety of plant, fungal, and animal based substrates found in soil, which may have beneficial effects for plants. On rare occasions, this fungus is found on human skin and hair. There has been one reported case of O. cereale infection in 1969, causing Neurodermitis Nuchae.
History and taxonomy
The anamorphic fungus was first described in the Belgian journal Hedwigia by Dr. Von F. von Thümen as Sporotrichum cerealis in 1880. Then in 1932, a Swedish mycologist, Dr. H. Robak, identified Oidiodendron nigrum while investigating fungal infections at wood pulp mills. Further investigation of the genus Oidiodendron by Dr. G. L. Barron revealed that Sporotrichum cerealis and Oidiodendron nigrum were the same organism and thereafter, named the species Oidiodendron cereale. In 1998, Hambleton et al. using ribosomal DNA sequences confirmed that O. cereale is from the Oidiodendron genus and related to the other Oidiodendron species.
Growth and morphology
Growth
This fungus grows hyphally and its asexual reproduction cycles have been well described in literature. Asexual reproduction occurs through its lens-shaped arthroconidia with thickened rings of cell wall material. Young colonies appear grey and turns purple-black as it matures. The conidiophores develop by dividing their branches into sections of equal length. Then it rounds off the branch and develops into the same number of spores. At maturity, the spores fall away from each other and the old wall remains attached to the adjacent conidia as a fringe. Conidia are dispersed by wind and arthropods, where the conidia adhere to the carrier's exoskeleton electrostatically. Conidiophores are produced in all species of Oidiodendron, but the production of conidiophores are not obligatory.
Morphology
Oidiodendron cereale colonies appear green-grey, but dark brown to black under areas of heavy sporulation. Due to its dark colony colour, it is generally classified as a dematiaceous fungus. Its hyphae are 1-2 μm broad, some branches at the foot (treelike), while others don't, and are irregularly curved. The conidia are dark grey, short-chained, clumped at conidiophore apex, has a ring, and spans 2.2-5.4 μm by 2.0-2.7 μm. The conidiophores are short, branched, and hyaline to lightly melanized. It is important to note that the hyaline conidiophores and lens-shaped arthroconidia with thickened rings of cell wall material make this species unique. Henceforth, the initial placement of this species was outside of the genus Oidiodendron. With molecular analysis, evidence supports its placement within Oidiodendron and its morphological distinction is significant only at the species levels.
Physiology
Oidiodendron cereale is psychrotolerant and has an optimal temperature between 20-25°C. However, it also has the ability to grow at temperatures as low as 5°C. Decreased growth is observed when the temperature is below 5°C or above 25°C. Oidiodendron cereale is acidophilic with an optimal pH range of 3-5, and it does not grow in high salt conditions. Enzymatic studies have revealed that O. cereale has cellulolytic abilities. In addition, it has pectinases, gelatinases, lipases, and polyphenol oxidases that facilitate the degradation of a variety of plant, fungal, and animal substrates.
Habitat and ecology
Oidiodendron cereale is found predominantly in soil, but it can also be found in wood and peat, and on human skin and hair. In addition, there has been an isolation of this fungus in human food supplies. Due to the physiology of this species, it prefers to live in temperate climates. However, there have been reports from tropical and subtropical locations of this fungus.
Although this fungus has been identified from a plethora of locations globally and different growing environments, little is understood about their ecological roles. An association study on the mycorrhizal status of this fungus has been inconclusive. Targeted isolation studies are required to determine the ecological role of O. cereale.
Human disease
There has only been one published case of infection caused by O. cereale. In 1969, a female clerk at the Skin Department of the Helsinki University Central Hospital reported itchiness on her neck. Near the nape of the neck, there was an archetypal presentation of neurodermitis nuchae, or more commonly known as atopic dermatitis. A sample was cultured from her neck and on all three occasions, O. cereale was present. After further investigation, this fungus was found in the mycoflora of old Finnish wooden saunas, where the patient had previously visited.
References
Onygenales
Fungi described in 1962
Fungus species | Oidiodendron cereale | [
"Biology"
] | 1,167 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
62,039,415 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exiguobacterium%20sibiricum | Exiguobacterium sibiricum is a bacterium. The DR11 strain of these bacteria has been found to eat polystyrene. It was discovered in India, in wetlands by researchers in Shiv Nadar University. It was discovered alongside Exiguobacterium undrae strain DR14.
References
Bacillaceae
Plastivores
Bacteria described in 2006 | Exiguobacterium sibiricum | [
"Biology"
] | 78 | [
"Organisms by adaptation",
"Plastivores"
] |
62,039,420 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exiguobacterium%20undrae | Exiguobacterium undrae is a bacterium. The DR14 strain of these bacteria has been found to eat polystyrene plastic. It was discovered in India, in wetlands by researchers in Shiv Nadar University. It was discovered alongside Exiguobacterium sibiricum strain DR11.
References
Bacillaceae
Plastivores
Bacteria described in 2002 | Exiguobacterium undrae | [
"Biology"
] | 79 | [
"Organisms by adaptation",
"Plastivores"
] |
62,039,578 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81gnes%20Szendrei | Ágnes Szendrei is a Hungarian-American mathematician whose research concerns clones, the congruence lattice problem, and other topics in universal algebra. She is a professor of mathematics at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the author of the well-cited book Clones in Universal Algebra (1986). In May 2022, Dr. Szendrei was elected as an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; such external memberships are for Hungarian scientists who live outside of Hungary and who have made exceptional contributions to scientific research.
Szendrei earned a doctorate from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1982, and a habilitation in 1993. Her 1982 dissertation was Clones of Linear Operations and Semi-Affine Algebras, supervised by . She was on the faculty of the University of Szeged from 1982 until 2003, when she moved to the University of Colorado.
Szendrei is a Humboldt Fellow. She won the Kató Rényi Award for undergraduate research in 1975, the Géza Grünwald Commemorative Prize for young researchers of the János Bolyai Mathematical Society in 1978, and the Golden Ring of the Republic in 1979. She was the 1992 winner of the Paul Erdős Prize of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the 2000 winner of the Academy's Farkas Bolyai Award.
References
External links
Home page
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century American mathematicians
Hungarian women scientists
University of Colorado Boulder faculty
Algebraists
20th-century Hungarian mathematicians
21st-century Hungarian mathematicians
21st-century American women mathematicians | Ágnes Szendrei | [
"Mathematics"
] | 313 | [
"Algebra",
"Algebraists"
] |
62,044,457 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still%20Hacking%20Anyway | Still Hacking Anyway, abbreviated SHA2017, was a hacker conference and festival in The Netherlands. It is part of the quadrennial hacker camps that started in 1989 with the Galactic Hacker Party in Amsterdam.
The camp took place from 4 to 8 August on a scouts terrain in Zeewolde. At least 3300 hackers and technology minded people from 50 countries participated in workshops and discussions. Participants had Gigabit Ethernet through Datenklos (new chemical toilets with Ethernet switches). A radiostation with FM license and a GSM tower were also built. During the camp, lectures and workshops were held in different tents, including talks from PGP founder Phil Zimmermann and William Binney.
References
Hacker conventions
Hacker_camps | Still Hacking Anyway | [
"Technology"
] | 148 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer conference stubs"
] |
62,045,351 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege%20of%20Masaka | The siege of Masaka was a battle of the Ugandan Bush War that took place from 25 September to 10 December 1985 in which forces of the National Resistance Army (NRA) besieged and eventually captured the large Ugandan town of Masaka, from the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA).
Background
In April 1979, Tanzanian forces and the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), a coalition of armed rebel groups united under the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF), invaded Uganda and deposed the President, Idi Amin. A new UNLF government was installed, but it was weak and exercised little control over the country. This was in part due to the UNLF's and its army's own internal divisions. The several-hundred-strong Kikosi Maalum group was loyal to Milton Obote, who had served as President before Amin took power. Yoweri Museveni controlled the Front for National Salvation, which had about 3,000 members. Over time, power shifted to pro-Obote elements in the government and the army. Obote assumed power in 1980 through a disputed election, and ruled through repressive methods, including the incarceration and killing of dissidents. In February 1981, Museveni and a small band of rebels began attacking UNLA forces, initiating the Ugandan Bush War. Shortly thereafter a new rebel coalition was organised as the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Museveni was made Vice-Chairman of the National Resistance Council, the group's political body, and Chairman of the High Command of the National Resistance Army (NRA), the Movement's armed organ. By July 1985, the NRA had been largely defeated and pushed out of its strongholds, and Museveni retired to Sweden.
On 27 July, several officers of the UNLA launched a coup which overthrew President Obote. General Tito Okello assumed power in his place. The new regime was weak and unstable, and Okello made overtures to anti-Obote rebel groups to form a coalition government and end the fighting. The coup upset many Lango soldiers, which constituted the second-largest ethnic group in the UNLA and were loyal to Obote. The NRM was highly critical of the new government and accused the UNLA of committing atrocities. The UNLF, conscious of its weakening political position, nevertheless pursued negotiations with the NRM. Museveni took advantage of the disruption caused by the coup to return to East Africa and rebuild the NRA.
Prelude
In August, the NRA launched a series of coordinated attacks that resulted in the capture of significant amounts of territory in central and western Uganda. As part of the NRA's offensive, its Mobile Brigade was ordered to attack the town of Masaka, located 128 kilometres southwest of Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Masaka had key strategic importance for several reasons; it was one of the largest towns in the country, hosted a large market for the coffee trade, supported nearby ranching communities, and was located along a road network that connected Uganda to neighbouring states in the south and to the west. NRA commanders believed that the capture of Masaka would facilitate an attack on Kampala. Masaka was garrisoned by about 2,000 to 3,000 UNLA troops belonging to the 32nd Battalion and the Masaka Mechanised Regiment who were based out of a barracks at Kasijjagirwa, two kilometres outside of the town.
Siege
On 24 September, the NRA's Mobile Brigade advanced eastward down the Masaka–Mbarara Road. Meanwhile, Lieutenant James Oketa, the UNLA's chief intelligence officer at Masaka, drove westward out of the town in his truck to conduct reconnaissance. He encountered the Mobile Brigade's 3rd Battalion at the outskirts of Masaka, east of the town of Kyabakuza in a valley surrounded by a large swamp. The NRA opened fire on his truck, and he quickly turned around and headed back into town. The NRA captured Masaka town the following day and laid siege to the barracks at Kasijjagirwa. The first assault on the barracks was defeated, as the installation was well protected by fortifications including minefields, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft cannons, and mortars.
The Masaka Mechanised Regiment launched counter-attacks against the 3rd Battalion during the following days. On 31 September, UNLA forces led by Major John Tebandeke and coordinated by Oketa attacked Salim Saleh's headquarters in Masaka. They used flares to illuminate NRA positions, forcing 3rd Battalion commander Patrick Lumumba to withdraw some of his troops. Despite Lumumba's urging, Saleh refused to abandon his headquarters. The UNLA soldiers were eventually repelled by the 3rd Battalion, and Tebandeke was killed. This marked the end of the breakout attempts, as Tebandeke's successor, Captain Olanya Ojara, opted for a passive strategy. The garrison holed up in the barracks, hoping for reinforcements. On 18 November, Lieutenant Colonel James Tibamuleka, commander of the UNLA's 30th Brigade, was killed during the siege.
Upon being informed of the situation at Masaka, the UNLA high command resolved to lift the siege. At some point in early December, it ordered the 11th Battalion, artillery units, allied FUNA militants, and helicopters to reopen the Kampala–Masaka Road. This operation failed in face of NRA resistance during the Battle of Katonga Bridge. Meanwhile, the garrison at Masaka suffered from dwindling supplies. Food, clean water, and medicine became scarce, and UNLA soldiers resorted to eating rats to survive. According to a NRA veteran, there were even incidents of cannibalism. Despite this, several died from starvation. In one instance, a soldier searching for food outside the barracks managed to retrieve a bunch of bananas, but stepped on a land mine while returning. Gravely wounded, he called for help, but the soldier that went out to retrieve him stepped on another mine, losing his leg. Both men screamed for assistance, but neither the NRA nor the UNLA were able to reach them, and they succumbed to their wounds three days later. Attempts by the UNLA's helicopters to airlift supplies to Masaka mostly failed, as the NRA drove them off with anti-aircraft guns.
In contrast to the desperate situation of the UNLA garrison, some NRA fighters regarded the siege as "enjoyable" because they had access to facilities in Masaka town that they had lacked during their insurgency in the bush. Many locals supported the rebels during the siege, and even joined the NRA. One of the factors that inspired many recruits was the large number of women soldiers and Kadogos (boy soldiers aged 10 to 14) among the besiegers of Masaka. These fighters were often smartly dressed, and sang revolutionary songs to local audiences, prompting many peasants to believe that the war "was easy".
As the conditions of the garrison worsened, the UNLA troops increasingly succumbed to indiscipline and divided into factions along ethnic lines. On 2 December, groups of UNLA troops began surrendering to the NRA. The NRA used its artillery to heavily shell the remaining government troops from 4 December. The rest of the Masaka garrison capitulated on 10 December. The NRA took between 2,000–3,000 UNLA troops prisoner and seized the stock of weapons from the armoury, while having suffered relatively light casualties.
Aftermath
Immediately after the battle, the NRA 3rd Battalion was redeployed to assist forces in combat in Bulenga. NRA commanders housed the UNLA prisoners taken at Masaka in the senior secondary school "for their own security" as, according to Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the local population "would have only been too glad to lynch every one of them." Eventually, many of the UNLA soldiers including Captain Ojara switched allegiances and joined the NRA. The NRA's capture of Masaka and eventual success at Mbarara also solidified their control of the centre and south-western sections of the country and left Kampala vulnerable to attack. To take advantage of its improving military situation, the NRA High Command decided to launch an offensive to capture the city. On 24 January 1986, the NRA advanced into the Kampala, completely securing it two days later. Many of the NRA soldiers who had defected from the UNLA garrison in Masaka participated in the battle.
Having already been the site of much destruction during a 1979 battle between Tanzanian and Ugandan forces, Masaka was left further damaged by the siege. The town did not recover from the conflicts until the 2010s.
Notes
Citations
References
Ugandan Bush War
Battles involving Uganda
Battles in 1985
1980s sieges
Attacks on barracks in Uganda
Attacks on military headquarters
Attacks on military installations in 1985
September 1985 events in Africa
October 1985 events in Africa
November 1985 events in Africa
December 1985 events in Africa
Siege
Mine warfare | Siege of Masaka | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,852 | [
"Military engineering",
"Mine warfare"
] |
62,045,554 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small%20penis%20humiliation | Small penis humiliation (SPH) is a form of verbal erotic humiliation involving the penis where a dominant person usually consensually degrades a submissive's penis. The practice may involve sexual acts or just the verbal humiliation itself; it may take place in public or in private.
Submissive men who enjoy SPH do not necessarily have small penises. They like the idea of being humiliated and having the penis treated as useless, especially involving penis size-related offenses or mocking the penis in general. Some women get sexually aroused with the power to be the ultimate judge of a man's penis and to humiliate him. For many, weakening the sense of manhood imposed by society can be erotic.
SPH is often associated with cuckoldry when the submissive man is rejected and humiliated with the argument that he cannot satisfy his partner or his penis is not large enough to pleasure anyone. Some relate SPH to feminization as well, and even compare the submissive's penis size to the size of a clitoris during humiliation, although this way of degrading the penis is not well accepted by all dominant women because female genitalia should not be a way of insulting the penis.
Some small penis humiliations are also done online. The submissive man may post pictures of his penis on the internet for the purpose of being mocked. In many cases, there is a BDSM session via webcam, where a dominatrix humiliates the submissive through the video.
See also
Small penis rule
References
BDSM terminology
Sexual acts
Human penis | Small penis humiliation | [
"Biology"
] | 323 | [
"Sexual acts",
"Behavior",
"Sexuality",
"Mating"
] |
51,572,572 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo-reflectance | Photo-reflectance is an optical technique for investigating the material and electronic properties of thin films. Photo-reflectance measures the change in reflectivity of a sample in response to the application of an amplitude modulated light beam. In general, a photo-reflectometer consists of an intensity modulated "pump" light beam used to modulate the reflectivity of the sample, a second "probe" light beam used to measure the reflectance of the sample, an optical system for directing the pump and probe beams to the sample, and for directing the reflected probe light onto a photodetector, and a signal processor to record the differential reflectance. The pump light is typically modulated at a known frequency so that a lock-in amplifier may be used to suppress unwanted noise, resulting in the ability to detect reflectance changes at the ppm level.
The utility of photo-reflectance for characterization of semiconductor samples has been recognized since the late 1960s. In particular,
conventional photo-reflectance is closely related to electroreflectance in that the sample's internal electric field is modulated by the photo-injection of electron-hole pairs. The electro-reflectance response is sharply peaked near semiconductor interband transitions, which accounts for its usefulness in semiconductor characterization. Photo-reflectance spectroscopy has been used to determine semiconductor bandstructures, internal electric fields, and other material properties such as crystallinity, composition, physical strain, and doping concentration.
Etymology
The name "photo-reflectance" or "photoreflectance" is shortened from the term "photo-modulated reflectance," which describes the use of an intensity modulated light beam to perturb the reflectance of a sample. The technique has also been referred to as "modulated photo-reflectance," "modulated optical reflectance," and "photo-modulated optical reflectance." It has been known at least since 1967.
Basic principles
Photo-reflectance is a particularly convenient type of modulation spectroscopy, as it may be performed at room temperature and only requires the sample have a reflecting surface. It is an established tool for non-contact determination of material and electronic properties of semiconductor films. In photo-reflectance, a pump laser beam is used to modulate the free charge density in a semiconductor sample (via photo-injection), thereby modulating one or more physical quantities (e.g. the internal electric field). The measured signal ΔR is the change in amplitude of the reflected probe light as the intensity modulated pump radiation interacts with the sample. The normalized signal is ΔR/R, i.e. the pump-induced change in reflectance (AC) divided by the baseline reflectance (DC). The conventional photo-reflectance apparatus uses a spectroscopic source for the probe beam, such that the signal may be recorded as a function of the probe light's wavelength. Generally, the signal may be written:
where ΔR/R is the normalized change in reflectance, α (≡1/R×∂R/∂ε1) and β (≡1/R×∂R/∂ε2) are the "Seraphin coefficients" which contain filmstack information, and Δε1 and Δε2 are the pump induced changes in the complex dielectric function. However, in conventional photo-reflectance analysis, it is not necessary to independently determine the refractive and absorptive components (the first and second terms in ΔR/R, respectively) of the signal. Rather, a fit to the overall signal is performed using the third derivative functional form given by Aspnes. This fit procedure yields the interband transition energies, amplitudes, and widths. However, because the signal depends on the uniformity of the perturbation, the extraction of such parameters must be treated with care.
Experimental setup
The conventional photo-reflectance experimental setup uses a xenon or tungsten based lamp source passed through a monochromator to form the incident probe beam. The pump beam may be formed by the output of a continuous wave (CW) laser (e.g. a He-Ne or He-Cd laser) passed through a chopper wheel, or may be formed by the output of a directly modulated semiconductor diode laser. The pump beam is focused to a spot on the sample where it interacts with the sample. The probe beam is co-focused onto the sample where it is reflected. The reflected probe beam is collected and passed through an optical filter to eliminate any unwanted pump light and/or photoluminescence signal. Thereafter the probe beam is directed onto a photodetector (e.g. a Si or InGaAs photodiode), which converts the probe intensity to an electrical signal. The electrical signal is processed to eliminate unwanted noise, typically using a lock-in circuit referenced to the modulation frequency. The photo-reflectance signal is then recorded as a function of probe beam wavelength using a computer or the like.
Experimental considerations
In photo-reflectance, the sample's internal electric field is modulated by the photo-injection of electron-hole pairs (thus reducing the latent field). In order to achieve photo-injection, the energy of photons in the pump beam must exceed the band gap of material within the sample. Furthermore, semiconductors with little or no electric field will exhibit little or no electro-reflectance response. While this situation is not common, this point makes clear the importance of maintaining the probe intensity at a minimum, since any photo-injection of electron-hole pairs from the probe will necessarily offset the sample baseline condition by reducing the latent field. (Likewise, any CW component of the pump is undesirable.) Conversely, if the probe intensity is too low, detection may not be possible with conventional photodiodes. A further consideration is that phase-locked detection is a practical necessity due to the small size of the experimental signals (~ppm) and the unique ability of phase-locked detection methods to reject noise outside a narrow bandwidth centered on the modulation frequency.
Applications
Photo-reflectance is a highly sensitive measurement technique and provides unmatched capability for characterizing the material and electronic properties of thin films. Photo-reflectance has been particularly important in basic research on semiconductors due to its ability to precisely determine semiconductor bandstructures (even at room temperature). As an optical technique, photo-reflectance would appear suited to industrial applications because it is non-contact, and because it has good spatial resolution. However, the need for spectroscopic information limits measurement speed, and consequently the adoption of spectroscopic photo-reflectance in industrial applications such as process control of microelectronics manufacturing.
Nevertheless, where spectroscopic information is not required, photo-reflectance techniques have been implemented in semiconductor manufacturing process control. For example, in the late 1980s, Therma-Wave, Inc. introduced the "Therma-Probe" photo-modulated reflectance system to the market for semiconductor process control equipment. The original Therma-Probe focused an intensity modulated pump laser beam onto a spot on a silicon sample, modulating the sample reflectance. The reflectance changes were detected by a coincident laser probe beam of 633 nanometer wavelength. At this wavelength no electro-reflectance signal is present, since it is far removed from any interband transitions in silicon. Rather, the mechanisms responsible for the Therma-Probe signal are thermo-modulation and the Drude free carrier effect. The Therma-Probe was used primarily for monitoring of the ion implantation process in silicon semiconductor manufacturing. Measurement systems such as the Therma-Probe are particularly desirable in process control of microelectronics manufacturing because they provide the ability to quickly verify the correct execution of process steps, without contacting the wafer or removing the wafer from the clean room. Generally a number of measurements will be made on certain areas of the wafer and compared with expected values. As long as the measured values are within a certain range, the wafers are passed for continued processing. (This is known as statistical process control.) Other photo-modulated reflectance systems marketed for process control of implant processes are the "TWIN" metrology system marketed by PVA TePla AG, and the "PMR-3000" marketed by Semilab Co. Ltd (originally Boxer-Cross, Inc.).
However, by the mid 2000s, new manufacturing processes were requiring new process control capabilities, for example the need for control of new "diffusion-less" annealing processes and advanced strained silicon processes. To address these new process control requirements, in 2007, Xitronix Corporation introduced a photo-reflectance system to the semiconductor process control market. Like the Therma-Probe, the Xitronix metrology system utilized a fixed wavelength probe beam generated by a laser. However, the probe beam of the Xitronix system had a wavelength of approximately 375 nanometers, near the first major interband transition in silicon. At this wavelength the electro-modulation signal is dominant, which enabled the Xitronix system to precisely measure active doping concentration in diffusion-less annealing processes. This probe beam wavelength also provided excellent sensitivity to strain in strained silicon processes. More recently, the use of laser photo-reflectance technology for precision measurement of carrier diffusion lengths, recombination lifetimes, and mobilities has been demonstrated.
Spectroscopic vs. laser photo-reflectance
Spectroscopic photo-reflectance employs a broad band probe light source, which may cover wavelengths from the infrared to the ultraviolet. By fitting spectroscopic photo-reflectance data with the conventional third derivative functional form, a comprehensive set of interband transition energies, amplitudes, and widths may be obtained, providing an essentially complete characterization of the electronic properties of the sample of interest. However, owing to the need to keep the probe light intensity to a minimum and to the practical necessity of phase-locked detection, spectroscopic photo-reflectance measurements must be made sequentially, i.e. probe one wavelength at a time.
This constraint limits the speed of spectroscopic photo-reflectance measurements, and coupled with the need for a careful fit procedure, renders spectroscopic photo-reflectance more suitable for analytical applications. Conversely, laser photo-reflectance employs a monochromatic light source, and hence is well suited for industrial applications. Moreover, in commonly encountered situations, the coherent wavefront of laser probe beam may be used to isolate the refractive component of the photo-reflectance signal, greatly simplifying the data analysis.
Advantages
Photo-reflectance measures differential reflectivities as small as one part per million, whereas ellipsometry and/or standard reflectance measure differential reflectivities on the order of one part per thousand.
Photo-reflectance spectra exhibits sharp derivative-like structures localized at interband transition energies, whereas ellipsometry and/or standard reflectance exhibit broad slowly varying spectra.
The photo-reflectance response at a particular wavelength typically arises from specific interband transitions confined to specific materials within the sample.
By using phase-locked detection methods, ambient (nonsynchronous) light does not influence photo-reflectance measurements.
By using a laser probe beam, the refractive part of the photo-reflectance response can be isolated without the necessity to take spectroscopic data or perform a fit procedure.
Laser photo-reflectance has been proven in statistical process control for microelectronics manufacturing for over three decades.
See also
Spectroscopy
Ellipsometry
Photoluminescence
Raman spectroscopy
Surface photovoltage
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
References
Further reading
Semiconductors and Semimetals, Vol. 9 ("Modulation Techniques"), edited by R.K Willardson and A.C. Beer, (Academic Press, New York, 1972).
F.H. Pollack, "Modulation Spectroscopy of Semiconductors and Semiconductor Microstructures," in Handbook on Semiconductors, Vol. 2 ("Optical Properties of Semiconductors"), edited by M. Balkanski, pp. 527–635 (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1994).
A.M. Mansanares, "Optical Detection of Photothermal Phenomena in Operating Electronic Devices: Temperature and Defect Imaging," in Progress in Photothermal and Photoacoustic Science and Technology, Vol. 4 ("Semiconductors and Electronic Materials"), edited by A. Mandelis and P. Hess, pp. 73–108 (SPIE Press, Bellingham, WA, 2000).
Optical metrology
Spectroscopy
Semiconductor analysis
Condensed matter physics | Photo-reflectance | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Engineering"
] | 2,593 | [
"Molecular physics",
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Instrumental analysis",
"Phases of matter",
"Materials science",
"Condensed matter physics",
"Spectroscopy",
"Matter"
] |
51,574,459 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time%20Warp%20Edit%20Distance | In the data analysis of time series, Time Warp Edit Distance (TWED) is a measure of similarity (or dissimilarity) between pairs of discrete time series, controlling the relative distortion of the time units of the two series using the physical notion of elasticity. In comparison to other distance measures, (e.g. DTW (dynamic time warping) or LCS (longest common subsequence problem)), TWED is a metric. Its computational time complexity is , but can be drastically reduced in some specific situations by using a corridor to reduce the search space. Its memory space complexity can be reduced to . It was first proposed in 2009 by P.-F. Marteau.
Definition
whereas
Whereas the recursion
is initialized as:
with
Implementations
An implementation of the TWED algorithm in C with a Python wrapper is available at
TWED is also implemented into the Time Series Subsequence Search Python package (TSSEARCH for short) available at .
An R implementation of TWED has been integrated into the TraMineR, a R package for mining, describing and visualizing sequences of states or events, and more generally discrete sequence data.
Additionally, cuTWED is a CUDA- accelerated implementation of TWED which uses an improved algorithm due to G. Wright (2020). This method is linear in memory and massively parallelized. cuTWED is written in CUDA C/C++, comes with Python bindings, and also includes Python bindings for Marteau's reference C implementation.
Python
import numpy as np
def dlp(A, B, p=2):
cost = np.sum(np.power(np.abs(A - B), p))
return np.power(cost, 1 / p)
def twed(A, timeSA, B, timeSB, nu, _lambda):
"""Compute Time Warp Edit Distance (TWED) for given time series A and B."""
# [distance, DP] = TWED(A, timeSA, B, timeSB, lambda, nu)
#
# A := Time series A (e.g. [ 10 2 30 4])
# timeSA := Time stamp of time series A (e.g. 1:4)
# B := Time series B
# timeSB := Time stamp of time series B
# lambda := Penalty for deletion operation
# nu := Elasticity parameter - nu >=0 needed for distance measure
# Reference :
# Marteau, P.; F. (2009). "Time Warp Edit Distance with Stiffness Adjustment for Time Series Matching".
# IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. 31 (2): 306–318. arXiv:cs/0703033
# http://people.irisa.fr/Pierre-Francois.Marteau/
# Check if input arguments
if len(A) != len(timeSA):
print("The length of A is not equal length of timeSA")
return None, None
if len(B) != len(timeSB):
print("The length of B is not equal length of timeSB")
return None, None
if nu < 0:
print("nu is negative")
return None, None
# Add padding
A = np.array([0] + list(A))
timeSA = np.array([0] + list(timeSA))
B = np.array([0] + list(B))
timeSB = np.array([0] + list(timeSB))
n = len(A)
m = len(B)
# Dynamical programming
DP = np.zeros((n, m))
# Initialize DP matrix and set first row and column to infinity
DP[0, :] = np.inf
DP[:, 0] = np.inf
DP[0, 0] = 0
# Compute minimal cost
for i in range(1, n):
for j in range(1, m):
# Calculate and save cost of various operations
C = np.ones((3, 1)) * np.inf
# Deletion in A
C[0] = (
DP[i - 1, j]
+ dlp(A[i - 1], A[i])
+ nu * (timeSA[i] - timeSA[i - 1])
+ _lambda
)
# Deletion in B
C[1] = (
DP[i, j - 1]
+ dlp(B[j - 1], B[j])
+ nu * (timeSB[j] - timeSB[j - 1])
+ _lambda
)
# Keep data points in both time series
C[2] = (
DP[i - 1, j - 1]
+ dlp(A[i], B[j])
+ dlp(A[i - 1], B[j - 1])
+ nu * (abs(timeSA[i] - timeSB[j]) + abs(timeSA[i - 1] - timeSB[j - 1]))
)
# Choose the operation with the minimal cost and update DP matrix
DP[i, j] = np.min(C)
distance = DP[n - 1, m - 1]
return distance, DP
Backtracking, to find the most cost-efficient path:
def backtracking(DP):
"""Compute the most cost-efficient path."""
# [ best_path ] = BACKTRACKING (DP)
# DP := DP matrix of the TWED function
x = np.shape(DP)
i = x[0] - 1
j = x[1] - 1
# The indices of the paths are save in opposite direction
# path = np.ones((i + j, 2 )) * np.inf;
best_path = []
steps = 0
while i != 0 or j != 0:
best_path.append((i - 1, j - 1))
C = np.ones((3, 1)) * np.inf
# Keep data points in both time series
C[0] = DP[i - 1, j - 1]
# Deletion in A
C[1] = DP[i - 1, j]
# Deletion in B
C[2] = DP[i, j - 1]
# Find the index for the lowest cost
idx = np.argmin(C)
if idx == 0:
# Keep data points in both time series
i = i - 1
j = j - 1
elif idx == 1:
# Deletion in A
i = i - 1
j = j
else:
# Deletion in B
i = i
j = j - 1
steps = steps + 1
best_path.append((i - 1, j - 1))
best_path.reverse()
return best_path[1:]
MATLAB
function [distance, DP] = twed(A, timeSA, B, timeSB, lambda, nu)
% [distance, DP] = TWED( A, timeSA, B, timeSB, lambda, nu )
% Compute Time Warp Edit Distance (TWED) for given time series A and B
%
% A := Time series A (e.g. [ 10 2 30 4])
% timeSA := Time stamp of time series A (e.g. 1:4)
% B := Time series B
% timeSB := Time stamp of time series B
% lambda := Penalty for deletion operation
% nu := Elasticity parameter - nu >=0 needed for distance measure
%
% Code by: P.-F. Marteau - http://people.irisa.fr/Pierre-Francois.Marteau/
% Check if input arguments
if length(A) ~= length(timeSA)
warning('The length of A is not equal length of timeSA')
return
end
if length(B) ~= length(timeSB)
warning('The length of B is not equal length of timeSB')
return
end
if nu < 0
warning('nu is negative')
return
end
% Add padding
A = [0 A];
timeSA = [0 timeSA];
B = [0 B];
timeSB = [0 timeSB];
% Dynamical programming
DP = zeros(length(A), length(B));
% Initialize DP Matrix and set first row and column to infinity
DP(1, :) = inf;
DP(:, 1) = inf;
DP(1, 1) = 0;
n = length(timeSA);
m = length(timeSB);
% Compute minimal cost
for i = 2:n
for j = 2:m
cost = Dlp(A(i), B(j));
% Calculate and save cost of various operations
C = ones(3, 1) * inf;
% Deletion in A
C(1) = DP(i - 1, j) + Dlp(A(i - 1), A(i)) + nu * (timeSA(i) - timeSA(i - 1)) + lambda;
% Deletion in B
C(2) = DP(i, j - 1) + Dlp(B(j - 1), B(j)) + nu * (timeSB(j) - timeSB(j - 1)) + lambda;
% Keep data points in both time series
C(3) = DP(i - 1, j - 1) + Dlp(A(i), B(j)) + Dlp(A(i - 1), B(j - 1)) + ...
nu * (abs(timeSA(i) - timeSB(j)) + abs(timeSA(i - 1) - timeSB(j - 1)));
% Choose the operation with the minimal cost and update DP Matrix
DP(i, j) = min(C);
end
end
distance = DP(n, m);
% Function to calculate euclidean distance
function [cost] = Dlp(A, B)
cost = sqrt(sum((A - B) .^ 2, 2));
end
end
Backtracking, to find the most cost-efficient path:
function [path] = backtracking(DP)
% [ path ] = BACKTRACKING ( DP )
% Compute the most cost-efficient path
% DP := DP matrix of the TWED function
x = size(DP);
i = x(1);
j = x(2);
% The indices of the paths are save in opposite direction
path = ones(i + j, 2) * Inf;
steps = 1;
while (i ~= 1 || j ~= 1)
path(steps, :) = [i; j];
C = ones(3, 1) * inf;
% Keep data points in both time series
C(1) = DP(i - 1, j - 1);
% Deletion in A
C(2) = DP(i - 1, j);
% Deletion in B
C(3) = DP(i, j - 1);
% Find the index for the lowest cost
[~, idx] = min(C);
switch idx
case 1
% Keep data points in both time series
i = i - 1;
j = j - 1;
case 2
% Deletion in A
i = i - 1;
j = j;
case 3
% Deletion in B
i = i;
j = j - 1;
end
steps = steps + 1;
end
path(steps, :) = [i j];
% Path was calculated in reversed direction.
path = path(1:steps, :);
path = path(end: - 1:1, :);
end
References
Time series
Algorithms | Time Warp Edit Distance | [
"Mathematics"
] | 2,574 | [
"Algorithms",
"Mathematical logic",
"Applied mathematics"
] |
51,574,978 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20202 | NGC 202 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on November 17, 1876 by Édouard Stephan.
See also
Lenticular galaxy
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
Pisces (constellation)
References
External links
SEDS
0202
Lenticular galaxies
2394
Pisces (constellation)
Astronomical objects discovered in 1876
Discoveries by Édouard Stephan | NGC 202 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 77 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
51,575,041 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20203 | NGC 203 is a lenticular galaxy located approximately 233 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on December 19, 1873 by Ralph Copeland.
The galaxy is also listed as NGC 211 in the New General Catalogue.
See also
Lenticular galaxy
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
Pisces (constellation)
References
External links
SEDS
0203
2393
Lenticular galaxies
Pisces (constellation)
Astronomical objects discovered in 1873
Discoveries by Ralph Copeland | NGC 203 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 101 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
51,575,059 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20204 | NGC 204 is an unbarred lenticular galaxy located approximately 241 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered on December 21, 1786 by William Herschel.
See also
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
References
External links
SEDS
0204
Unbarred lenticular galaxies
Pisces (constellation)
2397
Astronomical objects discovered in 1786
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 204 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 86 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
51,575,088 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20207 | NGC 207 is a spiral galaxy roughly 178 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered on December 7, 1857, by R. J. Mitchell.
See also
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
References
External links
SEDS
0207
Cetus
2395
Astronomical objects discovered in 1857
Galaxies discovered in 1857 | NGC 207 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 72 | [
"Cetus",
"Constellations"
] |
51,575,621 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonotephrite | Phonotephrite or phono-tephrite is a strongly alkaline volcanic rock with a composition between phonolite and tephrite. This unusual igneous rock contains 7 to 12% alkali content and 45 to 53% silica content (see TAS diagram). It can be described as a mafic phonolite or a potassic tephrite. Phonotephrite lava flows and volcanic cones have been identified in Antarctica (e.g. Mount Erebus), Europe (e.g. Mount Vesuvius), North America (e.g. Satah Mountain volcanic field) and Africa (e.g. Jbel Saghro).
See also
Tephriphonolite
References
Mafic rocks
Volcanic rocks | Phonotephrite | [
"Chemistry"
] | 163 | [
"Mafic rocks",
"Igneous rocks by composition"
] |
51,576,527 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design%20for%20inspection | Design for inspection (DFI) is an engineering principle that proposes that inspection methods and measurement instruments used to certify manufacturing conformity, should be considered early in the design of products. Production processes should be designed in such a way that features of the product are easy to inspect with readily available measurement instruments, and so that measurement uncertainty is considered in the tolerance that are applied. The concept can be applied in almost all engineering disciplines. DFI describes the process of designing or engineering a product in order to facilitate the measurement in order to reduce the overall costs of manufacturing and delivering products that satisfy customers.
The role of inspection in the manufacturing process is to ensure that the manufacturing process is producing components that meet the specification requirements. Inspection does not assure the quality of the product, only a robust and repeatable manufacturing process can achieve this. Therefore, inspection is often considered as an overhead although an extremely important one. Similar to design for manufacture (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) (which seek to avoid designs which are difficult to make), the concept of DFI considers measurement capabilities at an early stage in the product development life cycle and uses knowledge of the fundamental principles of metrology to achieve cost reduction. If the inspection method and instruments are considered and selected at the design stage, the likelihood that a tolerance feature cannot be inspected or requires a specialised instrument is substantially reduced. High precision features require specialised manufacturing and metrology, these can have limited availability in the supply chain and therefore often have increased cost. The concept of DFI should complement and work in collaboration with DFM and DFA. There are three key areas when considering DFI, datum selection, tolerances and accessibility, plus general metrology considerations. Getting the most from inspection techniques will help improve quality. It is still difficult for systems designers to build machines that allow finished products to be inspected easily. To do so requires an understanding of the product being manufactured and how inspection tasks can improve the quality control process.
Inspection can represent a significant percentage of an existing product's manufacturing cost. DFI may naturally be called for in redesign of a product to reduce that cost component when it is high. However, DFI will not always reduce inspection costs: it can also lead to increased rate of inspection, because more convenient or higher quality measurement may justify increasing measurements, say from a sampling rate satisfactory to support a basic level of tolerance to a higher rate (e.g. to 100%). Or DFI may make it economical for 100% inspections to measure more features or to make repeated measures of the same feature at different points within the manufacturing process. This would be justified if it would reduce internal failure costs (such as costs of rework or scrap) or external failure costs (such as customer returns) within the cost of quality framework.
See also
Design for assembly
Design for manufacturability
Design for X
References
Quality control
Engineering
https://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=224661 is out of date | Design for inspection | [
"Engineering"
] | 614 | [
"Design",
"Design for X"
] |
51,577,398 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocladia%20arborata | Blastocladia arborata is a species of fungus.
External links
Blastocladiomycota
Fungi described in 1988
Fungus species | Blastocladia arborata | [
"Biology"
] | 29 | [
"Fungus stubs",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,578,025 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical%20data%20studies | Critical data studies is the exploration of and engagement with social, cultural, and ethical challenges that arise when working with big data. It is through various unique perspectives and taking a critical approach that this form of study can be practiced. As its name implies, critical data studies draws heavily on the influence of critical theory, which has a strong focus on addressing the organization of power structures. This idea is then applied to the study of data.
Interest in this unique field of critical data studies began in 2011 with scholars danah boyd and Kate Crawford posing various questions for the critical study of big data and recognizing its potential threatening impacts on society and culture. It was not until 2014, and more exploration and conversations, that critical data studies was officially coined by scholars Craig Dalton and Jim Thatcher. They put a large emphasis on understanding the context of big data in order to approach it more critically. Researchers such as Daniel Ribes, Robert Soden, Seyram Avle, Sarah E. Fox, and Phoebe Sengers focus on understanding data as a historical artifact and taking an interdisciplinary approach towards critical data studies. Other key scholars in this discipline include Rob Kitchin and Tracey P. Lauriault who focus on reevaluating data through different spheres.
Various critical frameworks that can be applied to analyze big data include Feminist, Anti-Racist, Queer, Indigenous, Decolonial, Anti-Ableist, as well as Symbolic and Synthetic data science. These frameworks help to make sense of the data by addressing power, biases, privacy, consent, and underrepresentation or misrepresentation concerns that exist in data as well as how to approach and analyze this data with a more equitable mindset.
Motivation
In their article in which they coin the term 'critical data studies,' Dalton and Thatcher also provide several justifications as to why data studies is a discipline worthy of a critical approach. First, 'big data' is an important aspect of twenty-first century society, and the analysis of 'big data' allows for a deeper understanding of what is happening and for what reasons. Big data is important to critical data studies because it is the type of data used within this field. Big data does not necessarily refer to a large data set, it can have a data set with millions of rows, but also a data set that just has a wide variety and expansive scope of data with a smaller type of dataset. As well as having whole populations in the data set and not just sample sizes. Furthermore, big data as a technological tool and the information that it yields are not neutral, according to Dalton and Thatcher, making it worthy of critical analysis in order to identify and address its biases. Building off this idea, another justification for a critical approach is that the relationship between big data and society is an important one, and therefore worthy of study.
Ribes et. al. argue there is a need for an interdisciplinary understanding of data as a historical artifact as a motivating aspect of critical data studies.The overarching consensus in the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) field, is that people should speak for the data, and not let the data speak for itself.
The sources of big data and it’s relationship to varied metadata can be a complicated one, which leads to data disorder and a need for an ethical analysis. Additionally, Iliadis and Russo (2016) have called for studying data assemblages. This is to say, data has innate technological, political, social, and economic histories that should be taken into consideration. Kitchin argues data is almost never raw, and it is almost always cooked , meaning that it is always spoken for by the data scientists utilizing it. Thus, Big Data should be open to a variety of perspectives, especially those of cultural and philosophical nature. Further, data contains hidden histories, ideologies, and philosophies.
Big data technology can cause significant changes in society's structure and in the everyday lives of people, and, being a product of society, big data technology is worthy of sociological investigation. Moreover, data sets are almost never completely without any influence. Rather, data are shaped by the vision or goals of those gathering the data, and during the data collection process, certain things are quantified, stored, sorted and even discarded by the research team. A critical approach is thus necessary in order to understand and reveal the intent behind the information being presented.One of these critical approaches has been through feminist data studies. This method applies feminist principles to critical studies and data collecting and analysis. The goal of this is to address the power imbalance in data science and society. According to Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, a power analysis can be performed by examining power, challenging power, evaluating emotion and embodiment, rethinking binaries and hierarchies, embracing pluralism, considering context, and making labor visible. Feminist data studies is part of the movement towards making data to benefit everyone and not to increase existing inequalities. Moreover, data alone cannot speak for themselves; in order to possess any concrete meaning, data must be accompanied by theoretical insight or alternative quantitative or qualitative research measures. Based on different social topics such as anti-racist data studies, critical data studies give a focus on those social issues concerning data. Specifically in anti-racist data studies they use a classification approach to get representation for those within that community. Desmond Upton Patton and others used their own classification system in the communities of Chicago to help target and reduce violence with young teens on twitter. They had students in those communities help them to decipher the terminology and emojis of these teens to target the language used in tweets that followed with violence outside of the computer screens. This is just one real world example of critical data studies and its application. Dalton and Thatcher argue that if one were to only think of data in terms of its exploitative power, there is no possibility of using data for revolutionary, liberatory purposes. Finally, Dalton and Thatcher propose that a critical approach in studying data allows for 'big data' to be combined with older, 'small data,' and thus create more thorough research, opening up more opportunities, questions and topics to be explored.
Issues and concerns for critical data scholars
Data plays a pivotal role in the emerging knowledge economy, driving productivity, competitiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and capital accumulation. The ethical, political, and economic dimensions of data dynamically evolve across space and time, influenced by changing regimes, technologies, and priorities. Technically, the focus lies on handling, storing, and analyzing vast data sets, utilizing machine learning-based data mining and analytics. This technological advancement raises concerns about data quality, encompassing validity, reliability, authenticity, usability, and lineage.
The use of data in modern society brings about new ways of understanding and measuring the world, but also brings with it certain concerns or issues. Data scholars attempt to bring some of these issues to light in their quest to be critical of data.
Technical and organizational issues could include the scope of the data set, meaning there is too little or too much data to work with, leading to inaccurate results. It becomes crucial for critical data scholars to carefully consider the adequacy of data volume for their analyses.
The quality of the data itself is another facet of concern. The data itself could be of poor quality, such as an incomplete or messy data set with missing or inaccurate data values. This would lead researchers to have to make edits and assumptions about the data itself. Addressing these issues often requires scholars to make edits and assumptions about the data to ensure its reliability and relevance.
Data scientists could have improper access to the actual data set, limiting their abilities to analyze it. Linnet Taylor explains how gaps in data can arise when people of varying levels of power have certain rights to their data sources. These people in power can control what data is collected, how it is displayed and how it is analyzed.
The capabilities of the research team also play a crucial role in the quality of data analytics. The research team may have inadequate skills or organizational capabilities which leads to the actual analytics performed on the dataset to be biased. This can also lead to ecological fallacies, meaning an assumption is made about an individual based on data or results from a larger group of people.
These technical and organizational challenges highlight the complexity of working with data and emphasize the need for scholars to navigate a landscape where issues related to data scope, quality, access, and team capabilities are intricately interwoven.
Some of the normative and ethical concerns addressed by Kitchin include surveillance through one's data, (dataveillance) the privacy of one's data is referenced in this article and one of the main key points that the National Cybersecurity Alliance touches on is how data is rapidly becoming a necessity as companies recognize it as an asset and realize the potential value in collecting, using, and sharing it (National Cyber Security Alliance]), the ownership of one's data in which Scassa writes on how debates over ownership rights in data have been heating up. In Europe, policymakers have raised the possibility of creating sui generis ownership rights in data (Data Ownership), the security of one's data in which Data breaches pose a threat to both individuals and organizations. Learn more about data security breaches and what cybersecurity professionals do to prevent them (Data Security breach), anticipatory or corporate governance in which Corporate data and information are used interchangeably, but they are not the same terms. There are differences between these, and their purpose also differs. Corporate data is a raw form of information without proper meaning or usefulness unless it is processed and transformed into meaningful forms (Corporate Data and Information), and profiling individuals by their data. [5] This is heavily emphasized in data colonialism (Data colonialism), where data sovereignty is encouraged for individuals that are being harmed, because it can be a powerful tool for whom that data represents. A common theme across these approaches to data sovereignty is when and how to collect, protect, and share data with only those who have a legitimate or appropriate need to access it. All of these concerns must be taken into account by scholars of data in their objective to be critical.“The labels that we attach to the data are always going to be cruder and less representative of what they describe than what we would like them to be. Treating candidates under a single label, whether it's a gender label, whether it's a gender label, whether it's an age group, whether it's consumers of a particular product, or whether it’s people suffering from a particular disease, can cause people to be treated as interchangeable and fungible data points. Every one of those individuals with that label is unique and has the right to be respected as a person" (Vallor: Data Ethics). All of these concerns must be taken into account by scholars of data in their objective to be critical.
Following in the tradition of critical urban studies, other scholars have raised similar concerns around data and digital information technologies in the urban context. For example, Joe Shaw and Mark Graham have examined these in light of Henri Lefebvre's 'right to the city'.
Practical applications of critical data studies
The most practical and concerning applications of critical data studies is the cross between ethics and privacy. Tendler, Hong,Kane, Kopaczynski, Terry, and Emanuel explain that in an age where private institutions use customer data to market, perform research on customer wants and needs, and more, it is vital to protect the data collected. When looking into the medical studies field one small step in protecting participants is informed consent.
There are many algorithmic biases and discrimination in data. Many emphasize the importance of this in the healthcare field because of the gravity of data driven decision outcomes on patient care and how the data is used and why this data is collected. Institutions and companies can ensure fairness and fight systemic racism by using critical data studies to highlight algorithmic bias in data driven decision making. Nong explains how a very popular example of this is insurance algorithms and access to healthcare. Insurance companies use algorithms to allocate care resources across clients. The algorithms used demonstrated “a clear racial bias against Black patients” which caused estimated “health expenditures [to be] based on historical data structured by systemic racism and perpetuating that bias in access to care management”
In many trained machine learning and artificial models, there is no standard model reporting procedure to properly document the performance characteristics. When these models are applied to real life scenarios the consequences have major effects in the real world, most notably within the context of healthcare, education and law enforcement. Timnit Gebru explains how the lack of sufficient documentation for these models makes it challenging to users to assess their suitability for specific contexts, this is where the use of model cards comes into play. Model cards can provide short records to accompany machine learning models in order to provide information about the models characteristics, intended uses, potential biases, and measures of performance. The use of model cards aims to provide important information to its users about the capabilities and limitations of machine learning systems and ways to promote fair and inclusive outcomes with the use of machine learning technology.
Theoretical frameworks of critical data studies
Data feminism framework promotes thinking about data and ethics guided by ideas of intersectional feminism. Data feminism emphasizes practices where data science reinforces power inequalities in the world and how users can use data to challenge existing power and commit to creating balanced data. According to D'ignazio and Klein, the intersectionality of data feminism acknowledges that data must account for intersecting factors like identity, race, class, etc. to provide a complete and accurate representation of individuals' experiences. This framework also highlights the importance of various ethical considerations by advocating for informed consent, privacy, and the responsibility data collectors have to individuals data is being collected from.
Dataveillance is the monitoring of people on their online data. Unlike surveillance, dataveillance goes far beyond simply monitoring people for specific reasons. Dataveillance infiltrates people's lives with constant tracking for blanket and generalized purposes. According to Raley it has become the preferred way of monitoring people through various online presence. This framework focuses on ways to approach and understand how data is collected, processed, and used emphasizing ethical perspectives and protecting individuals information. Datafication focuses on understanding the process associated with the emergence and use of big data. According to Jose and Dijck, it highlights the transformation of social actions into digital data allowing real time tracking and predictive analysis. Datafication emphasizes the interest driven process of data collection since social activities change while the transformation into data does not. It also examines how societal changes take effect as digital data becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives. Datafication stresses the complicated relationship between data and society and goes hand in hand with dataveillance.
Algorithmic biases framework refers to the systematic and unjust biases against certain groups or outcomes in the algorithmic decision making process. Häußler says that users focus on how algorithms can produce discriminatory outcomes specifically when it comes to race, gender, age, and other characteristics, and can reinforce ideas of social inequities and unjust practices. Generally there are key components within the framework bias identification, data quality, impact assessment, fairness and equity, transparency, remediation, and implications.
References
General
Sources
Dalton, Craig, and Jim Thatcher. "What does a critical data studies look like, and why do we care? Seven points for a critical approach to ‘big data’." Society and Space open site (2014). Retrieved October 23, 2016.
Elkins, James R. "The Critical Thinking Movement: Alternating Currents in One Teacher's Thinking". myweb.wvnet.edu(1999). Retrieved 29 November 2016.
Kitchin, Rob. The data revolution: Big data, open data, data infrastructures and their consequences. Sage, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
Kitchin, Rob, and Tracey P. Lauriault. "Towards critical data studies: Charting and unpacking data assemblages and their work." (2014). Retrieved October 23, 2016.
D’Ignazio, C., & F. Klein, L. (2020). Seven intersectional feminist principles for equitable and actionable COVID-19 data. Sage, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
Kitchin, Rob,Critical data studies: an A to Z guide to concepts and methods, Wiley, 2024
Data management
Critical theory
Information science
Media studies | Critical data studies | [
"Technology"
] | 3,393 | [
"Data management",
"Data"
] |
51,579,161 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida%20sharkiensis | Candida sharkiensis is a yeast species first found in the Florida Everglades.
References
Further reading
sharkiensis
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2011
Fungus species | Candida sharkiensis | [
"Biology"
] | 32 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,579,162 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida%20rhizophoriensis | Candida rhizophoriensis is a yeast species first found in the Florida Everglades.
References
Further reading
rhizophoriensis
Yeasts
Fungus species | Candida rhizophoriensis | [
"Biology"
] | 36 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,579,163 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakaguchia%20cladiensis | Sakaguchia cladiensis is a yeast species first found in the Florida Everglades.
References
Further reading
Pucciniomycotina
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2011
Fungus species | Sakaguchia cladiensis | [
"Biology"
] | 38 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,579,164 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodotorula%20evergladiensis | Rhodotorula evergladiensis is a yeast species first found in the Florida Everglades.
References
Further reading
Sporidiobolales
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2011
Fungus species | Rhodotorula evergladiensis | [
"Biology"
] | 40 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,581,752 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward%20double | A Ward double is one of 88 binary stars recognized by the Washington Double Star Catalog (as NZO objects) that were identified by Joseph Ward and his assistant Thomas Allison. Ward and Allison identified over 200 double stars during a survey of the southern sky at Ward Observatory over six years beginning in 1904.
References
Binary stars | Ward double | [
"Astronomy"
] | 64 | [
"Stellar astronomy stubs",
"Astronomy stubs"
] |
51,582,570 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social%20selection | Social selection is a term used with varying meanings in biology.
Joan Roughgarden proposed a hypothesis called social selection as an alternative to sexual selection. Social selection is argued to be a mode of natural selection based on reproductive transactions and a two-tiered approach to evolution and the development of social behavior. Reproductive transactions refer to a situation where one organism offers assistance to another in exchange for access to reproductive opportunity. The two tiers of the theory are behavioral and population genetic. The genetic aspect states that anisogamy arose to maximize contact rate between gametes. The behavioral aspect is concerned with cooperative game theory and the formation of social groups to maximize the production of offspring. In her critique against the neo-Darwinian defense of sexual selection, Roughgarden outlines exceptions to many of the assumptions that come with sexual selection. These exceptions include sexually monomorphic species, species which reverse standard sex roles, species with template multiplicity, species with transgender presentation, frequencies of homosexual mating, and the lack of correlation between sexually selected traits and deleterious mutation.
An article published by Roughgarden's lab on her ideas received criticism in the journal Science. Forty scientists produced ten critical letters. The critics stated that the article was misleading, that it contained misunderstandings and misrepresentations, that sexual selection accounted for all the data presented and subsumed Roughgarden's theoretical analysis, and that sexual selection explained data that her theory could not.
Other researchers, such as biologist Mary Jane West-Eberhard and evolutionary medicine researcher Randolph M. Nesse, instead view sexual selection as a subcategory of social selection, with Nesse and anthropologist Christopher Boehm arguing further that altruism in humans held fitness advantages that enabled evolutionarily extraordinary cooperativeness and the human capability of creating culture, as well as desertion, abandonment, banishment, and capital punishment by band societies against bullies, thieves, free-riders, and psychopaths.
Genetic principles
Portfolio hypothesis
Short for the genetic-portfolio balancing hypothesis, this idea, proposed by Roughgarden, is used as an alternative to the Red Queen and Mueller's ratchet hypotheses to explain the existence of sexual reproduction within the framework of social selection. In a population with two species which fit the same ecological niche, live in the same local environment, have the same degree of genetic diversity, but have different modes of reproduction, sexual and asexual, the sexual species will eventually dominate the local environment. This is due to asexual populations losing diversity for short-term adaptations to the environment.
Roughgarden proposes a population of dandelions which fit the above description. The parental generation of a sexually reproducing species and asexually reproducing species contains equal ratios of the three genotypes (A1A1, A1A2, and A2A2). The F1 generation of the asexual dandelions will contain the same ratio as the P-generation. Conversely, following standard principles of sexual reproduction, the F1 generation will be 25% A1A1, 25% A2A2, and 50% A1A2. With the addition of differential survival related to these genotypes (certain genotypes surviving better in different degrees of sunlight), the asexual population will eventually drift toward one genotype and die off when the environment changes to suit a different genotype. The sexual population in the same situation will remain diverse enough to survive changing environments.
From this theory, Roughgarden concludes that the main benefit of sexual reproduction is the maintenance of genetic diversity when compared to similar asexual populations.
The IR model of the development of anisogamy
The IR model for the development of anisogamy is named after its developers Priya Iyer and Joan Roughgarden. By considering the evolution of anisogamy in hermaphroditic marine invertebrates and bisexual plants, the theory postulates of a gene locus which controls both sperm and egg size produced by an organism. Anisogamy could evolve in diploid hermaphroditic adults as an individual adaptation which increases its own fitness.
Hermaphrodism
Hermaphroditic animals and dioecious plants represent a large portion of sexually reproductive species. Under social selection theory, species where individuals produce two different gametes predate strictly gonochoristic and monoecious species. Separate sexes can, therefore, be described as derivations of primal hermaphrodites.
Males arising in primarily hermaphroditic species gain an advantage in certain environments as fertilizers because they lack the energy cost of producing eggs. The development of monoecious and gonochoristic species represents a transition from broadcast fertilization to localized and internal fertilization.
Simultaneous hermaphrodism exists in species with pre-Cambrian roots, and several families of organisms have shifted between hermaprodism and gonochoism over their evolutionary history. There are sequentially hermaphroditic species, such as the goby, which show bidirectional sex changing. The dwarf males of anglerfish in the family Ceratiidae function as "mobile testes" for the females of their species.
Behavioral principles
Reproductive transactions
Animals help another in order to access reproductive opportunities. Any inequality in this opportunity is due to predation or resource availability. Therefore, there is value in boosting the reproductive fitness of an animal's parents or siblings, both of which share genetic information. Even without this genetic relationship, reproductive transactions can be valuable. Sexual conflict arises from a failure for pairs to negotiate value of reproductive transactions effectively.
Mating can therefore serve purposes beyond reproduction, if the maintenance of social structures does not decrease effective fitness. Homosexual mating behavior is observed in species where this is the case. Several asexual species of whiptail lizards have been observed to engage in mating and pair-bonding despite the lack of gametic fusion.
Social state matrices
Animal behavior can be understood as the intersection of three primary elements: genetic foundations, social systems, and individual reaction. A social state matrix is composed of genetic foundations and social systems to determine behavior arising from the intersection of them. For example, animals have genetics which determine reaction to potential foraging stimuli, but only search for the stimuli at certain times of day due to social systems. Therefore, social systems would be selected for which optimize behaviors such as foraging and mate selection.
Criticism
Presented as an alternative to sexual selection theory, social selection has received criticism as a result. Arguments have been made that Roughgarden anthropomorphizes animal behavior in order to suit her theory. Other critics argue that the holes in sexual selection theory which Roughgarden proposes, such as inconsistencies in male and female relationships and critiques of Bateman's principle, can actually be consolidated within the sexual selection framework.
An article published by Roughgarden's lab on these ideas received criticism in the journal Science. Forty scientists produced ten critical letters. The critics stated that the article was misleading, that it contained misunderstandings and misrepresentations, that sexual selection accounted for all the data presented and subsumed Roughgarden's theoretical analysis, and that sexual selection explained data that her theory could not. Roughgarden stated she was "not altogether surprised" by the volume of dissent and that her theory was not an extension of sexual selection theory.
Alternate uses of the term
The term "social selection" has been used by other researchers to describe elements of the selection process overlooked by the theory of sexual selection, and to view sexual selection as a subcategory of social selection. Mary Jane West-Eberhard used the term social selection to describe differential success in social competition for resources other than mates, which includes female competition for territory and competition for parental attention among offspring. Citing cross-cultural research conducted by social psychologist David Buss, psychologist Geoffrey Miller has argued that if humans prefer altruistic mating partners that would select by mate choice for altruism directly, while evolutionary medicine researcher Randolph M. Nesse has argued that humans with altruistic tendencies receive fitness advantages because they are preferred as social partners, and this enabled humans as a species of becoming extraordinarily cooperative and capable of creating culture.
References
Bundled references
Further reading
Extended evolutionary synthesis
Sexual selection | Social selection | [
"Biology"
] | 1,685 | [
"Evolutionary processes",
"Behavior",
"Sexual selection",
"Mating"
] |
51,583,637 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita%20basii | Amanita basii is a mushroom of the family Amanitaceae.
Description
Its cap is at around wide, with a brown reddish color to "cadmium orange" becoming very intense red, "lake red" or brownish red in the center part of the cap, which is somewhat faded by the sun, in spots it's red-orange, orange-yellow to deep orange at the margin, yellow at the margin in maturity. The volva seen in the mushroom is absent in maturity or is present when young as small white patches. Its flesh has a color ranging from butter yellow to yellowish under the cap skin, yellow in the center part and near the margin, from pale yellowish white to white elsewhere, the flesh is around thick above the stem, and it thins evenly to the margin. The gills are free, subcrowded, thickest close to the margin, and are around 9–12 mm broad.
The stem is 124–137 × 16–23 mm with a pale yellowish to orange color in the upper part of the stem with light yellow as the ground color. The ring is attached in the upper part, subapical, skirt-like, copious, membranous, persistent, orange-yellow at first, becoming yellow-orange. The saccate volva is smooth, white, with yellow tints on the inner surface, dry, membranous, firmly attached to the stem. The flesh is white, staining light yellow, and stuffed with moderately dense material.
Its stem is around 12.4–13.7 cm × 1.6–2.3 cm, with a pale yellow to orange color in the upper part of the mushroom's stem with a light yellow on the ground, becoming brown to blackish with handling, stuffed, subcylindric to cylindrical, with irregular ragged patches and strands of orange-yellow felted to membranous material on the outer surface; the stem decoration becomes more intensely orange when handled. The ring is attached in the upper part, subapical, skirt-like, copious, membranous, persistent, orange-yellow at first, becoming yellow-orange. The saccate volva is smooth, white, with yellowish tints on the inner surface, dry, membranous, firmly attached to the stem. The flesh is white, staining light yellow, and stuffed with moderately dense material.
The spores measure around approximately 9.0–11.8 (8.0–18.0) × 6.1–7.5(5.5–9.0) μm and are broadly ellipsoid to elongate (rarely cylindric) and inamyloid. Clamps are common at bases of basidia.
Similar species
Not to be confused with Amanita laurae, which grows under oaks, A. yema (under firs) and A. jacksonii, which grows in cloud forest.
Distribution and habitat
It occurs in pine forests in Mexico.
Uses
Though not as well known as other edible mushroom species, A. basii is considered to be edible and has a sweet taste. The odor is somewhat pleasantly fungoid.
See also
Amanita
List of Amanita Species
References
basii
Edible fungi
Taxa named by Gastón Guzmán
Fungus species | Amanita basii | [
"Biology"
] | 673 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
51,583,909 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baie%20de%20Somme | Baie de Somme (, Bay of the Somme or Somme Bay; Picard: Béie d'Sonme) is a large estuary in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The bay drains six rivers into the English Channel, principally the River Somme, and covers a total area of . The bay is noted for its ornithological richness, as well as being a major tourist attraction.
When the tide is out, the Baie is characterized by wide, flat areas of marsh and sand, from which the delicacy of glasswort (locally:salicornes) are collected. Small ponds, dug into the marshes and filled with fake plastic ducks, are used to attract migratory birds for hunting. As the tide rises the bay fills, during which time numerous working, leisure and tourist boats cross between the surrounding villages.
The largest towns on the bay are Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Le Crotoy, Cayeux-sur-Mer and, a few miles inland of the bay, Noyelles-sur-Mer. Other smaller towns such as Le Hourdel, Le Tréport, or Mers-les-Bains are sparsely located around the region. These towns are popular tourist destinations, and are connected together by the preserved steam railway line, the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme. Several of the towns together form the Communauté d'agglomération de la Baie de Somme.
The Bay of Somme is the habitat of multiple fauna and flora species, the most famous being probably the Grey seal and the Harbor seal, locally referred as "phoque veau-marin". Its population can be estimated at 650 to 700 individuals living in the bay, whereas the Grey seal has a smaller population of around 350 individuals.
References
Picardy
Marshes of France
Bays of Metropolitan France
English Channel
Salt marshes
Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France | Baie de Somme | [
"Chemistry"
] | 393 | [
"Salt marshes",
"Salts"
] |
51,584,087 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP%20BTP | SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is a platform as a service developed by SAP SE that offers a suite of services including database and data management, AI, analytics, application development, automation and integration all running on one unified platform.
Overview
SAP BTP provides a range of services supporting digital transformation and innovation across enterprises. The platform is integrated with SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC, making it a key component in facilitating ERP migrations to cloud environments. SAP BTP enables businesses to develop applications, implement AI-driven projects, and automate business processes through a variety of tools and services.
The platform comes with prebuilt integration flows, connectors and APIs that enable integrations with SAP and third-party applications. SAP BTP is an open platform that can run SAP BTP on any hyperscaler including AWS, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure
SAP BTP is made up of four components:
Application development and automation: to create applications or extend existing applications.
Data and analytics: to access and analyze data across SAP and third-party systems using multi-cloud architecture.
Integration: to integrate and connect applications and data.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): to access large language models (LLMs) to develop AI solutions.
History
SAP BTP was introduced as part of the SAP strategy to unify its portfolio and cloud offerings under a single platform. The platform was evolved from earlier initiatives such as SAP Cloud Platform and now serves as the central hub for cloud, data, analytics, integration and AI technologies.
Initially unveiled as "SAP NetWeaver Cloud" belonging to the SAP HANA Cloud portfolio on October 16, 2012 the cloud platform was reintroduced with the new name "SAP HANA Cloud Platform" on May 13, 2013 as the foundation for SAP cloud products, including the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. Adoption of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform in 2015 stood at over 4000 customers and 500 partners.
In 2016, SAP and Apple Inc. partnered to develop mobile applications on iOS using cloud-based software development kits (SDKs) for the SAP Cloud Platform.
On February 27, 2017, SAP HANA Cloud Platform was renamed "SAP Cloud Platform" at the Mobile World Congress.
On January 18, 2021, the name "SAP Cloud Platform" was retired from the SAP product portfolio to support SAP BTP.
As of October 2024, SAP states that SAP BTP is used by more than 27,000 customers and more than 2,800 partners.
Capabilities
SAP Business Technology Platform offers the following cloud services and solutions as of September 2024:
Benefits
SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) provides a wide range of services supporting digital transformation and innovation across enterprises. The platform is deeply integrated with SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC, making it a key component in facilitating ERP migrations to cloud environments. SAP BTP enables businesses to develop modern applications, implement AI-driven projects, and automate business processes through a variety of tools and services.
The platform also allows for the activation of pre-configured automation and integration scenarios, simplifying the process of connecting on-premises systems and cloud services. It provides developers with fast and efficient tools, such as SAP Build Apps and SAP AI Core, to prototype and deploy applications, AI solutions, and automations quickly.
In addition, SAP BTP promotes data-driven decision-making by offering advanced analytics solutions like SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Datasphere. These tools provide real-time insights, enabling organizations to make informed decisions and optimize business operations. With its emphasis on flexibility, scalability, and ease of integration, SAP BTP is positioned as a central platform for driving innovation and supporting evolving business needs.
See also
Amazon Web Services
Google Cloud Platform
IBM Cloud
Microsoft Azure
Oracle Cloud
References
External links
SAP SE
2012 software
Cloud computing providers
Cloud computing
Cloud infrastructure
Cloud platforms
Cloud storage
Internet properties established in 2012
Web hosting | SAP BTP | [
"Technology"
] | 784 | [
"Cloud infrastructure",
"Cloud platforms",
"Computing platforms",
"IT infrastructure"
] |
65,815,216 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay%20Grounded | Stay Grounded is a global network of more than 160 member organizations promoting alternatives to aviation to address climate change. Founded in 2016, their work is rooted in fostering sustainable transport and campaigning against controversial climate strategies. The network consists of local airport opposition groups, climate justice activists, NGOs, trade unions and academics, among others.
Mission
Stay Grounded's mission is rooted in campaigning for a reduction in aviation and airport expansion and supporting initiatives that promote alternatives to flying such as night trains and ships. The network's members campaign against offsetting emissions, geo-engineering and biofuels.
History
In October 2016, the ICAO held a conference on the aviation industry's response to climate change. Their proposal was to have further aviation growth, incorporated with offsets that aimed to represent a way for airline passengers or 'emitters' to be encouraged to reduce emissions from other sectors as an individualized contribution towards global emission reductions. Climate activists viewed this proposal as a greenwashing strategy. While the conference was taking place, a group of locally-affected opposition groups and organizations coordinated complimentary global action days under the name Stay Grounded. Aviation Growth Cancelled Due to Climate Change, in various countries, including Austria, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, France and Australia. In conjunction with these actions, a petition was signed by 50 organisations, including Attac Europe, Friends of the Earth International, Global Justice Now, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, among several others, which are united against airport expansion projects. A civil society statement was also signed by almost 100 organizations and NGOs, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, rejecting the ICAO's proposal of offsetting the aviation industry's emissions on the basis that it would propel global warming beyond 1.5 °C.
Magdalena Heuwieser, a climate justice activist living in Germany, and Mira Kapfinger, an Austrian climate justice activist, are founders of Stay Grounded. Since 2017, they have been organizing network meetings twice a year.
Media attention
Since their inception in 2016, Stay Grounded has received attention as a result of activism and campaigns. Significant moments include the November 2019 climate protest at Berlin's Tegel airport in which several climate protesters staged a sit-in, resulting in traffic jams and delays for airline passengers. Approximately 50 members of the group gathered in the main entrance of a terminal to stage the sit-in while another 80 people organized a public demonstration. Many of the climate activists present were dressed in penguin costumes, and carried signs that urged people to think of alternative forms of transport instead of flying.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic recovery packages, the Stay Grounded network responded by launching a petition under the hashtag, #SavePeopleNotPlanes in which they are campaigning against allowing the aviation industry to receive bailouts during and after the pandemic.
References
External links
Official website
Climate justice
Advocacy groups
International environmental organizations
Aviation and the environment
Transport policy
de:Am Boden bleiben | Stay Grounded | [
"Physics"
] | 607 | [
"Physical systems",
"Transport",
"Transport policy"
] |
65,818,072 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%207513 | NGC 7513 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Sculptor. It is located at a distance of circa 62.5 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7513 is about 75,000 light years across. It was discovered by Albert Marth on September 24, 1864.
A large star cluster has been found in the nucleus, with an estimated mass of 107.0 . There is circumnuclear dust distributed irregularly.
NGC 7513 is a member of the NGC 7507 galaxy group, named after NGC 7507, along with some smaller galaxies. NGC 7507 is an elliptical galaxy lying at a projected distance of 18 arcminutes.
References
External links
NGC 7513 on SIMBAD
Barred spiral galaxies
Ring galaxies
Peculiar galaxies
Sculptor (constellation)
7513
70714
Discoveries by John Herschel
Astronomical objects discovered in 1836 | NGC 7513 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 180 | [
"Constellations",
"Sculptor (constellation)"
] |
65,818,809 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory%20Butte | Gregory Butte is a 4,651-foot (1,418 meter) elevation sandstone summit located in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, in San Juan County of southern Utah. It is situated northeast of Tower Butte, and northeast of the town of Page. This iconic landmark of the Lake Powell area towers nearly 1,000 feet above the lake. Before Lake Powell was formed in the 1970s, this butte was set within a meander of the Colorado River. Gregory Butte is a butte composed of Entrada Sandstone. This sandstone, which was originally deposited as sandy mud on a tidal flat, is believed to have formed about 160 million years ago during the Jurassic period as a giant sand sea, the largest in Earth's history. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1977 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Geologist Herbert E. Gregory (1869–1952), mapped much of the bedrock geology of the Colorado Plateau, particularly in geologic monographs concentrating on what is now Navajo Nation land in northern Arizona and southern Utah where this butte is located. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Gregory Butte is located in an arid climate zone with hot, very dry summers, and chilly winters with very little snow.
See also
Colorado Plateau
List of rock formations in the United States
Gallery
References
External links
Weather forecast: Gregory Butte
1958 aerial photo of Gregory Butte before Lake Powell
Colorado Plateau
Landforms of San Juan County, Utah
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Lake Powell
Buttes of Utah
One-thousanders of the United States
Sandstone formations of the United States | Gregory Butte | [
"Engineering"
] | 315 | [
"Colorado River Storage Project",
"Lake Powell"
] |
65,819,278 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivo%20V3 | The Vivo V3 and V3 Max are Android-based smartphones manufactured by Vivo Communication Technology Co. The phones were released in April 2016.
References
Vivo smartphones
Mobile phones introduced in 2016
Discontinued smartphones | Vivo V3 | [
"Technology"
] | 43 | [
"Mobile technology stubs",
"Mobile phone stubs"
] |
65,820,116 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13%20Ceti | 13 Ceti is a triple star system in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It is dimly visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 5.20. The system is located at a distance of approximately 69 light years from the Sun based on stellar parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +10.4 km/s. It shares a common motion with the Hyades moving group, although it is too old to be a member.
This star was identified as a visual binary system by G. W. Hough in 1844 and given the identifier HO 212. The pair have an orbital period of and an eccentricity of 0.77. The brighter member, designated component A, is an F-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of F6 V and a visual magnitude of 5.61. It appears to have an active chromosphere and is classified as an RS Canum Venaticorum variable with a variable star designation of BU Cet. The star was detected as a source of soft X-ray emission by EXOSAT. It has 18% more mass than the Sun and is estimated to be about four billion years old.
In 1907, E. B. Frost discovered the primary is a spectroscopic binary, making this a triple star system. This is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of 2.1 days and a circularized orbit. The companion signature was confirmed using the separated fringe packet technique with the CHARA array. It is most likely a K-type main-sequence star with a class of K3.5 V and 70% of the mass of the Sun.
The secondary member of the visual binary, designated component B, is a G-type main-sequence star with a class of G4 V. It has 90% of the Sun's mass and a visual magnitude of 6.90. A distant visual companion to this system was detected by S. W. Burnham in 1877. Designated component C, this star is a background object of magnitude 12.50. As of 1999, it was located at an angular separation of from the primary along a position angle of 322°.
References
F-type main-sequence stars
G-type main-sequence stars
K-type main-sequence stars
RS Canum Venaticorum variables
Triple stars
Spectroscopic binaries
Cetus
BD-04 0062
Ceti, 13
0023
003196
002762
0142
Ceti, BE | 13 Ceti | [
"Astronomy"
] | 515 | [
"Cetus",
"Constellations"
] |
65,820,188 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaisar%20Shafi | Qaisar Shafi is a Pakistani-American theoretical physicist and the Inaugural Bartol Research Institute Professor of Physics at the University of Delaware.
Biography
Shafi grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and lived there until his early teens when his family moved to London, United Kingdom. After graduating as valedictorian from Holland Park School, London, UK, he studied physics at Imperial College, London, where he received both his B.Sc. Honors and PhD. His PhD advisor was the late Nobel Laureate Professor Abdus Salam, whom he subsequently joined at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. Shafi was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Prize and spent some years in Germany (Munich, Aachen, and Freiburg). In 1978, he received his Habilitation with Venia Legendi from the University of Freiburg. He then spent two years at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) after which he moved to the United States. Since 1983, Shafi has been a faculty member at the Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, which in 2005 merged with the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Shafi has done pioneering research in areas ranging from Grand Unification to Kaluza-Klein theories, to inflationary cosmology and supersymmetric theories, and he is widely regarded as a leader in these fields. He has published more than 300 papers in refereed journals, among them many of the most prestigious in the field, lectured at close to 250 conferences, workshops, and universities.
Research Work
Contemporary high energy physics could be subdivided into the energy frontier, the cosmic frontier and the intensity frontier. Shafi, whose work is highly interdisciplinary, has made pioneering contributions in all three areas.
Shafi’s work has focused on Grand Unified Theories (GUTs), Yukawa coupling unification, dark matter and collider physics, inflationary cosmology, topological defects, thermal inflation, superstring phenomenology and related topics. His pioneering works include:
Discovery of stable cosmic strings with Sir Tom Kibble and George Lazarides in Grand Unified Theories
Discovery of discrete Z_2 symmetry in SO (10) with Sir Tom Kibble and George Lazarides. This gauge Z_2 symmetry plays a critical role in explaining why the dark matter in the universe is stable.
Discovery of topological defects called “walls bounded by strings” with Sir Tom Kibble and George Lazarides. These topological structures were discovered recently in superfluid 3He and are called Kibble-Lazarides-Shafi (KLS) walls.
Discovery of type II seesaw mechanism with George Lazarides and Christof Wetterich in Grand Unified Theories
Discovery that axionic strings are superconducting with George Lazarides
Pioneering paper with George Lazarides on non-thermal leptogenesis in inflationary cosmology
Discovery of Yukawa unification in supersymmetric GUTs with Balasubramanian Ananthanarayan and George Lazarides
Novel mechanism (Lazarides-Shafi mechanism) for solving the axion domain wall problem
D-brane inflation with Giorgi Dvali and Sviatoslav Solganik
Shafi-Vilenkin Inflationary Model
Fermion mass hierarchies in five dimensional models with Stephan Huber
Supersymmetric Hybrid Inflation with Giorgi Dvali and Robert Schaefer
Outreach Work
Shafi has done also extensive outreach work for the scientific community. From the early 1980s until 1997, he organized/co-organized several weeks long summer schools at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste. For more than fifteen years, Shafi was one of the key organizers for each summer school.
In addition, he was also one of the principal organizers of the BCVSPIN (acronym denoting the countries Bangladesh-China-Vietnam-Sri Lanka-Pakistan-India-Nepal) schools, which he co-founded in 1989 with Professors Abdus Salam, Jogesh Pati and Yu-Lu. The concept underlying BCVSPIN was to allow young scientists living in underserved regions to engage in research. Professor Shafi organized, lectured at, and led numerous BCVSPIN schools as well as associated preparatory schools, and thus helped lay the groundwork for the successful careers of many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows while also keeping track of their progress. He directed or co-directed the BCVSPIN summer schools from 1989 to 1997 and after a hiatus of several years, caused by the shifting political climate in Nepal, single-handedly resurrected the school in 2007, organizing highly successful schools in China, Vietnam and also branching out to Mexico.
Personal life
Qaisar Shafi is married to Monika Shafi, the Elias Ahuja Professor Emerita of German Literature at the University of Delaware. They have a daughter and a son.
References
External links
Alumni of Imperial College London
University of Delaware people
University of Freiburg alumni
Living people
Theoretical physicists
Fellows of the American Physical Society
English physicists
American academics of Pakistani descent
Year of birth missing (living people)
People associated with CERN | Qaisar Shafi | [
"Physics"
] | 1,029 | [
"Theoretical physics",
"Theoretical physicists"
] |
65,820,239 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau%20function%20%28integrable%20systems%29 | Tau functions are an important ingredient in the modern mathematical theory of integrable systems, and have numerous applications in a variety of other domains. They were originally introduced by Ryogo Hirota in his direct method approach to soliton equations, based on expressing them in an equivalent bilinear form.
The term tau function, or -function, was first used systematically by Mikio Sato and his students in the specific context of the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (or KP) equation and related integrable hierarchies. It is a central ingredient in the theory of solitons. In this setting, given any -function satisfying a Hirota-type system of bilinear equations (see below), the corresponding solutions of the equations of the integrable hierarchy are explicitly expressible in terms of it and its logarithmic derivatives up to a finite order. Tau functions also appear as matrix model partition functions in the spectral theory of random matrices, and may also serve as generating functions, in the sense of combinatorics and enumerative geometry, especially in relation to moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces, and enumeration of branched coverings, or so-called Hurwitz numbers.
There are two notions of -functions, both introduced by the Sato school. The first is isospectral -functions of the Sato–Segal–Wilson type for integrable hierarchies, such as the KP hierarchy, which are parametrized by linear operators satisfying isospectral deformation equations of Lax type. The second is isomonodromic -functions.
Depending on the specific application, a -function may either be: 1) an analytic function of a finite or infinite number of independent, commuting flow variables, or deformation parameters; 2) a discrete function of a finite or infinite number of denumerable variables; 3) a formal power series expansion in a finite or infinite number of expansion variables, which need have no convergence domain, but serves as generating function for certain enumerative invariants appearing as the coefficients of the series; 4) a finite or infinite (Fredholm) determinant whose entries are either specific polynomial or quasi-polynomial functions, or parametric integrals, and their derivatives; 5) the Pfaffian of a skew symmetric matrix (either finite or infinite dimensional) with entries similarly of polynomial or quasi-polynomial type. Examples of all these types are given below.
In the Hamilton–Jacobi approach to Liouville integrable Hamiltonian systems, Hamilton's principal function, evaluated on the level surfaces of a complete set of Poisson commuting invariants, plays a role similar to the -function, serving both as a generating function for the canonical transformation to linearizing canonical coordinates and, when evaluated on simultaneous level sets of a complete set of Poisson commuting invariants, as a complete solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation.
Tau functions: isospectral and isomonodromic
A -function of isospectral type is defined as a solution of the Hirota bilinear equations (see below), from which the linear operator undergoing isospectral evolution can be uniquely reconstructed. Geometrically, in the Sato and Segal-Wilson sense, it is the value of the determinant of a Fredholm integral operator, interpreted as the orthogonal projection of an element of a suitably defined (infinite dimensional) Grassmann manifold onto the origin, as that element evolves under the linear exponential action of a maximal abelian subgroup of the general linear group. It typically arises as a partition function, in the sense of statistical mechanics, many-body quantum mechanics or quantum field theory, as the underlying measure undergoes a linear exponential deformation.
Isomonodromic -functions for linear systems of Fuchsian type are defined below in . For the more general case of linear ordinary differential equations with rational coefficients, including irregular singularities, they are developed in reference.
Hirota bilinear residue relation for KP tau functions
A KP (Kadomtsev–Petviashvili) -function
is a function of an infinite collection of variables (called KP flow variables) that satisfies the bilinear formal residue equation
identically in the variables, where is the
coefficient in the formal Laurent expansion resulting from expanding all factors as Laurent series in , and
As explained below in the section , every such -function determines a set of solutions to the equations of the KP hierarchy.
Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation
If is a KP -function satisfying
the Hirota residue equation () and we identify the first three flow variables as
it follows that the function
satisfies the (spatial) (time) dimensional nonlinear partial differential equation
known as the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation. This equation plays a prominent role in plasma physics and in shallow water ocean waves.
Taking further logarithmic derivatives of gives an infinite sequence of functions that satisfy further systems of nonlinear autonomous PDE's, each involving partial derivatives of finite order with respect to a finite number of the KP flow parameters . These are collectively known as the KP hierarchy.
Formal Baker–Akhiezer function and the KP hierarchy
If we define the (formal) Baker-Akhiezer function
by Sato's formula
and expand it as a formal series in the powers of the variable
this satisfies an infinite sequence of compatible evolution equations
where is a linear ordinary differential operator of degree
in the variable , with coefficients that are functions of the flow variables
, defined as follows
where is the formal pseudo-differential operator
with ,
is the wave operator and
denotes the projection to the part of containing
purely non-negative powers of ; i.e. the differential operator part of .
The pseudodifferential operator satisfies the infinite system of isospectral deformation equations
and the compatibility conditions for both the system () and
() are
This is a compatible infinite system of nonlinear partial differential equations, known as the KP (Kadomtsev-Petviashvili) hierarchy, for the functions , with respect to the set of independent variables, each of which contains only a finite number of 's, and derivatives only with respect to the three independent variables . The first nontrivial case of these
is the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation ().
Thus, every KP -function provides a solution, at least in the formal sense, of this infinite system of nonlinear partial differential equations.
Isomonodromic systems. Isomonodromic tau functions
Fuchsian isomonodromic systems. Schlesinger equations
Consider the overdetermined system of first order matrix partial differential equations
where are a set of traceless matrices,
a set of complex parameters, a complex variable, and is an invertible matrix valued function of and .
These are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the based monodromy representation of the fundamental group
of the Riemann sphere punctured at
the points corresponding to the rational covariant derivative operator
to be independent of the parameters ; i.e. that changes in these parameters induce an isomonodromic deformation. The compatibility conditions for this system are the Schlesinger equations
Isomonodromic -function
Defining functions
the Schlesinger equations () imply that the differential form
on the space of parameters is closed:
and hence, locally exact. Therefore, at least locally, there exists a function
of the parameters, defined within a multiplicative constant, such that
The function is called the isomonodromic -function
associated to the fundamental solution of the system (), ().
Hamiltonian structure of the Schlesinger equations
Defining the Lie Poisson brackets on the space of -tuples of matrices:
and viewing the functions defined in () as Hamiltonian functions on this Poisson space, the Schlesinger equations ()
may be expressed in Hamiltonian form as
for any differentiable function .
Reduction of , case to
The simplest nontrivial case of the Schlesinger equations is when and . By applying a Möbius transformation to the variable ,
two of the finite poles may be chosen to be at and , and the third viewed as the independent variable.
Setting the sum of the matrices appearing in
(), which is an invariant of the Schlesinger equations, equal to a constant, and quotienting by its stabilizer under conjugation, we obtain a system equivalent to the most generic case of the six Painlevé transcendent equations, for which many detailed classes of explicit solutions are known.
Non-Fuchsian isomonodromic systems
For non-Fuchsian systems, with higher order poles, the generalized monodromy data include Stokes matrices and connection matrices, and there are further isomonodromic deformation parameters associated with the local asymptotics, but the isomonodromic -functions may be defined in a similar way, using differentials on the extended parameter space.
There is similarly a Poisson bracket structure on the space of rational matrix valued functions of the spectral parameter and corresponding spectral invariant Hamiltonians that generate the isomonodromic deformation dynamics.
Taking all possible confluences of the poles appearing in () for the and case, including the one at , and making the corresponding reductions, we obtain all other instances
of the Painlevé transcendents, for which
numerous special solutions are also known.
Fermionic VEV (vacuum expectation value) representations
The fermionic Fock space , is a semi-infinite exterior product space
defined on a (separable) Hilbert space with basis elements
and dual basis elements
for .
The free fermionic creation and annihilation operators
act as endomorphisms on
via exterior and interior multiplication by the basis elements
and satisfy the canonical anti-commutation relations
These generate the standard fermionic representation of the Clifford algebra
on the direct sum , corresponding to the scalar product
with the Fock space as irreducible module.
Denote the vacuum state, in the zero fermionic charge sector , as
,
which corresponds to the Dirac sea of states along the real integer lattice in which all negative integer locations are occupied and all non-negative ones are empty.
This is annihilated by the following operators
The dual fermionic Fock space vacuum state, denoted , is annihilated by the adjoint operators, acting to the left
Normal ordering of a product of
linear operators (i.e., finite or infinite linear combinations of creation and annihilation operators) is defined so that its vacuum expectation value (VEV) vanishes
In particular, for a product of a pair of linear operators, one has
The fermionic charge operator is defined as
The subspace is the eigenspace of
consisting of all eigenvectors with eigenvalue
.
The standard orthonormal basis for the zero fermionic charge sector is labelled by integer partitions
,
where
is a weakly decreasing sequence of positive integers, which can equivalently be represented by a Young diagram, as depicted here for the partition
.
An alternative notation for a partition consists of the
Frobenius indices
, where
denotes the arm length; i.e. the number of boxes in the Young diagram to the right of the 'th diagonal box, denotes the leg length, i.e. the number of boxes in the Young diagram below the 'th diagonal box, for , where is the Frobenius rank, which is the number of elements along the principal diagonal.
The basis element is then given by acting on the vacuum with a product
of pairs of creation and annihilation operators, labelled by the Frobenius indices
The integers indicate, relative to the Dirac sea, the occupied non-negative sites on the integer lattice while
indicate the unoccupied negative integer sites.
The corresponding diagram, consisting of infinitely many occupied and unoccupied sites on the integer lattice that are a finite perturbation of the Dirac sea are referred to as a Maya diagram.
The case of the null (emptyset) partition gives the vacuum state, and the dual basis is defined by
Any KP -function can be expressed as a sum
where are the KP flow variables,
is the Schur function
corresponding to the partition , viewed as a function of the normalized power sum variables
in terms of an auxiliary (finite or infinite) sequence of variables
and the constant coefficients
may be viewed as the Plücker coordinates of an
element
of the infinite dimensional Grassmannian consisting of the orbit, under the action of
the general linear group , of the subspace
of the Hilbert space .
This corresponds, under the Bose-Fermi correspondence, to a decomposable element
of the Fock space which, up to projectivization, is the image of the Grassmannian element under the
Plücker map
where is a basis for the subspace
and denotes projectivization of
an element of .
The Plücker coordinates satisfy an infinite set of bilinear
relations, the Plücker relations, defining the image of the Plücker embedding
into the projectivization of the fermionic Fock space,
which are equivalent to the Hirota bilinear residue relation ().
If for a group element
with fermionic representation , then the -function can be expressed as the fermionic vacuum state expectation value (VEV):
where
is the abelian subgroup of that generates the KP flows, and
are the ""current"" components.
Examples of solutions to the equations of the KP hierarchy
Schur functions
As seen in equation (), every KP -function can be represented (at least formally) as a linear combination of Schur functions, in which the coefficients satisfy the bilinear set of Plucker relations corresponding to an element of an infinite (or finite) Grassmann manifold. In fact, the simplest class of (polynomial) tau functions consists of the Schur functions themselves, which correspond to the special element of the Grassmann manifold whose image under the Plücker map is .
Multisoliton solutions
If we choose complex constants
with 's all distinct, , and define the functions
we arrive at the Wronskian determinant formula
which gives the general -soliton -function.
Theta function solutions associated to algebraic curves
Let be a compact Riemann surface of genus and fix a canonical homology basis
of with intersection numbers
Let be a basis for the space of holomorphic differentials satisfying the standard normalization conditions
where is the Riemann matrix of periods.
The matrix belongs to the Siegel upper half space
The Riemann function on corresponding to the period matrix is defined to be
Choose a point , a local parameter in a neighbourhood of with and
a positive divisor of degree
For any positive integer let be the unique meromorphic differential of the second kind characterized by the following conditions:
The only singularity of is a pole of order at with vanishing residue.
The expansion of around is
.
is normalized to have vanishing -cycles:
Denote by the vector of -cycles of :
Denote the image of under the Abel map
with arbitrary base point .
Then the following is a KP -function:
.
Matrix model partition functions as KP -functions
Let be the Lebesgue measure on the dimensional space of complex Hermitian matrices.
Let be a conjugation invariant integrable density function
Define a deformation family of measures
for small and let
be the partition function for this random matrix model.
Then satisfies the bilinear Hirota residue equation (), and hence is a -function of the KP hierarchy.
-functions of hypergeometric type. Generating function for Hurwitz numbers
Let be a (doubly) infinite sequence of complex numbers.
For any integer partition define the content product coefficient
,
where the product is over all pairs of positive integers that correspond to boxes of the Young diagram of the partition , viewed as positions of matrix elements of the corresponding
matrix.
Then, for every pair of infinite sequences and of complex variables, viewed as (normalized) power sums
of the infinite sequence of auxiliary variables
and ,
defined by:
,
the function
is a double KP -function, both in the and the variables, known as a -function of hypergeometric type.
In particular, choosing
for some small parameter , denoting the corresponding content product coefficient as
and setting
,
the resulting -function can be equivalently expanded as
where are the simple Hurwitz numbers, which are
times the number of ways in which an element
of the symmetric group in elements, with cycle lengths equal to the parts of the partition , can be factorized as a product of -cycles
,
and
is the power sum symmetric function. Equation () thus shows that the (formal) KP hypergeometric -function () corresponding to the content product coefficients is a generating function, in the combinatorial sense, for simple Hurwitz numbers.
References
Bibliography
Dynamical systems
Mathematical physics
Integrable systems
Solitons
Special functions
Generating functions
Partition functions
Random matrices
Combinatorics | Tau function (integrable systems) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 3,492 | [
"Random matrices",
"Sequences and series",
"Discrete mathematics",
"Mathematical structures",
"Special functions",
"Integrable systems",
"Applied mathematics",
"Generating functions",
"Theoretical physics",
"Mathematical objects",
"Combinatorics",
"Matrices (mathematics)",
"Mechanics",
"Pa... |
65,821,298 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP-64 | WASP-64 is a star about 1200 light-years away. It is a G7 class main-sequence star, orbited by a planet WASP-64b. It is younger than the Sun at 3.6 billion years, and it has a metal abundance similar to the Sun. The star is rotating rapidly, being spun up by the giant planet in a close orbit.
WASP-64 was named Atakoraka in 2019 after the Atacora, the largest mountain range in Togo. An imaging survey in 2017 failed to find any stellar companions.
Planetary system
A transiting hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting WASP-64 was discovered by WASP in 2012. The planetary equilibrium temperature is 1672 K, while the measured dayside temperature is hotter at 1989 K. Due to the close proximity of the planet to the parent star, orbital decay of WASP-64b, along with HATS-2, may be detectable in the near future. WASP-64b was named Agouto (after Mount Agou, the highest point of Togo which lies within the Atacora chain) in 2019 by amateur astronomers from Togo as part of the NameExoWorlds contest.
References
G-type main-sequence stars
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
Planetary transit variables
Canis Major
J06442760-3251302 | WASP-64 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 269 | [
"Constellations",
"Canis Major",
"Astronomy organizations",
"Wide Angle Search for Planets"
] |
65,822,031 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbiosecurity | Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field at the intersection of cybersecurity and biosecurity. The objective of cyberbiosecurity has been described as addressing "the potential for or actual malicious destruction, misuse, or exploitation of valuable information, processes, and material at the interface of the life sciences and digital worlds". Cyberbiosecurity is part of a system of measures that collectively aim to "Safeguard the Bioeconomy", an objective described by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine of the United States.
Cyberbiosecurity threats
Cyberbiosecurity threats are becoming increasingly important as technological progress continues to accelerate in fields such as artificial intelligence, automation, and synthetic biology. Moreover, not only is the pace of progress in these fields accelerating, but they are also becoming increasingly integrated, leading to a growing overlap that is generating new security vulnerabilities. Many of the potential risks from future progress in bioengineering that were identified by researchers fall within the bounds of cyberbiosecurity, for instance, the use of cyberattacks to exploit bio-automation for malicious purposes. Against this background, cyberbiosecurity measures are becoming increasingly important to prevent or protect against the misuse of innovations in the life sciences, including to reduce the proliferation risk of biological weapons. In recent years, there has been a growing amount of research characterizing cyberbiosecurity threats, including by conducting surveys on cyberbiosecurity risk perceptions in the biotech sector, and offering first recommendations for measures to prevent or protect against these threats. Researchers have observed that in the future it may be critical to consider the risk of computer systems being exploited by adversarially created DNA.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, some research has focused on the cyberbiosecurity implications of the pandemic.
References
Biosecurity
Computer security | Cyberbiosecurity | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 392 | [
"Toxicology",
"Biosecurity"
] |
65,822,792 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpNigeria | Operation Nigeria or by the abbreviation OpNigeria is a group created by members of Anonymous. The members that took part in the EndSars movement were LiteMods, WhiteRabbitGang, YounesAnonymous, NigeriaOp, LorianSynaro, YourAnonNews and HackDown2. The members include numerous hackers or hacking groups who in 2020 supported the EndSARS movement that is going on in Nigeria. The group has hacked multiple Nigerian government websites and banks as well.
References
Anonymous (hacker group)
Nigerian activists
Hackers
2016 establishments in Nigeria | OpNigeria | [
"Technology"
] | 115 | [
"Lists of people in STEM fields",
"Hackers"
] |
65,823,762 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow%20profile | A shadow profile is a collection of information pertaining to an application's users, or even some of its non-users, collected without their consent. The term is most commonly used to describe the manner in which technological companies such as Facebook collect information related to people who did not willingly provide it to them.
History
In 2012, a data breach of over six million Facebook users' personal information indicated the existence of a number of shadow profiles, since the leaked information had not been provided by the users themselves. Consequently, Facebook began linking users' shadow profiles to their respective public profiles. The combined profiles were then further shared with the users' friends if they used Facebook's Download Your Information (DYI) tool.
See also
Internet privacy
Communication privacy management theory
Participatory surveillance
References
Facebook
Information privacy
Internet privacy | Shadow profile | [
"Technology"
] | 163 | [
"Computer security stubs",
"Computing stubs"
] |
65,824,502 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H3R42me | H3R42me is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the mono-methylation at the 42nd arginine residue of the histone H3 protein. In epigenetics, arginine methylation of histones H3 and H4 is associated with a more accessible chromatin structure and thus higher levels of transcription. The existence of arginine demethylases that could reverse arginine methylation is controversial.
Nomenclature
H3K4me1 indicates monomethylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 protein subunit:
Arginine
Arginine can be methylated once (monomethylated arginine) or twice (dimethylated arginine). Methylation of arginine residues is catalyzed by three different classes of protein arginine methyltransferases.
Arginine methylation affects the interactions between proteins and has been implicated in a variety of cellular processes, including protein trafficking, signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation.
Histone modifications
Genomic DNA of eukaryotic cells is wrapped around special protein molecules known as histones. The complexes formed by the looping of the DNA are known as chromatin.
Mechanism and function of modification
R42 is located within the core region of histone H3. Inside the nucleosomal structure, R42 overlaps the point where DNA enters and exits the nucleosome.
The addition of a methyl group at arginine enhances steric hindrance and also removes a hydrogen bond donor, which slightly decreases nucleosome stability to allow RNA polymerase II to migrate more easily through the template.
Epigenetic implications
The post-translational modification of histone tails by either histone-modifying complexes or chromatin remodeling complexes is interpreted by the cell and leads to complex, combinatorial transcriptional output. It is thought that a histone code dictates the expression of genes by a complex interaction between the histones in a particular region. The current understanding and interpretation of histones comes from two large scale projects: ENCODE and the Epigenomic roadmap. The purpose of the epigenomic study was to investigate epigenetic changes across the entire genome. This led to chromatin states which define genomic regions by grouping the interactions of different proteins and/or histone modifications together.
Chromatin states were investigated in Drosophila cells by looking at the binding location of proteins in the genome. Use of ChIP-sequencing revealed regions in the genome characterised by different banding. Different developmental stages were profiled in Drosophila as well, an emphasis was placed on histone modification relevance. A look in to the data obtained led to the definition of chromatin states based on histone modifications. Certain modifications were mapped and enrichment was seen to localize in certain genomic regions. Five core histone modifications were found with each respective one being linked to various cell functions.
H3K4me3 -promoters
H3K4me1- primed enhancers
H3K36me3 -gene bodies
H3K27me3 -polycomb repression
H3K9me3 -heterochromatin
The human genome is annotated with chromatin states. These annotated states can be used as new ways to annotate a genome independently of the underlying genome sequence. This independence from the DNA sequence enforces the epigenetic nature of histone modifications. Chromatin states are also useful in identifying regulatory elements that have no defined sequence, such as enhancers. This additional level of annotation allows for a deeper understanding of cell specific gene regulation.
Clinical significance
Mycobacteria can reduce a host's immune response through, a secreted mycobacterial protein Rv1988. Rv1988 is a methyltransferase that methylates histone H3 at H3R42 and represses the genes that help defense against mycobacteria.
Methods
The histone mark H3K4me1 can be detected in a variety of ways:
1. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (ChIP-sequencing) measures the amount of DNA enrichment once bound to a targeted protein and immunoprecipitated. It results in good optimization and is used in vivo to reveal DNA-protein binding occurring in cells. ChIP-Seq can be used to identify and quantify various DNA fragments for different histone modifications along a genomic region.
2. Micrococcal Nuclease sequencing (MNase-seq) is used to investigate regions that are bound by well-positioned nucleosomes. Use of the micrococcal nuclease enzyme is employed to identify nucleosome positioning. Well-positioned nucleosomes are seen to have enrichment of sequences.
3. Assay for transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) is used to look in to regions that are nucleosome free (open chromatin). It uses hyperactive Tn5 transposon to highlight nucleosome localisation.
See also
Histone methylation
Histone methyltransferase
References
Epigenetics
Post-translational modification | H3R42me | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,090 | [
"Post-translational modification",
"Gene expression",
"Biochemical reactions"
] |
65,824,604 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul%20J.%20Scheuer | Paul Josef Scheuer (born 25 May 1915 in Heilbronn; died 12 January 2003 in Hawaii) was a German/American chemist.
Biography
Born in 1915 in Heilbronn, Scheuer completed his school education in 1934 at the Realgymnasium Heilbronn. As a Jew, he was unable to take up studies in Germany because of the racial laws[3]. He began training in a leather tannery. Arranged by his supervisor, he switched to a tannery in Pécs in southern Hungary, which specialised in fine leather, in December 1935 and later worked in Simontornya. There the technical manager, a doctor of chemistry, taught him the chemical background of leather production. He was "fascinated with chemistry as an intellectual challenge" and decided to become a chemist. In 1937, he visited Germany for the funeral of his mother one time before last. Until autumn 1938 he spent time in tanneries in Yugoslavia and England.
As the threat of war in Europe increased, he emigrated to the United States in 1938, working first as a packer of leather and later as a foreman in a tannery in Ayer, Massachusetts. In autumn 1939 he enrolled as an evening student at Northeastern University in Boston. A year later he moved to Boston and studied full-time at the College of Liberal Arts, where he received a B.S. in 1943. He then moved to Harvard University and chose Robert B. Woodward as his supervisor. He worked on addition reactions to bind ketene to alpha-vinylpyridine.
For two years and four months he was contracted for the Chemical Warfare Service, which is responsible for chemical weapons in the U.S. Army. In January 1945, he was transferred to Fort Ritchie, Maryland, and trained in military intelligence.
A few days before the end of the war, he flew to Paris and travelled on to Bavaria. With the exception of the Nuremberg Trials, he describes his fourteen months as a special agent in Germany as "uneventful".
He resumed his studies in September 1946, financed by the G. I. Bill. Among his instructors were Gilbert Stork and Morris Kupchan. Scheuer received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1950. In July 1950 he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, and decided to set off for a "nebulous future" on the island with his fiancée Alice Dash. They married at Harvard on September 5 and travelled from San Francisco to Hawaii on the passenger ship SS Lurline. He remained at the University of Hawaii until his retirement in 1985.
Paul Scheuer had four children. He died in Hawaii at the age of 87 of leukemia.
Career
At the University of Hawaii, Scheuer came into contact with researchers from botany, marine biology, and agricultural science. He recognised that Hawaii, with its largely unexplored endemic flora, offered good opportunities for research into biodiversity and natural products. For example, he did research on the kava plant with Rudolf Hänsel from the Free University of Berlin, but soon turned his attention to the chemical ecology of marine ecosystems. For 20 years, his institute conducted research on ciguatoxins, the structure of which his former post-doctoral researcher Takeshi Yasumoto was able to unlock in 1989. Later, Scheuer participated in the "War on Cancer" proclaimed by U.S. President Richard Nixon and developed drugs based on substances he had extracted from Elysia rufescens, a sea slug.
He contributed to nearly 300 scientific articles and reviews. The field of molecular and chemical biotechnology, which he co-founded, has developed into an important branch of organic chemistry.
Awards and honours
His former students initiated the Paul J. Scheuer award in Marine Natural Products in 1992. He was the first recipient.
In 1994, he received the Ernest Guenther Award of the American Chemical Society and the Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award of the American Society of Pharmacognosy.
Since 2004, the awards the for marine biotechnology and materials research.
Books
Paul J. Scheuer: Chemistry of Marine Natural Products. Academic Press, New York 1973, .
Paul J. Scheuer (ed.): Marine Natural Products: Chemical and Biological Perspectives. 5 volumes, Academic Press 1978–1983.
Volume I, 1978, , .
Volume II, 1978, , .
Volume III, 1980, , .
Volume IV, 1981, , .
Volume V, 1983, , .
Paul J. Scheuer (ed.): Bioorganic Marine Chemistry. Six volumes, , Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1987–1992.
Paul J. Scheuer (ed.): Marine Natural Products — Diversity and Biosynthesis (Topics in Current Chemistry 167), Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1993, , .
Literature
István Hargittai: Paul J. Scheuer. In: Candid Science: Conversations with Famous Chemists, 2000, p. 93–113, , .
P. Zurer: Paul Scheuer’s life, work celebrated. In: Chemical & Engineering News 79(4), p. 70, 22 January 2001, .
Festschrift Issue of Tetrahedron in Honor of Paul Josef Scheuer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, The University of Hawaii at Manoa. In: Tetrahedron 56, 2000, p. vii–ix, .
References
20th-century German chemists
20th-century American chemists
1915 births
2003 deaths
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty
Northeastern University alumni
Harvard University alumni
Chemical ecologists
Ritchie Boys
Emigrants from Nazi Germany
Immigrants to the United States | Paul J. Scheuer | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,149 | [
"Chemical ecologists",
"Chemical ecology"
] |
65,826,995 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominguez%20Butte | Dominguez Butte is a 4,476-foot (1,364 meter) elevation sandstone summit located south of Lake Powell, in San Juan County of southern Utah. It is situated on Navajo Nation land, northeast of the town of Page, and towers over 700 feet above the surrounding terrain as a landmark of the area. Dominguez Butte has a brief appearance in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, when a spaceship crash lands in Lake Powell.
Geology
Dominguez Butte is a butte composed primarily of Entrada Sandstone, similar to Padres Butte to the north, and Boundary Butte to the south. The Entrada Sandstone overlays Carmel Formation, and below that Page Sandstone at lake level. Above the Entrada layers is Romana Sandstone capped by Morrison Formation. It is located in the southern edge of the Great Basin Desert on the Colorado Plateau. Precipitation runoff from this feature drains into the Colorado River watershed.
History
Francisco Atanasio Domínguez (1740–1805) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer who led the 1776 Domínguez–Escalante expedition. Guided by local Native Americans, the expedition attempted to cross the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, but found it too difficult. A second ford of the Colorado River, named the Crossing of the Fathers, was successfully made two miles north of Dominguez Butte on November 7, 1776. The descent to the crossing was so treacherous that they had to carve steps into the stone to ensure the livestock could make it down to the river. Today, this ford lies beneath Lake Powell.
This butte's name was officially adopted in 1976 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to commemorate Atanacio Domínguez.
Gallery
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Dominguez Butte is located in an arid climate zone with hot, very dry summers, and chilly winters with very little snow. Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit.
See also
Colorado Plateau
List of rock formations in the United States
References
External links
Weather forecast: Dominguez Butte
Colorado Plateau
Landforms of San Juan County, Utah
Geography of the Navajo Nation
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Lake Powell
Buttes of Utah
One-thousanders of the United States
Sandstone formations of the United States | Dominguez Butte | [
"Engineering"
] | 457 | [
"Colorado River Storage Project",
"Lake Powell"
] |
65,828,660 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSK417651A | GSK417651A is a chemical compound which acts as a blocker of the TRPC family of calcium channels, with selectivity for the TRPC3 and TRPC6 subtypes. It has been used to investigate the role of TRPC3/6 channels in heart function.
References
Thiazoles
Ketones
Nitrogen heterocycles
Amines | GSK417651A | [
"Chemistry"
] | 77 | [
"Ketones",
"Amines",
"Bases (chemistry)",
"Functional groups"
] |
65,829,271 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP-62 | WASP-62, formally named Naledi, is a single star about away. It is an F class main-sequence star, orbited by a planet, WASP-62b. The age of WASP-62 is much younger than the Sun at 0.8 billion years, and it has a metal abundance similar to the Sun.
Nomenclature
The designation WASP-62 indicates that this was the 62nd star found to have a planet by the Wide Angle Search for Planets.
In December 2019, WASP-62 was named Naledi and its planet was named Krotoa by amateur astronomers from South Africa as part of the second NameExoWorlds campaign.
Planetary system
A transiting hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting WASP-62 was discovered by WASP in 2012. The planet's equilibrium temperature is 1440 K, but the measured average temperature is colder at 1329.6 K. In 2020, a transmission spectrum indicated the atmosphere of WASP-62b is free of clouds. It contains sodium and possibly silicon hydrides.
The planetary orbit is slightly misaligned to the equatorial plane of the star, with the misalignment angle equal to 19.4°.
References
Dorado
F-type main-sequence stars
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
Planetary transit variables
J05483359-6359183
PD-64 00484
102
149603524
62
Naledi | WASP-62 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 288 | [
"Constellations",
"Dorado",
"Astronomy organizations",
"Wide Angle Search for Planets"
] |
65,829,684 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acqua%20Santa%20Maria | Acqua Santa Maria is the main brand of the company Sicil Acque Minerali, Si.A.M. srl that is a company with registered office in Ragusa and operational headquarters Modica in Sicily, which since 1992 manages the extraction and bottling of mineral waters.
Company
SI.A.M. SRL, was established in 1992, has its registered office in Ragusa and its operational headquarters in Modica. The company owns a mining concession called Santa Maria Zappulla, in the municipality of Modica and has 3 active wells, indeed the product is sold under 3 different brands.
The structure is 8,000 square meters. A large area, in which water is extracted, surrounds the entire factory.
Springs and history
The waters flow from sources in the extreme southeast of Sicily in a large, fertile limestone high plain of tectonic origin in the Hyblaean Mountains zone (in the Modica area) and together with another stream (San Francesco) they form the Mothicanus torrent.
The Modicane springs have been exploited since ancient times. Along these waterways, man has built kitchen garden and basins for collecting water that date back to the Arab domination that in Modica began in 844-845.
The Mothicanus torrent joins the San Liberale stream giving life to the Fiumara di Modica that flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Along the Motycanus torrent, between the cities of Scicli and Modica, caves and tombs have been found that attest to the human presence at these waterways already between the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (around 900s BC).
The contrada that houses the springs and the headquarters of the company is called "Santa Maria Zappulla".
Holding labels
Santa Maria
Ruscella
Roverella
Distribution
Mineral waters from Si.A.M. are sold primarily in Sicily, in the neighbors Calabria and Malta but also in the rest of Italy.
References
Bottled water brands
Mineral water
Companies based in Sicily
Drink companies of Italy
Companies in the Free municipal consortium of Ragusa
Modica | Acqua Santa Maria | [
"Chemistry"
] | 422 | [
"Mineral water"
] |
65,829,777 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David%20Wood%20%28mathematician%29 | David Ronald Wood (born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1971) is a Professor in the School of Mathematics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His research area is discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science, especially structural graph theory, extremal graph theory, geometric graph theory, graph colouring, graph drawing, and combinatorial geometry.
Wood received a Ph.D. in computer science from Monash University in 2000. His thesis "Three-Dimensional Orthogonal Graph Drawing", supervised by Graham Farr, was awarded a Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal. He held postdoctoral research positions at the University of Sydney, at Carleton University in Ottawa, at Charles University in Prague, at McGill University in Montreal, at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, and at the University of Melbourne. Since 2012 he has been at Monash University, where he was promoted to Professor in 2016.
He has been awarded distinguished research fellowships including a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission (2006–2008), a QEII Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (2008–2012), and a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (2014–2017). David Wood was an invited speaker at the 9th European Congress of
Mathematics.
Wood is a Fellow of the Australian Mathematics Society and life member of the Combinatorial Mathematics Society of Australasia (CMSA). He was president of the CMSA in 2015–2016 and Vice-President in 2011–2014. He is a Deputy Director of The Mathematical Research Institute MATRIX. Wood is an Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, Editor-in-Chief of the MATRIX Book Series, and an Editor of the Journal of Computational Geometry, Journal of Graph Theory, and SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics.
His main research contributions are in graph product structure theory, extremal graph minor theory, graph treewidth, graphs on surfaces, graph colouring, geometric graph theory, poset dimension, and graph drawing.
Major publications
References
External links
David Wood's home page at Monash University
People from Christchurch
Australian mathematicians
21st-century Australian mathematicians
Monash University alumni
Academic staff of Monash University
Living people
1971 births
Graph theorists | David Wood (mathematician) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 449 | [
"Mathematical relations",
"Graph theory",
"Graph theorists"
] |
67,291,526 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%20Vitro%20Cellular%20%26%20Developmental%20Biology | In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of in vitro biology. It was originally established as In Vitro in 1965, acquiring its current name in 1983. In 1991, In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant was created, with the original section renaming itself In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Animal in 1993. The journals are published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Society for In Vitro Biology.
According to the Journal Citation Reports, in 2022, the animal section of the journal had an impact factor of 2.1, while the Plant had an impact factor of 2.6.
References
External links
- Animal section
- Plant section
Society for In Vitro Biology
International Association of Plant Biotechnology
English-language journals
Academic journals established in 1965
Molecular and cellular biology journals
Springer Science+Business Media academic journals
Bimonthly journals | In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology | [
"Chemistry"
] | 173 | [
"Molecular and cellular biology journals",
"Molecular biology"
] |
67,293,851 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19%20passports%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom | Trials to assess the effectiveness of an immunity passport scheme, also known as a COVID passport or COVID certification scheme, were confirmed by the UK government on 3 April 2021 as a way of helping to restart public events in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement was made following much discussion and speculation about the idea by politicians and in the British media. The government announced that trials of a scheme for England would begin on 16 April, starting with a comedy evening in Liverpool.
In December 2021, COVID passports or similar verification methods became mandatory to access certain high-density venues per government regulations to address the spread of the infections Omicron variant of COVID-19.
History
The idea of some kind of immunity or vaccine passport was first mentioned in February 2021, when the Greek Prime Minister said his country would welcome British holidaymakers who had been vaccinated. The UK government ruled out the idea of issuing a vaccine passports for those who had been vaccinated. On 23 February, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a review into the idea of vaccine passports to allow people to go on holiday and into venues, describing the proposal as having "deep and complex issues". On 25 March, Johnson said an update on proposals would be given in April, but suggests it may not be possible to introduce such a scheme until every adult in the UK has been offered a vaccine.
On 2 April 2021, The Daily Telegraph reported that COVID passports would be trialled at a series of venues to test their use, prompting a group of more than 70 MPs from across the political spectrum to voice their opposition to the idea. The group, which included Jeremy Corbyn, a former leader of the Labour Party and Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, describing it as "dangerous, discriminatory and counterproductive". In response the UK government said that no decisions had been made as regards the idea.
On 3 April the government confirmed that a COVID passport system would be trialled as a way of enabling large events, such as sports and music events, to restart. The first trial was announced to take place at a comedy evening at Liverpool's Hot Water Comedy Club on 16 April and continue at other events in England through to mid-May. The government subsequently confirmed that any such scheme would be time limited.
A 2021 FA Cup Semi-Final match on 18 April, the 2021 EFL Cup Final on 25 April and the 2021 FA Cup Final on 15 May were also announced as potential candidates for trialling the scheme. The passport, a certificate, would be issued upon the supply of information including whether a person has been vaccinated, any recent negative test, or natural immunity through recent positive test.
On 11 May 2021, the UK government announced that from 17 May people in England who had received both COVID vaccines would be able to use the NHS app as a vaccine passport; a paper version would also be available by calling 119.
In May 2021, a scheme in Scotland was unveiled that allows people to download a certificate giving details of their vaccination status from the NHS Scotland website. The document is intended for anyone planning to travel overseas, and people were advised to download it 21 days before travelling. On 22 May it was reported that a security flaw in the software would allow people to edit their vaccination status by using popular computer programs. The Scottish Government said it was working to rectify the situation. On 1 September 2021, it was announced that vaccine passports would be required for entry to nightclubs and many large events in Scotland.
There has been some investigation into the possible impact that vaccine passports may have in the UK. This evidence shows that vaccine passports may lower inclination to vaccinate and may discriminate against certain socio-demographic groups.
In December 2021, new regulations made a COVID passport, equivalent proof of vaccination, or negative lateral flow test mandatory for entry into many high-density venues in England to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.
NHS COVID Pass
NHS COVID Pass exists in England, and Wales, with a similar verification scheme (not using the same name) available in Scotland.
The Department of Health has introduced an automated method for Northern Irish citizens who have received both their COVID-19 vaccinations in Northern Ireland to apply for COVID vaccination certification.
The England domestic NHS COVID Pass was discontinued on 12 May 2022, following the discontinuation of the domestic NHS COVID Pass letter on 1 April 2022. the England NHS COVID Pass is only used for international travel.
References
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
2021 establishments in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
Passports
Immunology | COVID-19 passports in the United Kingdom | [
"Biology"
] | 962 | [
"Immunology"
] |
67,294,874 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP-80 | WASP-80 is a K-type main-sequence star about 162 light-years away from Earth. The star's age is much younger than the Sun's at 1.352 billion years. WASP-80 could be similar to the Sun in concentration of heavy elements, although this measurement is highly uncertain.
The star was named Petra in 2019 by Jordanian amateur astronomers as part of the NameExoWorlds contest.
Three multiplicity surveys in 2015-2018 did not detect any stellar companions to WASP-80, but a survey in 2020 detected a 0.07 companion candidate at an angular separation 2.132 arcseconds, with a false alarm probability of 3%.
Planetary system
In 2013 a transiting hot Jupiter planet WASP-80 b was detected on a tight, circular orbit. The planet was named Wadirum by Jordanian astronomers in December 2019. Its equilibrium temperature is , while measured temperature of the dayside is 937 K and temperature of the nightside is 851 K. This temperature difference indicates a rather low planetary albedo and weak global transport of heat.
Measurement of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect in 2015 revealed WASP-80b's is orbit is well-aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, with orbital obliquity equal to 14°.
Although one transmission spectrum of the planetary atmosphere showed signs of ionised potassium, another measurement in 2017 yielded a gray and featureless spectrum, probably due to a high cloud deck or haze in the atmosphere of WASP-80b. The James Webb Space Telescope has characterized the atmospheric composition of WASP-80 b, detecting signs of water vapor and methane on the planet. This discovery not only uncovers the exoplanet's origin and evolution but also fosters a comparative study bridging our solar system's gas giants and diverse exoplanets.
References
Aquila (constellation)
K-type main-sequence stars
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
Planetary transit variables
J20124017-0208391
Petra | WASP-80 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 409 | [
"Aquila (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
67,295,218 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvariella%20leucocalix | Volvariella leucocalix is a species of fungus in the family Pluteaceae. Its name is attributed to the white volva pertaining to the species. More specifically, the name comes from the Greek words, ‘leuco’, meaning a whitish color, and ‘calix’, meaning cup. First described by Sa MCA and Felipe Wartchow in 2016 as a species of Volvariella.
Description
The sporocarp is small and has a fuliginous brown umbonate cap with a diameter of 26 mm. The stem is white and becomes narrower the further up it is and is hollow at its apex. Based on a sample of 30 basidiospores, it was found that their length ranged from 5–5.6 × 2.6–3.6 μm, with an average length 5.2 μm for a single basidiome, the spores are also are ellipsoid to elongate and pinkish/salmon in color.
References
External links
Fungi of South America
Pluteaceae
Fungus species | Volvariella leucocalix | [
"Biology"
] | 220 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
67,296,089 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdS%20black%20brane | An anti de Sitter black brane is a solution of the Einstein equations in the presence of a negative cosmological constant which possesses a planar event horizon. This is distinct from an anti de Sitter black hole solution which has a spherical event horizon. The negative cosmological constant implies that the spacetime will asymptote to an anti de Sitter spacetime at spatial infinity.
Math development
The Einstein equation is given bywhere is the Ricci curvature tensor, R is the Ricci scalar, is the cosmological constant and is the metric we are solving for.
We will work in d spacetime dimensions with coordinates where and . The line element for a spacetime that is stationary, time reversal invariant, space inversion invariant, rotationally invariant
and translationally invariant in the directions is given by,.
Replacing the cosmological constant with a length scale L,
we find that,
with and integration constants, is a solution to the Einstein equation.
The integration constant is associated with a residual symmetry associated with a rescaling of the time coordinate. If we require that the line element takes the form,
, when r goes to infinity, then we must set .
The point represents a curvature singularity and the point is a coordinate singularity when . To see this, we switch to the coordinate system where and is defined by the differential equation,.The line element in this coordinate system is given by,,which is regular at . The surface is an event horizon.
References
Equations of physics
Black holes | AdS black brane | [
"Physics",
"Astronomy",
"Mathematics"
] | 310 | [
"Black holes",
"Physical phenomena",
"Equations of physics",
"Physical quantities",
"Unsolved problems in physics",
"Mathematical objects",
"Astrophysics",
"Equations",
"Density",
"Stellar phenomena",
"Astronomical objects"
] |
67,298,292 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue%20lava | Blue lava, also known as (), and simply referred to as blue fire or sulfur fire, is a phenomenon that occurs when sulfur burns. It is an electric-blue flame that has the illusory appearance of lava. Despite the name, the phenomenon is actually a sulfuric fire that resembles the appearance of lava, rather than actual lava from a volcanic eruption. The most well-documented of these fires occur on Indonesia's Kawah Ijen volcano, where they regularly burn.
Characteristics
"Blue lava" is an electric-blue fire that burns when sulfur combusts, producing a neon-blue flame. Sulfur burns when it comes into contact with hot air at temperatures above , which produces the energetic flames. Actual lava is red-orange in color, given its temperature. Truly-blue lava would require temperatures of at least , from Planck's law, which is much higher than any lava can naturally achieve on the surface of the Earth.
The most famous of these fires occur regularly on Indonesia's Kawah Ijen volcano, on the island of Java, which has some of the highest levels of sulfur in the world and is also a site of sulfur mining. Due to the occurrence of the flames, Kawah Ijen has also been nicknamed "the Blue Volcano". The crater of Kawah Ijen is the world's largest blue flame area. Kawah Ijen has large amounts of sulfur deposits and fumaroles, and the high temperatures from the underground volcanic heat frequently combusts the sulfur on the surface of the volcano, producing the blue fires. When sulfur from within the volcano breaches the surface, it can reach temperatures up to , and the sulfur immediately encounters lower temperatures and pressures at the surface, which causes the sulfur to immediately ignite and erupt blue flames up to into the air. At such high temperatures, the sulfur melts, which sometimes flows down the face of the volcano while carrying the flames with it, making it appear as if blue lava is flowing down the volcano. Due to the blue color of the flames, the fires are essentially visible only at nighttime, as they are otherwise indistinguishable during the daytime.
Another location in which "blue lava" is regularly seen is on Dallol mountain, in Ethiopia. The blue fires also occur in Yellowstone National Park during wildfires, when fires burn and melt the large amounts of sulfur present in the park, creating the appearance of burning blue rivers of lava during such events. Remnants of past episodes exist on the ground in the form of black lines, where fires have previously melted sulfur. Similar blue flames were observed on Kīlauea in May 2018, during the volcano's 2018 lower Puna eruption, when lava from the volcano burned methane that had been trapped underground.
See also
Emission spectrum
Flame test
Volcanic gas
Volcanism
References
External links
Burning Blue: Indonesia’s Psychedelic Sulphur Volcano –YouTube
Fire
Sulfur
Volcanism
Eruption products
Volcanic degassing | Blue lava | [
"Chemistry"
] | 609 | [
"Combustion",
"Fire"
] |
67,299,164 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timmerhuis | The Timmerhuis (formerly Stadstimmerhuis) is a building complex in the Stadsdriehoek district in the center of Rotterdam. The building is a combination of post-World War II reconstruction architecture by municipal architect J.R.A. Koops and contemporary architecture by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).
History
A Stadstimmerhuis (translated literally: "city carpentry house") is the office of the municipal service that deals with building and construction. It is named after the profession of civil carpenter, and later civil architect or master builder. An earlier Stadstimmerhuis in Rotterdam was located on the Haringvliet, but was destroyed in the Second World War during the German bombing of Rotterdam in World War II. Then, from the early 1940s to 1953, the Stadstimmerhuis was located as an emergency building near the cattle market, between the Warande and the Goudse Rijweg, on the Boezemweg. This emergency building was still in use after 1953. In 1947, municipal architect J.R.A. Koops designed the new Stadstimmerhuis, originally conceived as an elongated building on the Haagseveer with four wings at right angles to each other. Ultimately, only one of the four wings was realized: the one on the Meent. In this way, an L-shaped office building was created on the Meent and the Haagseveer. Its construction took place between 1950 and 1953; it was one of the first larger buildings in the empty center of Rotterdam to be erected after the bombing.
The building was completed in 1953 and housed the Department of Municipal Works and four technical departments. The reconstruction of Rotterdam would be led from this place.
Architecture
Koops' original Stadstimmerhuis is a sleek building, made of concrete with brick and stone details. It features gabled roofs and chimneys, giving it a traditionalist look, but it was also considered progressive, due to the concrete skeleton, flexible ventilation system and self-service elevators. Partition walls in the office spaces are movable. On the Meent there is a row of steel and glass shop fronts, and the gable ends have granite reliefs. There is also a bronze plaque in honor of engineer Cornelis van Traa - city architect of the reconstruction between 1940 and 1964 - after a design by Cor van Kralingen.
In 2000, the building received the status of a municipal heritage monument and has been extensively restored.
Expansion
An extension of the Stadstimmerhuis, contained within the L-shape, designed by Ronald Gill in the 1970s, was demolished in 2011. In 2009, a call for proposals was issued to design a new wing, in which five architectural firms took part (Claus and Kaan, Mecanoo, Meyer and Van Schooten, OMA and SeARCH). OMA's design was selected by a professional jury and is described as 'a shapeless pile of pixels', 'a building like a kind of cloud'. It is a set of white glass cubes, cantilevered over a steel construction on two legs.
The new complex, the Timmerhuis, opened on December 11, 2015. It contains offices, 91 apartments, an underground parking garage and houses Museum Rotterdam. Museum Rotterdam self-proclaims to be "The most Rotterdam museum in the world," connecting the past, present and future.
The old L-shaped building has been integrated into it. The extension comprises two towers, consisting of step-shaped, receding residential floors with roof terraces. On the ground floor, between the towers, is an atrium with a publicly accessible pedestrian passage (Halvemaanpassage) that connects Haagseveer with Rodezand.
References
External links
Photo from the (since abandoned) expansion by Ronald Gill
Photos of the extension by Designboom
Office buildings completed in 2015
Buildings and structures in Rotterdam
Postmodern architecture
Rem Koolhaas buildings | Timmerhuis | [
"Engineering"
] | 823 | [
"Postmodern architecture",
"Architecture"
] |
67,299,846 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersey%20Barrage | The Mersey Barrage is a proposed scheme for building a tidal barrage across the Mersey Estuary, between Liverpool and the Wirral Peninsula, England.
History
The River Mersey is considered to be a suitable source of marine renewable energy in the United Kingdom, because of its strong current and tidal range of up to , the second highest in the United Kingdom.
A Department of the Environment and UKAEA report in 1984 identified a site between New Brighton and Brocklebank Dock for a Mersey barrage.
A 2006 study by Peel Holdings and the North West Development Agency identified the River Mersey as having considerable potential for tidal power. A pilot project, using a water wheel to harness tidal power, was considered at Bootle docks. At the same time, a tidal barrage plan was evaluated, capable of generating 700MW.
A barrage scheme was abandoned in 2011, following a study by Peel Energy and the North West Development Agency. This proposal involved constructing a barrage between Dingle on the Liverpool bank and New Ferry on the Wirral bank. Although the study provided valuable insight, the preferred scheme was abandoned due to the expected lack of medium-term profitability.
Steve Rotheram revived plans for a barrage as part of his 2017 election campaign. The 2018 study indicated that economics were more favourable than previously, but still fell short by 20%. In February 2020, following a year-long feasibility study, a tidal power proposal for the River Mersey was granted £2.5million in funding to further develop the plan. In December 2022, the Liverpool City Region mayor announced an agreement between the City Region and K-water of South Korea, who built and operates the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station, to carry out "reciprocal visits and information sharing". The Mersey Tidal Power Project was launched as "a scoping project" in March 2024. The projected power output is not stated but it is suggested that the scheme will be able to "power a million homes".
The tidal barrage plan was put to public consultation in September 2024, starting the formal planning process.
Economic impact
A Mersey barrage has been predicted to be capable of producing between 1.0 and 1.5terawatt-hours of electricity per year (0.11 to 0.17 GW), which is equivalent to two-thirds of Liverpool's 2017 electricity requirement.
One design has proposed that cross-river public transport infrastructure is included in the construction.
Environmental impact
The estuary is designated as an internationally important protected area, for wading birds, ducks and fish. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust and the Cheshire Wildlife Trust are monitoring the progress of the proposals, and the potential impact on existing habitat and wildlife within the estuary. Following a similar scheme with the Rance Tidal Power Station in Brittany, some marine fauna initially suffered, but a new equilibrium was achieved after tenyears.
See also
Cardiff Bay Barrage
Centre Port
Hydroelectricity in the United Kingdom
List of tidal power stations
Marine current power
Marine energy
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Severn Barrage
Tidal power
References
External links
Proposed tidal power stations
Coastal construction
Geography of Merseyside
River Mersey
Proposed renewable energy power stations in England | Mersey Barrage | [
"Engineering"
] | 635 | [
"Construction",
"Coastal construction"
] |
67,300,388 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2%2C6-Dichloropyridine | 2,6-Dichloropyridine is a chloropyridine with the formula C5H3Cl2N. A white solid, it is one of six isomers of dichloropyridine. It serves as a precursor to the antibiotic enoxacin, as well as the drug and anpirtoline and the antifungal liranaftate.
Synthesis
2,6-Dichoropyridine is produced by reaction of pyridine with chlorine. 2-Chloropyridine is an intermediate.
Toxicity
The is 115 mg/kg (oral, mice).
References
Chloropyridines | 2,6-Dichloropyridine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 145 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compound stubs",
"Organic chemistry stubs"
] |
67,300,389 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan%20David%20Stephen%20Barr | Allan David Stephen Barr (A. D. S. Barr) (11 September 1930 – 11 February 2018) was a British Chartered Engineer who was a professor at the University of Aberdeen.
Barr was selected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1983.
Family
Allan David Stephen Barr was born on 11 September 1930, in Glasgow, Scotland, son of Allan and Agnes Barr. His father, Allan Barr, was a professor, a theologian and a moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland. (David, Barr, 2018) His grandfather, Rev James Barr, was elected as the first moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929.
Education
Barr was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied mechanical engineering in the early 1950s. In May 1956 he submitted his PhD thesis in the title “Approximate theories for the flexural vibration of uniform beams and their derivation from the general elastic equations”.
In this theis, Barr described experimental work on three deep rectangular sectioned beams against theories of flexural vibration. He first introduced how this experiment had been conducted,“The approximate theories of flexural vibration dealt with in the thesis are those in which the problem is reduced to the solution of a differential equation with one dependent variable (the transverse displacement of the neutral line of the beam) by a process of making reasonable assumptions during the derivation of the equation, In order to facilitate comparisons of the effects of the various assumptions made in the different theories, the differential equations are derived from the general elastic equilibrium equations written in terms of the stress components.”He went on, “Particular attention is given to the equation which includes the effects of rotatory inertia and transverse shear (usually referred to as the Timoshenko equation) because of Its interesting prediction for a finite beam of the possible existence of more than one natural frequency with the same number of nodes (i.e, a second spectrum of frequencies).”Barr then reported his research findings that “the predictions of the Timoshenko theory are closely followed, including the second spectrum frequencies. Third spectrum frequencies are detected very faintly for only one of the three beams, this is probably because lateral inertia is relatively unimportant for a cross-section of deep rectangular form”.
Barr's research was supervised by R. N. Arnold and J. D. Robson, and this was acknowledged in his thesis.
Career
Barr worked as an academic and a researcher in mechanical engineering at different universities, for example, the University of Edinburgh, University of Dundee, as a lecturer, Reader, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. When he retired from the University of Aberdeen in 1996, he was Emeritus Professor of Engineering.
As an academician, Barr successfully supervised research students. For example, Haxton acknowledged his gratitude to Barr in his PhD thesis submitted to the University of Edinburgh in 1971, noting that "The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the valuable guidance given by his supervisor, Dr. A.D.S. Barr of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Studentship support of the Science Research Council, London, during the period of this research."
Life
Barr had a broad range of interests, including “flying as a member of the University Air Squadron, motorcycle racing, music, painting, fly fishing and nature conservation,”
Barr died from dementia in Lincoln on 11 February 2018.
References
20th-century Scottish engineers
Mechanical engineers
1930 births
2018 deaths | Allan David Stephen Barr | [
"Engineering"
] | 695 | [
"Mechanical engineers",
"Mechanical engineering"
] |
67,300,495 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloflubicyne | Cloflubicyne is a chemical compound which is a chlorinated derivative of BIDN. It is an irreversible GABA receptor antagonist with powerful convulsant effects.
See also
BIDN
EBOB
References
Convulsants
GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulators
Irreversible antagonists
Norbornanes
Nitriles
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Organochlorides | Cloflubicyne | [
"Chemistry"
] | 88 | [
"Nitriles",
"Functional groups"
] |
67,300,807 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seimatosporium%20cornicola | Seimatosporium cornicola is an ascomycete fungus belonging to the family Amphisphaeriaceae. It is confirmed to be saprobic onto bloody dogwood, a European species. Growth attempts showed it had a slow cycle, taking a week to grow to a diameter of 2.5 cm at 18 °C. Its color and other properties are reportedly: "white to pale brown from above, greyish white from below, with sparse mycelium, flat, margin uneven". It was discovered in Italy in the year 2016 by a group of Chinese researchers.
References
External links
Xylariales
Fungus species | Seimatosporium cornicola | [
"Biology"
] | 128 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
67,301,917 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita%20aliena | Amanita aliena is a fungus belonging to the genus Amanita and the subgenus of the same name. Its name comes from the Latin word "aliena" which stands for "foreign". It grows in isolation on soil and is in association with Eucalyptus trees. Its distribution is said to span south Brazil from the States of Rio Grande do Sul to Santa Catarina. The first specimen was discovered in 2008 but it was not published until 2016.
See also
List of Amanita species
References
External links
aliena
Fungi of Brazil
Fungi described in 2016
Fungus species | Amanita aliena | [
"Biology"
] | 115 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
67,302,423 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint%20Service%20Lightweight%20Integrated%20Suit%20Technology | Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST), also known as Advanced Chemical Protective Garment (ACPG) by the U.S. Navy, is a suit used by the U.S. Military for protection against CBRN hazards. It is part of the MOPP ensemble. The JSLIST is made to be worn over the Battle Dress Uniform. The suit consists of lightweight chemical and biological protective clothing consisting of a two piece suit, overboots, gloves, and respiratory equipment. The suit is air permeable to allow breathing to help with the user's comfort and reduce heat stress. The JSLIST has a 120-day service life when removed from packaging, can be worn for 45 consecutive days in an uncontaminated environment, and can be cleaned up to 6 times.
History
In 1993, command groups from the Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and Air Force signed an agreement that created the JSLIST program, to replace the Chemical Protection Overgarment used by the U.S. Navy. The JSLIST program worked on creating, testing, and manufacturing a better and unified CBRN protective suit for a reduced cost. The U.S. Military started procurement of the JSLIST in 1997.
Components
The JSLIST Overgarment includes the coat and trousers. Both pieces are made from 50/50 nylon/cotton rip-stop material with a waterproof coating for the outer material. The inner material includes an activated charcoal layer. The overgarment comes in desert and woodland camouflage. The trousers have bellows pockets, adjustable suspenders and waistband, and a slide fastener with protective flap. The coat is waist long, has a slide fastener and protective flap, and has an integral hood. Multipurpose Rain, Snow, and CB overboot (MOLO) are used for footwear for the ensemble. Butyl gloves and respiratory equipment are also used to complete the suit. Military personnel often wrap M9 Detector Tape around the sleeve and trouser leg of the JSLIST for chemical agent detection.
Joint Firefighter Integrated Response Ensemble
Joint Firefighter Integrated Response Ensemble (J-FIRE) is a military protective suit used for firefighting in the CBRN and WMD environment. J-FIRE utilizes the JSLIST and an aluminized firefighting proximity suit. The J-FIRE is designed to resist water and standard firefighting chemicals, while still providing CBRN protection to the user. The U.S. Army started use of the J-FIRE suit in 1997.
References
Safety equipment
Chemical warfare
Military equipment of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1990s | Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology | [
"Chemistry"
] | 532 | [
"nan"
] |
59,416,143 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%20Special | The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment. In February 1919, 26 members of the National Woman's Party boarded a chartered train they dubbed the "Democracy Limited" in Washington, D.C. They visited cities across the country where they spoke to large crowds about their experiences as political prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse, and were typically dressed in their prison uniforms. The tour, which concluded in March 1919, helped create support for the ratification effort that ended with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment on August 26, 1920.
Background
In the summer of 1917, members of the National Woman's Party (NWP) began to stage protests outside the White House in Washington, D.C., demanding the vote for women. Over the course of the summer and fall, many of the women were arrested, often on charges of obstructing traffic, and fined. When they refused to pay those fines, they were jailed. At first, penalties were relatively light, but as the Silent Sentinels persisted in their vigil, sentences became more harsh. In July and August of that year, women were sentenced to unusually harsh sentences of sixty days and many were imprisoned at Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. In their belief that they were political prisoners, they refused to eat prison food, to perform work, or to wear the rough-cut prison uniforms provided to prisoners. By the fall, three of the women who had been participating in a hunger strike were subjected to forced feedings.
Public pressure forced officials to release the women held at Occoquan, but arrests continued throughout 1918 as the NWP intensified its lobbying efforts on behalf of women's suffrage. At the beginning of 1919, members of the NWP lit watch fires at both the White House and in nearby Lafayette Park, prompting another wave of arrests. Ultimately, 168 women would serve prison time. In February 1919, the woman's suffrage amendment was defeated by just one vote in the Senate. To secure public support and pressure legislators into passing the amendment before the end of the congressional session in March, the NWP launched a campaign they dubbed "From Prison to People," a three-week train tour across the United States.
The tour
Designed to educate the public about the "brutal and lawless measures of the Administration to suppress suffrage," the "Prison Special" train tour stopped at 16 cities across the United States to highlight the arrest, incarceration, and ill-treatment of women who had participated in protests supporting women's suffrage. The NWP members aboard the chartered train (nicknamed "The Democracy Limited") included veteran organizers Abby Scott Baker, Lucy Gwynne Branham, Lucy Burns, Mary Nolan (the NWP's "oldest picket"), Vida Milholland, Agnes Morey and Mabel Vernon.
To make their argument, they gave speeches from rented halls, train platforms, and automobiles, they sang jail songs from their time in prison, including "The Women's Marseillaise", and played the comb, they reenacted their arrests through dramatic readings, and they distributed pamphlets, including "Jailed for Freedom" (not to be confused with Doris Stevens' work published in 1920 under the same title). Perhaps most significantly, they dressed in replicas of their prison uniforms—described in the NWP publication, The Suffragist, as "calico wrappers designed exactly after the pattern of those which they were forced to wear in the work-house, thereby making the accounts of their experiences in the jail more vivid."
The tour was expensive and the cost—about $20,000—was funded by state branches of the NWP and individual donations from members. Louisine Havemeyer, a wealthy New York socialite and suffragist, also donated $1500 to the cause. William B. Thompson, a businessman, philanthropist, and supporter of women's suffrage, paid for the literature distributed during the tour. Ella Riegel managed tour logistics and Abby Scott Baker served as publicist.
Itinerary
The Prison Special left Union Station in Washington, D.C., on February 15, 1919, the anniversary of the birthday of women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony. The published itinerary included stops in the following cities:
Charleston, South Carolina (February 16–17)
Jacksonville, Florida (February 18–19)
Chattanooga, Tennessee (February 20–21)
New Orleans, Louisiana (February 22–23)
San Antonio, Texas (February 24)
Los Angeles, California (February 26–27)
San Francisco, California (February 28-March 1)
Denver, Colorado (March 3–4)
Chicago, Illinois (March 5–7)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (March 6)
Detroit, Michigan (March 7)
Syracuse, New York (March 8–9)
Boston, Massachusetts (March 9–10)
Hartford, Connecticut (March 10)
New York, New York (March 10)
The route moved systematically through the Southern states, where the NWP hoped to sway the sentiment of the Democratic Party, which had resisted the cause of women's suffrage, on to the Western states, where the NWP expected to rally women already enfranchised by their states to the cause of a federal amendment, and through the Northern states and the Northeast, ending in New York City. In addition to its published itinerary, the Prison Special also made several unscheduled stops which the women took full advantage of. In El Paso, Texas, a "flat wheel" on the Prison Special car forced an overnight stay. The El Paso Herald reports that Lucy Burns, Amelia Himes Walker Elizabeth McShane, and Sue Shelton White "preached the doctrine of suffrage" while other suffragists distributed literature to the gathered crowd. They carried flags with the suffrage colors of gold, purple, and white and stood on a step so that they could speak through the train platform's grill, which mimicked the bars of a prison. In an interview with the newspaper, Abby Scott Baker provided some insight into the women's experience as public speakers: "It is not easy to begin speaking on the street", she said. "Even though you are in the midst of a crowd, you have to begin talking to the air. But when you start out 'Ladies and gentlemen, the cause of liberty is sacred,' some of them will stop to see what is going on and, if you keep on, you will get them interested".
The participants of the Prison Special tour, all women who had served time in jail for supporting suffrage, included:
Pauline Adams
Edith Ainge
Berthe Arnold
Lillian Ascough
Abby Scott Baker
Josephine Bennett
Lucy Gwynne Branham
Lucy Burns
Palys Chevrier
Sarah T. Colvin
Lucy Hyde Ewing
Estelle Eylward
Gladys Greiner
Louisine Havemeyer
Mrs. Raymond Hunter
Mary Hall Ingham
Willie Grace Johnson
Elizabeth McShane
Vida Milholland
Agnes Morey
Mary Nolan
Ella Riegel
Elizabeth Selden Rogers
Gertrude Shaw
Mabel Vernon
Amelia Himes Walker
Cora Weeks
Sue Shelton White
Mary Winsor
Tactics
Some of the women aboard the Prison Special had some experience with train tours, having worked with the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1916 to organize the Suffrage Special. By 1919, the more radical NWP declared that this tour "would endeavor to acquaint the country with the lawless and brutal lengths to which the [Wilson] Administration has gone to suppress the lawful agitation for suffrage." To pursue that goal, the women would detail the time they spent in prison for what they insisted was peaceable assembly. Initially, the women wanted to paint the train car they would travel in with prison bars, but the Railway Administration would "not allow the painting of the cars to look like prison cells, nor any other insignia denoting the character and purpose of the car."
Instead, the women opted to highlight their prison experiences by appearing in public dressed in their prison uniforms (or replicas of those uniforms), which they once referred to as the "cloth of guilt" and which had been described as "the clumsiest sort of clothing--heavy, shapeless dresses; underclothing of unbleached muslin and woolen stockings--garments that are hot in the summer and cold in winter, and given to prisoners regardless of season." Two years after their incarceration at Occoquan and at a city jail in Washington, D.C., the women on the Prison Special hoped to use these same uniforms as evidence of the hardship of their struggle. While the adoption of the prison uniform helped to dramatize the struggle for women's suffrage, scholars also point to the ways in which the status of the "Prison Specialists" as elite white women was foregrounded. Newspaper accounts often remarked on their "refinement" and "education" and noted that they were "women of wealth who have chosen to humiliate themselves that attention may be drawn to the cause for which they are fighting." Journalist Carolyn Vance Bell wrote that the women on the Prison Special "were primed to unfold a harrowing tale...[about] the secrets of the prison house which...are guaranteed to freeze the feminine blood..." Such representations suggested that the injuries to these women—as opposed to working-class women or to African-American women—were injuries that mattered.
While programs varied from stop to stop, certain speakers were consistently featured. Louisine Havemeyer regularly spoke first, and was introduced as a grandmother of 11 children and one of the richest women in New York. She often spoke about the cause of women's suffrage being a just one and newspaper reports commented on her dignity and poise. Abby Scott Baker would often speak next; other speakers included Lucy Burns, Mary Winsor, who had spent 66 days in jail, and Lucy Branham. Often, while one woman was speaking, others, dressed in their prison clothes, would stand silently behind her.
In addition to distributing the pamphlet "Jailed for Freedom", the women also handed out a list of grievances against the Wilson Administration, noting that President Wilson "speaks for" women's suffrage, but "does nothing to promote it." A political cartoon drawn by Nina Allender, the official cartoonist for the NWP, shows a suffragist holding a copy of the "Senate Record" and carrying luggage labeled "N.W.P. Democracy Limited" about to board the Prison Special. During the tour, the women held mass meetings, often greeted by delegations of women—NWP members, club women, and others—at local hotels. The women on the Prison Special also used "motion pictures", likely a magic lantern show, as another visual way to represent their experiences of incarceration.
Participants in the Prison Special tour were capable publicists. In an article for Scribner's Magazine, Louisine Havemeyer recalls being asked to take a publicity photo with a police captain because "it will make such a good cut for the newspapers." She was careful to make sure the captain was shaking her hand when the picture was taken so that no one would think she was being arrested on tour.
Responses
The Prison Special was a draw for crowds: Abby Scott Baker reported that the police estimated that 2,000 people attended the stop in Charleston, South Carolina. But their reception was not always enthusiastic. Some newspapers reported the meetings encouraged "decidedly unnatural feminine sentiments." Other suffragists wanted to separate themselves from the more radical tactics of the NWP, whose members had burned an effigy of President Wilson the previous year. In Columbia, South Carolina, the mayor warned the women that "disloyal utterances would not be tolerated." The Equal Franchise League in El Paso, Texas, declared that it was "not in sympathy with the militant suffraget class." Often, however, the crowds were in sympathy with the tactics of the Prison Specialists, booing and hissing their treatment and crying "Shame! Shame on our government!"
Aftermath
Just three months after the conclusion of the Prison Special tour, Congress voted for passage of the 19th Amendment in June 1919. State-by-state ratification of the 19th Amendment would end in the successful adoption of the amendment a year later, in August 1920. The NWP, along with several members of the Prison Special tour, would continue the fight for women's rights by supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, a struggle that continues today.
See also
Suffrage Special
References
External links
Political cartoon drawn by Nina Allender
Political activism
Women's suffrage in the United States
History of voting rights in the United States
History of women in the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
Trains
1919 protests
Feminist protests in the United States
Women's suffrage advocacy groups in the United States | Prison Special | [
"Technology"
] | 2,641 | [
"Trains",
"Transport systems"
] |
59,416,429 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%20VG18 | is a distant trans-Neptunian object (TNO) that was discovered when it was from the Sun, more than three times the average distance between the Sun and Pluto. It was discovered on 10 November 2018 by Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo during their search for TNOs whose orbits might be gravitationally influenced by the hypothetical Planet Nine. They announced the discovery of on 17 December 2018 and nicknamed the object "Farout" to emphasize its distance from the Sun.
is the second-most distant natural object ever observed in the Solar System, after (132 AU), which was also discovered by Sheppard's team in January 2018. , is from the Sun and is moving farther away until it reaches aphelion in 2063. While is one of the most distant Solar System objects known, its orbit is not the most distant since its average orbital distance from the Sun is 82 AU, which places it in the scattered disk and the 2:9 orbital resonance with Neptune.
Discovery
was discovered by astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii on 10 November 2018. The discovery formed part of their search for distant trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with orbits that may be gravitationally perturbed by the hypothesized Planet Nine. The search team had been involved in the discoveries of several other distant TNOs, including the sednoids and 541132 Leleākūhonua. was first identified as a faint object slowly moving in two images taken with the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope on the night of 10 November 2018. At the time of discovery, was located in the constellation Taurus, at a faint apparent magnitude of 24.6, approaching the lowest detectable magnitude limit for most telescopes.
's low on-sky motion and brightness indicated that it is very distant, which prompted additional follow-up observations to constrain measurements of its orbit and distance. The object was reobserved in December 2018 by Sheppard at the Las Campanas Observatory, with observation times spanning ten days. However, its orbit remained with a significant uncertainty due to its short observation arc. Nonetheless, the discovery of along with a preliminary orbit solution was formally announced in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular issued by the Minor Planet Center on 17 December 2018.
Since the discovery announcement, has been periodically observed by Sheppard at the Las Campanas and Mauna Kea observatories. Additional observations were also made at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in November 2019 and January 2020. , has been observed for over five oppositions, with an observation arc of 16 years (5,900 days). Several precovery observations of have been identified in images taken by the Cerro Tololo Observatory's Dark Energy Camera on 11 March 2015 and 16 January 2017, as well as images taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and Subaru Telescope in November 2003 and September 2005, respectively.
Nomenclature
The discoverers gave the nickname "Farout" for its distant location from the Sun, and particularly because it was the farthest known TNO observed at the time. On the same day, the object was formally given the provisional designation by the Minor Planet Center. The provisional designation indicates the object's discovery date, with the first letter representing the first half of November and the succeeding letter and numbers indicating that it is the 457th object discovered during that half-month. The object has not yet been assigned an official minor planet number by the Minor Planet Center due to its short observation arc and orbital uncertainty. is expected to receive a minor planet number once it has been observed for over at least four oppositions, which would take several years. Once it receives a minor planet number, the object will be eligible for naming by its discoverers.
Orbit and classification
's average orbital distance from the Sun is approximately 82 AU and it takes approximately 737 years to complete one orbit. Simulations of 's orbit by Marc Buie show that is in a 2:9 orbital resonance with Neptune— orbits exactly twice for every nine orbits completed by Neptune. With an orbital eccentricity of about 0.53, it follows a highly elongated orbit, varying in distance from 38 AU at perihelion to 125 AU at aphelion. Its orbit is inclined to the ecliptic plane by about 24 degrees, with its aphelion oriented below the ecliptic. At perihelion, approaches close to Neptune's orbit without crossing it, having a minimum orbit intersection distance of approximately 8 AU. Because approaches Neptune at close proximity, its orbit has likely been perturbed and scattered by Neptune; thus, it falls into the category of scattered-disc objects. last passed perihelion in the late 17th century.
, is the second-most distant observed Solar System object from the Sun and is the first object discovered while beyond 100 astronomical units (AU), overtaking the dwarf planet (96 AU) in observed distance. 's distance from the Sun is , more than three times the average distance between the Sun and Pluto (39.5 AU). For comparison, the Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 space probes were approximately 120 AU and 144 AU from the Sun at the time of 's discovery, respectively. At its current distance, is thought to be close to the heliopause, the boundary where the Sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium at around 120 AU. The new orbit determination indicates that this object is currently very close to aphelion which it should reach in mid-2063, and that it is a member of the scattered disc.
While is one of the most distant objects observed, it does not have the largest orbital semi-major axis. For comparison, the semi-major axis of the planetoid 90377 Sedna is about 500 AU. In an extreme case, the scattered-disc object has a semi-major axis around 1,400 AU, though its distance from the Sun is about 64 AU, approximately half 's distance from the Sun in that year.
At the time of discovery on 10 November 2018, 's distance from the Sun was 123.4 AU, and has since moved to 123.6 AU from the Sun . As it is approaching aphelion, is receding from the Sun at a rate of 0.06 AU per year, or . was the farthest TNO known until February 2019, when (nicknamed "FarFarOut") was discovered at about 132 AU by Sheppard's team. While and are among the farthest Solar System objects observable, some historical near-parabolic comets are much further from the Sun. For example, Caesar's Comet (C/-43 K1) is over 800 AU from the Sun while Comet Donati (C/1858 L1) is over 145 AU from the Sun .
Physical characteristics
The size of is unmeasured, though it is likely large enough to be a possible dwarf planet, based on its intrinsic brightness or absolute magnitude. Based on its apparent brightness and large distance, 's absolute magnitude is estimated to be in the range of 3.4–4.5. According to the Minor Planet Center, it is the ninth intrinsically brightest scattered-disc object.
The albedo (reflectivity) of has not been measured nor constrained, thus its diameter could not be calculated with certainty. Assuming that the albedo of is within the range of 0.10–0.25, its diameter should be around . This size range is considered to be large enough such that the body can collapse into a spheroidal shape, and thus be a dwarf planet. Astronomer Michael Brown considers to be highly likely a dwarf planet, based on his size estimate of calculated from an albedo of 0.12 and an absolute magnitude of 3.9. Unless the composition of is predominantly rocky, Brown considers it very likely that has attained a spheroidal shape through self-gravity. Astronomer Gonzalo Tancredi estimates that the minimum diameters for a body to undergo hydrostatic equilibrium are around and , for predominantly icy and rocky compositions, respectively. If the composition of is similar to the former case, the object would be considered a dwarf planet under Tancredi's criterion.
See also
, nicknamed "FarFarOut" by its discoverers
List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion
List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun
List of trans-Neptunian objects
Notes
References
External links
Discovered: The Most-Distant Solar System Object Ever Observed – Carnegie Science press release
Farout Images – Discovery images of taken with the Subaru Telescope
It’s the Solar System's Most Distant Object. Astronomers Named It Farout. – The New York Times article by Kenneth Chang
Meet your very, *very* distant solar system neighbor 2018 VG18 – Bad Astronomy blog by Phil Plait
List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects – Minor Planet Center
Minor planet object articles (unnumbered)
Trans-Neptunian objects in a 2:9 resonance | 2018 VG18 | [
"Physics",
"Astronomy"
] | 1,855 | [
"Concepts in astronomy",
"Unsolved problems in astronomy",
"Possible dwarf planets"
] |
59,416,745 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkage%20disequilibrium%20score%20regression | In statistical genetics, linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSR or LDSC) is a technique that aims to quantify the separate contributions of polygenic effects and various confounding factors, such as population stratification, based on summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWASs). The approach involves using regression analysis to examine the relationship between linkage disequilibrium scores and the test statistics of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the GWAS. Here, the "linkage disequilibrium score" for a SNP "is the sum of LD r2 measured with all other SNPs".
LDSC can be used to produce SNP-based heritability estimates, to partition this heritability into separate categories, and to calculate genetic correlations between separate phenotypes. Because the LDSC approach relies only on summary statistics from an entire GWAS, it can be used efficiently even with very large sample sizes. In LDSC, genetic correlations are calculated based on the deviation between chi-square statistics and what would be expected assuming the null hypothesis.
Extensions
LDSC can also be applied across traits to estimate genetic correlations. This extension of LDSC, known as cross-trait LD score regression, has the advantage of not being biased if used on overlapping samples. Another extension of LDSC, known as stratified LD score regression (abbreviated SLDSR), aims to partition heritability by functional annotation by taking into account genetic linkage between markers.
References
Regression analysis
Genetic algorithms
Statistical genetics | Linkage disequilibrium score regression | [
"Biology"
] | 332 | [
"Genetics techniques",
"Genetic algorithms"
] |
59,417,186 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.%20David%20Gutsche | Carl David Gutsche (March 21, 1921 – August 28, 2018) was an American chemist.
Gutsche was raised in La Grange Park, Illinois. He studied at Oberlin College and later earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. Gutsche taught at Washington University in St. Louis from 1947 to 1989 earning the rank of professor emeritus. From 1989 to 2002, he was appointed Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry at Texas Christian University. Upon retirement in 2002, Gutsche moved to Tucson, Arizona and became a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona.
References
1921 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American chemists
21st-century American chemists
American organic chemists
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
Texas Christian University faculty
People from La Grange Park, Illinois
Oberlin College alumni | C. David Gutsche | [
"Chemistry"
] | 171 | [
"Organic chemists",
"American organic chemists"
] |
59,419,750 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiclassical%20transition%20state%20theory | Semiclassical Transition State Theory (SCTST) is an efficient chemical rate theory, which aims to calculate accurate rate constants of chemical reactions, including nuclear quantum effects such as tunnelling, from ab initio quantum chemistry. The method makes use of the semiclassical WKB wavefunction, Bohr-sommerfeld theory and vibrational perturbation theory to derive an analytical relation for the probability of a particle transmitting through a potential barrier at some energy, E. It was first developed by Bill Miller and coworkers in the 1970's, and has been further developed to allow for application to larger systems and using more accurate potentials.
References
Chemical reactions | Semiclassical transition state theory | [
"Chemistry"
] | 140 | [
"nan"
] |
59,420,823 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-Sb2S3 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:Ag-Sb2S3}}
Ag-Sb2S3, also known as black silver, is a nanoporous plasmonic absorber and nanomaterial. The material was first discovered by a team at the National University of Singapore and is composed of silver, antimony, and sulfur. It is an inexpensive nanomaterial with a wide range of applications. Applications include biomolecule detectors and solar energy conversion. This is caused by the material having a strong absorption of light along with a structure that be engineered to optically detect traces of biomolecules.
References
Nanomaterials | Ag-Sb2S3 | [
"Materials_science"
] | 133 | [
"Nanotechnology",
"Materials science stubs",
"Nanotechnology stubs",
"Nanomaterials"
] |
59,423,083 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum%20Drugs%20Mediterranean | Forum Drugs Mediterranean (up to 2023, known as FAAAT think & do tank: "For Alternative Approaches to Addiction, Think & do tank") is an international non-profit organization working on drug policy, created in 2015 and based in Paris, France.
The organization focuses on research and advocacy related to policy alternatives in the field of addiction, drug use and substance abuse, claiming to foster civil society participation in policymaking at the international level. According to its mission statement, FAAAT supports "Transparent and measurable drug policies framed by fundamental rights, grounded on sustainable development, enforcing empowerment, social justice and health" and "supports the development of a legally controlled market for cannabis." The organization is present at both the local and international levels.
Background
FAAAT's vision is that, from the local up to the international level, public policies related to controlled drugs should be transparent and measurable, framed by the Fundamental human rights of citizens, grounded on sustainable development, and that can empower the whole society while enforcing social justice and protecting health.
The organization's think-tank researches
policy alternatives to the current prohibition of drugs. Its do-tank organizes social engineering, collective action and advocacy for ground-up reformer stakeholders.
The project started in August 2015, and the organization was legally registered in February 2016 by drug policy reform advocates from the French chapter of NORML, the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, and the US Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access who had been previously operating at United Nations' Commission on Narcotic Drugs meetings.
The organisation collaborates with a network of experts, contributors, professionals and various stakeholders, holds conferences during the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organizes exhibits, and other advocacy activities.
Do-tank: Advocacy programs and actions
The organization claims two goals are structuring its actions (the so-called do-tank), "take action to ground the updates of international drug policy on sustainable development, human rights, transparency, and inclusiveness" and "strengthen peer groups, social movements and the nonprofit sector to increase knowledge, sustainability, effectiveness, and capacity for collective action on drug-related issues."
As such, FAAAT has been essentially active at the multilateral and international level (including at the European Union level). FAAAT has also supported local advocacy groups (such as the Catalan Network of People who Use Drugs CATNPUD, the rural cannabis farmers of the Ghomara and Senhaja people of the Moroccan central Riff or the French platform of NGOs for the reform of drug policies).
FAAAT also works to foster exchange of data and know-hows between politics, scholars and civil society stakeholders on drug-related policies and field practices.
The organization follows-up the work of the United Nations and international organizations (such as the INCB, UNODC or WHO) and regularly addresses international policymakers on drug-related issues, in particular the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs through oral or written statements, by showcasing policy models or by organizing fora and symposia (such as the Legal Regulations fora or the International Cannabis Policy Conference at the United Nations).
The organization works closely with the official consultative bodies towards the United Nations: NYNGOC (New-York NGO Committee on Drugs) and VNGOC (Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs). FAAAT is also a founding member of the IMCPC (International Medical Cannabis Patients Coalition) and the Geneva Platform on Human Rights, Health and Psychoactive Substances.
More broadly, FAAAT holds a blog and informs media and local communities about key policy issues.
Conferences
Introduction to the Cannabis Social Clubs, United Nations, Vienna, March 2016 (In collaboration with NORML France, Nonviolent Radical Party, Fundación Renovatio, Regulación Responsable Spain and ICEERS).
Legal Regulations Fora, United Nations, Vienna, March 2017
"Grand oral de l’élection présidentielle" (Great audition of French presidential candidates) on drug policy, organised with the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers
Right to Science and Freedom of Research with Scheduled Substances, United Nations, Vienna, March 2017 (In collaboration with the Government of the Czech Republic, MAPS, Associazione Luca Coscioni, Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access and ICEERS).
International Cannabis Policy Conference, United Nations and Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, December 2018 (In collaboration with other NGOs).
Just Coca forum, on coca leaf policy (May 2022).
Think-tank: Research on alternative drug policies
Although mainly focusing on international cannabis policy, the research department of FAAAT (so-called think-tank) claims to "impulse a modern approach to the categorification of "drugs": renew terminology, taxonomy & scheduling to review the biochemical paradigm of drug use" and pretends to "shift drug policies towards evidence and effectiveness: enhancing positive drug-related programs and actions from the ground."
As such, five main axis of research appear:
A follow-up of geopolitical evolutions of international drug control policies and related agreements. During the preparations of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session dedicated to the world drug phenomenon, Kenzi Riboulet Zemouli, head of research of FAAAT, was the only personality in Spain to endorse the Drug Policy Alliance open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, along with the former Director-General of UNESCO Federico Mayor Zaragoza and the former EU High Representative on common foreign and security policies Javier Solana. FAAAT also took part to the civil society mobilisations through different canals to raise awareness around that key UN summit.
An important work of the think-tank has been the research and analysis surrounding the WHO process of scientifically reviewing cannabis for purposes of scheduling under the international drug control Treaties where FAAAT has encouraged the WHO to take action, and fuelled civil society, researchers and physicians involvement in the process. According to the British Medical Journal, once the definitive results of the WHO reviews of cannabis for international scheduling was made public early 2019, FAAAT considered that the outcome was "positive" and "clearly acknowledges medical applications of cannabis and cannabinoids, reintegrates them into pharmacopoeias, balances harms and [effectively] repeals the WHO position from 1954 according to which ‘there should be efforts towards the abolition of cannabis from all legitimate medical practice.’" In December 2020, the efforts of FAAAT team were successful, with the withdrawal of "cannabis and cannabis resin" from Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961.
FAAAT considers that drug policies that enforce prohibition violate a series of fundamental human rights. Research is also being undertaken on this topic, and leads to outputs such as the submission of contributions to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its numerous correlations with cannabis policies and laws, is the latest area explored by FAAAT research department.
Besides international policy, one of the important task of the organization has been to popularize ground-up, peer-based and locally oriented models of legally regulated drug markets, in particular through the promotion of Appellations of Origin to protect traditional farmers knowledge in producing countries, or the so-called cannabis social club model for consumer countries, through the edition of advocacy documents or the organisation of workshops within the United Nations on the broader modalities of application of such model.
Publications
FAAAT is registered as an editor at the French national registry, and showcases its publications on its website. Remarked publications are:
Cannabis & Sustainable Development. Paving the way for the next decade in Cannabis and hemp policy. Recommendations for the implementation of Cannabis policies aligned with international Human Rights standards, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2016 UNGASS outcome document. . Full PDF available online
The Crimson Digest, Volume 1. Briefing on the international scientific assessment of cannabis: processes, stakeholders and history. . PDF available online
ECDD40 Procedural, methodological and terminological bias. Joint Civil Society Contribution to the 40th Meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. ISBN s/n.
Cannabis Social Club: Policy for the XXIst century. English: , French: , Spanish: .
Civil society partners
Americans for Safe Access (US)
AIDES (France)
Associazione Luca Coscioni for the freedom of scientific research (Italy)
Beckley Foundation (UK)
Cannabis Without Borders (France)
Caribbean Collective for Justice (Jamaica)
Catalan Network of People who Use Drugs (Spain)
CatFAC (Spain)
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (France)
Drug Policy Alliance (US)
DrugScience (UK)
EIHA (European Industrial Hemp Association) (Belgium)
ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies) (Belgium)
Fédération Addiction (France)
Fields of Green for ALL (South Africa)
Fundación Daya (Chile)
Hemp Industries Association (US)
International Drug Policy Consortium (UK)
International Centre for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (Spain)
Latinoamerica Reforma (Chile)
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (US)
Médecins du Monde (France)
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (US)
New York NGO Committee on Drugs (US)
Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (Italy)
NORML France (France)
Origins Council (US)
Regulación Responsable (Spain)
SOS Hépatites (France)
Stop The Drug War foundation (US)
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (US)
Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (US)
Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (Austria)
See also
1961 Convention – Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
1971 Convention – Convention on Psychotropic Substances
1988 Convention – United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
2016 UNGASS
Arguments for and against drug prohibition
Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Demand reduction
Drug addiction
Drug development
Drug liberalization
Drug policy reform
Freedom of thought
Harm reduction
Human rights
Illegal drug trade
International Narcotics Control Board
Prohibition (drugs)
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
War on Drugs
World Health Organization
References
External links
FAAAT on the European Union transparency register
FAAAT on the UNODC post-UNGASS follow-up stakeholders portal
Addiction and substance abuse organizations
Drug control law
Political controversies
Drug culture
Drug policy
Drug policy organizations
Public health organizations
International medical and health organizations
International charities
Health charities in France
Organizations established in 2016
2016 establishments in France
2016 in cannabis
Cannabis law reform organizations
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws | Forum Drugs Mediterranean | [
"Chemistry"
] | 2,136 | [
"Drug control law",
"Regulation of chemicals"
] |
59,425,152 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%207213 | NGC 7213 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Grus. It is located at a distance of circa 70 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7213 is about 75,000 light-years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on September 30, 1834. It is an active galaxy with characteristics between a type I Seyfert galaxy and LINER.
Characteristics
The nucleus of NGC 7213 features activity and belongs to the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGN). The optical spectrum features broad H-alpha lines and has similar characteristics to a type I Seyfert galaxy, however it is considerably less luminous than other similar galaxies. It also features [Ne V] λ3426, He II λ4686, [O II] λ3726, 3729, 7319, 7330, [O III] λ4363, 4959, and 5007 emission lines. However the intensity ratios of many of these lines is similar to a LINER. Observed in radio waves, NGC 7213 looks like a point-like source that could feature two jets that bend between one 1 arcsec (150 pc) and 10 arcsec (1.5 kpc). It is categorised as a radio-intermediate galaxy, lying between radio-quiet and radio-loud sources. The source of activity in the AGNs is a supermassive black hole (SMBH) lying at the centre of the galaxy. The mass of the SMBH at the centre of NGC 7213 is estimated to be between and based on the mean velocity dispersion or (3-47) × 106 (10) based on the polarization of broad Hα emission.
NGC 7213 has been found to be a low-luminosity X-ray source. The 2-10 keV spectrum of NGC 7213 resembles the spectrum of Seyfert I galaxies, but also contains significant emission lines from FeXXV and FeXXVI, which are observed in LINERs and are not present in most classical Seyfert galaxies. Also, the soft X-ray spectrum of NGC 7213 features collisionally ionized thermal plasma, one more characteristic of LINERs. In addition, there is no X-ray emission detected that can be attributed to an accretion disk. Observations by NuSTAR at 3-79 keV showed no evidence for a Compton-reflected continuum. The observations suggest that the accretion disc is truncated in the inner region, with the black hole being fed via radiative-inefficient accretion flows.
The X-ray flux of NGC 7213 is fluctuating, presenting a sharp flare, larger than the others, in the 1980s with the flux reducing steadily after for more than 20 years. This flare showed a fast-rise-exponential-decay pattern and has been suggested to be caused by the tidal disruption of a main sequence star by the black hole at the centre of NGC 7213. Smaller scale flares are also observed. The emission variability is also observed in other wavelengths with a time lag. The lag is 24 ± 12 days for 8.4 GHz radio and 40 ± 13 days for the 4.8 GHz radio.
Surrounding the nucleus is a ring of starforming regions, lying at a radius of circa 20 arcseconds. Closer to the nucleus can be observed a dusty spiral pattern, with two arms, with the northwest arm being on the near side of the galaxy, and the southeast one to the far side. The ionised gas inflow rate towards the nucleus is estimated to be 0.2 per year. Although NGC 7213 appears undisturbed in visible light, it shows signs of having undergone a collision or merger when viewed at longer wavelengths, with disturbed patterns of ionized hydrogen including a filament of gas around 64,000 light-years long, itself being part of a larger HI tidal tail southwest of the nucleus.
Nearby galaxies
NGC 7213 is the foremost galaxy in a galaxy group known as the NGC 7213 group. Other members of the group include IC 5170, IC 5181, NGC 7232, and NGC 7233. A bit further away lies the NGC 7144 group, which includes NGC 7144, NGC 7145, NGC 7151, and NGC 7155. These galaxies group are part of the Pavo-Indus cloud and the Grus cloud, which lie between the Local Supercluster and Pavo–Indus Supercluster.
See also
Other Seyfert galaxies include:
Messier 77
NGC 1106
NGC 5128
References
External links
NGC 7213 on SIMBAD
Lenticular galaxies
Seyfert galaxies
Grus (constellation)
7213
68165
Astronomical objects discovered in 1834
Galaxies discovered in 1834
Discoveries by John Herschel
288-G043
LINER galaxies | NGC 7213 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 994 | [
"Grus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,425,812 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian%20six-hour%20clock | The six-hour clock (), also called the Roman () or the Italian () system, is a system of date and time notation in Italy which was invented before the modern 24-hour clock. In this system, the day starts at the evening, at the end of twilight, approximately half an hour after sunset, and the following 24 hours are divided into four cycles of six hours each.
Historically, several other ancient timekeeping systems are known to have begun the day at twilight. In this case the practice in Italy dates to the Middle Ages, in the Papal States whence it spread to other parts of central Italy. It originates from the monastic tradition of dividing the day according to prayer times. While common from the 1400s to the 1600s, it was replaced by the 12-hour clock first in the north, and in the south around the early 1800s.
Many historic buildings in Italy feature old clock faces divided into six hours, which make four revolutions per day.
A clock which counts only six hours has the advantage of being much simpler mechanically, as the wider gaps between the hour markings mean that the time can be clearly marked using only a single hand.
See also
The Thai six-hour clock, another six-hour system.
References
Further reading
.
.
Date and time representation
Culture of Italy
Time measurement systems | Italian six-hour clock | [
"Physics"
] | 267 | [
"Physical quantities",
"Time measurement systems",
"Time",
"Date and time representation",
"Spacetime"
] |
59,426,983 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature%27s%2010 | Nature 10 is an annual listicle of ten "people who mattered" in science, produced by the scientific journal Nature. Nominees have made a significant impact in science either for good or for bad. Reporters and editorial staff at Nature judge nominees to have had "a significant impact on the world, or their position in the world may have had an important impact on science". Short biographical profiles describe the people behind some of the year's most important discoveries and events. Alongside the ten, five "ones to watch" for the following year are also listed.
2024
2024 awardees included:
Ekkehard Peik: Father time
Kaitlin Kharas: Fair-pay champion
Li Chunlai: Moon-rock guardian
Anna Abalkina: Fraud buster
Huji Xu: Daring doctor
Muhammad Yunus: Nation builder
Placide Mbala: Virus hunter
Cordelia Bähr: Climate crusader
Rémi Lam: AI weather sleuth
Wendy Freedman: Cosmic ranger
Ones to watch in 2025:
Mark Thomson: Next director-general, CERN
Emma Hodcroft: Co-founder, Pathoplexus
Donald Trump: US president-elect
2023
2023 awardees included:
Kalpana Kalahasti: To the Moon
Marina Silva: Amazon protector
Katsuhiko Hayashi: Rewiring reproduction
Annie Kritcher: Fusion igniter
Eleni Myrivili: Warming warden
Ilya Sutskever: AI visionary
James Hamlin: Superconductivity sleuth
Svetlana Mojsov: Unsung drug developer
Halidou Tinto: Malaria fighter
Thomas Powles: Cancer explorer
Special awardee:
ChatGPT: Boon and burden?
Ones to watch in 2024:
Monica M. Bertagnolli, Director, US National Institutes of Health
Colin Waters, Chair, Anthropocene Working Group
Ilan Gur, Chief executive, UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency
Muhammad Masroor Alam, Molecular biologist, Pakistan National Institutes of Health
2022
2022 awardees included:
Jane Rigby: Sky hunter
Yunlong Cao: COVID predictor
Saleemul Huq: Climate revolutionary
Svitlana Krakovska: Voice for Ukraine
Dimie Ogoina: Monkeypox watchman
Lisa McCorkell: Long-COVID advocate
Diana Greene Foster: Abortion fact-finder
António Guterres: Crisis diplomat
Muhammad Mohiuddin: Transplant trailblazer
Alondra Nelson: Policy principal
Ones to watch in 2023:
Sherry Rehman, Minister of climate change, Pakistan
Nallathamby Kalaiselvi, Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
Sun Chunlan, Chinese Communist Party
Renee Wegrzyn, US Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
Anthony Tyson, University of California, Davis
2021
2021 awardees included:
Winnie Byanyima vaccine warrior
Friederike Otto, weather detective
Zhang Rongqiao, Mars explorer
Timnit Gebru, AI ethics leader
Tulio de Oliveira, variant tracker
John Jumper, protein predictor
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, indigenous defender
Guillaume Cabanac, deception sleuth
Meaghan Kall, COVID communicator
Janet Woodcock, drug chief
Ones to watch in 2022:
Chikwe Ihekweazu, epidemiologist at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
Jane Rigby, astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Love Dalén, geneticist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History
Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy on climate change
Graziano Venanzoni, physicist at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics
2020
2020 awardees included:
Tedros Ghebreyesus, Warning the world
Verena Mohaupt, Polar patroller
Gonzalo Moratorio, Coronavirus hunter
Adi Utarini, Mosquito commander
Kathrin Jansen, Vaccine leader
Zhang Yongzhen, Genome sharer
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, A force in physics
Li Lanjuan, Lockdown architect
Jacinda Ardern, Crisis leader
Anthony Fauci, Science’s defender
Ones to watch in 2021:
Marion Koopmans, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Zhang Rongqiao, China National Space Administration
Karen Miga, University of California, Santa Cruz
Rochelle Walensky, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Jane Greaves, Cardiff University, UK
2019
2019 awardees included:
Ricardo Galvão: Science defender
Victoria Kaspi: Sky sleuth
Nenad Sestan: Neuroscientist
Sandra Díaz: Biodiversity guardian
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum: Ebola fighter
Yohannes Haile-Selassie: Origin seeker
Wendy Rogers: Transplant ethicist
Deng Hongkui: CRISPR translator
John M. Martinis: Quantum builder
Greta Thunberg: Climate catalyst
Ones to watch in 2020:
António Guterres: Secretary-general, United Nations
Denis Rebrikov: Kulakov National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, Moscow
Geng Meiyu: Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, China
Mariya Gabriel: European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
Markus Rex: Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
2018
2018 awardees included:
Yuan Cao: Graphene wrangler
Viviane Slon: Humanity's historian
He Jiankui: CRISPR rogue
Jess Wade: Diversity champion
Valérie Masson-Delmotte: Earth monitor
Anthony Brown: Star mapper
Yeo Bee Yin: Force for the environment
Barbara Rae-Venter: DNA detective
Robert-Jan Smits: Open-access leader
Makoto Yoshikawa: Asteroid hunter
Ones to watch in 2019:
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, Director-general of the Democratic Republic of the Congo National Institute for Biomedical Research
Julia Olson, Co-counsel in Juliana v. United States
Muthayya Vanitha, Director of India's Chandrayaan-2 Moon mission
Maura McLaughlin, Chair at the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
Sandra Díaz, Co-leader of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
2017
2017 awardees included:
David R. Liu: Gene corrector
Marica Branchesi: Merger maker
Emily Whitehead: Living testimonial
Scott Pruitt: Agency dismantler
Pan Jianwei: Father of quantum
Jennifer Byrne: Error sleuth
Lassina Zerbo: Test-ban tracker
Victor Cruz-Atienza: Quake chaser
Ann Olivarius: Legal champion
Khaled Toukan: Opening SESAME
Ones to watch in 2018:
Shaughnessy Naughton, President of 314 Action
Mark Walport, Chief executive of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Kate Crawford, Co-founder of AI Now Institute
John M. Martinis, Team leader of Quantum computing at Google
Patricia Espinosa, Executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
2016
2016 awardees included:
Gabriela Gonzalez: Gravity spy
Demis Hassabis: Mind crafter
Terry Hughes: Reef sentinel
Guus Velders: Cooling agent
Celina M. Turchi: Zika detective
Alexandra Elbakyan: Paper pirate
John J. Zhang: Fertility rebel
Kevin Esvelt: CRISPR cautionary
Guillem Anglada-Escudé: Planet hunter
Elena Long: Diversity trailblazer
Ones to watch in 2017:
Cori Bargmann, Science president, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Robert Feidenhans’l, Chairman, European XFEL
Jef Boeke, Co-leader, Human Genome Project–Write
Wu Weiren, Chief Designer, China Lunar Programme
Marcia McNutt, President, National Academy of Sciences
2015
2015 awardees included:
Christiana Figueres: Climate guardian
Junjiu Huang: Embryo editor
Alan Stern: Pluto hunter
Zhenan Bao: Master of materials
Ali Akbar Salehi: Nuclear diplomat
Joan Schmelz: A voice for women
David Reich: Genome archaeologist
Mikhail Eremets: Super conductor
Christina Smolke: Fermenting revolution
Brian Nosek: Bias blaster
Ones to watch in 2016:
Fabiola Gianotti, Director-general of CERN
Gabriela González, Spokesperson at Advanced LIGO
Kathy Niakan, Stem-cell biologist, Francis Crick Institute
Demis Hassabis, Co-founder, DeepMind
Yang Wei, Head of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
2014
2014 awardees included:
Andrea Accomazzo: Comet chaser
Suzanne L. Topalian: Cancer combatant
Radhika Nagpal: Robot-maker
Sheik Umar Khan: Ebola doctor
David Spergel: Cosmic skeptic
Maryam Mirzakhani: Surface explorer
Pete Frates: Ice-bucket challenger
Koppillil Radhakrishnan: Rocket launcher
Masayo Takahashi: Stem-cell tester
Sjors Scheres: Structure solver
Ones to watch in 2015:
Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate official
Alan Stern, Principal investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission
Joanne Liu, International president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Bernard Bigot, Nominated as next director-general of ITER
Rick Horwitz, Executive director, Allen Institute for Cell Science
2013
2013 awardees included:
Feng Zhang: DNA's master editor
Tania Simoncelli: Gene patent foe
Deborah Persaud: Viral victor
Michel Mayor: In search of sister Earths
Naderev Saño: Climate conscience
Viktor Grokhovsky: Meteorite hunter
Hualan Chen: Front-line flu sleuth
Shoukhrat Mitalipov: The cloning chief
Kathryn Clancy: An eye on harassment
Henry Snaith: Sun worshipper
Ones to watch in 2014:
Masayo Takahashi, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology
Christopher Field of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Jean-Pierre Bourguignon Incoming president, European Research Council (ERC)
Koppillil Radhakrishnan Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation
Gordon Sanghera from Oxford Nanopore Technologies
2012
2012 awardees included:
Rolf-Dieter Heuer: The Higgs diplomat
Cynthia E. Rosenzweig: Guardian of Gotham
Adam Steltzner: Our man on Mars
Cédric Blanpain: Cell tracker
Elizabeth Iorns: Replication hound
Jun Wang: Genome juggernaut
Jo Handelsman: The bias detective
Tim Gowers: Seed of discontent
Bernardo De Bernardinis: On the fault line
Ron Fouchier: Flu fighter
Ones to watch in 2013:
Anne Glover, European Commission chief science adviser
Thomas Stocker, of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Chris Austin, US National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Jan Tauber, the European Space Agency’s Planck mission
Rafael Yuste, of Columbia University, New York
2011
2011 awardees included:
Dario Autiero: Relativity challenger
Sara Seager: Planet seeker
Lisa Jackson: Pollution cop
Essam Sharaf: Science revolutionary
Diederik Stapel: Fallen star
Rosie Redfield: Critical enquirer
Danica May Camacho: Child of the times
Mike Lamont: The Higgs mechanic
Tatsuhiko Kodama: Fukushima's gadfly
John Rogers: Tech executive
References
Lists of people in STEM fields
Springer Science+Business Media | Nature's 10 | [
"Technology"
] | 2,310 | [
"Lists of people in STEM fields"
] |
59,427,161 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As%C3%ADn%20tibuok | Asín tibuók is a rare Filipino artisanal sea salt from the Boholano people made from filtering seawater through ashes. A related artisanal salt is known as túltul or dúkdok among the Ilonggo people. It is made similarly to asín tibuók but is boiled with gatâ (coconut milk).
Both of them are part of the unique traditional methods of producing sea salt for culinary use among the Visayan people of the central Philippine islands. They differ in taste from salt obtained through traditional drying beds or modern methods. Asín tibuók has a sharp taste with smoky and fruity undertones, while túltul has an innate savory flavor. They are characteristically finely textured with small granules. They are consumed by grating a light dusting over food.
The tradition of making asín tibuók and túltul is nearly extinct due to the difficulty and length of time it takes to manufacture them, the passing of the salt iodization (ASIN) law in 1995, as well as competition with modern imported salts. They are only barely preserved in Bohol, Capiz, and Guimaras. Asín tibuók is listed in the Ark of Taste international catalogue of endangered heritage foods by the Slow Food organization.
Names
Asín tibuók literally means "unbroken salt" or "whole salt" in the Cebuano language of the Boholano people. It is the name of the salt in the island of Bohol.
Similar salt-making traditions also exist in Guimaras island and the neighboring province of Capiz in Panay Island. In Guimaras, it is known as túltul or tul-tul, meaning "lump"; while in Capiz, it is known as dukdok, meaning "pounded" or "pulverized". Both names are in the Hiligaynon language of the Ilonggo people.
Production
The method of production varies slightly between the Boholano asín tibuók and the Ilonggo túltul or dúkdok. Both methods can only be done for six months of the year, from December to May, due to the fluctuations in seawater salinity during the rainy seasons.
Bohol
Boholano asín tibuók is made by soaking coconut husks for several months in special pits continually filled with seawater during the tides. They are then cut into small pieces and dried for a few days. They are burned in a pile until reduced completely to ash. This takes about a week. The ashes (called gasang) are gathered into a funnel-shaped bamboo filtering device. Seawater is poured into the ash, allowing the water to leach out the salt from the ashes. The brine (known as tasik) is collected into a hollowed-out coconut trunk beneath the funnels.
The tasik is poured into special clay pots and hung in walls in a special furnace. These are boiled for a few hours in the furnace, continually replenishing the pots with more tasik once some evaporate. Eventually, the pots will crack, revealing the solidified mass of salt. The salt mass will be initially very hot, and it usually takes a few hours before it is cool enough to be handled. They are sold along with the broken domed pots which has given them the nickname "the dinosaur egg" in international markets due to their appearance.
Guimaras and Capiz
Ilonggo túltul, duldul, or dukdok is made by gathering driftwood ( or ) and other washed-up plant matter (twigs, reeds, coconut husks, bamboo stems, etc.) from the beach. These are burned completely into ash for about a week. The ash is then gathered into cylindrical woven bamboo containers known as kaing. The kaing are placed on bamboo platforms and a container is placed underneath. Seawater is poured through the ash and caught on these containers. The brine is then strained and transferred into other containers where it is mixed with gatâ (coconut milk). These are poured into molds (hurnohan) and boiled over an outdoor stove (kalán). More of the liquid is continually poured into the molds as they evaporate until nothing but a solid mass of salt remains. These brick-like lumps (known as bareta) are then packaged and sold.
Culinary uses
Asín tibuók and túltul are usually consumed by grating a light dusting of them over food. They were traditionally dusted over plain hot rice with a few drops of oil and eaten as is. They are also used to season sinangag (traditional fried rice). Chunks can also be broken off and dipped into stews and dishes or ground and used like regular table salt.
Conservation
Salt-makers (asinderos) were once important professions in Philippine society, but the craft is nearly extinct in modern times. Part of this is due to the time-consuming traditional methods of producing salt and the hard work that goes with it. Artisanal salt-makers can not compete with the cheap imported salt prevalent today in the Philippines. The passage of Republic Act No. 8172, the Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN), in 1995 also placed further stress on local salt-makers, forcing many to give up the industry altogether.
Both asín tibuok and túltul are only made by a few families today. They are commonly sold for the tourist trade for their novelty as well as to gourmet restaurants that feature Filipino cuisine. Due to their rarity, they are considerably more expensive than regular salt. The demand is usually high for asín tibuok and túltul, but the supply can not keep up.
Asín tibuok is listed in the Ark of Taste international catalogue of endangered heritage foods by the Slow Food movement.
See also
Salt industry in Las Piñas
List of edible salts
External links
References
Edible salt
Filipino cuisine | Asín tibuok | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,234 | [
"Edible salt",
"Salts"
] |
59,427,673 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermophis%20donaldtrumpi | Dermophis donaldtrumpi is a name proposed for a putative new species of caecilian a nearly-blind, serpentine amphibian to be named after Donald Trump. It was originally discovered in Panama and though the name was proposed in 2018, it has yet to be confirmed as a new species; as of 2024, the binomial name and description of the species has not been formally published. It was given its name after the Rainforest Trust held an auction for the naming rights. The company EnviroBuild won the auction and proposed naming the species in protest against Trump's environmental policies and views.
Description
Dermophis donaldtrumpi is about long, and like all caecilians it has a worm-like appearance with a smooth and shiny skin rich in mucous glands. This order of amphibians are either aquatic or fossorial, with D. donaldtrumpi belonging to the latter type, living almost entirely underground. It is nearly blind, with its reduced eyes only able to detect light and dark, so it uses a pair of tentacles, unique to caecilians, near its mouth in order to find prey. The offspring feed on an extra layer of skin produced by the mother (dermatotrophy), which provide them with both nutrients and microbes necessary for a healthy microbiome.
According to the Rainforest Trust, amphibians such as D. donaldtrumpi are vulnerable to extinction due to being exceptionally sensitive to the results of global warming.
Naming
In December 2018, the Rainforest Trust completed an auction of naming rights for twelve newly discovered species of South American plants and animals, the money going towards the conservation of the species' habitats. The sustainable building materials company EnviroBuild paid $25,000 for the right to name the new amphibian.
Aidan Bell, owner of EnviroBuild, stated that he named the species after Trump to raise awareness of Trump's policies on climate change and the danger that he sees those policies pose to the survival of many species. Referring to the creature's "rudimentary eyes which can only detect light or dark", Bell said that "Capable of seeing the world only in black and white, Donald Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax by the Chinese." Daily Mirror also linked the creature's limited sight as "a feature that inspired it[s] name." According to The Washington Post, "The naming choice highlights the president's dismal approval ratings worldwide and is clearly designed to belittle him."
Bell also related the caecilian's instincts when nurturing young to what he claims as Trump's nepotism: "The Dermophis genus grows an extra layer of skin which their young use their teeth to peel off and eat, a behaviour known as dermatrophy. As a method of ensuring [his] children survive in life Donald Trump prefers granting them high roles in the Oval Office." Dermatotrophy, a form of parental care in which the young feed on the skin of its mother, has been scientifically observed in other species of caecilians, such as Boulengerula taitana.
EnviroBuild further connected the amphibian's nature to burrow underground with more of the president's policies: "Burrowing its head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change". The company also noted that he had "appointed several energy lobbyists to the Environment Agency, where their job is to regulate the energy industry."
The process of naming this species has garnered significant controversy among researchers and conservationists; some have pointed out the conservation benefits of the money donated to name the species, while others have criticized the idea of donating to name a new species, as many of the donors had no involvement with the studies undertaken to describe the species. In particular, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences researcher Christian Kammerer sees the facetious name of the amphibian as "just mean to the creature".
See also
List of things named after Donald Trump § Species
List of organisms named after famous people (born 1900–1949)
References
Dermophis
Endemic fauna of Panama
Donald Trump
Undescribed vertebrate species
Nomina nuda | Dermophis donaldtrumpi | [
"Biology"
] | 882 | [
"Biological hypotheses",
"Nomina nuda",
"Controversial taxa"
] |
59,427,801 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204939 | NGC 4939 is a large spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of about 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4939 is about 190,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 25, 1786.
Characteristics
NGC 4939 has been characterised as a Seyfert galaxy, a galaxy category which features bright point-like nuclei. NGC 4939 is a type II Seyfert galaxy. Its X-ray spectrum is more consistent with a Compton-thick cold reflection source, which means that the source is hidden behind dense material, mainly gas and dust, and the X-rays observed have been reflected, but a Compton-thin transmission model could not be ruled out. The equivalent width of the FeKα line is large, indicating too that it is a Compton-thick source. Further observations by Swift Observatory confirmed its Compton-thick nature. The source of activity in the active galactic nuclei is a supermassive black hole (SMBH) lying at the centre of the galaxy. The SMBH at the centre of NGC 4939 is accreting material with a rate of 0.077 per year. The black hole has been detected in hard X-rays, which are not absorbed by the Compton-thick column, by INTEGRAL.
The galaxy has a large elliptical bulge and maybe a weak bar. It is a grand design spiral galaxy, with two tightly wrapped arms emanating from the bulge. The arms are thin, smooth and well defined and can be traced for nearly one and a half revolutions before fading. Two symmetric arm sections or arcs are observed in the central part of the galaxy. The galaxy is seen with an inclination of 56 degrees. The rotational speed of the galaxy is about 270 km/s.
Supernovae
Five supernovae have been observed in NGC 4939:
SN 1968X (type unknown, mag. 16) was discovered by Paul Wild on 27 November 1968.
SN 1973J (type unknown, mag. 16) was discovered by Paul Wild on 21 May 1973.
SN 2008aw (Type II, mag. 15.9) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) on 2 March 2008.
SN 2014B (Type IIP, mag. 17.0) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) on 2 January 2014.
SN 2020nif (Type II, mag. 16.1492) was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility on 24 June 2020.
Nearby galaxies
NGC 4939 belongs to a small galaxy group known as the NGC 4933 group, named after the multiple galaxy NGC 4933. The group lies between the Local Supercluster and Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster.
References
External links
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Seyfert galaxies
Virgo (constellation)
4939
045170
Astronomical objects discovered in 1786
Discoveries by William Herschel
-02-33-104
13016-1004 | NGC 4939 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 616 | [
"Virgo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,429,614 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral%20gap%20%28physics%29 | In quantum mechanics, the spectral gap of a system is the energy difference between its ground state and its first excited state. The mass gap is the spectral gap between the vacuum and the lightest particle. A Hamiltonian with a spectral gap is called a gapped Hamiltonian, and those that do not are called gapless.
In solid-state physics, the most important spectral gap is for the many-body system of electrons in a solid material, in which case it is often known as an energy gap.
In quantum many-body systems, ground states of gapped Hamiltonians have exponential decay of correlations.
In 2015, it was shown that the problem of determining the existence of a spectral gap is undecidable in two or more dimensions. The authors used an aperiodic tiling of quantum Turing machines and showed that this hypothetical material becomes gapped if and only if the machine halts. The one-dimensional case was also proven undecidable in 2020 by constructing a chain of interacting qudits divided into blocks that gain energy if and only if they represent a full computation by a Turing machine, and showing that this system becomes gapped if and only if the machine does not halt.
See also
List of undecidable problems
Spectral gap, in mathematics
References
Quantum mechanics
Physical quantities
Undecidable problems | Spectral gap (physics) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 269 | [
"Physical phenomena",
"Physical quantities",
"Quantity",
"Theoretical physics",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Computational problems",
"Undecidable problems",
"Mathematical problems",
"Physical properties"
] |
59,429,781 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted%20blanket | A weighted blanket is an especially heavy blanket that is used to aid sleep and reduce anxiety. Initially, weighted blankets were most commonly used as therapeutic tools to assist autistic people, individuals with dementia, and mental health conditions. They have subsequently become a mass-market product. Scientific evidence does not support their use as an aid for insomnia, and they can be dangerous, particularly for children.
Uses
Weighted blankets are used in occupational therapy in an attempt to help individuals improve their emotional and physical regulation. Specifically, weighted blankets are used in a type of occupational therapy called "sensory integration therapy", which helps autistic people or people with mental conditions focus on sensory experiences. Weighted blankets are just one of the many tools occupational therapists use to provide "deep-touch pressure", a form of physical stimulation that, according to experts, may help individuals regulate their emotions and behavior.
The main concern when considering a weighted blanket is to choose the appropriate weight because if the blanket is too light, it will just feel like a normal duvet; if instead it is too heavy, it may feel uncomfortable. A weighted blanket should be about 10% of the person's body weight: for about 97% of people this feels right. The blanket should also cover the body from the toes to the chin. After following the aforementioned weight recommendation, if the weight of the blanket doesn't feel right, it is more likely that the blanket is too heavy than too light.
Although early research indicates that weighted blankets may be an appropriate therapeutic tool for reducing anxiety, reviews in current medical literature note that research in this area is sparse.
Other studies have indicated that weighted blankets may reduce anxiety and, as a result, allow the user to fall asleep more quickly. However, in relation to insomnia, medical experts note that more research is needed, as there is not yet enough evidence to prove that the products reduce symptoms. Additionally, there is a significant placebo effect, which will need to be accounted for in future studies.
History
Some of the earliest research into the form of deep-touch pressure that weighted blankets use began in 1965, when an American scientist with autism, Temple Grandin, invented the hug machine. She later used it to study the calming effects of deep-touch pressure in other autistic people.
Keith and Lynda Zivalich produced the first version of a weighted blanket in 1997, when they created a bean-filled comforter now called the "Magic Weighted Blanket." They made their first sale in December 1998.
The first official study of weighted blankets as an avenue for deep-touch pressure occurred shortly after, in 1999. Tina Champagne, an occupational therapist, began researching them as a coping device for individuals in the broader special-needs community. Weighted blankets continued to increase in popularity in the special needs community, and several companies began creating product lines throughout the early- and mid-2000s.
However, it wasn't until 2017 that weighted blankets secured mainstream popularity, when the science news site Futurism launched a Kickstarter campaign for a product called the Gravity Blanket and raised almost $5 million. The company sold more than 128,000 units by putting a new spin on the product and marketing it to the public as a sleep aid and stress reducer.
In 2018, Time magazine named "blankets that ease anxiety" one of the best inventions of 2018 and cited the Gravity Blanket specifically. They noted that although Futurism didn't invent the weighted blanket, the company perfected the art of marketing it to the masses. Along these same lines, The Atlantic linked the Gravity Blanket's success, and the subsequent rise in weighted blankets, to a new way of describing and marketing their uses, describing the Gravity Blanket as a story about "the promise of life-changing comfort to the meditation-app-using, Instagram-shopping masses." The New Yorker linked the Gravity Blanket's popularity to both good timing and marketing, arguing that the previous years saw a marked rise in feelings of stress and worry in the United States and that it's "not coincidental that Gravity’s Kickstarter success arrived deep into a period when many Americans were beginning their e-mails with reflexive, panicked condolences about the news."
Retail stores around the world began selling variations of the blankets throughout 2018 and, by the end of the year, weighted blankets were on practically every gift guide on the internet.
Since securing popularity, medical doctors have noted that, while some findings have been intriguing, more research is needed to verify the efficacy of the products as sleep aids and stress reducers.
Composition
A common type of weighted blanket is made out of a fabric blanket divided into small compartments, which are then filled with plastic pellets or small beads. Plastic-filled blankets are typically more affordable, but bulkier; and some consumers prefer to avoid plastics for personal or environmental reasons. Glass or metal are considered less likely to cause allergic reactions; and due to their inherent density, less bulk is required to achieve the same weight.
All-fabric types of weighted blankets are also available. They are often knitted or crocheted with thick and heavy materials, such as T-shirt yarn (also known as "tarn" or "T-yarn", made out of T-shirt weight cotton), which is sometimes available as recycled materials, deadstock, or byproducts of the garment industry.
Safety and efficacy
A 2018 systematic review, which investigated the effectiveness of using weighted blankets to decrease anxiety and insomnia, found that weighted blankets may be an appropriate therapeutic tool in reducing anxiety in limited settings and populations. However, the researchers also found that there is not enough evidence to suggest they are helpful with insomnia, and investigating their use was hampered by inconsistent practice.
Scientists caution that studies on the safety of weighted blankets in healthy adults cannot be generalized to children, and even less so to children with disabilities. Weighted blankets may be over and, due to this excessive weight, improper use of weighted blankets carries risk of harm to children, having been responsible for at least one child's death.
Weighted blankets are widely recommended for autistic children by support groups and in online forums. A 2013 review found no relevant scientific studies on the topic;
there was insufficient evidence to support this use as of 2019.
Care
Due to size and weight, weighted blankets are often difficult to launder (some are also made of materials that cannot be machine-washed). Therefore, many blankets are sold alongside a machine-washable cover. Additionally, the blanket's weight may exceed the maximum load allowed by a washing machine, and should always be checked in advance. A delicate wash in cold water is generally preferred, as this preserves the properties of the padding material and prevents damage to the weighted pellets/beads. In most cases, how often to wash a weighted blanket depends on how the owner uses it.
Special care should also be exercised when drying a weighted blanket. Most manufacturers recommend flat drying the blankets. This can be achieved by using a flat surface, laying down a few towels to soak the excess water, and laying the weighted blanket on top to dry. Hang drying is discouraged because the weighted blanket may lose its shape and reduce its lifespan. Gentle air drying in the machine may be possible, depending on the weighted blanket filling and padding material. Plastic and synthetic fabric or padding materials may lose their properties due to excessive air temperature.
See also
Weighted vests for children
References
Blankets
Medical equipment | Weighted blanket | [
"Biology"
] | 1,520 | [
"Medical equipment",
"Medical technology"
] |
42,960,994 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph%20coloring%20game | The graph coloring game is a mathematical game related to graph theory. Coloring game problems arose as game-theoretic versions of well-known graph coloring problems. In a coloring game, two players use a given set of colors to construct a coloring of a graph, following specific rules depending on the game we consider. One player tries to successfully complete the coloring of the graph, when the other one tries to prevent him from achieving it.
Vertex coloring game
The vertex coloring game was introduced in 1981 by Steven Brams as a map-coloring game and rediscovered ten years after by Bodlaender. Its rules are as follows:
Alice and Bob color the vertices of a graph G with a set k of colors.
Alice and Bob take turns, coloring properly an uncolored vertex (in the standard version, Alice begins).
If a vertex v is impossible to color properly (for any color, v has a neighbor colored with it), then Bob wins.
If the graph is completely colored, then Alice wins.
The game chromatic number of a graph , denoted by , is the minimum number of colors needed for Alice to win the vertex coloring game on . Trivially, for every graph , we have , where is the chromatic number of and its maximum degree.
In the 1991 Bodlaender's paper, the computational complexity was left as "an interesting open problem".
Only in 2020 it was proved that the game is PSPACE-Complete.
Relation with other notions
Acyclic coloring. Every graph with acyclic chromatic number has .
Marking game. For every graph , , where is the game coloring number of . Almost every known upper bound for the game chromatic number of graphs are obtained from bounds on the game coloring number.
Cycle-restrictions on edges. If every edge of a graph belongs to at most cycles, then .
Graph Classes
For a class of graphs, we denote by the smallest integer such that every graph of has . In other words, is the exact upper bound for the game chromatic number of graphs in this class. This value is known for several standard graph classes, and bounded for some others:
Forests: . Simple criteria are known to determine the game chromatic number of a forest without vertex of degree 3. It seems difficult to determine the game chromatic number of forests with vertices of degree 3, even for forests with maximum degree 3.
Cactuses: .
Outerplanar graphs: .
Planar graphs: .
Planar graphs of given girth: , , , .
Toroidal grids: .
Partial k-trees: .
Interval graphs: , where is for a graph the size of its largest clique.
Cartesian products.
The game chromatic number of the cartesian product is not bounded by a function of and . In particular, the game chromatic number of any complete bipartite graph is equal to 3, but there is no upper bound for for arbitrary . On the other hand, the game chromatic number of is bounded above by a function of and . In particular, if and are both at most , then .
For a single edge we have:
For stars we have:
Trees:
Wheels: if
Complete bipartite graphs: if
Open problems
These questions are still open to this date.
Edge coloring game
The edge coloring game, introduced by Lam, Shiu and Zu, is similar to the vertex coloring game, except Alice and Bob construct a proper edge coloring instead of a proper vertex coloring. Its rules are as follows:
Alice and Bob are coloring the edges a graph G with a set k of colors.
Alice and Bob are taking turns, coloring properly an uncolored edge (in the standard version, Alice begins).
If an edge e is impossible to color properly (for any color, e is adjacent to an edge colored with it), then Bob wins.
If the graph is completely edge-colored, then Alice wins.
Although this game can be considered as a particular case of the vertex coloring game on line graphs, it is mainly considered in the scientific literature as a distinct game. The game chromatic index of a graph , denoted by , is the minimum number of colors needed for Alice to win this game on .
General case
For every graph G, . There are graphs reaching these bounds but all the graphs we know reaching this upper bound have small maximum degree.
There exists graphs with for arbitrary large values of .
Conjecture. There is an such that, for any arbitrary graph , we have .
This conjecture is true when is large enough compared to the number of vertices in .
Arboricity. Let be the arboricity of a graph . Every graph with maximum degree has .
Graph Classes
For a class of graphs, we denote by the smallest integer such that every graph of has . In other words, is the exact upper bound for the game chromatic index of graphs in this class. This value is known for several standard graph classes, and bounded for some others:
Wheels: and when .
Forests : when , and . Moreover, if every tree of a forest of is obtained by subdivision from a caterpillar tree or contains no two adjacent vertices with degree 4, then .
Open Problems
Upper bound. Is there a constant such that for each graph ? If it is true, is enough ?
Conjecture on large minimum degrees. There are a and an integer such that any graph with satisfies .
Incidence coloring game
The incidence coloring game is a graph coloring game, introduced by Andres, and similar to the vertex coloring game, except Alice and Bob construct a proper incidence coloring instead of a proper vertex coloring. Its rules are as follows:
Alice and Bob are coloring the incidences of a graph G with a set k of colors.
Alice and Bob are taking turns, coloring properly an uncolored incidence (in the standard version, Alice begins).
If an incidence i is impossible to color properly (for any color, i is adjacent to an incident colored with it), then Bob wins.
If all the incidences are properly colored, then Alice wins.
The incidence game chromatic number of a graph , denoted by , is the minimum number of colors needed for Alice to win this game on .
For every graph with maximum degree , we have .
Relations with other notions
(a,d)-Decomposition. This is the best upper bound we know for the general case. If the edges of a graph can be partitioned into two sets, one of them inducing a graph with arboricity , the second inducing a graph with maximum degree , then . If moreover , then .
Degeneracy. If is a k-degenerated graph with maximum degree , then . Moreover, when and when .
Graph Classes
For a class of graphs, we denote by the smallest integer such that every graph of has .
Paths : For , .
Cycles : For , .
Stars : For , .
Wheels : For , . For , .
Subgraphs of Wheels : For , if is a subgraph of having as a subgraph, then .
Open Problems
Is the upper bound tight for every value of ?
Is the incidence game chromatic number a monotonic parameter (i.e. is it as least as big for a graph G as for any subgraph of G) ?
Notes
References (chronological order)
Graph coloring | Graph coloring game | [
"Mathematics"
] | 1,467 | [
"Graph coloring",
"Mathematical relations",
"Graph theory"
] |
42,961,761 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20virus%20F | Grapevine virus F (GVF) is a plant virus species in the genus Vitivirus.
References
External links
ICTV Virus Taxonomy 2009
UniProt Taxonomy
Betaflexiviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine virus F | [
"Biology"
] | 43 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,961,860 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20virus%20B | Grapevine virus B is plant virus species in the genus Vitivirus. It is associated with rugose wood (corky bark) symptoms in grapevine.
See also
List of viruses
List of grape diseases
References
External links
ICTV Virus Taxonomy 2009
UniProt Taxonomy
Betaflexiviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine virus B | [
"Biology"
] | 63 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,962,039 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20virus%20D | Grapevine virus D (GVD) is a plant virus species in the genus Vitivirus, associated with rugose
wood condition of grapevine.
See also
List of viruses
References
External links
ICTV Virus Taxonomy 2009
UniProt Taxonomy
Betaflexiviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine virus D | [
"Biology"
] | 57 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,962,073 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20leafroll-associated%20virus%202 | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2 (GRLaV2) is a virus infecting grapevine in the genus Closterovirus. It is associated with rugose wood condition of grapevine. According to Bosciai, 1995, grapevine corky bark-associated virus (GCBaV) is a variant of GRLaV2.
See also
List of viruses
References
External links
uniprot.org/taxonomy
Closteroviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2 | [
"Biology"
] | 95 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,962,805 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation%20and%20restoration%20of%20plastic%20objects | Conservation and restoration of objects made from plastics is work dedicated to the conservation of objects of historical and personal value made from plastics. When applied to cultural heritage, this activity is generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer.
Background
Within museum collections, there are a variety of artworks and artifacts that are composed of organic plastic materials, either synthetic or semi-synthetic; these were created for a range of uses from artistic, to technical, to domestic use. Plastics have become an integral component of life, and many plastic artifacts have become cultural icons or objects worth preserving for the future. Although relatively new materials for museum collections, having originated in the 19th century, plastics are deteriorating at an alarming rate. This risks the loss not only of the objects themselves, but other nearby materials may also be degraded by outgassing or reactions with other released chemicals.
Identification of plastics
Identification of plastic components of a collection is extremely important, because some plastics may release a harmful toxin or gas that can damage nearby objects. A preservation plan can be established to slow down the effects and protect a collection.
Plastics are identified by various methods, including trade name, trademark, or patent number. Depending on the manufacturer, different chemical formulas and materials may have been used to produce the plastic over the years. A recycling code may be present, giving general information about the material composition. Plastic composites or proprietary blends can be more difficult to identify.
If there are no markings to identify the type of plastic used, it may still be identified by using various types of spectroscopic technology such as optical spectrometer, Raman mid-infrared spectroscopy, and near-infrared spectroscopy, along with mass spectrometry. Other forms of identification include elemental analysis or thermal analysis to decipher the composition of plastics.
The Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDiP), has created a guide to plastic objects that includes the manufacturing dates and manufacturing processes, along with its typical characteristics such as feel and smell. If an object in a collection has characteristics that differ from what is expected, it is possible that the piece has begun to deteriorate.
In 2022, the Getty Conservation Institute published a book on the properties of commonly-used plastics and elastomers, including 56 "fact sheets" summarizing important characteristics of the materials, and methods of identification.
Common plastics
The list below is of chemical compositions that make up common plastics found in museum collections. These are some plastics that may degrade, but are not seriously harmful to nearby objects:
Non-plasticized (rigid) polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
The following are "malignant" plastic materials that will age rapidly if left untreated, and which have a higher risk of off-gassing or releasing toxic materials that can damage surrounding objects:
Polyvinyl chloride treated with plasticizers
Polyurethane
Cellulose esters, including cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate
Vulcanized rubber
Biodegradable plastics
Environmental concerns have driven recent changes in plastic manufacturing towards biodegradable plastics, with a potentially negative effect upon the long-term stability of such materials within museum collections.
Deterioration
A difficult aspect of plastic deterioration is that one cannot see what types of chemical reactions are occurring in the interior of an object, or easily identify the makeup of proprietary plastic composites. Many plastics will give off a distinct odor, ooze liquids, or will begin to shrink or crack in some way as they age. Although deterioration cannot always be stopped, it is important to know the causes and be able to mitigate or slow damage.
Causes
The causes of deterioration regarding plastics can be linked to age, chemical composition, storage, and improper handling of the objects:
Age – When plastics were first manufactured in the 19th century, they were derived directly from organic materials; over the years these objects have usually deteriorated due to lack of knowledge and improper handling of the early plastics.
Chemical – Depending on an object's chemical composition, conservators can understand how it will react over time. Other chemical reactions are driven by heat, oxygen, light, liquids, additives, and biological attacks.
Storage – Improper storage of plastic artifacts can allow contamination and deterioration to occur. This often occurs when temperature or relative humidity fluctuate in the storage area, and this may cause the polymers to react to the environment, to deteriorate, and possibly to contaminate surrounding objects. Maintaining stable storage conditions is also important when an object is on exhibit. When the object is lighted and on display, its temperature and humidity can fluctuate. Conditions inside the exhibit case must be monitored and adjusted when necessary, to help prevent any damage.
Improper handling – Improper cleaning techniques when using water or solvents on incompatible materials can cause damage. Also, human error when handling objects can occur, causing abrasions or scratches.
Chemical processes
Understanding the different types of plastic chemical degradation helps in planning specific measures to protect plastic artifacts. Listed below are types of chemical reactions that accelerate the deterioration of the polymer's structure:
Photo-oxidative degradation occurs when plastic degrades from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) or visible light; the most damaging wavelengths depend on the composition of the polymer. In general, plastic will be affected by light, and it is best practice to keep plastic away from light sources as much as possible, especially during longterm storage.
Thermal degradation affects the entire bulk volume of the polymer making up an object, and is strongly affected by the temperature and amount of light exposure.
Ozone-induced degradation will deteriorate saturated and unsaturated polymers when the plastic is exposed to atmospheric ozone. A test can be conducted to see if the object has been exposed, by taking small samples for analysis using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
Catalytic degradation mainly focuses on plastic waste polymers as they are transformed into hydrocarbons.
Biodegradation causes the surface or the strength of the plastic to change; this process eventually decomposes vulnerable materials into carbon dioxide and water as microbes consume components of the material.
Hydroperoxide decomposition occurs when metal and metal ions within the plastic material lead to the deterioration of the object
Plasticizer migration occurs when additive chemicals intended to keep a plastic resin soft and pliable gradually move to the surface or are shed from an object. The loss of these chemicals causes the plastic to revert to a brittle state, often shrinking or distorting in shape. The migrating chemicals may cause other nearby objects to deform or otherwise degrade. In addition, many plasticizers, such as phthalates or bisphenol A (BPA) may be toxic, hormone disruptors, or carcinogenic in their biological effects.
Additional effects of deterioration:
Plastics composed of cellulose acetate, when exposed to water, often will give off a smell of vinegar (vinegar syndrome); the surface will have a white powder residue and will begin to shrink.
Cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and cellulose butyrate will produce butyric acid which has a "vomit odor".
Polyvinyl chloride may cause a "blooming" effect, white powder on the surface that can contaminate nearby materials.
Preventive care
A yearly checkup of plastic artifacts can help monitor their condition, as well as the condition of the surrounding objects to verify that they have not been cross-contaminated.
Safe handling
Impermeable safety gloves such as those made of nitrile can help prevent toxins from entering the skin when handling plastic objects. Dust masks, respirators, or other personal protective equipment may be required for protection from outgassing or airborne microplastic dusts produced by some decaying plastics.
Storage environment
Plastics are best stored with a relative humidity level of 50%, at a storage temperature of , in light-proof enclosures. Because the composition of each plastic material can be different, it is difficult to designate a single uniform storage care plan; understanding the specific composition of a plastic artifact can help determine its preferred climate conditions. Keeping plastics at a stable low temperature and placing these objects either in cold storage or in oxygen-impermeable bags helps to slow degradation.
Monitoring plastics in their storage environment is done by tracking their status and condition by using log entries on spreadsheets or in another database. Monitoring the temperature environment is done using data logger hardware which tracks hourly changes in temperature (and optionally, humidity). Objects composed of flammable and unstable cellulose nitrate especially benefit from cold storage, to reduce their rate of decay.
Long-term storage supplies
Adsorbents such as activated carbon, silica gel, and zeolites are used to absorb gases that are released from plastics. These absorbents can also be used when the object is on display to prevent and off-gassing that could occur, whether the object is on exhibit or in long-term storage. Absorbents along with acid-free boxes can help slow down the process of degradation and vinegar syndrome which is common in certain types of film, Lego plastics, and artwork.
Oxygen-impermeable bags are used to exclude atmospheric oxygen. In combination with oxygen absorbers, this prevents oxidation and deterioration of the contents.
Conservation
The process of conservation and restoration of plastics requires an understanding of chemical composition of the material and an appreciation for the possible methods of restoration and their limitations, as well as development of a post-treatment preventive care plan for the object.
Cleaning
The process of cleaning plastics is done with the use of appropriate solvents, after identifying the polymers that make up the composition of the plastic. A spot test can be performed if there is uncertainty how the object will react to water or solvents.
Scratch removal
Within the field of contemporary art, where the surface finish is part of the artist's intent, the removal of scratches may need to be more nuanced, compared to simply compensating for accidental damage to social-historical artifacts. Conservators have developed and scientifically investigated a variety of methods for scratch removal.
Filling
Fillings may be needed if an object has suffered considerable loss of material due to accidental damage or chemical deterioration. The process of filling depends on the object's chemical composition, and requires consideration of refractive indexes, transparency, viscosity, and its compatibility with the rest of the object.
See also
Disc rot
References
Further reading
External links
POPART: an international collaborative research project about the preservation of plastic artefacts in museums
Conservation of plastics
Safe Handling of Plastics in a Museum Environment
Deutsches Kunsstoff Museum
PlArt museo
Conservation of rubber
THE CONSERVATION OF A PLASTIC MASK BY MARISOL
Care of plastics:Malignant Plastics
Care of Objects Made from Rubber and Plastic
MoDiP
The Getty Conservation Institute
Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
Art history
Cultural heritage
Museology
Cultural heritage conservation
Sculpture
Plastics | Conservation and restoration of plastic objects | [
"Physics"
] | 2,196 | [
"Amorphous solids",
"Unsolved problems in physics",
"Plastics"
] |
42,963,240 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20virus%20E | Grapevine virus E (GVE) is a plant virus species in the genus Vitivirus.
See also
List of viruses
References
External links
ICTV Virus Taxonomy 2009
UniProt Taxonomy
Betaflexiviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine virus E | [
"Biology"
] | 47 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,963,378 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert%20riparian | Desert riparian is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) occurring in the bottoms of valleys, canyons, and other watercourses that have water at or near the surface most of the year. The visual character is of large, lush, perennial green trees surrounded by dry desert vegetation and soil coloration. The area may be in a patch surrounding a spring such as an oasis, or in a strand following the course of water flow, such as a bosque. The soil in this biome is typically moist and ranges from rocky and sandy to silty alluvium. This biome has seasonal variation, with hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Precipitation mostly occurs during the winter, and ranges from 8 to 25 cm each year. It is contrasted with the desert dry wash vegetation type, in which water at or near the surface is lacking most of the year, such as arroyos.
Over 80% of known desert wildlife species use desert riparian areas. Common dominant species include Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Rio Grande cottonwood (P. deltoides wislizeni), velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina), arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis), Goodding's willow (Salix gooddingii), red willow (Salix laevigata), California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), and invasive species such as salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima), giant reed (Arundo donax), and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia). Salt cedar and Russian olive are particularly causing problems for this ecosystem because they are able to extract water more efficiently than native cottonwoods and willows, can quickly regrow from a ground-level stump if cut down, grows woody thorns up to 3 inches long, and produce fruits favored by birds. Many of these noninvasive non-native species may also be found because springs and surface water areas in the desert often were old homesites where such species were intentionally planted, such as elm, black locust, and assorted fruit trees.
The desert riparian plays a large role in the populations of wildlife that inhabit it. Several bird species live within the shrubs, including the American Dipper, Belted Kingfisher, Lesser Scaup, and Flycatchers, including the critically endangered southwest willow flycatcher. The cover provided by the Riparian vegetation provides a suitable environment for the dispersal of birds. Riparian forests store limiting nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate, and plays an important role in nutrient cycling. The riparian vegetation decreases erosion and improves water quality by trapping pollutants.
See also
Bosque
Riparian-zone restoration
References
Biomes
Riparian zone
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States
.
.
Plant communities of California
Natural history of the Lower Colorado River Valley | Desert riparian | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 593 | [
"Riparian zone",
"Hydrology"
] |
42,963,391 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20leafroll-associated%20virus%201 | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 1 (GRLaV-1) is a virus infecting grapevine in the genus Ampelovirus.
See also
List of viruses
References
External links
uniprot.org/taxonomy
Closteroviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 1 | [
"Biology"
] | 54 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,963,431 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20leafroll-associated%20virus%203 | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is a grapevine infecting virus in the family Closteroviridae, genus Ampelovirus.
GLRaV-3 is an economically important virus causing Grapevine leafroll disease in grapevine worldwide.
See also
List of viruses
References
External links
uniprot.org/taxonomy
Closteroviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 | [
"Biology"
] | 83 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,963,524 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20leafroll-associated%20virus%204 | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 4 (GRLaV-4) is a virus infecting grapevine in the genus Ampelovirus.
References
External links
uniprot.org/taxonomy
Closteroviridae
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 4 | [
"Biology"
] | 49 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,963,616 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali%20sink | An alkali sink is a salty basin land form. In these depressions, which are found only in the San Joaquin Valley, California, rainwater drains to the basin and collects in areas where it cannot penetrate the soil due to a hard layer of clay or caliche, producing a pond or lake. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind increasing amounts of salt and minerals in the soil, creating a high pH level in the water and soil.
The term may also refer to a North American desert vegetation type (biome) characteristic of that landform. Plants that tolerate the extreme salt concentrations are known as halophytes. It is generally below the saltbrush scrub vegetation type, which is typified by less salt tolerant species than alkali sink types.
Halophytes that grow in and around alkali sinks:
Iodine Bush - Allenrolfea occidentalis
Bush Seepweed / Inkweed - Suaeda moquinii
Desert Saltgrass - Distichlis spicata
Alkali Weed - Cressa truxillensis
Alkali Heath - Frankenia salina
Parish's Glasswort - Arthrocnemum
Spikeweed / Tarweed - Centromadia pungens
References
Fluvial landforms
Salt flats
Salt flats of the United States
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States
.
.
Plant communities of California | Alkali sink | [
"Chemistry"
] | 283 | [
"Salt flats",
"Salts"
] |
42,963,753 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptor%20%28software%29 | Disruptor is a library for the Java programming language that provides a concurrent ring buffer data structure of the same name, developed at LMAX Exchange. It is designed to provide a low-latency, high-throughput work queue in asynchronous event processing architectures. It ensures that any data is owned by only one thread for write access, therefore reducing write contention compared to other structures. The library is used for asynchronous logging in the popular Java software library Log4j.
See also
Concurrent data structure
References
External links
LMAX Disruptor: High Performance Inter-Thread Messaging Library
Java (programming language) libraries
Concurrent algorithms | Disruptor (software) | [
"Technology"
] | 132 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer science",
"Computer science stubs"
] |
42,963,905 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian%20grapevine%20viroid | The Australian grapevine viroid (abbreviated AGV), binomial name Apscaviroid austravitis, is a type of grapevine viroid.
See also
List of viruses
References
Viroids
Viral grape diseases | Australian grapevine viroid | [
"Biology"
] | 47 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,963,936 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine%20yellow%20speckle%20viroid%201 | Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 1 (Apscaviroid alphaflavivitis) is a type of viroid that infects grapevine.
References
Viroids
Viral grape diseases | Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 1 | [
"Biology"
] | 40 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
42,964,044 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OceanoScientific | The OceanoScientific Programme is a scientific process studying causes and consequences of climate change at the ocean - atmosphere interface.
Sailing dedicated to the Science
In November 2006, Yvan Griboval creates the OceanoScientific Programme for SailingOne. The OceanoScientific Programme is the set of activities designed to enable the international scientific community and the IPCC to enrich their knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change, through the repeated collection of quality data at the ocean - atmosphere interface (oceanographic and atmospheric), especially on sea routes subject to little or no scientific exploration, aboard all kind of vessels but especially sailing ships; guided by JCOMMOPS, the support centre of the Joint WMO - IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology of the United Nations.
IPCC, WMO and IOC are specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN).
The two main contractual partners of the OceanoScientific Programme from the start are the French research institutes IFREMER and Météo-France. The industrial partner of the OceanoScientific Programme is the German company SubCtech, headed and created by Stefan Marx, who created a p sensor. This sensor was compared to others on board the research vessel Polarstern.
Yvan Griboval - Its creator
Self-made man with a scholarship in Rouen (France), Yvan Griboval has early married his passions for sailing and for media, combining the job of professional sportsman, as from 1975 and of journalist-reporter, as from 1979 in French media: L’Équipe, Agence France Presse, Voiles & Voiliers, France Télévision.
Yvan Griboval took part in the win of L’Esprit d’Équipe with Lionel Péan at the Whitbread 1985-86 (now the Volvo Ocean Race), the crewed race around the world.
Then he put his experience and know-how at the service of companies as from 1987 to 1988, to guide them in their event-driven communication processes based on the exploitation of the Yachting in general and the Sailing, of its competitions, of its champions.
Founder and president of the company SailingOne ever since its inception (December 1994), he created the Trophée of Sailing Champions in 1990. As from its first edition, the French version of this event was named the Trophée Clairefontaine thanks to the partnership established in the spring 1990 with the eponymous papermaker group (Groupe des Papeteries de Clairefontaine). In November 2006, Yvan Griboval creates the OceanoScientific Programme.
A unique material (collecting oceanographic and meteorologic data)
As from early 2007, Yvan Griboval creates the OceanoScientific System, which is a component of the OceanoScientific Programme and the tool for OceanoScientific Campaigns. This is a "Plug & Play" equipment for the automatic acquisition and transmission by satellite of at least twelve scientific (oceanographic and atmospheric) parameters - formatted according to the standards of UN agencies. The OSC System is a technological development without any equivalent anywhere in the world when it works for the first time, on 14 October 2009. It makes possible for scientists the access to a new fleet of vessels of opportunity: sailing boats especially dedicated to these scientific missions. A scientific publication was carried out after the first test-expedition in the French Revue de l’Electricité et de l’Electronique (REE), in November 2010.
Data transmission to the International Scientific Community
Yvan Griboval initiates then the OceanoScientific Campaigns, standing for the implementation of the OceanoScientific System. It therefore involves the repeated collection of quality data at the ocean - atmosphere interface and their transmission to the oceanography and meteorology international platforms of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Data of OceanoScientific Campaigns are transmitted free of charge to the international scientific community considering its own criteria. They are integrated into the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), for example via WMO's Global Telecommunication System (GTS). These observations contribute to improve meteorological and climatological forecasts in scarcely or not at all scientifically explored ocean areas.
The two first campaigns carried out are: The ARTIC MISSION 2012 on the schooner La Louise in the Baffin Bay between 65° and 70° North; the 96-days ANTARCTIC MISSION 2013, on the three-master Bark EUROPA (Netherlands) between 50° and 63° South, especially in the Drake Passage.
OceanoScientific Campaign 2013 - 2014
Started from Brest (France) on 28 November 2013, the OceanoScientific Campaign - ATLANTIC MISSION 2013 - 2014, led on the 16-meter Navire A Voile d’Observation Scientifique de l’Environnement (NAVOSE) bearing the colours of the MEROCEANS foundation, came to an end in Monaco on 26 April 2014. In addition to the tests of the OceanoScientific System (OSC System) Version 3.0, a unique material collecting data of ten scientific parameters at the ocean - atmosphere interface, this 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) expedition enabled the deployment of drifting scientific materials in compliance with the requirements of JCOMMOPS, a UNESCO agency. In the meantime, the OSC System won the 2013 French-German Prize of Economy in the Environment category. As from now one, the scientific data collected by the OSC System will be transmitted to the CORIOLIS network. This campaign was carried out in energy self-sufficiency, without any emission, thanks to the hydro generators installed on board.
References of the OceanoScientific Programme
Earthzine - Fostering Earth Observation & Global Awareness
ICCIP - International Climate Change Information Programme
Mariners Weather Log - Published by the National Weather Service of the NOAA - April 2014
References
External links
Official blog of the OceanoScientific Programme
Oceanography | OceanoScientific | [
"Physics",
"Environmental_science"
] | 1,255 | [
"Oceanography",
"Hydrology",
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics"
] |
42,964,077 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encompassment%20ordering | In theoretical computer science, in particular in automated theorem proving and term rewriting,
the containment, or encompassment, preorder (≤) on the set of terms, is defined by
s ≤ t if a subterm of t is a substitution instance of s.
It is used e.g. in the Knuth–Bendix completion algorithm.
Properties
Encompassment is a preorder, i.e. reflexive and transitive, but not anti-symmetric, nor total
The corresponding equivalence relation, defined by s ~ t if s ≤ t ≤ s, is equality modulo renaming.
s ≤ t whenever s is a subterm of t.
s ≤ t whenever t is a substitution instance of s.
The union of any well-founded rewrite order R with (<) is well-founded, where (<) denotes the irreflexive kernel of (≤). In particular, (<) itself is well-founded.
Notes
References
Rewriting systems
Order theory | Encompassment ordering | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology"
] | 205 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer science",
"Order theory",
"Computer science stubs"
] |
42,964,524 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeomoniella%20chlamydospora | Phaeomoniella chlamydospora is a fungus species of mitosporic ascomycota in the genus Phaeomoniella.
Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum are associated with esca in mature grapevines, decline in young vines (Petri disease) and black goo decline, three types of grapevine trunk disease.
References
Diaporthales
Fungi described in 1996
Grapevine trunk diseases
Fungus species | Phaeomoniella chlamydospora | [
"Biology"
] | 105 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
42,965,121 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public%20observatory | A public observatory is an astronomical observatory mainly dedicated to public and educational purposes. It is often supported by a municipality, a school or an astronomical society.
The primary purpose of public observatories is to offer extensive programs for public education in astronomy. A second purpose may be to serve as a center for local hobby astronomers or for interested astro-tourists. Some sites are also engaged in special research programs (e.g., programs focused on meteors or asteroids).
Public observatories are equipped with several optical telescopes that are housed within a dome or similar structure to protect the instruments from the elements. The domes have a slit in the roof that can be opened during observing and closed when the observatory is not in use. Additional equipment may include astronomical clocks, star maps, PCs, digital projectors, and educational material.
See Also
List of observatories
Literature
H. Bernhard, D. Bennett, H. Rice, 1948: Handbook of the Heavens, Chapters 20-21, McGraw-Hill, New York
Detlev Block: Astronomie als Hobby, 208 S. Bassermann, München 2006
References
Amateur astronomy
Observational astronomy | Public observatory | [
"Astronomy"
] | 233 | [
"Observational astronomy",
"Astronomical sub-disciplines"
] |
42,965,137 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encrypted%20Media%20Extensions | Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) is a W3C specification for providing a communication channel between web browsers and the Content Decryption Module (CDM) software which implements digital rights management (DRM). This allows the use of HTML video to play back DRM-wrapped content such as streaming video services without the use of heavy third-party media plugins like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight (both discontinued). The use of a third-party key management system may be required, depending on whether the publisher chooses to scramble the keys.
EME is based on the Media Source Extensions (MSE) specification, which enables adaptive bitrate streaming in HTML audio and video, e.g. using MPEG-DASH with MPEG-CENC protected content.
EME has been highly controversial because it places a necessarily proprietary, closed decryption component which requires per-browser licensing fees into what might otherwise be an entirely open and free software ecosystem. On July 6, 2017, W3C publicly announced its intention to publish an EME web standard, and did so on September 18. On the same day, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who joined in 2014 to participate in the decision making, published an open letter resigning from W3C.
Support
In April 2013, on the Samsung Chromebook, Netflix became the first company to offer HTML video using EME.
, the Encrypted Media Extensions interface has been implemented in the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge browsers.
While backers and the developers of the Firefox web browser were hesitant in implementing the protocol for ethical reasons due to its dependency on proprietary code, Firefox introduced EME support on Windows platforms in May 2015, originally using Adobe's Primetime DRM library, later replaced with the Widevine library (CDM). Firefox's implementation of EME uses an open-source sandbox to load the proprietary DRM modules, which are treated as plug-ins that are loaded when EME-encrypted content is requested. The sandbox was also designed to frustrate the ability for services and the DRM to uniquely track and identify devices. Additionally, it is always possible to disable DRM in Firefox, which then not only disables EME, but also uninstalls the Widevine DRM libraries.
Netflix supports HTML video using EME with a supported web browser: Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer (on Windows 8.1 or newer), or Safari (on OS X Yosemite or newer). YouTube supports the MSE. Available players supporting MPEG-DASH using the MSE and EME are NexPlayer, THEOplayer by OpenTelly, the bitdash MPEG-DASH player, dash.js by DASH-IF or rx-player.
Note that certainly in Firefox and Chrome, EME does not work unless the media is supplied via Media Source Extensions.
Version 4.3 and subsequent versions of Android support EME.
Content Decryption Modules
Adobe Primetime CDM (used by old Firefox versions 47 to 51)
Widevine (used in Chrome and Firefox + their derivatives, including Opera and newest versions of Microsoft Edge)
PlayReady (used in EdgeHTML-based Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 and Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 8.1 and 10)
FairPlay (used in Safari since OS X Yosemite)
Criticism
EME has faced strong criticism from both inside and outside W3C. The major issues for criticism are implementation issues for open-source browsers, entry barriers for new browsers, lack of interoperability, concerns about security, privacy and accessibility, and possibility of legal trouble in the United States due to Chapter 12 of the DMCA.
In July 2020, Reddit started using a fingerprinting mechanism that involves loading every DRM module that browsers can support, and logs what ends up loading as part of the data collected. Users noticed this when Firefox began alerting them that Reddit "required" them to load DRM software to play media, although none of the media on the page actually needed it.
As of 2020, the ways in which EME interferes with open source have become concrete. None of the widely used CDMs are being licensed to independent open-source browser providers without paying a per-browser licensing fee (particularly to Google – for their Widevine CDM, which is used in nearly all recently developed web browsers).
See also
Media Source Extensions
World Wide Web Consortium
Digital rights management
Defective by Design
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Project DReaM
Protected Media Path
References
HTML5
Streaming media systems | Encrypted Media Extensions | [
"Technology"
] | 970 | [
"Streaming media systems",
"Telecommunications systems",
"Computer systems"
] |
42,965,330 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media%20Source%20Extensions | Media Source Extensions (MSE) is a W3C specification that allows JavaScript to send byte streams to media codecs within web browsers that support HTML video and audio. Among other possible uses, this allows the implementation of client-side prefetching and buffering code for streaming media entirely in JavaScript. It is compatible with, but should not be confused with, the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) specification, and neither requires the use of the other, although many EME implementations are only capable of decrypting media data provided via MSE.
Netflix announced experimental support in June 2014 for the use of MSE playback on the Safari browser on the OS X Yosemite beta release.
YouTube started using MSE in its HTML5 player in September 2013.
Browser support
The Media Source Extensions API is widely supported across all modern web browsers, with the only exception being iPhone-family devices (although it is supported on iPadOS). Firefox 37 already had a subset of MSE API available for use with only YouTube in Firefox 37 on Windows Vista or later only, while Mac OS X version had in enabled starting version 38.
Minor browsers
Pale Moon from version 27.0, since 22 November 2016.
Players
NexPlayer for HTML5 MSE and EME supporting HLS and DASH
castLabs PRESTOplay video player for HMTL5 MSE and EME supporting DASH and HLS
Akamai Media Player as a contributor to the Dash Industry Forum and DASH.js (DASH IF reference client). AMP includes Dash.js, HLS.js and advanced QUIC protocol playback from Akamai Edge Servers
Shaka Player, an open source javascript player library for HTML5 MSE and EME video with DASH and HLS support
The Video Player by Comcast Technology Solutions
THEOplayer by OpenTelly: HLS and MPEG-DASH player for cross-platform HTML5 support without the need for Flash fallback
Viblast Player: HLS and MPEG-DASH player for HTML5 MSE and EME, with Flash fallback
bitmovin's bitdash MPEG-DASH player for HTML5 MSE and EME, with Flash fallback
dash-js for HTML5 MSE
dash.js for HTML5 MSE and EME
rx-player for HTML5 MSE and EME (Live and On Demand)
hls.js for HTML5 MSE
hasplayer.js for HTML5 MSE and EME, supporting DASH, Smooth Streaming and HLS
JW Player 7 and later for MPEG-DASH using HTML5 MSE and EME
SLDP HTML5 Player supports SLDP via MSE playback
Azure Media Player supports MSE, EME, DASH, HLS, Flash, and Silverlight. Streaming URLs are published in an ism/manifest
Unreal HTML5 player uses MSE for low latency (sub-second) live playback of streams sent via WebSockets by Unreal Media Server
Storm Player uses MSE as one of its delivery modes for ultra-low latency streaming via WebSockets by Storm Streaming Server
See also
HTML video
Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH)
WebRTC
References
HTML5
Streaming media systems
Year of introduction missing | Media Source Extensions | [
"Technology"
] | 681 | [
"Streaming media systems",
"Telecommunications systems",
"Computer systems"
] |
42,965,868 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleo%20Communications | Cleo Communications LLC, simply referred to as Cleo, is a privately held software company founded in 1976. The company is best known for its ecosystem integration platform, Cleo Integration Cloud with RADAR.
History
Cleo originally began as a division of Phone 1 Inc., a voice data gathering systems manufacturer, and built data concentrators and terminal emulators — multi-bus computers, modems, and terminals to interface with IBM mainframes via bisynchronous communications. The company then began developing mainframe middleware in the 1980s, and with the rise of the PC, moved into B2B data communications and secure file transfer software. Since being acquired in 2012, the company’s offerings have evolved into Cleo Integration Cloud, a platform for enterprise business integration.
Business
Based in Rockford, Illinois (USA), with offices in Chicago, Pennsylvania, London, and Bangalore, Cleo has about 400 employees and more than 4,100 direct customers. The company's flagship offering, Cleo Integration Cloud, provides both on-premise and cloud-based integration technologies and comprises solutions for B2B/EDI, application integration, data movement and data transformation. Previous products now incorporated into the Cleo Integration Cloud platform include Cleo Harmony, Cleo Clarify, and Cleo Jetsonic.
Cleo solutions span a variety of industries, including manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, retail, third-party logistics, warehouse management and transportation management, healthcare, financial services and government.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs adopted Cleo's fax technology, Cleo Streem, in 2013 when in need of FIPS 140-2-compliant technology to protect information, and the City of Atlanta has used Cleo Streem for network and desktop faxing since 2006.
Cleo also serves U.S. transportation logistics company MercuryGate International and SaaS-based food logistics organization ArrowStream. It powers the architecture for several major supply chain companies, such as Blue Yonder and SAP. Cleo integrates the pharmaceutical supply chain for such companies as Octapharma. Key partners include FourKites and ClientsFirst, among many others.
Cleo customers also include household brands such as New Balance, Barilla, Duraflame, Reddy Ice, and Brother Industries. Cleo has partnerships with more than 300 system integrator, reseller, and technology companies including VAI, SrinSoft, Vertext, Remedi, and delaPlex.
In May 2023, Cleo announced it entered a global partnership with consulting and multinational information technology services company, Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH). Together, the companies announced CCIB, powered by Cleo, which is a B2B iPaaS solution that provides B2B managed services with built-in, scalable infrastructure on the cloud. The solution comprises elements from Cleo’s flagship offering, Cleo Integration Cloud.
Expansion
In June 2014, Cleo opened an office in Chicago for members of its support and engineering teams. In 2014, the company hired Jorge Rodriguez as Senior Vice President of Product Development and John Thielens as Vice President of Technology. Cleo hired Dave Brunswick as Vice President of Solutions for North America in 2015, and Cleo hired Ken Lyons to lead global sales in 2016. Lyons now serves as the company's Chief Revenue Officer. More recent additions to the company's leadership team include Vipin Mittal, Vice President, Customer Experience, and Tushar Patel, CMO.
Cleo opened its product development facility in Bengaluru, India, in 2015 and expanded its hybrid cloud integration teams into a new office there in 2017. The company also opened a London office in 2016 and expanded its network of channel partners in EMEA.
In 2016, Cleo acquired EXTOL International, a Pottsville, Pa.-based business and EDI integration and data transformation company for an undisclosed amount. In 2017, the company moved its headquarters from Loves Park, Illinois, to Rockford. In 2021 the company received a significant growth investment from H.I.G. Capital.
In July 2022, Cleo opened a new, 5,000-square-foot office located in Chicago's Loop.
In November 2022, Cleo launched an accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM-to-X12 and a connector for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. These pre-built solutions allow businesses and users to quickly build integration flows that integrate their digital ecosystems. In March 2023, Cleo released CIC PAVE (Procurement Automation and Vendor Enablement). PAVE provides customers with enhanced supply chain visibility via a supplier portal that allows the customer to keep vendor interaction in a single location, even if they cannot use EDI or have API-ready applications.
Certification
Cleo regularly submits its products to Drummond Group's interoperability software testing for AS2, AS3 and ebMS 2.0.
In January 2020, Cleo announced that its new application connector for Acumatica ERP has been recognized as an Acumatica-Certified Application (ACA). The company also holds SOC 2, Type 2 certification.
Awards
Cleo was a Xerox partner of the year award for five years, from 2009 to 2014. The Cleo Streem solution integrates with Xerox multi-function products, providing customers with solutions for network fax and interactive messaging needs. Cleo was named to Food Logistics’ FL100+ Top Software and Technology Providers Lists in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Cleo CEO, Mahesh Rajasekharan was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Midwest Award winner. Rajasekharan is serving as a judge for the 2023 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year Awards.
As of April 2022, Cleo has been named a Leader in EDI on the G2 Grid, a peer-to-peer review site, for 20 straight quarters. In Spring 2023, Cleo won 23 G2 awards—including EDI Leader Enterprise, MFT Leader Enterprise, On-Premise Data Integration Best Support Enterprise, and iPaaS High Performer Asia.
References
EDI software companies
Software companies based in Illinois
Network management
Managed file transfer
File transfer protocols
Data management
Software companies of the United States | Cleo Communications | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,288 | [
"Data management",
"Data",
"Network management",
"Computer networks engineering"
] |
42,966,106 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentation%20and%20control%20engineering | Instrumentation and control engineering (ICE) is a branch of engineering that studies the measurement and control of process variables, and the design and implementation of systems that incorporate them. Process variables include pressure, temperature, humidity, flow, pH, force and speed.
ICE combines two branches of engineering. Instrumentation engineering is the science of the measurement and control of process variables within a production or manufacturing area. Meanwhile, control engineering, also called control systems engineering, is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with desired behaviors.
Control engineers are responsible for the research, design, and development of control devices and systems, typically in manufacturing facilities and process plants. Control methods employ sensors to measure the output variable of the device and provide feedback to the controller so that it can make corrections toward desired performance. Automatic control manages a device without the need of human inputs for correction, such as cruise control for regulating a car's speed.
Control systems engineering activities are multi-disciplinary in nature. They focus on the implementation of control systems, mainly derived by mathematical modeling. Because instrumentation and control play a significant role in gathering information from a system and changing its parameters, they are a key part of control loops.
As profession
High demand for engineering professionals is found in fields associated with process automation. Specializations include industrial instrumentation, system dynamics, process control, and control systems. Additionally, technological knowledge, particularly in computer systems, is essential to the job of an instrumentation and control engineer; important technology-related topics include human–computer interaction, programmable logic controllers, and SCADA. The tasks center around designing, developing, maintaining and managing control systems.
The goals of the work of an instrumentation and control engineer are to maximize:
Productivity
Optimization
Stability
Reliability
Safety
Continuity
As academic discipline
Instrumentation and control engineering is a vital field of study offered at many universities worldwide at both the graduate and postgraduate levels. This discipline integrates principles from various branches of engineering, providing a comprehensive understanding of the design, analysis, and management of automated systems.
Typical coursework for this discipline includes, but is not limited to, subjects such as control system design, instrumentation fundamentals, process control, sensors and signal processing, automation, robotics, and industrial data communications. Advanced courses may delve into topics like intelligent control systems, digital signal processing, and embedded systems design.
Students often have the opportunity to engage in hands-on laboratory work and industry-relevant projects, which foster practical skills alongside theoretical knowledge. These experiences are crucial in preparing graduates for careers in diverse sectors including manufacturing, power generation, oil and gas, and healthcare, where they may design and maintain systems that automate processes, improve efficiency, and enhance safety.
Interdisciplinary by nature, the field is accessible to students from various engineering backgrounds. Most commonly, students with a foundation in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are drawn to this field due to their strong base in control systems, system dynamics, electro-mechanical machines and devices, and electric circuits (course work). However, with the growing complexity and integration of systems, students from fields like computer engineering, chemical engineering, and even biomedical engineering are increasingly contributing to and benefiting from studies in instrumentation and control engineering.
Furthermore, the rapid advancement of technology in areas like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning is continuously shaping the curriculum of this discipline, making it an ever-evolving and dynamic field of study.
See also
Industrial system
Instrumentation in petrochemical industries
List of sensors
Metrology
Measurement
Programmable logic controller
International Society of Automation
References
External links
Industrial Instrumentation and Controls Technology Alliance
Process engineering
Sensors
Measuring instruments | Instrumentation and control engineering | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 722 | [
"Process engineering",
"Sensors",
"Mechanical engineering by discipline",
"Measuring instruments"
] |
42,966,127 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp%C3%AD%20Geode | The Pulpí Geode (Spanish: Geoda de Pulpí) is a giant geode found in the Mina Rica mine in Spain near the town of Pulpí (Province of Almería) on December 31st, 1999, by Adrian and Efren Cuesta, two young and intrepid mineralogists from Cantabria. This geode is one of the largest documented geodes in the world to date. It occupies a space of , measuring with an average height of , and is located at a depth of in the Pilar de Jaravía mine, in the Sierra del Aguilón, in the municipality of Pulpí, from the coast.
The geode has a funnel shape, with the narrowest part being L-shaped. It is notable on a worldwide scale for both its size and the transparency and perfection of the selenite (gypsum) crystals lining the interior, which reach up to in length, with being the average. The abandoned silver-lead mine is now a geoheritage site attracting geotourists. The geode was damaged by vandals at the end of 2021, but the damage was not as severe as first thought.
The latest scientific research, on the origin of the geode, was published on 23 March 2022; the research was led by Fernando Gázquez of the University of Almeria, with the conclusion that the gypsum crystals were formed between 164 ± 15 thousand and 60 thousand years ago, in the upper Pleistocene, from a freshwater aquifer (with very little evidence of brackish or sea water, as suggested previously).
References
External links
The Pulpí gigantic geode (Almería, Spain): geology, metal pollution, microclimatology, and conservation
Pilar de Jaravía; La geoda gigante de la Mina Rica (in Spanish)
La Geoda de Pulpí website: https://www.geodapulpi.es/
Rocks
Geology of Spain | Pulpí Geode | [
"Physics"
] | 404 | [
"Rocks",
"Physical objects",
"Matter"
] |
42,966,408 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder%20Loom | Wonder Loom is a toy loom designed for children, used mainly as a way for them to create colourful bracelets and charms by weaving rubber bands together into Brunnian links.
It was designed in 2013 by Choon's Designs LLC of Wixom, Michigan and licensed to The Beadery Craft Products in Hope Valley, Rhode Island as the exclusive manufacturer.
Description
The Wonder Loom is a plastic pegboard style loom measuring by with 3 rows of 13 pegs each. Colourful elastics are placed on the pins and then looped using a hooked picking tool. This produces strings of interconnected loops called Brunnian links, which depending on the pattern used, forms jewelry, headbands, keychains, action figures or other shapes when removed.
The Wonder Loom kit includes a loom, which features patented channels and flanges to make the looping easier, a picking tool, C-clip fasteners, and an assortment of 600 rubber bands.
History
The Wonder Loom was created by Cheong Choon Ng, who is also the creator of the Rainbow Loom, when Walmart and other retailers requested a made-in-the-USA version of the toy. After reworking the loom to simplify the design, Ng licensed the Wonder Loom to The Beadery Craft Products as the exclusive US manufacturer. The product became available for purchase at Wal-Mart stores on 8 November 2013 and shipped 150,000 units per week through the 2013 holiday season and into 2014.
The Wonder Loom also inspired several instructional books to be published. These include:
Wonder Loom: Bracelets and Things
Rubber Band Loom Crafts
Wonder Loom: Beyond the Basics
Since its release, new products have been added to the line, including new band colours, assortments, beads, and charms to attach to the bracelets. The Beadery also announced a smaller handheld version called the HandyLoom and other new tools and accessories being revealed later in 2014.
Gallery
References
External links
Art and craft toys
2010s toys
Products introduced in 2013
Weaving equipment | Wonder Loom | [
"Engineering"
] | 421 | [
"Weaving equipment"
] |
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