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68,797,810 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavapadon | Tavapadon (developmental code names CVL-751, PF-06649751) is a dopamine receptor agonist which is under development for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is under development by Cerevel Therapeutics, which acquired tavapadon from Pfizer in 2018. It is taken by mouth.
Tavapadon acts as a highly selective partial agonist of the dopamine D1 receptor (Ki = 9nM; = 65%) and the dopamine D5 receptor (Ki = 13nM; = 81%). It has no significant affinity or functional activity at the D2-like receptors (D2, D3, D4) (Ki ≥ 4,870 to 6,720nM). Tavapadon also shows biased agonism for Gs-coupled signaling at the D1-like receptors.
As of December 2024, tavapadon has completed phase 3 clinical trials for Parkinson's disease.
See also
Mevidalen (LY-3154207)
Razpipadon (CVL-871)
References
Biased ligands
D1-receptor agonists
D5 receptor agonists
Diketones
Experimental drugs
Pyridines
Pyrimidines
Trifluoromethyl compounds | Tavapadon | [
"Chemistry"
] | 275 | [
"Biased ligands",
"Signal transduction"
] |
68,797,857 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionometallurgy | Mineral processing and extraction of metals are very energy-intensive processes, which are not exempted of producing large volumes of solid residues and wastewater, which also require energy to be further treated and disposed. Moreover, as the demand for metals increases, the metallurgical industry must rely on sources of materials with lower metal contents both from a primary (e.g., mineral ores) and/or secondary (e.g., slags, tailings, municipal waste) raw materials. Consequently, mining activities and waste recycling must evolve towards the development of more selective, efficient and environmentally friendly mineral and metal processing routes.
Mineral processing operations are needed firstly to concentrate the mineral phases of interest and reject the unwanted material physical or chemically associated to a defined raw material. The process, however, demand about 30 GJ/tonne of metal, which accounts about 29% of the total energy spent on mining in the USA. Meanwhile, pyrometallurgy is a significant producer of greenhouse gas emissions and harmful flue dust. Hydrometallurgy entails the consumption of large volumes of lixiviants such as H2SO4, HCl, KCN, NaCN which have poor selectivity. Moreover, despite the environmental concern and the use restriction imposed by some countries, cyanidation is still considered the prime process technology to recover gold from ores. Mercury is also used by artisanal miners in less economically developed countries to concentrate gold and silver from minerals, despite its obvious toxicity. Bio-hydro-metallurgy make use of living organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, and although this method demands only the input of and from the atmosphere, it requires low solid-to-liquid ratios and long contact times, which significantly reduces space-time yields.
Ionometallurgy makes use of non-aqueous ionic solvents such ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs), which allows the development of closed-loop flow sheet to effectively recover metals by, for instance, integrating the metallurgical unit operations of leaching and electrowinning. It allows to process metals at moderate temperatures in a non-aqueous environment which allows controlling metal speciation, tolerates impurities and at the same time exhibits suitable solubilities and current efficiencies. This simplify conventional processing routes and allows a substantial reduction in the size of a metal processing plant.
Metal extraction with ionic fluids
DESs are fluids generally composed of two or three cheap and safe components that are capable of self-association, often through hydrogen bond interactions, to form eutectic mixtures with a melting point lower than that of each individual component. DESs are generally liquid at temperatures lower than 100 °C, and they exhibit similar physico-chemical properties to traditional ILs, while being much cheaper and environmentally friendlier. Most of them are mixtures of choline chloride and a hydrogen-bond donor (e.g., urea, ethylene glycol, malonic acid) or mixtures of choline chloride with a hydrated metal salt. Other choline salts (e.g. acetate, citrate, nitrate) have a much higher costs or need to be synthesised, and the DES formulated from these anions are typically much more viscous and can have higher conductivities than for choline chloride. This results in lower plating rates and poorer throwing power and for this reason chloride-based DES systems are still favoured. For instance, Reline (a 1:2 mixture of choline chloride and urea) has been used to selectively recover Zn and Pb from a mixed metal oxide matrix. Similarly, Ethaline (a 1: 2 mixture of choline chloride and ethylene glycol) facilitates metal dissolution in electropolishing of steels. DESs have also demonstrated promising results to recover metals from complex mixtures such Cu/Zn and Ga/As, and precious metals from minerals. It has also been demonstrated that metals can be recovered from complex mixtures by electrocatalysis using a combination of DESs as lixiviants and an oxidising agent, while metal ions can be simultaneously separated from the solution by electrowinning.
Recovery of precious metals by ionometallurgy
Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements. They include gold and silver, but also the so-called platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum (see precious metals). Extraction of these metals from their corresponding hosting minerals would typically require pyrometallurgy (e.g., roasting), hydrometallurgy (cyanidation), or both as processing routes.
Early studies have demonstrated that gold dissolution rate in Ethaline compares very favourably to the cyanidation method, which is further enhanced by the addition of iodine as an oxidising agent. In an industrial process the iodine has the potential to be employed as an electrocatalyst, whereby it is continuously recovered in situ from the reduced iodide by electrochemical oxidation at the anode of an electrochemical cell. Dissolved metals can be selectively deposited at the cathode by adjusting the electrode potential. The method also allows better selectivity as part of the gangue (e.g., pyrite) tend to be dissolved more slowly.
Sperrylite (PtAs2) and moncheite (PtTe2), which are typically the more abundant platinum minerals in many orthomagmatic deposits, do not react under the same conditions in Ethaline because they are disulphide (pyrite), diarsenide (sperrylite) or ditellurides (calaverite and moncheite) minerals, which are particularly resistant to iodine oxidation. The reaction mechanism by which dissolution of platinum minerals is taking place is still under investigation.
Metal recovery from sulfide minerals with ionometallurgy
Metal sulfides (e.g., pyrite FeS2, arsenopyrite FeAsS, chalcopyrite CuFeS2) are normally processed by chemical oxidation either in aqueous media or at high temperatures. In fact, most base metals, e.g., aluminium, chromium, must be (electro)chemically reduced at high temperatures by which the process entails a high energy demand, and sometimes large volumes of aqueous waste is generated. In aqueous media chalcopyrite, for instance, is more difficult to dissolve chemically than covellite and chalcocite due to surface effects (formation of polysulfide species,). The presence of Cl− ions has been suggested to alter the morphology of any sulfide surface formed, allowing the sulfide mineral to leach more easily by preventing passivation. DESs provide a high Cl− ion concentration and low water content, whilst reducing the need for either high additional salt or acid concentrations, circumventing most oxide chemistry. Thus, the electrodissolution of sulfide minerals has demonstrated promising results in DES media in absence of passivation layers, with the release into the solution of metal ions which could be recovered from solution.
During extraction of copper from copper sulfide minerals with Ethaline, chalcocite (Cu2S) and covellite (CuS) produce a yellow solution, indicating that [CuCl4]2− complex are formed. Meanwhile, in the solution formed from chalcopyrite, Cu2+ and Cu+ species co-exist in solution due to the generation of reducing Fe2+ species at the cathode. The best selective recovery of copper (>97 %) from chalcopyrite can be obtained with a mixed DES of 20 wt.% ChCl-oxalic acid and 80 wt.% Ethaline.
Metal recovery from oxide compounds with Ionometallurgy
Recovery of metals from oxide matrixes is generally carried out using mineral acids. However, electrochemical dissolution of metal oxides in DES can allow to enhance the dissolution up to more than 10 000 times in pH neutral solutions.
Studies have shown that ionic oxides such as ZnO tend to have high solubility in ChCl:malonic acid, ChCl:urea and Ethaline, which can resemble the solubilities in aqueous acidic solutions, e.g., HCl. Covalent oxides such as TiO2, however, exhibits almost no solubility. The electrochemical dissolution of metal oxides is strongly dependent on the proton activity from the HBD, i.e. capability of the protons to act as oxygen acceptors, and on the temperature. It has been reported that eutectic ionic fluids of lower pH-values, such as ChCl:oxalic acid and ChCl:lactic acid, allow a better solubility than that of higher pH (e.g., ChCl:acetic acid). Hence, different solubilities can be obtained by using, for instance, different carboxylic acids as HBD.
Outlook
Currently, the stability of most ionic liquids under practical electrochemical conditions is unknown, and the fundamental choice of ionic fluid is still empirical as there is almost no data on metal ion thermodynamics to feed into solubility and speciation models. Also, there are no Pourbaix diagrams available, no standard redox potentials, and bare knowledge of speciation or pH-values. It must be noticed that most processes reported in the literature involving ionic fluids have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 (experimental proof-of-concept) or 4 (technology validated in the lab), which is a disadvantage for short-term implementation. However, ionometallurgy has the potential to effectively recover metals in a more selective and sustainable way, as it considers environmentally benign solvents, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and avoidance of corrosive and harmful reagents.
References
Metallurgy | Ionometallurgy | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Engineering"
] | 2,087 | [
"Metallurgy",
"Materials science",
"nan"
] |
68,799,218 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest%20protection%20hypothesis | The nest protection hypothesis (NPH) is one of multiple hypotheses that seek to explain the behaviour of birds repeatedly introducing green, often aromatic, plant material into the nest after its completion and throughout the incubation and nestling periods. The hypothesis suggests that this behaviour is an evolutionary strategy to ward off or kill ectoparasites that would otherwise cause higher nestling mortality through blood loss and the spread of pathogens. The aromatic species of greenery are often collected from trees and long-living shrubs containing strong aromatic compounds which are expected to either disrupt olfaction in host seeking parasites or kill harmful parasites and pathogens.
In more recent reviews on NPH, the name of the hypothesis has been critiqued for its inaccuracy, suggesting chick-protection hypothesis as a more suitable alternative, since protection is being conveyed, not to the nest, but to the chicks instead.
Supporting evidence
Species that reuse their nest annually are expected to benefit more from using ectoparasite-repellent greenery by warding off overwintering larvae which pose a greater threat to nestlings in spring. This was proven in a study performed on a variety of North American and European Falconiformes which found that species that made use of greenery were more often species that reuse their nests.
A subsequent study analysed the effectiveness of different plant species, found in and around European starling nests, at inhibiting bacterial growth in a nutrient medium and found that the plant species preferred by starlings were those with high bacterial inhibitory effectiveness. Furthermore, the behaviour was typically seen more in cavity nesters than in open-cup nesters which are expected to benefit more from sterilising their nest. This study, while providing evidence for NPH, stresses the use of greenery as a fumigant instead of an olfactory disruptor.
Another study on blue tits found that the collection of greenery was solely performed by the females during egg laying and chick stages, increasing the frequency of this behaviour over time, peaking when parasite load would be at its highest, providing evidence for the use of greenery specifically against parasitism.
Alternative hypotheses
Despite the nest protection hypothesis’ prominence in the literature, multiple alternative hypotheses have been suggested over the years.
Mate hypothesis
The mate hypothesis suggests there is a courtship element involved in the collection and display of greenery. It has been observed that, in starlings, only males collect greenery and tend to do so during other courtship behaviours. Furthermore, the amount of greenery collected is found to be a function of the length of courtship, and males have been reported to carry greenery to the nest in an ‘eye catching manner’.
Drug hypothesis
The drug hypothesis suggests that greenery has a direct beneficial health benefit to chicks by potentiation of their immune system or similar mechanisms.
Evidence for this theory has been found in study where aromatic herb species were artificially placed in starling nests. Chicks from nests which had aromatic herbs placed in them were found to be heavier and have a higher haematocrit despite there being no noticeable effect on parasite numbers.
However, the inverse has been found in other studies, where the presence of greenery did have an impact on parasite numbers but not on chick weight and leucocyte cell number, providing evidence for NPH over the drug hypothesis
References
Bird behavior
Ecology | Nest protection hypothesis | [
"Biology"
] | 687 | [
"Behavior by type of animal",
"Behavior",
"Bird behavior",
"Ecology"
] |
68,799,902 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson%20Hyperlegible | Atkinson Hyperlegible is a freely available typeface built around a grotesque sans-serif core, intended to be optimally legible for readers who are partially visually impaired, with all characters maximally distinguishable from one another. It was developed by the Braille Institute of America in collaboration with Applied Design Works and is available under the SIL Open Font License. It won Fast Company Innovation by Design Award for Graphic Design in 2019 and was shortlisted for a graphic design award by Dezeen in 2020.
History
The project began as part of a visual rebranding at the Braille Institute, which contracted the studio Applied Design Works to work with a specialist in low-vision conditions from the Braille Institute and a panel of people with such conditions. Most students that the Braille Institute works with are not fully blind and do not use braille, the tactile writing system with which the institute shares its name. Applied Design Works looked for a typeface that would suit the Braille Institute's needs but were unable to find one. Experimenting with both serif and sans-serif fonts including Times New Roman and Frutiger, they found that distinguishing among homoglyphs, and even among some characters that do not appear very similar to fully sighted people, was difficult for partially visually impaired people because of these fonts' focus on uniformity. Thus the project shifted to creating a typeface that would be as legible as possible for the community the Braille Institute serves.
Applied Design Works' creative director, Craig Dobie, put Elliott Scott in charge of designing the typeface. Building around a grotesque sans-serif core, the Applied Designs Works team worked to make sure that none of the typeface's glyphs could be mistaken for any other, consulting with clients of the Braille Institute and familiarizing themselves with research into legibility. The Braille Institute named the finished product after the institute's founder, J. Robert Atkinson, and released it on its website through a custom license; in 2021, they made it available through Google Fonts under the SIL Open Font License.
In 2019, Atkinson Hyperlegible won Fast Company Innovation by Design Award for Graphic Design. The next year, it was shortlisted for a graphic design award by Dezeen, losing to a series of heat-reactive stamps that illustrate climate change.
Design
Atkinson Hyperlegible contains four styles, each of 335 glyphs: regular, bold, italics, and italics bold. It supports diacritics in 27 languages.
Elliott Scott of Applied Design Works and studio creative director Craig Dobie made the decision "to break a lot of rules that a lot of designers will care about", for instance adding serifs to the uppercase i but not the uppercase tee and giving the uppercase ef a significantly longer tie (middle bar) than the uppercase e. Mark Wilson of Fast Company writes:Stare too long at its quirks, and Atkinson Hyperlegible almost feels like it has an identity crisis, as if a dozen fonts were smashed together to make one. But typed out on a page, it's been treated with careful kerning that the average eye just kind of accepts, as if it was any other typeface.
Other efforts to make letters distinct include exaggerating letters' shapes and angling their spurs. There are many circles in Atkinson Hyperlegible, a nod to braille dots and the Braille Institute.
See also
Comic Sans#Legibility
Dyslexie
References
External links
Atkinson Hyperlegible at the Braille Institute of America website
Summary document at the Braille Institute of America website
Atkinson Hyperlegible at Google Fonts
Grotesque sans-serif typefaces
Typefaces and fonts introduced in 2019
Accessibility
Blindness | Atkinson Hyperlegible | [
"Engineering"
] | 764 | [
"Accessibility",
"Design"
] |
68,801,278 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological%20evolutionary%20developmental%20biology | Ecological evolutionary developmental biology (eco-evo-devo) is a field of biology combining ecology, developmental biology and evolutionary biology to examine their relationship. The concept is closely tied to multiple biological mechanisms. The effects of eco-evo-devo can be a result of developmental plasticity, the result of symbiotic relationships or epigenetically inherited. The overlap between developmental plasticity and symbioses rooted in evolutionary concepts defines ecological evolutionary developmental biology. Host- microorganisms interactions during development characterize symbiotic relationships, whilst the spectrum of phenotypes rooted in canalization with response to environmental cues highlights plasticity. Developmental plasticity that is controlled by environmental temperature may put certain species at risk as a result of climate change.
Phenotypic plasticity
Phenotypic or developmental plasticity is the alteration of development through environmental factors. These factors can induce multiple types of variants that increase the fitness of an organism based on the environment they are in. These alterations can be for defense, predation, sex determination, and sexual selection.
Plasticity-driven adaptation acts on evolution in three ways by phenotypic accommodation, genetic accommodation, and genetic assimilation. Phenotypic accommodation is when an organism adjusts its phenotype to better fit its environment without being genetically induced. The trait that is selected by the environment through phenotypic accommodation can then be integrated into the genome. This process is called genetic accommodation. Genetic accommodation allows for traits that were produced by the environment to be passed on, and it gives better responses to environmental changes. Lastly, genetic assimilation is when the induced phenotype is fixed into the genome. The trait is no longer environmentally induced. At this stage plasticity is lost because when the environmental stimulus is lost the phenotype still remains.
In some cases species change their environment to suit them. This phenomenon is called niche construction. These organisms can change unfavorable conditions to fit them. These changes relieve selective pressures to give an advantage they would have otherwise. These advantages could be creating shelters like nests and burrows, modifying the environment physically or chemically, or making shade.
Epigenetic inheritance
Epigenetic heritance is the inheritance of epigenetic marks on the DNA induced by environmental factors. A simple examples of this is permutation, this was described first in plants. What happens is the shape or color of the seed alters the homologous allele. These marks alter gene expression patterns, which can be transmitted to the next generation. This means that environmental cues can influence the development of the organism’s offspring.
This is similar to the evolution theory of Lamarck. He stated that an organism can pass physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime on to its offspring. Though, this is not entirely true, a lot of organisms have traits or genes that they don't use but epigenetic inheritance, like environmental factors such as temperature or food availability during the parent’s life can impact the development of the offspring. An example of this is nutrition in the youth, genes aren't the only thing that control things in the body. Poor nutrition can slow down and heavily delay the smooth transition of puberty in a child.
This can also force some genes that were null to become activated and other genes to turn off. Many do not consider this phenomenon, and it is quite interesting to consider that things like malnutrition and temperature in one organism can affect the following generations of that organism.
Symbiotic interactions
Symbiosis describes the relationship between two species living closely together in an environment, and symbiotic interactions are significant influences on eco-evo-devo dynamics. Many symbiotic organisms have co-evolved and, over time, have become reliant on these relationships. The effect on either involved organism may be positive, neutral, or negative, and these effects are used to broadly categorize different types of symbiotic relationships. Symbiotic relationships generally fall into the categories of mutualism, commensalism, parasitism/predation, amensalism, or competition, although other categorizations may be used to describe more complex or uncommon interactions. The relationship between clownfish and anemones is one example of a mutualistic symbiosis. Mutualisms are particularly common between ectotherms, making these symbiotic relationships some of the most threatened by climate change.
Climate change
Climate change may alter the development of organisms. As a type of developmental plasticity, the sex determination of particular animals can be influenced by the temperature of the environment. Some Reptiles and ray-finned fish rely on temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). The determination takes place during a specific period of the embryonic development. Although the exact mechanisms of this type of sex determination remains unknown for most species, temperature sensitive proteins that determine the sex of alligators have been found. The effects of rising temperatures can already be seen in animals, for example the green sea turtle. Sea turtles produce more females when exposed to higher temperatures. As a result adult green turtle populations are currently 65% female on cooler beaches, but can reach 85% on their warmer nesting beaches. In contrast to the rising female proportion of sea turtles, the fish that use TSD, such as the southern flounder, generally produce more males in response to higher temperatures. Species that are strongly influenced by temperature in their sex determination may be particularly at risk from climate change. From an evolutionary standpoint, sea turtles' sex chromosomes differ from other species of reptiles, and this difference makes them susceptible to TSD. Researchers believe this phenomenon is worth studying as climate change may one day have an effect on other types of vertebrates.
Rising global temperatures may decrease the amount of genetic variation, hurting specific species' chance at survival. Having a large gene pool is crucial when it comes to being able to adapt to environmental conditions and disease. Climate change can lower the amount of genetic diversity in a population over time and is extremely detrimental to the overall fitness of individuals in a given population.
Climate change affects more than just animals when it comes to development. It affects people as well, especially those in developing countries. For example, expecting mothers who are in areas where droughts are more common due to climate change, may suffer from dehydration which can have harmful effects on their child's development. Dehydration can cause amniotic fluid levels to be lower, which directly correlates to the baby's development and can even cause premature birth. Malnutrition in children is a huge problem in developing countries. Rising global temperatures can alter growing seasons for certain food groups, making it hard for children to get the proper nutrients they need for ideal human development.
Ecological, evolutionary, developmental biology compares these subgenres of biology. Interaction between organisms and the environment is very important. Climate change intensely alters these interactions and is cause for concern in regard to the overall well-being of our ecological landscape. Climate change affects humans, animals, plants, and bacteria and their symbiotic relationships with each other drastically. It is important for scientists, researchers, and people around the world to work together to find the best strategy to preserve biological diversity and to slow down the rising global temperatures and the effects of climate change.
See also
Climate change mitigation
References
Ecology
Evolutionary biology
Developmental biology | Ecological evolutionary developmental biology | [
"Biology"
] | 1,510 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Behavior",
"Developmental biology",
"Reproduction",
"Ecology"
] |
76,091,418 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-Nitro-DMT | 5-Nitro-DMT (5-nitro-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a substituted tryptamine derivative which acts as a serotonin receptor agonist, though its subtype selectivity has not been studied with modern techniques.
See also
5-Bromo-DMT
5-MeO-DMT
5-TFM-DMT
5-TFMO-DMT
References
Tryptamines
Dimethylamino compounds
Nitroarenes | 5-Nitro-DMT | [
"Chemistry"
] | 103 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
76,092,004 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20brasiliense | Amauroderma brasiliense is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
brasiliense
Fungi described in 1983
Fungus species
Taxa named by Rolf Singer | Amauroderma brasiliense | [
"Biology"
] | 44 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,030 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20grandisporum | Amauroderma grandisporum is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
grandisporum
Fungi described in 1998
Fungus species
Taxa named by Leif Ryvarden | Amauroderma grandisporum | [
"Biology"
] | 49 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,051 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20andina | Amauroderma andina is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
andina
Fungi described in 2004
Fungi of South America
Fungus species | Amauroderma andina | [
"Biology"
] | 41 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,072 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20kwiluense | Amauroderma kwiluense is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
kwiluense
Fungi described in 1930
Fungi of Africa
Fungus species
Taxa named by Maurice Beeli | Amauroderma kwiluense | [
"Biology"
] | 50 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,414 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20fuscatum | Amauroderma fuscatum is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
fuscatum
Fungi described in 1969
Fungi of Africa
Fungus species
Taxa named by Curtis Gates Lloyd | Amauroderma fuscatum | [
"Biology"
] | 48 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,435 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20argenteofulvum | Amauroderma argenteofulvum is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
argenteofulvum
Fungi described in 1927
Fungi of Africa
Fungus species | Amauroderma argenteofulvum | [
"Biology"
] | 46 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,455 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20auriscalpium | Amauroderma auriscalpium is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
auriscalpium
Fungi described in 1827
Fungi of Brazil
Fungus species
Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon | Amauroderma auriscalpium | [
"Biology"
] | 56 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,092,465 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amauroderma%20bataanense | Amauroderma bataanense is a tough woody mushroom in the family Ganodermataceae. It is a polypore fungus.
References
bataanense
Fungus species
Fungi described in 1908 | Amauroderma bataanense | [
"Biology"
] | 39 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,093,849 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM%20Granite | IBM Granite is a series of decoder-only AI foundation models created by IBM. It was announced on September 7, 2023, and an initial paper was published 4 days later. Initially intended for use in the IBM's cloud-based data and generative AI platform Watsonx along with other models, IBM opened the source code of some code models. Granite models are trained on datasets curated from Internet, academic publishings, code datasets, legal and finance documents.
Foundation models
A foundation model is an AI model trained on broad data at scale such that it can be adapted to a wide range of downstream tasks.
Granite's first foundation models were Granite.13b.instruct and Granite.13b.chat. The "13b" in their name comes from 13 billion, the amount of parameters they have as models, lesser than most of the larger models of the time. Later models vary from 3 to 34 billion parameters.
On May 6, 2024, IBM released the source code of four variations of Granite Code Models under Apache 2, an open source permissive license that allows completely free use, modification and sharing of the software, and put them on Hugging Face for public use. According to IBM's own report, Granite 8b outperforms Llama 3 on several coding related tasks within similar range of parameters.
See also
Mistral AI, a company that also provides open source models
GPT
LLaMA
Cyc
Gemini
References
External links
GitHub page
IBM Granite Playground
IBM products
IBM software
Large language models
Generative artificial intelligence
Artificial neural networks
2023 software
Free software
Open-source artificial intelligence | IBM Granite | [
"Engineering"
] | 329 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Generative artificial intelligence"
] |
76,094,108 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwanagaricites | Gondwanagaricites (meaning "Gondwanan mushroom fossil") is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil. It contains the single species G. magnificus, and it is the oldest known mushroom fossil known to date.
Gondwanagaricites extends the geological range of mushrooms by around 14 to 21 million years and confirms their presence in Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous.
Discovery and naming
The holotype, URM-88000, was discovered in the Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation, Nova Olinda, Brazil and the specimen was sent to the Illinois Natural History Survey Paleontological Collection before being repatriated to the URM Herbarium at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil.
Gondwanagaricites magnificus was named and described by Heads et al. (2017a), but the PLOS One paper was later retracted because the paper did not meet the requirements of Articles 42.1, 35.1, and 43.3 under the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants, a MycoBank number for the genus was not given, and the illustration depicting the holotype was not specifically identified. As a result of this, Heads et al. (2017b) published the name instead within the Mycological Process journal.
Description
The holotype slab is roughly 50 × 60 mm, the pileus was measured as long, and the stipe was measured to be long. The lamellae of Gondwanagaricites were wide and are broadly attached to a single apex.
References
†Gondwanagaricites
Enigmatic Agaricales taxa
†Gondwanagaricites
Prehistoric fungi
Fossil taxa described in 2017
Natural history of Brazil
Cretaceous fungi
Crato Formation
Fossils of Brazil | Gondwanagaricites | [
"Biology"
] | 391 | [
"Fungi",
"Prehistoric fungi"
] |
76,096,211 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Italian%20provinces%20by%20life%20expectancy |
ISTAT (2023)
The tables and maps below are based on data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). By default tables are sorted by 2023. The legends on all the maps are identical.
Statistics by regions
Statistics by province
Eurostat (2019—2022)
The division of Italy into territorial units 2 level (NUTS 2) almost coincides with the division of Italy into regions. Except that the administrative rigeon Trentino-Alto Adige is split into two NUTS2-regions: South Tyrol and Trento. By default the table is sorted by 2022.
Data source: Eurostat
Global Data Lab (2019–2022)
Data source: Global Data Lab
Charts
See also
List of countries by life expectancy
List of European countries by life expectancy
Administrative divisions of Italy
Demographics of Italy
References
Health in Italy
Demographics of Italy
Italy, life expectancy
Italy
Italy-related lists
Italy | List of Italian provinces by life expectancy | [
"Biology"
] | 185 | [
"Senescence",
"Life expectancy"
] |
76,097,224 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%20E.%20Warner | William Everett Warner (August 22, 1897 – July 12, 1971) was an American academic, organization founder, and one of the "great leaders" and pioneers of the industrial arts education profession, now known as technology education. He was the founder of Epsilon Pi Tau honorary society and the American Industrial Arts Association (now the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association).
Early life and education
Warner was born in Roanoke, Illinois on August 22, 1897. His parents were Eva (née Redmon) and Isaac Newton Warner, a teacher, and principal. He was the oldest of three children, who later became teachers. His family moved to Elign, Illinois, followed by Normal, Illinois. In the spring of 1908, the family moved to Chicago where his father was enrolled in the University of Chicago. Waner attended the Woodlawn School in Chicago.
After Isaac Warner completed his bachelor's degree in 1910, he became the professor of teacher education at the Platteville Normal School in Platteville, Wisconsin. Warner, who was thirteen years old, was educated at the Normal High School. He was most interested in manual training and woodworking, and his goal was to be able to teach manual training. During the summer, he worked as a farmhand, mowed grass, and ran a crusher at a local quarry. While in school he worked as a bookkeeper for a local mine. His earnings helped support his family who was still paying off his father's college loan. However, he was also able to purchase clothes and alto horn. When John Philip Sousa played in Plattville, he hired Warner to play with the Sousa Band.
Warner graduated from Platteville Normal School in 1917. His first teaching position was at a high school in Lodi, Wisconsin. Unhappy in Lodi, he moved to Stevens Point, Wisonin the next year. He was drafted for service in World War I, attending officers training in Waco, Texas. After the war, he returned to teaching and was eventually the assistant principal at a vocational school in Wausau, Wisconsin. However, he resigned when the Smith–Hughes Act for vocational education passed, saying that "he could not work under the narrow accommodations of the act".
Warner enrolled int the University of Wisconsin, earning a B.A. in 1923 and a MS in 1924. His thesis was The Control of the Continuation School. While at Wisconsin, he was a member of Square and Compass, an organization for Master Masons. He paid for his tuition by playing his alto horn.
Warner then attended the Teachers College, Columbia University where he received his Ph.D. in 1928. At the time, Columbia was the top graduate school in education in the United States. Warnet studied under Frederick Gordon Bonser, along with John Dewey, Ira S. Griffth, Lois Mossman, Charles R. Richards, V. M. Russel, James E. Russell, David Snedden, and William H. Varnum. Warner incorporated industrial arts with his studies; he claimed to be the first person to receive an advanced degree in industrial arts in the United States.
Career
Warner became an assistant professor of industrial arts education at Ohio State University in 1925. That same year, he established the graduate program in industrial arts at Ohio State. Students came to the program from across the county. In 1929, he established the American Security Research Foundation. He served as its first chairman. He also developed a "laboratory of industries" that was installed in county schools in Ohio before World War II, first as an experiment and later as a standard in the field of industrial arts. Many schools added new buildings to accommodate a new industrial arts laboratory.
Warner founded Epsilon Pi Tau honorary society at Ohio State University in 1929. The organization spread to include more than 125 chapters in North America and the Philippines. He served as its executive secretary for over forty years.
He directed The Terminologial Investigation of Professional and Scientific Terms in Vocational and Practical Arts Education from 1929 to 1933. This was a project of the Western Arts Association and defined terminology used by educators and in the field of industrial arts. He was also president of the Western Arts Association from 1932 and 1937.
He published the influential work, Terminological Investigation, in 1933. In this book and other work, Warner is credited with developing a new curriculum and adding the word "technology" to the industrial arts profession. In 1934, he was chairman of the committee that published A Prospectus for Industrial Arts in Ohio. He was promoted to full professor in 1939. Warner established the American Industrial Arts Association (now the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association) during the 10th anniversary celebration of Epsilon Pi Tau in 1939. He was the association's first president.
During World War II, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, was a member of General Eisenhower's staff in Versailles and London, and received a Purple Heart. After the war, he returned to Ohio State where he spent the rest of his career, However, from 1950 to 1953, he took a leave of absence to be the executive director of The Civil Defense in Ohio.
Warner was influential in the formation of the National Council on Industrial Arts Teacher Education. He was the first editor of Industrial Arts Teacher. He lectured at more than 100 colleges across the United States and abroad and helped develop industrial arts programs in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools. He became a professor emeritus of Ohio State in 1967. For his many accomplishments in the field, Warner is considered one of the "great leaders" of the industrial arts profession.
Honors
Epsilon Pi Tau named The William E. Warners Awards Program in his honor. Warner's papers are archived at Kent State University.
Personal life
On August 14, 1920, Warner married Ellen E. Tood of Stevens Point in Chicago. She taught elementary school and supported their household while he was in graduate school. After they moved to Columbus, Ellen Warner was recognized as an expert in special education for children and served on the University Bureau of Educational Research. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August 1970.
Warner was a member of the American Legion, the Army and Navy Club of New York, the Newcomen Society of England, and the Rotary.
Warner died in Columbus, Ohio on July 12, 1971. His funeral services were held in Columbus and he was buried in the Forest Home Cemetery in Stevens Point.
Selected publications
Reconstruction of Industrial Arts Courses, with David Snedden. New York City: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1927.
Policies in Industrial Arts Education: Their Application to a Program for Preparing Teachers. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1928
A Directory of Industrial Arts Teacher Education Programs And Personnel in the United States. Newark, N.J.: American Industrial Arts Association, 1941.
International Impact of Technology On Education: Some Impressions of Progress In Eighteen Nations. Columbus: Epsilon Pi Tau, inc., 1963.
References
1897 births
1971 deaths
20th-century American educators
American Freemasons
College honor society founders
Ohio State University faculty
People from Woodford County, Illinois
Teachers College, Columbia University alumni
Technology education
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
University of Wisconsin–Platteville alumni
United States Army in World War II | William E. Warner | [
"Technology"
] | 1,453 | [
"nan"
] |
76,097,725 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacinol | Fallacinol (teloschistin) is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in some lichens, particularly in the family Teloschistaceae, as well as a couple of plants and non lichen-forming fungi. In 1936, Japanese chemists isolated a pigment they named fallacin from the lichen Oxneria fallax, which was later refined and assigned a tentative structural formula; by 1949, Indian chemists had isolated a substance from Teloschistes flavicans with an identical structural formula to fallacin. Later research further separated fallacin into two distinct pigments, fallacin-A (later called fallacinal) and fallacin-B (fallacinol). The latter compound is also known as teloschistin due to its structural match with the substance isolated earlier.
History
In 1936, Japanese chemists Mitizo Asano and Sinobu Fuziwara reported on their chemical investigations into the colour pigments of the lichen Xanthoria fallax (now known as Oxneria fallax), found growing on the bark of mulberry trees. They isolated a pigment they named fallacin. A few years later Asano and Yosio Arata further purified the crude material from this lichen, ultimately obtaining an orange-yellow compound with a molecular formula of C16H12O6. Using information from additional chemical tests, they proposed a tentative structural formula for fallacin. In 1949, T. R. Seshadri and S. Subramanian published their investigations into the chemistry of Teloschistes flavicans, a lichen from which they isolated an orange substance they named teloschistin, and which had a structural formula identical to that of fallacin proposed by Asano and Arata years earlier.
In 1956, Takao Murakami reported reexamining the crude pigment obtainable from Xanthoria fallax using Asano's original 1936 procedure. He separated out fallacin from parietin, a co-occurring substance, using several rounds of column chromatography, and showed that Asano's original pigment was actually a combination of two pigments with different melting points, which he designated as fallacin-A and fallacin-B. After chemically determining the structure of fallacin-A, Murakami designated this substance as fallacinal. He named the biogenically related compound fallacin-B as fallacinol. Because of Seshadri and Subramanian's work, this substance is also known as "teloschistin" in the literature.
Extraction and isolation
In an early chemical examination of the lichen Teloschistes flavicans, Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf identified two substances: physcion (now known more commonly as parietin) with a melting point (m.p.) of and an unidentified colourless compound with a m.p. of . Subsequent studies by Seshadri and Sankara Subramanian refined the extraction process, utilising a series of solvents—ether, acetone, and water—to isolate the constituents. The ether phase was found to contain all the crystalline compounds, while subsequent solvents did not yield additional extracts.
Within the ether extract, a colourless compound, referred to as substance A, was separated based on its insolubility in alkali. The alkali-soluble fraction exhibited characteristics of parietin, though impurities complicated its purification. It was eventually purified to a parietin fraction with a melting point of after multiple stages of fractional crystallisation using an alcohol-chloroform mixture.
The presence of another compound with a higher melting point posed a purification challenge, which was resolved by employing petroleum ether and chloroform for sequential extraction. The petroleum ether extract contained the colourless substance A and a majority of parietin, allowing for easier purification of the latter. The chloroform extract revealed the higher-melting compound, which the authors thought was a novel substance, and which they named "teloschistin".
In 1951, Neelakantan and colleagues expanded on the initial identification of fallacinol, focusing on its chemical structure. They confirmed its molecular formula as C16H12O6 and identified it as a hydroxyl derivative of parietin, lacking specific hydroxy groupings that would typically cause fluorescence or colour changes in acidic conditions. To conclusively determine the position of its methoxyl group, fallacinol was chemically altered into a compound with a known methoxyl position, establishing it firmly in the 7-position. This process involved a series of reactions, including demethylation, reduction, and oxidation. Additionally, comparisons with similar anthraquinone derivatives through hydrolysis and other reactions further substantiated the structural findings.
The research also noted the slower-than-expected reaction rates during oxidation, suggesting a distinctive reactivity pattern for fallacinol, possibly due to its additional hydroxyl group. Finally, the study described the anthranol form of fallacinol, providing a reference for its properties and transformative behaviour.
Properties
Fallacinol is a member of the class of chemical compounds called anthraquinones. Its IUPAC name is 1,8-dihydroxy-3-hydroxymethyl-6-methoxyanthraquinone. The absorbance maxima (λmax) of fallacinol in the ultraviolet spectrum has five peaks of maximum absorption at 223, 251, 266, 287 nanometres; the visible spectrum has peaks at 434 and 455 nm. In the infrared spectrum, it has peaks at 1624, 1631, 1670, 3450, 3520 cm−1. Fallacinol's molecular formula is C16H12O6; it has a molecular mass of 300.26 grams per mole. In its purified crystalline form, it exists as orange needles, with a melting point of .
It is soluble in cold dilute potassium hydroxide, forming red-violet crystals, and is insoluble in sodium bicarbonate and carbonate solutions. Similar to parietin, it produces a reddish-brown colour with alcoholic ferric chloride and yields a deep orange-red solution with concentrated sulfuric acid, which appears eosin-like in thin layers. To early researchers, these properties suggested that fallacinol was structurally similar to parietin but with an additional oxygen atom, inferred to be a hydroxyl group, based on its higher melting point and reduced solubility. The sparing solubility of its potassium salt and its insolubility in aqueous sodium carbonate suggested a methoxyl group placement consistent with other known compounds like parietin and erythroglaucin.
Like many anthraquinones, fallacinol can be reduced to its anthranol form, where one of the quinone groups is converted to an alcohol group. This reduced form can be prepared by treating fallacinol with zinc dust in boiling acetic acid, yielding lemon-yellow prismatic crystals with a melting point of 249–250 °C. The anthranol form shows distinct colour reactions, dissolving in cold concentrated sulfuric acid to give a golden yellow colour that changes to dark green after about an hour, and slowly dissolving in sodium hydroxide to form a pink solution that eventually deposits violet-red crystals. The compound can be readily oxidised back to fallacinol using chromic acid, demonstrating the reversible nature of this reduction.
Fallacinol was shown to have antifungal activity and antibacterial activity in laboratory tests; it was particularly active against the fungus species Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium verrucosum. In a study exploring lichen compounds for COVID-19 therapeutics, fallacinol demonstrated the highest binding energy against SARS-CoV-2's spike protein, suggesting its potential as an inhibitor of virus growth.
Chemical synthesis
A synthetic route to fallacinol has been developed using parietin as an intermediate, highlighting a biogenetic link between the two compounds found in the lichen. The process involves the conversion of parietin diacetate to an ω-bromo derivative via N-bromosuccinimide in the presence of benzoyl peroxide, a technique also applied to various anthraquinones and related compounds. The brominated intermediate is then converted to fallacinol triacetate using silver acetate and acetic anhydride, yielding the target compound. Final steps include hydrolysis with methanolic sulfuric acid to produce fallacinol and a methylation stage for complete conversion. The synthesis not only mirrors the natural biogenesis but also achieves a melting point of , consistent with the purified natural product. An alternative synthesis was proposed in 1984, using a methodology employing Diels–Alder additions of napthoquinones to mixed trimethylsilyl vinylketene acetals as a route to synthetic hydroxyanthraquinones.
Occurrence
Fallacinol occurs in many species of the Teloschistaceae, a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi. Historically, the substance was most associated with Caloplaca, Teloschistes, and Xanthoria, but these genera have since been subdivided into many smaller, monophyletic genera. The cultivated mycobiont of Xanthoria fallax, grown in isolation from its green algal , does not produce fallacinol.
Fallacinol is a common secondary metabolite in the lichen genus Teloschistes, typically occurring in smaller amounts alongside parietin and other related compounds like fallacinal and emodin. In 1970, Johan Santesson proposed a possible biogenetic relationship between the anthraquinone compounds commonly found in Caloplaca. According to this scheme, emodin is methylated to give parietin, which then undergoes three successive oxidations, sequentially forming fallacinol, fallacinal, and then parietinic acid. A chemosyndrome is set of lichen products produced by a species, which typically includes one or more major compounds and a set of biosynthetically related minor compounds. In 2002, Ulrik Søchting and Patrik Frödén identified chemosyndrome A, the most common chemosyndrome in the genus Teloschistes and in the entire family Teloschistaceae, which features parietin as the main substance with smaller proportions of fallacinol, fallacinal, parietinic acid, and emodin.
Fallacinol has been reported from the bushy shrub plant Senna didymobotrya, widespread in eastern and central Africa, as well as from Reynoutria japonica, a plant in the knotweed family. The substance has been isolated from a culture of the marine sponge-associated fungus Talaromyces stipitatus, and from Dermocybe mushrooms, and has been detected chromatographically in extracts from several Cortinarius mushroom species.
References
Dihydroxyanthraquinones
Lichen products
Polyketides
Methoxy compounds | Fallacinol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 2,389 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Polyketides",
"Natural products",
"Lichen products"
] |
76,099,087 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien%20Challis | Vivien Joy Challis is an Australian applied mathematician whose research involves topology optimisation through the level-set method and its application to bone implants, piezoelectric metamaterials, and robotics. She is a senior lecturer in applied and computational mathematics at the Queensland University of Technology.
Education and career
Challis has a PhD from the University of Queensland, completed in 2009. Her doctoral dissertation, Multi-Property Topology Optimisation with the Level-Set Method, was jointly supervised by Anthony P. Roberts and Andrew H. Wilkins.
She remained at the university as a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer until moving to the Queensland University of Technology as a lecturer in 2019. In 2021, she became a senior lecturer.
Recognition
Challis is the 2024 recipient of the J. H. Michell Medal of ANZIAM.
References
External links
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Australian mathematicians
Australian women mathematicians
Applied mathematicians
University of Queensland alumni
Academic staff of the University of Queensland
Academic staff of Queensland University of Technology | Vivien Challis | [
"Mathematics"
] | 207 | [
"Applied mathematics",
"Applied mathematicians"
] |
76,100,557 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National%20Society%20for%20Histotechnology | The National Society for Histotechnology (NSH) is a professional association for clinical laboratory histotechnologists that was founded in 1973.
References
External links
https://www.merritt.edu/histotech/national-society-for-histotechnology/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35073833/
Pathology
Organizations established in 1973 | National Society for Histotechnology | [
"Biology"
] | 89 | [
"Pathology"
] |
76,101,893 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altermagnetism | In condensed matter physics, altermagnetism is a type of persistent magnetic state in ideal crystals. Altermagnetic structures are collinear and crystal-symmetry compensated, resulting in zero net magnetisation. Unlike in an ordinary collinear antiferromagnet, another magnetic state with zero net magnetization, the electronic bands in an altermagnet are not Kramers degenerate, but instead depend on the wavevector in a spin-dependent way. Related to this feature, key experimental observations
were published in 2024. It has been speculated that altermagnetism may have applications in the field of spintronics.
Crystal structure and symmetry
In altermagnetic materials, atoms form a regular pattern with alternating spin and spatial orientation at adjacent magnetic sites in the crystal.
Atoms with opposite magnetic moment are in altermagnets coupled by crystal rotation or mirror symmetry. The spatial orientation of magnetic atoms may originate from the surrounding cages of non-magnetic atoms. The opposite spin sublattices in altermagnetic manganese telluride (MnTe) are related by spin rotation combined with six-fold crystal rotation and half-unit cell translation. In altermagnetic ruthenium dioxide (RuO2), the opposite spin sublattices are related by four-fold crystal rotation.
Electronic structure
One of the distinctive features of altermagnets is a specifically spin-split band structure which was first experimentally observed in work that was published in 2024. Altermagnetic band structure breaks time-reversal symmetry, Eks=E-ks (E is energy, k wavevector and s spin) as in ferromagnets, however unlike in ferromagnets, it does not generate net magnetization. The altermagnetic spin polarisation alternates in wavevector space and forms characteristic 2, 4, or 6 spin-degenerate nodes, respectively, which correspond to d-, g, or i-wave order parameters.
A d-wave altermagnet can be regarded as the magnetic counterpart of a d-wave superconductor.
The altermagnetic spin polarization in band structure (energy–wavevector diagram) is collinear and does not break inversion symmetry. The altermagnetic spin splitting is even in wavector, i.e. (kx2-ky2)sz. It is thus also distinct from noncollinear Rasba or Dresselhaus spin texture which break inversion symmetry in noncentrosymmetric nonmagnetic or antiferromagnetic materials due to the spin-orbit coupling. Unconventional time-reversal symmetry breaking, giant ~1eV spin splitting and anomalous Hall effect was first theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed in RuO2.
Materials
Direct experimental evidence of altermagnetic band structure in semiconducting MnTe and metallic RuO2 was first published in 2024. Many more materials are predicted to be altermagnets – ranging from insulators, semiconductors, and metals to superconductors. Altermagnetism was predicted in 3D and 2D materials with both light as well as heavy elements and can be found in nonrelativistic as well as relativistic band structures.
Properties
Altermagnets exhibit an unusual combination of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic properties, which remarkably more closely resemble those of ferromagnets. Hallmarks of altermagnetic materials such as the anomalous Hall effect have been observed before (but this effect occurs also in other magnetically compensated systems such as non-collinear antiferromagnets). Altermagnets also exhibit unique properties such as anomalous and spin currents that can change sign as the crystal rotates.
Experimental observations
In December 2024, researchers from the University of Nottingham provided the first experimental imaging of altermagnetism, confirming its unique spin-symmetry properties. Using Nitrogen-vacancy center microscopy and X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD), they visualized spin-polarized currents arising from the crystal-symmetry-protected altermagnetic order. This order featured antiparallel spin alignment within distinct crystal sublattices, creating a compensating spin polarization without macroscopic magnetization. These findings validated theoretical predictions and demonstrated the potential of altermagnetic materials in high-speed, low-energy spintronic devices.
References
Magnetic ordering
2024 in science | Altermagnetism | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Engineering"
] | 916 | [
"Magnetic ordering",
"Condensed matter physics",
"Electric and magnetic fields in matter",
"Materials science"
] |
76,105,357 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exidia%20candida | Exidia candida is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are gelatinous, whitish, and cushioned-shaped at first, becoming effused and corrugated.
It typically grows on logs and fallen branches of lime (Tilia species) and other broadleaved trees. The species occurs in both North America and Europe. A distinctive variety, Exidia candida var. cartilaginea, is bicoloured whitish and ochre to brown, grows preferentially on birch and alder, has a northerly distribution, and occurs in North America, Europe, and the Russian Far East.
Taxonomy
The species was originally described from Washington state in 1916 by American mycologist Curtis Gates Lloyd. Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that Exidia candida is the same as the European E. villosa. The same research also shows that E. cartilaginea is a further synonym, though its distinctive morphology and habitat have led to its recognition as the varietal level as E. candida var. cartilaginea.
Description
Exidia candida forms whitish, gelatinous fruit bodies that are cushion-shaped at first, later coalescing to become effused but irregularly corrugated or brain-like, around across by thick. Small, white, mineral inclusions are often visible within the fruit bodies. Fruit body margins may be villose (finely hairy). The spore print is white. Exidia candida var. cartilaginea is similarly shaped, but older fruitbodies often become ochraceous-brown at the centre, remaining whitish at the margins.
Microscopic characters
The microscopic characters are typical of the genus Exidia. The basidia are ellipsoid, septate, 11 to 16 by 8.5 to 11 μm. The spores are weakly allantoid (sausage-shaped), 9 to 15 by 3 to 5 μm.
Similar species
Fruit bodies of Exidia thuretiana are similarly coloured, but typically develop a pleated appearance when older. Fruit bodies lack mineral inclusions and are microscopically distinct in having larger spores (14 to 18 by 5 to 7.5 μm). Exidia thuretiana is a common and widespread species, with a preference for dead branches of beech. Fruit bodies of Myxarium nucleatum are also similar, but have larger, more visible mineral inclusions and are microscopically distinct in having basidia with an enucleate stalk.
Habitat and distribution
Exidia candida is a wood-rotting species, typically found on dead attached twigs and branches of lime. It is widely distributed in North America and in continental Europe. Exidia candida var. cartilaginea grows preferentially on birch and alder, has a northerly distribution, and occurs in North America, northern Europe, and the Russian Far East.
References
Fungi described in 1916
Taxa named by Curtis Gates Lloyd
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Auriculariales
Fungus species | Exidia candida | [
"Biology"
] | 629 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
62,175,091 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20largest%20optical%20telescopes%20in%20the%20British%20Isles | List of largest optical telescopes in Ireland and the United Kingdom is a list of the largest optical telescopes in the British Isles, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The most famous telescopes include Herschel's reflector, with which he discovered Georgium Sidus (the planet Uranus), and the Leviathan of Parsonstown which at 1.83 meters (72 inches) was for decades the largest aperture telescope in the World. In the 20th century many older telescopes are popular tourist attractions, such as at Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. There are also a number of modest instruments at universities used for various astronomical projects or education.
The largest optical telescope in Britain was the Isaac Newton Telescope which had a mirror; it was located at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux from 1965 to 1980, but was then relocated to Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands.
The list is not really representative of the largest telescopes operated by the United Kingdom or Ireland, which by the 20th century were building large telescopes overseas or in the southern hemisphere for better weather or other reasons.
Current list
The following is a non-comprehensive list of optical telescopes currently located in the British Isles with an aperture of 24 inches or greater:
Historical
Isaac Newton Telescope at Herstmonceux, 98 inches (1965-1979)
Leviathan of Parsonstown, 1842- ~1890
3-foot telescope at Parsons
RGO telescopes at different points in its history
38-inch Hargreaves Reflector (1960)
Yapp 36-inch Reflector (1932)
30-inch Steavenson Reflector (1939)
28-inch Refractor (1893)
Thompson Telescope with a 26-inch refractor and 30-inch reflector on one mounting (1896)
Lassell 2-foot Reflector (1845)
Isaac Roberts 20-inch reflector (1885)
Western Equatorial (c.1824)
13-inch Astrographic Refractor (1890)
Merz 12.8-inch Visual Refractor (1859-1893) (this was replaced by the 28 inch Grubb in the onion dome)
Thomson 9-inch Photographic Refractor (c.1888)
Sheepshanks refractor 6.7-inch (1838) (aka Sheepshanks Equatorial)
6-inch Franklin Adams Camera (1898)
Shuckburgh telescope a 4.1-inch aperture Refractor (1791)
At the Observatory Science Center (at Herstmonceux)
Hargreaves 38 inch Congo Schmidt
Yapp 36 Inch reflector
Thompson 30 inch reflector
Thompson 26 inch reflector
Markree Observatory 13.3" Cauchoix (the largest refractor of the early 1830s)
A.A. Commons reflectors (later reworked into Crossley and Harvard telescopes)
Lassel's reflector, this 24 inch metal mirror telescope was used to discover the moons Triton and Hyperion.
Newton's reflector
40-foot telescope (England)
Armagh Observatory 15-inch Grubb reflecting telescope. Specula metal mirror mounted on an equatorial, with clockwork-drive.
Bedford Observatory Tully 5.9 inch refractor (8.5 feet focal length); Dollond mount with Sheepshanks clockwork drive.
Cambridge Observatory 36 inch (3 feet = 91.44 cm) aperture reflector
Observations
A noted accomplishment of the biggest telescope at the time, Ross's "six foot" leviathan, was the observation of the spiral structure of M51, which was presented at Cambridge in the summer of 1845. Herschel was quite prolific discovering a planet and many moons of the Solar system also with his reflectors.
See also
Lists of telescopes
List of telescopes of Australia
David Dunlap Observatory (Largest telescope of the British Empire in the 1930s)
References
External links
The 98 inch (249 cm) mirror glass of original INT
Lists of telescopes
Astronomy in Ireland | List of largest optical telescopes in the British Isles | [
"Astronomy"
] | 786 | [
"Astronomy-related lists",
"Lists of telescopes"
] |
62,175,208 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucine-sensitive%20hypoglycemia%20of%20infancy | Leucine-sensitive hypoglycemia of infancy is a type of metabolic disorder. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. It is rare.
Names
Other names include hypoglycemia leucine-induced; hypoglycemia leucine induced; and familial infantile hypoglycemia precipitated by leucine.
References
Metabolic disorders
Autosomal dominant disorders | Leucine-sensitive hypoglycemia of infancy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 94 | [
"Metabolic disorders",
"Metabolism"
] |
62,176,101 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C26H42O4 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C26H42O4}}
The molecular formula C26H42O4 may refer to:
Diisononyl phthalate
Maxacalcitol | C26H42O4 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 41 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
62,176,140 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runway%2018%20West | Runway 18 West (German Startbahn 18 West) is a 4000-meter-long runway that runs from north to south on the western edge of Frankfurt Airport. A small northern portion of the runway is located in the Frankfurt district of Flughafen, while the larger southern portion lies in the Rüsselsheim am Main district. Before going into operation in 1984, the runway met with considerable opposition, becoming an important symbol of the German environmental movement in the 1970s and 1980s.
History
Planning
In 1962, Frankfurt Airport/Main AG, Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport's operating company, decided to design a new arrivals terminal and a third runway. Dramatic growth in air traffic had pushed both the old airport buildings and adjoining railway system, which still exist to this day, to their limits. The Rhine-Main region was experiencing a steady economic upswing, thanks in no small part to the role played by Frankfurt Airport as a European airline hub.
Airport expansion was complicated because the site was completely surrounded by forests, including protected Bannwald areas. Other obstacles included the east-to-west Bundesautobahn 3 north of the airport, the north-to-south Bundesautobahn 5 to the east, an overhead power line to the west, and the now-closed U.S. Rhein-Main Air Base to the south. Only the southwest corner of the airport offered the possibility of building a new runway, running north to south. But this would entail both immense logging operations and extension of the airport to a municipal area not belonging to the Frankfurt metropolitan zone.
Economic factors took precedence over environmental considerations and on 28 December 1965, Flughafen AG applied for a construction permit for "Runway 18 West". In May 1966, the Hessian Parliament (Landtag) decided to build a new 4000-metre-long, north-south runway. Following the approval, Frankfurt Airport/Main AG decided in November 1967 to build the new runway at a cost of DM 78 million. At a time of increasing environmental awareness, more and more citizens grew skeptical about the airport expansion. Following planning approval by the Transportation Minister in March 1968, 44 legal actions for cancellation of the project (Anfechtungsklagen in German) were brought before the courts.
Lawsuits
Frankfurt Airport's Terminal Mitte (now Terminal 1) opened in March 1972 and the planning approval procedure for the new Runway 18 West was initiated the following year.
The result was more than 100 lawsuits brought before Hessian administrative courts. Runway opponents, who increasingly joined forces in citizens' initiatives (BI), were growing in number, as both reduced flights and the 1973 oil crisis mitigated the need for a new runway. Some runway opponents also feared it could be used by NATO.
Administrative courts dealt with the planned expansion for nearly a decade before construction approval was annulled for technical reasons. In March 1971, the Transportation Ministry issued a second planning approval order, which again ended up before the courts. At the end of 1978, a citizens' initiative (BI) against the expansion was founded, principally in the affected town of Mörfelden-Walldorf, but also in Frankfurt and areas surrounding the airport.
In July 1978, the Federal Administrative Court referred runway opponents' claims back to the Hessian Administrative Court. In December that year, the State of Hesse sold 303 hectares of land to Frankfurt Airport/Main AG for the construction of the new runway. The expected logging zone amounted to 129 hectares.
Intensification of the conflict
When the Hessian Administrative Court ruled in favor of the new runway construction on 21 October 1980, the legal dispute ended but resistance on the ground intensified.
On the planned site of Runway 18 West, opponents erected a citizens' initiative (BI) hut as of May 1980, using it as an information kiosk for people walking in the area. In July, Hessian Minister of Economics and Transport (FDP), ordered the "immediate implementation" of runway construction. In October however, the Hessian Administrative Court rejected this stop request, restoring the construction halt. Yet the first tree felling work began before the winter for technical reasons. First, a seven-hectare site was cleared directly at the airport site.
On 2 November 1980, 15,000 people, mainly environmentalists and students, as well as numerous elderly people from the region, demonstrated at the edge of the forest in Walldorf. Since planned occupation actions by protesters failed due to long-running police efforts, the citizens' initiative group decided to expand its "BI-Hütte" into a permanently inhabited village to be able to react more quickly and effectively to potential land seizure and clearing operations. As a result, several illegal huts were built, in addition to a hut church of the Walldorf parish, on airport grounds.
In May 1981, the Darmstadt city government president ordered that the site be seized. On 6 October, the previously cleared seven-hectare site was occupied by protesters then retaken by police. Hundreds had gathered on the site, excavated a triangular trench, and built a tower inside. The first hut village was evacuated on the morning of 2 November 1981; most protesters were removed peacefully. While the tower was more difficult to evacuate, squatters left it voluntarily the following evening. A few days after the site was cleared, a 2.5-metre-high concrete wall was erected to secure construction work.
While the hut village eviction itself was peaceful, thousands gathered in the woods outside police cordons during the day and several controversial police operations were carried out against the protesters. Late in the late evening of November 3, 1981, a police operation against an anti-runway demonstration took place on Rohrbachstraße in the Nordend district of Frankfurt, seriously injuring several demonstrators. After the removal of protesters, logging and construction work began under massive police protection. Repeated attacks by demonstrators took place against the concrete wall and police officers. Frequent attempts by runway opponents to build permanent hut villages were thwarted by the police.
A planned reoccupation of the Hüttendorf site on 7 November, after a rally attended by tens of thousands of protesters, was not carried out after disagreements within the movement over the question of violence. Instead of the planned mass crossing of the police cordons, fifty selected demonstrators with bare torsos were allowed onto the premises by police. In an event that would come to be called "Naked Saturday", four BI spokespersons then held an inconclusive discussion with Interior Minister Ekkehard Gries (FDP) on the cleared area of the hut village about halting the tree-felling work until a decision could be reached by the State Court. Another version of the day's events claims it was called Naked Saturday because many protesters were too lightly clothed for the colder-than-anticipated weather.
Demonstrations
On 14 November 1981, over 120,000 people demonstrated in Wiesbaden against Runway 18 West. The Land returning officer was handed 220,000 signatures in support of a referendum. At the rally, Frankfurt Magistrate Director Alexander Schubart called for a "visit" to the airport the next day. The following day, runway opponents blocked airport entrances for hours. When the police used force against them, the demonstrators fled to the adjacent highway and erected barricades. In order to clear the motorway, the police deployed federal border protection units dispatched by helicopter.
For over a week, the city centre of Frankfurt and other cities in the Rhine-Main region were effectively shut down by daily protests. Police prevented protestors from occupying Frankfurt Central Station.
Alexander Schubart was sentenced to two years' imprisonment on probation for coercing the state government (Section 105, Section 125 and 240 StGB) and for his call for violence and discharged from the civil service. After ten years of legal battles, he was able to spend only eight months on probation and remain in the civil service.
The referendum request – the final remaining legal method to prevent runway construction – ended in 1982 with a decision by the Hessian Landtag under Minister-President Holger Börner (SPD), and rejection due to non-jurisdiction by the Hessian State Court.
In the following period, the runway movement, which had shrunk after the events of the autumn of 1981, primarily shifted to weekly "Sunday walks" to the concrete wall around the construction site. During these weekly demonstrations, repeated attempts were made to dismantle the wall, obstruct construction work, and attack police forces.
After Construction
On 12 April 1984, Runway 18 West began operating, although opening ceremonies were dispensed with. Two days later, approximately 15,000 people demonstrated against the commissioning of the runway at the perimeter wall in the forest.
On 2 November 1987, during a demonstration marking the sixth anniversary of the hut village evacuation, 14 police officers were shot at with a police firearm stolen from an earlier anti-nuclear demonstration in nearby Hanau on 8 November 1986. Nine police officers were hit, and officers Thorsten Schwalm and Klaus Eichhöfer succumbed to their injuries. The same night, a massive wave of searches and arrests began against the entire anti-runway movement. Runway opponents Andreas E. and Frank H. were indicted by the Federal Prosecutor's Office as the gunmen responsible for the two police deaths. Andreas E. was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Frank H. was sentenced in 1991 to four and a half years in prison for offences unrelated to the fatal shootings. As a result of these events, the remnants of the protest movement against Runway 18 West fell apart.
In 2011, a fourth runway, the Northwest Runway, was built at Frankfurt Airport despite significant resistance from the public. A year after the fourth runway's construction, the website Airport Watch reported that weekly protests against the runway were occurring at the airport.
Initially, the original concrete perimeter wall remained as a relic of the Runway 18 West protests, a rare security barrier for a German airport in the period before September 11th. As of February 2018, the wall had been replaced with a modern, combined-wall-and-fence barrier, partly secured with NATO barbed wire. A section of the old wall, approximately 6 m long, has been preserved as a monument.
Flight Specifications
Runway West is called '18' because it is faces almost exactly south, a course angle of 180 degrees. Because the Taunus Mountains prevent departures towards the north, only southbound takeoffs are permitted, in the direction of the Upper Rhine Plain. Since aircraft are supposed to take off against the wind, strong northerly winds limit or prevent takeoffs from the runway.
Movies
Keine Startbahn West – Trilogie eines Widerstandes (No Runway West - Trilogy of Resistance). 1981. Documentary film by Thomas Frickel and others.
Keine Startbahn West – Eine Region wehrt sich (No Runway West - A Region Fights Back). 1982. Documentary film by Thomas Frickel and others.
Wertvolle Jahre (Valuable years). 1989/90. Documentary film by Thomas Carlé and Gruscha Rode.
Literature
Wolf Wetzel: Tödliche Schüsse. Eine dokumentarische Erzählung (Deadly Shots. A Documentary Narrative). Unrast, Münster 2008, .
Horst Karasek: Das Dorf im Flörsheimer Wald. Eine Chronik gegen die Startbahn West (The Village in the Flörsheim Forest). A chronicle against the West runway. Luchterhand Verlag, Darmstadt/Neuwied 1981, .
Volker Luley: Trotzdem gehört uns der Wald! von einem, der auszog das Fürchten zu verlernen (Nevertheless, the Forest Belongs to Us! From Someone Who Set Out to Unlearn Fear). Saalbau Verlag, Offenbach 1981, .
Bruno Struif (ed.): Kunst gegen StartbahnWest. Arbeiten von Betroffenen (Art vs. Runway West. Work of Those Affected). Anabas, casting 1982, .
Ulrich Cremer: Bauen als Urerfahrung: dargestellt am Beispiel des Hüttendorfes gegen die Startbahn West (Building as a Primal Experience: Illustrated by the Example of the Hut Village Against Runway West). E. Weiss Verlag, Munich 1982, .
External links
(Runway West - Collection of images, videos and audio files)
Wer nicht kämpft, hat schon verloren ("Those who do not fight have already lost.")
Photos of the runway wall, 2017
References
Airport infrastructure
Autonomism
Environmental protests
Former squats
Squats in Germany | Runway 18 West | [
"Engineering"
] | 2,575 | [
"Airport infrastructure",
"Aerospace engineering"
] |
62,176,223 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalu%20Waller | Annalu Waller is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Dundee and leads the Augmentative and Alternate Communication (AAC) Research Group at the university.
Career
Waller was appointed an OBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to people with Complex Communication Needs. In September 2017 she was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists for her work on AAC. She received the honour from the RCSLT's patron, the Countess of Wessex. She is a trustee of Capability Scotland.
Waller is an ordained priest and is the honorary Anglican Chaplain of the Dundee University Chaplaincy.
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Fellows of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
Members of the Order of the British Empire
British chaplains
Academics of the University of Dundee | Annalu Waller | [
"Technology"
] | 164 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer science",
"Computer science stubs"
] |
62,176,483 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association%20%28psychology%29 | Association in psychology refers to a mental connection between concepts, events, or mental states that usually stems from specific experiences. Associations are seen throughout several schools of thought in psychology including behaviorism, associationism, psychoanalysis, social psychology, and structuralism. The idea stems from Plato and Aristotle, especially with regard to the succession of memories, and it was carried on by philosophers such as John Locke, David Hume, David Hartley, and James Mill. It finds its place in modern psychology in such areas as memory, learning, and the study of neural pathways.
Learned associations
Associative learning is when a subject creates a relationship between stimuli (e.g. auditory or visual) or behavior and the original stimulus. The higher the concreteness of stimulus items, the more likely are they to evoke sensory images that can function as mediators of associative learning and memory. The ability to learn new information is essential to daily life and thus a critical component of healthy aging. There is substantial research documenting aging-related decline in forming and retrieving episodic memories. The acquisition of associations is the basis for learning. This learning is seen in classical and operant conditioning.
Law of Effect
Edward Thorndike did research in this area and developed the law of effect, where associations between a stimulus and response are affected by the consequence of the response. For example, behaviors increase in strength and/or frequency when they have been followed by reward. This occurs because of an association between the behavior and a mental representation of the reward (such as food). Conversely, receiving a negative consequence lowers the frequency of the behavior due to the negative association. An example of this would be a rat in a cage with a bar lever. If pressing the lever results in a food pellet, the rat will learn to press the lever to receive food. If pressing the lever resulted in an electric shock on the floor of the cage, the rat would learn to avoid pressing the lever.
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is an example of a learned association. The classical conditioning process consists of four elements: unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), conditioned stimulus (CS), and conditioned response (CR).
Without conditioning, there is already a relationship between the unconditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response. When a second stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus, the response becomes associated with both stimuli. The secondary stimulus is known as the conditioned stimulus and elicits a conditioned response.
The strength of the response to the conditioned stimulus increases over the period of learning, as the CS becomes associated with UCS. The strength of the response can diminish if CS is presented without UCS. In his famous experiment, Pavlov used the unconditioned response of dogs salivating at the sight of food (UCS), and paired the sound of a bell (CS) with receiving food, and later the dog salivated (CR) to the bell alone, indicating that an association had been established between the bell and food.
Operant conditioning
In operant conditioning, behaviors are changed due to the experienced outcomes of those behaviors. Stimuli do not cause behavior, as in classical conditioning, but instead the associations are created between stimulus and consequence, as an extension by Thorndike on his Law of Effect.
B.F. Skinner was well known for his studies of reinforcers on behavior. His studies included the aspect of contingency, which refers to the connection between a specific action and the following consequence or reinforcement. Skinner described three contingencies: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. Reinforcements create a positive association between the action and consequence in order to promote the continuation of the action. This is done in one of two ways, positive reinforcers introduce a rewarding stimulus, whereas negative reinforcers remove an aversive stimulus to make the environment less aversive. Punishments create a negative relationship between the action and the consequence so that the action does not continue.
Mood
The overall content of moods, compared to emotions, feelings or affects, are less specific and are likely to be provoked by a stimulus or event. The present studies investigated the constituents of the occurrent experience of specific moods like sad or angry mood states. Moods are typically defined by contrasting them with emotions. Several criteria exist for distinguishing moods from emotions, but there is a widely shared consensus that the core differentiating feature is that moods, in contrast to emotions, are diffuse and global. Watson introduced a white fluffy rabbit to an infant, and created a connection between the rabbit and a loud noise. This experience for Little Albert associated a feeling of fear with the rabbit.
Acquired equivalence
Acquired equivalence is defined as a learning and generalization paradigm in which prior training in stimulus equivalence increases the amount of generalization between two stimuli even if they are superficially dissimilar. Therefore, if two different stimuli share the same consequence, they predict the same outcome. Let us suppose that there are two girls Anna and Sarah, who have nothing in common other than they both love pets. When you learn that Sarah has a dog, you immediately predict that Anna will love Sarah’s dog. The area in the brain responsible for the acquired equivalence is the hippocampus; hence, in cases when the hippocampal region is damaged, there are deficits of acquired equivalence. In acquired equivalence, the stimuli are not categorized based on their characteristics (physical, emotional) but based on their functional characteristic (preference about the same thing). During this paradigm, it is learned to create compositions from different categories, and for this reason, some researchers agree that acquired equivalence can be a synonym to categorization. Both humans and non-humans have the ability for acquired equivalence.
An example of acquired equivalence is from the studies Geoffrey Hall and his colleagues have conducted with pigeons. In one study, the pigeons were trained to peck when they see the light with different colors. After that, the researchers paired certain colors to appear in sequence and provided food when the pigeons peck only in few sequences. Thus, the pigeons learned that in those sequences, if they peck, they will certainly receive food. Those sequences had something special that the pigeons could also learn; certain two colors were followed by food when they are followed by certain one color, so the two colors somewhat equivalent. Let us assume, as there were six colors, that red and green when followed by only yellow, led to food. Similarly, blue and brown, when followed by only white, also led to food. In this way, the pigeons learned that red is in a way equivalent to green, and blue to brown, because they are paired with the same color.
The next step was to teach the pigeons that pecking on red alone leads to food while pecking to blue alone does not. At this point, the researchers presented the pigeons with the second colors (i.e., green and brown) that were paired with the same color (i.e., yellow or white) with which the first colors were also paired (i.e., red and blue), which made the colors with the same pairing color (i.e., red and green as pairing with yellow and blue and brown as pairing with white) equivalent in the pigeons’ eyes.
So, at this third step, the pigeons were presented with the green light and after that with the brown light, and to the researchers’ surprise, the pigeons showed a quick response with a strong pecking to the first color while not responding to the second. This result shows that the pigeons have learned the equivalence of two colors from their co-occurring and their having similar consequence in one occurrence. This idea of equivalence showed its effect when the pigeons were in a totally different context and saw one of the two colors leading to a certain consequence; they believed that the other color would also lead to the same consequence, as it is equivalent to the first. The pigeons learned to generalize from one color to another because of their history of co-occurring.
Memory
Memory seems to operate as a sequence of associations: concepts, words, and opinions are intertwined, so that stimuli such as a person’s face will call up the associated name.
Understanding the effects of mood on memory is central to several issues in psychology. It is a primary topic in theories of the relation between affect and cognition. Mood's effect on memory may mediate the influence of mood on a variety of behaviors and judgements associated with decision making, helping, and person perception. Understanding the relationships between different items is fundamental to episodic memory, and damage to the hippocampal region of the brain has been found to hinder learning of associations between objects.
Testing associations
Associations in humans can be measured with the Implicit Association Test, a psychological test which measures the implicit (subconscious) relation between two concepts, which was created by Anthony G. Greenwald in 1995. It has been used in investigations of subconscious racial bias, gender and sexual orientation bias, consumer preferences, political preferences, personality traits, alcohol and drug use, mental health, and relationships. The test measures the associations between different ideas, such as race and crime. Reaction time is used to distinguish associations; faster reaction time is an indicator of a stronger association. A D score is used to represent the participant's mean reaction time. If the participant's mean reaction time is negative, then that individual is thought to have less implicit bias. If the participant's mean reaction time is positive, then that individual is thought to have more implicit bias. A D score for each participant is calculated by deleting trials that are greater than 10,000 milliseconds, deleting participants that respond quicker than 300 milliseconds on over 10% of trials, determining inclusive standard deviations for all trials in Stages 3 and 4 and also in Stages 6 and 7. Mean response times are determined for Stages 3, 4, 6, and 7, the mean difference between Stage 6 and Stage 3 (MeanStage6 - MeanStage3) will be computed as well as the mean difference between Stage 7 and Stage 4(MeanStage7 - MeanStage4), each difference is divided by its associated inclusive standard deviation, and the D score is equivalent to the average of the two resulting ratios. In psychology, association can sometimes be synonymous with correlation. When something is referred to as having positive association or positive correlation, it describes high or low levels of one variable happen with high or low levels of another variable. Other common types of association are negative association, zero association, and curvilinear association.
See also
Association of Ideas
Associative memory (psychology)
Halo effect
Pair by association
References
Bibliography
Boring, E. G. (1950) A History of Experimental Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Gallistel, C. R. & Gibbon, J. (2002). The Symbolic Foundations of Conditioned Behavior. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Klein, Stephen (2012). Learning: Principles and Applications (6 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, London: SAGE. .
Shettleworth, S. J. (2010) Cognition, Evolution and Behavior. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. .
Smith, E. E. & Kosslyn, S. M. (2007) "Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain", Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson / Prentice Hall. .
External links
Word Associations Network: The Word Association Dictionary
Behavioral concepts | Association (psychology) | [
"Biology"
] | 2,345 | [
"Behavior",
"Behavioral concepts",
"Behaviorism"
] |
62,176,999 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204746 | NGC 4746 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located 107 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by John Herschel during a sky-survey on March 29, 1830.
References
External links
Spiral galaxies
Virgo (constellation)
4746
Astronomical objects discovered in 1830
043601 | NGC 4746 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 63 | [
"Virgo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
62,180,979 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-water%20surface%20cleaning | In-water cleaning, also known as in-water surface cleaning, is a collection of methods for removing unwanted material in-situ from the underwater surface of a structure. This often refers to removing marine fouling growth from ship hulls, but also has applications on civil engineering structures, pipeline intakes and similar components which are impossible or inconvenient to remove from the water for maintenance. It does not generally refer to cleaning the inside of underwater or other pipelines, a process known as pigging. Many applications require the intervention of a diver, either to provide the power, or to direct a powered tool.
Applications
Removal of marine fouling for ship performance improvement.
Removal of marine organisms to prevent infestation by alien species. Fouling of ships' bottoms by marine organisms is recognised as a major vector for the introduction of invasive alien species, which can have significant economic and environmental impacts. The risk can be mitigated by maintenance of the immersed surfaces to kill or remove fouling organisms before entry into the protected areas. The usual primary method is the use of anti-fouling coatings, which are themselves an environmental hazard due to toxicity. In-water cleaning is an adjunct to anti-fouling in cases where the coating has not been completely effective, and also carries a biosecurity risk due to the potential release of the removed organisms and toxins from the coatings.
Removal of fouling and contaminants in preparation for inspection, maintenance or repair work.
Ship bottom cleaning
Methods
Manual methods:
Removal of organisms by hand
Cleaning using scrapers, hand brushes and scouring pads
Mechanical methods:
Brushing – the use of a tool with bristles to scrape off the contaminants.
Brush cart – a device which transports powered brushes along the surface to be cleaned. Brush carts do not usually include a system for removal or treatment of waste, but it can be done if there is sufficient demand. Brushes that do not directly contact the surface coating can remove fouling without damaging the coating itself. The standoff can be controlled when the cart rolls over the surface on wheels. Some removal of the surface of some anti-fouling coatings may actually improve the performance by exposing a fresh layer with more concentrated active materials.
High pressure water jetting – when correctly applied, high pressure water jetting can provide acceptable levels of cleaning without damaging anti-fouling coatings or releasing toxins to the environment, but this requires fairly accurate control of jet angle and distance from the surface, and duration of impingement. In other circumstances water jetting can be used to remove paint. Water jetting can be applied manually by divers, by diver-operated carts, or by ROVs. Pressures of between 200 and 600 bar may be used in high-pressure water jetting. Cleaning rates are generally lower underwater than with the ship in dry dock, where rates of 200 m2 per hour are possible. Exceptionally heavy fouling may reduce the rate to 20 m2 per hour. With sufficient pressure, (around 750 bar), damaged concrete coating can be removed from steel pipelines without damage to the steel. Special nozzles are available for jetting between parallel surfaces and inside pipes. Jet geometry affects cleaning rate. A round jet has the maximum impact on the contamination, but the area affected is relatively small. A fan jet impinges on a much wider swath, but with less impact, and the width and impact of a fan jet are strongly affected by the distance between the nozzle and the surface. Where a fan jet is effective, the optimum distance and angle can be discovered by experiment, and will often vary across the surface. Soft or resilient deposits may peel off in coherent sheets if jetted at an angle of around 30 to 60° to the surface. More brittle deposits will tend to break up as they are detached, and may need a jetting angle nearer to perpendicular to the surface.
Abrasive water jetting – this system is intended to remove contaminants, coatings, and corrosion products down to the substrate. Abrasive grit is entrained in the jet of water and the impact of the grit has an aggressive cleaning action.
Cavitation water jet – this system uses jets of water containing cavitation voids of water vapour, generated ultrasonically in the nozzle, which develop high localised impact pressures on hard surfaces when the bubbles implode at the surface to be cleaned. This is claimed to do less damage to surface coatings than high pressure jetting, and reduce the hazard to the operator. The cavitation jet can remove fouling, loose paint and rust, without damage to sound paint when used correctly, but can erode ablative and self-polishing paint coatings if applied too closely or for too long. Tools include hand-held pistols, diver and self-propelled carts and potentially, also robotic systems. Suction systems to recover waste are available, and the waste can be treated or filtered.
Capture and treatment of waste products
Depending on the reason for bottom cleaning, it may be desirable to capture and treat the waste dislodged from the surface. If the purpose is to remove potentially invasive alien species, then they must be removed from the water or killed. If the organisms are not a problem, it may be necessary to contain released toxins from the anti-fouling coating.
Environmental impact
In-water cleaning of structures and vessels may distribute the surface contaminants in an area where they could be harmful. There are two main concerns:
Release of potentially invasive alien organisms. This is mainly a problem when the fouled surface is on a vessel which has traveled from a different ecological region, and is covered with species alien to the region where it is cleaned.
Release of toxins which may degrade the local environment. This is a concern where the surface has a layer of antifouling paint under the fouling layer.
Effects on substrate
Some cleaning technologies can cause significant damage or degradation of the substrate, particularly removal or excessive abrasion of protective or biologically active surface coatings. In some cases removal of the upper layer of an anti-fouling paint can expose paint which has a stronger concentration of active biocides, which can reactivate the paint.
References
Underwater work
Tools
Cleaning
Human impact on the environment | In-water surface cleaning | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,280 | [
"Cleaning",
"Surface science"
] |
62,181,250 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin%20echo%20small%20angle%20neutron%20scattering | Spin echo small angle neutron scattering (SESANS) measures structures from around 20 to 2000 nm in size. The information is presented as a real-space (similar to g(r)) as opposed to a reciprocal space (q(r)) mapping. This can simplify the interpretation for some systems.
SESANS is useful for studying processes that occur over relatively long time scales, as data collection is often slow, but large length scales. Aggregation of colloids, block copolymer micelles, Stöber silica particles being a prime examples.
The technique offers some advantages over SANS but there are fewer SESANS instruments available than SANS instruments. Facilities for SESANS exist at TUDelft (Netherlands) and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK).
References
Materials science
Analytical chemistry
Scientific techniques | Spin echo small angle neutron scattering | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Engineering"
] | 166 | [
"Materials science stubs",
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Materials science",
"nan",
"Analytical chemistry stubs"
] |
62,181,567 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USP%20800 | USP 800 (Hazardous Drugs—Handling in Healthcare Settings) is a guideline created by the United States Pharmacopeia Convention (USP), as one of their General Chapters through which the USP "sets quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements and food ingredients". USP 800 provides guidance about the handling of hazardous drugs (HDs) in the healthcare setting. It was published on February 1, 2016, and originally planned for implementation in December 2019; however, implementation has been delayed.
Scope
USP 800 describes practice and quality standards for the handling of HDs involving but not limited to the receipt, storage, compounding, dispensing, administration, and disposal of sterile and non-sterile products. This chapter applies to any personnel who may be exposed to HDs. Personnel likely to be exposed may include pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, physician assistants, home healthcare workers, veterinarians, and veterinary technicians.
Requirements
Facilities that handle HDs must follow the standards outlined in USP 800. At minimum the facilities's management system must include:
A list of HDs
Facility and engineering controls
Competent personnel
Safe work practices
Proper use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Policies for HD waste segregation and disposal
List of hazardous drugs
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) maintains a list of antineoplastic and HDs that are used in healthcare settings. The site must maintain a list of any drugs they use that are on the NIOSH list and it must be updated every 12 months. If the facility begins using a new medication on the NIOSH list it must be added to their HD list.
Responsibilities of people handling hazardous drugs
Each facility must have a designated person who develops, implements, and maintains USP 800 compliance. This person is also responsible for overseeing the training of personnel and reporting hazardous situations to the management team. All personnel who handle HDs must be trained on the fundamental practices and precautions to contain HDs.
Facilities and engineering controls
HDs must be handled in ways to limit contamination. HD storage areas must be separated from break rooms and refreshment areas.
Designated areas must be available for:
Receipt and unpacking
Storage of HDs
Non-sterile and sterile HD compounding
Receipt
Antineoplastic HDs and all HD active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) must be unpacked in an area that is neutral/normal or negative pressure.
Storage
HDs must be stored properly to prevent spillage or breakage. HDs should not be stored on the floor or areas prone to natural disaster such as earthquakes.
Antineoplastic HDs that require further manipulation other than repackaging or counting must be stored separately from non-HDs. Sterile and non-sterile HDs must not be stored together. Refrigerated HDs must be stored in a dedicated refrigerator located in a negative pressure area.
References
External links
USP Official Website
USP 800 Download
2019 NIOSH List of Dangerous Drugs
Pharmacy | USP 800 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 603 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacy"
] |
62,182,176 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitragynine | Mitragynine is an indole-based alkaloid and is one of the main psychoactive constituents in the Southeast Asian plant Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom. It is an opioid that is typically consumed as a part of kratom for its pain-relieving and euphoric effects. It has also been researched for its use to potentially manage symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
Mitragynine is the most abundant active alkaloid in kratom. In Thai varieties of kratom, mitragynine is the most abundant component (up to 66% of total alkaloids), while 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) is a minor constituent (up to 2% of total alkaloid content). In Malaysian kratom varieties, mitragynine is present at lower concentration (12% of total alkaloids). Total alkaloid concentration in dried leaves ranges from 0.5 to 1.5%. Such preparations are orally consumed and typically involve dried kratom leaves which are brewed into tea or ground and placed into capsules.
Uses
Medical
, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had stated that there were no approved clinical uses for kratom, and that there was no evidence that kratom was safe or effective for treating any condition. This reiterated the conclusion of an earlier report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA): , mitragynine had not been approved for any medical use. , the FDA had noted, in particular, that there had been no clinical trials to study safety and efficacy of kratom in the treatment of opioid addiction.
Pain
Mitragynine-containing kratom extracts, with their accompanying array of alkaloids and other natural products, have been used for their perceived pain-mitigation properties for at least a century. In Southeast Asia, the consumption of mitragynine from whole leaf kratom preparations is common among laborers who report utilizing kratom's mild stimulant and perceived analgesic properties to increase endurance and ease pain while working. In one laboratory study in a rat model in 2016, alkaloid-containing extracts of kratom gave evidence of inducing naloxone-reversible antinociceptive effects in hotplate and tail-flick tests to a level comparable to oxycodone.
Chronic pain
Kratom is commonly used in the United States as self-medication for pain. A 2019 review of existing literature suggested the potential of kratom as substitution therapy for chronic pain.
Opioid withdrawal
As early as the 19th century, kratom was in use for the treatment of opioid addiction and withdrawal. , a review of mental health aspects of kratom use mentioned opioid replacement and withdrawal as primary motivations for kratom use: almost 50% of the approximately 8,000 kratom users surveyed indicated kratom use that resulted in reduced or discontinued use of opioids. Some animal models of opioid withdrawal suggest mitragynine can suppress and ameliorate withdrawal from other opioid agonists (e.g., after chronic administration of morphine in zebra fish).
Recreational
Mitragynine and its metabolite 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) are thought to underlie the effects of kratom. Consumption of dried kratom leaves yields different responses depending on the dose consumed. At low doses, kratom is reported to induce a mild stimulating effect, while larger doses are reported to produce sedation and analgesia typical of opioids. The concentration of mitragynine and other alkaloids in kratom have been found to vary between particular "strains" of the plant, thus indicating "strain-specific" effects from consumption, as well. Kratom extracts are often mixed with other easily attainable psychoactive compounds—such are found in over-the-counter cough medicines—to potentiate the effects of the concentrated levels of mitragynine. Effects of mitragynine-containing preparations from M. speciosa include analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, and muscle relaxant properties; adverse effects include a negative impact on cognition; in animal studies the potential for misuse has been found, including through the use of the conditioned place preference (CPP) test, which indicated a distinct reward effect for 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Adverse effects
Dependence and withdrawal
Due at least in part to the activity on opioid receptors, mitragynine can result in dependence and lead to withdrawal symptoms when discontinued. Regular users reported withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing kratom such as pain, muscle spasms, insomnia, nausea, diarrhea, restlessness, anxiety, and anger, all of which are characteristic of opioid withdrawal. In one study, symptoms of withdrawal lasted less than three days for most subjects. In an animal study, mitragynine withdrawal symptoms were observed following 14 days of mitragynine intraperitoneal injections in mice and included displays of anxiety, teeth chattering, and piloerection, all of which are characteristic signs of opioid withdrawal in mice and are comparable to morphine withdrawal symptoms.
Chemistry
Solubility
The solubility of mitragynine from kratom in neutral-pH and alkaline water is very low (0.0187 mg/ml at pH 9). The solubility of mitragynine in acidic water is higher (3.5 mg/ml at pH 4), however, this alkaloid can become unstable, so certain products, such as low-pH beverages, have a very short shelf life. Many vendors offer concentrated kratom products with claims of improved mitragynine solubility, however, those products are often formulated with solvents such as propylene glycol, which can make products unpleasant.
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Mitragynine acts on a variety of receptors in the central nervous system (CNS), most notably the mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors. The nature of mitragynine's interaction with opioid receptors has yet to be fully classified, with some reports suggesting partial agonist activity at the mu-opioid receptor and others suggesting full agonist activity. Additionally, mitragynine is known to interact with delta and kappa opioid receptors as well, but these interactions remain ambiguous, with some reports indicating mitragynine as a delta and kappa opioid receptor competitive antagonist and others as a full agonist of these receptors. In either case, mitragynine is reported to have lower affinity to delta and kappa opioid receptors compared to mu opioid receptors. Mitragynine is also known to interact with dopamine D2, adenosine, serotonin, and alpha-2 adrenergic receptors, though the significance of these interactions is not fully understood. Additionally, several reports of mitragynine pharmacology indicate potential biased agonism activity favoring G protein signaling pathways independent of beta arrestin recruitment, which was originally thought to be a primary component in reducing opioid-induced respiratory depression. However, recent evidence suggests that low intrinsic efficacy at the mu-opioid receptor is responsible for the improved side effect profile of mitragynine, as opposed to G protein bias.
Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetic analysis have largely taken place in live rodents as well as rodent and human microsomes. Owing to the heterogeneity of analysis and paucity of human experiments conducted thus far, the pharmacokinetic profile of mitragynine is not complete. However, initial pharmacokinetic studies in humans have yielded preliminary information. In a study of 10 healthy volunteers taking orally administered mitragynine from whole leaf preparations, mitragynine appeared to have a much longer half-life than typical opioid agonists (7–39 hours) and reached peak plasma concentration (Tmax) within 1 hour of administration. However, another study involving a Kratom tea preparation reported a much shorter half-life of 3 hours. Mitragynine is estimated to have a bioavailability of 21%.
Metabolism
Mitragynine is primarily metabolized in the liver, producing many metabolites during both phase I and phase II.
Phase I
During phase I metabolism, mitragynine undergoes hydrolysis of the methylester group on C16 as well as o-demethylation of both methoxy groups on positions 9 and 17. Following this step, oxidation and reduction reactions convert aldehyde intermediates into alcohols and carboxylic acids. P450 metabolic enzymes are known to facilitate the phase I metabolism of mitragynine which reportedly has an inhibitory effect on multiple P450 enzymes, raising the possibility of adverse drug interactions.
Phase II
During phase II metabolism, phase I metabolites undergo glucuronidation and sulfation to form multiple glucuronide and sulfate conjugates, which are then excreted via urine.
History
Mitragynine consumption for medicinal and recreational purposes dates back centuries, although early use was primarily limited to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, where the plant grows indigenously. Recently, mitragynine use has spread throughout Europe and the Americas as both a recreational and medicinal drug. While research into the effects of kratom have begun to emerge, investigations on the active compound mitragynine are less common.
Legality
In the United States, kratom and its active ingredients are not scheduled under DEA guidelines. Despite the current legal status of the plant and its constituents, the legality of kratom has been turbulent in recent years. In August 2016, the DEA issued a report of intent stating that mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine would undergo emergency scheduling and be placed under Schedule I classification until further notice, making kratom strictly illegal and thus hindering research on its active constituents. Following this report, the DEA faced significant public and administrative opposition in the form of a White House petition signed by 140,000 citizens and a letter to the DEA administrator backed by 51 members of the House of Representatives resisting the proposed scheduling. This opposition led the DEA to withdraw its report of intent in October 2016, allowing for unencumbered research into the potential benefits and health risks associated with mitragynine and other alkaloids in the kratom plant. Kratom and its active constituents are unscheduled and legally sold in stores and online in the United States except for a small number of states. As of June 2019, the FDA continues to warn consumers not to use kratom, while advocating for more research for a better understanding of kratom's safety profile.
Research
Research limitations
Inconsistencies in dosing, purity, and concomitant drug use makes evaluating the effects of mitragynine in humans difficult. Conversely, animal studies control for such variability, but offer limited translatable information relevant to humans. Experimental limitations aside, mitragynine has been found to interact with a variety of receptors, although the nature and extent of receptor interactions has yet to be fully characterized. Additionally, the toxicity of mitragynine and associated kratom alkaloids have yet to be fully determined in humans, nor has the risk of overdose. More studies are necessary to assess safety and potential therapeutic utility.
Toxicology
Mitragynine toxicity in humans is largely unknown, as animal studies show significant species-specific differences in mitragynine tolerance. Mitragynine toxicity in humans is rarely reported although specific examples of seizures and liver toxicity in kratom consumers have been reported. Due to Cytochrome P450 enzyme inhibition, the combination of mitragynine with other drugs poses concern for adverse reactions to mitragynine. Fatalities involving mitragynine tend to include its use in combination with opioids and some cough suppressants. Post-mortem toxicology screens indicate a wide range of mitragynine blood concentrations ranging from 10 μg/L to 4800 μg/L, making it difficult to calculate what constitutes a toxic dose in humans. These variations are suggested to result from differences in the toxicology assays used, and how long after death the assays were conducted.
See also
Mitragyna speciosa (Kratom)
7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH)
References
Indoloquinolizines
Tryptamine alkaloids
Methoxy compounds
Methyl esters
Mu-opioid receptor agonists
Delta-opioid receptor agonists | Mitragynine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 2,659 | [
"Tryptamine alkaloids",
"Alkaloids by chemical classification"
] |
62,184,291 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnological%20tower | A limnological tower is a structure constructed in a body of water to facilitate the study of aquatic ecosystems (limnology). They play an important role in drinking water infrastructure by allowing the prediction of algal blooms which can block filters and affect the taste of the water.
Purpose
Limnological towers provide a fixed structure to which sensors and sampling devices can be affixed. The depth of the structure below water level allows for study of the various layers of water in the lake or reservoir. The management of limnological conditions can be important in reservoirs used to supply drinking water treatment plants. In certain conditions algal blooms can occur which can block filters, change the pH of the water and cause taste and odour problems. If the sensors extend to the bed level the tower can also be used to monitor the hypolimnion (lowest layer of water) which in some conditions can become anoxic (of low oxygen content) which may affect the lake ecology.
Limnological towers have been constructed in reservoirs used to supply drinking water in the United Kingdom since algal blooms began causing problems with water quality. By providing data on water conditions and algae levels the towers can predict the behaviour of the algae and allow managers to make decisions to alter conditions to prevent algal blooms. These decisions may include altering water inflows (particularly where nutrient-rich intakes are considered), activating water jets to promote the mixing of different layers of water and altering the depth from which water is abstracted. These decisions can affect the behaviour of the reservoir over a period from a few hours to a few years.
Examples
North America
Six combined limnological and meteorological observation towers were established in the Great Lakes on the US-Canadian border in 1961. Three were installed in Lake Huron, two in Lake Ontario and one in Lake Erie by the Great Lakes Institute. These were innovative in design and cheap to construct, being built largely from water pipe. Constructed in water depths of the towers provided measurements of wind speed, air temperature and rainfall as well as water temperature and current flows at different depth. The shorter towers (in water less than of depth) were attached directly to the bed, towers in greater depths of water were floating units, with a submerged ballast tank, that were anchored to the lake bed by means of cables and weights.
A further two limnological towers were constructed near Douglas Point in Lake Huron in the 1960s. One, high was built offshore in 1961 and a second high in 1969. They are poles anchored to the lake bed by means of a gimbal and braced by tensioned cables and anchor guys. They featured a mobile thermistor sensor that could be moved to any depth on the tower as well as fixed thermometers at various depths and were intended to monitor the temperatures of different water layers in the lake.
United Kingdom
A concrete limnological tower was installed at Rutland Water, England's largest reservoir by surface area, when it was built in the early 1970s. The design of the tower was influenced by consultation with the Water Research Centre and was intended to provide the best possible tools to monitor the ecological conditions of the reservoir so that it could be best managed by its operator (the Anglian Water Authority). The tower monitors water temperature, dissolved oxygen levels and water fluorescence (which is a measure of algal content) at 2m depth intervals. The tower also has the ability to draw water samples for further testing from the various depths and also mounts an automatic weather station. The data is continuous and displayed visually in real-time at the reservoir control centre, situated at the dam. The site of the tower was chosen to best suit the needs of the operator. The reservoir consists of two arms – northern and southern – and has been designed such that all nutrient-rich water enters the southern arm. The intention being that nutrients will be depleted before the water is abstracted for use at the eastern end of the site. The northern-arm is fed by nutrient-poor sources and should be relatively unaffected by algal blooms. A secondary outlet is available that draws solely from the northern arm, in cases that the southern arm is affected by algal growth. Additionally the operators are able to draw directly from the River Nene if the reservoir water is unusable.
The Queen Mother Reservoir near London also has a limnological tower.
References
Limnology
Water supply | Limnological tower | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Environmental_science"
] | 885 | [
"Hydrology",
"Water supply",
"Environmental engineering"
] |
62,186,695 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entwisleia | Entwisleia is a monotypic genus in the red algae family, Entwisleiaceae. There is just one species (the type species) in this genus,
Entwisleia bella, from south-eastern Tasmania and represents both a new family and a new order (Entwisleiales) in the Nemaliophycidae.
It is a marine species found in the Derwent River estuary. It grows at depths between 5.0 and 9.0 m and is found scattered on mudstone reef flats dusted or shallowly covered by sand. The site at which it was found is subject to episodic high-rainfall events throughout the year and heavy swells in winter. It is a feathery dioecious seaweed, very like the freshwater red algae, Batrachospermum, but from DNA sequencing, appears to be quite unrelated. Scott et al.'s (2013) study shows it as a sister clade of the Colaconematales.
The genus was named to honour Tim Entwisle, was circumscribed by Fiona Jean Scott and Gerald Thompson Kraft in Eur. J. Phycol. Vol.48 (Issue 4) on page 402 in 2013.
References
Red algae genera
Seaweeds
Florideophyceae
Monotypic algae genera | Entwisleia | [
"Biology"
] | 275 | [
"Seaweeds",
"Algae"
] |
51,738,547 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20251 | NGC 251 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation of Pisces. It was discovered on October 15, 1784, by Frederick William Herschel.
One supernova has been observed in NGC 251: SN 2023rky (type II, mag. 18.6).
Notes
References
External links
Astronomical objects discovered in 1784
Pisces (constellation)
Spiral galaxies
002806
00490
0251
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 251 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 88 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
51,738,615 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20252 | NGC 252 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786.
One supernova has been observed in NGC 252: SN 1998de (type Ia, mag. 18.4) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) on 23 July 1998.
See also
List of NGC objects
References
External links
Andromeda (constellation)
Lenticular galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1786
0252
002819 | NGC 252 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 96 | [
"Andromeda (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
51,738,760 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20254 | NGC 254 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Sculptor. It was discovered by John Herschel in 1834. It is in a galaxy group with NGC 134.
NGC 254 is an example of a ring galaxy, a galaxy with a ring, and in this case, no central bar. Across the entire galaxy disk, there is a disk of ionized gas rotating in the direction opposite the stellar disk's rotation. This situation may have arose when a retrograde-orbiting satellite galaxy accreted onto the galaxy itself, some 1 billion years ago.
See also
List of NGC objects
References
External links
Sculptor (constellation)
Unbarred lenticular galaxies
Ring galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1834
0254
002778 | NGC 254 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 145 | [
"Constellations",
"Sculptor (constellation)"
] |
51,738,816 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20255 | NGC 255 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered on November 27, 1785, by Frederick William Herschel.
Notes
References
External links
SEDS
Astronomical objects discovered in 1785
-02-03-017
002802
Cetus
0255
Intermediate spiral galaxies | NGC 255 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 59 | [
"Cetus",
"Constellations"
] |
51,739,274 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonium | Argonium (also called the argon hydride cation, the hydridoargon(1+) ion, or protonated argon; chemical formula ArH+) is a cation combining a proton and an argon atom. It can be made in an electric discharge, and was the first noble gas molecular ion to be found in interstellar space.
Properties
Argonium is isoelectronic with hydrogen chloride. Its dipole moment is 2.18 D for the ground state. The binding energy is 369 kJ mol−1 (3.9 eV). This is smaller than that of and many other protonated species, but more than that of .
Rotationless radiative lifetimes of different vibrational states vary with isotope and become shorter for the more rapid high-energy vibrations:
{|class="wikitable"
|+Lifetimes (ms)
!v !!ArH+ !!ArD+
|-
|1 ||2.28 ||9.09
|-
|2 ||1.20 ||4.71
|-
|3 ||0.85 ||3.27
|-
|4 ||0.64 ||2.55
|-
|5 ||0.46 ||2.11
|}
The force constant in the bond is calculated at 3.88 mdyne/Å2.
Reactions
ArH+ + H2 → Ar +
ArH+ + C → Ar + CH+
ArH+ + N → Ar + NH+
ArH+ + O → Ar + OH+
ArH+ + CO → Ar + COH+
But the reverse reaction happens:
Ar + → ArH+ + H.
Ar + → *ArH+ + H2
Ar+ + H2 has a cross section of 10−18 m2 for low energy. It has a steep drop off for energies over 100 eV
Ar + has a cross sectional area of for low energy , but when the energy exceeds 10 eV yield reduces, and more Ar+ and H2 is produced instead.
Ar + has a maximum yield of ArH+ for energies between 0.75 and 1 eV with a cross section of . 0.6 eV is needed to make the reaction proceed forward. Over 4 eV more Ar+ and H starts to appear.
Argonium is also produced from Ar+ ions produced by cosmic rays and X-rays from neutral argon.
Ar+ + H2 → *ArH+ + H 1.49 eV
When ArH+ encounters an electron, dissociative recombination can occur, but it is extremely slow for lower energy electrons, allowing ArH+ to survive for a much longer time than many other similar protonated cations.
ArH+ + e− → Ar + H
Because ionisation potential of argon atoms is lower than that of the hydrogen molecule (in contrast to that of helium or neon), the argon ion reacts with molecular hydrogen, but for helium and neon ions, they will strip an electron from a hydrogen molecule.
Ar+ + H2 → ArH+ + H
Ne+ + H2 → Ne + H+ + H (dissociative charge transfer)
He+ + H2 → He + H+ + H
Spectrum
Artificial ArH+ made from earthly argon contains mostly the isotope 40Ar rather than the cosmically abundant 36Ar. Artificially it is made by an electric discharge through an argon–hydrogen mixture. Brault and Davis were the first to detect the molecule using infrared spectroscopy to observe vibration–rotation bands.
The UV spectrum has two absorption points resulting in the ion breaking up. The 11.2 eV conversion to the B1Π state has a low dipole and so does not absorb much. A 15.8 eV to a repulsive A1Σ+ state is at a shorter wavelength than the Lyman limit, and so there are very few photons around to do this in space.
Natural occurrence
ArH+ occurs in interstellar diffuse atomic hydrogen gas. For argonium to form, the fraction of molecular hydrogen H2 must be in the range 0.0001 to 0.001. Different molecular ions form in correlation with different concentrations of H2. Argonium is detected by its absorption lines at 617.525 GHz (J = 1→0), and 1234.602 GHz (J = 2→1). These lines are due to the isotopolog 36Ar1H+ undergoing rotational transitions. The lines have been detected in the direction of the galactic centre SgrB2(M) and SgrB2(N), G34.26+0.15, W31C (G10.62−0.39), W49(N), and W51e, however where absorption lines are observed, argonium is not likely to be in the microwave source, but instead in the gas in front of it. Emission lines are found in the Crab Nebula.
In the Crab Nebula ArH+ occurs in several spots revealed by emission lines. The strongest place is in the Southern Filament. This is also the place with the strongest concentration of Ar+ and Ar2+ ions. The column density of ArH+ in the Crab Nebula is between 1012 and 1013 atoms per square centimeter. Possible the energy required to excite the ions so that then can emit comes from collisions with electrons or hydrogen molecules. Towards the Milky Way centre the column density of ArH+ is around .
Two isotopologs of argonium 36ArH+ and 38ArH+ are known to be in a distant unnamed galaxy with a redshift of z = 0.88582 (7.5 billion light years away) which is on the line of sight to the blazar PKS 1830−211.
Electron neutralization and destruction of argonium outcompletes the formation rate in space if the H2 concentration is below 1 in 10−4.
History
Using the McMath solar Fourier transform spectrometer at Kitt Peak National Observatory, James W. Brault and Sumner P. Davis observed ArH+ vibration-rotation infrared lines for the first time. J. W. C. Johns also observed the infrared spectrum.
Use
Argon facilitates the reaction of tritium (T2) with double bonds in fatty acids by forming an ArT+ (tritium argonium) intermediate. When gold is sputtered with an argon-hydrogen plasma, the actual displacement of gold is done by ArH+.
References
Argon compounds
Cations | Argonium | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 1,347 | [
"Cations",
"Ions",
"Matter"
] |
51,739,577 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1566%20celestial%20phenomenon%20over%20Basel | A series of mass sightings of celestial phenomena occurred in 1566 above Basel, Switzerland. The Basel pamphlet of 1566 describes unusual sunrises and sunsets. Celestial phenomena were said to have "fought" together in the form of numerous red and black balls in the sky before the rising sun. The report is discussed among historians and meteorologists. The phenomenon has been interpreted by some ufologists to be a sky battle between unidentified flying objects. The leaflet written by historian Samuel Coccius reported it as a religious event. The Basel pamphlet of 1566 is not the only one of its kind. In the 15th and 16th centuries, many leaflets wrote of "miracles" and "sky spectacles".
History
The event is reported to have taken place in Basel, Switzerland in 1566. According to Samuel Coccius, on 27–28 July and 7 August, many local witnesses in Basel reported seeing three celestial phenomena. The first is described as an unusual sunrise, the second as a total eclipse of the moon with a red sun rising, and the third like a cloud of black spheres in front of the sun.
The phenomenon described
The text of the broadsheet can be translated as giving the following description of the event:
See also
1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg
References
1566 in Europe
1566 in science
16th century in the Old Swiss Confederacy
Atmospheric optical phenomena
Meteorological phenomena
UFO sightings in Europe | 1566 celestial phenomenon over Basel | [
"Physics"
] | 282 | [
"Physical phenomena",
"Earth phenomena",
"Optical phenomena",
"Meteorological phenomena",
"Atmospheric optical phenomena"
] |
51,743,041 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road%20and%20Waterway%20Construction%20Service%20Corps | The Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps (, VVK) was during the years 1851–2010 a military administrative corps of reserve personnel in the Swedish Army, who was responsible for in the case of war provide the Swedish Armed Forces with specially trained personnel to maintain positions in the field of civil engineering.
History
The Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps was established in 1851 as a military corps that primarily catered to the Swedish government's need for engineers for the planning and management of the so-called public works. The corps sorted under the Ministry of Communications and had under the regulations issued on 22 December 1851 the purpose of assisting the National Swedish Road Board (Väg- och vattenbyggnadsstyrelsen) in its dealings with public works; the officers of the corps could during the case of war be commanded to the engineering service in the Swedish Army. Concerning discipline, subordination and liability rules, the corps was under the jurisdiction of martial law. The corps was first set up only by certain officers of the Swedish Navy Mechanical Corps, the Army and the Navy, which had been employed in public companies and therein acquired practical skills.
The training of corps officers occurred in 1846-78 at the Higher Artillery and Engineering Grammar School (Högre artilleri- och ingenjörläroverket) in Marieberg in Stockholm, but according to a royal letter on 12 June 1885 a special military course for aspirants to the corps was now organized. To gain entry to this course required among other things that one had completed their final examination from the Royal Institute of Technology's Department of Civil Engineering. By royal letter on 19 October 1894 and 6 April 1900, new regulations had been provided for the military training. The corps officers were listed in accordance with the Royal Proclamation on 9 February 1906 to the Army's surplus staff.
The regulations in 1922 for entry into the corps were; to have completed the four-year syllabus of the training school (fackskola) for civil engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology, and from there have obtained full leaving certificate; after completing military service, have undergone a -month-long practical and theoretical course in artillery and fortification et cetera at the Svea Engineer Corps or be a reserve officer in the Fortifications (Fortifikationen); and after completing the course at the Royal Institute of Technology, have served at least 3 years at any public work or investigation function as well as to have evinced qualities, required for management of larger companies. During the early 1920s, 10 new corps officers were appointed annually. In 1921 the corps consisted of 221 officers. Of these, one was colonel (who was also the Director General of the National Swedish Road Board), seven lieutenant colonels, 34 majors, 102 captains and 77 lieutenants.
The development of this corps formed the basis for civil engineering education in Sweden and subsequently the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Also the Swedish Transport Administration has its roots in the corps. The corps later sorted under the Chief of the Army and the head was a senior colonel. The deputy head was a colonel. The rest of the corps staff held the ranks of lieutenant colonel, major, lieutenant or captain. Since 1937 the Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps has been a reserve officer corps. The corps was decommissioned on 30 September 2010 and the corps officers civil-military expertise in the infrastructure field was then transferred to Göta Engineer Regiment (Ing 2) in Eksjö. A ceremonial handover took place in mid-August 2010. The corps had during decommissioning 84 active officers.
Tasks
The Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps had the task of in the case of war to provide the Swedish Armed Forces with specially trained personnel to maintain positions, which required insight in civil engineering, and if that conveniently can take place, also in peacetime provide the Swedish Armed Forces agencies counsel in matters that require access to particular expertise in civil engineering, to keep records of those who have completed university's civil engineering programme or have equivalent competence and other useful techniques in civil engineering for the Swedish Armed Forces, and in cooperation with the Enrollment Administration of the Swedish Armed Forces (Värnpliktsverket) and other relevant agencies of the Swedish Armed Forces propose both selection for the needs of the Swedish Armed Forces of a necessary number of technicians in civil engineering as measures for this personnel's appropriate activity during heightened preparedness.
Heraldry and traditions
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps. Blazon: "Sable, two swords in saltire surmounted by a circle azure charged with a mullet on a cluster of rays as a pentagon, all or".
Medals
In 1993, the Väg- och vattenbyggnadskårens förtjänstmedalj ("Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps Medal of Merit") in gold and silver (VVKGM/SM). The medal is pentagonal and the medal ribbon is of black moiré with a narrow yellow line on the first side and a narrow blue line on the second side.
Heads
Until 1934, the head of the Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps was also the Director General of the National Swedish Road Board (Väg- och vattenbyggnadsstyrelsen).
1851–1856: Axel Erik von Sydow
1858–1877: Otto Modig
1877–1887: Carl Gottreich Beijer
1887–1887: Rudolf Cronstedt
1887–1893: Josef Richert
1893–1903: Lars Berg
1903–1924: Fridolf Wijnbladh
1924–1928: Carl Meurling
1926–1932: Fredrik Enblom
1932–1932: Richard Ekwall
1933–1934: Nils Bolinder (acting)
1934–1946: Ernst Lindh
1946–1951: Agne Sandberg
1952–1963: Tord Lindblad
1963–1971: Torsten R. Åström
1971–1982: Anders Lilja
1982–1987: Harald Alexandersson
1987–1989: Curt Hunhammar
1989–1994: Sven Hamberg
1994–2000: Gunnar Lindblad
2000–2007: Hans Engebretsen
2008–2010: Sven-Erik Delsenius
References
Notes
Print
Further reading
Military administrative corps of Sweden
Civil engineering organizations
Military units and formations established in 1851
Military units and formations disestablished in 2010
Disbanded units and formations of Sweden | Road and Waterway Construction Service Corps | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,290 | [
"Civil engineering",
"Civil engineering organizations"
] |
51,745,258 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation%20to%20facilitate%20abuse | Isolation (physical, social or emotional) is often used to facilitate power and control over someone for an abusive purpose. This applies in many contexts such as workplace bullying, elder abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, and cults.
Isolation reduces the opportunity of the abused to be rescued or escape from the abuse. It also helps disorient the abused and makes the abused more dependent on the abuser. The degree of power and control over the abused is contingent upon the degree of their physical or emotional isolation.
Isolation of the victim from the outside world is an important element of psychological control. Isolation includes controlling a person's social activity: whom they see, whom they talk to, where they go and any other method to limit their access to others. It may also include limiting what material they can read or watch. It can also include insisting on knowing where they are and requiring permission for medical care. The abuser exhibits hypersensitive and reactive jealousy.
Isolation can be aided by:
economic abuse thus limiting the victim's actions as they may then lack the necessary resources to resist or escape from the abuse
smearing or discrediting the abused amongst their community so the abused does not get help or support from others
divide and conquer
In cults
Various isolation techniques may be used by cults:
separating from family and community
taking control of the handling of the victim's resources and property
undoing (mind control)
physical isolation
extortion/dependency tactics
controlling victim's access to necessities.
In workplace bullying
Isolation is a common element of workplace bullying. It includes preventing access to opportunities, physical or social isolation, withholding necessary information, keeping the target "out of the loop", ignoring or excluding.
Workplace isolation is a defined category in the workplace power and control wheel.
References
Power (social and political) concepts
Control (social and political)
Abuse
Workplace harassment and bullying
Psychological abuse
Domestic violence | Isolation to facilitate abuse | [
"Biology"
] | 385 | [
"Abuse",
"Behavior",
"Aggression",
"Human behavior"
] |
51,746,867 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali%20metal%20nitrate | Alkali metal nitrates are chemical compounds consisting of an alkali metal (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium) and the nitrate ion. Only two are of major commercial value, the sodium and potassium salts. They are white, water-soluble salts with melting points ranging from 255 °C () to 414 °C () on a relatively narrow span of 159 °C
The melting point of the alkali metal nitrates tends to increase from 255 °C to 414 °C (with an anomaly for rubidium being not properly aligned in the series) as the atomic mass and the ionic radius (naked cation) of the alkaline metal increases, going down in the column. Similarly, but not presented here in the table, the solubility of these salts in water also decreases with the atomic mass of the metal.
Applications
Sodium and potassium nitrates are commonly used as fertilizers. As they are also strong oxidizers, they enter pyrotechnic compositions and the manufacturing of explosives.
Eutectic mixtures of alkali metal nitrates are used as molten salts. For example, a 40:7:53 mixture of NaNO2: NaNO3:KNO3 melts at 142 °C and is stable to about 600 °C.
A minor use is for coloring the light emitted by fireworks:
lithium nitrate produces a red color,
sodium nitrate produces a yellow/orange color,
potassium nitrate and rubidium nitrate produce violet colors,
caesium nitrate produces an indigo color.
In a general way, the emitted color progressively turns from the red to the violet in the visible spectrum of light when going down in the column of the alkaline metals in the periodic table of Mendeleev. It corresponds to a decrease of the wavelength of the light emitted during the electrons de-excitation step in the atoms brought at high temperature. The photons emitted by caesium are more energetic than these of lithium.
See also
Alkali metal hydride
Alkali metal halide
Ammonium nitrate
Nitric acid
References
Nitrates | Alkali metal nitrate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 417 | [
"Oxidizing agents",
"Physical chemistry stubs",
"Nitrates",
"Salts"
] |
51,747,450 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanism%20in%20Tehran | Modern urbanist ideas were first conceived and applied in Iran beginning in 1952. During the British boycott of Iranian oil of 1952, the Iranian government looked inward for income by investing in infrastructural and agricultural projects. It is during this period that the Bank Sakhtemani was established to create capital and funding for infrastructure projects throughout Iran, including urban development. In 1952, the Iranian parliament approved the purchase of lands outside the Tehran city limits by Sakhtemani Bank for development into towns. Bank Sakhtemani collaborated with The Association of Iranian Architect Diploma (AIAD) to prepare master plans for these projects. The first of these projects were Kuy-e-Narmak, TehranPars, and Nazi-Abad. The AIAD attempted to integrate ideas from modernist conferences such as the Union Internationale Des Architectes (UIA) and Congrès Internationaux D'architecture Modern (CIAM), with vernacular Persian architecture, hence practicing a vernacular modernism. Decades onward, these neighborhoods still maintain their underlying structure which organized them and makes them identifiable even though social and economic factors of the society have changed.
Kuy-E-Narmak: City of the middle class
Narmak (Persian: نارمک) is an urban neighborhood located in northeastern Tehran, the capital of Iran. Located in the 4th and 8th district of Tehran, the district consists of 110 distinctly sized squares with major nodes being Haft Hoz Square and Fadak Park. The project is designed by the AIAD and funded by Bank Sakhtemani from 1952 to 1958. It is home to more than 340,000 residents.
Design
Narmak was constructed on 506 hectares, in which 184, 225, and 97 hectares were allocated to the squares and streets, dwellings, and public amenities, respectively. The layout includes six main boulevards and their subsequent intersecting lanes. The grid forms 110 blocks in which all contain a public square in the center. Up to six east–west dead end alleys were driven from each square to subdivide the lots for development.
In the intersection between the central north–south and west–east boulevards, a large plaza, Haft Hoz, was placed which is surrounded by administrative towers, municipal buildings, hospital, and commercial buildings. Along other main boulevards, a series of small public facilities were placed. A leisure zone, Fadak Park, was created to host public cultural facilities. Furthermore, a French prefabrication system, KALAD, was intended to be used for residential construction, but only 370 were built using local materials. Utilization of new construction methods and materials were a result of a desire by people to have high quality European style living. Even though low-cost housing projects were not desirable to many architects and developers of the time, the AIAD saw it as an opportunity to implement modern ideas.
In its approach to Narmak's planning, the AIAD was inspired by the philosophy of Le Corbusier set out in “The Functional City” and the Athens Charter of 1943. The charter explained the necessary town conditions of Dwellings, Recreation, Working, and Transportation, which highlighted the advantages of collective organization. To implement modernist principles and prior to planning for the new district, AIAD visited Chandigarh for inspiration. Chandigarh represented what they were aiming for, a successful application of modernist principles on a newly developed town.
Persian Modernism
The architects of Narmak aspired to apply Persian vernacular architecture to modern principles to create familiarity for the residents. First, the architects applied the idea of the Chaharbagh of Esfehan to the streets of Narmak. Secondly, the architects placed a Meydan in the center of each block; a garden which creates a place of joy, happiness, encounter, and familiarity for the residents. Finally, the individual houses, typically a one-story detached houses of three typologies, were surrounded by walls to form a hayat, or courtyard, typical of local architecture.
For faster construction, the architects erected buildings with a mix of load-bearing brick walls and steel skeleton to show locals that it would be possible to build using local materials. Residents had the option of either ordering from Bank Sakhtemani or building their own homes with technical supervision by the bank. The majority chose the second option, which led to “the heterogeneity and polarity of modern experiences and the sense of place” described by Umbach and Huppauf. The localization and adaptation in individual houses, based on local materials and market force, integrated traditional crafts and migrant labor capacities.
Resiliency
By providing mortgages for the construction of new houses, Bank Sakhtemani was able to self-organize and support the project independent of external investments. The neighborhood was planned over a 7-month period with no government support. Subsequently, the plot owners were able to realize their homes by dividing their land into two or three parcels and selling all but one. This was made possible by the private ownership law of 1906, during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. The law allowed for people to organize, control, adapt, and change their living environment by themselves, reinforcing the self-organization concept of the Narmak project. This all made it possible for the residents to add character to their residence and create a sense of place. Unlike most developments up into that point in Iran which were segregated zones, Narmak contained a variety of people from different backgrounds. The land-ownership that was set up and maintained throughout the years has created a particularly resilient neighborhood identity.
Tehran Pars: City of the upper middle class
TehranPars (Persian: تهرانپارس) is an urban neighborhood located in the 4th and 8th districts of northeastern Tehran. The district consists of 4 main squares and bordered on the west by Narmak. The project was funded by Bank Sakhtemani from 1958 to 1972 and designed by AIAD.
TehranPars was primarily funded by the Zoroastrian community. Its construction was in response to the continued growth of the population of Tehran. Although remaining a successful neighborhood, it lacked the necessary infrastructure to be a self-sustaining city. TehranPars lacks the sense of place present in Narmak, through the absence of iconic institutions such as, theatres and museums.
Nazi Abad: City of industrial class
Nazi Abad is an urban neighborhood located in southern Tehran. Located in the 16th district of the city, the district is less wealthy than Narmak or TehranPars but remains one of the best places to reside in the city. The project was funded by Bank Sakhtemani from 1952 to 1954 and designed by AIAD. During World War 2, it was meant to house workers from Germany.
Nazi Abad existed prior to investment and construction by Bank Sakhtemani and AIAD being founded by the Qajar aristocracy prior to the 20th century, hence the origins of its name. During the modernization of Iran, development was focused around creating a district attractive to industrial workers. Today it consists of low to working class housing, a university, industrial zones, and a large green space to the northwest. It is based on a looser grid than the other two districts.
References
External links
History of Tehran
Buildings and structures in Tehran
Urban planning | Urbanism in Tehran | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,486 | [
"Urban planning",
"Architecture"
] |
51,747,748 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy%20Shira%20Teitel | Amy Shira Teitel is a Canadian author, popular science writer, historian, and YouTuber.
Career
Writer
Amy Shira Teitel is a native of Toronto. She has written for The Daily Beast, National Geographic, Discovery News, Scientific American, Ars Technica, and Al Jazeera English.
Teitel's first book was based on research for her master's degree thesis. Breaking the Chains of Gravity (2015) tells the story of America's nascent space program. The book describes the early pioneers of rockets in the late 1920s, up to the formation of NASA.
Teitel's Fighting for Space (2020) is a dual biography of female pilots Jacqueline Cochran and Jerrie Cobb.
Video and other media
In 2012, Teitel created the YouTube channel, The Vintage Space, in which she delves into the early history of space flight.
Teitel was a co-host for the Discovery Channel's online DNews channel, which later became Seeker. She has also appeared on Ancient Aliens, NASA's Unexplained Files, and other cable documentary shows.
Controversies
In 2013, Amy Shira Teitel faced accusations of plagiarism involving several articles she wrote for Ars Technica. It was reported that she extensively copied from a 2010 article by Dwayne Day and Robert Kennedy in her piece on the Polyus-Skif weapons system. Ars Technica removed the article after the plagiarism was brought to their attention. Further investigations revealed that Teitel had also plagiarized works by Andy Chaikin and content from a NASA book. This pattern involved using the work of other space historians without permission or attribution and selling these articles to commercial websites.
References
Bibliography
External links
Canadian science writers
American science journalists
Living people
American YouTubers
Canadian YouTubers
Jewish women writers
Writers from Toronto
Canadian expatriates in the United States
Women science writers
Year of birth missing (living people)
YouTubers from Toronto | Amy Shira Teitel | [
"Technology"
] | 405 | [
"Women science writers",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
51,752,562 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Prisma%20%28app%29%20filters | This is a list of filters for the photo-editing application Prisma to render images with an artistic effect.
Artists
Artists represented through the app via the filters include Marc Chagall, Hokusai, Wassily Kandinsky, Roy Lichtenstein, Isaac Levitan, Hayao Miyazaki, Piet Mondrian, Alphonse Mucha, Edvard Munch, Francis Picabia, and Pablo Picasso.
List of Prisma filters
Reception
In July 2016, Wiknixs Jay Bokhiria called Candy, Dreams, Gothic, Mosaic, and Roland the best Prisma filters. The Telegraphs Pramita Ghosh and Riddhima Khanna picked out five filters: Heisenberg, Marcus D – Lone Wolf, Mosaic, Roland, and Udnie. India TV said Bobbie, #FollowMeTo, Mondrian, The Scream, and Udnie were the best filters while "you can ignore the rest." Stuffs Sam Kieldsen favored the Curtain, Electric, and MIOBI filters with "work well with almost any sort of shot you use" as well as Heisenberg "can be brilliantly effective when used with the right base shot." However, Kieldsen critiqued the filters Impression and Mondrian with "rarely seem to produce anything worth looking at." The Kitchns Ariel Knutson used the filters Candy, Gothic, Femme, Ice Cream, Mononoke, Mosaic, Raoul, Tokyo, and Udnie for various food photography. Knutson called Gothic "the most bold of all the filters." Knutson called Udnie "my favorite filter for the whole app." Aussie Network Newss Cat Suclo ranked Femme, Mononoke, and Tears as the three best filters.
In August 2016, The Times of Indias Anandi Mishra called Bobbie, #FollowMeTo, Mononoke, The Scream, Tokyo, and Udnie as popular filters.
References
Prisma filters | List of Prisma (app) filters | [
"Technology"
] | 406 | [
"Computing-related lists"
] |
51,752,859 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear%20graph%20grammar | In computer science, a linear graph grammar (also a connection graph reduction system or a port graph grammar) is a class of graph grammar on which nodes have a number of ports connected together by edges and edges connect exactly two ports together. Interaction nets are a special subclass of linear graph grammars in which rewriting is confluent.
Implementations
Bawden introduces linear graphs in the context of a compiler for a fragment of the Scheme programming language. Bawden and Mairson (1998) describe the design of a distributed implementation in which the linear graph is spread across many computing nodes and may freely migrate in order to make rewrites possible.
Notes
References
Bawden, Alan (1986), Connection graphs, In Proceedings of the 1986 ACM conference on LISP and functional programming, pp. 258–265, ACM Press.
Bawden, Alan (1992), Linear graph reduction: confronting the cost of naming, PhD dissertation, MIT.
Bawden, Alan (1993), Implementing Distributed Systems Using Linear Naming, A.I. Technical Report No. 1627, MIT.
Bawden and Mairson (1998), Linear naming: experimental software for optimizing communication protocols, Working paper #1, Dept. Computer Science, Brandeis University.
Graph rewriting | Linear graph grammar | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology"
] | 264 | [
"Graph theory stubs",
"Graph theory",
"Computer science stubs",
"Computer science",
"Mathematical relations",
"Computing stubs",
"Graph rewriting"
] |
51,754,640 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid%20shipping%20container | A hybrid shipping container is a shipping system that uses the energy of phase-change material (PCM) in combination with the ability to recharge without removing the media. This ability is known as cold-energy battery.
Application
Currently, this technology is only being used in a limited number of shipping containers.
SkyCell - high energy protection
TOWER - very limited energy protection
Peli BioThermal - high energy protection
World Courier Cocoon - similar platform to va-Q-tec
va-Q-tec - high energy protection combined with vacuum panels
A Cold-energy battery works by storing energy to a given temperature and using its thermal mass to maintain this temperature. It can be recharged by being placed in a temperature range applicable to its phase change window.
See also
Insulated shipping container
References
External links
Storage Container
Shipping containers | Hybrid shipping container | [
"Physics"
] | 169 | [
"Physical systems",
"Transport",
"Transport stubs"
] |
51,755,569 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean%20Hill%20%28scientist%29 | Sean Lewis Hill is an American neuroscientist, Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, and co-founder and CEO of Senscience, an AI startup dedicated to transforming science with open data. He was previously the Inaugural Scientific Director of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics in Toronto, Canada. Until December 2024, he also served as co-director of the Blue Brain Project at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne located on the Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland. Hill is known for the development of large-scale computational models of brain circuitry, neuroinformatics, and innovation in AI for mental health.
Early life and education
Hill was born in New Jersey, raised in Warren, Maine, and attended Camden-Rockport High School. He graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in Computational Neuroscience and obtained his PhD from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Career
After working with Nobel prize winner Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi at The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, Hill continued his postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 2006, Hill joined the Computational Biology group at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center as Project Manager for Computational Neuroscience on the Blue Brain Project from 2006 to 2008. He subsequently joined the EPFL Blue Brain team. Hill served as the executive director of the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility from 2011 to 2013 and as its Scientific Director from 2013 to 2016. He developed the core strategy and design of the neuroinformatics infrastructure of the EU Human Brain Project, led its development during its start-up phase, and in 2014 was co-director of the project.
In September 2017, Hill was named the inaugural Director of the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. The center applies machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques, as well as multi-scale modeling of the brain to understand mental health disorders. One initiative established under his tenure is the BrainHealth Databank, a data-driven learning health system integrating AI and computational models with mental health clinics.
Hill’s work at KCNI involved addressing questions about mental illnesses such as depression. He emphasizes the need for a multi-level biological understanding of mental illness and advocates for a collaborative, data-sharing approach to neuroscience.
Prior to this, Hill served as co-director of Blue Brain, where he led the Neuroinformatics Division. In this role, he pioneered the use of knowledge graphs for organizing neuroscience data, and directed the development of Blue Brain Nexus, an open-source data integration, management, and search platform adopted by both the Blue Brain Project and Human Brain Project.
Hill has developed several large-scale computational brain models and simulations, including the first large-scale model of the visual thalamocortical system of the cat, which accurately replicates multi-scale electrophysiological phenomena during wakefulness and sleep. He has also co-led Blue Brain's efforts to create digital reconstructions of neocortical and thalamic microcircuitry.
He is on the advisory or management boards of several clinical and neuroinformatics initiatives, including the Ontario Brain Institute, Brain Health Nexus, and others.
In 2022, Hill led a team at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to develop the Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight Platform, aimed at addressing longstanding gaps in youth mental health care. In 2024, Hill co-led an initiative to establish a pan-Canadian data federation for youth mental health.
Hill is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, holds multiple patents, and has given talks worldwide on neuroinformatics, mental health, brain modeling and simulation, and the cellular and synaptic mechanisms of conscious and unconscious brain states.
An advocate of global collaboration on data sharing in brain research, Hill has worked with brain projects worldwide to identify potential areas of collaboration and interaction. He has been quoted as saying, "It takes the world to understand the brain."
Hill has appeared in the press and in documentaries about the brain, including on ARTE and the PBS documentary The Brain with David Eagleman, and has been interviewed in print and on radio and television programs including the CBC, CNN, and Bloomberg.
References
External links
Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics website
BrainHealth Databank website
Profile at Blue Brain Project website retrieved on 21 September 2021
Human Brain Project
Sean Hill at EPFL retrieved on 28 September 2016
or http://hill-lab.org Laboratory for the Neural Basis of Brain States retrieved on 7 November 2016
INCF retrieved on 7 November 2016
Senscience website
University of Lausanne alumni
American neuroscientists
1969 births
Living people
American expatriate academics
Hampshire College alumni
American expatriates in Switzerland
Neuroinformatics
Computational neuroscientists
People from Warren, Maine | Sean Hill (scientist) | [
"Biology"
] | 997 | [
"Bioinformatics",
"Neuroinformatics"
] |
47,608,547 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAGES%20Legacy%20Unifying%20Globulars%20and%20GalaxieS%20Survey | The SLUGGS (SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS) survey is an astronomical survey of 25 (and 3 `bonus') nearby early-type (E and S0) galaxies. This survey uses a combination of imaging from Subaru/Suprime-Cam and spectroscopy from Keck/DEIMOS to investigate the chemo-dynamical properties of both the diffuse starlight and the globular cluster systems of the target galaxies.
Pilot data for the survey was obtained in 2006 and data acquisition was completed in 2017.
The SLUGGS project was so named in honor of the banana slug mascot of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
SAGES
SAGES (Study of the Astrophysics of Globular Clusters in Extragalactic Systems) is an international network of researchers investigating the formation and evolution of globular clusters and their host galaxies, using observational facilities around the world, particularly the Keck and Subaru telescopes. It was founded by
Jean Brodie, Duncan Forbes, Aaron Romanowsky and Jay Strader.
Method
Deep wide-field imaging from Subaru/Suprime-Cam is used to identify and measure the positions of candidate globular clusters around each survey galaxy. Several (up to 6) DEIMOS masks are then created which include slits corresponding to the locations of globular clusters, galaxy starlight and random background sky locations in the outer parts of the mask.
The DEIMOS spectrograph, on the Keck telescope, is centred on wavelengths around the Calcium Triplet lines (~850 nm). After a typical 2 hour exposure per mask, spectra of globular clusters and galaxy starlight is obtained.
Using a technique called SKiMS (Stellar Kinematics from Multiple Slits) it is possible to extract the kinematics (and metallicity) of galaxy starlight out to 3 effective radii. Equivalent data for the globular clusters is obtained out to ~10 effective radii. The DEIMOS instrument has the advantages of being a stable, high throughput, wide-field spectrograph coupled with excellent velocity resolution (~12 km/s) on a 10m telescope. This technique effectively uses DEIMOS as a pseudo wide area integral field unit.
Survey selection
The 25 target galaxies are chosen to be representative (i.e. cover the range of basic galaxy parameters and environments) of nearby (distance < 27 Mpc) early type (E and S0) galaxies. The survey also includes 3 `bonus’ galaxies which have been observed during times that the main sample galaxies are not available. All galaxies are accessible from the northern hemisphere. Although only a small sample, the data reach to large galactocentric radii with excellent velocity resolution and S/N compared to other surveys.
Key science questions
What are the basic, global chemo-dynamical properties of early type galaxies?
What is the distribution of dark matter in early-type galaxies?
How are the outer regions of early-type galaxies assembled?
How does assembly depend on mass, environment, and other variables?
Do the observations agree with theoretical models of galaxy formation?
Target galaxies
NGC 720, NGC 821, NGC 1023, NGC 1400, NGC 1407, NGC 2768, NGC 2974, NGC 3115, NGC 3377, NGC 3608, NGC 4111, NGC 4278, NGC 4365, NGC 4374, NGC 4459, NGC 4473, NGC 4474, NGC 4486, NGC 4494, NGC 4526, NGC 4564, NGC 4649, NGC 4697, NGC 5846, NGC 7457.
The bonus galaxies are NGC 3607, NGC 4594 and NGC 5866.
Further reading
"The SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS Survey (SLUGGS): Sample Definition, Methods, and Initial Results"; J. P. Brodie et al., 2014, ApJ, 796, 52 link;
"The SLUGGS Survey: Wide-field Stellar Kinematics of Early-type Galaxies"; J. Arnold et al., 2014, ApJ, 791, 80 link;
"The SLUGGS Survey: exploring the metallicity gradients of nearby early-type galaxies to large radii"; N. Pastorello et al., 2014, MNRAS, 442, 1003 link;
"The SLUGGS Survey: kinematics for over 2500 globular clusters in 12 early-type galaxies"; V. Pota et al., 2013, MNRAS, 428, 389 link;
"The SLUGGS Survey: calcium triplet-based spectroscopic metallicities for over 900 globular clusters"; C. Usher et al., 2012, MNRAS, 426, 1475 link;
"The SLUGGS survey: inferring the formation epochs of metal-poor and metal-rich globular clusters"; D. A. Forbes et al., 2015, MNRAS, 452, 1045 link;
"The SLUGGS Survey: A Catalog of Over 4000 Globular Cluster Radial Velocities in 27 Nearby Early-type Galaxies"; D. A. Forbes et al., 2017, MNRAS, 153, 114 link;
Notes
A complete list of publications using SLUGGS survey data can be found here.
References
Observational astronomy
Astronomical surveys
Astronomy | SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS Survey | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,098 | [
"Astronomical surveys",
"Observational astronomy",
"Works about astronomy",
"nan",
"Astronomical objects",
"Astronomical sub-disciplines"
] |
47,609,468 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucronella%20bresadolae | Mucronella bresadolae is a species of fungus in the family Clavariaceae. It was originally described by French mycologist Lucien Quélet in 1888 as Clavaria bresadolae. E.J.H. Corner transferred it to the genus Mucronella in 1970. It is found in Europe and North America.
References
External links
Clavariaceae
Fungi described in 1888
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Taxa named by Lucien Quélet
Fungus species | Mucronella bresadolae | [
"Biology"
] | 102 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,609,709 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean%20operation | In algebraic topology, a mean or mean operation on a topological space X is a continuous, commutative, idempotent binary operation on X. If the operation is also associative, it defines a semilattice. A classic problem is to determine which spaces admit a mean. For example, Euclidean spaces admit a mean -- the usual average of two vectors -- but spheres of positive dimension do not, including the circle.
Further reading
.
.
.
.
Binary operations
Means | Mean operation | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 102 | [
"Means",
"Mathematical analysis",
"Point (geometry)",
"Geometric centers",
"Binary relations",
"Binary operations",
"Topology stubs",
"Topology",
"Mathematical relations",
"Symmetry"
] |
47,610,935 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam%20Centre%20for%20Architecture | Amsterdam Centre for Architecture (Arcam) is an organisation that was founded in 1986 that "concentrates its activities in Amsterdam and the surrounding area." Arcam focuses on architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. Arcam is the oldest and largest of more than forty local Dutch architecture centers.
Architecture
The building was designed by René van Zuuk. The building is a trapezoidal form with three floors.
Foundation
The director of Arcam is Indira van 't Klooster. Arcam's work is made possible by donors, sponsors, several services of the municipality of Amsterdam and the Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur (English: Support Foundation for Architecture).
Activities
Arcam provides information about architecture throughout the city of Amsterdam. The institution disperses this information in various ways, including Architectuurgids (Architecture Guides), crash courses, and guided tours. Additionally, the museum offers temporary and permanent exhibitions.
References
External links
Official website
1986 establishments in the Netherlands
Architecture organizations
Museums in Amsterdam
20th-century architecture in the Netherlands | Amsterdam Centre for Architecture | [
"Engineering"
] | 216 | [
"Architecture organizations",
"Architecture"
] |
47,611,264 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-locked%20loop%20range | The terms hold-in range, pull-in range (acquisition range), and lock-in range are widely used by engineers for the concepts of frequency deviation ranges within which phase-locked loop-based circuits can achieve lock under various additional conditions.
History
In the classic books on phase-locked loops, published in 1966, such concepts as hold-in, pull-in, lock-in, and other frequency ranges for which PLL can achieve lock, were introduced. They are widely used nowadays (see, e.g. contemporary engineering literature and other publications). Usually in engineering literature only non-strict definitions are given for these concepts.
Many years of using definitions based on the above concepts has led to the advice given in a handbook on synchronization and communications, namely to check the definitions carefully before using them. Later some rigorous mathematical definitions were given in.
Gardner problem on the lock-in range definition
In the 1st edition of his well-known work, Phaselock Techniques, Floyd M. Gardner introduced a lock-in concept: If, for some reason, the frequency difference between input and VCO is less than the loop bandwidth, the loop will lock up almost instantaneously without slipping cycles. The maximum frequency difference for which this fast acquisition is possible is called the lock-in frequency. His notion of the lock-in frequency and corresponding definition of the lock-in range have become popular and nowadays are given in various engineering publications. However, since even for zero frequency difference there may exist initial states of loop such that cycle slipping may take place during the acquisition process, the consideration of initial state of the loop is of utmost importance for the cycle slip analysis and, therefore, Gardner’s concept of lock-in frequency lacked rigor and required clarification.
In the 2nd edition of his book, Gardner stated: "there is no natural way to define exactly any unique lock-in frequency", and he wrote that "despite its vague reality, lock-in range is a useful concept".
Definitions
phase difference between input (reference) signal and local oscillator (VCO, NCO) signal.
initial phase difference between input signal and VCO signal.
frequency difference between input signal frequency and VCO signal.
frequency difference between input signal frequency and VCO free running frequency.
Note that in general , because also depends on initial input of VCO.
Locked state
Definition of locked state
In a locked state: 1) the phase error fluctuations are small, the frequency error is small; 2) PLL approaches the same locked state after small perturbations of the phases and filter state.
Hold-in range
Definition of hold-in range.
A largest interval of frequency deviations for which a locked state exists is called a hold-in range, and is called hold-in frequency.
Value of frequency deviation belongs to the hold-in range if the loop re-achieves locked state after small perturbations of the filter's state, the phases and frequencies of VCO and the input signals. This effect is also called steady-state stability. In addition, for a frequency deviation within the hold-in range, after a small changes in input frequency loop re-achieves a new locked state (tracking process).
Pull-in range
Also called acquisition range, capture range.
Assume that the loop power supply is initially switched off and then at the power is switched on, and assume that the initial frequency difference is sufficiently large. The loop may not lock within one beat note, but the VCO frequency will be slowly tuned toward the reference frequency (acquisition process). This effect is also called a transient stability. The pull-in range is used to name such frequency deviations that make the acquisition process possible (see, for example, explanations in and ).
Definition of pull-in range.
Pull-in range is a largest interval of frequency deviations such that PLL acquires lock for arbitrary initial phase, initial frequency, and filter state. Here is called pull-in frequency.
The difficulties of reliable numerical analysis of the pull-in range may be caused by the presence of hidden attractors in dynamical model of the circuit.
Lock-in range
Assume that PLL is initially locked. Then the reference frequency is suddenly changed in an abrupt manner(step change). Pull-in range guarantees that PLL will eventually synchronize, however this process may take a long time. Such long acquisition process is called cycle slipping.
If difference between initial and final phase deviation is larger than , we say that cycle slipping takes place.
Here, sometimes, the limit of the difference or the maximum of the difference is considered
Definition of lock-in range.
If the loop is in a locked state, then after an abrupt change of free within a lock-in range , the PLL acquires lock without cycle slipping. Here is called lock-in frequency.
References
Electronic oscillators
Communication circuits
Electronic design
Radio electronics
Hidden oscillation | Phase-locked loop range | [
"Mathematics",
"Engineering"
] | 1,008 | [
"Radio electronics",
"Telecommunications engineering",
"Electronic design",
"Electronic engineering",
"Design",
"Hidden oscillation",
"Communication circuits",
"Dynamical systems"
] |
47,612,670 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim%20Lashkaryov | Vadim Evgenievich Lashkaryov (October 7, 1903 – December 1, 1974), a prominent Soviet experimental physicist, was born in Kyiv, to a family of a lawyer. He was an Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and is known for his fundamental contributions to physics of semiconductors.
Career
Lashkaryov graduated from the Kiev Institute for People Education (as the Kiev University was termed at that time) in 1924. He started his research work on the diffraction of X-rays in the Kiev Polytechnic Institute and continued it in the newly established Institute of Physics of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. In 1928 he moved to Physical-Technical Institute in Leningrad (currently Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg), where he performed first in the Soviet Union experiments on electron diffraction. After a forced stay in Archangelsk, where he taught physics in the local Medical Institute, Lashkaryov returned to Kiev in 1939, where he switched to physics of semiconductors.
In 1941 Lashkaryouv published his fundamental discovery, the presence of a semiconductor layer between the barrier layer and the adjacent electrode, and the opposite sign of charge carriers (electrons and holes) on both sides of a barrier layer in solar cells of Cu2O and silver sulphide photocells and selenium rectifiers. In current terms, this was a discovery of p–n junctions around the rectifying layers in these systems. This discovery was made by measuring the sign change of thermo-e.m.f. on both sides of the rectifying layer by using miniature thermoprobes. During World War II, Lashkaryov worked in the city of Ufa on cuprous-oxide devices for defense needs. After World War II, back in Kiev, Lashkaryov investigated bipolar diffusion of photo-carriers in cuprous oxide, photoconductivity of CdS and CdSe, and also on Ge diodes and transistors.
In 1960 Lashkaryov founded in Kiev the Institute of Semiconductors of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences that currently carries his name. He also established a Chair in semiconductor physics in the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev.
See also
p-n junction
Photoconductivity
Photodiode
References
External links
Page of the V. Ye. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of NAS of Ukraine, http://isp.kiev.ua/
N. N. Bogolyubov, B. M. Vul, S. G. Kalashnikov, S. I. Pekar, É. I. Rashba, O. V. Snitko, K. B. Tolpygo and M. K. Sheinkman, Vadim Evgen'evich Lashkarev (obituary), Sov. Phys. Usp. 18, 842 (1975) doi:10.1070/PU1975v018n10ABEH005232, http://iopscience.iop.org/0038-5670/18/10/M07/
Experimental physicists
Soviet physicists
20th-century Ukrainian physicists
1903 births
1974 deaths
Burials at Baikove Cemetery
Scientists from Kyiv | Vadim Lashkaryov | [
"Physics"
] | 671 | [
"Experimental physics",
"Experimental physicists"
] |
47,612,886 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium%20simile | Penicillium simile is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium.
References
simile
Fungi described in 2011
Fungus species | Penicillium simile | [
"Biology"
] | 30 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,612,960 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unipept | Unipept is an open source research tool for biodiversity analysis of metaproteomics samples. It also contains a tool to select peptides to use as biomarker and a tool to compare the genome of organisms based on their protein content. The software is developed at Ghent University.
Unipept consists of a web application and a stand-alone command line tool. The web application uses interactive data visualizations to explore datasets. The command line tool contains the same functionality, but is designed for use in automated data processing pipelines.
References
External links
Unipept home page
Unipept command line tool
Unipept open source project
Bioinformatics
Proteomics | Unipept | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 138 | [
"Biological engineering",
"Bioinformatics stubs",
"Biotechnology stubs",
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Bioinformatics"
] |
47,613,793 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC%20Pharmacology%20and%20Toxicology | BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal that covers the field of pharmacology and toxicology, focusing on areas such as drug action, toxicology, and clinical pharmacology. The journal is published by BioMed Central.
The journal publishes research articles, reviews, and commentaries related to pharmacology and toxicology.
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed, for example, in:
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had an impact factor of 2.9 in 2022.
References
External links
English-language journals
BioMed Central academic journals
Pharmacology journals
Toxicology journals
Academic journals established in 2001 | BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 145 | [
"Toxicology journals",
"Toxicology"
] |
47,614,644 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%20H.%20Coon | James Huntington Coon (November 9, 1914 – March 10, 1996) physicist at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, made significant contributions to the science and study of neutron interactions. He worked on the Vera satellite project.
Life and Times
James Huntington Coon was born on November 9, 1914, and died on March 10, 1996. He was interred at the Guaje Pines Cemetery, burial plot of Section 5, Lot 146C in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Education
Coon attended Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, and graduated in 1937 with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry. Outside of studies, he had membership in the Chemistry Dolphin Club, Der Deutsche Verein (The German Club) and the Varsity Swimming team.
In 1942, Coon received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago.
Los Alamos
In 1944, scientists at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory designed field experiments to measure the air blast and ground shock effects from the Trinity device. In March 1945, an exploration geophysicist Herbert M. Houghton, from Geophysical Research Corporation (GRC) and Tidewater Oil, was hired to work with Coon. The team of Coon and Houghton was tasked to make ready the earth shock instrumentation for the 7 May 1945 calibration rehearsal shot of a 100-ton TNT device and the Trinity test in July 1945.
In March 1954, Coon resided in New Mexico according to the 1954 National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel.
In 1954, Coon was P-4 group leader along with P-6 group leader Elizabeth Riddle Graves at Los Alamos. The Coon and Graves groups utilized a 250 kV Cockcroft-Walton generator to accelerate Deuterons to bombard Tritium (H-3) inside a Zirconium target with Tritium to produce 14 MeV neutrons. The scientists at Los Alamos were interested in how neutrons interacted with assorted thermonuclear fuels, tamper materials, and fissile materials. The 14 MeV neutrons were used to perform studies that included: elastic and inelastic scattering; interaction cross sections for the (n, 2n) reactions; interaction cross sections for Lithium and the production of undesirable particles; interaction cross sections of elements; bombardment of several substances and the resultant gamma radiation yield; neutron production and yield from fission; and neutron multiplication factors. Coon's group, Group P-4, used a graphite pile to calibrate neutron sources. A new 600 kV Cockcroft-Walton generator was under construction.
Vela Satellite
In 1967 Coon was a project scientist on the Vela HOTEL satellite project at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.
NRC-NAS Physics Survey
In 1972, Coon served on the Physic Survey Committee in the Impact on National Security subpanel for the NRC-NAS Physics Survey.
Swimming
In 1978, Coon at the age of 63, achieved top results in the Men's 60-64 SCY (Short Course Yards) in the 500 Freestyle and 1650 Freestyle events according to U.S. Masters Swimming records.
James H. Coon Sciences Prize
At Indiana University, the James H. Coon Sciences Prize was established by Coon and $1,500 is awarded annually to a "student who shows promise in one of the sciences".
Publications
References
1914 births
1996 deaths
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
University of Chicago alumni
20th-century American chemists
20th-century American physicists
Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Neutron instrumentation
Neutron sources
American male freestyle swimmers
Manhattan Project people
Fellows of the American Physical Society
20th-century American sportsmen | James H. Coon | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 731 | [
"Neutron instrumentation",
"Measuring instruments"
] |
47,615,730 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torbj%C3%B6rn%20Sj%C3%B6strand | Torbjörn Sjöstrand (born 13 November 1954) is a Swedish theoretical physicist and a professor at Lund University in Sweden, where he also got his PhD in 1982. He is one of the main authors of PYTHIA, a program for generation of high-energy physics events.
In his early career, Sjöstrand spent shorter postdoc periods at DESY (Germany) and Fermilab (USA). From 1989 to 1995 he was staff member in the CERN Theory division.
Honours
In 2012, he was awarded the J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics by the American Physical Society. The citation reads:
In 2021, he was awarded the High Energy and Particle Physics Prize of the European Physical Society for the development of PYTHIA. He received the award together with Bryan Webber, who was also a co-recipient of the Sakurai Prize.
References
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients
Academic staff of Lund University
Theoretical physicists
Swedish physicists
Living people
1954 births
People associated with CERN | Torbjörn Sjöstrand | [
"Physics"
] | 216 | [
"Theoretical physics",
"Theoretical physicists"
] |
47,616,206 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belavkin%20equation | In quantum probability, the Belavkin equation, also known as Belavkin-Schrödinger equation, quantum filtering equation, stochastic master equation, is a quantum stochastic differential equation describing the dynamics of a quantum system undergoing observation in continuous time. It was derived and henceforth studied by Viacheslav Belavkin in 1988.
Overview
Unlike the Schrödinger equation, which describes the deterministic evolution of the wavefunction of a closed system (without interaction), the Belavkin equation describes the stochastic evolution of a random wavefunction of an open quantum system interacting with an observer:
Here, is a self-adjoint operator (or a column vector of operators) of the system coupled to the external field, is the Hamiltonian, is the imaginary unit, is the Planck constant, and is a stochastic process representing the measurement noise that is a martingale with independent increments with respect to the input probability measure . Note that this noise has dependent increments with respect to the output probability measure representing the output innovation process (the observation). For , the equation becomes the standard Schrödinger equation.
The stochastic process can be a mixture of two basic types: the Poisson (or jump) type , where is a Poisson process corresponding to counting observation, and the Brownian (or diffusion) type , where is the standard Wiener process corresponding to continuous observation. The equations of the diffusion type can be derived as the central limit of the jump type equations with the expected rate of the jumps increasing to infinity.
The random wavefunction is normalized only in the mean-squared sense , but generally fails to be normalized for each . The normalization of for each gives the random posterior state vector , the evolution of which is described by the posterior Belavkin equation, which is nonlinear, because operators and depend on due to normalization. The stochastic process in the posterior equation has independent increments with respect to the output probability measure , but not with respect to the input measure. Belavkin also derived linear equation for unnormalized density operator and the corresponding nonlinear equation for the normalized random posterior density operator . For two types of measurement noise, this gives eight basic quantum stochastic differential equations. The general forms of the equations include all types of noise and their representations in Fock space.
The nonlinear equation describing observation of position of a free particle, which is a special case of the posterior Belavkin equation of the diffusion type, was also obtained by Diosi and appeared in the works of Gisin, Ghirardi, Pearle and Rimini, although with a rather different motivation or interpretation. Similar nonlinear equations for posterior density operators were postulated (although without derivation) in quantum optics and the quantum trajectories theory, where they are called stochastic master equations. The averaging of the equations for the random density operators over all random trajectories leads to the Lindblad equation, which is deterministic.
The nonlinear Belavkin equations for posterior states play the same role as the Stratonovich–Kushner equation in classical probability, while the linear equations correspond to the Zakai equation. The Belavkin equations describe continuous-time decoherence of initially pure state into a mixed posterior state giving a rigorous description of the dynamics of the wavefunction collapse due to an observation or measurement.
Non-demolition measurement and quantum filtering
Noncommutativity presents a major challenge for probabilistic interpretation of quantum stochastic differential equations due to non-existence of conditional expectations for general pairs of quantum observables. Belavkin resolved this issue by discovering the error-perturbation uncertainty relation and formulating the non-demolition principle of quantum measurement. In particular, if the stochastic process corresponds to the error (white noise in the diffusive case) of a noisy observation of operator with the accuracy coefficient , then the indirect observation perturbs the dynamics of the system by a stochastic force , called the Langevin force, which is another white noise of intensity that does not commute with the error . The result of such a perturbation is that the output process is commutative , and hence corresponds to a classical observation, while the system operators satisfy the non-demolition condition: all future observables must commute with the past observations (but not with the future observations): for all (but not ). Note that commutation of with and another operator with does not imply commutation of with , so that the algebra of future observables is still non-commutative. The non-demolition condition is necessary and sufficient for the existence of conditional expectations , which makes the quantum filtering possible.
Posterior state equations
Counting observation
Let be a Poisson process with forward increments almost everywhere and otherwise and having the property . The expected number of events is , where is the expected rate of jumps. Then substituting for the stochastic process gives the linear Belavkin equation for the unnormalized random wavefunction undergoing counting observation. Substituting , where is the collapse operator, and , where is the energy operator, this equation can be written in the following form
Normalized wavefunction is called the posterior state vector, the evolution of which is described by the following nonlinear equation
where has expectation . The posterior equation can be written in the standard form
with , , and . The corresponding equations for the unnormalized random density operator and for the normalized random posterior density operator are as follows
where . Note that the latter equation is nonlinear.
Continuous observation
Stochastic process , defined in the previous section, has forward increments , which tend to as . Therefore, becomes standard Wiener process with respect to the input probability measure. Substituting for gives the linear Belavkin equation for the unnormalized random wavefunction undergoing continuous observation. The output process becomes the diffusion innovation process with increments . The nonlinear Belavkin equation of the diffusion type for the posterior state vector is
with and . The corresponding equations for the unnormalized random density operator and for the normalized random posterior density operator are as follows
where . The second equation is nonlinear due to normalization. Because , taking the average of these stochastic equations over all leads to the Lindblad equation
Example: continuous observation of position of a free particle
Consider a free particle of mass . The position and momentum observables correspond respectively to operators of multiplication by and . Making the following substitutions in the Belavkin equation
the posterior stochastic equation becomes
where is the posterior expectation of . Motivated by the spontaneous collapse theory rather than the filtering theory, this equation was also obtained by Diosi, showing that the measurement noise is the increment of a standard Wiener process. There are closed-form solutions to this equation, as well as equations for a particle in a linear or quadratic potentials. For a Gaussian initial state these solutions correspond to optimal quantum linear filter. Solutions to the Belavkin equation show that in the limit the wavefunction has finite dispersion, therefore resolving the quantum Zeno effect.
References
Quantum measurement
Equations | Belavkin equation | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 1,472 | [
"Quantum measurement",
"Mathematical objects",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Equations"
] |
47,616,307 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C28H42O4 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C28H42O4}}
The molecular formula C28H42O4 (molar mass: 442.63 g/mol) may refer to:
Hydroxyprogesterone heptanoate (OHPH), or OHPE
Medroxyprogesterone caproate (MPC)
Molecular formulas | C28H42O4 | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 77 | [
"Molecules",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas",
"Isomerism",
"Molecular formulas",
"Matter"
] |
47,616,558 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department%20of%20Chemistry%2C%20University%20of%20Oxford | The Department of Chemistry is the chemistry department of the University of Oxford, England, which is part of the university's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division.
Overview
The department has several laboratories in the Science Area, Oxford:
Mansfield Road
In Mansfield Road
Chemical Biology Laboratory
Chemistry Research Laboratory
South Parks Road
In South Parks Road
Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (ICL)
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory (PTCL)
Dyson Perrins Laboratory (DP) – research laboratory closed
History
Chemistry has a long history at Oxford. The early pioneer of chemistry Robert Boyle and his assistant Robert Hooke began working in Oxford in the mid-seventeenth century. A chemistry laboratory was built in the basement of the Old Ashmolean Building in 1683, which was used until 1860. Chemical research was also conducted in laboratories set up in individual colleges – Christ Church, Oxford (1767), Magdalen College, Oxford (Daubeny Laboratory, 1848), Balliol College, Oxford (1853, later joined with Trinity College, Oxford to become the Balliol-Trinity Laboratories), Queen's College, Oxford (1900), and Jesus College, Oxford (1907).
Chemistry was first recognized as a separate discipline at Oxford with the building of a laboratory attached to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, opening in 1860. The laboratory is a small octagonal structure to the right of the museum, built in stone in the Victorian Gothic style. The design was based on the Abbot's Kitchen at Glastonbury and it adopted the same name despite being a laboratory. The building was one of the first ever purpose-built chemical laboratories anywhere and was extended in 1878. The Abbot's Kitchen in Oxford was expanded considerably in 1957 to become the main Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (ICL). The Dyson Perrins Laboratory opened in 1916 and was the centre of the Department of Organic Chemistry until 2003 when it was replaced by the Chemistry Research Laboratory. The Physical Chemistry Laboratory replaced the Balliol-Trinity Laboratories in 1941, and its east wing completed in 1959. The physical and theoretical chemistry departments merged in 1994 and the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory became its base in 1995.
A number of professors and scientists who worked in the department had won the Nobel Prize; they include Frederick Soddy for his work on radioactivity with Ernest Rutherford, Cyril Norman Hinshelwood for his work on chemical kinetics, and Dorothy Hodgkin on crystallography. Among the notable achievements by professors in the department are the development of the Periodic Table by William Odling, work on solid state chemistry by John Stuart Anderson and John B. Goodenough (winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), and bioinorganic chemistry by Robert Williams.
Notable staff and alumni
Heads of department have included:
Mark Brouard 2015-2023
Timothy Softley FRS 2011 to 2015
Stephen G. Davies 2006-2011
Graham Richards FRS 1997 to 2006
Current academics in the Department of Chemistry include:
Ed Anderson
Harry Anderson FRS
Fraser Armstrong FRS
Hagan Bayley FRS
Tom Brown FRSE
David Clary FRS
Richard G. Compton
William I. F. David FRS
Ben G. Davis FRS
Andrew Goodwin
Veronique Gouverneur FRS
David Hodgson
Peter J. Hore
Madhavi Krishnan
Iain McCulloch FRS
John McGrady
Susan Perkin
Carol Robinson FRS
Christopher Schofield FRS
Christiane Timmel
Claire Vallance
Charlotte Williams FRS
Other notable staff and alumni include:
John Albery FRS
Peter Atkins
Jack Baldwin FRS
Ronnie Bell FRS
Arthur Birch FRS
Edmund Bowen FRS
Charles Coulson FRS
John Cornforth FRS
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin FRS
Katherine Holt, Professor at University College London
Frederick Dainton FRS
John B. Goodenough ForMemRS
Malcolm Green FRS
Andrew Hamilton FRS
Rita Harradence
Cyril Hinshelwood FRS
Ewart Jones FRS
Jeremy Knowles FRS
Jack Linnett FRS
Rex Richards FRS
Robert Robinson FRS
John Rowlinson FRS
John Sutherland FRS
Margaret Thatcher FRS
Robert K. Thomas FRS
Harold Thompson FRS
R. J. P. Williams FRS
References
1860 establishments in England
Chemistry
Oxford | Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford | [
"Chemistry"
] | 810 | [
"Chemistry laboratories"
] |
57,859,530 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data%20plan | A data plan is a subscription plan from a cellular or other mobile service provider to provide internet data and connectivity.
Formatting
Data plans are usually created by a contract between the telecommunications carrier and the user of their service. This contract outlines a maximum amount of usable data, usually highlighted in either megabytes or gigabytes, allotted per month for the user. In most cases companies will allow a user to surpass the amount of data allowed in the contract, however, will have to pay a per-gigabyte fee, ranging anywhere from five to fifteen U.S. dollars.
Popularization of unlimited plans
Unlimited data plans have seen a large increase in usage by consumers since their initial introduction by U.S. network T-Mobile. These plans, instead of setting an overall maximum for the user, have an amount set-up that, when surpassed, will slow the speed of the network for that user. Unlimited plans typically cost significantly more than the traditional shared data plans, which is a major reason that carriers have set large boundaries and fees. The limits imposed on unlimited plans are designed to fight against attempts to misuse the network, such as a DDoS attack, but are more commonly reasoned as a method to increase the number of people that can use one tower simultaneously.
Data speed changes
When a network is near reaching peak capacity data speeds may be slowed down by carriers as part of most major telecom contracts. This, as stated previously, allows for more people to be utilizing one tower, reducing needed capital for the company. Since speed changes are allowed at the company's will, the user has no official guarantee of speed on most major networks.
Costs brought upon by additional data
In many cases both the user and carrier have to incur additional costs when a user utilizes more of a given data package, which has helped in the proliferation of data caps and other forms of shared data plans. Most of the charges that the carrier has to incur for additional data usage is partially or fully given to the user of the network.
Users
Users are required to pay flat-rate additional fees that occur when they go above the amount of data given to them in their contract, utility, or prepaid plan. The cost per gigabyte of this fee is usually higher than what the contract itself offers, which discourages users from over-utilizing data and incurring a charge for the carrier. Certain contracts, which do not offer paying additional fees for an increase in data, may result in a shutdown of service, or in extremely rare cases, termination of the service as a whole.
Carriers
Carriers incur costs for additional data usage, as it limits the number of customers, and associated contracts, that they can handle on one network. Creating more cell phone towers in a given area would be costly, and largely useless until particular spikes in traffic. When the peak usable amount of one tower is reached, it may cause negative public relations towards the reliability of the corporation as a whole.
References
Telecommunications | Data plan | [
"Technology"
] | 602 | [
"Information and communications technology",
"Telecommunications"
] |
57,860,216 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tholos%20%28architecture%29 | A tholos (: tholoi; from Ancient Greek θόλος, meaning "conical roof" or "dome"), in Latin tholus (: tholi), is a form of building that was widely used in the classical world. It is a round structure with a circular wall and a roof, usually built upon a couple of steps (a podium), and often with a ring of columns supporting a conical or domed roof.
It differs from a monopteros (Ancient Greek:ὁ μονόπτερος from the Polytonic: μόνος, only, single, alone, and , wing), a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls, which therefore does not have a cella (room inside). Both these types are sometimes called rotundas.
An increasingly large series of round buildings were constructed in the developing tradition of classical architecture until Late antiquity, which are covered here. Medieval round buildings are covered at rotunda. From the Renaissance onwards the classical tholos form had an enduring revival, now often topped by a dome, especially as an element in much larger buildings.
The tholos is not to be confused with the beehive tomb, or "tholos tomb" in modern terminology, a distinct form in Late Bronze Age Greece and other areas. But many other round tombs and mausolea were built, especially for Roman emperors.
Classical world
Greece
In Ancient Greek architecture, the tholos form was used for a variety of buildings with different purposes. A few were round temples of Greek peripteral design completely encircled by a colonnade, but most served other functions, and some were architecturally innovative. According to A. W. Lawrence, by the 4th century BC, "their more or less secular functions gave partial exemption from the austere conventions that governed the design of temples". No Greek tholos except the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates remains anything like intact, with most known only by excavation of their distinctive circular foundations, and other parts found lying on the site.
The large building known as "the tholos" (but also "the parasol") in the centre of Athens, just off the agora, at the least served as the dining-hall for the executive group of the boule, a council of 500 citizens chosen by lot from ten "tribes" to run daily affairs of the city, since a kitchen leads off the main circular hall. It may also have functioned as their debating chamber or prytaneion. It was about 60 feet across, and built around 470 BC.
Inside six columns supported the original conical roof, which seems have been covered with terracotta tiles round the lower parts, and perhaps bronze sheets higher up, leading to an acroterion at the apex, as seems to have been the case in the Philippeion. However this roof seems to have been destroyed by fire around 400 BC, and was probably replaced by one using bronze sheets. The original building, from not long after the Persian sack of Athens in 489–479 BC is "very plain", with no exterior columns, showing "utter economy [in] its construction".
The famous Tholos of Delphi was nearly 13.5 metres across. It has been dated to 370–360 BC. Its role remains unclear. There were 20 Doric columns around the exterior, and ten smaller Corinthian columns around the inside of the wall, rising up from a low stone bench. The building had "a more decorative treatment than would then have been permissable in a temple". It is now partially reconstructed at the site.
Next to the temple at the Sanctuary of Asclepius, Epidaurus was "the finest of all tholoi according to ancient opinion". This was designed by the sculptor Polykleitos the Younger around 360 BC, and was 22 metres across. An inscription tells us the building was called the thymela or "place of sacrifice". It used the Corinthian order, still rather an innovation, for a ring of 14 columns inside, and the "extraordinary dainty" version of the capitals here was probably an influential model for later buildings. It may have introduced to the Corinthian the flower (or "rosette") touching the abacus in the centre of each face. Unlike a Greek temple, it had at least two windows flanking the doorway, and perhaps more higher up.
Another Corinthian tholos was the small Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, about 334 BC, the first surviving building to use the Corinthian order on the outside – there was no inside.
The Philippeion in the Altis of Olympia ( BC) was a circular memorial in limestone and marble, the rather cramped interior containing chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statues of Philip II of Macedon's family; himself, Alexander the Great, Olympias, Amyntas III and Eurydice I. Columns were Ionic around the outside, with engaged Corinthian half-columns inside.
The largest Greek tholos, of uncertain function, was built in the Samothrace temple complex in the 260s BC. It is often called the Arsinoeum (or Arsinoëion, Arsinoë Rotunda), as a dedication tablet for the Ptolomeic Queen Arsinoe II of Egypt has survived. The sanctuary was a great Hellenistic centre of Greco-Roman mysteries, by this date becoming crowded with buildings. The tholos was 20 metres across (from the lowest step) and, as reconstructed, 12.65 m high, with the lower parts of the wall blank, but small columns high up, where any windows were also placed. One of the many reconstructions proposed by scholars was used as the basis of the Arlington Reservoir, Massachusetts, in the 1920s, functioning as a 2,000,000 gallon water tower. The Befreiungshalle (1840s) near Kelheim, Bavaria, is a victory memorial on the same theme.
Roman world
By far the most famous roofed round Roman building is the Pantheon, Rome. However this sharply differs from other classical tholoi in that it is entered though a very large flat temple front with a projecting portico with three rows of columns, while the rest of the exterior is a blank wall without columns or windows, so the circular form is rather obscured from the front until the visitor enters, and sees the enormous circular space.
Temples of the goddess Vesta, which were usually small, were typically circular, but not all round temples were dedicated to her. The three best-known survivals, in or near Rome, were named "Temple of Vesta" by post-classical writers, in two cases without any good evidence. One is now usually called the Temple of Hercules Victor, while the old name continues to be used for the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, in the absence of any firm evidence for the actual dedication – perhaps to the Tiburtine Sibyl. The identification of the Temple of Vesta, Rome, just next to the House of the Vestals, is secure.
In Roman cities a tholos could often be found in the centre of the macellum (market), where it might have been where fish were sold. Other uses for the central tholos have been suggested, such as the place where official weights and measures were held for reference or as shrines to the gods of the market place. Some macella had a water fountain or water feature in the centre of their courtyard instead of a tholos structure.
The Romans in effect developed a new form in the amphitheatre, of which the Colosseum in Rome is the largest, best known and best preserved. These were mostly oval rather than round and, like the semi-circular Roman theatres, un-roofed, except for the velarium, a cloth awning over some parts.
Tombs
The circular tumulus was the most common form of early Greek tomb, often revetted by a vertical or sloping stone wall round the base, a type still seen in abundance in Etruscan necropoli like the "Necropolis of the Banditaccia" at Cerveteri near Rome. The top was a mound of earth, with (in the Greek world) one or more upright stones at the summit. The Etruscan burial chambers were below ground level and rather large, crowded with family sarcophagi and grave goods (most surviving painted Greek vases come from Etruscan tombs).
Local rulers around the edges of the Hellenic world constructed some significant tumulus tombs. The largest was that made about 600 BC for King Alyattes of Lydia (in modern Turkey), the father of Croesus, which dominates the elite cemetery site now called Bin Tepe. Herodotus visited it and says that stones at the summit recorded that it was constructed by the market traders, craftsmen and prostitutes of the nearby capital Sardis, the prostitutes making the largest contribution. It was 900 feet high, and nearly a quarter of a mile in diameter. A large mound, now reduced and slumped at the sides, remains, as does the barrel-vaulted passage to the looted tomb chamber at the centre.
The so-called "Tomb of Tantalus", of a similar date, was fully faced in stone, with a diameter of 33.55 metres, and a height about the same. There was a vertical wall at the base, then a conical roof, much of which survived until 1835, when excavations led by Charles Texier using labour from the French Navy collapsed it. The passage leading to the rectangular burial chamber at the centre was entirely filled in with stones. The chamber was corbelled to form a pointed arch shape between two straight end walls. This was also the largest monument in a cemetery, now on the outskirts of İzmir.
The Madghacen (or "Medracen") is a royal mausoleum, perhaps of the 3rd century BC, of the Berber Numidian kings in Numidia, Algeria, with a similar shape. Though independent, the Numidian kingdom was increasingly involved in Mediterranean power politics, and an architect familiar with classical architecture has surrounded the vertical section of wall at the base with engaged columns in the Doric order, "heavily proportioned and with smooth shafts, beneath a cavetto cornice". The whole exterior was, and very largely still is, covered with a stone facing, the straight cone of the upper part (except for a flat top) formed into steps, like the pyramids of Egypt.
The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, long called the Tombeau de la Chrétienne ("Tomb of the Christian Woman"), is very similar, but a good deal larger and with Ionic columns around the base. It is the mausoleum of the thoroughly Romanized client king Juba II of Numidia and Mauretania (died 46 AD), and his queen Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. However, the design "seems definitely Greek".
Imperial Rome
Juba and Cleopatra Selene were probably still living in polite captivity in Rome when construction of the circular Mausoleum of Augustus began there around 28 BC. As (nearly) restored in the 21st century, there is an outer ring, then a space around the cylinder with the tomb-chamber, where the ashes of many of the Julio-Claudian dynasty were interred. Stairs lead up to the roof. The large tombs of elite Roman families shared some of the characteristics of weekend cottages, with gardens, orchards, kitchens, and spacious apartments. Many liked to visit their family tomb on birthdays or anniversaries, for a family meal and day of reflection.
The Mausoleum of Augustus measured 90 m (295 ft) in diameter by 42 m (137 ft) in height. The tomb was placed at the centre of a public park, long almost entirely built over, which included the Ara Pacis and other altars. From ancient writers it is clear that there was greenery, probably trees, growing on top of the upper parts, of an artificial mound or dome, which fell in and has not been restored to date. The Casal Rotondo, of similar date with a diameter of 35 metres, is the largest tomb on the Appian Way outside Rome; who built it is now uncertain. The Tomb of Caecilia Metella, daughter in law of the triumvir Crassus, is another large circular tomb.
Augustus set the precedent for a number of circular imperial tombs over the following centuries; some either became, or were built into, Christian churches, which have generally survived more intact. The largest is the Castel Sant'Angelo, built as the mausoleum for Hadrian (died 138), then converted into a castle. This had a garden on the flat roof. The Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki, begun about 310, was probably intended as his mausoleum, and was later a church, then a mosque. Only the underground parts of the Mausoleum of Maxentius (died 312) outside Rome survive; in fact this was used for his son.
The last of the series was the now vanished Mausoleum of Honorius (died 423), again containing the graves of many of his relatives. This was a circular brick building with a dome attached to Old St. Peter's Basilica, and demolished with it in 1519. It was typical of imperial mausolea after the empire converted to Christianity in being attached to a church or early Christian funerary hall (the origin of many of the largest basilica churches of Rome). Santa Costanza, for daughters of Constantine the Great is a surviving example, but unusual in still having much of its rich mosaic decoration.
The mausoleum of Diocletian (died 312) was inside his massive Diocletian's Palace at Split, Croatia, and was later adapted to form the central section of Split Cathedral. This is octagonal on the exterior, but circular inside; the elaborate carving of the columns has survived well, but is surrounded by lavish later church fittings.
The church of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio or "Santo Stefano Rotundo" in Rome was, perhaps uniquely for its late 5th-century period, newly built as a circular church, apparently unconnected with any burial. It was long thought to have been built onto an earlier circular structure, but excavations have disproved this. The original construction, now much altered, had three concentric parts, all circular. Going from the centre outwards there was a 22-metre high central space, of the same diameter, surrounded by a much lower ambulatory, then an open-air space, except for four passageways, surrounded by another ambulatory.
The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, of 520, uses Roman construction techniques but is in an impressive but unclassical style, possibly borrowing from Syria; Theoderic the Great was an Ostrogoth "barbarian" ruler.
Renaissance to modern
The tholos was revived in one of the most influential buildings in Renaissance architecture, the Tempietto in a courtyard of the church of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome. This was designed by Donato Bramante around 1502. It is a small building whose innovation, as far as Western Europe was concerned, was to use the tholos form as the base for a dome above; this may have reflected a Byzantine structure in Jerusalem over the tomb of Christ. The Roman Temple of Vesta (which has no dome) was probably also an influence. This pairing of tholos, now called a "drum" or "tholobate", and dome became extremely popular raised high above main structures which were often based on the Roman temple.
Most of the proposals for rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica, the first by Bramante in 1506, included this combination of elements, at least on the exterior; as at St Peter's, false domes often gave a different interior view. The pairing of drum and dome was initially mostly used for churches, as at Les Invalides in Paris (1676) and St Paul's Cathedral in London (1697), but later other buildings, and continued until the 20th century at least. The US Capitol is one of a number of buildings where a tholos is above the dome, serving as a base for the Statue of Freedom, as well as two much larger colonnaded ones below; versions of the formula have also been used in several (arguably most) American state capitols. The Panthéon in Paris is also topped by a tholos below a dome.
The Radcliffe Camera, built as a library for Oxford University in 1737, is one of relatively few large buildings after the Renaissance to use a purely circular plan, with little emphasis on the entrance, in a classical style that is full of complexities and looks back to Italian Mannerist architecture. The Mausoleum in the park at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, by Nicholas Hawksmoor (completed 1742), gives a "tragic" interpretation of the theme by making the columns large and close together and the dome low.
Most preferred the Pantheon-style rotunda, with a pronounced temple front, or often several. The famous Villa La Rotonda (or "Villa Capra") by Andrea Palladio (begun 1567) took the Pantheon theme, but adding a columnaded temple front on four sides, to make a sort of Greek cross. There is a high and circular central hall with a large domed roof, but the building behind the porticos is actually square. This formula was often copied for country houses, as at Chiswick House (1725), designed by its owner Lord Burlington, and Mereworth Castle (1723) by Colen Campbell.
The Rotunda at the University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson (1826) was much closer to the Pantheon, which was acknowledged as its model, and the tradition was still in use in the 1930s, when Manchester Central Library was designed and built by Vincent Harris, who often used an updated classical style. At its opening, one critic wrote, "This is the sort of thing which persuades one to believe in the perennial applicability of the Classical canon."
Others
Notes
References
Campbell, Virginia L., "Stopping to Smell the Roses: Garden Tombs in Roman Italy", 2008, Arctos, Vol. XLII, Academia.edu
Lawrence, A. W., Greek Architecture, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art
Loth, Calder, "The Tempietto, Grandfather of Domes", Institute of Classical Architecture & Art
Onians, John, Art and Thought in the Hellenistic Age: Greek World View, 350–5 BC, 1979, Thames & Hudson,
Summerson, John, The Classical Language of Architecture, 1980 edition, Thames and Hudson World of Art series,
Thompson, Homer, The Tholos of Athens and its Predecessors (PDF), Hesperia, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1940
Yarwood, Doreen, The Architecture of Europe, 1987 (first edn. 1974), Spring Books,
Ancient Greek buildings and structures
Ancient Roman buildings and structures
Architectural elements
Food markets | Tholos (architecture) | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 3,907 | [
"Building engineering",
"Architectural elements",
"Components",
"Architecture"
] |
57,860,907 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Puratos%20Sourdough%20Library | The Sourdough Library was founded in October 2013 in Saint-Vith, Belgium, and is the only facility in the world dedicated to housing sourdough cultures. The library is housed at the Puratos Center for Bread Flavour, with a mission to conserve and promote sourdoughs from around the world, to conduct research, and to ensure the survival of the various strains for future use. It currently has over 900 strains of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria recorded. Every new sample that arrives at the library is checked and analyzed in the laboratory, run by Professor Marco Gobbetti. The library is a not-for profit initiative from Puratos and as of 2016 has 87 sourdoughs, including 12 from the United States.
See also
List of sourdough breads
References
External links
Virtual tour
Sourdough breads
Archives in Belgium
Biorepositories
2013 establishments in Belgium
St. Vith | The Puratos Sourdough Library | [
"Biology"
] | 189 | [
"Bioinformatics",
"Biorepositories"
] |
57,861,199 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brat%20TV | Brat, Inc. is an American production company that is available on YouTube. Founded in 2017, the network features original shows and is geared toward Generation Z audiences.
Brat TV's flagship web series, Chicken Girls, spawned a subsequent film entitled Chicken Girls: The Movie. Brat has also produced shows featuring teenage stars from Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, such as Jules LeBlanc, Anna Cathcart, Francesca Capaldi, and Emily Skinner.
History
Brat was launched in 2017 by television writer Rob Fishman and Darren Lachtman as an online network featuring scripted content, streaming for free on YouTube. The company originally received $2.5 million in seed funding. Fishman saw a gap in the online market for high-quality teenage shows available for free on digital platforms. Fishman noted how the social media celebrities all brought their own established audiences to Brat's shows, describing them as "under-leveraged media property". The name of the network was inspired by the "Brat Pack" movies of the 1980s.
On September 5, 2017, Brat premiered Chicken Girls, which is Brat's longest-running series.
The most viewed episode on Brat is the ninth episode of season one of Mani, titled "I'm the Captain Now". It stands at over 22 million views as of December 30, 2023. The episode originally premiered on December 6, 2017.
In addition to teenage internet celebrities, Brat's content would also star people who have worked with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
In 2018, Brat premiered 3 shows that were different than its usual single-camera shows: Brat Chat which was a talk show hosted by Indiana Massara and Darius Marcell that premiered in June, The Talent Show which was a competition series to find Brat's next star (hosted by Casey Simpson and judged by Sofie Dossi, Bryce Xavier, and Jordyn Jones) that was released in August, and Hotel Du Loone which was a multi-cam sitcom was released in June. A film based on Chicken Girls was released in 2018 as part of a deal with Studio L, a digital content division of Lionsgate. Before the film's release, Brat and Lionsgate amicably canceled their partnership.
Chicken Girls: The Movie was released on June 29, 2018 and became Brat's most popular project of all time, with over 40 million views as of December 30, 2023.
In December 2018, Brat premiered the Brat Holiday Spectacular starring Mackenzie Ziegler, Jules LeBlanc, Indiana Massara, Sofie Dossi, Aliyah Moulden, Emily Skinner, and Michelle Johnson.
In March 2019, Brat premiered Spring Breakaway starring Jules LeBlanc, Lilia Buckingham, and Anna Cathcart, William Frankline-Miller, Kianna Naomi, David Banks, Claire Montgomery, Allen Perada and Colleen Elizabeth Miller.
In August 2019, Brat premiered Intern-in-Chief, which featured Jules LeBlanc, Riley Lewis, Indiana Massara, Aliyah Moulden, and Kiki Haynes.
In January 11, 2024, Brat acquired Horror website Crypt TV. A year later they acquired React Media through Electric Monster Media and rebranded as ZATV.
Shows
Current shows
Films
Former programming
Facebook Watch
Brat had also filmed a show for their main channel on YouTube called Theater Kids, but it never aired.
Other media
Other channels
B-Sides
In February 2020, Brat launched a YouTube channel called Music by Brat TV (formerly B-SIDES), which was dedicated to original songs by Brat stars, as well as covers of existing songs.
Past Your Bedtime (formerly known as Yearbook)
In February 2020, Brat launched a YouTube channel called "Yearbook" that features its stars in different series of videos, often interviews or recaps:
Best Day Ever
Chemistry
Dear Diary
Honor Roll
@me
Meet My Pet
Portrait Mode
Sip or Spill
Study Hall
Tuesday Tea
Some of Yearbook's videos had been posted on Brat's Instagram TV.
Yearbook was rebranded in February 2022 as "Past Your Bedtime", a channel featuring podcasts produced by Brat, such as:
Sip or Spill (with Tati Mitchell & Louis Levanti)
The Comment Section (with Drew Afualo)
Anonymously Yours (with Teala Dunn)
Keep Kickin’ (with Kai Novak)
Interview With My Kid (with Jesse & Arlo Sullivan)
Reading The Stars (with Antoni Bumba)
Me Time (with Jack Wright)
The Beauty Breakdown (with Glamzilla)
Looking For
I'm Literally Screaming (with Spencewuah)
I'll Be Your Sister (with Ellie Zieler)
Best Friends For Real (with Gabby Morrison & Jada Wesley)
Snapchat
Brat TV has also launched several Snapchat series that recap pop culture and current events primarily concerning notable influencers.
Past Your Bedtime
Hot Take
Beauty Beat
Get The Lewk
Books
In March 2019, Brat partnered with Sky Pony Press to release a junior novel based on the Chicken Girls series, entitled "Rhyme and the Runaway Twins".
IGTV
Attaway Looks
Brat Asks
Brat Radio
Fast Friends
Fly So High
Past Your Bedtime
Trivia Night
True or Nah
Wednesday Wisdom
Podcast
In August 2019, Brat partnered with Art19 to produce a set of podcasts, the first of which served as a spin-off of Attaway Appeal.
References
External links
Brat TV
Digital media
Streaming television in the United States
YouTube channels launched in 2017
YouTube channels
Entertainment-related YouTube channels | Brat TV | [
"Technology"
] | 1,098 | [
"Multimedia",
"Digital media"
] |
57,861,351 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%2C1-Dihydroxyethene | 1,1-Dihydroxyethene is an organic compound consisting of two hydroxy groups as substituents on the same carbon atom of an ethene chain. The chemical is also called ketene hydrate because it is the carbonyl hydrate of ketene. Its structure can also be considered as the enol form of acetic acid. This compound is likely a key intermediate in the hydration reaction that converts ketene into acetic acid. The analysis of the possible pathways for this reaction has been cited as an example of the importance of considering activation energy of each mechanistic step. The hydration of the carbonyl of ketene, which formally involves an addition reaction of one water molecule onto the carbonyl group, is likely catalyzed by a second water molecule. The compound has now been synthesized and identified spectroscopically.
References
Enols
Geminal diols | 1,1-Dihydroxyethene | [
"Chemistry"
] | 188 | [
"Enols",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compound stubs",
"Organic chemistry stubs"
] |
57,862,873 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGC%2012682 | UGC 12682 is an irregular galaxy, located in the constellation of Pegasus. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 1024 ± 25km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of . In addition, one non redshift measurement gives a distance of . The earliest known reference to this galaxy is from the 1959 journal A Catalogue of Dwarf Galaxies by Sidney Van Den Bergh, where it is listed as DDO 218.
On 7 November 2008, 14-year-old amateur astronomer Caroline Moore from Warwick, New York, became the youngest supernova discoverer at the time, when she found SN 2008ha (typeIa, mag. 18.8) in UGC 12682.
See also
Irregular galaxy
Uppsala General Catalogue
References
12682
071801
+03-60-007
Pegasus (constellation)
Irregular galaxies
23323+1757
Astronomical objects discovered in 1959 | UGC 12682 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 184 | [
"Pegasus (constellation)",
"Galaxy stubs",
"Astronomy stubs",
"Constellations"
] |
57,863,122 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal%20of%20Mathematical%20Physics%2C%20Analysis%2C%20Geometry | The Journal of Mathematical Physics, Analysis, Geometry is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering mathematics as applied to physics. It is published by the Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering and was established in 1994 as Mathematical Physics, Analysis, Geometry. Papers are published in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. The journal is abstracted and indexed by Scopus. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 0.531.
Editors-in-chief
The following persons are or have been editors-in-chief:
Vladimir Marchenko: 1994—1999
Iossif Ostrovskii: 2000—2004
Leonid Pastur: 2005—present
History
The Kharkov Mathematical Society was founded in 1879 and, starting in 1880, the society published the journal named Communications of the Kharkov Mathematical Society (Russian Сообщения и протоколы заседаний математического общества при Императорском Харьковском университете). Publication was suspended in 1960, but in 1965 due to the efforts of Naum Akhiezer the journals Theory of functions, functional analysis and their applications, and Ukrainian Geometric Collection» were established. In 1994, these journals were merged by the Mathematical Division of the Verkin Institute to establish the current journal. The first editor was Vladimir Marchenko.
References
External links
Mathematical physics journals
Physics journals
Academic journals published in Ukraine
Quarterly journals
Academic journals established in 1994
Multilingual journals
Mathematical analysis journals
Geometry journals | Journal of Mathematical Physics, Analysis, Geometry | [
"Mathematics"
] | 358 | [
"Geometry journals",
"Mathematical analysis",
"Geometry",
"Mathematical analysis journals"
] |
57,863,496 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203805 | NGC 3805 is a lenticular galaxy located about 330 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 25, 1785. NGC 3805 is a member of the Leo Cluster.
See also
List of NGC objects (3001–4000)
References
External links
3805
036224
06642
Leo (constellation)
Leo Cluster
Lenticular galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1785 | NGC 3805 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 87 | [
"Leo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
57,863,836 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI%20Now%20Institute | The AI Now Institute (AI Now) is an American research institute studying the social implications of artificial intelligence and policy research that addresses the concentration of power in the tech industry. AI Now has partnered with organizations such as the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), Data & Society, Ada Lovelace Institute, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, New York University Center for Data Science, Partnership on AI, and the ACLU. AI Now has produced annual reports that examine the social implications of artificial intelligence. In 2021-2, AI Now’s leadership served as a Senior Advisors on AI to Chair Lina Khan at the Federal Trade Commission. Its executive director is Amba Kak.
Founding and mission
AI Now grew out of a 2016 symposium spearheaded by the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The event was led by Meredith Whittaker, the founder of Google's Open Research Group, and Kate Crawford, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research. The event focused on near-term implications of AI in social domains: Inequality, Labor, Ethics, and Healthcare.
In November 2017, AI Now held a second symposium on AI and social issues, and publicly launched the AI Now Institute in partnership with New York University. It is claimed to be the first university research institute focused on the social implications of AI, and the first AI institute founded and led by women. It is now a fully independent institute.
In an interview with NPR, Crawford stated that the motivation for founding AI Now was that the application of AI into social domains - such as health care, education, and criminal justice - was being treated as a purely technical problem. The goal of AI Now's research is to treat these as social problems first, and bring in domain experts in areas like sociology, law, and history to study the implications of AI.
Research
AI Now publishes an annual reports on the state of AI, and its integration into society. Its 2017 Report stated that, "current framings of AI ethics are failing", and provided ten strategic recommendations for the field - including pre-release trials of AI systems, and increased research into bias and diversity in the field. The report was noted for calling for an end to "black box" systems in core social domains, such as those responsible for criminal justice, healthcare, welfare, and education.
In April 2018, AI Now released a framework for algorithmic impact assessments, as a way for governments to assess the use of AI in public agencies. According to AI Now, an AIA would be similar to environmental impact assessment, in that it would require public disclosure and access for external experts to evaluate the effects of an AI system, and any unintended consequences. This would allow systems to be vetted for issues like biased outcomes or skewed training data, which researchers have already identified in algorithmic systems deployed across the country.
Its 2023 Report argued that meaningful reform of the tech sector must focus on addressing concentrated power in the tech industry.
References
See also
Banjo (application)
Clearview AI
Research institutes in New York (state)
2017 establishments in New York City
Artificial intelligence conferences
Data activism
Ethics of science and technology
501(c)(3) organizations
Research institutes established in 2017 | AI Now Institute | [
"Technology"
] | 647 | [
"Data activism",
"Data",
"Ethics of science and technology"
] |
57,864,188 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203816 | NGC 3816 is a lenticular galaxy located about 270 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on May 9, 1864. NGC 3816 is a member of the Leo Cluster.
See also
List of NGC objects (3001–4000)
References
External links
3816
36292
6656
Leo (constellation)
Leo Cluster
Lenticular galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1864 | NGC 3816 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 85 | [
"Leo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
57,865,014 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminal%20fluid%20protein | Seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) or accessory gland proteins (Acps) are one of the non-sperm components of semen. In many animals with internal fertilization, males transfer a complex cocktail of proteins in their semen to females during copulation. These seminal fluid proteins often have diverse, potent effects on female post-mating phenotypes. SFPs are produced by the male accessory glands.
Seminal fluid proteins frequently show evidence of elevated evolutionary rates and are often cited as an example of sexual conflict.
Proteomics
SFPs are best studied in mammals and insects, especially in the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Most species produce a wide variety of proteins that are transferred to females. For example, approximately 290 SFPs have been identified in D. melanogaster, 46 in the mosquito Anopheles gambae, and around 160 in humans.
Elevated evolution
Even between closely related species, the seminal fluid proteome can vary greatly. SFPs show elevated rates of DNA sequence change compared to non-reproductive genes (measured by Ka/Ks ratio) in many orders, including Diptera (flies), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Rodentia, and Primates.
Additionally, SFPs show high rates of gene turnover compared to non-reproductive genes.
Function
The function of SFPs is best understood in D. melanogaster. SFPs play a role in male–male sperm competition. One study that manipulated the amount of SFPs male D. melanogaster produced found that when males were in competition, males that produced more SFPs sired a larger proportion of offspring. Many D. melanogaster SFP genes are expressed by the female reproductive tract, particularly within the sperm storage organs, which may be more consistent with roles supporting spermatozoa than in sexual conflict.
In many insect species, significant changes occur in female behavior and physiology following mating; the isolated receipt of SFPs has been shown to be responsible for many of these changes. In D. melanogaster females, over 160 genes show either up or down-regulation following isolated SFP receipt. These transcriptomic changes are not limited to the female's reproductive tract. SFPs lengthen the refractory period (when the female is disinterested in mating) and stimulate ovulation; additionally they can affect processes such as sperm storage, metabolism, and activity levels.
Though SFPs seem to play a role in coordinating male and female reproductive efforts (e.g. in timing of ovulation), SFPs may also be a source of sexual conflict. Studies of D. melanogaster have revealed that females who received SFPs suffered decreased lifespan and fitness. Frequent mating in D. melanogaster is associated with a reduction in female lifespan, and this cost of mating in females has been shown to be primarily mediated by receipt of SFPs.
As SFPs play an important role in reproductive processes in disease-carrying species of mosquito and additionally tend to be highly species-specific, manipulation of SFPs may hold potential for highly targeted control of these mosquito populations.
References
Semen
Proteins by location
Evolutionary biology | Seminal fluid protein | [
"Biology"
] | 646 | [
"Evolutionary biology"
] |
57,865,258 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203821 | NGC 3821 is a low surface brightness spiral galaxy and a ring galaxy about 270 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 26, 1785 and is a member of the Leo Cluster.
See also
List of NGC objects (3001–4000)
NGC 2859
NGC 3081
Malin 1
References
External links
3821
36314
6663
Leo (constellation)
Leo Cluster
Intermediate spiral galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1785
Ring galaxies
Low surface brightness galaxies | NGC 3821 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 103 | [
"Leo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
57,865,301 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapered%20floating%20point | In computing, tapered floating point (TFP) is a format similar to floating point, but with variable-sized entries for the significand and exponent instead of the fixed-length entries found in normal floating-point formats. In addition to this, tapered floating-point formats provide a fixed-size pointer entry indicating the number of digits in the exponent entry. The number of digits of the significand entry (including the sign) results from the difference of the fixed total length minus the length of the exponent and pointer entries.
Thus numbers with a small exponent, i.e. whose order of magnitude is close to the one of 1, have a higher relative precision than those with a large exponent.
History
The tapered floating-point scheme was first proposed by Robert Morris of Bell Laboratories in 1971, and refined with leveling by Masao Iri and Shouichi Matsui of University of Tokyo in 1981, and by Hozumi Hamada of Hitachi, Ltd.
Alan Feldstein of Arizona State University and Peter Turner of Clarkson University described a tapered scheme resembling a conventional floating-point system except for the overflow or underflow conditions.
In 2013, John Gustafson proposed the Unum number system, a variant of tapered floating-point arithmetic with an exact bit added to the representation and some interval interpretation to the non-exact values.
See also
Logarithmic number system (LNS)
Symmetric level-index arithmetic (SLI)
References
Further reading
. Previously published in:
Computer arithmetic | Tapered floating point | [
"Mathematics"
] | 315 | [
"Computer arithmetic",
"Arithmetic"
] |
57,865,308 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical%20chemical%20compound | A hypothetical chemical compound is a chemical compound that has been conceived of, but is not known to have been synthesized, observed, or isolated (identified or shown to exist).
Some hypothetical compounds cannot form at all, due to steric effects (e.g. tetra-tert-butylmethane, , chlorine heptafluoride, , or bromine heptafluoride, ) or bond stress (e.g. tetrahedrane ). Others might turn out to be highly unstable, decomposing, isomerizing, polymerizing, rearranging, or disproportionating. Some are thought to exist only briefly as reactive intermediates or in vacuum. Some have no known pathway for synthesis (e.g. hypercubane).
Some compounds of radioactive elements have never been synthesized due to their radioactive decay and short half-lives (e.g. francium hydroxide FrOH, radon hexafluoride , astatine heptafluoride , polonium(II) fluoride ).
Some "parent compounds" have not been or cannot be isolated, even though stable structural analogs with substituents have been discovered or synthesized (e.g. borole ). Hypothetical compounds are often predicted or expected from known compounds, such as a families of salts for which the "parent acid" is not a stable molecule, or in which salts form with some cations but not others. Examples of such "phantom acids" are disulfurous acid and sulfurous acid , whose salts are stable.
Hypothetical compounds are used in some thought experiments.
Some compounds long regarded as hypothetical have later been isolated. Ethylene dione was suggested in 1913 and observed spectroscopically in 2015. Another stable compound, potassium trichromate, has been produced in a small scale and is known to be a very powerful oxidizing agent. Sodium trichromate and sodium and potassium tetrachromate have been hypothesized but are yet to be synthesized.
Other compounds were once thought to have already been produced, but are now regarded as hypothetical chemical compounds unlikely to ever be produced, such as polywater, oxygen tetrafluoride , chromium hexafluoride and osmium octafluoride .
Other examples of hypothetical compounds are xenon octafluoride , pentazole (all nitrogen analog of azole), hexazine (all nitrogen analog of benzene), octaazacubane (all nitrogen analog of cubane), cyclotrioxidane , nitrogen pentafluoride , tetrafluoroammonium fluoride .
Despite the fact that rhenium heptahydride has not been isolated, its salt potassium nonahydridorhenate(VII) is stable.
Prediction
Stability and other properties can be predicted using energy calculations and computational chemistry.
"[Using] the Born–Haber cycle to estimate ... the heat of formation ... can be used to determine whether a hypothetical compound is stable." However, "a negative formation enthalpy does not automatically imply the existence of a hypothetical compound." The method predicts that NaCl is stable but NeCl is not. It predicted based on the stability of .
References
External links
Hypothetical chemical compounds
Theoretical chemistry | Hypothetical chemical compound | [
"Chemistry"
] | 694 | [
"Theoretical chemistry",
"nan",
"Hypothetical chemical compounds",
"Hypotheses in chemistry"
] |
57,865,596 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronchigram | Ronchigram (after Italian physicist Vasco Ronchi [ˈroŋki]) is the convergent beam diffraction pattern of a known object with features comparable to the diffracting wavelength. In the case of electron Ronchigrams amorphous materials are used. The structure of the Ronchigram encodes information about the aberration phase field across the objective aperture. As such, Ronchigrams have become increasingly important with the invention of aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy.
References
External links
ronchigram.com Web simulator for generating Ronchigrams.
Electron microscopy
Microscopy | Ronchigram | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 126 | [
"Electron",
"Materials science stubs",
"Electron microscopy",
"Condensed matter physics",
"Microscopy",
"Condensed matter stubs"
] |
57,866,321 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomplexation | In chemistry, decomplexation refers to the removal of a ligand from a coordination complex. Decomplexation is of particular interest when the ligand has been synthesized within the coordination sphere of the metal, as is often the case in organometallic chemistry.
Decomplexation by ligand displacement
Ligands can be decomplexed by displacement with another ligand, e.g., a highly basic ligand or the use of high pressures of carbon monoxide. Arenes are liberated from (arene)Cr(CO)3 with pyridine:
(arene)Cr(CO)3 + 3 C5H5N → Cr(CO)3(NC5H5)3 + arene
In this case Cr(CO)3(pyridine)3 can be recycled. Illustrative of this approach is the synthesis of (–)-steganone via a chromium haloarene complex. The synthesis is completed by decomplexation, liberating the natural product.
(16)
1,4,7-Trithiacyclononane can be prepared within the coordination sphere of a metal, and then isolated by decomplexation.
Oxidative decomplexation
Another popular method for decomplexation involves oxidation of a low valent complex. Oxidants include air, dioxirane, ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), and halogens. Oxidants are selected to avoid reaction with the released organic ligand. Illustrative is the use of ferric chloride to release alkynes from Co2(C2R2)(CO)6. One drawback to this method is that the organometallic center is usually destroyed. One example of oxidative decomplexation involves the CAN-induced release and trapping of cyclobutadiene from cyclobutadieneiron tricarbonyl.
References
Ligands
Organometallic chemistry
Coordination chemistry | Decomplexation | [
"Chemistry"
] | 403 | [
"Ligands",
"Coordination chemistry",
"Organometallic chemistry",
"Half sandwich compounds"
] |
57,867,141 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface%20Go | The Surface Go is a 2-in-1 detachable in the Microsoft Surface series that was released on August 2, 2018. It was unveiled by Microsoft on July 10, 2018. It was the first generation of the Surface Go. In May 2020, the Surface Go was superseded by the Surface Go 2.
The device runs Windows 10 Home in S-Mode and features a 5MP front facing camera, an infrared camera, 8 MP rear camera, a NFC chip and a kickstand supporting an angle of up to 165°. The screen is a 3:2 optically-bonded PixelSense 1800×1200 display with a density of 217 PPI and a full 180 degree viewing angle. The Surface Go starts at US$399 and does not include a Type Cover or Surface Pen, which must be purchased separately. The Type Cover is offered in black, plus three options with Alcantara fabric—Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, and Platinum. The Type Cover also uses an 8-pin connection instead of the 6-pin connection featured in past Surfaces, breaking compatibility with other models.
Configuration
Features
Surface Go has an Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y and Intel HD Graphics 615 GPU. Storage options are 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB.
Surface Go can fully charge its battery in 2 hours.
Surface Go comes with a headphone jack, a USB-C port, and a microSD card slot.
All configurations are also available with Windows 10 Pro for an additional US$50.
The 8.3 mm thick tablet weighs .
The Surface Go has either 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM
Hardware
The Surface Go is the 4th addition to small Surface lineup featuring a full-body magnesium alloy construction. The Surface Go is aimed toward children, students and schools.
The device features a fanless Intel Pentium Gold processor inside.
For the first time, the device contains USB C port with power delivery, the first Surface device to support such port and a Surface Connect port. The front-facing camera contains an infrared sensor that supports login using Windows Hello.
The detachable keyboard, which is sold separately, uses an 8-pin connection which is compatible with the newer model.
Software
Surface Go comes pre-installed with Windows 10 Home in S Mode and a 30-day trial of Office 365. With S Mode, users may only install software from Windows Store. S Mode of the OS can be upgraded to Windows 10 Home for free or Windows 10 Pro for a fee.
Windows 10 comes pre-installed with Mail, Calendar, People, Xbox, Photos, Movies and TV, Groove, Office and Edge. The device also supports Windows Hello login using a biometric facial recognition.
Timeline
References
External links
Microsoft Surface
Tablet computers introduced in 2018
2-in-1 PCs | Surface Go | [
"Technology"
] | 563 | [
"Crossover devices",
"2-in-1 PCs"
] |
57,870,343 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket%20Men%20%28book%29 | Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon is a 2018 nonfiction book by Robert Kurson recounting NASA's 1968 Apollo 8 mission, which was the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon and return safely to Earth. The book is Kurson's fourth, and it debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.
Background
Kurson drew on hundreds of hours of one-on-one interviews with NASA staff, industry experts, astronauts (including all three Apollo 8 astronauts) and their families as source material for the book.
Synopsis
Rocket Men is an account of the Apollo 8 mission with focus on Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders, the three astronauts who flew the mission. The book also places an emphasis on the astronauts' families during the mission.
From The Washington Post:
"'Rocket Men' opens in summer 1968, with the space race in high gear. The Soviet Union had already put the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, as well as the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into Earth’s orbit. The Soviets were projected to reach the moon by the end of the year, months ahead of the United States."
The book includes chapters dedicated to each astronaut, the Space Race itself, and background and chronological progress of the mission including critical maneuvers and mission setbacks. It is set against the backdrop of 1968, considered by many to be among the most divisive and violent years in American history.
Reception
The book reached #7 on the New York Times bestseller list and has received positive reviews from critics. The USA Today called Rocket Men a "first-rate account of this remarkable spaceflight" and added, "There are many pieces to the Apollo 8 story, but Kurson brings them together effortlessly." The New York Times called the book "gripping" and "a riveting introduction to the [Apollo 8] flight" in which "Kurson details the mission in crisp, suspenseful scenes." Writing for The Washington Post, Mary Roach compared the book to Alfred Lansing's 1959 book Endurance and Jon Krakauer's 1997 Into Thin Air, and called Kurson's writing style "as close to a movie as writing gets."
The film rights to Rocket Men were secured by Makeready prior to the book's publication.
References
External links
Discussion on Rocket Men with Kurson and astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, April 5, 2018, C-SPAN
Q&A interview with Kurson on Rocket Men, May 6, 2018, C-SPAN
Presentation by Kurson on Rocket Men, June 10, 2018, C-SPAN
Washington Journal interview with Kurson on Rocket Men, December 16, 2018, C-SPAN
Astronomy books
Cosmology books
2018 non-fiction books
Popular science books
Random House books
Books about the history of science
History books about the United States
Spaceflight books
Books about the Apollo program
Apollo 8
William Anders
Frank Borman
Jim Lovell
Scribe (publisher) books | Rocket Men (book) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 618 | [
"Astronomy books",
"Works about astronomy"
] |
57,871,882 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mireia%20Boya%20Busquet | Mireia Boya Busquet (born 1979) is a Catalan scientist, activist, and politician from Spain. She is a councilor of the Aran municipality of Les. Since February 2018 she has been part of the national secretariat of the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP). She was a member of the Catalan Parliament from 2016 to 2017.
Biography
The daughter of Ernesto Boya and the politician Maria Pilar Busquets, she has a degree in Environmental Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2002), a master's degree in Landscape Design (2004), and a PhD in Land Management and Planning (2009) from the Université de Montréal. In the professional field, she is a consultant and adjunct lecturer
("asociada") of the Humanities Department of Pompeu Fabra University.
Mireia Boya Busquet has been a fighter for the recognition of Occitan identity of the Valley of Aran, and was the first member of the Catalan Parliament to use the Aranese dialect in the Parliament of Catalonia. Her brother, , has been general director of Archives, Libraries, Museum, and Heritage of the Generalitat beginning in January 2016, an office that he was dismissed from after the 2017 suspension of Catalonian self-government.
Political career
Boya is a founder and former coordinator of the Assemblea Nacional Catalana in Val d'Aran and councilor in the city of Les for the Corròp party, framed in Occitan nationalism. In the 2015 elections to the Parliament of Catalonia, she was a candidate of the CUP for the district of Lleida, after a vote in primaries. Boya, who was second in the list in her constituency, was not elected, but on 18 December 2015, during the tense negotiations between the CUP and the pro-independence coalition Junts pel Sí, the CUP's number one, Ramon Usall, resigned for personal reasons. In this way, Boya occupied the post of regional parliamentarian. She participated in the plenary sessions of the Parliament that voted for the roadmap to independence for Catalonia, and voted the Unilateral declaration of Independence of Catalonia.
In the elections of 21 December 2017, of the 5,265 votes cast in Val d'Aran, the CUP received 174 – 3.3% of the total.
In February 2018, she was elected a member of the CUP National Secretariat as an independent candidate with 662 votes.
Occitan nationalism
A defender of the Occitan nation, Boya upholds a "project of a country with two languages of its own", a country that looks "to the north, to Occitania".
Judicial case
On 22 December 2017, Judge Pablo Llarena of the Supreme Court of Spain agreed on the inquiry (previously charged) for rebellion against Mireia Boya (president of the CUP's parliamentary group), Artur Mas (president of the PDeCat), Marta Rovira (secretary general of the ERC), Anna Gabriel (spokesperson of the CUP), Marta Pascal (general coordinator of the CUP), and (president of the AMI), all for belonging to the organizing team of the Catalan independence referendum held on 1 October 2017 and with a decisive role in the secessionist plan, whose roadmap was annulled by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Boya was declared as investigated on 14 February 2018, being released without precautionary measures.
References
External links
1979 births
Aranese people
Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni
Environmental scientists
Living people
Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia
21st-century Spanish women politicians
Occitan-speaking people
People from Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne
Academic staff of Pompeu Fabra University
Popular Unity Candidacy politicians
Université de Montréal alumni
Women members of the Parliament of Catalonia | Mireia Boya Busquet | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 773 | [
"Environmental scientists"
] |
57,872,840 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent%20toilet | An intelligent toilet or smart toilet (sometimes referred to as a modern day bidet) is a bathroom plumbing fixture or type of electronic bidet toilet which incorporates traditional bidet cleansing (for genital, buttocks and anal hygiene), with the added enhancement of modern SMART home technology.
Modern intelligent toilets incorporate electronic bidet cleansing functions into a ceramic toilet bowl for a low-profile and modern aesthetic. Intelligent toilet bidet functions are managed through voice command, mobile app or remote control navigation, depending on the toilet's manufacturer, make and model.
Lower-cost options include a detachable toilet seat referred to as an "electronic bidet ("e-bidet")" seat, which are becoming increasingly popular as well.
Features
Electronic bidet shower for front and rear cleansing
Seat-warming
Adjustable water temperature
Deodorizer
Air dryer
Many models offer water-conservative 1.0–1.28 gallons per flush
Illuminating nightlight
Hygienic applications
Intelligent toilets and electronic bidets alleviate numerous health concerns, especially for users with sensitive or damaged skin. By eliminating fecal bacteria left behind by toilet paper, intelligent toilets also dramatically increase a user's hygiene by preventing the spread of bacteria to each user's hands. Intelligent toilets can aid:
Skin rashes
Hemorrhoid discomfort
Physical limitations (that may make traditional toilet paper wiping difficult)
Post-childbirth perineum cleansing and soothing
Environmental applications
Intelligent toilets can be environmentally beneficial as they reduce a user's need for toilet paper, saving households money on paper products and allowing users to reduce their paper consumption over time.
Modern high-efficiency intelligent toilets also use 1.0–1.28 gallons of water per flush, reducing water consumption and waste as well.
History
In the 1700s, Bidets introduced throughout numerous European countries as a standard for hygiene and in some countries, contraceptive measures.
Electronic bidets are introduced around the world in the 1980s with popularity slowly growing in Japan, Europe and North America.
By the 2000s, numerous vendors including AXENT Switzerland, American Standard, TOTO, Duravit, and Kohler introduce one-piece, design-conscious electronic bidets. As more suppliers enter the market, electronic bidet toilets become more uniquely-designed while manufacturers begin testing the incorporation of more advanced toilet functions and tools.
In the 2010s smart home technology and home automation gains momentum as homeowners begin incorporating digital lighting, climate, entertainment, appliance and home-monitoring systems into their homes. AXENT Switzerland debuts the user-monitoring and automated intelligent XT-SPA and AXENT.ONE Plus intelligent toilet at the Guangzhou Design Week in November 2017. Kohler promotes the Kohler Konnect concept suite and Veil intelligent toilet at CES in January 2018.
In popular culture
Intelligent toilets have been featured in the comedy Why Him? starring James Franco and Bryan Cranston.
In a 2020 interview, American actor Dennis Quaid also announced that he bought a smart toilet, after being inspired from a stay at Las Vegas hotel. He also discussed his usage of a multiple wireless utilities.
See also
Bidet
Electronic bidet
History of toilets
Toilets in Japan
References
Toilets
Toilet types
Bathroom equipment
Sewerage
Smart devices
Toiletry | Intelligent toilet | [
"Chemistry",
"Technology",
"Engineering",
"Biology",
"Environmental_science"
] | 647 | [
"Home automation",
"Excretion",
"Water pollution",
"Sewerage",
"Environmental engineering",
"Smart devices",
"Toilets"
] |
65,941,618 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space%20habitat%20%28facility%29 | A space habitat (or habitation module) in a basic sense is any facility providing shelter and fulfilling habitational purposes in outer space. It is not to be confused with an extended space settlement, an arrangement of or infrastructure for multiple habitation facilities, in the sense of a space settlement. Space stations or theoretical extraterrestrial stations, such as a moonbase or Mars habitat, include or are basic space habitats.
The ISS was planned to get a now canceled dedicated Habitation Module.
Space tourism is driving the development of dedicated habitats in space. Axiom Station will be a commercial space station with dedicated habitat modules for the purpose of tourism and commercial research.
In particular, inflatable space habitats have been in development for decades. Based on the earlier NASA TransHab design, inflatable habitats have been developed and tested in orbit by the now inactive company Bigelow Aerospace.
Definition
The International Astronautical Federation has differentiated space habitats to space settlements and space infrastructure the following way:
Extraterrestrial surface habitat
The only extraterrestrial surface habitats that sofar have been erected were the temporary Apollo Lunar Modules, such as Eagle of Tranquility Base, the very first.
See also
Bioastronautics
Controlled ecological life-support system
Closed ecological system
Earth systems engineering and management
Human analog missions
Human presence in space
Life support system
List of Mars analogs
Mars analog habitat
Mars habitability analogue environments on Earth
Planetary surface construction
Space architecture
Space infrastructure
Terrestrial analogue sites
Underground construction
Underwater habitat
References
Space technology | Space habitat (facility) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 302 | [
"Outer space stubs",
"Space technology",
"Outer space",
"Astronomy stubs"
] |
65,944,495 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%2C5-Dichloro-1%2C2%2C3-dithiazolium%20chloride | 4,5-Dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium chloride (Appel's salt) is an organosulfur compound. It is the chloride salt of the 4,5-dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium cation. It is a green solid that is poorly soluble in organic solvents.
Synthesis
The compound is obtained by the reaction of acetonitrile with sulfur monochloride. The initial phases of this reaction entail chlorination of the acetonitrile. The resulting dichloroacetonitrile undergoes cycloaddition with sulfur monochloride:
The cation is highly electrophilic. It hydrolyzes readily. Protic nucleophiles displace one chloride:
The compound was discovered by Appel et al.
References
Sulfur heterocycles
Nitrogen heterocycles
Heterocyclic compounds with 1 ring
Chlorides
Organochlorides
Sulfur–nitrogen compounds | 4,5-Dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium chloride | [
"Chemistry"
] | 214 | [
"Chlorides",
"Inorganic compounds",
"Salts"
] |
65,947,405 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroacetonitrile | Chloroacetonitrile is the organic compound with the formula ClCH2CN. A colorless liquid, it is derived from acetonitrile (CH3CN) by replacement of one H with Cl. In practice, it is produced by dehydration of chloroacetamide. The compound is an alkylating agent, and as such is handled cautiously.
Chloroacetonitrile is also generated in situ by the reaction of acetonitrile with sulfur monochloride. A second chlorination gives dichloroacetonitrile, which undergoes cycloaddition with sulfur monochloride to give 4,5-dichloro-1,2,3-dithiazolium chloride:
Cl2CHCN + S2Cl2 → [S2NC2Cl2]Cl + HCl
See also
halogenation
References
Nitriles | Chloroacetonitrile | [
"Chemistry"
] | 200 | [
"Nitriles",
"Functional groups"
] |
65,947,489 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD%2044120 | HD 44120 is a wide binary star system in the southern constellation of Pictor. Although visible to the naked eye, it is a challenge to view having an apparent visual magnitude of 6.44. The system is located at a distance of 118 light years from the Sun based on parallax, but it is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −2 km/s. It has an absolute magnitude of 3.57.
The primary member, designated component A of this system, is an F-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of F9.5V. It is a Sun-like star and has been considered a "hot" solar analog with a shallower convection zone than the Sun. The estimated age of this star is about four billion years, and it is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 3.4 km/s. It is chromospherically inactive. The star has 1.2 times the mass of the Sun and 1.6 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating nearly three times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 6,005 K.
The faint secondary companion, component C, is a magnitude 14.03 white dwarf star with a class of DB3.2, indicating a helium-rich atmosphere. The object has an effective temperature of ~15,700 K with 67% of the Sun's mass but only 1.3% of the Sun's radius. It has taken Myr for the white dwarf to have cooled to the current temperature. Prior to leaving the main sequence, this star is estimated to have had and thus was the system primary. It has an angular separation of along a position angle of 301.6° from the current primary. The projected separation of this co-moving pair is . Their estimated orbit has a semimajor axis of and an orbital period of 51,100 years.
A magnitude 7.61 visual companion, HD 44105, or component B, lies at an angular separation of along a position angle of 234° from component A, as of 2015. It was discovered as a double star by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop and announced in 1829. The parallax for this star indicates a distance of approximately from the Sun.
References
F-type main-sequence stars
White dwarfs
Binary stars
Pictor
BD-59 1275
044120
9209
029788
2274 | HD 44120 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 498 | [
"Pictor",
"Constellations"
] |
65,948,039 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen%20Petousis-Harris | Helen Aspasia Petousis-Harris is a New Zealand vaccinologist and associate professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland. She has been involved in research related to vaccination in New Zealand since 1998, with her main areas of focus being vaccine safety and effectiveness. Petousis-Harris has had a variety of lead roles in New Zealand and international organisations that focus on vaccination and is a regular media spokesperson in this field, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Career
From 1999 to 2002 Petousis-Harris was a researcher at the University of Auckland, working with the Immunisation Advisory Centre, a New Zealand-wide organisation based at the University. She continued in various roles at the centre, including Honorary Assistant Research Fellow and Director of Research from 1998. Between 2008 and 2011, she worked on her doctorate and wrote a thesis titled Factors associated with vaccine reactogenicity in school aged children and young adults following administration of two protein-based vaccines. Petousis-Harris was a Senior Lecturer at the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland from 2012 until February 2020 when she attained the position of associate professor.
In 2013 The Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC) set up the Vaccine Safety Expert Advisory Group, composed of "clinicians, scientists and policymakers who [had] either expertise and/or a professional interest in the safety of vaccines used in New Zealand" and Petousis-Harris has been a member of the Group since it began.
Petousis-Harris became Group Director in 2018 of the Vaccine Datalink and Research Group which is based at Auckland University and has a primary goal of "investigating the risks and benefits of vaccines using pharmacoepidemiologic approaches...[and]...vaccine development, vaccine immunology, and vaccine risk communication". Working with Steven Black, a "specialist in paediatric infectious diseases and vaccinology who had led major projects for the American Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and for the World Health Organization", Petousis-Harris established the internationally networked Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) in 2019. As of 2023 she remains Co-Director of GVDN a role held since the beginning of the project.
Petousis-Harris was a member of the World Health Organization Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety in 2017, being Chair 2018–2020. and is a former member of the International Brighton Collaboration Science Board.
As from 2020, Petousis-Harris has been a member of the COVID-19 Immunisation Implementation Advisory Group (IIAG) which provides advice for the New Zealand Ministry of Health to implement the COVID-19 immunisation campaign, and part of the COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG).
Areas of expertise
Pneumococcal vaccines
A paper by Petousis-Harris in 2013 traced the history of the development of capsular polysaccharide vaccines against S. pneumoniae and noted the importance of this programme in reducing community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), bacterial meningitis, bacteremia and otitis media (OM), commonly known as middle ear infection. The same paper signalled concerns about ethnic inequalities in New Zealand with regard to hospital admissions due to this, and Petousis-Harris cited research that showed: an increase in acute hospital admissions for infectious diseases in general between 1989 and 2008 and most significantly for LRI. Hospitalisation for pneumonia and influenza almost doubled during this time period and age-standardised hospitalisations for Māori and Pacific increased progressively throughout the 1990s Petousis-Harris concluded that while vaccination was important for Maori and Pacific Island children, these inequalities may also result from factors such as overcrowding, poor housing and access to primary health care.
In 2015, research by Petousis-Harris and Colin Barber presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, showed preliminary figures that the rates of hospitalisation from invasive pneumococcal disease in children aged six years and under, had halved, with a 70% reduction for Maori and Pacific children. Prior to the conference, Petousis-Harris had drawn attention to the risks of children suffering permanent hearing loss if ear infections were not dealt with promptly by vaccination. In particular, along with her colleague, Colin Barber, she noted that compared to Pakeha children, almost twice as many Maori and Pacific Island children were at risk, with one-in-ten failing hearing tests when they started school. The study showed that vaccination helped reduce middle ear infections, and urged parents to monitor their children closely. Petousis-Harris earlier said the study demonstrated that the vaccine Synflorix reduced pneumonia, middle ear infections and hospitalisation from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD).
Pertussis vaccination
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly infectious airborne respiratory disease that often shows as uncontrollable coughing causing breathing difficulties and can result in death, with infants and young children being particularly vulnerable. Because pertussis is known to be caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, vaccination is effective. A paper co-authored in 2019 by Petousis-Harris, however, claimed: that in spite of vaccination having reduced mortality rates...an estimated 16 million pertussis cases and 195,000 child deaths [occurred globally] every year, with the greatest burden in low and middle-income countries. Furthermore, many high-income countries with high and stable vaccination rates, such as New Zealand, Australia and the United States, [had] an increasing pertussis burden and regular epidemics [were] not being preventedThe aim of this study was to investigate what could risk the effectiveness of pertussis vaccination, particularly for "infants between birth and six weeks of age born to mothers who received pertussis booster vaccinations during pregnancy and infants after the completion of the primary series (approximately five months old) to four years old". The authors were wanting to address gaps in knowledge due to the paucity of pertussis vaccination failure research by identifying who was most at risk of failure within the New Zealand primary immunisation schedule, and how common this failure was.
In 2016 Petousis-Harris and a team of researchers evaluated whether the switch from whole cell to acellular pertussis vaccine had contributed to the resurgence of pertussis disease in many countries which had made that change in the administration of the vaccine. The study assessed the duration of protection on 520,183 children using Infanrix, reporting on hospitalisation separately from notifications. The study found "a high level of protection with no reduction in VE (vaccine effectiveness) following both the primary course and the first booster dose. ...[and]...these findings [supported] a 3-dose primary course of acellular vaccine with no booster dose until 4 years of age".
Petousis-Harris took part in a cohort study in 2018 that explored safety outcomes in pregnant women in New Zealand who had received pertussis immunisation using Tdap vaccine. After conducting a retrospective observational study of women who received the vaccine during pregnancy, the authors concluded that there were no detectable adverse outcomes and were confident the study showed that Tdap could be administered safely to pregnant women. This was confirmed in another study on 793 women that concluded: "Vaccination with Tdap in pregnant women was well tolerated with no SAE likely to be caused by the vaccine." The impact on infants of Tdap vaccine in utero was evaluated in a 2019 study in which Petousis-Harris participated and the findings [supported] "the safety of administration of pertussis immunisation during pregnancy". Further research that monitored infants exposed to Tdap during pregnancy found data-based evidence that using Tdap at this time was effective in reducing pertussis in young children.
By March 2023 New Zealand faced a possible whooping cough epidemic. Petousis-Harris and Hannah Chisholm, an epidemiologist from Auckland University, explained how the usual cycles of herd immunity had been disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions, and with declining immunisation coverage, whooping cough along with measles, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza was likely to increase. Of particular concern was the effect on infants and young children, of whom around one third in New Zealand were said to be unvaccinated, and for Māori infants there was an even greater decline in coverage. The writers contended that infant fatalities could be prevented by high rates of vaccination by pregnant women and infants. It was also noted that other social and environmental factors that contributed to the spread of infectious such as housing conditions, needed to be dealt with by interventions and policies but this was a challenge because of an "under-resourced workforce, and a revised health system that [had] yet to demonstrate its worth".
Group B meningococcal vaccines
In 1991, New Zealand began experiencing an epidemic of meningococcal disease and to control this a strain-specific vaccine (MeNZB) was developed, which in July 2004, resulted in a mass vaccination of people under 20 years of age. The mass campaign per se ended in 2006 but continued as a publicly-funded vaccine for infants up to 10 months. When it was decided to discontinue the vaccination in April 2008, Petousis-Harris co-authored a paper that aimed to "provide a background to this decision and explore the advantages, disadvantages and other considerations with regard to ceasing MeNZB vaccination". The article noted that the vaccine's excellent safety profile was reflected in the fact that it had protected up to 80% of New Zealanders under 20 years of age, and there appeared to be little benefit in continuing the programme. Concern was expressed, however, that in spite of the programme, meningococcal B disease in New Zealand was still above the levels from before the epidemic and it was important to acknowledge that the country had a "poor immunisation uptake compared to other nations...[and]...change could have to be made to the immunisation schedule". It was suggested that these changes would need to address the low rate of immunisation of Maori. Petousis-Harris was involved in a research project in 2009 that tracked how the MeNZB campaign had been reflected in media headlines. The data showed that "26 out of 51 headlines [were] inaccurate when compared with the article content (51%), with a further 6 being misleading (total of 61%)...[leading to a conclusion that]... to maintain public confidence, health planners constantly need to develop and review their health promotion messages and relationships with the media".
Responding to a news item on 23 April 2020 that suggested people in New Zealand aged 13 to 29 were highly at risk and needed to be vaccinated against meningococcal disease again, Petousis-Harris explained that these were the people who were under 5 years of age during the last epidemic, and agreed they needed another vaccination. She further noted that because of its flu-like symptoms it could be difficult to diagnose and progress quickly in "young adults living in crowded conditions and those with underlying health conditions...". Newshub, reporting on the same research cited in the article, claimed that there had been an 82% increase in the number of New Zealand infants contracting meningococcal disease in comparison to 2019. In response, Petousis-Harris stressed the importance of people being aware of when they were last vaccinated because protection was from 5 – 10 years, meaning young people and adolescents could be at risk.
In 2017, Petousis-Harris was the lead author for seminal research that provided evidence of a link between the meningococcal vaccine and a cure for gonorrhoea. Introducing the study, that authors noted that previously there had been no effective vaccine developed for gonorrhoea, but some surveillance data suggested that the outer membrane vesicle meningococcal group B (MeNZB) vaccines affected the incidence of gonorrhoea. Their research, therefore, was a retrospective case-control study of New Zealand patients at sexual health clinics aged 15–30 years who were diagnosed with gonorrhoea or chlamydia, or both and were born between 1 January 1984, and 31 December 1998 – making them eligible to receive MeNZB during the earlier pandemic. Altogether there were 14730 cases and controls analysed and the data showed "vaccinated individuals were significantly less likely to be cases than controls (511 [41%] vs 6424 [51%]". Interpreting the data, the authors concluded:Exposure to MeNZB was associated with reduced rates of gonorrhoea diagnosis, the first time a vaccine has shown any protection against gonorrhoea. These results [provided} a proof of principle that can inform prospective vaccine development not only for gonorrhoea but also for meningococcal vaccines. The research was generally received positively internationally, and responding to one article, Petousis-Harris stated: "This is the first time a vaccine has shown any protection against gonorrhoea,...[and]...the potential ability of a vaccine to provide even moderate protection against gonorrhoea is of substantial public health interest." Two researchers from the University of Manitoba did disagree with the authors' conclusion that their "findings [provided] experimental evidence that these vaccines could offer moderate cross-protection against [gonorrhoea]". The research team responded, agreeing with some of the points raised about randomised controlled trials, but clarified that "their study [was] on vaccine effectiveness...normally assessed using observational methods such as case-control and cohort designs".
Petousis-Harris agreed with a New Zealand news item which said this "exciting" Kiwi research showed a vaccine for gonorrhoea was close for the first time, and she also noted that even though the exact details of how the mechanism of vaccine worked, the findings would inform future development of both meningococcal and gonorrhoea vaccines. She told Susan Scutti, in an interview on CNN, that "even moderate protection against the sexually transmitted disease could have significant impact because the bacteria that cause it are very tricky...[and]...develop resistance to drugs by transferring genes in atypical ways and recombining with related bacterial species".
Public policy positions
Immunization coverage
Early in her career, Petousis-Harris held concerns about the quality of immunization coverage in New Zealand and was involved in research programmes to identify primary care factors that impacted this. In 2002, she collaborated on a scientific paper that considered the degree to which parents' knowledge of and attitudes toward immunization affected decisions to have their children vaccinated. While parents in the study shared a desire to keep their children healthy, some themes were identified as barriers to immunization. These included a fear of vaccines, a lack of knowledge of immunisation, negativity toward health providers and difficulties in getting immunization. There was also a word of caution about whether whanau Maori were involved in decisions that would link to the family group in a way that was non-blaming. The paper cited surveys from Area Health Boards in New Zealand in the 1990s that found in general, 68–80% of caregivers felt they did not have enough information about vaccination, and between 2–8% did not feel immunization was important. By 1996, this figure was 3.7–10%.
In 1998, as part of a wider strategy to increase immunisation rates, the New Zealand Ministry of Health funded a national toll-free hotline, hosted at the University of Auckland. Petousis-Harris was part of a team that analysed data collected on this line with a goal to compare the caller profiles and the nature of their inquiries over equal periods between 1999 and 2003. The research paper, co-authored by Petousis-Harris and released in 2005, showed changes in caller profiles, including use of the line by a higher number of health professionals, many of whom referred patients directly to the service, or were informed enough to respond to parental questions. The researchers concluded that callers from the general population, who wanted information or had concerns as a result of exposure to material "from people with extreme anti-immunisation views", could have their doubts and fears allayed, with the hotline being able to "monitor community concerns...[and support]...communication strategies to respond in a more effective and targeted fashion".
Petousis-Harris was involved in a national telephone survey in 2000 which showed 12% of the mothers involved were not convinced that vaccination prevented disease, and was on another team which included Nikki Turner, that carried out the first national survey on New Zealand family physicians to find their views on patient barriers to immunization. Supporting the findings from the earlier study, the largest barrier identified by the physicians for parents was fear, often due to lack of information or misinformation about vaccines, but they did not feel that difficulties accessing services was a major barrier for parents. The second largest barrier was the lack of funding for health providers. The survey concluded:There are key issues from these findings to be considered in strategies to improve coverage levels in NZ. Firstly the need for an increased focus on family physician education needs to broaden their knowledge base, particularly in the area of contraindications to vaccination. Secondly, extra resources and strategies to assist with more effective communication and positive support for parents are required. Thirdly a review of the present funding of providers for immunisation services which is seen as a significant barrier to efforts to increase coverage Petousis-Harris was involved in conducting research in 2010 that further explored this by focussing on how "structural and organisational characteristics of general practices" may impact immunization coverage and timely delivery. The data showed that systems which enabled children to register at a young age and where there were adequate staff, resulted in improved coverage and the timeliness of delivery. It noted that socioeconomic deprivation in the practice population was a determinant in the effectiveness of immunization delivery and children living in households with poverty-related issues suffered more frequently from acute illness. Research in 2012 in Auckland, concluded that if infants had nominated general practices, the rate of first immunizations at the right time was extremely high, but noted that this dropped off for babies with no nominated provider and it was important for the local district health boards to follow up on this. Practice nurses in New Zealand were also surveyed and the data showed that they identified similar barriers to immunisation as the studies conducted with New Zealand mothers and physicians, although some of the nurses themselves showed a lack of knowledge about the safety of vaccines. which, in line with overseas research cited in the survey discussion, supported the need for ongoing vaccinator training for practitioners. The role of New Zealand media (magazines and newspapers) in affecting immunisation uptake was researched by Petousis-Harris and others in 2007 and the findings generally showed a trend to less alarmist and anti-immunization written reports and acknowledged the role of the Immunization Advisory Centre and the New Zealand Ministry of Health in providing media-trained people who can talk on immunization issues.
COVID-19 pandemic
Early in 2020, when most of the cases of COVID-19 were still in China, and before it was declared a pandemic by The World Health Association on 11 March, Petousis-Harris published an opinion piece on the University of Auckland website which explained the background of the virus and indicated that the swift response of international authorities was a good sign a vaccine would be developed quickly. She urged people to not be influenced by misinformation, get scientific information and avoid panicking. Interviewed on New Zealand television (5 March 2020), Petousis-Harris clarified that the virus was most likely spread by respiratory secretions such as saliva and mucus and people needed to be careful to wash their hands regularly, particularly at airports.
As New Zealand prepared to come out of a month-long lockdown on 24 April 2020, Petousis-Harris answered questions about COVID-19 from the New Zealand public live on a stuff Q&A session. Issues covered included the length of time to develop a vaccine, how safe it was likely to be and whether it would be mandatory in New Zealand. Also on 24 April 2020, she agreed with the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, that New Zealand could eliminate COVID-19 because the country had shown "decisive action, with strong leadership and very clear communications to everybody". By May 2020, Petousis-Harris was giving information on the systems and organisations that would advise, measure, monitor and assess vaccine safety, and was confident that with good tools, the process had begun and no steps were being omitted, in spite of the risks. In an interview with Radio New Zealand on 19 May 2020, Petousis-Harris explained how vaccines work and although the development of an effective one was lengthy and expensive, estimated that there could be one for COVID-19 by the end of 2020. On 10 September 2020, when one of the companies developing a COVID-19 virus put a hold on its trials due to a participant experiencing a serious health event, Petousis-Harris clarified that this was no cause for concern as it was about ensuring levels of "rigour and standards...[that are]...applied to all vaccines – at least those receiving support from CEPI, or the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation".
On 11 September 2020 an item on Newshub focused on an international study which was carried out in 2019 before COVID-19 that had shown only 40.1% of the New Zealanders surveyed strongly agreed vaccines are safe. Petousis-Harris agreed this was part of a global perception [and] "New Zealand [was] no exception to changes in public attitudes around vaccination and it [was] not always good news". In response to this, in September 2020, Petousis-Harris published an article assessing the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. She noted the speed at which they were being developed required vigilance in monitoring of the safety of a vaccine before deployment, and required unprecedented international collaboration. The article backgrounded the traditional process of developing vaccines which had previously taken 10–15 years but noted it was looking possible that, due to developments in technology, the response to this virus would result in a safe vaccine in a shorter timeframe. After covering the phases of the clinical trials, the roles of agencies such as the World Health Organisation Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety in monitoring this process was explained, and while it was acknowledged that the world did have the tools to effectively monitor the safety of vaccines, the article concluded: As we well know from extensive experience, vaccine safety issues can threaten not only the success of any COVID-19 vaccine programme but also routine immunisation programmes. It is vital we get this right and we have the tools and the expertise to do so and to do it well. Promising news of a vaccine that showed 90% success rate was acknowledged by Petousis-Harris as a positive step and even though testing was still in its early stages, and how long the effects of the vaccine last was not confirmed, she said it was a "huge step in the fight to eliminate the virus and a good sign for New Zealand".
Petousis-Harris addressed concerns in the media on 17 November 2020 that more prosperous countries may pre-purchase a vaccine at the expense of less wealthy countries with higher death rates and said:Speaking from an epidemiological point of view, you tend to see higher effectiveness where there's more disease pressure. It's important to ensure there is access for all countries, including those who can't afford it. Petousis-Harris responded enthusiastically to the news on 17 November 2020 that New Zealand had signed agreements to obtain the vaccine developed by Pfizer and was considering a deal with Moderna. She was confident that following a review of the vaccines by the Government's Vaccine Strategy Taskforce, and approval by Medsafe, there would be enough purchased for everybody in the country, with prioritised distribution beginning early in 2021. She said there was no evidence that profit was a driving force, and while companies did need to cover their costs, some were not focused on profits for a period of time. The following day, Petousis-Harris said she was surprised at a suggestion that New Zealanders could have to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine saying, "we've never charged for a vaccine under these circumstances. Everything I've heard is that it would be available for free".
When it looked likely that the Pfizer BioNtech and Janssen Biotech vaccines for COVID-19 would be rolled out in New Zealand in early December 2020, Petousis-Harris was one of a group of experts who discussed some of the risks associated with this. She said it was reasonable to be concerned about the rollout of the vaccine but planning at high levels was underway to ensure that problems with recent rollouts of the measles and influenza vaccines would be avoided. While she noted some of the potential issues when vaccinating older people in New Zealand, Petousis-Harris was confident the vaccine had been thoroughly tested, it would not be mandatory in that country and was safe.
During the rollout of the COVID vaccine in New Zealand in 2021, when the group Voices for Freedom, co-founded by Claire Deeks, distributed pamphlets that contained misinformation about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Petousis-Harris joined other health professionals and scientists in debunking all of the claims in the documents. In an opinion piece about one of the flyers, Petousis-Harris said she was "addressing a list of falsehoods being posted widely across Aotearoa New Zealand...[and]...claims that suggest there are an alarming rate of deaths and serious injury caused by the vaccines are deeply misguided and rely on the intentional abuse of data from spontaneous vaccine safety surveillance systems". When providing expert advice for the preparation of an article in the Western Leader, Petousis-Harris stated that the trials for COVID vaccines had been "more stringent and transparent because the world [was] watching".
In November 2021, Petousis-Harris provided input and independent commentary, along Amy Chan, for an article that "summarised evidence-based strategies for countering vaccine hesitancy and misinformation...[and suggested]... techniques to support healthcare providers when engaging with individuals whose vaccine hesitancy [had] resulted from exposure to vaccine misinformation".
Following the death of a Dunedin man in November 2021, from what was reported in the New Zealand media at the time as "likely due to vaccine-related myocarditis", Petousis-Harris in the same article, said [that] "although vaccine-related myocarditis did happen, it was very rare and the risks of the vaccine were greatly outweighed by the risk of contracting Covid-19".
In a ruling on 15 February 2022, with regard to mandated vaccinations for members of the police and defence forces, a New Zealand High Court judge stated [he was] "not satisfied that the Crown [had] put forward sufficient evidence to justify the measures that have been imposed, even giving it some benefit of the doubt". Petousis-Harris expressed disappointment with the decision which she said undermined what were temporary mandates there in the interest of community safety.
While experts generally welcomed the decision of the New Zealand government to offer second COVID-19 booster shots to vulnerable people in the community in July 2022, concerns were expressed about the low rate of uptake of the first booster in the country. Petousis-Harris said it was possible a lot of people didn't realise the effectiveness of the booster and thought that being double-dosed meant being 'fully-vaccinated', while others may have felt the extra booster was not necessary once they have had the virus.
In November 2022, Petousis-Harris urged the Government to accelerate its COVID-19 booster rollout in response to rising cases, hospitalisation rates, and deaths during the third wave of COVID-19 cases that year. She also advocated introducing the Bivalent vaccine to combat new COVID-19 strains.
Awards
In 2018 Petousis-Harris was awarded a five-year Dean's Fellowship by the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, to research infectious diseases and the vaccines that help prevent them. In receiving the award, Petousis-Harris shared:I have developed a passion for the science of vaccines and vaccination. After early work on the social aspects of vaccination I learned that two of the key challenges to good immunisation policy and high public confidence in vaccine programmes centred on the perceived effectiveness and safety of vaccines, coupled with the art of communication.
Petousis-Harris was a semi-finalist in the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, 2020. This award honours a person who contributes to the wellbeing of New Zealand through "their inspiration and leadership", and she was recognised for more than 20 years of research related to immunisation.
In 2021 Petousis-Harris was shortlisted for the Nature Research Award for Driving Global Impact as an acknowledgement of her work on vaccine safety and effectiveness.
References
External links
Global Vaccine Data Network
Debunking misinformation around vaccinations
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Vaccinologists
New Zealand scientists
University of Auckland alumni
Academic staff of the University of Auckland
World Health Organization officials | Helen Petousis-Harris | [
"Biology"
] | 6,240 | [
"Vaccination",
"Vaccinologists"
] |
65,950,478 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grail%20%28company%29 | GRAIL, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Menlo Park, California. It was previously a subsidiary of Illumina started as a startup seeking to develop an early cancer screening test for people who do not have symptoms.
Grail was spun-out from Illumina on June 24, 2024.
Their liquid biopsy (also called multi-cancer early detection test) was launched in June 2021 and is called the Galleri test. Promoted as groundbreaking, the test performed poorly in testing and Grail has subsequently faced discontent and legal action from investors claiming they have been misled about the test's potential.
Activities
Illumina's own research showed that repeatedly sequencing DNA in the bloodstream made it possible to detect floating bits of DNA from cancer cells more accurately. It initially aimed to recruit greater than 100,000 people into its clinical trials in order to accumulate the sizeable data required to detect and interpret cancer biomarkers.
Galleri test
Grail calls its liquid biopsy for early cancer the Galleri test or the Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test, one of three multi-cancer screening tests which was under investigation as of November 2020.
Despite Grail promoting the test as a "groundbreaking and potentially life-saving advance", the results of early trials were poor. A subsequent large-scale NHS England trial has been described by experts as overhyped and unethical. Grail is facing discontent and legal action from investors who suspect that its cancer testing claims misled them.
History
Grail began as a San Francisco biotechnology and pharmaceutical startup company in 2015, the parent company being Illumina of San Diego, which produces most of the DNA sequencing machines that scientists use to study human biology and diagnose rare genetic diseases. Richard Klausner, then chief medical officer at Illumina and former director of the National Cancer Institute, advocated for the new business. According to the San Francisco Business Times, he correctly predicted how DNA sequencing technology would make it possible to detect evidence of a tumor from a blood sample. He also joined Grail's board of directors. According to Forbes in 2017, 20% of Grail's profits are kept by Illumina.
In September 2020, Illumina announced an agreement to purchase Grail outright for $7.1 billion.
On November 27, 2020, Grail announced a commercial partnership with the National Health Service (England) (NHS), to trial the Galleri test, reporting in 2026.
In March 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the vertical merger. In September 2022, an administrative judge ruled against the FTC's position on antitrust grounds.
In June 2023, Grail disclosed that letters were mailed to 408 patients incorrectly informing them that they may have cancer. The company blamed the incident on PWNHealth, saying that it was due to a software configuration issue, not due to incorrect Galleri test results.
In July 2023, it was reported that three separate lawsuits were filed against Grail by former female employees; the allegations included that Grail created a "frat house” culture and a “sexually charged, hostile work environment”.
In October 2023, the European Commission ordered Grail to be divested from Illumina within the next twelve months. The European Commission (EC) has since approved Illumina's divestment plan for separating from Grail. Illumina has set a goal of finalizing the divestment terms by the end of the second quarter of 2024. In April 2024, the EC approved Illumina's plan, allowing Illumina to explore either a trade sale or a capital markets transaction (spin-off) to divest Grail. In May 2024, Illumina publicly filed a Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. SEC, a necessary step for a potential capital markets separation of Grail. If a capital markets transaction occurs, Illumina must capitalize Grail with around $1 billion to fund 2.5 years of operations per the EC's divestment plan. The spinoff was completed in June 2024, with Grail trading on the Nasdaq with ticker symbol GRAL and Illumina retaining a 14.5% share of Grail.
References
External links
Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
2021 mergers and acquisitions
American corporate subsidiaries
Companies based in Menlo Park, California
Life sciences industry
Health care companies based in California
Medical genetics
Genomics companies
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Health care companies established in 2015
American companies established in 2015
2015 establishments in California
Biotechnology companies established in 2015
Corporate spin-offs
Companies listed on the Nasdaq | Grail (company) | [
"Biology"
] | 957 | [
"Life sciences industry"
] |
65,951,627 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien%20Worlds%20%28TV%20series%29 | Alien Worlds is a British sci-fi nature docufiction narrated by Sophie Okonedo. The 4-part miniseries, depicted by using CGI techniques, blends fact with science fiction and conceptualizes what alien life might be like by applying the laws of life on Earth to imagined exoplanets. The series was released on Netflix on 2 December 2020.
Episodes
Reception
The weekend after the series' release, it was one of Netflix's top 10 shows in the UK.
Sheena Scott of Forbes called the series "entertaining and very informative science fiction" and said that the most interesting part of the series was the non-fiction sections about planet Earth, which show "the breadth of knowledge scientists have accumulated about our planet". Likewise, Emma Stefansky of Thrillist said the alien creatures were fun, but "it's the Earth-bound science that ends up being the most interesting part".
See also
Alien Planet, a 2005 Discovery Channel TV film with a similar premise
Natural History of an Alien, a 1998 TV film, also by the Discovery Channel
Extraterrestrial (Alien Worlds in the UK) a 2005 National Geographic documentary series
References
External links
"Exploring 'Alien Worlds' on Netflix" from the SETI Institute
British English-language television shows
2020 British television series debuts
2020 British television series endings
Documentary films about nature
Netflix original documentary television series
2020s British documentary television series
Speculative evolution
Astrobiology
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Television series about extraterrestrial life
Television series set on fictional planets
News & Documentary Emmy Award–winning programs | Alien Worlds (TV series) | [
"Astronomy",
"Biology"
] | 316 | [
"Origin of life",
"Hypothetical life forms",
"Speculative evolution",
"Astrobiology",
"Biological hypotheses",
"Astronomical sub-disciplines"
] |
65,953,610 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western%20Polynesian%20tropical%20moist%20forests | The Western Polynesian tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in Polynesia. It includes Tuvalu, the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati, Tokelau, and Howland and Baker islands, which are possessions of the United States.
Geography
The islands are mostly atolls, low islands of coralline sand ringing a central lagoon, or raised platforms of coralline limestone. The ecoregion includes three archipelagos along with some scattered islands.
Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, includes nine atolls between 6º to 9º S latitude and 176º to 180º E longitude.
The Phoenix Islands include eight atolls between 2º to 5º S latitude and 171º to 175º W longitude. They are part of Kiribati, and mostly uninhabited.
Tokelau includes three inhabited atolls, Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo, and uninhabited Swain's Island, which is disputed with American Samoa. Tokelau lies between 8º to 12º S latitude and 170º to 173º W longitude.
Howland and Baker islands lie north of the Phoenix Islands.
Climate
The climate of the islands is tropical, with little seasonal variation in temperature.
Tuvalu and Tokelau are in the trade wind belt, and average annual rainfall ranges 1,500 to 3,500 mm, falling relatively consistently from month to month and year to year.
Most of the Phoenix Islands and Howland and Baker islands receive less than 1,000 mm of rain annually, with a March through June dry season. Rainfall on these islands is also more variable from year to year, with droughts during El Niño cycles.
Flora
Native vegetation on the wetter islands is principally tropical moist forest, with shrub and herbaceous plant communities in rocky areas and shoreline areas exposed to salt spray. Characteristic canopy trees include Pisonia grandis up to 25 meters high, Cordia subcordata, and Tournefortia argentea in single-species or mixed stands, with Calophyllum inophyllum, Pandanus tectorius, Hernandia nymphaeifolia, Ficus tinctoria, and Guettarda speciosa. Understory plants include the shrubs Suriana maritima and Pemphis acidula, the fern Asplenium nidus, and the vine Ipomoea tuba. Forests are interspersed with areas of Scaevola taccada and Morinda citrifolia scrub.
The drier islands are covered with low plants, including sparse grassland dominated by Lepturus repens, the creepers Portulaca spp., Sida fallax, and Sesuvium portulacastrum, the grass Eragrostis whitneyi, and occasionally the shrubs Cordia subcordata, Abutilon asiaticum, Suriana maritima, Pemphis acidula, and Tribulus cistoides.
The flora is mostly of widespread coastal Indo-Pacific species, with relatively few endemic species.
Fauna
The native vertebrates are mostly seabirds, who roost in large numbers on many of the islands. The only forest birds are the Pacific pigeon (Ducula pacifica), a year-round resident, and the migratory long-tailed cuckoo (Urodynamis taitensis), which winters in the tropical Pacific and breeds in New Zealand during the spring and summer. There are no native non-marine mammals or amphibians.
Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) and house cats have been introduced to several islands, and prey heavily on native birds. Banded rails (Hypotaenidia philippensis) from Fiji have recently colonized Niulakita in Tuvalu.
Protected areas
64.3% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include the Phoenix Islands Protected Area.
References
External links
Western Polynesian tropical moist forests (DOPA)
Western Polynesian tropical moist forests (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Ecoregions of Kiribati
Ecoregions of the United States
Biota of Tuvalu
Environment of Tuvalu
Geography of Tuvalu
Oceanian ecoregions
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Ecoregions of American Samoa | Western Polynesian tropical moist forests | [
"Biology"
] | 857 | [
"Biota by country",
"Biota of Tuvalu"
] |
56,129,398 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh%20Hydrocarbon%20Unit | The Bangladesh Hydrocarbon Unit is a government agency in the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources responsible for providing the government of Bangladesh technical recommendation on the extraction of hydrocarbon resources and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It carries out research on the gas and petroleum reserves of Bangladesh.
History
The Bangladesh Hydrocarbon Unit traces its origin to a project called Strengthening of the Hydrocarbon Unit in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in July 1999. The project was financed by the government of Norway. The unit signed an agreement with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for technical assistance. The project ended in December 2005. From April 2006 the government of Bangladesh started the second phrase of the project. The second phrase was financed by a Norwegian Government grant and it was administered by the Asian Development Bank. The government made the project a permanent bureau of the ministry on 28 May 2008. It was awarded by Asian Development Bank as one of the performing projects.
References
Government agencies of Bangladesh
1999 establishments in Bangladesh
Organisations based in Dhaka
Energy in Bangladesh
Energy organizations | Bangladesh Hydrocarbon Unit | [
"Engineering"
] | 210 | [
"Energy organizations"
] |
56,132,661 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinylferrocene | Vinylferrocene is the organometallic compound with the formula (C5H5)Fe(C5H4CH=CH2). It is a derivative of ferrocene, with a vinyl group attached to one cyclopentadienyl ligand. As the ferrocene analogue of styrene, it is the precursor to some polyferrocenes. It is an orange, air-stable oily solid that is soluble in nonpolar organic solvents.
Vinylferrocene can be prepared by the dehydration of α-hydroxylethylferrocene, which is obtained from acetylferrocene. It can also be made by a Wittig reaction of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde.
References
Ferrocenes
Cyclopentadienyl complexes
Vinyl compounds | Vinylferrocene | [
"Chemistry"
] | 173 | [
"Organometallic chemistry",
"Cyclopentadienyl complexes"
] |
56,133,478 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin%27s%20minimum%20energy%20theorem | In fluid mechanics, Kelvin's minimum energy theorem (named after William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin who published it in 1849) states that the steady irrotational motion of an incompressible fluid occupying a simply connected region has less kinetic energy than any other motion with the same normal component of velocity at the boundary (and, if the domain extends to infinity, with zero value values there).
Mathematical Proof
Let be the velocity field of an incompressible irrotational fluid and be that of any other incompressible fluid motion with same normal component velocity at the boundary of the domain, where is the unit vector of the bounding surface (and, if the domain extends to infinity, there). Then the difference between the kinetic energy is given by
can be rearranged to give
Since is irrotational and the domain is simply-connected, a single-valued velocity potential exists, i.e., . Using this, the second integral in the above equation can be written as
The second integral is identically zero for steady incompressible fluid, i.e., . Applying the Gauss theorem for the first integral we find
where the surface integral is zero since normal component of velocities are equal there. Thus, one concludes
or in other words, , where the equality holds only if , thereby proving the theorem.
References
Fluid dynamics | Kelvin's minimum energy theorem | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 282 | [
"Piping",
"Chemical engineering",
"Fluid dynamics"
] |
56,133,555 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGK%20Mobile | RGK Mobile is a global m-commerce service provider.
Company
RGK Mobile is a global provider of mobile carrier payment solutions, specializing in payment aggregation.
Services
Mobile Operator Solutions
Payment Aggregation
Virtual Mobile Content Provider
Pre-approved Offers
RGK Engine
Key people
Roman Taranov- Co-founder and CEO
Evgeny Kayumov- Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer
References
Information technology companies of Spain
Mobile payments
Payment systems
Mobile marketing | RGK Mobile | [
"Technology"
] | 89 | [
"Mobile content",
"Mobile marketing"
] |
56,133,693 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Methylhistidine | 3-Methylhistidine (3-MH) is a post-translationally modified amino acid which is excreted in human urine. Urinary concentration of 3-methylhistidine is a biomarker for skeletal muscle protein breakdown in humans who have been subject to muscle injury. Urinary 3-methylhistidine concentrations are also elevated from consumption of soy-based products and meat, particularly chicken.
Biochemistry
3-Methylhistidine is a metabolic product that is produced in the body via the enzymatic methylation of histidine during peptide bond synthesis and the methylation of actin and myosin.
Detection in body fluids
The normal concentration of 3-methylhistidine in the urine of healthy adult humans has been detected and quantified in a range of micromoles per millimole (μmol/mmol) of creatinine, with most studies reporting the average urinary concentration between 15–20 μmol/mmol of creatinine. The average concentration of 3-methylhistidine in human blood plasma has been detected and quantified at 2.85 micromolar (μM) with a range of μM. The average concentration of 3-methylhistidine in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been detected and quantified at 3.82 μM with a range of μM.
References
Imidazoles
Amino acid derivatives
Biomarkers | 3-Methylhistidine | [
"Biology"
] | 304 | [
"Biomarkers"
] |
56,133,906 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz%20minimum%20dissipation%20theorem | In fluid mechanics, Helmholtz minimum dissipation theorem (named after Hermann von Helmholtz who published it in 1868) states that the steady Stokes flow motion of an incompressible fluid has the smallest rate of dissipation than any other incompressible motion with the same velocity on the boundary. The theorem also has been studied by Diederik Korteweg in 1883 and by Lord Rayleigh in 1913.
This theorem is, in fact, true for any fluid motion where the nonlinear term of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations can be neglected or equivalently when , where is the vorticity vector. For example, the theorem also applies to unidirectional flows such as Couette flow and Hagen–Poiseuille flow, where nonlinear terms disappear automatically.
Mathematical proof
Let and be the velocity, pressure and strain rate tensor of the Stokes flow and and be the velocity, pressure and strain rate tensor of any other incompressible motion with on the boundary. Let and be the representation of velocity and strain tensor in index notation, where the index runs from one to three. Let be a bounded domain with boundary of class .
Consider the following integral,
where in the above integral, only symmetrical part of the deformation tensor remains, because the contraction of symmetrical and antisymmetrical tensor is identically zero. Integration by parts gives
The first integral is zero because velocity at the boundaries of the two fields are equal. Now, for the second integral, since satisfies the Stokes flow equation, i.e., , we can write
Again doing an Integration by parts gives
The first integral is zero because velocities are equal and the second integral is zero because the flow is incompressible, i.e., . Therefore we have the identity which says,
The total rate of viscous dissipation energy over the whole volume of the field is given by
and after a rearrangement using above identity, we get
If is the total rate of viscous dissipation energy over the whole volume of the field , then we have
.
The second integral is non-negative and zero only if , thus proving the theorem ().
Poiseuille flow theorem
The Poiseuille flow theorem is a consequence of the Helmholtz theorem states that The steady laminar flow of an incompressible viscous fluid down a straight pipe of arbitrary cross-section is characterized by the property that its energy dissipation is least among all laminar (or spatially periodic) flows down the pipe which have the same total flux.
References
Fluid dynamics | Helmholtz minimum dissipation theorem | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 538 | [
"Piping",
"Chemical engineering",
"Fluid dynamics"
] |
56,135,578 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft%20Messaging | Messaging (also known as Microsoft Messaging, and as of recently, Windows Operator Messages) is an instant messaging Universal Windows Platform app for Windows 8.0, Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. The mobile version allows SMS, MMS and RCS messaging. The desktop version is restricted to showing SMS messages sent via Skype, and billing SMS message from an LTE operator.
As of recently, the app was refocused into a SMS data plan app, where your mobile operator sends messages about your data plan, this is due to the functionality of the app switching to Skype. It was also partially renamed to Windows Operator Messages.
External links
Send a text message — Microsoft Support
References
Windows components
Instant messaging | Microsoft Messaging | [
"Technology"
] | 143 | [
"Instant messaging"
] |
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