id int64 39 79M | url stringlengths 31 227 | text stringlengths 6 334k | source stringlengths 1 150 ⌀ | categories listlengths 1 6 | token_count int64 3 71.8k | subcategories listlengths 0 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
61,190,522 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C7H5BrO | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C7H5BrO}}
The molecular formula C7H5BrO may refer to:
Benzoyl bromide
Bromobenzaldehydes
2-Bromobenzaldehyde
3-Bromobenzaldehyde
4-Bromobenzaldehyde
Bromotropone | C7H5BrO | [
"Chemistry"
] | 67 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
61,190,532 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C4H7BrO2 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C4H7BrO2}}
The molecular formula C4H7BrO2 (molar mass: 167.002 g/mol, exact mass: 165.9629 u) may refer to:
2-Bromobutyric acid
Ethyl bromoacetate
Molecular formulas | C4H7BrO2 | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 68 | [
"Molecules",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas",
"Isomerism",
"Molecular formulas",
"Matter"
] |
76,381,211 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARRAKIHS | ARRAKIHS, or Analysis of Resolved Remnants of Accreted galaxies as a Key Instrument for Halo Surveys, is a planned mission by European Space Agency. It will study dark matter haloes of galaxies. It was selected in 2022, and is expected to be launched "in the early 2030's". It will observe 75 galaxies for 150 hours each. It is a F-class ("fast") mission. The mission is named after a planet Arrakis from science fiction novel Dune.
References
European Space Agency space probes
Space telescopes
Cosmic Vision
Dark energy
Dark matter | ARRAKIHS | [
"Physics",
"Astronomy"
] | 121 | [
"Dark matter",
"Unsolved problems in astronomy",
"Physical quantities",
"Spacecraft stubs",
"Concepts in astronomy",
"Unsolved problems in physics",
"Astronomy stubs",
"Energy (physics)",
"Space telescopes",
"Exotic matter",
"Dark energy",
"Wikipedia categories named after physical quantities"... |
76,382,714 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal-formaldehyde%20complex | A metal-formaldehyde complex is a coordination complex in which a formaldehyde ligand has two bonds to the metal atom(s) (η2-CH2O). This type of ligand has been reported in both monometallic and bimetallic complexes.
History
Metal-formaldehyde complexes have been reported for tungsten (W), osmium (Os), vanadium (V), rhenium (Re), zirconium (Zr), ruthenium (Ru), and niobium (Nb).
In 1984, Green and coworkers reported the yellow crystalline solid W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2. It was the result of the addition of methanol to W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2PMe2)H.
W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2 can be hydrogenated to give W(PMe3)4(MeO)H3, and then further hydrogenated to reform methanol and generate W(PMe3)4H4. In 1986, Green and Parkin demonstrated further reactivities of W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2. Upon addition of CO or CO2, W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2 produces fac-W(PMe3)3(CO)3 and W(PMe3)4(κ2-O2CO)H2, respectively, much like its precursor.
W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2 also reacts with buta-1,3-diene to give W(PMe3)3(η2-CH2O)(η-C4H6).
W(PMe3)4(η2-CH2O)H2 can also be used as a route to further oxometallacycles by the addition of ethylene and rapid cooling to –80°C. The resultant green-colored crystals are composed of W(OCH2CH2CH2)(PMe3)2(η2-C2H4)2, with either both ethylene ligands on the equatorial plane or the ethylene ligand cis- to the ligating oxygen in the axial direction. Further reaction with ethylene produces trans-W(PMe3)4(η2-C2H4)2 and W(PMe3)4(CO)H2.
References
Coordination complexes
Organometallic compounds | Metal-formaldehyde complex | [
"Chemistry"
] | 553 | [
"Inorganic compounds",
"Coordination complexes",
"Organometallic compounds",
"Coordination chemistry",
"Organic compounds",
"Organometallic chemistry"
] |
76,382,774 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquasome | Aquasomes are self-assembling nanoparticle drug carrier systems composed of three layers: a ceramic core, an oligomer coat, and a loaded biochemically active molecule. Aquasomes are utilized for targeted drug delivery to achieve specific therapeutic effects, and are biocompatible, biodegradable, and stable. Due to their structure, aquasomes are capable of delivering several types of substrates, and can be used for applications such as delivery of antigens, insulin, and hemoglobin.
Aquasomes were first investigated by Kossovsky et al. in 1996 in experiments proposing their use in antigen delivery, drug delivery, and hemoglobin delivery systems. This initial research described aquasomes as self-assembling, with a novel surface modification process allowing the immobilization of drugs on the surface. The research was intended to address the molecular denaturation of polypeptide pharmaceuticals. Kossovsky et al. suggested that this system would be able to combat physical and chemical degradative agents affecting bioactive molecules while preserving the molecular structure of the drug.
Since this initial exploration, the understanding of the composition and applications of aquasomes has increased. After each individual layer is synthesized, aquasomes self-assemble into triple-layered particles. The tri-layer structure enables aquasomes to deliver and release poorly soluble drugs in a controlled manner. Delivery of these poorly soluble drugs within aquasomes increases their solubility, bioavailability, and stability. These drugs are adsorbed onto the surface of the aquasome, forming its third layer, which confers bioactive properties to the aquasome.
Structure
Aquasomes form a three-layered structure, made of a polyhydroxy oligomer coated core upon which the drug is loaded. The biochemically active molecules are able to interact with the coated core through different Van der Waal forces, entropic forces, and ionic and non-covalent bonds. The structure of aquasomes enables them to carry a variety of substrates (chemicals), facilitating applications such as protein and peptide delivery and protection, and the delivery of nucleic acids for gene therapy applications.
Aquasomes’ solid core, made of ceramic or polymeric material, is attributed to the structural stability of the nanoparticle itself, and can result in improved solubility and biocompatibility of the drug. Different core designs have also been shown to affect the controlled release properties of the drug molecule. A commonly used core material is the ceramic calcium phosphate, which naturally occurs in the body. Hydroxyapatite, which is found in bone, is another commonly used core material. Hydroxyapatite cores have been shown to contribute to targeted delivery of encapsulated hepatitis B antigens intracellularly.
The second layer of aquasomes is the carbohydrate coat, onto which the drug is adsorbed. Due to carbohydrate’s action as a dehydroprotectant, it has been shown to function as a natural stabilizer to preserve the conformation (shape) of soft drugs. The dehydroprotectant property of the carbohydrate coat also enables protection of the biochemically active molecule from dehydration and protein degradation.
The size of aquasomes ranges from 60 to 300 nanometers, hence their characterization as a nanoparticle drug carrier. The nanoscale of aquasomes gives them a high surface area to volume ratio. The smaller the core, the higher the surface area to volume ratio, which increases the drug loading capacity of the aquasome. Aquasomes possess water-like properties due to the presence of the carbohydrate coating, enabling them to protect and preserve fragile biological molecules. The size of aquasome particles increases as a function of the ratio between the concentration of the core to the coat due to the availability of free surface core particles for the coating material.
The self-assembly process of aquasomes into their tri-layer structure is achieved by non-covalent and ionic bonds, along with physicochemical properties of their components. Calcium phosphate nanoparticles are formed before the carbohydrate coat is adsorbed onto the surface of the core through electrostatic interactions. Layers are then added to the structure to achieve desired size, while crosslinked polymers aid in further stabilization. The sonication process during the reaction of disodium hydrogen phosphate and calcium chloride to prepare calcium phosphate impacts the self-assembly process of aquasomes by increasing surface free energy of the core prepared. This assembly process allows the design of aquasomes for specific drug delivery applications.
The structure of aquasomes can contribute to controlled drug release, drug stability, and intracellular targeting of the drug. Other commonly used nanoparticle drug delivery systems include niosomes, liposomes, and vesosomes, the compositions of which contribute to different properties of the resulting nanoparticle compared to aquasomes. Niosomes are composed of non-ionic surfactants and bilayer structures, allowing them to encapsulate hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. Liposomes are composed of phospholipids and a similar bilayer structure to niosomes, and can deliver toxic or poorly soluble drugs. Vesosomes have a core-shell structure similar to aquasomes, but contain a lipid bilayer core and a polymer shell, while aquasomes consist of a ceramic or polymeric core and a carbohydrate coat. Vesosomes are used for encapsulating imaging agents and aiding in imaging techniques such as MRI.
Preparation
The three major units of aquasomes are fabricated together according to self-assembly, a thermodynamically driven process that organizes subunits of a system in a manner that results in the lowest Gibbs free energy available, known as ΔG. Self-assembly as a mixing process offers high accuracy and control over sizes on the nanometer scale, which is especially relevant for aquasomes, which exist on this size scale. The three layers of aquasomes can be synthesized differently using a variety of techniques depending on the intended functions or desired therapeutic effects. The general scheme of aquasome fabrication involves a sequential synthesis of a nanocrystalline core, followed by a polyhydroxy coating, and finished with integration of bioactive molecules. Throughout this process, several intermittent steps are included that involve selective filtering and purification to remove byproducts while isolating the desired products for further processing.
Core layer
The core of an aquasome can be made from either ceramic or polymeric materials. Examples of such polymers include acrylates and gelatin. However, because ceramic materials are more ordered due to their naturally occurring crystalline structure, they are more often preferred as the material type for the core. Some of the most common ceramic materials used in the formation of an aquasome core include tin oxide, calcium phosphate, and even diamond. Another characteristic that ceramic materials provide is enhanced binding of the carbohydrate layer due to the high surface energy present on the orderly surface. The binding affinity of the carbohydrate layer also reduces surface tension for its bond to the ceramic core. The first aquasomes fabricated with a nanocrystalline core using ceramic material are detailed in Kossovsky et al. in 1996. Calcium phosphate ceramic nanoparticles (brushite) were first prepared via the method of solution precipitation and sonication. Precipitation methods are the most common techniques employed when synthesizing the core of an aquasome as they offer control over the homogeneity and purity of the precipitated products, which are important design features in the core structure. Once the cores are prepared, they are separated by centrifugation and then washed to remove any salt byproducts from the solution precipitation process. Finally, the washed cores are passed through a Millipore filter to selectively isolate core particles of a certain size.
Carbohydrate layer
After synthesizing and purifying the core, the carbohydrate layer is added to its surface. Common coating materials are typically polyhydroxy oligomers such as cellobiose, citrate, lactose, and sucrose. This layer seems to be important for the properties of aquasomes, as it influences several drug characteristics including adsorption, molecular stability, and conformation (shape), and acts as a dehydroprotectant. The addition of the carbohydrate layer to the surface of the nanocrystalline core is commonly carried out by passive adsorption through incubation and sonication. Similar to the processing of the core, the carbohydrate layer is subjected to centrifugation, washing, and further sonification followed by heated air drying.
Bioactive molecule layer
Finally, the bioactive molecule of interest is loaded into the carbohydrate layer. This process typically occurs through either lyophilization or passive adsorption, and the fully functionalized aquasome is then characterized.
Characterization
Solution precipitation as a core synthesis technique produces homogenous-sized nanoparticles, which can be advantageous in controlling specific physical properties such as surface tension and packing density of the atoms in a crystalline lattice structure. The most common methods of characterizing nanoparticle size distribution and morphology of the core in aquasomes include scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In a study by Kommimeni et al. in 2012, researchers employed TEM to verify that the ceramic particles were spherical and also in the acceptable nano-range for aquasomes. The carbohydrate coating size can also be characterized using SEM and TEM, but Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is commonly utilized to check for the presence of the coat. In a study by Kommimeni et al. in 2020, FTIR was used to confirm the presence of the coating by analyzing the IR spectra bands that correspond to the functional groups of either the core or the sugar coat.
The bioactive drug loaded onto the aquasome can be characterized in a variety of ways depending on the molecular classification of the drug. In Kossovsky et al. in 1996, which studied the effect of insulin as the bioactive drug of interest, immunogold labeling was employed. Through this technique, the different binding efficiencies of carbohydrate coatings for insulin were able to be observed.
Applications
Drug delivery
The structure of aquasomes enables dual drug delivery, or the delivery of two drugs simultaneously. This practice aims to enhance the therapeutic efficiency and reduce the side effects of the drugs delivered. Such systems can be useful in treating patients suffering from multiple diseases. Challenges in dual drug delivery include independently controlling release rates of each of the drugs loaded in the system. In a 2019 study by Damera et al., aquasomes were used to deliver bovine serum albumin (BSA) in combination with one of three therapeutic drugs (Coumarin 153, Warfarin, and Ibuprofen), allowing release of a bioactive molecule and a hydrophobic drug simultaneously. Damera et al. suggested that dual drug delivery was enabled by the bioactive molecule layer of the aquasome being BSA. This BSA layer interacted with the hydrophobic therapeutic drugs, and the strength of the binding interactions was shown to affect the release behaviors of the drugs. Dual drug delivery with aquasomes thus shows promise for treatment of patients with coexisting diseases alongside hypoalbuminemia, as the albumin from BSA can treat the hypoalbuminemia while the additional drug treats the disease.
Hemoglobin delivery
Aquasomes have been explored as carriers for hemoglobin throughout the body. In a 2002 study by Khopade, Khopade, and Jain, aquasomes were used to act as red blood cell substitutes with hemoglobin attached to the oligomer surface. Aquasomes in this application demonstrated minimal toxicity while obtaining a hemoglobin content of 80%, supplying blood and oxygen in a manner similar to regular red blood cells. Hemoglobin aquasomes with spherical hydroxyapatite cores have been shown to retain oxygen-affinity and cooperativity for 30 days in rats in vivo, causing no red blood cell hemolysis or blood coagulation, demonstrating potential capability as effective oxygen transporters. Additionally, aquasomes protected hemoglobin from degradation while maintaining hemoglobin function. Future exploration of aquasomes as hemoglobin carriers may explore controlled release of the aquasomes themselves to mimic typical oxygen release properties to aid in biomedical applications that require specific targeting and delivery of hemoglobin.
Insulin delivery
Aquasomes with calcium phosphate ceramic cores may be useful for the pharmaceutical administration of substrates such as insulin where drug action is conformationally specific. In a 2000 study by Cherian et al., disaccharides such as trehalose were used to coat the core before insulin was loaded onto the coated cores via adsorption. Albino rats were used as test subjects to test these aquasome insulin formulations, and the efficiency of different carbohydrate coat molecules on the aquasome was explored. Pyridoxal-5-phosphate-coated particles were shown to lower blood glucose levels more efficiently when compared to trehalose- or cellobiose-coated particles, which may be due to their differences in structural stability. The use of these nanoparticles for the delivery of insulin in vivo in rabbits demonstrated that insulin-bearing aquasomes showed slower release and prolonged activity compared to standard insulin solution. Similar to their role in carrying hemoglobin, the carbohydrate layer of aquasomes may be responsible for the ability to protect insulin from degradation when injected subcutaneously as in the albino rats tested. Aquasomes were also shown to release insulin in controlled manners, mimicking the typical release of insulin from the pancreas.
Limitations
A potential challenge of aquasome-based drug delivery could be toxicity due to burst release of drugs if poorly absorbed on the carbohydrate coat. Aquasomes can also be expensive to formulate, particularly due to their step-by-step synthesis. Careful attention is needed during aquasome production to tune the thickness of each layer, and leaching and aggregation may occur during prolonged storage of aquasomes. A physiological challenge aquasomes present is that upon their entry into the bloodstream, they may be taken up nonspecifically, leading to opsonization and phagocytic clearance by the immune system. To prevent this, aquasome surfaces can be coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to block opsonin binding through steric hindrance; however, the effect of PEGylation on aquasome drug release has not been sufficiently explored to enable clinical applications. Polymer degradation in different physiological environments can change the stability and drug loading of aquasomes over time, as their surface properties directly impact drug release. Aquasomes may also be challenging to scale up and prepare as it is difficult to ensure consistent formulation quality. More research is needed to demonstrate both the efficiency and safety of aquasomes in clinical use.
Future
Further advances in aquasome research require additional investigation of their in vivo drug release and targeting. Applications such as delivery of dithranol for the treatment of psoriasis and oral delivery of bromelain for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as cancer show promising results in vitro and ex vivo. However, such applications have been unexplored in vivo, limiting their clinical use. Applications using aquasomes as carriers of hemoglobin, vaccines, and insulin have been tested in vivo in small animal models such as rats, mice, and rabbits, but current literature lacks in vivo testing in more advanced animal models, preventing their use as treatments for human conditions. Aquasomes are promising drug delivery mechanisms due to their ability to stabilize and transport a variety of substrates while allowing for controlled drug release. Prior to expanding the clinical applications of aquasomes, the gap existing in current literature will need to be filled by further investigating immune clearance of aquasomes, exploring additional surface modifications such as PEGylation, and expanding in vivo drug testing.
References
Drug delivery devices
Dosage forms
Nanoparticles | Aquasome | [
"Chemistry"
] | 3,380 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Drug delivery devices"
] |
76,383,140 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closure%20of%20tidal%20inlets | In coastal and environmental engineering, the closure of tidal inlets entails the deliberate prevention of the entry of seawater into inland areas through the use of fill material and the construction of barriers. The aim of such closures is usually to safeguard inland regions from flooding, thereby protecting ecological integrity and reducing potential harm to human settlements and agricultural areas.
The complexity of inlet closure varies significantly with the size of the estuary involved. For smaller estuaries, which may naturally dry out at low tide, the process can be relatively straightforward. However, the management of larger estuaries demands a sophisticated blend of technical expertise, encapsulating hydrodynamics, sediment transport, as well as mitigation of the potential ecological consequences of such interventions. The development of knowledge around such closures over time reflects a concerted effort to balance flood defence mechanisms with environmental stewardship, leading to the development of both traditional and technologically advanced solutions.
In situations where rivers and inlets pose significant flood risk across large areas, providing protection along the entire length of both banks can be prohibitively expensive. In London, this issue has been addressed by construction of the Thames Barrier, which is only closed during forecasts of extreme water levels in the southern North Sea. In the Netherlands, a number of inlets were closed by fully damming their entrances. Since such dams take many months or years to complete, water exchange between the sea and the inlet continues throughout the construction period. It is only during the final stages that the gap is sufficiently narrowed to limit this exchange, presenting unique construction challenges. As the gap diminishes, significant differences in water levels between the sea and the inlet create very strong currents, potentially reaching several metres per second, through the remaining narrow opening.
Special techniques are required during this critical closure phase to prevent severe erosion of existing defences. Two primary methods are used: the abrupt or sudden closure method, which involves positioning prefabricated caissons during a brief period of slack water, and the gradual closure method, which involves progressively building up the last section of the dam, keeping the crest nearly horizontal to prevent strong currents and erosion along any specific section.
Purpose of a tidal inlet closure
The closure of tidal inlets serves various primary purposes:
Land reclamation
Shortening sea defence length
Creation of fresh water reservoirs
Establishment of tidal energy basins
Development of fixed-level harbour docks
Construction of docks for marine activities
Provision of road or rail connections
Repair of breaches in dikes
Creation of fish ponds.
Historically, the closure of inlets was primarily aimed at land reclamation and water level control in marshy areas, facilitating agricultural development. Such activities necessitated effective management of river and storm surge levels, often requiring ongoing dike maintenance. Secondary purposes, such as tidal energy generation, harbour and construction docks, dams for transportation infrastructure, and fish farming, also emerged but had lesser environmental impact.
In contemporary times, driven by a growing emphasis on quality of life, particularly in industrialised nations, inlet closure projects encompass a broader spectrum of objectives. These may include creating freshwater storage facilities, mitigating water pollution in designated zones, providing recreational amenities, and combating saltwater intrusion or groundwater contamination.
Side effects
Depending on circumstances, various hydrological, environmental, ecological, and economic side effects can be realised by the implementation of a tidal inlet closure, including:
change of tide (amplitude, flows) at the seaward side of the dam
change in bar and gully topography, outside the dam
removal of tides on the inner side of the dam
change in groundwater level in adjoining areas
alteration of drainage capacity for adjoining areas
loss of fish and vegetation species
loss of breeding and feeding areas for water birds
rotting processes during change in vegetation and fauna
stratification of water quality in stagnant reservoir
accumulation of sediments in the reservoir
impact on facilities for shipping
impact on recreation and leisure pursuits
change in professional occupations (fishery, navigation)
social and cultural impacts.
Examples of closure works
Historical closures in the Netherlands
Several towns in the Netherlands bear names ending in "dam," indicating their origin at the site of a dam in a tidal river. Prominent examples include Amsterdam (located at a dam in the Amstel) and Rotterdam (situated at a dam in the Rotte). However, some locations, like Maasdam, have less clear origins. Maasdam, a village situated at the site of a dam on the Maas dating back to before 1300, was the site of the construction of the Grote Hollandse Waard, which was subsequently lost during the devastating St. Elizabeth's Flood of 1421. As a result of the flood, the Maas river is now located far from the village of Maasdam.
One technique widely employed in historical closures was known as (English: sinking up). This method involved sinking fascine mattresses, filling them with sand, and stabilising them with ballast stone. Successive sections were then sunk on top until the dam reached a height where no further mattresses could be placed. This process effectively reduced the flow, allowing the completion of the dam with sand and clay. For instance, the construction of the Sloedam in 1879, as part of the railway to Middelburg, utilised this technique.
Early observations revealed that during closures, the flow velocity within the closure gap increased, leading to soil erosion. Consequently, measures such as bottom protection around the closing gap were implemented, guided primarily by experiential knowledge rather than precise calculations. Until 1953, closing dike breaches in tidal areas posed challenges due to high current velocities. In such instances, new dikes were constructed further inland, albeit a lengthier process, to mitigate closure difficulties. An extreme example occurred after the devastating North Sea flood of 1953, necessitating the closure of breaches at Schelphoek, marking the last major closure in the Netherlands.
Modern dam construction in the Netherlands
In recent times, the construction of larger dams in the Netherlands has been driven by both the necessity to protect the hinterlands and the ambition to create new agricultural lands.
The formation of currents at the mouth of an inlet arises from the tidal actions of filling (high tide) and emptying (ebb tide) of the basin. The speed of these currents is influenced by the tidal range, the tidal curve, the volume of the tidal basin (also known as the storage area), and the size of the flow profile at that location. The tidal range varies along the Dutch coast, being minimal near Den Helder (about 1.5 metres) and maximal off the coast of Zeeland (2 to 3 metres), with the range expanding to 4 to 5 metres in the areas behind the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde.
In tidal basins with loosely packed seabeds, current channels emerge and may shift due to the constantly changing directions and speeds of currents. The strongest flows cause scour in the deepest channels, such as in the Oosterschelde where depths can reach up to 45 metres, while sandbanks form between these channels, occasionally becoming exposed at low tide.
The channel systems that naturally develop in tidal areas are generally in a state of approximate equilibrium, balancing flow velocity and the total flow profile. Conversely, when dike breaches are sealed, this equilibrium is often not yet achieved at the time of closure. For instance, rapid intervention in closing numerous breaches following the 1953 storm surge helped limit erosion. For the construction of a dam at the mouth of an inlet, activities are undertaken to reduce the flow profile, potentially leading to increased flow velocities and subsequent scouring unless pre-emptive measures are taken, such as reinforcing the beds and sides of channels with bottom protection. An exception occurs when the surface area of the tidal basin is preliminarily reduced by compartmentalisation dams.
The procedure for closing a tidal channel can generally be segmented into four phases:
A preparatory phase with a slight reduction in the flow profile (to 80 to 90% of its original size), during which dam sections are constructed in shallow areas and soil protection is placed in the channels.
A sill is then erected, serving as a foundation for the closing dike. This sill can help distribute the dike's pressure on the subsoil and/or act as a filter between the bottom protection and the closing structure. The closure gap at this stage must be wide enough to allow the ebb and flow currents to pass without damaging the sill and the protective measures.
The actual closure, where the final gap is sealed.
The final phase involves constructing the dike over and around the temporary dam.
Under specific circumstances, alternative construction methods may be applied; for instance, during a sand closure, dumping capacity is utilised in such a manner that more material is added per tide than can be removed by the current, typically negating the need for soil protection.
When the Zuiderzee was enclosed in 1932, it was still possible to manage the current with boulder clay, as the tidal difference there was only about 1 metre, preventing excessively high flow velocities in the closure gap that would require alternative materials. Numerous closure methods have been implemented in the Delta area, on both small and large scales, highly dependent on a variety of preconditions. These include hydraulic and soil mechanical prerequisites, as well as available resources such as materials, equipment, labour, finances, and expertise. Post-World War II, the experiences gained from dike repairs in Walcheren in 1945, the closure of the Brielse Maas in 1950, the Braakman in 1952, and the repair of the breaches after the 1953 storm surge significantly influenced the choice of closure methods for the first Delta dams.
Up until the completion of the Brouwersdam in 1971, the choice of closure method was almost entirely based on technical factors. However, environmental and fisheries considerations became equally vital in the selection of closure methods for the Markiezaatskade near Bergen op Zoom, the Philipsdam, Oesterdam, and the storm surge barrier in the Oosterschelde, taking into account factors like the timing of tidal organism mortality and salinity control during closures, which are critical for determining the initial conditions of the newly formed basin.
Closures in Germany
In the north-west of Germany, a series of closure works have been implemented. Initially, the primary aims of these closures were land reclamation and protection against flooding. Subsequently, the focus shifted towards safety and ecological conservation. Closures took place in Meldorf (1978), Nordstrander Bucht (Husum, 1987), and Leyhörn (Greetsiel, 1991).
Around 1975, evolving global perspectives on ecological significance led to a change in the approach to closures. As a result, in northern Germany, several closures were executed differently from their original designs. For instance, while there were plans to completely dam the Leybucht near Greetsiel, only a minor portion was ultimately closed—just enough to meet safety and water management requirements. This made the closure of the remaining area no longer a technical challenge. A discharge sluice and navigation lock were constructed, providing adequate capacity to mitigate currents in the closure gap of the dam.
Closures in South Korea
In the 1960s, South Korea faced a significant shortage of agricultural land, prompting plans for large reclamation projects, including the construction of closure dams. These projects were carried out between 1975 and 1995, incorporating the expertise and experience from the Netherlands. Over time, attitudes towards closure works in South Korea evolved, leading to considerable delays and modifications in the plans for the Hwaong and Saemangeum projects.
Closures in Bangladesh
Creeks have been closed to facilitate the creation of agricultural land and provide protection against floods in Bangladesh for many years. The combination of safeguarding against flooding, the need for agricultural land, and the availability of irrigation water served as the driving forces behind these initiatives. Prior to 1975, such closure works were relatively modest in scale. Some early examples include:
The approach to closures in Bangladesh did not significantly differ from practices elsewhere. However, due to the country's low labour costs and high unemployment rates, methods employing extensive local manpower were preferred.
These works primarily utilised a type of locally developed fascine rolls known as mata. The final gaps were closed swiftly within a single tidal cycle. Notably, the Gangrail closure failed twice.
In the years 1977/78, the Madargong creek was closed, safeguarding an agricultural area of 20,000 hectares. At the closure site, the creek spanned a width of 150 metres with a depth of 6 metres below mean sea level. The following year, 1978/79, saw the closure of the Chakamaya Khal, featuring a tidal prism of 10 million cubic metres, a tidal range of 3.3 metres, spanning 210 metres in width and 5 metres in depth.
In 1985, the Feni River was dammed to create an irrigation reservoir covering 1,200 hectares. The project was distinctive in its explicit request for the utilisation of local products and manual labour. The 1,200-metre-wide gap needed to be sealed during a neap tide. On the day of the closure, 12,000 workers placed 10,000 bags within the gap.
In 2020, the Nailan dam, originally constructed in the 1960s, experienced a breach that necessitated repair. At the time, the basin covered an area of 480 hectares, with a tidal range varying from 2.5 to 4 metres (neap tide to spring tide). The breach spanned a width of 500 metres, with a tidal prism of 7 million cubic metres. The closure was accomplished by deploying a substantial quantity of geobags, weighing up to 250 kg, though the majority of the bags in the core were 50 kg. The gap was progressively narrowed to 75 metres, the width of the final closure gap, which was sealed in one tidal cycle during a neap tide. To facilitate this, two rows of palisades were erected in the gap, and bags were used to fill the space between them, effectively creating a cofferdam.
Types of closures
Closing methods can be categorized into two principal groups: gradual closures and sudden closures. Within gradual closures, four distinct methods are identified: horizontal closure without a significant sill (a), vertical closure (b), horizontal closure with a sill (c), and sand closures. Sand closures further differentiate into horizontal and vertical types. Sudden closures are typically achieved through the deployment of (sluice) caissons, often positioned on a sill (d).
The technology of closure works
The challenge in sealing a sea inlet lies in the phenomenon that as the flow area of the closure gap decreases due to the construction of the dam, the flow speed within this gap increases. This acceleration can become so significant that the material deposited into the gap is immediately washed away, leading to the failure of the closure. Therefore, accurately calculating the flow rate is crucial. Given that the length of the basin is usually small relative to the length of the tidal wave, this calculation can typically be performed using a storage area approach (for more details, see the end of this page). This methodology enables the creation of straightforward graphs depicting the velocities within a closure gap throughout the closure process.
Stone closures
Horizontal stone closures
In the technique of horizontal stone closures, stone is deployed from both sides into the closing gap. The stone must be heavy enough to counter the increased velocity that results from the reduced flow profile. An added complication is the creation of turbulent eddies, which lead to further scouring of the seabed. It is therefore critical to lay a foundation of stone prior to commencing the closure. The closure of the Zuiderzee in 1932, as depicted in the attached photograph, vividly illustrates the downstream turbulence at the closing gap. Notably, during the Afsluitdijk closure, boulder clay was utilised in a manner akin to stone, which circumvented the need for costly imports of armourstone.
In the Netherlands, horizontal stone closures have been relatively uncommon due to the high costs associated with armourstone and the prerequisite soil protection. Conversely, in countries where stone is more affordable and soils are less prone to erosion, horizontal stone closures are more frequently employed. A notable instance of this method was the closure of the Saemangeum estuary in South Korea, where a scarcity of heavy stone led to the innovative use of stone packed in steel nets as dumping material. The logistical challenges of transporting and deploying stone, especially within the constraints of a tight timeframe to prevent excessive bottom erosion, often pose significant challenges.
Vertical stone closures
From a hydraulic perspective, vertical closures are preferable due to their reduced turbulence and consequent minimisation of soil erosion issues. However, their implementation is more complex. For parts of the dam submerged underwater, stone dumpers (either bottom or side dumpers) can be employed. Yet, this becomes impractical for the final segments due to insufficient navigational depth. Two alternatives exist: the construction of an auxiliary bridge or the use of a cable car.
Auxiliary bridge
An auxiliary bridge allows armourstone to be directly deposited into the closing gap. This method was contemplated for the Delta Works' Oesterdam closure but was ultimately deemed more expensive than sand closure. In the Netherlands, such a technique was applied during the closure of the dike around De Biesbosch polder in 1926, where a temporary bridge facilitated the dumping of materials into the gap using tipping carts propelled by a steam locomotive.
Cable car
Constructing an auxiliary bridge for larger and deeper closing gaps can be exceedingly cumbersome, leading to the preference for cable cars in the Delta Works closures. The first application of a cable car was for the northern gap of the Grevelingendam, serving as a trial to gather insights for subsequent larger closures like the Brouwershavense Gat and the Oosterschelde.
Stone transport via cable involved wagons with independent propulsion, enhancing transport capacity through one-way traffic. The system's design, a collaboration between Rijkswaterstaat and French company Neyrpic, minimized malfunction risks across the network. The 'blondin automoteur continu' type cable car spanned approximately 1200 m, with a continuous track supported by two carrying cables and terminal turntables for wagon transfer. Initially, stone was transported in steel bottom-unloading containers, later supplemented by steel nets, allowing for a dumping rate of 360 tons per hour.
However, the system's loading capacity proved insufficient, prompting a switch to 1 m3 (2500 kg) concrete blocks for subsequent closures (Haringvliet and Brouwersdam). Although planned for the Oosterschelde closure, a policy shift led to the construction of a storm surge barrier instead, foregoing the use of the cable car for this purpose.
Sand closure
Beyond the use of armourstone, closures can also be achieved solely with sand. This method necessitates a substantial dredging capacity. In the Netherlands, sand closures have been successfully implemented in various projects, including the Oesterdam, the Philipsdam, and the construction of the Second Maasvlakte.
Principles of a sand closure
Sand closures involve employing a dumping capacity within the closure gap that introduces more material per tidal cycle than can be removed by the current. Unlike stone closures, the material used here is inherently unstable under the flow velocities encountered. Typically, sand closures do not necessitate soil protection. This, among other reasons, makes sand closure a cost-effective solution when locally sourced sand is utilized. Since 1965, numerous tidal channels have been effectively sealed using sand, aided by the rapidly increasing capabilities of modern sand suction dredgers.
These advancements have enabled quick and voluminous sand delivery for larger closures, tolerating sand losses during the closing phase of up to 20 to 50%. The initial sand closures of tidal channels — including the Ventjagersgatje in 1959 and the southern entrance to the Haringvliet bridge in 1961 — contributed to the development of a basic calculation method for sand closures. Subsequent sand closures provided practical validation for this method, refining predictions of sand losses.
Selected sand closures
The following table outlines several channels that have been closed using sand, illustrating the technique's application and effectiveness.
Note: Several compartments did not encompass fully enclosed basins, making a surface area metric inapplicable.
During the closure of the Geul at the mouth of the Oosterschelde—characterised by a tidal capacity of roughly 30 million cubic metres and a maximum depth of 10 metres below mean sea level (MSL)—the Oosterschelde dam between the working islands of Noordland and Neeltje Jans in 1972 witnessed minimised sand losses thanks to the employment of high-capacity suction dredging. This strategy achieved a sand extraction rate exceeding 500,000 cubic metres per week, distributed across three suction dredgers. It was also demonstrated that initiating the closure from one side and progressing towards the shallowest part of the gap effectively reduces sand losses. This approach ensured the shortest possible distance for the sand to be deposited towards the closure's culmination, particularly during periods of maximum flow velocity.
This technique partly accounts for the significant sand losses, approximately 45%, observed during the closure of the Brielse Gat, which has a maximum depth of 2 metres below MSL and where sand was deposited from both sides towards the centre. Opting for a single sand deposit site, while reducing sand losses, necessitates substantial suction capacity and results in a notably wider closure dam to accommodate all discharge pipelines.
Designing sand closures
A defining feature of sand closures is the movement and subsequent loss of the construction material. The principle underpinning a sand closure relies on the production of more sand than what is lost during the process. Sand losses occur daily under average flow conditions through the closing gap, contingent upon the flow dynamics. In the context of "strength and load," the "strength" of a sand closure is represented by its production capacity, while the "load" is the resultant loss. A closure is deemed successful when the production exceeds the loss, leading to a gradual narrowing of the closing gap.
The production capacity, which includes a sufficiently large extraction site for the sand, must surpass the maximum anticipated loss during the closure operation. Consequently, the feasibility study for a (complete) sand closure must initially concentrate on identifying the phase associated with maximum losses. Employing hydraulic boundary conditions, the sand loss for each closure phase can be calculated and depicted graphically as illustrated. The horizontal axis in the diagram represents the closing gap's size, indicating that the depicted capacity is insufficient for a sand closure under these conditions.
A sand closure becomes viable if sufficient sand production can be sustained near the closure gap to overcome the phase with the highest losses. The essential criterion is that the average tidal loss remains lower than the production. However, considerable uncertainties exist in both the calculated losses and the anticipated production, necessitating careful attention. The loss curve, as a function of the closing gap area, typically exhibits a single peak. The maximal loss is usually found when the closing gap area is between 0 and 30% of its initial size. Hence, initial loss calculations can be restricted to this range of closing gap sizes.
Interestingly, the peak sand loss does not coincide with the near completion of the closure gap. Despite potentially high flow velocities, the eroded width of the closing hole is minimal, thus keeping overall sand losses low. Hydraulic boundary conditions can be determined using a storage/area approach.
In general, sand closures are theoretically feasible for maximum flow velocities up to approximately 2.0 to 2.5 m/s. Beyond these velocities, achieving a sand closure becomes virtually impossible due to the resulting flow rates, which are influenced by the reference flow rate U0 and the discharge coefficient μ. The discharge coefficient μ is affected by both friction and deceleration losses within the closing gap, with friction losses being notably significant due to the large dimensions of the sand dams. Consequently, the choice of gradient measurement distance significantly impacts the discharge coefficient, which exhibits considerable variability. However, this variability diminishes during the crucial final phase of the closure, where a value of 0.9 is recommended as a reasonable upper limit for the discharge coefficient. The actual flow velocity within the closing gap is determined by applying the storage area approach, adjusted by the discharge coefficient.
Sudden closures (caissons)
A sudden closure involves the rapid sealing of a tidal inlet or breach in a dike. This is typically prepared in such a manner that the gap can be entirely closed in one swift action during slack tide. The use of caissons or sluice caissons is common, though other unique methods, such as sandbags or ships, have also been employed. Caissons were initially utilized as an emergency response for sealing dike breaches post the Allied Battle of Walcheren in 1944 and subsequently after the 1953 North Sea flood. This technique has since been refined and applied in the Delta Works projects.
Caisson closure
A caisson closure involves sealing the gap with a caisson, essentially a large concrete box. This method was first applied in the Netherlands for mending dike breaches resulting from Allied assaults on Walcheren in 1944. The following year, at Rammekens, surplus caissons (Phoenix caissons) sourced from England, originally used for constructing the Mulberry harbours post-Normandy landings by Allied troops, were repurposed for dike repairs.
In the aftermath of the 1953 storm disaster, the closure of numerous breaches with caissons was contemplated. Given the uncertainty surrounding the final sizes of the gaps and the time-consuming nature of caisson construction, a decision was made shortly after February 1, 1953, to pre-fabricate a considerable quantity of relatively small caissons. These were strategically employed across various sites, and later, within the Delta Works.
A limited supply of larger Phoenix caissons from the Mulberry harbours was also utilized for sealing a few extensive dike breaches, notably at Ouwerkerk and Schelphoek.
Placing a caisson
To successfully sink a caisson, it's imperative that the flow velocity within the closing gap is minimized; thus, the operation is conducted during slack water. Given the extremely brief period during which the current is genuinely still, the sinking process must commence while the tidal flow remains at a manageable low speed. Past experiences with caisson closures have demonstrated that this speed should not exceed 0.3 m/s, guiding the timing for various phases of the operation as follows:
This schedule dictates that flow speeds must reduce to 0.30 m/s at most 13 minutes before slack water and to 0.75 m/s at most 30 minutes before. Considering the sinusoidal nature of tides in the Netherlands, with a cycle of 12.5 hours, the maximum velocity in the closing gap should not surpass 2.5 m/s. This velocity threshold can be ascertained through a storage/basin analysis. The accompanying diagram illustrates outcomes for sill heights at MSL -10 m and MSL -12 m, indicating that a sill at MSL -12 m is necessary as the sinking time at MSL -10 m is insufficient. Consequently, caisson closures are feasible only at considerable channel depths.
Sluice caissons
The challenge in sealing larger gaps with caissons lies in the diminishing flow area as more caissons are placed, resulting in significantly increased flow speeds (exceeding the aforementioned 2.5 m/s), complicating the final caisson's proper placement. This issue is addressed through the use of sluice caissons, essentially a box equipped with gates on one side. During installation, these gates are shut to maintain buoyancy, and the opposite side is sealed with wooden boards.
Once each caisson is positioned, the boards are removed, and the gates opened, allowing the tidal current to pass with minimal impedance. This approach ensures that the flow area doesn't drastically reduce, and flow velocities remain manageable, facilitating the placement of subsequent caissons. After all caissons are set, the gates are closed at slack water, completing the closure. Subsequently, sand is sprayed in front of the dam, and the gates along with other movable mechanisms are removed, available for reuse in future closures.
Sluice caissons were first employed in closing the Veerse Gat, and subsequently utilized at the Brouwersdam and the Volkerak. They were also deployed in the closure of the Lauwerszee.
Design of Sluice Caissons
For caisson closures, it is crucial to maintain the largest effective flow profile possible during installation. Additionally, the discharge coefficient must be as high as possible, indicating the degree to which flow is obstructed by the caisson's shape.
Flow Area
The flow area of each caisson should be maximised. This can be achieved by:
Ensuring the greatest possible distance between the caisson walls, with steel diagonals providing sufficient torsional stiffness.
Designing the bottom of the caissons to be as thin as possible.
Incorporating ballast spaces within the superstructure of the caisson to add necessary weight, thereby generating sufficient friction between the caisson and the sill.
Discharge Coefficient
Besides the flow area, the discharge coefficient is of paramount importance. Measures to improve the discharge coefficient include:
Streamlining the diagonals between the walls.
Adding extra features to streamline the sill.
The table below provides the discharge coefficients for various sluice caissons designed in the Netherlands.
Special closures
Closure by sinking ships
In exceptional circumstances, typically during emergencies such as dike breaches, efforts are made to seal the breach by manoeuvring a ship into it. Often, this method fails due to the mismatch between the dimensions of the ship and the breach. Instances have been recorded where the ship, once directed into the breach, was then dislodged by the powerful current. Another frequent issue is the incompatibility of the ship's bottom with the seabed of the breach, leading to undermining. The ensuing strong current further erodes the seabed beneath the ship, rendering the closure attempt unsuccessful. A notable exception occurred in 1953 during a dike breach along the Hollandse IJssel, which was successfully sealed; a monument commemorates this event later.
In Korea, an attempt was made in 1980 to close a tidal inlet using an old oil tanker. Little information is available about the outcome of this attempt, suggesting it may not have been notably successful, especially considering the numerous subsequent closures in Korea that have utilized stone. Later Google Earth imagery indicates that the ship was eventually removed following the dam's closure.
Closure with sandbags
Utilizing sandbags and a significant workforce represents another unique closure method. This approach was employed during the construction of the dam across the Feni river in Bangladesh. At low tide, the riverbed at the closure site was almost completely exposed.
Twelve depots, each containing 100,000 sandbags, were established along the 1,200 m wide closure gap. On the day of the closure, 12,000 workers deployed these bags into the gap over a span of six hours, outpacing the rising tide. By the day's end, the tidal inlet was sealed, albeit only to the water levels typical of neap tides. In the ensuing days, the dam was further augmented with sand to withstand spring tides and, over the next three months, reinforced to resist storm surges up to 10 metres above the dam's base.
Storage area approach
Utilising the tidal prism for velocity calculations in the neck of a tidal inlet
If a tidal basin is relatively short (i.e., its length is minor compared to the tidal wave's length), it's assumed that the basin's water level remains even, merely rising and falling with the tide. Under this assumption, the basin's storage (tidal prism) equals its surface area times the tidal range.
The formula for basin storage then simplifies to:
, in which:
represents the tidal prism (m3),
signifies the basin area (m2),
denotes the tidal range at the basin's entrance (m).
This methodology facilitates a reliable estimation of current velocities within the tidal inlet, essential for its eventual closure. Termed the storage area approach, this technique provides a straightforward means to gauge local hydraulic conditions essential for barrier construction.
Within this approach, estuary water movement is modelled without either friction and inertia effects, leading to:
,
in which is the flow rate in the inlet, is the basin storage area, and is the water level's rate of change.
The depicted basin storage system assumes:
A river discharge , with inflow considered positive,
A flow through the closure , governed by the energy height difference upstream and water level at the gap , along with the gap's drainage characteristics.
For an imperfect weir:
And for a perfect weir:
Symbol meanings are as follows:
Combining these yields the basin storage equation, facilitating velocity graphs within the closure gap. An example graph for a tidal amplitude of 2.5 m (therefore a total range of 5 metres) shows velocities as functions of the tidal storage area (B) to closure gap width (Wg) ratio and sill depth (d'). Red indicates vertical closures, orange horizontal, and green a combination, highlighting the speed differences between closure types.
General reference
References
Environmental engineering
Coastal engineering | Closure of tidal inlets | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 6,910 | [
"Coastal engineering",
"Chemical engineering",
"Civil engineering",
"Environmental engineering"
] |
76,383,390 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine%20Spaceport%20Complex | The Maine Spaceport Complex is the name for a series of proposed spaceports across the state of Maine being built for private companies like BluShift Aerospace. The project was started in 2020, and consists of planned locations in Brunswick, Portland, Orono, Aroostook County, and Washington County. BluShift conducted the first successful launch of their Stardust series of rockets at Loring Commerce Centre (formerly Loring Air Force Base) on January 31, 2021. Afterwards, other planned launches from the site were canceled, and the next launch is planned to take place in the second quarter of 2024 either from Coastal Launch Pad nearby the towns of Jonesport and Beals in Washington County (although the Vertical Launch Pad at Spaceport America in New Mexico has also been considered).
References
External links
BluShift Aerospace website
Maine Space Corp website
Maine Space 2030 website
Spaceports in the United States
Washington County, Maine
Aroostook County, Maine
2020 establishments in Maine | Maine Spaceport Complex | [
"Astronomy"
] | 198 | [
"Outer space stubs",
"Outer space",
"Astronomy stubs"
] |
76,383,658 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD%20195479 | HD 195479, also designated as HR 7839, is a solitary star located in the northern constellation Delphinus, the dolphin. It has an apparent magnitude of 6.20, placing it near the limit for naked eye visibility, even under ideal conditions. The object is located relatively close at a distance of 288 light-years based on Gaia DR3 parallax measurements and it is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of . At its current distance, HD 195479's brightness is diminished by an interstellar extinction of 0.27 magnitudes and it has an absolute magnitude of +1.53.
HD 195479 is an Am star with a stellar classification of kA1hA9mF2. The notion indicates that it has the calcium K-lines of an A1 star, the hydrogen lines of an A9 star, and the metallic lines of a F2 star. It has 2.05 times the mass of the Sun and 2.15 times the radius of the Sun. It radiates 38.96 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of , giving it white hue when viewed in the night sky. HD 195479 is deficient in iron, having an abundance 77.6% of the Sun's. It is estimated to be 631 million years old and it spins modestly with a projected rotational velocity of , common for Am stars.
The star has two optical companions: a 12th magnitude star designated B located 5.7" away along a position angle of 88° and a 13th magnitude star designated C located 55.9" away along a position angle of 206°. They were both observed by American astronomer Sherburne Wesley Burnham during the late 19th century. B and C are both background stars that are far more distant than HD 195479.
References
Am stars
A-type main-sequence stars
Triple stars
Delphinus
BD+20 04602
195479
101213
7839
00379435621 | HD 195479 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 414 | [
"Delphinus",
"Constellations"
] |
76,383,688 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia%20pachydermica | Calvatia pachydermica is a species of puffball mushroom native to southernmost South America. Originally described in 1887 as Bovista pachydermica from a specimen collected in 1882 at Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina near Punta Arenas in Chile, this puffball was moved to the genus Calvatia in 1992. Most collections of this species have been made from southernmost Chile.
German mycologist Hanns Kreisel placed it in Calvatia sect. Cretacea, which is a grouping characterized by "Exoperidium spiny or areolate. Capillitium with small or large pits. Subgleba cellular or rudimentary. Mature gleba brown or violaceous brown."
References
Fungi of South America
Puffballs
Fungus species
pachydermica | Calvatia pachydermica | [
"Biology"
] | 165 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,384,345 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemigrapha%20graphidicola | Hemigrapha graphidicola is a species of fungus in the family Hemigraphaceae. It is a lichenicolous fungus that grows on the thallus of the script lichen Graphis assimilis and has only been collected in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Florida. This state park is located in the Florida Everglades, which makes Hemigrapha graphidicola a mangrove species.
It is identifiable by its black, superficial, flat, roundish to elongate or irregular form.
Hemigrapha species are very similar, so Hemigrapha graphidicola should be identified under a microscope. Hemigrapha graphidicola is unique because it is the first Hemigrapha species that has been described to grow on a corticolous lichen, and the first member that grows on a member of the Graphidaceae. Infection by the fungus does not appear to visibly damage the host lichen.
Hemigrapha graphidicola was first described by Paul Diedrich and Ralph Common in 2019.
References
Parmulariaceae
Fungi described in 2011
Fungi of Florida
Lichenicolous fungi
Taxa named by Paul Diederich
Fungus species | Hemigrapha graphidicola | [
"Biology"
] | 243 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,384,954 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%203D%20printing%20software | This is a list of 3D printing software.
See also
3D printing - or additive manufacturing
3D scanning - replicating objects to 3D models to potentially 3D print
Comparison of computer-aided design software
3D Manufacturing Format - open source file format standard developed and published by the 3MF Consortium
PLaSM - open source scripting language for solid modeling
3D printing processes
Thingiverse - open CAD repository/library for 3D printers, laser cutters, milling machines
MyMiniFactory - 3D printing marketplace
CAD library - 3D repository to download 3D models
Fused filament fabrication - 3D printing process that uses a continuous filament of a thermoplastic material
Qlone - 3D scanning app based on photogrammetry for creation of 3D models on mobile devices that can be 3D printed
Metal injection molding
EnvisionTEC - 3D printing hardware company
Desktop Metal - company focused on 3D metal printing
Slicer (3D printing) - toolpath generation software used in 3D printing
List of computer-aided manufacturing software - for CNC machining
References
3D printing
DIY culture
Industrial design
Industrial processes
Free computer-aided manufacturing software
Computer-aided design software
Autodesk products
3D graphics software
Freeware 3D graphics software | List of 3D printing software | [
"Engineering"
] | 236 | [
"Industrial design",
"Design engineering",
"Design"
] |
76,385,835 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold%20phosphide | Gold phosphide is a hypothetical binary inorganic compound of gold metal and phosphorus with the chemical formula . No compound of composition AuP has been probed by X-ray crystallography. The only known gold phosphide is the metastable Au2P3.
Preparation
Gold phosphide was claimed to be prepared by the direct reaction of spongy gold and phosphorus or by passing phosphine into a solution of auric chloride in ether or alcohol:
Properties
AuP is claimed to decompose in air or with .
Related
A mixed anion phosphide iodide is known: Au7P10I with a trigonal structure.
References
Gold compounds
Phosphorus compounds
Phosphides
Monoclinic crystals
Hypothetical chemical compounds | Gold phosphide | [
"Chemistry"
] | 156 | [
"Theoretical chemistry",
"Hypotheses in chemistry",
"Hypothetical chemical compounds"
] |
76,386,646 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern%20methods%20of%20construction | Modern methods of construction (MMC) is a term used mainly in the UK construction industry to refer to "smart construction" processes designed to improve upon traditional design and construction approaches by focusing on (among other things) component and process standardisation, design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), prefabrication, preassembly, off-site manufacture (including modular building) and onsite innovations such as additive manufacture (3D printing). While such modern approaches may be applied to infrastructure works (bridges, tunnels, etc.) and to commercial or industrial buildings, MMC has become particularly associated with construction of residential housing. However, several specialist housing businesses established to target this market did not become commercially viable.
History
The MMC term started to enter common industry use in the early 2000s following the publication of the Egan Report, Rethinking Construction, in November 1998. An industry task force chaired by Sir John Egan, produced an influential report on the UK construction industry, which did much to drive efficiency improvements in UK construction industry practice during the early years of the 21st century, with its recommendations implemented through initiatives including the Movement for Innovation (M4I) and the Construction Best Practice Programme (CBBP). However, the emergence of some non-traditional methods substantially predated Egan's report; procurement of prefabricated homes, for example, was a UK government response to housing shortages after both World Wars, the CLASP created prefabricated schools in the late 1950s, and the 1964-1970 Labour government engaged in an "Industrialised Building Drive".
MMC has been repeatedly advocated in UK government construction strategy statements including the 2017 Transforming Infrastructure Performance from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), the 2019 Construction Sector Deal, the Construction Playbook (2020, 2022), and the IPA's 2021 TIP Roadmap to 2030. The 2022 Playbook and TIP Roadmap also encouraged procurement of construction projects based on product 'platforms' ("Platform Design for Manufacture and Assembly, PDfMA") comprising kits of parts, production processes, knowledge, people and relationships required to deliver all or part of construction projects.
The UK Government has also invested in MMC initiatives and businesses. During the 2010s, as government backing (including via Homes England) for MMC grew, several UK companies (for example, Ilke Homes, L&G Modular Homes, House by Urban Splash, Modulous, Lighthouse and TopHat) were established to develop modular homes as an alternative to traditionally-built residences. From its Knaresborough, Yorkshire factory (opened in 2018, closed in 2023), Ilke Homes delivered two- and three-bedroom 'modular' homes that could be erected in 36 hours. Homes England invested £30m in Ilke Homes in November 2019, and a further £30m in September 2021. Despite a further fund-raising round, raising £100m in December 2022, Ilke Homes went into administration on 30 June 2023, with most of the company's 1,150 staff made redundant, and creditors owed £320m, including £68m owed to Homes England. L&G Modular Homes halted production in May 2023, blaming planning delays and the COVID-19 pandemic for its failure, with the enterprise incurring total losses over seven years of £295m.
In November 2023, Homes England loaned £15m to TopHat, another loss-making MMC housebuilder, to fund construction of a factory in Corby; in March 2024, the factory's opening was postponed and the company announced 70 redundancies. MD Andrew Shepherd left TopHat in May 2024. In August 2024, TopHat faced a winding-up hearing after a petition was filed by Harworth, a Yorkshire based property developer, but settled out of court. Also in August 2024, housebuilder Persimmon wrote off a £25m investment in TopHat it made in 2023, due to "a re-assessment of risks within the modular build sector". In October 2024, having accumulated a loss of around £87m since 2016, TopHat confirmed it was winding down its Derby factory operations, with most staff being made redundant. In its penultimate year of trading, TopHat made an operating loss of £46m on turnover of less than £11m.
In January 2024, following the high-profile failures of Ilke Homes, L&G Modular and House by Urban Splash during 2022 and 2023, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee highlighted that the UK Government needed to take a more coherent approach to addressing barriers affecting adoption of MMC: "If the Government wants the sector to be a success, it needs to take a step back, acquire a better understanding of how it works and the help that it needs, set achievable goals and develop a coherent strategy." Modulous and Lighthouse went into administration in January and March 2024 respectively. In late March 2024, housing minister Lee Rowley told the Lords Committee that the government would be reviewing its MMC policies in light of the crisis in the volumetric house-building sector. He promised "a full update in late spring once we have undertaken further detailed work with the sector". Following the July 2024 general election, a House of Lords Library report was published in August 2024 ahead of a scheduled debate in September 2024; it said the new Labour government would publish a new long-term housing strategy "in the coming months".
Defining MMC
MMC refers to a variety of off-site construction methods:
modular construction: three-dimensional units produced in a factory are transported to site and assembled and connected
non-structural pods: for example, fitted kitchens or bathrooms that can be incorporated into load-bearing structures
panelised systems: flat panel units typically used for walls, ceilings and floors, and made of timber, light steel or concrete, and
sub-assemblies and components such as roof frames and floor cassettes.
During the early 2000s, the Housing Corporation classified a number of offsite manufacturing initiatives. Its classification included volumetric construction (e.g. bathroom and kitchen pods), panellised construction systems, hybrid construction (volumetric units integrated with panellised systems), sub-assemblies and components (e.g. floor and roof cassettes, wiring looms, pre-fabricated plumbing), and site-based MMC approaches.
In 2017, the IPA's Transforming Infrastructure Performance committed the government to "smart construction, using modern methods, including offsite manufacture". It said: "Smart construction (or 'modern methods of construction') offers the opportunity to transition from traditional construction to manufacturing, and unlock the benefits from standard, repeatable processes with components manufactured offsite."
MMC framework
Recognising that terms such as MMC, prefabrication and off-site construction were prone to different interpretations, a Modern Methods of Construction working group was established by the UK's Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to develop a definition framework. With inputs from Build Offsite, Homes England, National House Building Council (NHBC) and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) framework definition was published in 2019. It was intended to regularise and refine the term MMC by defining the broad spectrum of innovative construction techniques being applied, enabling clients, advisors, lenders and investors, warranty providers, building insurers and valuers to all build a common understanding of the different forms of MMC use. It divides factory-produced systems into seven categories:
Criticisms
As previously mentioned, while MMC suggests a modern approach, some of its processes - notably prefabrication, but also standardisation of components - were extensively deployed during the 20th century. MMC, particularly in the UK, has been challenging to implement due to the volatility of the UK housing market, while the increasingly globalised nature of the supply chain for products such as panelised cladding systems also creates issues - for example, concerns about working conditions in remote off-site factories, and the de-skilling impacts on traditional capabilities in local communities. Moreover, re-classifying activities as manufacturing rather than construction would also materially impact the headline labour productivity of the construction sector. Also "Off-site factories are essentially transient entities. There is hence no guarantee they will be able to supply replacement components in the future. And the more that manufactured components rely on 'high-precision engineering' the less malleable they are in terms of future adaptation."
After high-profile business failures in the sector (including Ilke Homes), a 2024 study proposed steps to improve public perceptions of MMC and increase industry adoption. Confidence had also been adversely affected by the disjointed nature of MMC organisations, poor communication defining MMC, and unfair value comparisons. The study made a series of recommendations, including standardisation of systems, development of an MMC glossary and rethinking planning policies.
References
Construction
Building engineering
Construction industry of the United Kingdom | Modern methods of construction | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,870 | [
"Construction",
"Civil engineering",
"Architecture",
"Building engineering"
] |
76,386,798 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint%20Evaluated%20Fission%20and%20Fusion | The Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion (JEFF) organization is an international collaboration for the production of nuclear data. It consists of members of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
JEFF produces the Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion Nuclear Data Library, which is in the universal ENDF format.
References
Nuclear physics
Organizations with year of establishment missing | Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion | [
"Physics"
] | 82 | [
"Nuclear and atomic physics stubs",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
76,387,088 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.%20D.%20Zelinsky%20Institute%20of%20Organic%20Chemistry | N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry (ZIOC) is one of the research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the field of chemistry. The institute employs more than 900 people in 39 research laboratories and groups. It is located in Moscow.
History
The institute was founded on February 23, 1934, in Moscow on the basis of the High Pressure Laboratory and the Organic Synthesis Laboratory. Among the founders were academicians A. E. Favorsky, N. D. Zelinsky, V. N. Ipatiev, A. E. Chichibabin, and later N. Ya. Demyanov, M. A. Ilyinsky and others. In 1953, the institute was named after Academician N. D. Zelinsky, who headed one of the departments from 1936 to 1953. The world fame of the institute is associated with the names of many prominent scientists who worked there. Among them are academicians A. E. Favorsky, N. D. Zelinsky, A. A. Balandin, B. A. Kazansky, A. N. Nesmeyanov, I. N. Nazarov, I. L. Knunyants, A. E. Porai-Koshits, V. V. Korshak, L. F. Vereshchagin, M. M. Shemyakin, M. I. Kabachnik, H. M. Minachev.
During the Great Patriotic War, carbinol glue (Nazarov glue) was developed for repairing military equipment in the field.
Synthesis methods were developed and batches of drugs were produced, including the drug vinylin (Shostakovsky balm).
Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds, Institute of High Pressure Physics in 1954, and Institute of natural compounds chemistry (INCC) (now Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry) in 1959 are separated from N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry. At the same time, the traditional areas of research at the ZIOC expanded and developed. Several other research centers were created with the support of scientists from the ZIOC. Among them are the A. E. Favorsky Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, V. I. Nikitin Institute of chemistry and the Institute of Organic Chemistry of Turkmenistan.
The institute is located at Leninsky Prospekt, 47. The building was built in 1954 according to the design of the architect Alexey Shchusev.
Directors
Since the founding of the institute, it has had seven directors:
Alexey Evgrafovich Favorsky (1934–1939)
Alexander Nikolayevich Nesmeyanov (1939–1954)
Boris Alexandrovich Kazansky (1954–1966)
Nikolai Konstantinovich Kochetkov (1966–1988)
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Tartakovsky (1988–2002)
Mikhail Petrovich Egorov (2003–2023)
Alexander Olegovich Terentyev (since 2024)
Main fields of research
Physical and synthetic organic chemistry
Organic chemistry of natural compounds
Catalytic organic synthesis and physicochemical basis of catalysis
Computer chemistry and modern information technologies
Discoveries and inventions
Facilities
Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS) solariX XR 15T, Bruker, Germany, 2019
Publishers
Mendeleev Communications
"Успехи химии" (in Russian); English translation: Russian Chemical Reviews
“Кинетика и Катализ” (in Russian); English version: Kinetics and Catalysis
"Известия АН. Серия химическая" (in Russian); English version: Russian Chemical Bulletin
General references
Monograph by A.M. Rubinstein "Institute of Organic Chemistry of N.D. Zelinsky" / "Nauka", 1995. (Монография А.М.Рубинштейна "Институт органической химии имени Н.Д.Зелинского" / «Наука», 1995).
References
Research institutes in Russia
Research institutes in the Soviet Union
1934 establishments in the Soviet Union
Research institutes established in 1934
Chemical research institutes | N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry | [
"Chemistry"
] | 939 | [
"Chemical research institutes"
] |
76,387,298 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus%20of%20Linguistic%20Acceptability | Corpus of Linguistic Acceptability (CoLA) is a dataset the primary purpose of which is to serve as a benchmark for evaluating the ability of artificial neural networks, including large language models, to judge the grammatical correctness of sentences. It consists of 10,657 English sentences from published linguistics literature that were manually labeled either as grammatical or ungrammatical.
Public version
The publicly available version of CoLA contains 9,594 sentences that belong to training and development sets. It excludes 1,063 sentences reserved for a held-out test set.
External links
References
Natural language processing | Corpus of Linguistic Acceptability | [
"Technology"
] | 120 | [
"Natural language processing",
"Natural language and computing"
] |
76,388,661 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal%20casting%20simulation | Casting process simulation is a computational technique used in industry and metallurgy to model and analyze the metal-casting process. This technology allows engineers to predict and visualize the flow of molten metal, crystallization patterns, and potential defects in the casting before the start of the actual production process. By simulating the casting process, manufacturers can optimize mold design, reduce material consumption, and improve the quality of the final product.
History
The theoretical foundations of heat conduction, critically important for casting simulation, were established by Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier at the École polytechnique in Paris. His thesis "Analytical Theory of Heat," awarded in 1822, laid the groundwork for all subsequent calculations of heat conduction and heat transfer in solid materials. Additionally, French physicist and engineer Claude-Louis Navier and Irish mathematician and physicist George Gabriel Stokes provided the foundations of fluid dynamics, which led to the development of the Navier-Stokes equations. Adolph Fick, working in the 19th century at the University of Zurich, developed the fundamental equations describing diffusion, published in 1855.
The beginning of simulation in casting started in the 1950s when V. Pashkis used analog computers to predict the movement of the crystallization front. The first use of digital computers to solve problems related to casting was carried out by Dr K. Fursund in 1962, who considered the penetration of steel into a sand mold. A pioneering work by J. G. Hentzel and J. Keverian in 1965 was the two-dimensional simulation of the crystallization of steel castings, using a program developed by General Electric to simulate heat transfer. In 1968, Ole Vestby was the first to use the finite difference method to program a 2D model that evaluated the temperature distribution during welding.
The 1980s marked a significant increase in research and development activities around the topic of casting process simulation with contributions from various international groups, including J. T. Berry and R. D. Pielke in the United States, E. Niyama in Japan, W. Kurz in Lausanne, and F. Durand in Grenoble. An especially important role in advancing this field was played by Professor P. R. Sahm at the Aachen Foundry Institute. Key milestones of this period were the introduction of the "criterion function" by Hansen and Berry in 1980, the Niyama criterion function for the representation of central porosities in 1982, and the proposal of a criterion function for the detection of hot cracks in steel castings by E. Fehlner and P. N. Hansen in 1984. In the late 1980s, the first capabilities for simulating mold filling were developed.
The 1990s focused on the simulation of stresses and strains in castings with significant contributions from Hattel and Hansen in 1990. This decade also saw efforts to predict microstructures and mechanical properties with the pioneering work of I. Svensson and M. Wessen in Sweden.
Principles of casting simulation
The production of casting is one of the most complex and multifaceted processes in metallurgy, requiring careful control and an understanding of a multitude of physical and chemical phenomena. To effectively manage this process and ensure the high quality of the final products, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the interaction of the various casting parameters. In this context, the mathematical modeling of casting acts as a critically important scientific tool, allowing for detailed analysis and optimization of the casting process based on mathematical principles.
Mathematical modeling of casting is a complex process that involves the formulation and solution of mathematical equations that describe physical phenomena such as thermal conductivity, fluid dynamics, phase transformations, among others. To solve these equations, various numerical analysis methods are applied, among which the finite element method (FEM), finite difference method (FDM), and finite volume method (FVM) hold a special place. Each of these methods has its particular characteristics and is applied depending on the specific modeling tasks and the requirements for precision and efficiency in the calculations.
Finite difference method (FDM): This method is based on differential equations of heat and mass transfer, which are approximated using finite difference relationships. The advantage of the FDM is its simplicity and the ability to simplify the solution of multidimensional problems. However, the method has limitations in modeling the boundaries of complex areas and performs poorly for castings with thin walls.
The finite element method and Finite volume method (FVM): Both methods are based on integral equations of heat and mass transfer. They provide a good approximation of the boundaries and allow the use of elements with different discretizations. The main drawbacks are the need for a finite element generator, the complexity of the equations, and large requirements for memory and time resources.
Modifications of the FVM: These methods attempt to combine the simplicity of the FDM with a good approximation of the boundaries of the FEM. They have the potential to improve the approximation of boundaries between different materials and phases.
The analysis of different methods of mathematical modeling of casting processes shows that the finite element method is one of the most reliable and optimal approaches for casting simulation. Despite higher computational resource requirements and complexity in implementation compared to the finite difference method and finite volume method, the FEM provides high accuracy in modeling boundaries, complex geometries, and temperature fields, which is critically important for predicting defects in castings and optimizing casting processes.
Application in production
Computer-aided engineering (CAE) systems for casting processes have long been used by foundries around the world as a "virtual foundry workshop," where it is possible to perform and verify any idea that arises in the minds of designers and technologists. The global market for CAE for casting processes can already be considered established.
Within the structure of the company for the development of the technology of a new casting, a computer-aided design department for casting processes is created, responsible for operating CAE systems for casting processes. Calculations are carried out by specialists of the department according to their job instructions, and interaction with other departments is regulated by technological design instructions.
The process begins with the delivery of the 3D model and drawing of the part to the foundry technologists, who coordinate the casting configuration with the mechanical workshop and determine the margins. Then, the technology is developed in the CAE department and transferred to the foundry workshop for experimental castings. The results are monitored, and if necessary, the castings are examined in the central laboratory of the factory. If defects are detected, an adjustment of the model parameters and the technological process is made in the CAE department, after which the technology is tested again in the workshop.
This cycle is repeated until suitable castings are obtained, after which the technology is considered developed and implemented in mass production.
Software and tools
In the modern foundry industry, software for the simulation of casting processes is widely used. Among the multitude of software solutions available, it is worth mentioning the most prominent and widely used products: Procast, MAGMASOFT, and PoligonSoft.
ProCAST: a casting process modeling system using the finite element method, which provides the joint solution of temperature, hydrodynamics, and deformation problems, along with unique metallurgical capabilities, for all casting processes and casting alloys. In addition to the main aspects of casting production – filling, crystallization, and porosity prediction, ProCAST is capable of predicting the occurrence of deformations and residual stresses in the casting and can be used to analyze processes such as core making, centrifugal casting, lost wax casting, continuous casting.
PoligonSoft: a casting process modeling system using the finite element method. Applicable for modeling almost any casting technology and any casting alloy. For a long time, PoligonSoft was the only casting process modeling system in the world that included a special model for calculating microporosity. To date, this model can be considered the most stable, and the results obtained with its help can satisfy the most demanding users. In many respects, PoligonSoft can be considered the Russian equivalent of the ProCAST system.
MAGMASOFT: a casting process modeling system using the finite difference method. It allows analyzing thermal processes, mold filling, crystallization, and predicting defects in castings. The program includes modules for different casting technologies and helps optimize casting parameters to improve product quality. MAGMASOFT is an effective tool for increasing the productivity and quality of casting production.
Future trends
The simulation of the casting process reflects the user's knowledge, who decides whether the filling system has led to an acceptable result. Optimization suggestions must come from the operator. The main problem is that all processes occur simultaneously and are interconnected: changes in one parameter affect many quality characteristics of the casting.
Autonomous optimization, which began in the late 1980s, uses the simulation tool as a virtual testing ground, changing filling conditions and process parameters to find the optimal solution. This allows evaluating numerous process parameters and their impact on process stability.
It is important to remember that only what can be modeled can be optimized. Optimization does not replace process knowledge or experience. The simulation user must know the objectives and quality criteria necessary to achieve those objectives and formulate specific questions to the program to obtain quantitative solutions.
See also
References
External links
Сasting simulation software
The efficiency of multithreaded computing in casting simulation software
Foundries
Metalworking
Software
Casting (manufacturing) | Metal casting simulation | [
"Chemistry",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,887 | [
"Foundries",
"Software engineering",
"Computer science",
"nan",
"Metallurgical facilities",
"Software"
] |
76,388,687 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray%20Flannery | Martin Raymond (Ray) Flannery (January 8, 1941, in Claudy, County Londonderry – May 2, 2013, in Atlanta, Georgia) was Regents’ Professor Emeritus in theoretical physics at Georgia Tech. He was known for his work in atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO), and published over 160 papers in that area, 66 as sole author.
Education and career
From 1952 to 1958 Flannery attended St Columb's College in Derry. In 1958 he entered Queen's University of Belfast (QUB), getting a B.Sc. in mathematics in 1961, and then a Ph.D. in 1964 under advisors Alan L. Stewart and Uno (Uuno) Öpik. His thesis was in two parts: Some properties of three-electron atomic systems abd and Photoionization of molecular hydrogen.
His early academic career included faculty positions at Queen's University Belfast (1964–66), University of Innsbruck (1966), Georgia Institute of Technology (1967–68), and Harvard University (1968–71). At Georgia Tech, he rose through the ranks from Associate Professor (1971) to Professor (1974) and Regents' Professor (1993), formally retiring in 2007. He also held the following positions:
1977: Visiting Fellow of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) in Boulder, Colorado.
1979: Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).
1980 & 2000: Fellow of the Institute of Physics in London.
1993 & 2002: Fellow of the Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics at Harvard.
Selected papers
1970: "Semiquantal theory of heavy-particle excitation, deexcitation, and lonization by neutral atoms: I. Slow and Intermediate Energy Collisions" in the Annals of Physics, Vol 61, #2,
1997: "Passive millimeter-wave camera" (with Yujiri, Larry, et al.), Passive Millimeter-Wave Imaging Technology. Vol. 3064. SPIE, .
2011: "The elusive d'Alembert-Lagrange dynamics of nonholonomic systems" in the American Journal of Physics, 79:9
Awards and honors
1961 Awarded the Purser Postgraduate Prize upon getting his B.Sc. at QUB.
1997 Elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
1998 The American Physical Society awarded him the Will Allis Prize for the Study of Ionized Gases.
In 2012 the school of mathematics and physics at QUB established the Raymond Flannery Prize "to be awarded annually to the graduate in the School of Mathematics and Physics with the best overall mark".
References
External links
Home page at Georgia Tech
1941 births
2013 deaths
People from County Londonderry
Scientists from Derry (city)
Theoretical physicists
Georgia Tech faculty
People educated at St Columb's College
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast | Ray Flannery | [
"Physics"
] | 586 | [
"Theoretical physics",
"Theoretical physicists"
] |
76,389,470 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praseodymium%28III%29%20iodate | Praseodymium(III) iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Pr(IO3)3.
Preparation
Praseodymium(III) iodate can be obtained by reacting praseodymium(III) nitrate and potassium iodate in a hot aqueous solution:
Pr(NO3)3 + 3 KIO3 → Pr(IO3)3 + 3 KNO3
Properties
Praseodymium(III) iodate can be thermally decomposed as follows:
7 Pr(IO3)3 → Pr5(IO6)3 + Pr2O3 + 9 I2 + 21 O2
References
Praseodymium(III) compounds
Iodates | Praseodymium(III) iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 148 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,389,533 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium%28III%29%20iodate | Neodymium(III) iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Nd(IO3)3.
Preparation
Neodymium(III) iodate can be produced by the hydrothermal reaction of neodymium(III) nitrate or neodymium(III) oxide and iodic acid in water at 230 °C:
Properties
Neodymium(III) iodate can be thermally decomposed as follows:
Its monohydrate is known, crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system, with space group P21, and its pyroelectric coefficient at room temperature is 2.2×10−5 C·m−2/K.
References
Neodymium compounds
Iodates
Monoclinic crystals | Neodymium(III) iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 153 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,390,321 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erbium%20iodate | Erbium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Er(IO3)3.
Preparation
Erbium iodate can be obtained by reacting erbium periodate and periodic acid in water at 160 °C. The reaction will produce anhydrous and dihydrate crystals.
Properties
Erbium iodate dihydrate is stable below 266 °C, loses two molecules of water at 289 °C, and decomposes at 589 °C to generate iodine and release oxygen.
References
Erbium compounds
Iodates | Erbium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 110 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,390,336 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thulium%20iodate | Thulium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Tm(IO3)3. It can be prepared by the hydrothermal reaction of periodic acid and thulium periodate in water at 160 °C. Its crystals can also be crystallized in boiling nitric acid. Its solubility in water at 25 °C is 1.467±0.001 10−3 mol·dm−3). Adding dimethyl sulfoxide to water will reduce the solubility.
References
Thulium compounds
Iodates | Thulium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 113 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,390,348 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterbium%28III%29%20iodate | Ytterbium(III) iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Yb(IO3)3. Its dihydrate can be prepared by reacting ytterbium sulfate and iodic acid in water at 200 °C. It crystallizes in the P21/c space group, with unit cell parameters a=8.685, b=6.066, c=16.687 Å, β=115.01°.
References
Ytterbium(III) compounds
Iodates | Ytterbium(III) iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 109 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,390,428 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutetium%20iodate | Lutetium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Lu(IO3)3. It exists in two anhydrous forms, α-form and β-form, as well as dihydrate and tetrahydrate. It can be produced by the reaction of lutetium nitrate and iodic acid or potassium iodate. It decomposes when heated to generate lutetium oxide.
References
Lutetium compounds
Iodates | Lutetium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 95 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,390,477 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethium%20iodate | Promethium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Pm(IO3)3. It can be obtained by reacting with potassium iodate, ammonium iodate or a slight excess of iodic acid and Pm3+ solution and precipitating it. Its hydrate, Pm(IO3)3·H2O, crystallizes in the P21 space group, with unit cell parameters a=10.172±13, b=6.700±20, c=7.289±24 Å, β=113.1±0.2°.
References
External reading
Promethium compounds
Iodates | Promethium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 131 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,391,393 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatopancreatic%20parvovirus | Hepatopancreatic parvoviruses (HPV) are viruses with single-stranded DNA genomes that are in the family Parvoviridae, and which infect shrimp, prawn and other crustaceans. HPV infects the epithelial cells of the host's hepatopancreas and midgut, leading to stunted growth at the early life stage. For shrimp farms, especially in Asian countries such as China, India and Indonesia, HPV can lead to economic losses in aquaculture due to the reduced production.
Virology
Hepatopancreatic parvoviruses (HPV) are icosahedral particles with an average 22 nm diameter, whose genomes consist of negative single-stranded DNA molecules. Four complete genome sequences of HPV are available to date: Thailand (Penaeus monodon densovirus (PmoDNV)), Australia (Penaeus merguiensis densovirus (PmeDNV)), India (Penaeus monodon densovirus (PmoDNV) and South Korea (F. chinensis hepatopancreatic densovirus (FcDNV)).
Different strains of HPV show genetic variance, isolated by shrimp species and/or geographical regions. For example, there is a 10% sequence variation between South Korean and Chinese stains, which can be explained by the hosts' adaption to different spatial conditions in the two countries.
Pathology
HPV is known to infect ten species of shrimp and freshwater prawns including Penaeus vannamei, Penaeus semisulcatus, Penaeus chinensis, Penaeus setosus, Penaeus monodon, Penaeus indicus, Penaeus cyaneus, and Penaeus japonicus. The virus infects shrimp at an early stage of growth. It causes stunted growth, stopping growth when the shrimp reaches about 6 centimeters in length. HPV infects the epithelial cells of the shrimp's hepatopancreas and midgut. This results in hepatopancreatic atrophy, low growth rates, loss of appetite, reduced pre-hatching, and an increase in ectoparasites on the body surface and gills. HPV can cause mortality in epizootics in P. merguiensis and P. semisulcatus after 4-8 weeks, with a mortality rate of 50-100%.
Epidemiology
Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) has been found to be widely distributed in wild, cultured and hatchery reared shrimps throughout the world including Australia, China, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya, Israel, Kuwait, North and South America and India.
The first case of HPV was reported in 1982 by a commercial farm in Singapore where reports of increased mortalities in early larval and post larval stages of the Banana Prawn, Penaeus merguiensis, and stunted growth in juveniles were found. Individual shrimp with the HPV infection displayed nonspecific signs during the juvenile stages, including poor growth rate, anorexia, reduced preening activity, increased surface fouling, and occasional opacity of tail musculature. These signs were accompanied by mortalities, which reached up to 50-100% of an affected population of P. merguiensis within 4-8 weeks of disease onset.
Soon after, cultured populations of four shrimp species from four separate culture facilities in Asia were found to be adversely affected by a disease of presumed viral etiology. In 1984, samples of P. esculentus from Moreton Bay and the Gulf of Carpentaria of Australia were reported to show similar signs of the virus.
In 1987, the importation of live Asian shrimp for aquaculture subsequently spread the disease to wild shrimp in North and South America. In 1995, a new strain of HPV (HPVchin) was reported to be found in P. chinensis in Korea which then was then introduced into Hawaii after the importation of infected shrimp. In 1992, HPV infection in the black tiger shrimp (P. monodon) was first reported from Thailand which then was reported in India by 2002. Wild stocks of P. semisulcatus were reported with the infection in 2005 in India. Additional strains of HPV have been documented in P. monodon from India, Madagascar, New Caledonia and Tanzania and in P. chinensis from South Korea and China.
Transmission
The natural host range of HPV includes a number of cultured and captured shrimp species from all around the world, including Penaeus merguiensis, Penaeus semisulcatus, Penaeus chinensis (=orientalis), Penaeus esculentus, Penaeus monodon, Penaeus indicus, Penaeus penicillatus, Penaeus japonicus, Penaeus stylirostris and Penaeus vannamei. A HPV-like agent was found in Macrobrachium rosenbergii. To date, ten strains of HPV have been described. HPV is observed to transmit vertically and horizontally. Feeding experiments show that P. monodon post-larvae can be infected by the HPV carried by Artemia, which implies the risk of rearing system contamination. Parents-offspring transmissions are both reported by aquaculture farms in China and India, confirming the vertical transmission of HPV.
HPV first attaches to the microvilli of host cells and then enters them through pinocytosis. Parvovirus particles can infected by exposure to infected water or by cannibalism of tissues of infected hosts. Cannibalism is ordinary among crustacean species and can intensify as the pressure increases in the communities, such as high density, low oxygen, and low food availability, which are commonly found in shrimp farms.
Treatment and control
Currently, there are no targeted antiviral therapies or vaccines for HPV, underscoring the continued importance of preventive measures in mitigating outbreaks of the disease.
Therefore, prioritizing research into the prevention and management of HPV infections is crucial. Additionally, advancing studies on viral proteins and their functions in replication should serve as the cornerstone for future investigations in this field. Maintaining optimal water quality parameters, such as temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen levels, to reduce stress on shrimp and support their immune system function.
Evolution
HPV has been found to have greater genetic diversity than other shrimp viruses. The variation in HPV is a reflection of its wide geographic distribution, as it has been found in samples of penaeid shrimp collected from Africa, Australia, and Asia.
The genetic variation among geographic isolates of HPV can be divided into 4 well-separated genotypes: Tanzania, Korea, Thailand, and Australia. Isolates from Tanzania and Madagascar form one subclade, Thailand, Indonesia, and India form the second subclade, Australia and New Caledonia form the third, and Korea and China form the forth subclade. The viral etiology of HPV varies amongst shrimp. HPV has been linked to growth reduction of farmed P. monodon in Thailand; however, in Madagascar, HPV infection appears to have no negative effect on shrimp growth. It is speculated that the different effects may be related to differences among viral genotypes, host populations and/or farming practices.
Economic impact
HPV poses environmental and economical challenges in the aquaculture industry. Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food producing sectors in the world where the reported global production of food from aquaculture comprised 87.5 million tonnes of aquatic animals mostly for use as human food. Shrimp farming has rapidly expanded in Asia and generated substantial income for farmers in many developing countries. The increased occurrence of devastating viral diseases in shrimp culture systems threatens the sustainability of both the aquaculture industry and the commercial shrimp fishery.
HPV is associated with reduced growth rates of juvenile shrimp without showing any gross signs of disease and can lead to mass mortalities in shrimp populations. Therefore, outbreaks can result in substantial losses for shrimp farmers due to decreased yields, increased mortality rates, and costly disease management measures such as quarantine protocols and treatment regimens. These impacts reverberate through the entire aquaculture supply chain, affecting livelihoods and food security in regions dependent on shrimp farming. In India, the shrimp aquaculture industry started only during the mid-eighties, flourished well and proved lucrative initially until the sector was affected by diseases. Ecologically, infected shrimp may shed the virus into surrounding waters, potentially spreading the disease to wild crustacean populations.
References
Parvoviruses
Viruses | Hepatopancreatic parvovirus | [
"Biology"
] | 1,769 | [
"Viruses",
"Tree of life (biology)",
"Microorganisms"
] |
76,392,324 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia%20pachyderma | Calvatia pachyderma, also known as the elephant-skin puffball or thick-skinned puffball, is a species of edible fungus. This mid-sized, spring-fruiting puffball is known from relatively dry, open places near human settlements. The appropriate binomial name, taxonomic placement, and geographic distribution "have been much debated and are the subject of controversy".
History
C. pachyderma
This puffball was described as Lycoperdon pachydermum by Charles Horton Peck in 1882 from a type specimen collected in Arizona by C. G. Pringle. The species name "pachy-derm" means "thick skin", same as the obsolete order of mammals, Pachydermata, which included elephants and hippos.
In 1992, German mycologist Hanns Kreisel placed it in genus Calvatia sect. Gastropila, along with Calvatia pilula. According to Kreisel, both C. pachyderma and C. pilula are characterized by "Endoperidium thick, spongy; exoperidium thin, smooth. Capillitium with small pits. Subgleba none. Mature gleba olivaceous to brown."
G. fragilis
Gastropila fragilis was first described by French mycologist Joseph-Henri Léveillé as Mycenastrum fragile in 1844. Léveillé's M. fragile had several intermediate taxonomic placements before María H. Homrich and Jorge E. Wright assigned it the genus Gastropila in 1973.
Taxonomic drama
According to some sources, Calvatia pachyderma and Gastropila fragilis are synonymous, which was argued as early as 1915 Curtis Gates Lloyd but specifically debunked by María H. Homrich and Jorge Eduardo Wright in 1974. Mycobank currently holds that Calvatia pilula (Kreisel, 1992)not C. pachydermais a synonym of G. fragilis. Further complicating matters, Lloyd (followed by others) claimed that Andrew Price Morgan's 1890 species description was not, in fact, the same as described by Peck, but rather Morgan was describing Calvatia polygonia.
Habitat and geographic distribution
According to Kreisel, "Most species of Calvatia live in dry or mesophilic grassland, in arctic-alpine meadows, or in semi-desertic vegetation, some in gardens and cultivated soils. Only a few species occur in forests and other shady places." According to American mycologist David Arora, C. pachyderma is often found in "open, cultivated, and arid places". The thick-skinned puffball is primarily a spring mushroom (in the Northern Hemisphere), but also can be found at the beginning of the rainy season in the fall. It may appear as a one-off or in small groupings, sometimes in fairy rings. This puffball, and/or its almost indistinguishably similar close cousins, often grows in or near grass and/or along compacted trails.
In California, C. pachyderma is locally and/or seasonally common along the coast and the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In Arizona, C. pachyderma is found in "mid to higher elevations" in Great Basin conifer woodland and Madrean evergreen woodland habitats. In western North America, Calvatia pachyderma may be mistaken for Calvatia booniana or Calvatia craniiformis. The skin of C. booniana breaks up in "polygonal or irregular-shaped patches" while C. pachyderma often develops vertical/longitudinal cracks at the "apical portions of the gasterocarp" and then pulls away from the gleba in fairly large plates. C. craniiformis is usually smaller than C. pachyderma, and the skin is thin and delicate. Mycenastrum corium also has some similar features but mature spores are red-brown or dark-brown, whereas C. pachyderma spores are yellow-brown or olive-brown.
Similar mushrooms that are contended, in some papers, and disputed in others, to be the same species, have been found in "high altitudes of Iran and Nepal," South Africa, Russia, Bulgaria, Turkmenistan, Chile, et al.
Description
In 1882, Charles Horton Peck described this species as "Subglobose, four to six inches in diameter, the radicating base somewhat pointed, the external peridium thin, smooth, whitish, the upper part cracking into small angular persistent spot-like scales or areas, the inner peridium thick, sub corky, somewhat brittle, the upper part at length breaking up into irregular fragments; capillitium and spores ochraceous-brown, the filaments long, flexuous, somewhat branched, .0003 of an inch spores subglobose or broadly elliptical, .0002-.00025 of an inch long. Arizona, June. Pringle. This is a singular species of Lycoperdon, belonging to the section Bovistoides, but having the peridium of unusual thickness. It is also apparently destitute of any cellular base, in which respect it approaches the genus Bovista, but the character of the threads of the capillitium points to Lycoperdon as its proper genus."
Size, shape, and color
The thick-skinned puffball sometimes known as Calvatia pachyderma is a mid-size puffball, with specimens usually measuring between in diameter with a "very thick" outer wall.
This puffball is not always spherical and tends to be wider than taller, and is sometimes shaped like a turnip, with tiny "rootlets" (actually mycelium) connecting it to the substrate. Initially white or whitish, as it expands it can become various shades of gray or brown and develop a texture described as "scaly or more often like cracked mud." As it moves past the edible stage toward the inedible spore-dispersing brown-dust explosion stage, the exterior skin (peridium) may begin to spontaneously peel back, sometimes ultimately fracturing in a way that superficially resembles an earthstar and that may leave behind a "shallow cup-shaped base".
Peridium and gleba
The "skin" of a puffball is called the peridium; the "flesh" is called the gleba. One review of North American gasteromycetes described C. pachyderma as having "Peridium single, or at least not separable into two distinct layers, thick; gleba bright olivaceous."
Spores
The spores of this fungus are described as ochraceous-brown or "soft, yellowish, golden brown to dark olive-brown". C. pachyderma spores appear "entirely smooth" when viewed under a microscope.
See also
Calvatia bovista
Calvatia gigantea
Bovista plumbea
Calbovista subsculpta
References
Sources
Edible fungi
Fungus species
Agaricaceae
Puffballs
Taxa named by Charles Horton Peck
Fungi described in 1882
pachyderma
Fungi found in fairy rings | Calvatia pachyderma | [
"Biology"
] | 1,506 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,393,765 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief%20congruence | In the realm of psychology, the concept of belief congruence suggests that our valuation of beliefs, subsystems or systems of beliefs and people is directly proportional to their congruence with our own belief systems. That similar beliefs promote liking and social harmony among people while dissimilar beliefs produce dislike and prejudice.
Belief congruence was first proposed by Milton Rokeach in 1960, 'belief is more important than ethnic or racial membership as a determinant of social discrimination' – that prejudice arises from how people react to differences, or lack of congruence in belief systems, not just based on inter-group memberships.
This principle was further elaborated by himself later in 1965, that belief system is a crucial alignment point for individuals, thus, the validity of our own beliefs can be confirmed or determined by the level of similarity and congruence of inter-individual belief systems. The principle states that we value beliefs and people based on how closely they align with our own beliefs, considering both similarity and importance. A belief is deemed more congruent if it's either more similar to ours or deemed more important, assuming equal similarity.
Empirical evidence
Rokeach and his colleagues designed an experiment to separate the effects of group membership from belief congruence on individuals' preferences. In this paradigm, participants rated their liking for people who were either part of their own group or a different one, and who had beliefs that were either similar or dissimilar to theirs. The findings from several studies using this methodology consistently showed that shared beliefs were a stronger predictor of liking than simply belonging to the same group. This was illustrated by instances where white participants preferred a black individual with similar beliefs over a white individual with differing beliefs.
Another set of findings from researchers illustrated the powerful effects of belief prejudice over racial categorisation. People's biases matched their views on race, showing that sharing similar beliefs often matters more than race in how we connect with or judge others, particularly for a friendliness assessment.
Explanation
Social Identity Theory
Social Identity Theory, developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, stated that social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept that comes from their awareness of being part of a social group (or groups) and the emotional importance they place on this membership. Social identity theory believes that race effects could potentially result from comparative judgments individuals make to preserve their social worth or identity. Even though Tajfel didn't directly connect social identity to belief congruence theories, his ideas are still very applicable. For instance, he believes that comparing ourselves with others is what connects our social categories to our sense of who we are. Therefore, in some situations, race effects may result from comparative judgments which serve to boost the individual's value and identity.
Critiques
Since its original presentation, belief congruence theory has also generated a large number of vigorous critiques, testing the theory's hypothesis is challenging because membership in social or ethnic groups often overlaps with similarities within groups and differences between them in many key areas, including beliefs. Moreover, race was found more important than belief when it comes to more intimate relationships such as friendship. Studies found that in situations where stronger measures of attraction are considered, category (e.g. ethnic, race, group) differences become more significant than beliefs.
Critiques also argue that belief congruence primarily addresses discrimination in contexts of small social distance, the theory's applicability to scenarios involving larger social distances, such as neighbourhood or university settings, where prejudice and discrimination might manifest differently, remains questioned.
Moreover, Michael Diehl's research provides a conclusively finding: individuals generally prefer those with similar beliefs, despite similar discrimination levels against both similar and differing beliefs. However, out-groups with beliefs similar to the in-group actually faced more prejudice and discrimination compared to those with differing beliefs.
Another limitation supported by the social-pressure hypothesis of belief congruence theory is that in environments where prejudice is institutionalised or socially accepted, belief congruence does not apply, and prejudice simply becomes a matter of ethnic group membership, as found in empirical evidence from relevant studies.
'Weak version' of belief congruence theory
According to Milton Rokeach's personal communication in 1981, his intent was to advocate the strong version of the theory, that belief systems are the only factors that need to be considered when analysing prejudice and discrimination. Nonetheless, most studies about this theory are lack of significance tests between belief and race effects, but still show a common trend: beliefs more strongly influence liking and evaluations, while race impacts decisions on intimate connections.
For clarity, Moe et al. (1981) differentiate between two forms of belief congruence theory: a "strong" version and a "weak" version. The "strong" version posits that discrimination is entirely based on belief congruence. Conversely, the "weak" version suggests that belief congruence accounts for a larger portion of discrimination variance than do perceived physical differences. While belief congruence plays a crucial role in contexts free from strong social pressures, its influence does not negate the impact of racial or ethnic differences. It's also important to note that as the impact of race diminishes, the distinction between the strong and weak versions of the theory becomes progressively less relevant for immediate practical purposes.
References
Psychology
Social psychology | Belief congruence | [
"Biology"
] | 1,092 | [
"Behavioural sciences",
"Behavior",
"Psychology"
] |
76,393,766 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadolinium%20iodate | Gadolinium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Gd(IO3)3. It is produced by reacting gadolinium metal with periodic acid at 180 °C. Its solubility in water is 0.893±0.002 (25 °C, 103 mol·dm−3). Adding ethanol or methanol to water will reduce the solubility.
References
Gadolinium compounds
Iodates | Gadolinium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 94 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,393,782 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terbium%28III%29%20iodate | Terbium(III) iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Tb(IO3)3. It can be obtained by the reaction of terbium(III) periodate and periodic acid in water at 160 °C, or by the hydrothermal reaction of terbium(III) nitrate or terbium(III) chloride and iodic acid at 200 °C . It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, with space group P21/c and unit cell parameters a=7.102, b=8.468, c=13.355 Å, β=99.67°.
References
Terbium compounds
Iodates | Terbium(III) iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 138 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,393,786 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysprosium%20iodate | Dysprosium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Dy(IO3)3. It can be obtained by the reaction of dysprosium nitrate or dysprosium chloride and iodic acid at 200 °C. It exists in two crystal forms: α-form and β-form. Its solubility in water at 25 °C is 1.010±0.001 10−3 mol·dm−3). Adding ethanol or methanol to water will reduce the solubility.
References
Dysprosium compounds
Iodates | Dysprosium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 123 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,393,797 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmium%20iodate | Holmium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ho(IO3)3. It can be obtained by reacting holmium periodate and periodic acid in water at 170 °C. Its solubility in water is 1.162±0.001 (25 °C, 103 mol·dm−3). Adding ethanol or methanol to water will reduce the solubility.
References
Holmium compounds
Iodates | Holmium iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 89 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,393,827 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarium%28III%29%20iodate | Samarium iodate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Sm(IO3)3.
Preparation
Samarium(III) iodate monohydrate can be obtained by reacting samarium(III) nitrate and potassium iodate in boiling water, and its dihydrate can be obtained by reacting samarium(III) chloride, iodine pentoxide and potassium periodate in water at 180 °C.
Properties
Samarium(III) iodate decomposes as follows:
It undergoes a hydrothermal reaction with iodine pentoxide and molybdenum trioxide at 200 °C to obtain Sm(MoO2)(IO3)4(OH).
References
Samarium(III) compounds
Iodates | Samarium(III) iodate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 148 | [
"Iodates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
54,828,372 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor%20V.%20Komarov | Igor Volodymyrovych Komarov () is a Ukrainian synthetic organic chemist, specializing in medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology. He is the director of the Institute of High Technologies of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He is also a scientific advisor of Enamine Ltd (Ukraine) and Lumobiotics GmbH (Germany).
Career
Source:
Igor V. Komarov graduated with distinction from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and started to work at the same university in 1986 first as an engineer. He obtained his Candidate of Sciences degree in 1991 in organic chemistry at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv under supervision of Mikhail Yu. Kornilov; the candidate thesis was devoted to the use of lanthanide shift reagents in NMR spectroscopy. Afterwards, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University Chemical Laboratory in Cambridge (1996–1997, United Kingdom) and at the Institut für Organische Katalyseforschung in Rostock (2000–2001, Germany). He holds the Supramolecular Chemistry Chair of Institute of High Technologies at Taras Shevchenko National University. Komarov earned his Doctor of Sciences degree in 2003; the title of his thesis is "Design and synthesis of model compounds: study of stereoelectronic, steric effects, reactive intermediates, catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation and dynamic protection of functional groups" He is also a scientific advisor for Enamine Ltd. and Lumobiotics GmbH. Igor V. Komarov was awarded the title of Professor in 2007.
Contribution to research
Source:
The areas of scientific interests of Igor V. Komarov are medicinal chemistry and synthesis of model compounds, which can be used to obtain new knowledge in biochemistry, stereochemistry, theoretical chemistry, catalysis. Igor has over 125 peer reviewed research papers, h-index 31, has guided 8 PhD students to date. Igor's scientific group puts the main focus on developing of novel synthetic methods and design of theoretically interesting molecules, part of which were created and synthesized in tight collaboration with Prof. Anthony J. Kirby from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). One of such collaborative projects was synthesis, study of stereochemistry and chemical properties of 1-aza-2-adamantanone and its derivatives. A trimethyl-substituted derivative ("the most twisted amide", "Kirby's amide") was designed in the Prof. Kirby's laboratory and synthesized by Igor in 1997 during his postdoctoral stay in Cambridge. In 2014, a parent molecule was made in Igor's group in collaboration with Prof. Kirby. The compound modelled the transition state of cis-trans isomerization of amides and allowed obtaining fundamental knowledge about the amide bond.
Igor V. Komarov started his research in the area of synthetic organic chemistry at the beginning of 1990th, working on phosphorylation of aromatic heterocyclic compounds by phosphorus(V) acid halides. At that time, convenient phosphorylation methods were developed, which now find use, for example, for synthesis of materials applicable for uranium extraction. Later, working in Rostock, Igor V. Komarov changed the direction of his research and got interested in homogenous asymmetric catalysis. The study of catalysis was carried out using model compounds: functionalized camphor- and tartaric acid-derived chiral ligands were synthesized such as monophosphines, diphosphines, and then Rhodium(I) complexes with them. The complexes were used for asymmetric homogenous hydrogenation of prochiral substrates, and the obtained results allowed elucidating the effects of oxo- and oxy-functional groups in ligands on efficiency and selectivity of the catalysts. These works led to introduction of efficient catalysts to synthetic practice, like catASium, some of them bearing a camphor-derived ligand ROCKYPhos (named after the cities ROstok and KYiv).
Although Igor's interest to the synthesis of chiral ligands has not been faded, he changed the general direction of his research once more, and now he works in the area of drug design. One of the main design principle is restriction of conformational mobility of the drug candidate molecules. Prof. Komarov's research group developed many approaches to synthesis of conformationally restricted amines and amino acids - the building blocks for drug design. Numerous conformationally restricted fluorine-containing amino acids were also designed and synthesized, with a purpose of using them as labels to study peptides in lipid bilayers by solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
Igor V. Komarov's group made a contribution to design and synthesis of light-controllable biologically active compounds - photocontrollable peptides - potential candidates for photopharmacology drugs. Photopharmacology drugs can be administered in the inactive, non-toxic form, and then activated ("switched on") by light only when and where required to treat localized lesions (e.g.in solid tumors). The activation by light can be done with very high spatiotemporal precision in the lesion site, leaving the rest of the patient body unaffected. After the treatment, the photopharmacology drugs can be inactivated ("switched off") by light in order to diminish side-effects and environmental burden.
Another research direction in the Igor V. Komarov's scientific group is navigation of chemical space. A method of structural comparison for organic molecules was developed which employed exit vector plot analysis. Enumeration of molecules (exhaustive generation of all theoretically possible structures) was carried out for some classes of organic compounds, for example, for conformationally restricted diamines.
In the area of nanotechnology, Igor V. Komarov's research group studied cell-penetrating peptides as carriers for carbon-based fluorescent nanoparticles, shuttling them inside eukaryotic cells with the purpose of bioimaging.
Igor V. Komarov has a Ukrainian patent, 2 international patents, is a co-authors of text-books on NMR spectroscopy.
Scientific projects
Igor V. Komarov was a coordinator of scientific projects financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (three applied projects devoted to design of therapeutic peptides, including photocontrolled [1]), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Institute Partnershaft and Research Linkage Programs, in collaboration with Karlsruhe University (Karlsruhe, Germany)[2] and Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology (Berlin, Germany)[3]), private companies Degussa (the project was devoted to development of large-scale production of a ligand for Rhodium-based catalysts of asymmetric hydrogenation) and Enamine (six medicinal chemistry projects, lead discovery and lead optimization). He is currently a coordinator of a European Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) Programme (2016–2019) Grant Agreement number: 690973 [4], the title of the project – “Peptidomimetics with Photocontrolled Biological Activity”.
Awards and grants
NATO Research Award (postdoctoral fellowship, 01.1996–01.1997, The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom);
INTAS grants (research visits, 08.1993 and 10.1994,The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom);
ISF grants (1998, research project, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv);
Grants of the Royal Society of Chemistry for authors (1999, 2000);
Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship (postdoctoral stay in Rostock, Germany, 2000–2001);
Georg Forster Research Award (2015);
Title "Merited Figure of Science and Technology of Ukraine" (2016).
References
1964 births
Living people
Ukrainian chemists
Organic chemists
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni | Igor V. Komarov | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,635 | [
"Organic chemists"
] |
54,829,150 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push%20on%20green | Push On Green is a process for automatically updating production software systems in a safe and controlled manner. Push on green processes are intended to keep production systems up and running with minimal manual effort and minimal user-visible downtime.
References
Software development process | Push on green | [
"Engineering"
] | 51 | [
"Software engineering",
"Software engineering stubs"
] |
54,829,672 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubical%20complex | In mathematics, a cubical complex (also called cubical set and Cartesian complex) is a set composed of points, line segments, squares, cubes, and their n-dimensional counterparts. They are used analogously to simplicial complexes and CW complexes in the computation of the homology of topological spaces. Non-positively curved and CAT(0) cube complexes appear with increasing significance in geometric group theory.
Definitions
With regular cubes
A unit cube (often just called a cube) of dimension is the metric space obtained as the finite () cartesian product of copies of the unit interval .
A face of a unit cube is a subset of the form , where for all , is either , , or . The dimension of the face is the number of indices such that ; a face of dimension , or -face, is itself naturally a unit elementary cube of dimension , and is sometimes called a subcube of . One can also regard as a face of dimension .
A cubed complex is a metric polyhedral complex all of whose cells are unit cubes, i.e. it is the quotient of a disjoint union of copies of unit cubes under an equivalence relation generated by a set of isometric identifications of faces. One often reserves the term cubical complex, or cube complex, for such cubed complexes where no two faces of a same cube are identified, i.e. where the boundary of each cube is embedded, and the intersection of two cubes is a face in each cube.
A cube complex is said to be finite-dimensional if the dimension of the cubical cells is bounded. It is locally finite if every cube is contained in only finitely many cubes.
With irregular cubes
An elementary interval is a subset of the form
for some . An elementary cube is the finite product of elementary intervals, i.e.
where are elementary intervals. Equivalently, an elementary cube is any translate of a unit cube embedded in Euclidean space (for some with ). A set is a cubical complex (or cubical set) if it can be written as a union of elementary cubes (or possibly, is homeomorphic to such a set).
Related terminology
Elementary intervals of length 0 (containing a single point) are called degenerate, while those of length 1 are nondegenerate. The dimension of a cube is the number of nondegenerate intervals in , denoted . The dimension of a cubical complex is the largest dimension of any cube in .
If and are elementary cubes and , then is a face of . If is a face of and , then is a proper face of . If is a face of and , then is a facet or primary face of .
In algebraic topology
In algebraic topology, cubical complexes are often useful for concrete calculations. In particular, there is a definition of homology for cubical complexes that coincides with the singular homology, but is computable.
In geometric group theory
Groups acting geometrically by isometries on CAT(0) cube complexes provide a wide class of examples of CAT(0) groups.
The Sageev construction can be understood as a higher-dimensional generalization of Bass-Serre theory, where the trees are replaced by CAT(0) cube complexes. Work by Daniel Wise has provided foundational examples of cubulated groups. Agol's theorem that cubulated hyperbolic groups are virtually special has settled the hyperbolic virtually Haken conjecture, which was the only case left of this conjecture after Thurston's geometrization conjecture was proved by Perelman.
CAT(0) cube complexes
Gromov's theorem
Hyperplanes
CAT(0) cube complexes and group actions
The Sageev construction
RAAGs and RACGs
See also
Simplicial complex
Simplicial homology
Abstract cell complex
References
Cubes
Topological spaces
Algebraic topology
Computational topology | Cubical complex | [
"Mathematics"
] | 790 | [
"Computational topology",
"Mathematical structures",
"Computational mathematics",
"Space (mathematics)",
"Algebraic topology",
"Topological spaces",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Topology"
] |
54,832,742 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phialemonium%20obovatum | Phialemonium obovatum is a saprotrophic filamentous fungus able to cause opportunistic infections in humans with weakened immune systems. P. obovatum is widespread throughout the environment, occurring commonly in sewage, soil, air and water. Walter Gams and Michael McGinnis described the genus Phialemonium to accommodate species intermediate between the genera Acremonium and Phialophora. Currently, three species of Phialemonium are recognized of which P. obovatum is the only one to produce greenish colonies and obovate conidia. It has been investigated as one of several microfungi with potential use in the accelerated aging of wine.
Growth and morphology
In culture, colonies of P. obovatum begin as white or off-white in colour becoming pale green and centrally darkened with age. The green pigments diffuse into the growth medium ultimately becoming blackish-green in colour. Although the hyphae of the fungus are typically colourless (hyaline), the presence of these dark diffusible pigments has resulted in this species being considered one of the dematiaceous (aka filamentous, darkly-pigmented) fungi. This placement may be further justified by the confirmation of melanin pigments in hyphal walls and septa as demonstrated by the Fontana–Masson staining procedure. These melanins are responsible for the slight dark coloration of hyphae and conidia as well as the dark colours seen in the center of the colonies.
Gams and McGinnis described P. obovatum as having a flat, smooth colony texture with hyphal strands that radiate outwards described as floccose (fluffy or cottony). Colonies of this species appear moist and lack a distinctive odour. The fungus produces droplets of smooth-walled, obovate conidia with a narrow base. Their shape is similar to a tear drop or an egg-like shape. Phialemonium obovatum conidia arise from adelophialides (phialides lacking a basal septum) that do not have a collarette. Conidia are typically produced only at the interface of the medium surface and the air, and are rarely present on submerged or aerial hyphae. Phialemonium obovatum grows optimally between although it can grow at temperatures as low as and as high as .
Pathogenicity
Although P. obovatum is primarily thought to be saprotrophic, it can cause infections in human hosts under certain circumstances, and more rarely, of other animals notably dogs. The capacity of Phialemonium obovatum to grow at and above human body temperature is a key pathogenicity factor of this species that distinguishes it from many other dematiaceous molds. This species has been reported as a causative agent of endocarditis, keratitis, peritonitis, osteomyelitis, subcutaneous infections, and infections arising secondary to burns. In case studies involving infections following severe burns, the hyphae of P. obovatum have the ability to invade into blood vessels and tissues. Infections caused by this species are largely opportunistic and restricted to immunocompromised individuals with few cases reported from individuals with normally functional immune systems. It has a proclivity to invade central nervous system tissues. Given the rising population burden of immunocompromised people due to improved management of immunological diseases or mediate by therapeutic side effects, this and other agents of opportunistic disease are sometimes considered to be "emerging" agents of disease. Accordingly, P. obovatum and other dematiaceous fungi have been increasingly reported in allogenic transplant recipients possibly as a consequence of chemotherapeutic immune suppression primarily intended to reduce tissue rejection.
The sequestration of antioxidant materials in cells walls may also serve as a virulence factors for this agent. A yeast-like phase has also been reported from the blood of infected individuals. P. obovatum can cause localized or disseminated infections the latter of which are occasionally fatal.
Biotechnology
Colonization of wood by P. obovatum has been shown to produce syringol – a compound that is produced when the wood is heated, and guaiacol, a thermal decomposition product of lignin that is characterized by an oaky, burnt aroma. Both compounds but particularly guaiacol are important contributors to the "oaked" flavour characteristics of barrel-aged wine. Treatment of wines using wood chips inoculated with P. obovatum and other microfungi has been investigated as an accelerated, cost effective means of imparting oak flavours than traditional cask aging.
References
Sordariales
Fungus species | Phialemonium obovatum | [
"Biology"
] | 973 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
54,833,130 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometer%20Assessment%20using%20Vertically%20Aligned%20Nanotubes | The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) was an experiment launched into low Earth orbit on November 11, 2016. It successfully collected data for 20 months.
RAVAN's goal is to test new technologies that help measure Earth's radiation imbalance, which is the difference between the amount of energy received from the Sun that reaches Earth and the amount that is reflected and emitted back into the outer space. Theoretical estimates of the difference in the thermal energy is estimated to be at less than one percent.
The experiment was designed by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
References
Johns Hopkins University
NASA satellites orbiting Earth
Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes | [
"Astronomy"
] | 142 | [
"Outer space stubs",
"Outer space",
"Astronomy stubs"
] |
54,833,566 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204461 | NGC 4461 (also known as NGC 4443) is a lenticular galaxy located about 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. NGC 4461 is a member of Markarian's Chain which is part of the Virgo Cluster.
Interaction with NGC 4458
NGC 4461 is in a pair with the nearby galaxy NGC 4458. It has undergone a tidal interaction with NGC 4458.
See also
List of NGC objects (4001–5000)
M86
References
External links
Lenticular galaxies
Virgo (constellation)
4461
Virgo Cluster
41111
7613
Astronomical objects discovered in 1784 | NGC 4461 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 142 | [
"Virgo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
54,834,563 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADA%20%28buffer%29 | ADA is a zwitterionic organic chemical buffering agent; one of Good's buffers. It has a useful pH range of 6.0-7.2 in the physiological range, making it useful for cell culture work. It has a pKa of 6.6 with ΔpKa/°C of -0.011 and is most often prepared in 1 M NaOH where it has a solubility of 160 mg/mL.
ADA has been used in protein-free media for chicken embryo fibroblasts, as a chelating agent for H+, Ca2+, and Mg2+, and for isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients. Its effects on dog kidney Na+/K+-ATPase and rat brain GABA receptors have also been studied. ADA does, however, alter coloring in bicinchoninic acid assays.
References
Zwitterions
Amines
Dicarboxylic acids
Buffer solutions | ADA (buffer) | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 201 | [
"Buffer solutions",
"Matter",
"Functional groups",
"Zwitterions",
"Amines",
"Bases (chemistry)",
"Ions"
] |
54,835,772 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirotetramat | Spirotetramat (ISO Name) is a keto-enol insecticide developed by Bayer CropScience under the brand names Movento and Ultor.
Mechanism
Spirotetramat is active against piercing-sucking insects, such as aphids, mites, and white flies, by acting as an ACC inhibitor, interrupting lipid biosynthesis in the insects, and is in IRAC group 23. It is a systemic insecticide that penetrates plant leaves when sprayed on. It is ambimobile, being transported both upwards and downwards through vascular bundles. In plants, it is hydrolyzed to the enol form by cleavage of the central ethoxycarbonyl group. This enol is more stable due to double bond being in a ring and the conjugation with the amide group and the benzene ring.
Regulation
Bayer obtained spirotetramat's first regulatory approval in Tunisia in 2007. It was recognized by the European Union May 1, 2014.
Toxicology and safety
Spirotetramat has moderate to low acute toxicity, is irritating to eyes and potentially sensitizing to skin. When tested on rats, it was not shown to be carcinogenic. In Denmark, it is listed as harmful to aquatic invertebrates, but not dangerous to bees.
References
Pyrrolines
Gamma-lactams
Carbonate esters
Ethers
Insecticides
Spiro compounds | Spirotetramat | [
"Chemistry"
] | 286 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Functional groups",
"Ethers",
"Spiro compounds"
] |
54,838,678 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibenzoxepin | Dibenzoxepin, or dibenz[b,e]oxepin, is a tricyclic compound. It is the parent structure of certain drugs such as the tricyclic antidepressant doxepin and the analgesic fluradoline. The former is the only tricyclic antidepressant that is a dibenzoxepin.
See also
Dibenzazepine
Dibenzocycloheptene
Dibenzothiepin
Dibenzothiazepine
References
Dibenzoxepins | Dibenzoxepin | [
"Chemistry"
] | 121 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compound stubs",
"Organic chemistry stubs"
] |
54,839,551 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidoxepin | Cidoxepin (former developmental code name P-4599), also known as cis-doxepin or (Z)-doxepin, is a tricyclic antidepressant which was developed in the 1960s but was never marketed. It is the cis or (Z) stereoisomer of doxepin, a mixture of (E) and (Z) isomers that is used commercially in a ratio of approximately 85:15 with cidoxepin as a relatively minor constituent. However, the drug has similar activity to that of doxepin, acting as a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, H1 receptor antagonist, and anticholinergic, and notably is thought to have more antidepressant activity than trans-doxepin. The central anticholinergic activity of cidoxepin has been reported to be 3-fold greater than that of the trans isomer in mice.
Cidoxepin has recently been reinvestigated and is now currently under development as an antihistamine by Elorac, Inc. for the treatment of chronic urticaria (hives). As of 2017, it is in phase II clinical trials for this indication. The drug was also under investigation for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (hay fever), atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema), and contact dermatitis, but development for these indications was discontinued.
See also
Esmirtazapine
Nordoxepin
References
External links
Cidoxepin - AdisInsight
Dimethylamino compounds
Antihistamines
Dibenzoxepins
H1 receptor antagonists
Hypnotics
Muscarinic antagonists
Sedatives
Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors
Tricyclic antidepressants | Cidoxepin | [
"Biology"
] | 383 | [
"Hypnotics",
"Behavior",
"Sleep"
] |
54,841,356 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caulerpa%20ellistoniae | Caulerpa ellistoniae is a species of seaweed in the family Caulerpaceae.
The seaweed has a robust stolon with a diameter of approximately . The dark green fronds are erect and branch many times with a length of .
It is found along the coast in the South West region of Western Australia spreading north as far as Perth usually in deeper water.
References
ellistoniae
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Biota of the Indian Ocean
Plants described in 1955 | Caulerpa ellistoniae | [
"Biology"
] | 99 | [
"Biota of the Indian Ocean",
"Biota by sea or ocean"
] |
54,841,977 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGC%2054493 | PGC 54493 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 490 million light-years away in the constellation Serpens. It is part of a galaxy group called Abell 2052. It has an estimated diameter of 140,000 light-years.
See also
Messier 109, another galaxy with a similar appearance in the constellation Ursa Major
References
External links
Simbad entry on PGC 54493
Barred spiral galaxies
Serpens
54493
J15161917 | PGC 54493 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 97 | [
"Constellations",
"Serpens"
] |
54,842,078 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office%20of%20Astronomy%20for%20Development | The Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) is an office of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) established in 2011 to further the use of astronomy as a tool for development.
Description
The OAD is jointly funded by the International Astronomical Union and the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
The office consists of eleven regional offices located in Armenia, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Portugal, Thailand, the Netherlands, United States, and Zambia which have similar objectives to the OAD but with regional focus.
The OAD annually issues a call for proposals to fund projects which use Astronomy as a tool to address an issue related to sustainable development. The mission of the OAD is to help further the use of astronomy as a tool for development by mobilizing the human and financial resources necessary in order to realize the field's scientific, technological and cultural benefits to society.
History
The OAD was established on the 16th of April 2011 at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. It was launched by the South African Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor.
In 2016, the IAU together with the OAD director Kevin Govender was awarded the Edinburgh Medal for "furthering education and technological capacity worldwide through the inspirational science of astronomy".
As of 2023, the OAD had administered a total of €1.1 Million in IAU grant funds. These funds have been awarded to 215 projects that reached over 100 countries across the world.
See also
List of astronomical societies
References
Scientific organisations based in South Africa
Astronomy organizations
Scientific organizations established in 2011
Organizations established in 2011
2011 establishments in South Africa | Office of Astronomy for Development | [
"Astronomy"
] | 331 | [
"Astronomy organizations"
] |
54,842,554 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCAT-I | SCAT-I (Special CATegory I) is an instrument landing system for aircraft, based on Differential GPS. It is developed under project management by Avinor, the Norwegian airport administration. It is installed on several short runway airports for domestic operation in Norway. It requires special equipment to be installed in the aircraft, and allows precision landings in bad visibility, something that is important on short runways where bad weather including snow storms are common. The system was operational for the first time in 2007, first installed at Brønnøysund, then at several other airports. As of 2013 it is installed at 21 regional airports in Norway.
References
External links
AVINOR SCAT-I introduction movie
Aircraft landing systems
2007 introductions | SCAT-I | [
"Technology"
] | 145 | [
"Aircraft instruments",
"Aircraft landing systems"
] |
54,842,715 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoception | Interoception is the collection of senses providing information to the organism about the internal state of the body. This can be both conscious and subconscious. It encompasses the brain's process of integrating signals relayed from the body into specific subregions—like the brainstem, thalamus, insula, somatosensory, and anterior cingulate cortex—allowing for a nuanced representation of the physiological state of the body. This is important for maintaining homeostatic conditions in the body and, potentially, facilitating self-awareness.
Interoceptive signals are projected to the brain via a diversity of neural pathways, in particular from the lamina I of the spinal cord along the spinothalamic pathway and through the projections of the solitary nucleus, that allow for the sensory processing and prediction of internal bodily states. Misrepresentations of internal states, or a disconnect between the body's signals and the brain's interpretation and prediction of those signals, have been suggested to underlie conditions such as anxiety, depression, panic disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), alexithymia, somatic symptom disorder, and illness anxiety disorder.
The contemporary definition of interoception is not synonymous with the term "visceroception". Visceroception refers to the perception of bodily signals arising specifically from the viscera: the heart, lungs, stomach, and bladder, along with other internal organs in the trunk of the body. This does not include organs like the brain and skin. Interoception encompasses visceral signaling, but more broadly relates to all physiological tissues that relay a signal to the central nervous system about the current state of the body. Interoceptive signals are transmitted to the brain via multiple pathways including the lamina I spinothalamic pathway, the classical viscerosensory pathway, the vagus nerve and glossopharyngeal nerve, chemosensory pathways in the blood, and somatosensory pathways from the skin.
Interoceptive signals arise from many different physiological systems of the body. The most commonly studied system is cardiovascular interoception which is typically measured by directing attention towards the sensation of the heartbeat during various tasks. Other physiological systems integral to interoceptive processing include the respiratory system, gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems, nociceptive system, thermoregulatory system, endocrine and immune systems. Soft cutaneous touch is another sensory signal often included within the interoceptive processing system.
History and etymology
Early to mid-1900s
The concept of interoception was introduced in 1906 by the Nobel Laureate Sir Charles S. Sherrington. He did not use the noun interoception, but did describe as interoceptive those receptors that are within the viscera—what are today called "visceroceptive"—and thus excluded all other receptors and information from the body, which he grouped as either exteroceptive or proprioceptive. In Sherrington's model, exteroceptive receptors were those that received information from outward stimuli, like light, touch, sound, and odor. He classified temperature and nociception as exteroceptive sensations as well, though these are now regarded as having interoceptive qualities. He further divided the internal milieu of the body by its somatic and autonomic functions. And proprioceptors were those found in skeletal tissue that control voluntary movement. For him, interoceptors (a term which has lost prevalence in modern literature) were thus confined to visceral involuntary smooth muscle (e.g. surrounding blood vessels).
Further work on interoceptive processing after Sherrington was delayed for many years owing to the influential claim by John Newport Langley that the autonomic nervous system used only efferent (brain-to-body) signaling to implement its functions.
By the 1950s and 1960s, many investigations of interoceptive processing had been conducted, and once it had become apparent that interoceptive receptors are present in many tissues of the body other researchers began to investigate afferent body-to-brain signals, mainly by conducting animal experiments to see if interoceptive conditioning was possible. Using principles of Pavlovian conditioning, different physiological systems in dogs were perturbed to elicit a conditioned response to food.
For example, in one experiment, dogs' pelvises were distended using infusions of solution when food was presented to them. After rounds of pairing the two, salivation occurred without presenting food once the pelvis was distended. Interoceptive conditioning studies like this illustrated that interoceptive sensations may be important for learned behavior and emotion.
Mid-1900s to 2000
The increased interest in interoception during the late 1950s and the 1960s, as evidenced by the number of papers published, has been referred to as the "biofeedback blip". This was a phase during which many researchers examined humans' ability to gain control over autonomic functions as a method of treatment for various conditions.
Interoception did not gain widespread popularity within the scientific community until the mid- to late-twentieth century. During that period, some researchers chose to use the terms visceroceptor and interoceptor interchangeably, in line with Sherrington's usage, others combined proprioceptive and visceroceptive information into one category—interoception—based on physiological data about the lack of differences in nerve impulses, and still others proposed that interoception includes more than just endogenous (internal) stimuli. Exactly which sensory signals could or should be classified as interoceptive remains the subject of ongoing debate.
During the 1980s, psychophysiologists began to extensively examine cardiovascular interoception, introducing several different experimental tasks for studying the perception of the heartbeat: heartbeat counting, heartbeat tapping, and heartbeat detection. Psychiatrists also began to look at the effects of pharmacological stimulation on the symptoms of panic disorder. All of this further increased researchers' interest in interoception, including the development of theoretical models of the integration of interoceptive information within the body over time.
2000 and on
The twenty-first century has seen a tremendous increase in publications on the topic of interoception, and to a recognition of its multifaceted nature . This has led to the emergence of different ideas about interoception. One contemporary definition widens the concept to encompass "the skin and all that is underneath the skin" and the perception and function of bodily activity to more fully understand psychosomatic processes. In a similar vein, neuroanatomists hoping to find the anatomical basis of interoceptive functioning have stated the existence of a homeostatic pathway from the body to the brain that represents "the physiological status of all tissues in the body," and that this mapping onto the brain provides an individual with subjective feeling states that are critical for human emotion and self-awareness.
For example, interoception is the fundament of the modern view on allostasis and allostatic load. The regulatory model of allostasis claims that the brain's primary role as an organ is the predictive regulation of internal sensations. Predictive regulation is the brain's ability to anticipate needs and prepare to fulfill them before they arise. In this model, the brain is responsible for efficient regulation of its internal milieu.
Interoception is sometimes generally referred to as "the perception of internal body states" although there are many interoceptive processes that are not consciously perceived. Importantly, interoception is made possible through a process of "integrating the information coming from inside the body into the central nervous system". This definition deviates from Sherrington's original proposition, but exemplifies the dynamic and widening breadth of interoception as a concept in modern literature.
Facets of interoception
Although interoception as a term has more recently gained increased popularity, different aspects of it have been studied since the 1950s. These include the features of attention, detection, magnitude, discrimination, accuracy, sensibility, and self-reporting. Despite not using the word interoception specifically, many publications in the physiology and medical fields have focused on understanding interoceptive information processing in different organ systems. Attention describes the ability to observe sensations within the body, it can be directed voluntarily in a "top down" manner or it can be attracted involuntarily in a "bottom up" manner.
Detection reflects the presence or absence of a conscious report of interoceptive stimuli, like a heartbeat or growling stomach. Magnitude is the intensity of the stimulus, or how strongly the stimuli is felt. Discrimination describes the ability to localize interoceptive stimuli in the body to specific organs and differentiate them from other bodily stimuli that also occur, like distinguishing between a heart which is beating hard from an upset stomach. Accuracy (or sensitivity) refers to how precisely and correctly an individual can monitor specific interoceptive processes.
Self-reporting is itself multifaceted. It describes the ability to reflect on interoceptive experiences occurring over different periods of time, make judgments about them, and describe them. Brain-body interactions can also be studied using neuroimaging techniques to map functional interactions between brain and peripheral signals. Although all of these components of interoception have been studied since the mid-twentieth century, they have not been brought together under the umbrella term "interoception" until more recently.
The term "interoceptive awareness" is also frequently used to encompass any (or all) of the different interoception features that are accessible to conscious self-report. This multifaceted approach offers a unified way of looking at interoceptive functioning and its different features, it clarifies the definition of interoception itself, and it informs structured ways of assessing interoceptive experiences in an individual.
Interoceptive physiology
Cardiovascular system
Cardiac interoception has been widely studied as a method of evaluating interoceptive sensation. This is done using different tasks including heartbeat counting, heartbeat tapping, heartbeat detection and heartbeat attention tasks. Heartbeat counting tasks ask participants to count the number of felt heartbeats during short time periods. Their reported count is then compared with the actual count obtained with an electrocardiogram. This measures the participant's attention to his or her own heartbeat, the accuracy with which that is perceived, and the ability of the participant to report that measurement. However, results can be influenced by the participant's preexisting knowledge of his or her heart rate and an insensitivity to heart rate change.
Heartbeat detection tasks work by providing a participant with a musical tone which is played simultaneously or non-simultaneously with one's heartbeat, asking the participant to report whether it is simultaneous or not with the tones. Heartbeat detection is commonly used because of its ability discern an individual's performance above chance levels, so-called "good detectors". However, such detection rates among participants for this task are usually only 35%. It also measures the participant's attention, detection, discrimination, accuracy and self-report of the interoceptive process.
Heartbeat attention tasks are the most minimalistic, and involve simply the top-down direction of attention towards an interoceptive sensation such as the heartbeat, breath, or stomach. Most perceptions of heartbeat sensations usually occur during a time of homeostatic perturbation, such as when the state of the body changes from external or internal influences such as physical exertion or elevated arousal states, e.g., riding a roller coaster, watching a scary movie, public speaking anxiety, or having a panic attack. For this reason, cardiac interoception is also sometimes studied by inducing perturbations of bodily state. This can be done pharmacologically using adrenaline-like drugs, such as isoproterenol, which mimic activation of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in increased heart rate and respiration rate, similar to the "fight-or-flight" response. This approach provides a physiological basis for understanding psychiatric and neurological disorders that are characterized by heightened sympathetic nervous system activity.
Respiratory and chemoreceptive system
Respiratory perception can differ from other interoceptive physiological symptoms because of an individual's ability to exert voluntary control over the system with controlled breathing or breathing exercises. This system is often measured using restrictive breathing loads and/or inhalation, which are designed to mimic labored breathing sensations. Dyspnea, or difficulty breathing, is a commonly felt sensation associated with panic attacks; however, due to the voluntary control of breathing, this domain of interoception usually requires implementation of much more elaborate experimental controls to quantify in comparison to cardiac interoception.
Gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems
Common interoceptive sensations related to the gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems are hunger and fullness. These are homeostatic signals that tell an individual when to eat and when to stop eating. The dorsal mid-insula appears to be integral in taste processing during gastrointestinal interoceptive attention tasks. Rectal and bladder distensions are used as a method to perturb the homeostatic environment of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems, using placement of balloon catheters which can be inflated to achieve different stimulus intensities. Associative fear learning paradigms have been used to study how innocuous signals might lead to abnormal states of gastrointestinal hypersensitivity and anxiety. Biofeedback therapy has been used for individuals with impaired gastrointestinal interoception, showing positive outcomes for some patients.
Nociceptive system
Nociception refers to the receiving and processing of pain inducing stimuli by the central nervous system. Functional brain imaging studies during painful stimulation of the skin with heated probes, during mechanical compression, and electric shock have suggested that the insular cortex is prominently activated during pain processing. Thus while pain was once thought of as an exteroceptive sensation, based on functional imaging and anatomical evidence it is now understood that it has an interoceptive component.
Thermoregulatory system
Temperature and pain are thought to be represented as "feelings" of coolness and warmness and pleasantness or unpleasantness in the brain. These sensory and affective characteristics of thermoregulation may motivate certain behavioral responses depending on the state of the body (for example, moving away from a source of heat to a cooler space). Such perturbations in the internal homeostatic environment of an organism are thought to be key aspects of a motivational process giving rise to emotional states, and have been proposed to be represented principally by the insular cortex as feelings. These feelings then influence drives when the anterior cingulate cortex is activated.
Endocrine and immune systems
The endocrine and immune systems are necessary body systems that aid in allostasis and homeostatic control. Imbalances in these systems, along with other genetic and social factors, may be linked to interoceptive dysregulation in depression. These increased allostatic changes may cause a hyperawareness of interoceptive signaling and a hypo-awareness of exteroceptive signaling in depression patients.
Affective touch
Affective touch refers to the stimulation of slow, unmyelinated C tactile afferents. This is accompanied by a sense of pleasantness, and has been likened to other interoceptive modalities like thermoregulation and nociception because of the similarities in anatomical function. Soft touch activates the insula rather than the somatosensory cortex, indicating that it has an affective importance absent in Aβ fibers. Since soft touch utilizes a separate pathway, it may have a social relevancy, allowing the body to separate the "noise" of outward stimuli from stimuli that evokes an affective feeling.
Neuroanatomical pathways
Multiple neural pathways relay information integral to interoceptive processing from the body to the brain. these include the lamina I spinothalamic pathway, the visceroceptive pathway, and the somatosensory pathway.
Lamina I spinothalamic pathway
The lamina I spinothalamic pathway is commonly known for carrying information to the brain about temperature and pain, but it has been suggested to more broadly relay all information about the homeostatic condition of the body.
Afferent signals enter the spinal cord at the superficial layer of the dorsal horn
Second order neurons cross the midline of the spinal cord and project up the opposite side, synapsing on the nucleus of the solitary tract, parabrachial nucleus, and periaqueductal gray in the brainstem
Third order neurons in the ventral posteromedial nucleus in the thalamus relay the signal to the dorsal posterior insula
The signal is re-represented on either the right or left side
Visceroceptive pathway
The visceroceptive pathway relays information about visceral organs to the brain.
Afferent signals from the vagus nerve enter the brainstem making synaptic connections with the nucleus of the solitary tract and parabrachial nucleus
The signal is relayed to the ventromedial basal nucleus of the thalamus
Third order neurons send the signal to the posterior insula
Somatosensory pathway
The somatosensory pathway relays information about proprioception and discriminative touch to the brain through different receptors in the skin.
Afferent signals from the mechanoreceptors or proprioceptors enter the spinal cord at the dorsal root ganglia
Second order neurons cross the midline in the medulla, projecting up the opposite side and synapse on third order neurons in the ventral posterior lateral nucleus or ventromedial posterior nucleus of the thalamus
Third order neurons in the thalamus relay the signal to the primary somatosensory cortex in the brain
Cortical processing of interoception
Thalamus
The thalamus receives signals from sympathetic and parasympathetic afferents during interoceptive processing. The ventromedial posterior nucleus (VMpo) is a subregion of the thalamus which receives sympathetic information from lamina I spinothalamic neurons. The human VMpo is much larger than that of primates and sub-primates and is important for processing of nociceptive, thermoregulatory, and visceral sensations. The ventromedial basal nucleus (VMb) receives parasympathetic information from visceral and gustatory systems.
Insular cortex
The insula is critically involved in the processing, integration, and cortical representation of visceral and interoceptive information. Lamina I spinothalamic and vagal afferents project via the brainstem and thalamus to the posterior and mid dorsal insula respectively. From there, information travels to the posterior and mid-insula, which combines visceral and somatosensory information.
The insula is also activated during a variety of exteroceptive and affective tasks. The insula is considered to be a "hub" region because it has an extremely high number of connections with other brain areas, suggesting it may be important for an integration of lower-level physiological information and salience.
Anterior insular cortex
The anterior insular cortex (AIC) is involved in the representation of "cognitive feelings" which arise from the moment-to-moment integration of homeostatic information from the body. These feelings engender self-awareness by creating a sentient being (someone able to feel and perceive) aware of bodily and cognitive processing. Essentially all subjective bodily feelings are associated with activation in the anterior insula: interoceptive feelings come to awareness in the anterior insula.
PET studies of cool feelings revealed that activiation that correlated with the subjective ratings of cool temperatures on the hand appeared first in the mid-insula, and then it was strongest in the right anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex. Feelings from the body of heat pain or C-tactile affective touch also produce activation in the posterior, mid-, and anterior insula, and the strongest activation associated with these subjective feelings is in the anterior insula.
One study of heat pain explicitly showed that activation in the dorsal posterior insula correlated with objective painful heat intensity, whereas activation in the right anterior insula correlated with subjective pain intensity ratings. Similarly, subjective ratings of flavors and tastes correlates strongly with activation in the left anterior insula. The available evidence supports the interpretation that feelings from the body is engendered in the anterior insula.
Cytoarchitecture and granulation
The insula contains three major subregions defined by the presence or absence of a granule cell layer: granular, dysgranular (slightly granulated) agranular. Each of these portions of the insular cortex are important for different levels of functional connectivity. Information from the thalamus is projected to all three regions. Those with increased granulation are considered to be capable of receiving sensory input.
Anterior cingulate cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a significant role in motivation and the creation of emotion. An emotion can be seen as comprising both a feeling and a motivation based on that feeling. According to one view, the "feeling" is represented in the insula, while the "motivation" is represented in the ACC. Many interoceptive tasks activate the insula and ACC together, specifically tasks that elicit strong aversive feeling states like pain.
Somatosensory cortex
The sensory motor cortex provides an alternative pathway for sensing interoceptive stimuli. Although not following the conventional pathway for interoceptive awareness, skin afferents which project to the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices provide the brain with information regarding bodily information. This area of the brain is commonly engaged by gastrointestinal distension and nociceptive stimulation, but it likely plays a role in representing other interoceptive sensations as well.
In one study, a patient with bilateral insula and ACC damage was given isoproterenol as a method of exciting the cardiovascular system. Despite damage to putative interoceptive areas of the brain, the patient was able to perceive his heartbeat with similar accuracy compared to healthy individuals; however, once lidocaine was applied to the patient's chest over the region of maximum cardiac sensation and the test was run again, the patient did not sense any change in heartbeat whatsoever. This suggested that somatosensory information from afferents innervating the skin outside of the heart may provide information to the brain about the heart's pounding through the somatosensory cortex.
Interoception and emotion
The relationship between interoception and emotional experience is an intimate one. In the late 19th century, Charles Darwin noted and discussed the involvement of sensations from the viscera by describing similarities between humans and animals reactions to fear in his book, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. Later, William James and Carl Lange developed the James-Lange theory of emotion, which states that bodily sensations provide the critical basis for emotional experience.
The somatic marker hypothesis, proposed by Antonio Damasio, expands upon the James-Lange theory and posits that decisions and the ensuing behaviors are optimally guided by physiological patterns of interoceptive and emotional information. Ensuing models focusing on the neurobiology of feelings states emphasized that the brain's mapping of different physiological body states are the critical ingredients for emotional experience and consciousness. In another model, Bud Craig argues that the intertwining of interoceptive and homeostatic processes is responsible for initiating and maintaining motivational states and engendering human self-awareness.
Interoception and mental illness
Disturbances of interoception occur prominently and frequently in psychiatric disorders. These symptom fluctuations are often observed during the most severe expression of dysfunction, and they figure prominently in diagnostic classification of several psychiatric disorders. A few typical examples are reviewed next.
Panic disorder
Palpitations and dyspnea are hallmarks of panic attacks. Studies have shown that panic disorder patients report a heightened experience of interoceptive sensations, but these studies have failed to clarify whether this is simply due to their systematic bias toward describing such feelings. However, other studies have shown that panic disorder patients feel heartbeat sensations more intensely when the state of the body is perturbed by pharmacological agents, suggesting they exhibit heightened sensitivity to experiencing interoceptive sensations.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) frequently report being bothered by interoceptive feelings of muscle tension, headaches, fatigue, gastrointestinal complaints, and pain.
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients exhibit a decreased activation in the right anterior insula, a region of the brain that is largely responsible for identifying the mismatch between cognitive and interoceptive states. Further, because PTSD patients have shown decreased activation within many nodes of the lamina I homeostatic pathway—a pathway through which the thalamus sends interoceptive information to the anterior insula and anterior cingulate—it has been suggested that PTSD patients experience reduced interoceptive awareness. Approaches such as somatic experiencing use an interoceptive approach to treat PTSD.
Anxiety disorders
The broad consensus of studies investigating the link between interoceptive awareness and anxiety disorders is that people with anxiety disorders experience heightened awareness of and accuracy in identifying interoceptive processes. Functional imaging studies provide evidence that people with anxiety disorders experience heightened interoceptive accuracy, suggested by hyperactivation in the anterior cingulate cortex—a region of the brain associated with interoception—in several different kinds of anxiety disorders. The insula has been suggested to be abnormal in a large scale study across anxiety disorders in general. Other studies have found that interoceptive accuracy is increased in these patients, as evidenced by their superior ability in heartbeat detection tasks in comparison to healthy controls.
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa (AN) has been associated with interoceptive disturbances. Patients with AN often develop insensitivity to interoceptive cues of hunger, and yet are highly anxious and report disturbed interoceptive experiences, both inside and out. While AN patients concentrate on distorted perceptions of their body exterior in fear of weight gain, they also report altered physical states within their bodies, such as indistinct feelings of fullness, or an inability to distinguish emotional states from bodily sensations in general (called alexithymia).
Bulimia nervosa
Studies suggest that patients with and recovered from bulimia nervosa (BN) exhibit abnormal interoceptive sensory processing and reduced interoceptive awareness under resting physiological conditions. Specifically, patients with BN report reduced sensitivity to many other kinds of internal and external sensations, exhibiting increased thresholds to heat pain compared to healthy subjects and an increased gastric capacity. Neuroimaging literature suggests a pattern of abnormal interoceptive processing in patients with BN based on increased activity and volume in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex—regions associated with interoception and taste processing—when looking at food.
Major depressive disorder
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been theoretically linked to interoceptive dysfunction. Studies have shown that women with MDD are less accurate on heartbeat counting tasks than are men with MDD and that, in general, patients with MDD are less accurate at counting heartbeat than are patients with panic or anxiety disorders. However, patients with MDD do not always exhibit reduced cardiac interoceptive accuracy; depressed patients experiencing high levels of anxiety will actually be more accurate on heartbeat detection tasks than depressed patients with lower levels of anxiety.
Somatic symptom disorders
Patients with somatic symptom disorders score lower on heartbeat detection tasks than healthy controls, suggesting that interoceptive accuracy is poor in psychosomatic disorders. It has also been found that patients with psychosomatic disorders who are anxious or stressed report physical symptom discomfort at lower heart rates during exercise treadmill tests, implying poorer interoceptive distress tolerance in somatic symptom disorders with comorbid psychiatric conditions.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Results from a study investigating the relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and internal body signals found that patients with OCD were more accurate on a heartbeat perception task than healthy controls and anxiety patients heightened interoceptive awareness.
Autism spectrum disorder
Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have poorer interoceptive awareness than control subjects. It is hypothesized that this decrease in interoceptive accuracy is due to alexithymia, which is often associated with ASD. However, it has also been found that children with ASD actually show greater interoceptive sensitivity than control subjects when measured over a long period of time. Further investigation into the relationship between interoception and ASD is needed in order to fully understand the interoceptive aspect of the disorder.
Current theories of interoceptive processing
Embodied predictive interoception coding (EPIC)
The EPIC model proposes a method of understanding the brain's response to stimuli contrary to the classic "stimulus-response" model. The classical view of information processing is that when a peripheral stimulus provided information to the central nervous system, it was processed in the brain, and a response was elicited. The EPIC model deviates from this and proposes that the brain is involved in a process of active inference, that is, assiduously making predictions about situations based on previous experiences. These predictions, when coupled with incoming sensory signals, allow the brain to compute a prediction error. Interoceptive prediction errors signal the occurrence of discrepancies within the body, which the brain attempts to minimize. This can be done by modifying the predictions through brain-related pathways, altering the body position/location in order to better align incoming sensory signals with the prediction, or altering the brain's method of receiving incoming stimuli. Interoceptive prediction error signals are a key component of many theories of interoceptive dysfunction in physical and mental health.
Research and treatments
As attention on interoception increases among the scientific community, new research methods and treatment tactics are beginning to emerge. Because there currently is not a clear consensus as to what exactly interoception is, or the best ways in which to measure it, most research and questionnaires on the subject only measure individual facets of interoception. The convergence and interrelatedness of the questionnaire items between the constructs has been found to be low.
Ongoing research in interoception has shown the importance of perturbing interoceptive systems. This allows researchers the ability to document the effects of non-baseline states, which occur during times of panic or anxiety. It also provides the participant the ability to gauge the intensity of sensations within the body. This can be done through pharmacological interventions, balloon distensions, or respiratory breathing loads depending on the interoceptive system of interest.
Another research method used to study interoception is specialized flotation environments. Floating removes external stimuli so that individuals can more easily focus on the interoceptive sensations within their bodies. One idea with floating is that over many float sessions, patients with different kinds of disorders may learn to become more attuned or tolerant of their interoceptive sensations not only in the float tank but also in their everyday lives.
Whole body hyperthermia may provide a new treatment technique for major depressive disorder. It is thought that reducing one of the bodily symptoms of depression, which is increased inflammation, using whole body hyperthermia will also reduce depressive feelings represented in the brain. In theory, these techniques will help patients better attune themselves to their interoceptive sensations, allowing them a better understanding of what occurs in their bodies.
Acupuncture is an alternative treatment type for many people with anxiety and depression. Typically, it is self-prescribed by patients; however, results are inconclusive on its ability to manage symptoms of depression. Recently, Massage therapy has been shown to have the ability to reduce symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.
Meditation and mindfulness have been looked into as possible techniques to enhance interoceptive awareness based on their tendency to redirect focus within oneself. Studies show that meditation and mindfulness practices promote attention to interoceptive sensations. In reality, with all the benefits of mindfulness, many may be ascribed to an increase in interoception. However, interoceptive awareness and accuracy in specific domains such as breath or body monitoring, may be more independent from a broad improvement in interoceptive accuracy. Meditation and mindfulness practices have been shown to modify the insula, which is considered central to our interoceptive abilities. Attention is also being given to the subtle body and its function as a CNS map in traditional Tibetan and Indian medicine.
Although a universal definition of interoception has not been reached, research on interoception and psychiatric disorders has shown a link between interoceptive processing and mental disorders. It has been proposed that exposure therapy, a commonly employed treatment for anxiety disorders, may provide a basis for a model of interoceptive exposure therapy that could be incorporated into treatment plans of different psychiatric disorders. One proposal states that multiple interoceptive challenges assessing different physiological systems could provide diagnosticians with the ability to create an "interoceptive profile" for a specific individual, creating a patient-specific treatment plan.
See also
Inflammatory reflex
Proprioception
References
External links
Interoception Library at Center for Open Science
Laureate Institute for Brain Research Interoception Summit 2016 on YouTube
Human body
Human physiology
Human anatomy | Interoception | [
"Physics"
] | 6,987 | [
"Human body",
"Physical objects",
"Matter"
] |
54,847,548 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake%20Springfield%20%28Missouri%29 | Lake Springfield is a 318-acre artificial cooling lake located in Springfield, Missouri created for the James River Power Plant. It was built by placing a dam on the James River. It now serves as a popular fishing and recreation area. It is one of two sizeable fishing lakes near the city of Springfield, the other is Fellows Lake.
History
Lake Springfield was created in 1957 with the construction of a dam on the James River. The city of Springfield purchased the land before it was submerged. It cost $11.1 million to buy the land and build the dam to create the lake and first two units of the power station. The lake was to be a cooling reservoir for the James River Power plant. Construction on the first two units of the power plant was started in 1957. Three more units were added to the power plant by 1970.
Water from the lake was used to cool the steam generators. The city used the creation of the lake to create a large recreational area because the area was in close proximity to the city and the area had previously been used by the public for 75 years.
The generators were originally constructed to burn natural gas but the federal Fuel Use Act of 1978 forced it to switch to coal.
In the 1990s, the Missouri Department of Conservation partnered with City Utilities of Springfield to create a boat ramp, fishing dock, and several fishing platforms and lake accesses.
The generator units had a life expectancy of 30 years. In 2015, the power plant was slated to be shut down. The original three generators had already been removed from service to reduce costs. The remaining generator burned natural gas until its closure. The remaining units were demolished in 2022.
Recreation
The lake contains largemouth bass, white crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish, and channel catfish. It is a popular fishing destination for residents of Springfield. Springfield City Utilities limits the size of motor boats to 6-HP because the lake is shallow and large boats would stir up silt. There is a waterfront park with kayaks for rent, fishing docks and fishing jetties.
References
Springfield
Geography of Springfield, Missouri
Springfield
Springfield
Cooling ponds | Lake Springfield (Missouri) | [
"Chemistry",
"Environmental_science"
] | 425 | [
"Cooling ponds",
"Water pollution"
] |
54,848,316 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikichiyama%20Tile%20Kiln%20Site | The is an archaeological site with the remains of a late Nara period to early Heian period roof tile production site located in what is now the city of Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1976.
Overview
As the imperial government extended control over Mutsu Province in the 8th Century AD, a number of fortified administrative centers and Buddhist temples were built in the area centered on Taga Castle. One feature of the buildings in these structures was the use of tiled roofs, which was a symbol of continental culture and the advanced state of the central administration. The Daikichiyama Kilns are one of several kilns which have been found within what is now Miyagi Prefecture dating from this period. These kilns were located in hilly land, near the sources of clay and fuel for the kilns. From the design patterns on shards found at the site, it was determined that the tiles from the kilns were used at Taga Castle, over 40 kilometers to the south, among other areas.
The site is located on the eastern slope of a hill about 50 meters in height, and consists of perhaps five kilns. The kilns are built underground into the slope of a hill, and are a stepless form of the traditional anagama kiln. The site has not be excavated in detail. Various styles of roof tiles have been recovered from the site, including cylindrical, flat, arch-shaped, and parts of a demon-shaped end tile. These are identical to tiles found at the site of Taga Castle, indicating that this was an official kiln of Mutsu Province.
The site was backfilled after excavation and is now a tree-covered hill with a stone monument marking the location. The site is about 25 minutes by car from Furukawa Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen.
See also
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Miyagi)
Hinodeyama Tile Kiln Site
Kido Tile Kiln Site
References
External links
Miyagi Prefecture official site
Ōsaki, Miyagi
Nara period
Heian period
History of Miyagi Prefecture
Historic Sites of Japan
Japanese pottery kiln sites
Mutsu Province | Daikichiyama Tile Kiln Site | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 461 | [
"Kilns",
"Japanese pottery kiln sites"
] |
54,848,407 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kido%20Tile%20Kiln%20Site | is an archaeological site with the remains of a late Nara period, early Heian period kiln for roof tile production located in what is now the city of Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1976.
Overview
See also
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Miyagi)
Daikichiyama Tile Kiln Site
Hinodeyama Tile Kiln Site
References
External links
Miyagi Prefecture official site
Osaki city official site
Nippon Kichi site
Ōsaki, Miyagi
Nara period
Japanese pottery kiln sites
History of Miyagi Prefecture
Historic Sites of Japan
Mutsu Province | Kido Tile Kiln Site | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 140 | [
"Kilns",
"Japanese pottery kiln sites"
] |
54,850,522 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford%20Dictionary%20of%20Biology | Oxford Dictionary of Biology (often abbreviated to ODB) is a multiple editions dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,500 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. The first edition was published in 1985 as A Concise Dictionary of Biology. The seventh edition, A Dictionary of Biology, was published in 2015 and it was edited by Robert Hine and Elizabeth Martin.
Robert Hine studied at King's College London and University of Aberdeen and since 1984 he has contributed to numerous journals and books.
Digital and on-line availability
The sixth and seventh editions of the ODB are available online for members of subscribed institutions and for subscribed individuals via Oxford Reference.
Editions
The first edition of Oxford Dictionary of Biology was first published in 1985 and the seventh edition in 2015.
References
External links
Oxford Reference Online
2015 non-fiction books
Oxford dictionaries
Biology books
Biology terminology | Oxford Dictionary of Biology | [
"Biology"
] | 193 | [
"nan"
] |
66,157,646 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina%20Lamendella | Regina Lamendella is an American Professor of Microbiology. She is best known for the use of omics for applied studies of microbiology in natural waterways and the guts of animals, including humans.
Lamendella collaborates with and leads teams of scientist and healthcare professionals developing novel approaches to identify and screen for microorganisms in diverse environments, from waterways to human tissue. For example, her work suggests that eating walnuts may be good for human gut flora, resulting in improved heart health. Lamendella has also contributed to local testing for COVID-19 among rural Amish communities.
Education
Lamendella earned her B.A. in biology from Lafayette College. From the University of Cincinnati, she earned a M.S. in environmental science, a M.S. in molecular biology, and in 2009 she completed her PhD. From 2009-2012, she completed postdoctoral studies at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Employment
In 2012, Lamendella joined the faculty of Juniata College, where she is currently an Associate Professor and holds the George '75 and Cynthia '76 Valko Professorship in Biological Sciences.
Bibliography
Lamendella has more than 50 publications listed on Scopus that have been cited a total of more than 4,000 times, giving her an h-index of 23. Her most cited articles include:
<li>
<li>
<li>
References
External links
American environmental scientists
Living people
University of Cincinnati alumni
Juniata College faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
American microbiologists
American women microbiologists
Lafayette College alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
20th-century American biologists
American women academics
21st-century American women
20th-century American women scientists | Regina Lamendella | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 344 | [
"American environmental scientists",
"Environmental scientists"
] |
66,158,161 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen%20McGrane | Karen McGrane is a content strategist and website accessibility advocate, who wrote a book called Content Strategy for Mobile.
McGrane teaches Design Management at School of Visual Arts in New York. Her design philosophy is "every company is a technology company" and "every business is in the user experience business." McGrane was an early proponent of designing web content for mobile devices and is a frequent speaker at technology conferences. She was also the co-executive producer, with Jared Spool, of the UX Advantage Conference and cohost of the UX Advantage podcast. She co-hosted the Responsive Web Design podcast from 2014-2018 with Ethan Marcotte.
McGrane has done user experience design work for many major media companies including Condé Nast, Disney, and Citibank; in her position at Razorfish she was the design lead on the New York Times' 2006 redesign. Prior to that she was Vice President and National Lead for User Experience at Razorfish where she was their first information architect hire in 1998. In August 2020 she co-founded the consultancy Autogram with Ethan Marcotte and Jeff Eaton.
Content Strategy for Mobile
Content Strategy for Mobile was published in 2012 by A Book Apart. It has been called an essential guide for people publishing serial content online, one that has a clear "plan of action." McGrane advocates for "adaptive content," small chunks of content that can appear on different platforms and in different contexts. For this to happen, content needs to have good metadata and exist within a content management system which is itself easy to use. Companies also need to do research into both their audience needs and the approaches of their competition in order to do this effectively. If done correctly, web content will "work everywhere, all the time."
She published her second book, Going Responsive, with A Book Apart in 2015.
Early life and education
McGrane has a BA in American Studies and Philosophy from the University of Minnesota and a Master's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Human Computer interaction.
Personal life
McGrane married the journalist Tim Carmody on November 4, 2022.
References
External links
Personal website
Living people
Web developers
American technology writers
Usability
Web design
Human–computer interaction researchers
Year of birth missing (living people) | Karen McGrane | [
"Engineering"
] | 463 | [
"Design",
"Web design"
] |
66,158,871 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental%20impacts%20of%20beavers | The beaver is a keystone species, increasing biodiversity in its territory through creation of ponds and wetlands. As wetlands are formed and riparian habitats enlarged, aquatic plants colonize newly available watery habitat. Insect, invertebrate, fish, mammal, and bird diversities are also expanded. Effects of beaver recolonization on native and non-native species in streams where they have been historically absent, particularly dryland streams, is not well-researched.
Effects on stream flows and water quality
Beaver ponds increase stream flows in seasonally dry streams by storing run-off in the rainy season, which raises groundwater tables via percolation from beaver ponds. In a recent study using 12 serial aerial photo mosaics from 1948 to 2002, the impact of the return of beavers on openwater area in east-central Alberta, Canada, found that the mammals were associated with a 9-fold increase in openwater area. Beavers returned to the area in 1954 after a long absence since their extirpation by the fur trade in the 19th century. During drought years, where beavers were present, 60% more open water was available than those same areas during previous drought periods when beavers were absent. The authors concluded that beavers have a dramatic influence on the creation and maintenance of wetlands even during extreme drought.
From streams in the Maryland coastal plain to Lake Tahoe, beaver ponds have been shown to remove sediment and pollutants, including total suspended solids, total nitrogen, phosphates, carbon, and silicates, thus improving stream water quality. In addition, fecal coliform and streptococci bacteria excreted into streams by grazing cattle are reduced by beaver ponds, where slowing currents lead to settling of the bacteria in bottom sediments.
Following findings that the parasite Giardia lamblia, which causes giardiasis, was putatively carried by beavers, the term "beaver fever" was coined by the American press in the 1970s. Further research has shown that many animals and birds carry this parasite, and the major source of water contamination is by humans. Recent concerns point to domestic animals as a significant vector of giardia, with young calves in dairy herds testing as high as 100% positive for giardia. New Zealand has giardia outbreaks, but no beavers, whereas Norway has plenty of beavers, but had no giardia outbreaks until recently (in a southern part of Norway densely populated by humans but no beaver).
In 2011, a Eurasian beaver pair was introduced to a beaver project site in West Devon, consisting of a large enclosure with a long channel and one pond. Within five years, the pair created a complex wetland with an extensive network of channels, 13 ponds and dams. Survey results showed that the created ponds hold of sediment, which stores of carbon and of nitrogen. Concentrations of carbon and nitrogen were significantly higher in these ponds than farther upstream of this site. These results indicate that the beavers' activity contributes to reducing the effects of soil erosion and pollution in agricultural landscapes.
Effects on animals
Bird abundance and diversity
Beavers help waterfowl by creating increased areas of water, and in northerly latitudes, they thaw areas of open water, allowing an earlier nesting season. In a study of Wyoming streams and rivers, watercourses with beavers had 75-fold more ducks than those without.
Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) and Canada geese (Branta canadensis) often depend on beaver lodges as nesting sites. Canada's small trumpeter swan population was observed not to nest on large lakes, preferring instead to nest on the smaller lakes and ponds associated with beaver activity.
Beavers may benefit birds frequenting their ponds in several additional ways. Removal of some pondside trees by beavers increases the density and height of the grass–forb–shrub layer, which enhances waterfowl nesting cover adjacent to ponds. Both forest gaps where trees had been felled by beavers and a "gradual edge" described as a complex transition from pond to forest with intermixed grasses, forbs, saplings, and shrubs are strongly associated with greater migratory bird species richness and abundance. Coppicing of waterside willows and cottonwoods by beavers leads to dense shoot production which provides important cover for birds and the insects on which they feed. Widening of the riparian terrace alongside streams is associated with beaver dams and has been shown to increase riparian bird abundance and diversity, an impact that may be especially important in semiarid climates.
As trees are drowned by rising beaver impoundments, they become ideal nesting sites for woodpeckers, which carve cavities that attract many other bird species, including flycatchers (Empidonax spp.), tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), tits (Paridae spp.), wood ducks (Aix sponsa), goldeneyes (Bucephala spp.), mergansers (Mergus spp.), owls (Tytonidae, Strigidae) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius). Piscivores, including herons (Ardea spp.), grebes (Podicipedidae), cormorants (Phalacrocorax ssp.), American bitterns (Botaurus lentiginosa), great egret (Ardea alba), snowy egret (Egretta thula), mergansers, and belted kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon), use beaver ponds for fishing. Hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), green heron (Butorides virescens), great blue heron (Ardea herodias) and belted kingfisher appeared more frequently in New York wetlands where beaver were active than at sites with no beaver activity.
By perennializing streams in arid deserts, beavers can create habitat which increases abundance and diversity of riparian-dependent species. For example, such as the upper San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona, reintroduced beavers have created willow and pool habitat which has extended the range of the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax trailii extimus) with the southernmost verifiable nest recorded in 2005.
Bats
Beaver modifications to streams in Poland have been associated with increased bat activity. While overall bat activity was increased, Myotis bat species, particularly Myotis daubentonii, activity may be hampered in locations where beaver ponds allow for increased presence of duckweed.
Trout and salmon
Beaver ponds have been shown to have a beneficial effect on trout and salmon populations. Many authors believe that the decline of salmonid fishes is related to the decline in beaver populations. Research in the Stillaguamish River basin in Washington found that extensive loss of beaver ponds resulted in an 89% reduction in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolt summer production and an almost equally detrimental 86% reduction in critical winter habitat carrying capacity. This study also found that beaver ponds increased smolt salmon production 80 times more than the placement of large woody debris. Swales and Leving had previously shown on the Coldwater River in British Columbia that off-channel beaver ponds were preferentially populated by coho salmon over other salmonids and provided overwintering protection, protection from high summer snowmelt flows and summer coho rearing habitat. Beaver-impounded tidal pools on the Pacific Northwest's Elwha River delta support three times as many juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as pools without beaver.
The presence of beaver dams has also been shown to increase either the number of fish, their size, or both, in a study of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Sagehen Creek, which flows into the Little Truckee River at an altitude of in the northern Sierra Nevada. These findings are consistent with a study of small streams in Sweden, that found that brown trout were larger in beaver ponds compared with those in riffle sections, and that beaver ponds provide habitat for larger trout in small streams during periods of drought. Similarly, brook trout, coho salmon, and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) were significantly larger in beaver ponds than those in unimpounded stream sections in Colorado and Alaska. In a recent study on a headwater Appalachian stream, brook trout were also larger in beaver ponds.
Most beaver dams do not pose barriers to trout and salmon migration, although they may be restricted seasonally during periods of low stream flows. In a meta-review of studies claiming that beaver dams act as fish passage barriers, Kemp et al. found that 78% of these claims were not supported by any data. In a 2013 study of radiotelemetry-tagged Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki utah) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Utah, both of these fish species crossed beaver dams in both directions, including dams up to high. Rainbow, brown, and brook trout have been shown to cross as many as 14 consecutive beaver dams. Both adults and juveniles of coho salmon, steelhead trout, sea run cutthroat (Oncorhyncus clarki clarki), Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma malma), and sockeye salmon are able to cross beaver dams. In southeast Alaska, coho jumped dams as high as two meters, were found above all beaver dams and had their highest densities in streams with beaver. In Oregon coastal streams, beaver dams are ephemeral and almost all wash out in high winter flows only to be rebuilt every summer. Migration of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) may be limited by beaver dams, but the presence of juveniles upstream from the dams suggests that the dams are penetrated by parr. Downstream migration of Atlantic salmon smolts was similarly unaffected by beaver dams, even in periods of low flows. Two-year-old Atlantic salmon parr in beaver ponds in eastern Canada showed faster summer growth in length and mass and were in better condition than parr upstream or downstream from the pond.
The importance of winter habitat to salmonids afforded by beaver ponds may be especially important in streams without deep pools or where ice cover makes contact with the bottom of shallow streams. Enos Mills wrote in 1913, "One dry winter the stream ... ran low and froze to the bottom, and the only trout in it that survived were those in the deep holes of beaver ponds." Cutthroat trout and bull trout were noted to overwinter in Montana beaver ponds, brook trout congregated in winter in New Brunswick and Wyoming beaver ponds, and coho salmon in Oregon beaver ponds. In 2011, a meta-analysis of studies of beaver impacts on salmonids found that beaver were a net benefit to salmon and trout populations primarily by improving habitat (building ponds) both for rearing and overwintering and that this conclusion was based over half the time on scientific data. In contrast, the most often cited negative impact of beavers on fishes were barriers to migration, although that conclusion was based on scientific data only 22% of the time. They also found that when beaver dams do present barriers, these are generally short-lived, as the dams are overtopped, blown out, or circumvented by storm surges.
By creating additional channel network complexity, including ponds and marshes laterally separated from the main channel, beavers may play a role in the creation and maintenance of fish biodiversity. In off-mainstem channels restored by beaver on the middle section of Utah's Provo River, native fish species persist even when they have been extirpated in the mainstem channel by competition from introduced non-native fish. Efforts to restore salmonid habitat in the western United States have focused primarily on establishing large woody debris in streams to slow flows and create pools for young salmonids. Research in Washington found that the average summer smolt production per beaver dam ranges from 527 to 1,174 fish, whereas the summer smolt production from a pool formed by instream large woody debris is about 6–15 individuals, suggesting that re-establishment of beaver populations would be 80 times more effective.
Beaver have been discovered living in brackish water in estuarine tidal marshes where Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) densities were five times higher in beaver ponds than in neighboring areas.
Amphibians
A study of mid-elevation ( - ) beaver-dammed vs. undammed lentic streams in Washington's southern Cascades found that prevalence of slow-developing amphibian populations was 2.7 times higher in the former, because beaver ponds were deeper with longer hydroperiods. Specifically, slow developing northern red-legged frogs (Rana aurora) and northwestern salamanders (Ambystoma gracile) were found almost exclusively in beaver-dammed locations, suggesting that these amphibians depend on beaver-engineered microhabitats. In the arid Great Basin of the western and northwestern United States, establishment of beaver ponds has been used as a successful management strategy to accelerate population growth of Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), which also depend on ponds with longer hydroperiods. In a report from Contra Costa County, California, both beaver dams and burrows associated with bank-lodges were found to provide refuge microhabitat for federally listed threatened California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii). Beaver-dammed ponds were also found to provide breeding habitat for R. draytonii adults and rearing habitat for their tadpoles. The report recommended that beaver "be treated as critical to the survival" of California red-legged frogs.
Beaver-engineered wetlands in the Boreal Foothills of west-central Alberta were also found to play a pre-eminent role in establishment of anuran species including the boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata), North American wood frog (Rana sylvatica) and western toad (Anaxyrus boreas). In northern New York, mink frogs (Rana septentrionalis) were more abundant in larger ponds associated with beaver in the Adirondack Mountains, possibly because the colder, deeper water associated with large beaver ponds buffers this heat-intolerant species.
Insects
The fallen trees and stripped bark produced by beaver activity provides popular sites for oviposition of the virilis group of Drosophila, including the fruit fly Drosophila montana. Capture of these species of Drosophila for research is significantly more successful near beaver residences. The preference of beavers for birch, willow, and alder corresponds with oviposition site preferences of the Drosophila virilis species group, leading to commensalism between beavers and these species.
Effects on riparian trees and vegetation
Conventional wisdom has held that beavers girdle and fell trees and that they diminish riparian trees and vegetation, but the opposite appears to be true when studies are conducted longer-term. In 1987, Beier reported that beavers had caused local extinction of Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) on 4–5% of stream reaches on the lower Truckee River in the Sierra Nevada mountains; however willow (Salix spp.) responded by regrowing vigorously in most reaches. He further speculated that without control of beaver populations, aspen and cottonwood could go extinct on the Truckee River. Not only have aspen and cottonwood survived ongoing beaver colonization, but a recent study of ten Sierra Nevada streams in the Lake Tahoe basin using aerial multispectral videography has also shown that deciduous, thick herbaceous, and thin herbaceous vegetation are more highly concentrated near beaver dams, whereas coniferous trees are decreased. These findings are consistent with those of Pollock, who reported that in Bridge Creek, a stream in semiarid eastern Oregon, the width of riparian vegetation on stream banks was increased several-fold as beaver dams watered previously dry terraces adjacent to the stream.
In a second study of riparian vegetation based on observations of Bridge Creek over a 17-year period, although portions of the study reach were periodically abandoned by beaver following heavy utilization of streamside vegetation, within a few years, dense stands of woody plants of greater diversity occupied a larger portion of the floodplain. Although black cottonwood and thinleaf alder did not generally resprout after beaver cutting, they frequently grew from seeds landing on freshly exposed alluvial deposits subsequent to beaver activity. Therefore, beaver appear to increase riparian vegetation given enough years to aggrade sediments and pond heights sufficiently to create widened, well-watered riparian zones, especially in areas of low summer rainfall. Beavers play an important role in seed dispersal for the water lily populations that they consume.
The surface of beaver ponds is typically at or near bank-full, so even small increases in stream flows cause the pond to overflow its banks. Thus, high stream flows spread water and nutrients beyond the stream banks to wide riparian zones when beaver dams are present.
Finally, beaver ponds may serve as critical firebreaks in fire-prone areas.
Stream restoration
In the 1930s, the U.S. government put 600 beavers to work alongside the Civilian Conservation Corps in projects to stop soil erosion by streams in Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah. At the time, each beaver, whose initial cost was about $5, completed work worth an estimated $300. In 2014, a review of beaver dams as stream restoration tools proposed that an ecosystem approach using riparian plants and beaver dams could accelerate repair of incised, degraded streams versus physical manipulation of streams.
The province of Alberta published a booklet in 2016 providing information on using beaver for stream restoration.
Utah published a Beaver Management Plan which includes reestablishing beavers in ten streams per year for the purpose of watershed restoration each year from 2010 through 2020.
In a pilot study in Washington, the Lands Council is reintroducing beavers to the upper Methow River Valley in the eastern Cascades to evaluate its projections that if of suitable habitat were repopulated, then 650 trillion gallons of spring runoff would be held back for release in the arid autumn season. Beavers were nearly exterminated in the Methow watershed by the early 1900s by fur trappers. This project was developed in response to a 2003 Washington Department of Ecology proposal to spend as much as $10 billion on construction of several dams on Columbia River tributaries to retain storm-season runoff. As of January, 2016, 240 beavers released into the upper Methow River at 51 sites had built 176 beaver ponds, storing millions of gallons of water in this semiarid east region. One beaver that was passive integrated transponder tagged and released in the upper part of the Methow Valley, swam to the mouth of the Methow River, then up the Okanogan River almost to the Canada–US border, a journey of .
In efforts to 'rebeaver' areas of declined beaver populations, artificial logjams have been placed. Beavers may be encouraged to build dams by the creation of a "beaver dam analog (BDA)". Initially, these were made by felling fir logs, pounding them upright into the stream bed, and weaving a lattice of willow sticks through the posts, which beavers would then expand. To minimize labor further, newer postless designs have been used, which in smaller streams, beavers can still expand into sequential dams.
Beaver ponds as wildlife refugia and firebreaks in wildfires
Beaver and their associated ponds and wetlands may be overlooked as effective wildfire-fighting tools. Eric Collier's 1959 book, Three Against the Wilderness, provides an early description of a string of beaver ponds serving as a firebreak, saving the home of his pioneer family from a wildfire in interior British Columbia. Reduction of fuel loads by beaver removal of riparian trees, increased moisture content in riparian vegetation by beaver-raised water tables, and water held in beaver ponds all act as barriers to wildfires. A study of vegetation after five large wildfires in the western United States found that riparian corridors within of beaver ponds were buffered from wildfires when compared to similar riparian corridors without beaver dams. One month after the Sharps Fire burned in Idaho's Blaine County in 2018, a lone surviving green ribbon of riparian vegetation along Baugh Creek was observed, (see image) illustrating how a string of beaver ponds resists wildfires, creating an "emerald refuge" for wildlife. After the 2015 Twisp River Fire burned , ponds built by translocated beaver created firebreaks as evidenced by burns on one side of the river but not the other. A study of 29 beaver ponds in the Columbia River Basin found that they store an average of 1.1 million gallons of water, suggesting that beaver ponds may provide a water source for firefighters in remote areas. Lastly, two studies of the Methow River watershed, after the 2014 Carlton Complex Fire burned in north central Washington State, have shown that beaver dams reduced the negative impacts of wildfire on sediment runoff, reduced post-wildfire sediment and nutrient loads, and preserved both plant and macroinvertebrate communities.
Urban beavers
Canada
Several Canadian cities have seen a resurgence in its beaver population in recent decades. The beaver population in Calgary was approximately 200 in 2016, with the majority of the population located near the Bow, and Elbow River. When required, the city of Calgary will use a combination of methods to prevent beaver damage to trees and river parks. Methods of damage prevention includes the placement of a mesh wire fence around the tree trunk, planting trees less palatable to beavers near shorelines, placing under-dam drainage systems to control water levels; and placing traps designed to kill instantly, as Alberta Environment and Parks does not allow the relocation of caught beavers to other areas.
Beavers have occasionally wandered into Downtown Ottawa, including Parliament Hill, Major's Hill Park, and Sparks Street. Beavers caught in the urban core of Ottawa by the National Capital Commission's conservation team are typically brought to a wildlife centre, and later released near the Ottawa River, close to the Greenbelt. In 2011, the city of Ottawa began to trap beavers taking up residence in the stormwater pond in the Stittsville neighbourhood. Ottawa is situated south of the southern entrance to Gatineau Park. Located on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, the park is home to one of North America's densest populations of beavers, with more than 1,100 beavers in 272 beaver colonies according to a 2011 aerial inventory of the park. The beaver population at Gatineau Park is monitored by the National Capital Commission in an effort to protect local infrastructure, and maintain public safety.
The city of Toronto government, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) do not keep track of the number of beavers residing in Toronto, although an estimate from 2001 places the local beaver population at several hundred. Beavers are commonly found along the shoreline of Lake Ontario, and make their way throughout the waterway corridors of the city, most notably the Don, Humber, and Rouge River; the ravine system adjacent to the waterways, and the Toronto Islands. The city of Toronto government does not have any plans to either control the spread, or contain the number of beavers in the city. The city's urban forestry department will occasionally install heavy mesh wire fences around the trunks of trees to prevent them from being damaged by beavers. In 2013, flow devices were installed along the Rouge River, to prevent beaver dams from flooding the river. Prior to their installation, beavers whose dams caused the river to flood were trapped. In a 2017 TRCA report on local occurrences of fauna in Greater Toronto, beavers were given a score of L4. The score was given to species whose populations were secure in the rural portions of Greater Toronto, but whose populations in the urban areas of Greater Toronto remained vulnerable to potential long-term decline of its habitats.
Several dozen beavers were estimated to inhabit Vancouver in 2016. Beavers have inhabited Jericho Beach as early as 2000, although they did not move into the other areas of Vancouver until later in that decade. After an 80-year absence, a beaver was spotted in Stanley Park's Beaver Lake in 2008. In 2016, five beavers inhabited Beaver Lake. In the same year, a pair of beavers built a dam in Hinge Park. The Vancouver Park Board approved a strategy that included plans to promote the growth of the beaver population near the Olympic Village in 2016.
Beavers in Winnipeg numbered around 100 in 2019, and live along the city's rivers and streams. After receiving complaints for beaver-related damages in 2012, the city of Winnipeg has placed mesh wire fence around tree trunks along the shore of the Assiniboine River during the winter; as well as laid down traps designed to kill the beavers. Like Alberta, provincial guidelines in Manitoba do not allow for the live capture and relocation of beavers. The city employs one contractor 10 times a year to manage the beaver population in Winnipeg, who is authorized to remove beavers with a firearm under Manitoba's Wildlife Act.
United States
Several cities in the United States have seen the reintroduction of beavers within their city limits. In Chicago, several beavers have returned and made a home near the Lincoln Park's North Pond. The "Lincoln Park beaver" has not been as well received by the Chicago Park District and the Lincoln Park Conservancy, which was concerned over damage to trees in the area. In March 2009, they hired an exterminator to remove a beaver family using live traps, and accidentally killed the mother when she got caught in a snare and drowned. Relocation costs $4,000–$4,500 per animal. Scott Garrow, District Wildlife Biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, opined that relocating the beavers may be "a waste of time", as beaver recolonizing North Pond in Lincoln Park has been recorded in 1994, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2018
In downtown Martinez, California, a male and female beaver arrived in Alhambra Creek in 2006. The Martinez beavers built a dam 30 feet wide and at one time 6 feet high, and chewed through half the willows and other creekside landscaping the city planted as part of its $9.7 million 1999 flood-improvement project. When the City Council wanted to remove the beavers because of fears of flooding, local residents organized to protect them, forming an organization called "Worth a Dam". Resolution included installation of a flow device through the beaver dam so that the pond's water level could not become excessive. Now protected, the beavers have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, led to the return of steelhead trout and river otter in 2008, and mink in 2009. The Martinez beavers probably originated from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which once held the largest concentration of beavers in North America.
After 200 years, a lone beaver returned to New York City in 2007, making its home along the Bronx River, having spent time living at the Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. Though beaver pelts were once important to the city's economy and a pair of beavers appears on the city's official seal and flag, beavers had not lived in New York City since the early 19th century, when trappers extirpated them completely from the city. The return of "José", named after Representative José Serrano from the Bronx, has been seen as evidence that efforts to restore the river have been successful. In the summer of 2010, a second beaver named "Justin" joined José, doubling the beaver population in New York City. In February 2013, what appears to be both José and Justin were caught on motion-sensitive cameras at the New York Botanical Garden.
In 1999, Washington, D.C.'s annual Cherry Blossom Festival included a family of beavers that lived in the Tidal Basin. The animals were caught and removed, but not before damaging 14 cherry trees, including some of the largest and oldest trees.
Arctic impacts
rapidly increasing temperatures in northern latitudes had resulted in increasingly favorable conditions for beaver as availability of woody vegetation increased and permafrost melted releasing large volumes of water. Increased open water in ponds may increase warming and rapid ecological changes may disrupt fish populations and the harvests of indigenous hunter-gatherers. Increases in beaver and beaver dams interact intimately with thermokarst ponds and lakes. Beavers sometimes build dams at the outlets of thermokarst lakes and in the dried beds of thermokarst depressions as well as in beaded form along streams.
Invasive impacts
In the 1940s, beavers were brought to Tierra del Fuego in southern Chile and Argentina for commercial fur production and introduced near Fagnano Lake. Although the fur enterprise failed, 25 pairs of beavers were released into the wild. Having no natural predators in their new environment, they quickly spread throughout the main island, and to other islands in the archipelago, reaching some 100,000 individuals within 50 years. Although they have been considered an invasive species, it has been more recently shown that the beaver has some beneficial ecological effects on native fish and should not be considered wholly detrimental. Although the dominant Lenga beech (Nothofagus pumilio) forest can regenerate from stumps, most of the newly created beaver wetlands are being colonized by the rarer native Antarctic beech (Nothofagus antarctica). It is not known whether the shrubbier Antarctic beech will be succeeded by the originally dominant and larger Lengo beech; however, the beaver wetlands are readily colonized by non-native plant species. In contrast, areas with introduced beaver were associated with increased populations of the native catadromous puye fish (Galaxias maculatus). Furthermore, the beavers did not seem to have a highly beneficial impact on the exotic brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) which have negative impacts on native stream fishes in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile. They have also been found to cross saltwater to islands northward; and reached the Chilean mainland in the 1990s. On balance, most favour their removal because of their landscape-wide modifications to the Fuegian environment and because biologists want to preserve the unique biota of the region.
See also
Beaver drop
References
Bibliography
Goldfarb, Ben (2019). Eager - The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Chelsea Green Publishing.
Aquatic ecology
Beavers
Forest ecology
Habitat
Systems ecology
Beavers | Environmental impacts of beavers | [
"Biology",
"Environmental_science"
] | 6,334 | [
"Environmental social science",
"Aquatic ecology",
"Ecosystems",
"Systems ecology"
] |
66,159,572 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutein | A mutein is a mutant protein, with an altered amino acid sequence that differs from that of the original wild-type protein. The word is a portmanteau of mutate + protein. A mutein can also be imagined as a protein that results from the translation of a mutated nucleic acid sequence.
References
Amino acids
Proteins | Mutein | [
"Chemistry"
] | 70 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Protein stubs",
"Amino acids",
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Molecular biology",
"Proteins"
] |
66,159,703 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl%20sulfone | A vinyl sulfone is an organic compound with the formula . The molecule consisting of two vinyl groups bonded to a sulfone. It is the parent of several vinyl sulfones of the type . Many vinyl sulfones are known.
Vinyl sulfones
Examples include phenyl vinyl sulfone, methyl vinyl sulfone, and ethyl vinyl sulfone.
Preparation
Divinyl sulfone is prepared from the diacetate bis(2-hydroxyethyl)sulfide. Oxidation of this diester with hydrogen peroxide gives the sulfone. The sulfone is then pyrolyzed to induce elimination of two equivalents of acetic acid:
(Ac = acetyl)
Other vinyl sulfones are prepared analogously to the vinyl sulfone, i.e. by H2O2-oxidation of the sulfide.
Reactions and uses
Vinyl sulfones are dienophiles. Subsequent to the cycloaddition to a vinyl sulfone, the phenylsulfonyl group can be removed by reduction with zinc.
Vinyl sulfones are a Michael acceptors. Vinyl sulfones add thiols, such as cysteine residues. This same reactive nature is responsible for their major industrial use in vinyl sulfone dyes.
Phenyl vinyl sulfone has been applied to ruthenium chemistry as part of olefin metathesis reactions.
Vinyl sulfone has applications to protein purification, especially when linked with mercaptoethanol.
Commercial applications
Vinyl sulfone has uses as a molluscicide pesticide.
Safety
Like similar compounds, vinyl sulfone is a lacrymator and skin irritant. These properties are somewhat mitigated because of its low volatility.
References
Sulfones
Pesticides
Medicinal chemistry
Dienes
Vinyl compounds | Vinyl sulfone | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology",
"Environmental_science"
] | 382 | [
"Pesticides",
"Toxicology",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry",
"nan",
"Biochemistry",
"Biocides"
] |
66,160,682 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonne%20Fast%20Source%20Reactor | Argonne Fast Source Reactor (AFSR) was a research reactor which was located at the Argonne National Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, facility located in the high desert of southeastern Idaho between Idaho Falls, Idaho and Arco, Idaho.
History
The Argonne Fast Source Reactor was a tool used to calibrate instruments and to study fast reactor physics, augmenting the Zero Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR) research program. Located at Argonne-West, this low-power reactor—designed to operate at a power of only one kilowatt—contributed to an improvement in the techniques and instruments used to measure experimental data.
The AFSR was designed to supplement the existing facilities of the Idaho Division of Argonne National Laboratory. It was designed as a readily available source of both fast and thermal neutrons for use as follows:
developing, testing, calibrating, and standardizing various counters;
preparation of radioactive metallic foils used in the development of counting and radiochemical techniques;
checking out complex experimental systems before operation in other reactors;
and development of potential experiments in the fast reactor field.
In the fall of 1970, this reactor was moved to a new location adjacent to the ZPPR facility at the ANL West site of the NRTS.
The reactor started up on October 29, 1959, and operated through the late 1970s.
Design
AFSR was designed and built in 1958 near EBR-I on the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS). AFSR had a design power of one kilowatt.
Decommissioning
AFSR operated through the late 1970s. The reactor is now shutdown and defueled.
Bibliography
Stacy, Susan M. "Proving the Principle". Idaho Operations Office of the Department of Energy. Idaho Falls, Idaho. DOE/ID-10799. 2000. Retrieved from: https://factsheets.inl.gov/SitePages/Publications.aspx
This article incorporates text from the public domain (prepared by or on behalf of the US government) work "Proving the Principle" (2000) which may be found at: https://factsheets.inl.gov/SitePages/Publications.aspx.
See also
Argonne National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
List of nuclear research reactors#United States
References
Nuclear research reactors | Argonne Fast Source Reactor | [
"Physics"
] | 483 | [
"Nuclear and atomic physics stubs",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
66,160,845 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARMF-I | Advanced Reactivity Measurement Facility I (ARMF-I) was a research reactor which was located at the Argonne National Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, facility located in the high desert of southeastern Idaho between Idaho Falls, Idaho and Arco, Idaho. ARMF-I was nearly identical to ARMF-II.
History
The ARMF-I, a reactor located in a small pool in a building east of the MTR in the Test Reactor Area, was used to determine the nuclear characteristics of reactor fuels and other materials subject to testing in the MTR. Together with the MTR, the reactor helped improve the performance, reliability, and quality of reactor core components. Until the next generation reactor, the ARMF-II, this was considered the most sensitive device for reactivity determinations then in existence.
The Advanced Reactivity Measurement Facilities, ARMF-I and ARMF-II, were nearly identical critical facilities and were used almost exclusively for measuring reactor physics parameters, such as reactor-spectrum cross sections and resonance integral cross sections. They were designed to (a) have large statistical weights for fuels and poisons, (b) be mechanically stable enough to produce reproducible reactivity measurements, and (c) have sensitive instrumentation capable of measuring very small reactivities.
ARMF-I operated from October 10, 1960, until 1974.
Design
ARMF-I and ARMF-II were near identical pool reactors. ARMF-I and ARMF-II were housed in a 40-foot by 60-foot cinder block building located just east of the MTR canal tunnel; the building was designed from the initial concept for two reactors. These facilities were swimming-pool-type reactors having light-water moderated cores made up of plate-type fuel elements containing high enriched uranium at 93% U-235. The facilities were located at the National Reactor Testing Station near the Materials Testing Reactor (MTR). Being located near the MTR permitted measurements on short-lived fission products and transmuted isotopes. By use of the capsule 'transfer tube' connecting the MTR and ARMF canals, a capsule could be transferred from the MTR hydraulic rabbit to the ARMF and prepared for reactivity measurements in 15 minutes.
Bibliography
Stacy, Susan M. “Proving the Principle.” Idaho Operations Office of the Department of Energy. Idaho Falls, Idaho. DOE/ID-10799. 2000. Retrieved from: https://factsheets.inl.gov/SitePages/Publications.aspx
This article incorporates text from the public domain (prepared by or on behalf of the US government) work “Proving the Principle” (2000) which may be found at: https://factsheets.inl.gov/SitePages/Publications.aspx.
See also
Argonne National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
References
Citations
Nuclear research reactors | ARMF-I | [
"Physics"
] | 592 | [
"Nuclear and atomic physics stubs",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
66,163,455 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adib%20Astronomy%20Teaching%20Centre | Adib Astronomy Teaching Centre () in Isfahan, Iran from Municipality of Isfahan's sport and culture organization started in 1994 with the purpose of recreation and learning. It has a specialized library, a 3D film cinema, an exhibition and observation tools.
References
Amateur astronomy
Astronomy in Iran | Adib Astronomy Teaching Centre | [
"Astronomy"
] | 59 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Astronomy organizations",
"Astronomy organization stubs"
] |
66,163,926 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYE-687 | WYE-687 is a drug which acts as an inhibitor of both subtypes of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), mTORC1 and mTORC2. It is being researched for potential applications in the treatment of various forms of cancer.
References
Enzyme inhibitors | WYE-687 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 64 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
66,164,017 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XL-388 | XL-388 is a drug which acts as a potent and selective inhibitor of both subtypes of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), mTORC1 and mTORC2. It is being researched for the treatment of various forms of cancer, and has also been used to demonstrate a potential application for mTOR inhibitors in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
References
Amides
Benzosulfones
Benzoxazepines
Enzyme inhibitors
2-Aminopyridines
Fluorobenzene derivatives | XL-388 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 109 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Functional groups",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Amides"
] |
66,164,061 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALC-0159 | ALC-0159 is a PEG/lipid conjugate (i.e. PEGylated lipid), specifically, it is the N,N-dimyristylamide of 2-hydroxyacetic acid, O-pegylated to a PEG chain mass of about 2 kilodaltons (corresponding to about 45-46 ethylene oxide units per molecule of N,N-dimyristyl hydroxyacetamide). It is a non-ionic surfactant by its nature. It has been deployed in the Pfizer-BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine (0.05 mg per dose) that contains the active ingredient tozinameran.
See also
Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine nanoparticle ingredients
ALC-0315
1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
Cholesterol
Others
Polyethoxylated tallow amine
References
Assessment report, Comirnaty, Common name: COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (nucleoside-modified); Procedure No. EMEA/H/C/005735/0000 - gives structural formula for the compound (p. 24)
Lipids
Pfizer
Products introduced in 2020
Biotechnology
Glycol ethers
Carboxamides | ALC-0159 | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 288 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Pharmacology",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Biotechnology",
"Organic compounds",
"nan",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Lipids"
] |
66,165,645 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arven%20Pharmaceuticals | Arven Pharmaceuticals is a Turkish pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in Istanbul established as a subsidiary of Toksöz Group in 2013. Arven's primary focus is development and production of high-technology inhaler and biotechnology products. The company is specialized on difficult to make products. Arven is the first Turkish company developing biosimilars for global markets, including the US and EU.
Arven has obtained a marketing authorization in 2016 for the biosimilar of Filgrastim, marketed under Fraven, which is the first biosimilar drug, developed and manufactured from cell to final product in Turkey.
Additionally, Arven is the first Turkish company to design and develop a patented Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) device under Arvohaler trademark and globally introduced Cyplos (salmeterol/fluticasone) product inhaled with Arvohaler device.
Some of the ministry of health foundations have visitations to the company for the vaccine manufacturing potential during COVID-19 pandemic period.
History
In 2007 the Toksöz Group launched investments to contribute to the development of biotechnological products and the advancement of the pharmaceutical field in Turkey. A Biotechnology Division was first established in the Sanovel Silivri facility within the same year, and research and development work was initiated to produce Turkey's first biosimilar product.
In the following years, the Toksöz Group brought together high-technology inhaler and biotechnology products under separate legal entity as“Arven İlaç San ve Tic. A.Ş.” continuing its investments, the group then decided in 2013 to build a dedicated factory for manufacturing of Arvenproducts.
Facilities
Arven Kırklareli factory
As of 2020, Arven employs 200 staff in factory and R&D facility.
The factory was built in the Kırklareli Industrial Zoneclose to the western borders of Turkey and started operations by obtaining a manufacturing license from the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency of Turkey in 2017. Arven Kırklareli factory was constructed on a area.
Arven R&D Center
The R&D facility in Selimpaşa-Istanbul was established at the same time period with the manufacturing facility in Kırklareli. R&D Center certificate was granted in 2017 by the Ministry of Industry, and started to develop new products. Arven R&D Center is currently carrying out research and development activities on inhaler (respiration) medicine and biosimilar drugs.
Biotechnology
The research and development activity on biotechnological and biosimilar drugs are divided into two main groups: microbial drugs and mammalian cell culture-based drugs. The biotechnology team at Arven R&D center comprises Microbial Manufacturing, Mammalian Production, Biotechnology R&D and Biotechnology Quality Control divisions.
Biosimilar development project generally includes following basic steps:
Characterization of the reference product, cell line development, analytical method development, process development, head-to-head comparability studies, manufacturing of the product at different scales for toxicology study and clinical trials, stability studies, animal studies, and phase 1 clinical trials.
The facility is utilized for upstream processes, including inoculation, fermentation, cell disruption and harvesting; and downstream processes, including advanced technology filtration and chromatographic purification techniques, and has the capacity to manufacture bulk products in controlled, GMP classified areas. Following the bulk manufacture of products, the final product is obtained through syringe filling under aseptic conditions in GMP areas using validated processes. It was the first GMP certificated-biotechnology manufacturing area in Turkey. Fraven, biosimilar of Filgrastim, is the first biosimilar drug developed from cell to the finished product in Turkey and was approved by Turkish Ministry of Health in April 2016.
The manufacturing protocol of the product was successfully patented before the European Patent Office. This success has also led company to move R&D projects to more complicated biomolecules, such as monoclonal antibodies.
Inhaler
Arven was the first Turkish pharmaceutical company to develop a medical device and corresponding anti-asthmatic product as a dry powder inhaler (DPI) complies with international guidelines and regulations including WHO, ICH, FDA and EMA. The company has new R&D projects on other inhalable molecules on the pipeline.
Salmeterol with fluticasone propionate combined doses are manufactured as 50 mcg-500 mcg, 50 mcg-250 mcg and 50-100 mcg inhalation powder forms. Development of Cyplos Arvohaler products were started in 2006, authorization step in Turkey was completed in 2011 and the products were launched in 2012 to the Turkish market.
Product development started with design and development of a plastic inhalation device (Arvohaler) in 2006 with a 100% percent of domestic capital in Turkey. While research and design studies were conducted internally by a team of people from R&D, IP and other related departments of Arven. Development stages were completed together with a local mold and device manufacturer having a clean room in Turkey.
After the development stage today Arvohaler is a worldwide patented multi-unit dose dry powder inhalation (DPI) device developed by Arven. The device itself is protected in Turkey, EU, US and many other countries globally with a number of patent families.
Arvohaler consists of 18 components, including 16 plastic parts and 2 stainless-steel springs. Whole material selections and documentation of the development stages were performed according to international guidelines and regulations including WHO, ICH, FDA and EMA.
As a whole product; Cyplos Arvohaler is manufactured in DPI Production Unit located in Arven's GMP approved production facilities in clean room conditions. Production consists of subsequent stages.
Production of plastic inhaler device Arvohaler: Arvohaler plastic components are produced from medical grade plastic materials in a well-equipped device manufacturer in clean room conditions.
Production of drug product Cyplos Arvohaler: Weighing, mixing, blister filling of the drug product, coiling of blister strips into device
Final processing including final assembly, labeling and secondary packaging.
Every stage of production and the finished product is controlled by in-process and chemical tests.
Products
The firm's main products are:
Fraven (Filgrastim)
Cyplos Arvohaler (salmeterol/fluticasone)
Tutast Arvohaler(Tiotropium bromide)
Patents
Arven has filed 571 patent applications before the patent offices since its foundation. 298 of the patents belong to the inhaler device(Arvohaler) and corresponding formulation technology inventions. Arven's innovator inhaler device, Arvohaler, succeeded to obtaining patent grants from European Patent Office, USPTO, Japan Patent Office and Chinese State Patent Office. Additionally, the first biotechnology drug patent application in Turkey was filed by Arven Pharmaceuticals. Arven has 23 European granted patents and ranked tenth among all of the Turkish companies in terms of number of registered European patents.
References
Biotechnology
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceutical companies of Turkey | Arven Pharmaceuticals | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 1,482 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Life sciences industry",
"Pharmaceutical industry",
"Biotechnology",
"nan"
] |
66,166,348 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad%20Khaja%20Nazeeruddin | Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin (born 1957 in Thumboor, Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian-Swiss chemist and materials scientist who conducts research on Perovskite solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and light-emitting diodes. He is a professor at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and the director of the Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Functional Materials at School of Basic Sciences.
Career
Nazeeruddin received a PhD in chemistry from the Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. He served as a lecturer at Osmania University for two years. He then joined the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute in Bhavnagar, India. In 1987 he joined EPFL, first as a postdoctoral fellow, and then held several positions as research fellow for seven years. In 2012, he was promoted to "Maître d’ Enseignement et de Recherche" (senior lecturer). Since 2014 he has served as full professor at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and head of the Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Functional Materials at School of Basic Sciences based at EPFL's Valais campus.
He has also had several affiliated and voluntary positions while working and employed at EPFL, such as World Class University Professor (2009–2014) and BKPLUS 21 (2014–2019) at the Department of Advanced Materials, Chemistry of the Korea University, and visiting professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2014–2021) and at the North China Electric Power University (2014–2021), and an eminent professor at Brunei.
Research
Nazeeruddin's research focuses on chemical engineering of functional materials for photovoltaic and light-emitting applications such as Perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells, and light-emitting diodes.
His team conducts research in the area of inorganic chemistry of ruthenium sensitizers that convert solar energy through the use of high surface area nanocrystalline mesoscopic films of oxide semiconductors. These tailored-sensitizers have attracted additional research in dye-sensitized solar cell research. They have synthesized several ruthenium sensitizers (N3, N719 and N749), donor-π-bridge-acceptor porphyrin sensitizers, and near IR sensitizers. A further field of their research encompass organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are used in the fabrication of digital displays. They contributed novel blue, green, and red phosphorescent iridium emitters for OLEDs.
His laboratory is located at the EPFL-Sion Energy center, focusing on organic, inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cells and Light Emitting Diodes research. His laboratory has fabricated blue, green, and red PLEDs with unprecedentedly high external quantum efficiency. His group has investigated solutions (one-step and sequential deposition) and sublimation-deposited perovskite solar cells and obtained a power conversion efficiency of 25%. His group has developed a Perovskite Solar Cells Module (area 26.02 cm2) with an efficiency of 22.4%. Their research has been covered in several international news outlets. However, it is important to note that these cells and modules are not commercially deployed and much more research and development needs to be done and long-term stability of the cells and modules have yet to be demonstrated. There are numerous leading researchers world-wide working on this problem. It is important to note that perovskite-based solar cell technology in general is still in the developmental stage and essentially no perovskite-based solar modules have been commercially deployed for harnessing solar power.
Publications and awards
Nazeeruddin is a co-author on numerous peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and is a co-inventor on many patents. According to Thomson Reuters he has been named a "Highly Cited Researcher" in chemistry, materials science and engineering in 2016 and 2017, and was included in the list of "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" from all scientific domains. As stated in the ISI listing, he is one of the most cited chemists with more than 196,000 citations and an h-index of 190. His group has earned worldwide recognition and leadership in Perovskite solar cells. The Times Higher Education named him among "the top 10 researchers in the world working on the high impact perovskite materials and devices". Nazeeruddin was included as one of the Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists in the world on the list published by Stanford University in October 2022.
He is an elected member of the European Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Fellow of Telangana Academy of Sciences, and Member of the Swiss Chemical Society. He was awarded the 34th Khwarizmi International Award in Basic Sciences, 2021.
Since 2018 he has been a jury member of the Rei Jaume I foundation in Spain.
He is the recipient of the best paper award from the journal Inorganics, the EPFL Excellence Prize (1998 and 2006), the Brazilian FAPESP fellowship award (1999), the Japanese Government Science & Technology Agency Fellowship (1998), and Government of India National Scholar award (1987-1989).
He is editor in chief of Chemistry of Inorganic Materials, an advisory board member at Advanced Functional Materials, an associated editor at Energy Chem, an editorial advisory board member at Scientific Reports, an editorial advisory board member at RRL Solar, and an editorial advisory board member at Artificial Photosynthesis.
Selected works
References
External links
Publication listed on ORCID
Publication listed on Publons
Website of the Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Functional Materials
1957 births
Living people
Osmania University alumni
Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Solid state chemists
People from Thrissur district
21st-century Indian chemists
Academic staff of Osmania University
Indian emigrants to Switzerland | Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,236 | [
"Solid state chemists"
] |
66,168,295 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinia%20rogersiana | Plinia rogersiana is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the state of São Paulo in the south-east of Brazil. It is considered critically endangered, possibly extinct.
References
rogersiana
Crops originating from the Americas
Crops originating from Brazil
Tropical fruit
Endemic flora of Brazil
Fruits originating in South America
Cauliflory
Fruit trees
Berries
Critically endangered species
Critically endangered plants
Critically endangered biota of South America
Plants described in 1995 | Plinia rogersiana | [
"Biology"
] | 91 | [
"Critically endangered species",
"Biota by conservation status"
] |
66,168,497 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire%20J.%20Carmalt | Claire Jane Carmalt is a British chemist who is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Head of the Department of Chemistry at University College London. Her research considers the synthesis of molecular precursors and the development of thin film deposition techniques.
Early life and education
Carmalt studied chemistry at Newcastle University. She graduated with first class honours in 1992 before starting her doctoral research with Nick Norman. Her research considered the heavy elements of the Boron group and Pnictogen group. After earning her doctorate she spent two years as a postdoc at the University of Texas at Austin where she worked alongside Alan Cowley. She focussed on the design and synthesis of precursors to allow thin film growth.
Research and career
Carmalt was made a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow at University College London in 1997. She has held many positions at UCL, including lecturer, professor, vice dean and eventually Head of Department. When she was made Head of Department in 2016 she was the first woman to hold the position.
Carmalt specialises in the synthesis of highly volatile, non-toxic molecular precursors for the growth of thin films of transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). TCOs are used in a range of different technologies, including computers, mobile phones and photovoltaic devices. The materials most commonly used to make TCOs (indium and tin) are available in limited quantities, expensive and complicated to process. Carmalt is interested in thin film deposition techniques, including chemical vapour deposition, aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) and atomic layer deposition. In particular, AACVD offers the potential for large-area TCO coatings based on nanoparticle dispersions.
Awards and honours
2000 Royal Society of Chemistry Meldola Medal and Prize
2018 Ramsay Trustee of the Society of Chemical Industry
2019 Royal Society of Chemistry Applied Inorganic Chemistry Award
Selected publications
Personal life
Carmalt has two daughters.
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
British women chemists
British chemists
Alumni of Newcastle University
Academics of University College London
University of Texas at Austin alumni
Inorganic chemists | Claire J. Carmalt | [
"Chemistry"
] | 432 | [
"British inorganic chemists",
"Inorganic chemists"
] |
66,168,924 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-stage%20functionalization | Late-stage functionalization (LSF) is a desired, chemical or biochemical, chemoselective transformation on a complex molecule to provide at least one analog in sufficient quantity and purity for a given purpose without needing the addition of a functional group that exclusively serves to enable said transformation.
Molecular complexity is an intrinsic property of each molecule and frequently determines the synthetic effort to make it. LSF can significantly diminish this synthetic effort, and thus enables access to molecules, which would otherwise not be available or too difficult to access. The requirements for LSF can be met by both C–H functionalization reactions and functional group manipulations. LSF reactions are particularly relevant and often used in the fields of drug discovery and materials chemistry, although no LSF has been implemented in a commercial process.
Chemoselectivity
All LSF reactions are chemoselective but not every chemoselective reaction fulfills the requirements of the definition for LSF. High chemoselectivity is required for a useful LSF with a predictable reaction outcome because complex molecules typically feature several distinct functional groups that need to be tolerated. In this sense, chemoselectivity is sometimes referred to as functional group tolerance. Furthermore, high chemoselectivity avoids often undesired over-functionalization of the valuable substrate, which is used as a limiting reagent in LSF reactions.
Every C–H bond functionalization on a complex molecule classifies as LSF, except when a directing or activating group must be installed in a previous step of the synthesis to accomplish the transformation. For functional group manipulations, the distinction between LSF and functional-group-tolerant reactions is more subtle. For example, peptide bioconjugation reactions make use of the native functionality in amino acid side chains, and thus classify as LSF. In contrast, bioorthogonal 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions (see also copper-free click chemistry and Huisgen cycloaddition) generally require prior introduction of azide or cycloalkyne functionalities to biomolecules. Hence, such transformations do not classify as LSF despite their excellent functional group tolerance.
Site-selectivity
Site-selectivity, also positional or regioselectivity, is generally desired but no requirement for LSF reactions because site-unselective LSF reactions can also be useful for special purposes. For example, site-unselective late-stage C–H functionalization reactions can provide quick access to several constitutional isomers of complex molecules relevant for biological testing in drug discovery. Site-selective reactions to access each possible constitutional isomer independently are scarce but highly desirable because cumbersome purification procedures are avoided, and other isomers are not produced as waste. Some LSF reactions provide one constitutional isomer in high selectivity based on innate substrate selectivity for a given reaction or based on catalyst control. The discovery of site-selective LSF reactions constitutes an important research objective in the field of synthetic methodology development.
References
Molecules
Transformation (function) | Late-stage functionalization | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Mathematics"
] | 626 | [
"Molecular physics",
"Transformation (function)",
"Molecules",
"Physical objects",
"nan",
"Geometry",
"Atoms",
"Matter"
] |
66,168,946 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto%20G%205G | Moto G 5G and Motorola One 5G Ace are Android phablets developed by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. The Moto G 5G branded variant was initially released in December 2020. In the United States, it was released as Motorola One 5G Ace on 13 January 2021.
Hardware
CPU
The device comes with the Snapdragon 750G System on Chip, a fast mid-range ARM SoC with 8 CPU Kryo 570 cores. It was the first device released in India to use this chip.
Two fast ARM Cortex-A77 cores at up to 2.2 GHz
Six small ARM Cortex-A55 cores at up to 1.8 GHz
and a fast X52 5G modem (up to 3700 Mbps download).
The SoC is manufactured in the modern 8 nm process.
Camera
Rear Camera System
Device comes with 3 camera system,
48MP (f/1.7, 0.8 um) camera which outputs 12MP (f/1.7, 1.6 um) Quad Pixel image using pixel binning for image quality improvement and uses PDAF
8MP (f/2.2, 1.12 um) | 118° ultra-wide angle
2MP (f/2.4, 1.75 um) | Macro Vision camera | AF
and a Single LED flash
Front Camera
Device comes with a single punch hole front camera,
16MP (f/2.2, 1 um) sensor that outputs 4MP (f/2.2, 2 um) Quad Pixel image
Software
The device launched with Android 10 and as of October 2021 devices have started receiving the Android 11 update.
The device comes with minimal customization to stock Android experience. It includes Motorola My UX Gesture features such as Quick Capture, which launches the device camera with a twist gesture performed with wrist while holding the device, Fast Flashlight which turns on the device flashlight with two chopping motions.
OS Update History
Variants
Reception
The reviewers praised the device for its clean user interface (minimal and tasteful customizations to Stock Android experience), good battery life, good performance and good camera. While criticising comparatively slow charging, bland design and average screen refresh rate.
References
External links
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2020
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Motorola smartphones
Mobile phones with 4K video recording | Moto G 5G | [
"Technology"
] | 475 | [
"Mobile technology stubs",
"Mobile phone stubs"
] |
66,169,076 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HY-124798 | HY-124798 (Rheb inhibitor NR1) is the first compound to be developed that acts as a potent and selective inhibitor of Rheb, a GTP-binding protein which acts as an endogenous activator of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) subtype mTORC1. Since many of the side effects of rapamycin and its analogues are thought to result from binding to the other subtype mTORC2, it is hoped that selective inhibition of mTORC1 should have a more selective effects profile. As mTORC1 and mTORC2 have binding sites that are very similar in structure, it has been challenging to develop highly subtype selective inhibitors, making indirect inhibition via modulation of other messenger proteins such as Rheb an attractive approach. However, since HY-124798 has a relatively weak IC50 of 2.1μM, and Rheb also has other targets in addition to mTORC1, it remains to be established whether it will deliver the hoped for improvements in pharmacological profile.
See also
MB-3 (drug)
References
G proteins | HY-124798 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 243 | [
"Pharmacology",
"G proteins",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Signal transduction",
"Pharmacology stubs"
] |
66,169,169 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four%20Treasures%20of%20Hebei | The Four Treasures of Hebei () are four artifacts of high historical value located in Hebei, China. They include the Great Bodhisattva of Zhengding, the Anji Bridge, the Liaodi Pagoda, and the Iron Lion of Cangzhou.
Anji Bridge (605)
The Anji Bridge, also called the Zhaozhou Bridge, is China's oldest standing bridge and the world's oldest open spandrel bridge of wholly stone construction. It was built under the direction of Li Chun between the years 595-605 AD during the Sui dynasty. Its segmental arch design using stone repudiated conventional wisdom that a semicircular arch was necessary to transfer the weight of a bridge downwards to where the arch tangentially meets the pier. The double pair of openings piercing both ends of the arch spandrel, which as well as accentuating its lithe curvature, lightens the weight of the bridge and facilitates the diversion of flood waters by allowing them to pass through the auxiliary arches rather than pound against the spandrels.
Iron Lion of Cangzhou (953)
The Iron Lion of Cangzhou, also known as the "Sea Guard Howler", is a cast iron sculpture located in Cangzhou. Cast in the Later Zhou dynasty in 953, the cast iron lion is the largest and oldest surviving cast-iron artwork in China. Over the years, the sculpture has sustained various kinds of damage. By 1603, its tail had been lost. In 1803, a storm toppled the statue resulting in damage to its snout and belly. In 1886, it was supported with stones and bricks on the orders of a local magistrate. In 1961, it was listed as a national cultural relic. In 1984, the iron lion was remounted on a stone pedestal. Its legs were filled with a sulfate compound. Probably due to these interventions, cracks began to appear in the sculpture. Therefore, most of the compound was removed during restoration work carried out in 2000.
Great Bodhisattva of Zhengding (971)
The Great Bodhisattva of Zhengding is a 22.8 meter tall cast bronze statue of Guanyin located in the Longxing Temple, Zhengding. There was originally another statue before this one that was set up in 586 AD, which it replaced. The construction of the new statue began during the Song dynasty in 971 AD. It was cast in seven parts from the bottom up starting with the lotus stand and finishing with the arms, of which there are 42 in total. The back of the statue has since been sawn off and replaced with a wooden frame. The statue weighs 36 tons. Throughout the construction process, some 3,000 artisans were involved.
Liaodi Pagoda (1055)
The Liaodi Pagoda is located in Kaiyuan Monastery, Dingzhou. It is the tallest existing pre-modern Chinese pagoda and tallest brick pagoda in the world. Construction began during the Song dynasty (960–1279) in 1001 and was completed in 1055. The pagoda stands at a height of , resting on a large platform with an octagonal base. Upon completion in 1055, the Liaodi Pagoda surpassed the height of China's previously tallest pagoda still standing, the central pagoda of the Three Pagodas, which stands at 69.13 m (230 ft). The tallest pagoda in pre-modern Chinese history was a -tall wooden pagoda tower in Chang'an built in 611 by Emperor Yang of Sui, but the structure no longer exists.
References
Bibliography
Outdoor sculptures in China
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei
10th-century sculptures
Sculptures of lions
953
10th-century establishments in China
Cast-iron sculptures
Buddhist temples in Hebei
Pagodas in China
Octagonal buildings in China
Song dynasty architecture
11th-century Buddhist temples
11th-century establishments in China
Dingzhou
Deck arch bridges
Bridges completed in the 7th century
Bridges in Hebei
Arch bridges in China
Buildings and structures in Shijiazhuang
Sui dynasty
Chinese architectural history
Transport in Hebei
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
Stone bridges in China
7th-century establishments in China | Four Treasures of Hebei | [
"Engineering"
] | 834 | [
"Civil engineering",
"Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks"
] |
66,169,770 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC-LI-0186 | BC-LI-0186 is a compound that acts as an inhibitor of the GTPase enzyme leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS). This enzyme acts as part of the mTOR complex and acts as a leucine sensor which stimulates mTORC1 in the presence of leucine. BC-LI-0186 blocks the docking site for mTORC1 and thereby prevents the mTOR activation and increased protein synthesis which is usually triggered by branched-chain amino acids such as leucine, yet without inhibiting the separate catalytic activity of LRS. This may have potential applications in the treatment of cancer, and BC-LI-0186 has also been shown to promote muscle regeneration after injury.
References
Enzyme inhibitors
Pyrazoles
Sulfonamides | BC-LI-0186 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 163 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
66,169,771 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASP-42 | WASP-42 is a K-type main-sequence star. Its surface temperature is 5315 K. WASP-42 is similar to the Sun in concentration of heavy elements, with metallicity ([Fe/H]) of 0.05, and is much older than the Sun at billion years. The star does exhibit starspot activity as is typical for its spectral class.
Multiplicity surveys did not detect any stellar companions to WASP-42 in 2017.
Planetary system
In 2012, one planet, named WASP-42b, was discovered on a tight, mildly eccentric orbit. The planetary equilibrium temperature is 1021 K.
References
Centaurus
Planetary transit variables
K-type main-sequence stars
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
J12515557-4204249 | WASP-42 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 155 | [
"Centaurus",
"Constellations"
] |
56,355,443 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana%20Institution%20of%20Engineers | The Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) is one of the two professional bodies responsible for licensing practicing engineers in Ghana. It was founded in 1968 to succeed the Ghana Group of Professional Engineers. The Institution derives its authority from the Engineering Council Act 2011, Act 819 and the Professional Bodies Registration Decree NRCD143 of 1973. It regulates the activities of engineers and engineering firms in Ghana. It also sets standards in engineering sector of Ghana and organises professional exams for engineers.
Mission
As part of its mission, the GhIE aims to:
Be leaders in the development of science, engineering and technology at all levels of society.
Share knowledge and instill in the membership professionalism and ethical practice
Establish structures to ensure good corporate image of the institution at all times.
Membership
Membership categories include Fellows, Members, Associates, Graduate Members, Affiliates and Technicians.
References
Merged content from Ghana Institutite of Engineers. See Talk:Ghana Institutite of Engineers
Professional associations based in Ghana
Engineering societies
Engineering organizations | Ghana Institution of Engineers | [
"Engineering"
] | 200 | [
"Engineering societies",
"nan"
] |
56,356,194 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goshogawara%20Sue%20Pottery%20Kiln%20Site | The is an archaeological site consisting of the remains of Heian period kilns located in what is now the city of Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is protected by the central government as a National Historic Site.
Overview
was a blue-gray form of unglazed stoneware which was produced in Japan and southern Korea over many centuries from during the Kofun through the Heian periods, and was initially used for funerary and ritual objects Sue pottery is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th century in the Kaya region of southern Korea, and was brought to Japan by immigrant craftsmen. It was produced in numerous locations around Japan. By the Heian period, it had become a utilitarian pottery.
The Goshogawara Sue Kiln Ruins date from the middle of the 9th century to the late 10th century, or the middle of the Heian period. The site is located approximately 15 kilometers southeast of the center of present-day Goshogawara, on a small hill on a tributary of the Maedano River, and consists of at least 40 kilns. However, the locations are divided into three separate groups across an area measuring 3.5 kilometers east–west by five kilometers north–south. The site was discovered during construction work for forestry roads in 1967. Each kiln is built semi-underground into the slope of a hill, and are a stepless form of the traditional anagama kiln. Each kiln has a length of approximately five meters and a width and height of one meter. The pottery produced was primarily storage devices such as long neck bottles, pots, jars, and jars, most of which have letters and symbols engraved with a spatula, which is a distinctive feature of pottery produced at this site.
Radiocarbon dating of shards found at the site mark it as the northernmost known site at which this type of Sue pottery is known to have been produced. The pottery produced from the site has been found in at archaeological sites to the south in Akita, and Iwate Prefecture and north in Hokkaidō, indicating ongoing trade across the Tsugaru Strait from the earliest times.
The site has been excavated since 1998 by the Goshogawara Board of Education, and of the 40 kiln sites, 13 were in good preservation and qualified for protection as a National Historic Site. It is located It is approximately 20 minutes by car from Daishaka Station on the JR East Ōu Main Line.
See also
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Aomori)
References
External links
Goshogawara city official site
Aomori prefectural site
Goshogawara
Heian period
History of Aomori Prefecture
Historic Sites of Japan
Japanese pottery kiln sites | Goshogawara Sue Pottery Kiln Site | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 556 | [
"Kilns",
"Japanese pottery kiln sites"
] |
56,356,263 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohan%20R.%20Wani | Mohan Ramachandra Wani (1965 – 14 April 2024) was an Indian cell biologist, immunologist and a scientist at the National Centre for Cell Science. Known for his studies in the fields of bone and cartilage cell biology, osteoimmunology, and regenerative medicine, Wani was an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India and an elected member of Guha Research Conference. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2009.
Biography
Born in 1965 in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Mohan Wani graduated in veterinary science from Nagpur Veterinary College and earned his master's degree from Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV). His doctoral studies were at the University of London on a Commonwealth Fellowship and after securing a PhD, he returned to India to join the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) of Savitribai Phule Pune University. At NCCS, he held the position of a Grade F scientist at the Venture Center Outreach Center and was a part of the research groups on Cell Organization and Function, Pathogenesis and Cellular Response as well as Stem Cells and Regeneration. He resided at the University Campus in Ganeshkkind, Pune in Maharashtra.
Wani's research focus was in the fields of bone and cartilage cell biology, osteoimmunology, arthritis, stem cell science and regenerative medicine. He was known to have worked extensively on recombinant mouse IL-3 and developed mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis in humans. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 50 of them. He was a member of the Task Force on Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine of the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India and delivered guest lectures on the subject. He also served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Animal Science of the Laboratory Animal Scientists' Association (India). Wani died on 14 April 2024, at the age of 59.
Awards and honors
Wani received the B. M. Birla Science Prize of the B. M. Birla Science Centre in 2004 and the Prof B. K. Bachhawat International Travel Grant for Young Scientists of the Christian Medical College in 2006. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2009. He became an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2011. He was also an elected member of Guha Research Conference.
Selected bibliography
See also
Interleukin 3
Granulocyte
Notes
References
External links
1965 births
2024 deaths
N-BIOS Prize recipients
20th-century Indian biologists
Indian cell biologists
Indian immunologists
Stem cell researchers
Scientists from Nagpur
Alumni of the University of London
Academic staff of Savitribai Phule Pune University | Mohan R. Wani | [
"Biology"
] | 643 | [
"Stem cell researchers",
"Stem cell research"
] |
56,358,596 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast%20Address%20Dynamic%20Client%20Allocation%20Protocol | The Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol (MADCAP) is a communication protocol that allows hosts to request multicast addresses from a server.
Overview
The Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol (MADCAP) is designed to allow for automatic dynamic assignment of multicast addresses.
MADCAP allows for efficient allocation of multicast addresses. This is important for IPv4 which has a small number of multicast addresses available. This is less of a concern with IPv6 multicast. Whereas IPv6 allows for 2112 possible multicast addresses, IPv4 multicast addresses are restricted to only class D Internet addresses (224.0.0.0/4).
Port number 2535 is assigned by IANA for use with this protocol. All protocol messages are encapsulated in UDP datagrams. The MADCAP protocol has much in common with DHCP, but they are separate protocols with no common dependencies.
History
MADCAP was originally based on DHCP. Microsoft included MADCAP as part of the DHCP service in Windows 2000. RFC 2730 was published as a proposed networking standard by the IETF in December 1999. Guidelines for the allocation of IPv6 multicast addresses using MADCAP were published in RFC 3307 in August 2002.
References
External links
Multicast DHCP
Supporting MADCAP
Communications protocols | Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol | [
"Technology"
] | 269 | [
"Computer standards",
"Computing stubs",
"Communications protocols",
"Computer network stubs"
] |
56,358,777 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware-based%20encryption | Hardware-based encryption is the use of computer hardware to assist software, or sometimes replace software, in the process of data encryption. Typically, this is implemented as part of the processor's instruction set. For example, the AES encryption algorithm (a modern cipher) can be implemented using the AES instruction set on the ubiquitous x86 architecture. Such instructions also exist on the ARM architecture. However, more unusual systems exist where the cryptography module is separate from the central processor, instead being implemented as a coprocessor, in particular a secure cryptoprocessor or cryptographic accelerator, of which an example is the IBM 4758, or its successor, the IBM 4764. Hardware implementations can be faster and less prone to exploitation than traditional software implementations, and furthermore can be protected against tampering.
History
Prior to the use of computer hardware, cryptography could be performed through various mechanical or electro-mechanical means. An early example is the Scytale used by the Spartans. The Enigma machine was an electro-mechanical system cipher machine notably used by the Germans in World War II. After World War II, purely electronic systems were developed. In 1987 the ABYSS (A Basic Yorktown Security System) project was initiated. The aim of this project was to protect against software piracy. However, the application of computers to cryptography in general dates back to the 1940s and Bletchley Park, where the Colossus computer was used to break the encryption used by German High Command during World War II. The use of computers to encrypt, however, came later. In particular, until the development of the integrated circuit, of which the first was produced in 1960, computers were impractical for encryption, since, in comparison to the portable form factor of the Enigma machine, computers of the era took the space of an entire building. It was only with the development of the microcomputer that computer encryption became feasible, outside of niche applications. The development of the World Wide Web lead to the need for consumers to have access to encryption, as online shopping became prevalent. The key concerns for consumers were security and speed. This led to the eventual inclusion of the key algorithms into processors as a way of both increasing speed and security.
Implementations
In the instruction set
x86
The X86 architecture, as a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) Architecture, typically implements complex algorithms in hardware. Cryptographic algorithms are no exception. The x86 architecture implements significant components of the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm, which can be used by the NSA for Top Secret information. The architecture also includes support for the SHA Hashing Algorithms through the Intel SHA extensions. Whereas AES is a cipher, which is useful for encrypting documents, hashing is used for verification, such as of passwords (see PBKDF2).
ARM
ARM processors can optionally support Security Extensions. Although ARM is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture, there are several optional extensions specified by ARM Holdings.
As a coprocessor
IBM 4758 – The predecessor to the IBM 4764. This includes its own specialised processor, memory and a Random Number Generator.
IBM 4764 and IBM 4765, identical except for the connection used. The former uses PCI-X, while the latter uses PCI-e. Both are peripheral devices that plug into the motherboard.
Proliferation
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors are also x86 devices, and have supported the AES instructions since the 2011 Bulldozer processor iteration.
Due to the existence of encryption instructions on modern processors provided by both Intel and AMD, the instructions are present on most modern computers. They also exist on many tablets and smartphones due to their implementation in ARM processors.
Advantages
Implementing cryptography in hardware means that part of the processor is dedicated to the task. This can lead to a large increase in speed. In particular, modern processor architectures that support pipelining can often perform other instructions concurrently with the execution of the encryption instruction. Furthermore, hardware can have methods of protecting data from software. Consequently, even if the operating system is compromised, the data may still be secure (see Software Guard Extensions).
Disadvantages
If, however, the hardware implementation is compromised, major issues arise. Malicious software can retrieve the data from the (supposedly) secure hardware – a large class of method used is the timing attack. This is far more problematic to solve than a software bug, even within the operating system. Microsoft regularly deals with security issues through Windows Update. Similarly, regular security updates are released for Mac OS X and Linux, as well as mobile operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. However, hardware is a different issue. Sometimes, the issue will be fixable through updates to the processor's microcode (a low level type of software). However, other issues may only be resolvable through replacing the hardware, or a workaround in the operating system which mitigates the performance benefit of the hardware implementation, such as in the Spectre exploit.
See also
Disk encryption hardware
Hardware-based full disk encryption
Hardware security module
References
Computer hardware
Cryptography | Hardware-based encryption | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,046 | [
"Cybersecurity engineering",
"Cryptography",
"Computer engineering",
"Applied mathematics",
"Computer hardware",
"Computer systems",
"Computer science",
"Computers"
] |
56,360,841 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehmer%20pair | In the study of the Riemann hypothesis, a Lehmer pair is a pair of zeros of the Riemann zeta function that are unusually close to each other. They are named after Derrick Henry Lehmer, who discovered the pair of zeros
(the 6709th and 6710th zeros of the zeta function).
More precisely, a Lehmer pair can be defined as having the property that their complex coordinates and obey the inequality
for a constant .
It is an unsolved problem whether there exist infinitely many Lehmer pairs.
If so, it would imply that the De Bruijn–Newman constant is non-negative,
a fact that has been proven unconditionally by Brad Rodgers and Terence Tao.
See also
Montgomery's pair correlation conjecture
References
Analytic number theory | Lehmer pair | [
"Mathematics"
] | 162 | [
"Analytic number theory",
"Number theory"
] |
56,360,987 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike%20Folayan | Dr Nike Folayan (born 1978) is a Chartered Engineer and a Telecommunications Engineering Consultant. She is co-founder and chair of the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers that campaigns for more ethnic diversity in UK engineering.
Education and career
Folayan received an MEng in electronic engineering from the University of Kent, and earned her PhD in antenna design at the University of Sheffield.
After her PhD, Folayan joined Mott MacDonald as a Communications Engineer. Here she "worked on the radio design for a number of tunnels as well as communications systems such as CCTV and public address systems". She joined Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2013, working as a Systems Integration Consultant. She worked on major infrastructure projects including CrossRail and the upgrade of Victoria Station. In 2016 she was promoted to Associate Director for Communications and Control within the Railways Division of WSP.
Campaign for diversity
In 2008, Folayan won the Precious Award for "Inspiring Leader within the Workplace". In 2012, Dr Folayan was featured in Powerlist: Britain’s 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage. She was the keynote speaker at the Higher Education Academy STEM annual conference in 2014. She is a trustee at the Engineering Development Trust and a member of the Science Council and Transport for London diversity groups. She contributed to the Royal Academy of Engineer's diversity strategy, In 2017, Folayan spoke at the Institution of Engineering and Technology's "9 % is Not Enough" conference.
The Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers
Nike Folayan and her brother Ollie Folayan founded the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) in 2007 and remain as the organisation's chairperson. In 2011 Vince Cable, then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills attended the AFBE-UK’s seminar on infrastructure in the UK. At the time, he recognised AFBE-UK as "an excellent example of encouraging partnership between stakeholders in the engineering communities and supporting young people as they embark on a range of exciting career paths in science and technology". In 2012 AFBE-UK launched "Making Engineering Hot", a video campaign which promotes engineering to the BME community. In 2016 she coordinated "Transition", which saw students from universities across London take part in a series of employability workshops, CV assessments, mock interviews and engineering challenges.
References
Living people
21st-century British women engineers
British electronics engineers
Electrical engineers
Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
1978 births
Alumni of the University of Sheffield
Alumni of the University of Kent | Nike Folayan | [
"Engineering"
] | 522 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Electrical engineers"
] |
69,055,598 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth%20A.%20Holm | Elizabeth A. Holm, Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor of Engineering, is chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan. Her research focus is computational materials. She worked at Sandia National Laboratories for 20 years before joining the faculty of Carnegie Mellon in 2012. She is a Fellow of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and Fellow of ASM International. She was the 2013 President of the society. She is internationally known for her theory and modeling work on microstructural response, interfaces, carbon nanotubes, and additive manufacturing.
Education
Holm received her Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1987. She moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a Master of Science in Ceramics in 1989, before returning to the University of Michigan dual Ph.D.s in materials science and engineering and scientific computing in 1992.
Research and career
Holm performs research on microstructural evolution in complex polycrystals employing computational materials science tools. She has bridged length scales from molecular dynamics at the atomic scale to Monte Carlo and phase field methods at the mesoscale to finite element at the continuum scale. Her research areas include theory and modeling of microstructural evolution in complex polycrystals, physical and mechanical response of microstructures, and machine learning to predict rare events. She makes novel use of machine vision and machine learning.
Awards and recognition
2002 Fellow of ASM International
2013 President of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
2019 Fellow of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
2020 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Alexander Scott Distinguished Service Award
References
American materials scientists
Women materials scientists and engineers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Fellows of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni
20th-century American scientists
20th-century American women scientists
21st-century American scientists
21st-century American women scientists
21st-century American academics | Elizabeth A. Holm | [
"Materials_science",
"Technology"
] | 397 | [
"Women materials scientists and engineers",
"Materials scientists and engineers",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
69,055,734 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowa%20%28company%29 | Kowa Company, Ltd. () is a Japanese specialized trading company and manufacturer. Its headquarters are located in Nagoya, the capital of Japan's Aichi prefecture.
Overview
Kowa Company is the core of the umbrella Kowa Group. Other companies within the group include Kowa's sibling firm and the consolidated subsidiary . Its predecessor, Hattori Kensaburo Shoten, notably supported the industrialist Sakichi Toyoda's development of his automatic loom. The business is divided into trading and manufacturing divisions. The trading company division trades in fibers, machines, building materials, watercraft, mineral resources, chemical materials, and everyday goods. Meanwhile, the manufacturing division produces medicine, medical equipment, optical instruments, and energy-saving products.
Marketing of Kowa medical products under such brand names as Colgen Kowa and Cabagin Kowa via nationwide TV commercials increased the company's brand recognition. The company also manufactures and sells Prominar-brand camera lenses, spotting scopes, and video equipment that is used by NHK and various commercial TV and radio stations.
Kowa is the largest shareholder in both and , with which it shares cross ownership. The company also owned the now-defunct radio station RADIO-i.
History
Predecessor company
1894: Fiber wholesaler Hattori Kensaburo Shoten () is established in Nagoya
1912: Reorganized and established as a corporation, Hattori Shoten Co., Ltd. ()
1919: Added a spinning operation
1920: Founder Hattori Kensaburo kills himself at age 51 after facing bankruptcy
Current corporation
1939: Trading division separated and established as Kaneka Hattori Shoten Company, Ltd.
1943: Name changed to Kofu Sangyo Company, Ltd.
1945: Expanded beyond textiles
1960: Name changed to Kowa Company, Ltd.
Promotion
Kowa's mascot is a frog often referred to as Kero-chan. In 2020, Kowa acquired the naming rights for a Nagoya baseball stadium, now known as the Vantelin Dome Nagoya, after one of its pharmaceutical products.
References
Trading companies of Japan
Pharmaceutical companies of Japan
Medical technology companies of Japan
Manufacturing companies based in Nagoya
Electronics companies of Japan
Telescope manufacturers
Optics manufacturing companies of Japan
Photography equipment manufacturers of Japan
Japanese companies established in 1939
Japanese brands | Kowa (company) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 455 | [
"Telescope manufacturers",
"People associated with astronomy"
] |
69,056,996 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle%20Johannsen | Kyle Johannsen is a Canadian philosopher. He is the author of a A Conceptual Investigation of Justice (2018) and Wild Animal Ethics (2020). Johannsen specialises in animal and environmental ethics, as well as political and social philosophy. He is presently affiliated with Trent University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Queen's University.
Education and career
Johannesen read for a BA in philosophy with a minor in history at York University from 2003 to 2007, before reading for an MA in philosophy at the same institution from 2007 to 2009. He read for a PhD in philosophy at Queen's University from 2010 to 2015. Johannesen took up visiting assistant professorships at Saint Mary's University, Halifax from 2016 to 2017, and then at Trent University from 2017 to 2018. He remained a course instructor at Trent from 2018, and also became a course instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2019. In 2020, Johannsen became an adjunct assistant professor at Queen's, as well as a fellow in Animals in Politics, Philosophy, Law, and Ethics (APPLE) at the university.
Works
Johannsen published A Conceptual Investigation of Justice in 2018. It was the subject of a symposium at the Canadian Philosophical Association's 2018 meeting; the presented papers were later published in Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review.
Johannsen's Wild Animal Ethics was published in 2020. It investigates whether humans have a duty to reduce wild animal suffering from a deontological perspective. A symposium was held by APPLE on the book at Queen's University in the same year, with the contributing papers later published in Philosophia. The book was reviewed by Thomas Lepeltier in the French-language popular science magazine Sciences Humaines.
In 2025, Johannsen is set to publish Positive Duties to Wild Animals, a collection of essays by various scholars that aims to advance the interventionist literature on wild animal suffering by employing diverse theoretical frameworks, including some that have not previously been used to establish positive duties toward wild animals.
References
External links
"Kyle Johannsen on the Predation Problem" - Herbivorize Predators
"Can Addressing Wild Animal Suffering Prevent the next Pandemic?" - Forum Daily
"That’s moral progress – you have to interfere in things" – Philosopher Kyle Johannsen - Sentientism Conversations podcast
Reducing wild animal suffering with Kyle Johannsen - Knowing Animals podcast
Kyle Johannsen, "Wild Animal Ethics: The Moral and Political Problem of Wild Animal Suffering" (Routledge, 2020) - New Books in Philosophy podcast
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Canadian philosophers
Animal ethicists
Canadian animal rights scholars
Canadian ethicists
Canadian political philosophers
Environmental ethicists
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston
Social philosophers
Academic staff of Trent University
York University alumni
Living people | Kyle Johannsen | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 567 | [
"Environmental ethicists",
"Environmental ethics"
] |
69,057,786 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron%20quadruplets | The condensate of electron quadruplets is a proposed state of matter in which Cooper pairs are formed but do not exhibit long-range order, but electron quadruplets do. Such states emerge in systems with multiple broken symmetries due to the partial melting of the underlying low-temperature order, which destroys the condensates of Cooper pairs but preserves the condensates formed by pairs of preformed fermion pairs. One example of the proposed electron quadruplet condensates is
charge-4e superconductivity first proposed by Berg, Fradkin and Kivelson. Another example is "quartic metal" phase is related to but distinct from those superconductors explained by the standard BCS theory; rather than expelling magnetic field lines as in the Meissner effect, it generates them, a spontaneous Nernst effect that indicates the breaking of time-reversal symmetry.
Related states can form in pair-density-wave systems. In systems with a greater number of broken symmetries, theoretical studies have demonstrated the existence of charge-6e and more complex orders.
After the theoretical possibility was raised, observations consistent with electron quadrupling were published using hole-doped Ba1-xKxFe2As2 in 2021, with evidence of vestigial quadrupling reported in CsV3Sb5 soon after, in early 2022.
See also
List of states of matter
References
Phases of matter | Electron quadruplets | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 298 | [
"Phases of matter",
"Matter"
] |
69,058,158 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humu%20%28software%29 | Humu is a software company that uses machine learning to send "nudges," small recommendations based in nudge theory, to employees at work. Since August 2023, it is a subsidiary of Perceptyx.
History
Humu was founded in May 2017 by former Google executives Laszlo Bock, Wayne Crosby, and Jessie Wisdom. Before founding Humu, Laszlo Bock served as Google's original Head of People Operations. Humu exited stealth mode in October 2018 with $40 million in funding.
Humu analyzes company data and employee feedback to identify changes likely to improve employees' happiness, performance, and retention. The platform then delivers "nudges," short messages urging users to change their behavior.
The company holds a trademark on "Nudge Engine," based on the behavioral economics concept of nudge theory from Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler and popularized in Thaler's 2008 book Nudge, co-authored with legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein. The book argues that small cues can help people make better choices.
Notable customers include Fidelity Investments, Silicon Valley Bank, Lumen, Farfetch, and American fast casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen.
A 2019 trademark dispute between Humu and American video streaming service Hulu was settled in federal court.
On June 24, 2021, Humu announced Humu Business Edition, a personal coach for mid-sized businesses.
In August 2023, Humu was acquired by Perceptyx.
Funding
In May 2019, Humu announced it had raised $40 million in series A and B funding led by Index Ventures and IVP.
See also
Captology
References
Human resource management software
Nudge theory
Behavioral economics
Government by algorithm
Software companies established in 2017 | Humu (software) | [
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 351 | [
"Behavior",
"Behavioral economics",
"Government by algorithm",
"Automation",
"Behaviorism"
] |
69,058,702 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara%20Matise | Tara Matise is an American geneticist at Rutgers University. Since 2018, she has served as chair of the Department of Genetics. Her research interests span computational genetics, data science, and human genetics. She is co-director of the Rutgers University Genetics Coordinating Center.
Early life and education
A native of Buffalo, New York, Matise attended high school at The Buffalo Seminary, a private secular school for girls, graduating in 1982, after which she attended Cornell University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in genetics. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Genetic Counseling in 1988 from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in 1992 in human genetics from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health under the direction of Aravinda Chakravarti. Matise then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, Columbia University and Rockefeller University. At Rockefeller, Matise worked under the supervision of Jürg Ott.
Research and career
Matise moved to Rutgers University in 2000. She was appointed Head of the Computational Genetics Program in the Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey in 2014. In 2021, Matise was elected as a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Matise began her career using genetic linkage to identify genes for genetic diseases. Her contribution to the identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene was honored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 1990. Matise was the creator of MultiMap, a computer program that automated the construction of genetic linkage maps of the human genome. Her work facilitated the development of several genome-wide gene maps in humans and other organisms, and led to the development of the Rutgers Maps, which contain over 28,000 markers and provide an interpolated position for all human markers, the largest linkage map of human polymorphic markers.
In 2008, Matise, as co-director of the Rutgers University Genetics Coordinating Center (RUGCC), was funded to lead a coordinating center for the multi-center Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study. Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the PAGE consortium was a pioneer in its approach to performing globally representative epidemiological genomics. The RUGCC was responsible for data quality control and dissemination, and study logistics.
Matise, as co-lead of the RUGCC, was funded to direct the coordinating center for the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Genome Sequencing Program in 2015. The program made use of genome sequencing to understand the genes that underpin inherited disease.
Selected publications
References
Human Genome Project scientists
Rutgers University faculty
American geneticists
Cornell University alumni
American women scientists
Rockefeller University people
Columbia University faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people) | Tara Matise | [
"Engineering"
] | 584 | [
"Human Genome Project scientists"
] |
69,059,196 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEN100 | OPEN100 is a project that claims to provide open-source blueprints to build nuclear power plants. Its stated goal is to reduce the cost and duration of nuclear reactor construction and increase the nuclear power supply 100-fold by 2040 to aid in the decarbonization of the global economy. It was developed by Bret Kugelmass and the Energy Impact Center, a non-profit organization founded by Kugelmass that advocates for clean energy solutions to climate change.
Overview
OPEN100 was first announced in February 2020 by Bret Kugelmass and the Energy Impact Center (EIC). Open-source blueprints for the construction of a nuclear power plant were uploaded to the project's website soon after the announcement. Those blueprints contained designs for a power plant with a 100-megawatt pressurized water reactor. The OPEN100 plans aim to standardize nuclear power plant construction to increase speed and cost-effectiveness, allowing plants to be built in under two years for a cost of $300 million. New plant construction would likely face regulatory hurdles in practice, however.
The EIC developed the plan in collaboration with the United States Department of Energy national laboratories and other entities to help increase nuclear power capacity 100-fold by 2040 in an effort to curb and reverse the effects of climate change. In July 2021, it was announced that Transcorp Energy in Nigeria would begin implementing the OPEN100 model to build the country's first nuclear power plants.
References
External links
Official website
Energy Impact Center
Pressurized water reactors
Small modular reactor
Nuclear power in the United States
Open design | OPEN100 | [
"Engineering"
] | 321 | [
"Design",
"Open design"
] |
69,060,567 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti%20W16%20engine | The Bugatti WR16 is a quad-turbocharged, W16 engine, manufactured under the high-performance luxury sports car marque Bugatti, since 2005.
Volkswagen is a shareholder of Bugatti stock and shares in the profits of Bugatti products as of 2024.
In 2021, Bugatti announced the retirement of the W16 engine, making the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport L'Ultime, which ended production in May 2024, the final automobile to use the engine.
Overview
The W16 engine that Volkswagen Group uses in its Bugatti Veyron and Chiron has a displacement of and four turbochargers. It is effectively two narrow-angle VR8 engines (based on the VR6 design) mated at an included angle of 90 degrees on a common crankshaft.
The most powerful version of this engine, installed in the Bugatti Bolide, generates at 7,000 rpm, and .
Applications
Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Bugatti Chiron
Bugatti Divo
Bugatti Centodieci
Bugatti Bolide
Bugatti Mistral
Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo (concept car)
References
Volkswagen Group
Bugatti
Volkswagen Group engines
Gasoline engines by model
Engines by model | Bugatti W16 engine | [
"Technology"
] | 260 | [
"Engines",
"Engines by model"
] |
69,060,684 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methaneselenol | Methaneselenol is the organoselenium compound with the formula . It is the simplest selenol. A colorless gas, it is notorious for its foul odor.
It is prepared by reaction of methyl lithium or a methyl Grignard reagent with selenium followed by protonation of the product. The compound is a metabolite.
According to IR spectroscopy, νSe-H = 2342 cm−1. For the other homologues, νE-H = 1995 (E = Te), 2606 (E = S), and 3710 cm−1 (E = O) for methanetellurol, methanethiol, and methanol.
References
Selenols
Hydrides
Organic compounds with 1 carbon atom
Methyl compounds | Methaneselenol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 158 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compounds with 1 carbon atom"
] |
69,062,088 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Configuration%20linear%20program | The configuration linear program (configuration-LP) is a linear programming technique used for solving combinatorial optimization problems. It was introduced in the context of the cutting stock problem. Later, it has been applied to the bin packing and job scheduling problems. In the configuration-LP, there is a variable for each possible configuration - each possible multiset of items that can fit in a single bin (these configurations are also known as patterns) . Usually, the number of configurations is exponential in the problem size, but in some cases it is possible to attain approximate solutions using only a polynomial number of configurations.
In bin packing
The integral LP
In the bin packing problem, there are n items with different sizes. The goal is to pack the items into a minimum number of bins, where each bin can contain at most B. A feasible configuration is a set of sizes with a sum of at most B.
Example: suppose the item sizes are 3,3,3,3,3,4,4,4,4,4, and B=12. Then the possible configurations are: 3333; 333; 33, 334; 3, 34, 344; 4, 44, 444. If we had only three items of size 3, then we could not use the 3333 configuration.
Denote by S the set of different sizes (and their number). Denote by C the set of different configurations (and their number). For each size s in S and configuration c in C, denote:
ns - the number of items of size s.
as,c - the number of occurrences of size s in configuration c.
xc - a variable denoting the number of bins with configuration c.
Then, the configuration LP of bin-packing is:
for all s in S (- all ns items of size s are packed).
for all c in C (- there are at most n bins overall, so at most n of each individual configuration). The configuration LP is an integer linear program, so in general it is NP-hard. Moreover, even the problem itself is generally very large: it has C variables and S constraints. If the smallest item size is eB (for some fraction e in (0,1)), then there can be up to 1/e items in each bin, so the number of configurations C ~ S1/e, which can be very large if e is small (if e is considered a constant, then the integer LP can be solved by exhaustive search: there are at most S1/e configurations, and for each configuration there are at most n possible values, so there are at most combinations to check. For each combination, we have to check S constraints, so the run-time is , which is polynomial in n when S, e are constant).
However, this ILP serves as a basis for several approximation algorithms. The main idea of these algorithms is to reduce the original instance into a new instance in which S is small and e is large, so C is relatively small. Then, the ILP can be solved either by complete search (if S, C are sufficiently small), or by relaxing it into a fractional LP.
The fractional LP
The fractional configuration LP of bin-packing It is the linear programming relaxation of the above ILP. It replaces the last constraint with the constraint . In other words, each configuration can be used a fractional number of times. The relaxation was first presented by Gilmore and Gomory, and it is often called the Gilmore-Gomory linear program.
Example: suppose there are 31 items of size 3 and 7 items of size 4, and the bin-size is 10. The configurations are: 4, 44, 34, 334, 3, 33, 333. The constraints are [0,0,1,2,1,2,3]*x=31 and [1,2,1,1,0,0,0]*x=7. An optimal solution to the fractional LP is [0,0,0,7,0,0,17/3] That is: there are 7 bins of configuration 334 and 17/3 bins of configuration 333. Note that only two different configurations are needed.
In short, the fractional LP can be written as follows:Where 1 is the vector (1,...,1) of size C, A is an S-by-C matrix in which each column represents a single configuration, and n is the vector (n1,...,nS).
Solving the fractional LP
A linear program with no integrality constraints can be solved in time polynomial in the number of variables and constraints. The problem is that the number of variables in the fractional configuration LP is equal to the number of possible configurations, which might be huge. Karmarkar and Karp present an algorithm that overcomes this problem.
First, they construct the dual linear program of the fractional LP:.It has S variables y1,...,yS, and C constraints: for each configuration c, there is a constraint , where is the column of A representing the configuration c. 3It has the following economic interpretation. For each size s, we should determine a nonnegative price ys. Our profit is the total price of all items. We want to maximize the profit n y subject to the constraints that the total price of items in each configuration is at most 1.
Second, they apply a variant of the ellipsoid method, which does not need to list all the constraints - it just needs a separation oracle. A separation oracle is an algorithm that, given a vector y, either asserts that it is feasible, or finds a constraint that it violates. The separation oracle for the dual LP can be implemented by solving the knapsack problem with sizes s and values y: if the optimal solution of the knapsack problem has a total value at most 1, then y is feasible; if it is larger than 1, than y is not feasible, and the optimal solution of the knapsack problem identifies a configuration for which the constraint is violated.
Third, they show that, with an approximate solution to the knapsack problem, one can get an approximate solution to the dual LP, and from this, an approximate solution to the primal LP; see Karmarkar-Karp bin packing algorithms.
All in all, for any tolerance factor h, finds a basic feasible solution of cost at most LOPT(I) + h, and runs in time:
,
where S is the number of different sizes, n is the number of different items, and the size of the smallest item is eB. In particular, if e ≥ 1/n and h=1, the algorithm finds a solution with at most LOPT+1 bins in time: . A randomized variant of this algorithm runs in expected time:
.
Rounding the fractional LP
Karmarkar and Karp further developed a way to round the fractional LP into an approximate solution to the integral LP; see Karmarkar-Karp bin packing algorithms. Their proof shows that the additive integrality gap of this LP is in O(log2(n)). Later, Hoberg and Rothvoss improved their result and proved that the integrality gap is in O(log(n)). The best known lower bound on the integrality gap is a constant Ω(1). Finding the exact integrality gap is an open problem.
In bin covering
In the bin covering problem, there are n items with different sizes. The goal is to pack the items into a maximum number of bins, where each bin should contain at least B. A natural configuration LP for this problem could be:where A represents all configurations of items with sum at least B (one can take only the inclusion-minimal configurations). The problem with this LP is that, in the bin-covering problem, handling small items is problematic, since small items may be essential for the optimal solution. With small items allowed, the number of configurations may be too large even for the technique of Karmarkar and Karp. Csirik, Johnson and Kenyon present an alternative LP. First, they define a set of items that are called small. Let T be the total size of all small items. Then, they construct a matrix A representing all configurations with sum < 2. Then, they consider the above LP with one additional constraint:The additional constraint guarantees that the "vacant space" in the bins can be filled by the small items. The dual of this LP is more complex and cannot be solved by a simple knapsack-problem separation oracle. Csirik, Johnson and Kenyon present a different method to solve it approximately in time exponential in 1/epsilon. Jansen and Solis-Oba present an improved method to solve it approximately in time exponential in 1/epsilon.
In machine scheduling
In the problem of unrelated-machines scheduling, there are some m different machines that should process some n different jobs. When machine i processes job j, it takes time pi,j. The goal is to partition the jobs among the machines such that maximum completion time of a machine is as small as possible. The decision version of this problem is: given time T, is there a partition in which the completion time of all machines is at most T?
For each machine i, there are finitely many subsets of jobs that can be processed by machine i in time at most T. Each such subset is called a configuration for machine i. Denote by Ci(T) the set of all configurations for machine i, given time T. For each machine i and configuration c in Ci(T), define a variable which equals 1 iff the actual configuration used in machine i is c, and 0 otherwise. Then, the LP constraints are:
for every machine i in 1,...,m;
for every job j in 1,...,n;
for every i, j.
Properties
The integrality gap of the configuration-LP for unrelated-machines scheduling is 2.
See also
High-multiplicity bin packing
References
Bin packing
Number partitioning
Job scheduling
Linear programming | Configuration linear program | [
"Mathematics"
] | 2,084 | [
"Bin packing",
"Mathematical problems",
"Packing problems"
] |
69,062,204 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Symmetries%20of%20Things | The Symmetries of Things is a book on mathematical symmetry and the symmetries of geometric objects, aimed at audiences of multiple levels. It was written over the course of many years by John Horton Conway, Heidi Burgiel, and Chaim Goodman-Strauss, and published in 2008 by A K Peters. Its critical reception was mixed, with some reviewers praising it for its accessible and thorough approach to its material and for its many inspiring illustrations, and others complaining about its inconsistent level of difficulty, overuse of neologisms, failure to adequately cite prior work, and technical errors.
Topics
The Symmetries of Things has three major sections, subdivided into 26 chapters. The first of the sections discusses the symmetries of geometric objects. It includes both the symmetries of finite objects in two and three dimensions, and two-dimensional infinite structures such as frieze patterns and tessellations, and develops a new notation for these symmetries based on work of Alexander Murray MacBeath that, as proven by the authors using a simplified form of the Riemann–Hurwitz formula, covers all possibilities. Other topics include Euler's polyhedral formula and the classification of two-dimensional surfaces. It is heavily illustrated with both artworks and objects depicting these symmetries, such as the art of M. C. Escher and Bathsheba Grossman, as well as new illustrations created by the authors using custom software.
The second section of the book considers symmetries more abstractly and combinatorially, considering both the color-preserving symmetries of colored objects, the symmetries of topological spaces described in terms of orbifolds, and abstract forms of symmetry described by group theory and presentations of groups. This section culminates with a classification of all of the finite groups with up to 2009 elements.
The third section of the book provides a classification of the three-dimensional space groups and examples of honeycombs such as the Weaire–Phelan structure. It also considers the symmetries of less familiar geometries: higher dimensional spaces, non-Euclidean spaces, and three-dimensional flat manifolds. Hyperbolic groups are used to provide a new explanation of the problem of hearing the shape of a drum. It includes the first published classification of four-dimensional convex uniform polytopes announced by Conway and Richard K. Guy in 1965, and a discussion of William Thurston's geometrization conjecture, proved by Grigori Perelman shortly before the publication of the book, according to which all three-dimensional manifolds can be realized as symmetric spaces. One omission lamented by Jaron Lanier is the set of regular projective polytopes such as the 11-cell.
Audience and reception
Reviewer Darren Glass writes that different parts of the book are aimed at different audiences, resulting in "a wonderful book which can be appreciated on many levels" and providing an unusual level of depth for a popular mathematics book. Its first section, on symmetries of low-dimensional Euclidean spaces, is suitable for a general audience. The second part involves some understanding of group theory, as would be expected of undergraduate mathematics students, and some additional familiarity with abstract algebra towards its end. And the third part, more technical, is primarily aimed at researchers in these topics, although much still remains accessible at the undergraduate level. It also has exercises making it useful as a textbook, and its heavy use of color illustration would make it suitable as a coffee table book. However, reviewer Robert Moyer finds fault with its choice to include material at significantly different levels of difficulty, writing that for most of its audience, too much of the book will be unreadable.
Much of the material in the book is either new, or previously known only through technical publications aimed at specialists, and much of the previously-known material that it presents is described in new notation and nomenclature. Although there are many other books on symmetry, reviewer N. G. Macleod writes that this one "may well become the definitive guide in this area for many years". Jaron Lanier calls it "a plaything, an inexhaustible exercise in brain expansion for the reader, a work of art and a bold statement of what the culture of math can be like", and "a masterpiece".
Despite these positive reviews, Branko Grünbaum, himself an authority on geometric symmetry, is much less enthusiastic, writing that the book has "some serious shortcomings". These include the unnecessary use of "cute" neologisms for concepts that already have well-established terminology, an inadequate treatment of MacBeath's and Andreas Dress's contributions to the book's notation, sloppy reasoning in some arguments, inaccurate claims of novelty and failure to credit previous work in the classification of colored plane patterns, missing cases in this classification, likely errors in other of the more technical parts, poor copyediting, and a lack of clear definitions that ends up leaving out such central notions as the symmetries of a circle without providing any explanation of why they were omitted.
References
Popular mathematics books
2008 non-fiction books
Symmetry | The Symmetries of Things | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 1,044 | [
"Geometry",
"Symmetry"
] |
69,062,367 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak-to-trough%20ratio | Peak-to-trough ratio (PTR), also known as peak-to-trough variation or peak-to-trough fluctuation, is a parameter in pharmacokinetics which is defined as the ratio of Cmax (peak) concentration and Cmin (trough) concentration over a dosing interval for a given drug. A drug with an elimination half-life of 24 hours taken once per day will have a peak-to-trough ratio of approximately 2. Peak-to-trough ratio depends on half-life and dosing interval, with longer half-lives and shorter dosing intervals giving smaller ratios.
References
Pharmacokinetic metrics | Peak-to-trough ratio | [
"Chemistry"
] | 138 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
69,065,567 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croton%20Water%20Filtration%20Plant | The Croton Water Filtration Plant, is a drinking water treatment facility in New York City which began operation in 2015. The plant construction cost was over $3 billion, The facility was built under Van Cortlandt Park's Mosholu Golf Course in the Bronx.
Background
Through the early 21st century, the three aqueduct systems that supply water to the city utilized chlorination technology, but not filtration (unlike other large municipal water systems in the US). The water in the Croton Aqueduct system, the oldest of the three, often had high turbidity levels, which limits the effectiveness of chlorination as a disinfection process. The turbidity problems in the Croton Watershed come from naturally occurring sources and urban runoff pollution. The Croton system supplies about ten percent of the New York City water system and building a filtration system to address the turbidity problems had been proposed since the 1990s.
The Croton filtration plant was built after a lawsuit was filed in 1997 against the City of New York by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of New York. The city settled the suit and a consent decree was issued with the condition that the city would build the plant by 2006. The city had been studying possible sites for such a plant for more than 20 years in both the Bronx and nearby Westchester County. The plant protects the public from Giardia and Cryptosporidium, microorganisms which can cause serious health problems. The project was spearheaded by then Commissioner Christopher O. Ward.
In the city's early plans, it considered that one of the Croton plant's additional benefits would be to reduce the city's dependence on its two other water sources, the Catskill Aqueduct and Delaware Aqueduct, which at the time were only minimally filtered. Subsequently the city built the Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility, which began operation in 2013.
Design
Raw water is delivered to the filtration plant by the New Croton Aqueduct and the Jerome Park Reservoir. The Croton plant has a capacity of per day and is designed to remove 99.9% of Giardia cysts, Cryptosporidium, and viruses. The system uses conventional drinking water treatment technologies:
Coagulation and flocculation, and chemical balancing
Dissolved air flotation and dual media filtration (activated coal and sand)
Ultraviolet and chlorine disinfection
Corrosion control (orthophosphate)
Fluoridation.
Project delays, costs and completion
The filtration plant was originally projected to cost $800 million, but the project experienced delays and ballooning costs due to objections from the local community, which required the city to propose alternate sites for such a plant.
To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction budget to restore the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground. The Sachkerah Woods Playground, located at the park's southeast corner near the Mosholu Golf Course, was also built using Croton mitigation funds.
The new plant allowed the city to provide greater capacity for its water system. This was especially important since the city was preparing to shut off part of the Delaware Aqueduct in 2022 allowing the completion of a tunnel that would bypass a leaking section of the aqueduct in Newburgh, New York.
In May 2015 the New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced that the Croton filtration plant had been recently activated. The final project cost was $3.2 billion. The plant is larger than Yankee Stadium.
References
Sources
External links
Activation of Croton Filtration Plant - Construction photos by NYCDEP
Environment of New York City
Water treatment facilities
Norwood, Bronx
2015 establishments in New York City
Water infrastructure of New York City | Croton Water Filtration Plant | [
"Chemistry"
] | 795 | [
"Water treatment",
"Water treatment facilities"
] |
69,066,355 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project%20Vartak | Vartak, also known as Project VARTAK is a project of the Border Roads Organisation under the Ministry of Defence of India. It was formed on 7 May 1960 as a provision of the 2nd Border Roads Development Board Meeting with the then Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru as Project Tusker, which was later renamed Project Vartak in 1963. The initial task of this project was to construct and maintain roads between Bhalukpong and Tenga. It was the first established project of Border Roads Organisation. Its task was later expanded to construct and maintain roads in Arunachal Pradesh and adjoining districts of Assam. Major General O.M Mani was the first Chief Engineer of the project.
Vartak successfully completed its initial task in October 1962, connecting Bhalukpong to Bomdila via Tenga and thus bringing motorable connectivity to these far-flung regions for the first time.
Works and involvement
Over the years, Vartak has become a major candidate for infrastructure development in western Arunachal Pradesh. It has successfully completed massive projects, improving connectivity all around Arunachal Pradesh. It has constructed major bridges and roads connecting the far-flung border areas of Arunachal Pradesh. Some major bridges include Yasong and Sarti bridges, Karteso Kong and Kangdang Sila bridges, Tanchen Panga bridge, Ungu bridge, Siang bridge, Sigit bridge, Sisseri Bridge. Major roads like the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang Axis and the Guwahati-Tawang Axis are important networks for improving connectivity in border areas. Vartak is also constructing numerous tunnels to facilitate all-weather travel in regions where fog is common to shorten travelling time between isolated places in Western Arunachal Pradesh. Major tunnels include the Nechiphu Tunnel and the Sela Tunnel. Many roads connecting Bhalukpong to adjoining districts of Assam are also built. Vartak had earlier constructed infrastructure for universities. Construction of residential accommodation, development of internal roads in Tezpur University, construction of the Degree & Diploma Academic blocks, and residential accommodation for the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology(NERIST), Itanagar and the construction of residential school with boy's and girl's hostel for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Gorponding in Tawang, as part of the Rural Education Development Programme are the major works. Deposit works from various agencies like North East Council (NEC), North Eastern Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO) and Oil India were undertaken by this Project The headquarters of Vartak in Tezpur also hosts a primary school within it offering primary education for the children of the personnels as well as civilians.
Vartak specializes in constructing motorable roads and bridges in mountainous regions bringing connectivity to many isolated towns in Western Arunachal Pradesh.
Command structure
Vartak initially started with four Task Forces. These Task Forces were spread across various regions, each specializing in different works.
Between 1967 and 1971, there was a major reorganization of Task Forces. 7 Border Roads Task Force was disbanded in April 1967. 4 Border Roads Task Force was re-organised as 39 Maintenance Task Force and in January 1971 moved to Dimwe in Lohit District and subsequently renamed as 48 Border Roads Task Force. 3 Border Roads Task Force was renamed as 44 Maintenance Task Force in September 1970 and re-organised as 44 Border Roads Task Force in May 1972 . 1310 Fractional Task Force was raised in April 1984, re-organised in December 1986 as 756 Border Roads Task Force and was located at Ziro. 756 Task Force Headquarters subsequently to moved Naharlagun in February 1998. To cope up with the increased work load two new Task Forces were introduced, 763 Border Roads Task Force and 42 Border Roads Task Force. 48 Border Roads Task Force was later merged with Project Udayak. Subsequently, 756 Border Roads Task Force and 44 Border Roads Task Force were merged with Project Arunak to ease the workload.
Bridge construction
In 1986, Border Roads Organisation decided to go in for construction of permanent bridges departmentally. This resulted in the creation of a Bridge Construction Company, 1441 BCC, which was allotted to Vartak. The first bridge constructed by 1441 BCC was a pre-stressed concrete bridge Kamla II on the Balipara – Charduar – Tawang road. Subsequently, six more permanent bridges were completed by 1993. 1441 BCC continues to construct high-quality permanent bridges, even at altitudes of over 10,000 feet and across swift mountain rivers in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
Major works
References
Infrastructure
Border Roads Organisation | Project Vartak | [
"Engineering"
] | 943 | [
"Construction",
"Infrastructure"
] |
64,661,740 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars%20Plant%20Experiment | The Mars Plant Experiment (MPX) was an experiment proposed but not selected for the Mars 2020 rover.
It would have tried to germinate and grow 200 Arabidopsis seeds in a small heated greenhouse using an earth-like atmosphere.
History
The Mars Plant Experiment Started way back in 2000. It last all the way up until 2020 when they launched the most recent Mars Rocket.
Details
This experiment was created with hopes of creating sustainable life on Mars in the future. In a forum held in Washington DC, MPX's Deputy Principal Investigator Heather Smith, from NASA's Ames Research Center, discussed the importance of plants on Mars and the future these flora additions may create for humans on the Red Planet. "In order to do a long-term, sustainable base on Mars, you would want to be able to establish that plants can at least grow on Mars" Smith said. "This would be the first step in that... we just send the seeds there and watch them grow." This experiment would basically setup the ability to create colonies on Mars. Space.com states "MPX would employ a clear "CubeSat" box — the case for a cheap and tiny satellite — which would be affixed to the exterior of the 2020 rover. This box would hold Earth air and about 200 seeds of Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant that's commonly used in scientific research. The seeds would receive water when the rover touched down on Mars, and would then be allowed to grow for two weeks or so." The end goal of the experiment was to have small greenhouses on Mars and prove that plants could grow on Mars. Unfortunately when the decision came down to if this experiment would make it on mission or not it got cut and did not make this current rocket launch. Hopefully in the future it will make it on there.
References
Mars 2020
Space science experiments | Mars Plant Experiment | [
"Astronomy"
] | 378 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Astrobiology stubs"
] |
64,664,057 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis%20William%20Bergstrom | Francis William Bergstrom, Ph.D. (1897–1946) was an American professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
Bergstrom was born in Bloomington, Indiana on January 10, 1897, then moved to Stanford when he was 11 years old. He enrolled at Stanford and received a B.S. in 1918 and a Ph.D. in 1922, working with Edward Curtis Franklin. His postdoctoral work was undertaken at Clark University and Brown University, working with Charles A. Kraus. His independent career lasted 29 years at Stanford, during which time he wrote 70 peer-reviewed papers on nitrogen chemistry and served as an Associate Editor for The Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Bergstrom died of a fast-moving brain tumor when he was 49 years of age. A memorial professorship, held currently by Paul Wender, bears his name.
Awards and honors
1934 - Guggenheim Fellowship
1922-1925 - National Research Council (United States) postdoctoral fellow
References
1897 births
Stanford University faculty
American organic chemists
1946 deaths
Stanford University alumni
Clark University people
Brown University staff | Francis William Bergstrom | [
"Chemistry"
] | 208 | [
"Organic chemists",
"American organic chemists"
] |
64,664,673 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society%20of%20Nepali%20Architects | Society of Nepali Architects (SONA) is an independent non-profit association of architects in Nepal. It was established in 1990. It has collaboration with the ARCASIA, SAARCH, and UIA.
Objectives
promote the development of architecture and its related art, science and technology throughout Nepal
promote the companionship, kindness and support within the architects and to safeguard their professional rights and interests
increase the participation of the national architects in the national development
enhance the professional ideals among the members
develop relations, fellowship and goodwill with international architect's associations and institutions
Activities
It organizes an Architecture Festival annually in Nepal
It was involved in reconstruction work in association with the American Institute of Architects after the Gorkha earthquake.
It hosted the 14th regional assembly of South Asian architects in 2016.
External links
official website
References
Scientific organisations based in Nepal
Professional associations based in Nepal
1990 establishments in Nepal
Engineering organizations in Nepal | Society of Nepali Architects | [
"Engineering"
] | 177 | [
"Engineering organizations in Nepal"
] |
64,665,189 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders%27%20Earthrise | Anders' Earthrise is a lunar impact crater that is located on the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is visible in the foreground of the famous Earthrise photograph (AS08-14-2383) taken by astronaut William Anders on the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon in 1968. The crater's name was approved by the IAU on 5 October 2018. The crater 8 Homeward, also visible in the Earthrise photograph, was named at the same time.
It lies on the west side of the crater Pasteur, and was formerly named Pasteur T.
References
William Anders
Apollo 8 | Anders' Earthrise | [
"Astronomy"
] | 127 | [
"Astronomy stubs"
] |
64,665,342 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piscanivirinae | Piscanivirinae is a virus subfamily of the family Tobaniviridae within the order Nidovirales which comprises different fish viruses. The virions have a viral envelope and a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome which is linear and unsegmented.
The subfamily is hitherto bigeneric with the two genera Bafinivirus and Oncotshavirus. Both genera comprise rod shaped (bacilliform) viruses with relatively large genoms like they mostly occur in the nidoviruses. Occasionally, also strongly pleomorphic (e.g. spheric) virions were observed.
The name is a siglum typical for virus taxonomy which here supposedly refers to the host animals fishes (Latin pisces), the host species Blicca bjoerkna of the virus species White bream virus, and the overarching order of the nidoviruses.
Taxonomy
The subfamily contains the following genera, subgenera, and species:
Bafinivirus
Blicbavirus
White bream virus
Pimfabavirus
Fathead minnow nidovirus 1
Oncotshavirus
Salnivirus
Chinook salmon nidovirus 1
References
Nidovirales
Virus subfamilies | Piscanivirinae | [
"Biology"
] | 258 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
64,666,108 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew%20Israel | Matthew Israel is a controversial American behavioral psychologist who is known for founding the Judge Rotenberg Center and inventing the Graduated Electronic Decelerator, a device used by the center on disabled students, and condemned as torture by advocacy groups and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.
As a freshman in college, Israel read B. F. Skinner's novel, Walden Two, in which the heroes build a utopia by conditioning the residents of a commune through the behaviorist principles of reward and punishment. Israel said that reading Walden Two was like a "religious conversion" for him. After reading the book, Israel devoted himself to making the utopia described in it a reality. Israel said that the period between reading the book and his first attempts to start the utopia was a very difficult time of his life. "I thought about committing suicide", he said. "If I couldn't bring a community into existence, [in] what sense was life worth living?" Israel went on to study behaviorism under B. F. Skinner and to receive his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1960.
In 1966, Israel attended a Walden Two conference, where he shared ideas with Walden Two enthusiasts about how to start the utopia. Israel created the Association of Social Design, an organization for people trying to create behaviorist communities on the principles laid out in Walden Two. In 1967 Israel tried for the first time to build a utopia modeled after Walden Two by starting a small communal house in Arlington. While at the house, Israel met a 3-year-old resident whose mother allowed him to perform behavioral experiments on her. Israel learned that with the use of punishment, he could control and reshape her behavior as he desired. When his first attempt to build a utopia failed, he tried a second time. The second attempt also quickly failed. Israel believed that the reason the experiments had failed was because he had too little control over the participants, and because they all had the option to move out.
Israel then decided to build a school for people with disabilities, as he knew that he would be able to practice behaviorism on them with very few restrictions. After starting the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, he gave up on further attempts to build a utopia because he was getting so much satisfaction from running the school. The school has since been condemned for torture by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture. In 2011, Israel was indicted on criminal charges of child endangerment, obstructing justice, and acting as an accessory after the fact. He was forced to resign his position at the JRC as part of a plea deal to avoid prosecution.
Biography
Early life and education
In 1950, Israel enrolled at Harvard University as a Fine Arts major, having found "traditional psychology difficult to take". In his freshman year he took a class in behaviorism with B. F. Skinner to get a required science credit. During this time he read Skinner's book, Walden Two, in which the heroes build a utopia by conditioning the residents of a commune through the behaviorist principles of reward and punishment. Israel said that reading ''Walden Two'' was like a "religious conversion" for him. After reading the book, he devoted himself to making the utopia described in it a reality.I knew what I wanted to do with my life... I wanted to start a real utopian behavioral community.—Matthew Israel
Attempts to build a utopia
After graduating from Harvard in 1960, Israel started a firm for the design and marketing of B. F. Skinner's teaching machines, with the hope of raising enough capital to establish a community in the form of Walden Two. The firm was unsuccessful, and after several years he closed it down and went on with his plans to build the community anyway. In 1966, Israel attended a ''Walden Two'' conference, where he shared ideas with ''Walden Two'' enthusiasts about how to start the behaviorist utopia. Israel created the Association of Social Design (ASD), an organization for people trying to create behaviorist communities on the principles laid out in Walden Two. Israel planned for the commune that they would create to be called Walden Three.
In a correspondence with a couple named Dan and Marnie who were interested in the project, Israel suggested that Marnie would be expected to have sex with him if they joined the commune. After a series of letters between Israel and Dan, in which Marnie's opinion on the matter was not at any point discussed, the couple decided not to join.
In 1967, Israel tried for the first time to build a utopian commune modeled after Walden Two by starting a small communal house in Arlington. One resident at the Arlington house was a three-year-old girl who was poorly behaved. The girl's mother agreed to let Israel try to modify her behavior: he described the use of positive reinforcement, time-out, and physical punishment. Israel reports that he did not see significant changes in her behavior until he disciplined her with physical punishment in the form of a slap across the face. He also noticed that using physical punishment, he could make her stop crying. After working with her for some time, Israel reported that he could control the child's behavior with just a glance or a shake of the head. From that point on, Israel said, "Instead of being an annoyance, she became a charming addition, a charming individual to the house".
Behavior Research Institute
After performing behavioral experiments on six autistic children at the Bradly Hospital, Israel founded the Behavior Research Institute in 1971 (which later changed its name to the Judge Rotenberg Center). Israel insisted that the first employees of the school had to be people interested in Walden Two, though he later had to drop that requirement to keep the institute well-staffed. However, Israel reports that the school still shared many similarities with the town in Walden Two.
After a few years, he gave up on further attempts to build a utopian community because he was getting so much satisfaction from running the school.
In 1977, the California Department of Health rejected Israel's application for a license to operate a group home, citing lack of meaningful peer review, and unnecessary use of painful aversives. The department also found that there was insufficient evidence to show that Israel was "reputable and responsible" and that he had the ability to comply with regulations. Furthermore, the department found that Israel was unlawfully practicing psychology without a license in the state of California. Without a license to operate, the school was scheduled to shut down. But the day after the scheduled shut down, a group of parents reopened it as a co-op, moving Israel's official position of executive director to consultant. The school then applied for a license from the state of California to operate a group home, and for a permit to use aversives. With the aid of the California Governor Pat Brown, whose law firm was hired to represent the school, the school was granted licensure to operate as a group home, as well as the only permit ever granted by the state of California to use physical aversives on its students.
Following the death of a student and an investigation by the State of California, in 1981 the institute was barred from using physical aversives, employing restraints, and withholding meals as punishment. The Institute soon after moved its main center of operation to Massachusetts. While corporal punishment was against the law in Massachusetts, the institute was granted special permission to use aversives in 1983. The institute was welcomed by some state officials due to its near-zero rejection rate, as it was willing to take the state's most difficult students.
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
In 1994, the center changed its name to the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center "to honor the memory of the judge [who] helped to preserve [the] program from extinction at the hands of state licensing officials in the 1980s". JRC moved from its original location near Providence, Rhode Island to its current facilities in Canton, Massachusetts in 1996. The city of Canton shares a name with the fictional city in Walden Two. Six students have died of preventable causes at the school since it opened in 1971. The school has since been condemned for torture by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture. In 2011, Israel was indicted on criminal charges of child endangerment, obstructing justice, and acting as an accessory after the fact. He was forced to resign his position at the JRC as part of a plea deal to avoid prosecution.
Aversive conditioning
The use of aversive conditioning is not a medically accepted treatment for self-harm or aggression. The medically accepted treatment for these and other concerning behaviors is functional analysis. As better positive behavior support interventions have been developed, the use of aversives to modify behavior in children and adults with disabilities is more and more frequently viewed as unethical. There is medical consensus that positive behavior support alone is safer and more effective than behavior modification with the use of aversives.
Paul Touchette, an autism expert and behaviorist who trained under B. F. Skinner, has expressed disapproval of Israel's methods.
See also
Tobinworld
References
Further reading
—A book that documents several attempts to set up utopias modeled after Walden Two, including attempts by Matthew Israel.
20th-century American psychologists
21st-century American psychologists
American founders
American inventors
American torturers
Autism pseudoscience
Behaviourist psychologists
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Living people
Medical controversies in the United States
Medical scandals in the United States
Place of birth missing (living people)
Pseudoscientific psychologists
Psychiatry controversies
School violence
Torture in the United States
Violence against children in the United States
Violence against disabled people in the United States
Year of birth missing (living people) | Matthew Israel | [
"Biology"
] | 1,974 | [
"Behaviourist psychologists",
"Behavior",
"Behaviorism"
] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.