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54,978,275 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C18H10O8 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C18H10O8}}
The molecular formula C18H10O8 (molar mass: 354.27 g/mol, exact mass: 354.0376 u) may refer to:
Cyclovariegatin
Xerocomorubin
Molecular formulas | C18H10O8 | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 66 | [
"Molecules",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas",
"Isomerism",
"Molecular formulas",
"Matter"
] |
54,978,619 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiotensin%20%281-7%29 | Angiotensin (1-7) (; Molecular weight = 899.02 g/mol; H-Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-OH) is an active heptapeptide of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS). It also known by the generic name talfirastide (development name TXA127).
In 1988, Santos et al demonstrated that angiotensin (1-7) was a main product of the incubation of angiotensin I with brain micropunch biopsies and Schiavone et al reported the first biological effect of this heptapeptide.
Benter et al were the first to report that Ang-(1-7) behaves in a way opposite to that of Ang II and that intavenous administration of Ang-(1-7) produces blood pressure lowering effects by activating its own receptor Angiotensin (1-7) is a vasodilator agent affecting cardiovascular organs, such as heart, blood vessels and kidneys, with functions frequently opposed to those attributed to the major effector component of the RAS, angiotensin II (Ang II).
Synthesis
The polypeptide Ang I can be converted into Ang (1-7) by the actions of neprilysin (NEP) and thimet oligopeptidase (TOP) enzymes. Also, Ang II can be hydrolyzed into Ang (1-7) through the actions of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Ang (1-7) binds and activates the G-protein coupled receptor Mas receptor leading to opposite effects of those of Ang II.
Possible pathways
Action of neprilysin on angiotensin I or angiotensin II.
Action of prolyl endopeptidase on angiotensin I.
Action of ACE on angiotensin 1-9.
Action of neprilysin on angiotensin 1-9.
Action of ACE2 on angiotensin II.
Effects
Ang (1-7) has been shown to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It helps protect cardiomyocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats by increasing the expression of endothelial and neuronal nitric oxide synthase enzymes, augmenting production of nitric oxide.
Pharmacological interactions
Ang (1-7) contributes to the beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor type 1 antagonists.
Clinical trials
Talfirastide has been tested in people with COVID-19 and stroke.
References
Peptides
Angiology
Endocrinology
Hypertension | Angiotensin (1-7) | [
"Chemistry"
] | 567 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Peptides",
"Molecular biology"
] |
54,980,110 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanofilter%20Tanzania | NanoFilter is the water filter developed as the result of innovation by the Tanzanian senior-lecturer and chemical engineer, Dr. Askwar Hilonga from The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST)- Arusha in Tanzania. After spending almost five years from 2010 to continue refining the nanomaterials to the nanoFilter. It was very difficult to come up to final water filter with this idea as it was too difficult to protect it in all these years. But Dr. Hilonga used the appropriate Intellectual property Rights (IPRs) strategy to protect this idea up to the end, and in fact the product of this innovation worn the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, this is especially the lesson to young scientists in developing countries.
NanoFilter Innovation
As Dr. Askwar Hilonga grew up in the remote area as the party of community, he witnessed sufferings experienced majority of people in the villages in Tanzania and probably this is the common problem to all the poorest countries in the world. Problems like water borne diseases real kill people everyday due to the use of unsafe water.
Nevertheless, especially in the northern part of the beautiful country of Tanzania. The water which normal people use seem to contain fluoride while bacteria remain the content of water in most of the villages in the developing countries.
The nanoFilter idea resulted from the visit this African Scientist made to his parents' village found in Arusha where people were still drinking dirty water which scares him, that his people were going to continue suffering from water-borne disease.
How the NanoFilter works
It has a slow sand filter with a combination of nanomaterials made from sodium silicate and silver to eliminate toxic heavy metals such as copper, fluoride, or other chemical contaminants depending on a particular geographical area. Water first passes through the sand and then through the nanomaterials.
It then absorbs all the contaminants leaving water very clean and safe and can later be removed manually.
Conclusion
NanoFilter is the filter which can filtrate water for about 99.999% and making water free from bacteria, microorganisms, and Viruses hence making the drinking water safe for the domestic usage.
References
Innovation
Nanomaterials
World Intellectual Property Organization | Nanofilter Tanzania | [
"Materials_science"
] | 467 | [
"Nanotechnology",
"Nanomaterials"
] |
54,981,288 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204459 | NGC 4459 is a lenticular galaxy located about 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. NGC 4459 is also classified as a LINER galaxy. NGC 4459 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on January 14, 1787. NGC 4459 is a member of the Virgo Cluster.
Physical characteristics
Dust disk
NGC 4459 has a central flocculent dust disk that surrounds an inner ring. Also, there appears to be evidence of ongoing star formation in the disk .
Super massive black hole
NGC 4459 has a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of roughly 70 million suns ( M☉). Its diameter is estimated to be around 2.87 astronomical units (266.4 million mi).
See also
List of NGC objects (4001–5000)
Messier 64
References
External links
Lenticular galaxies
LINER galaxies
Coma Berenices
4459
41104
7614
17870114
Virgo Cluster | NGC 4459 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 191 | [
"Coma Berenices",
"Constellations"
] |
54,981,571 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%20bronze | White bronze is a white-coloured alloy. Examples of various alloys composed of copper, tin and zinc or composed of zinc, copper, aluminum and magnesium. A modern composition contains 55% copper, 30% tin and 15% zinc. A 1904 patent for "white bronze" is composed of 86% zinc, 9.9% copper, 4% aluminum and 0.1% magnesium.
History
Use in monuments
In the United States, starting in the 1870s, white bronze was a material used in monuments, particularly gravestones. White bronze gravestones are most common in East Coast cemeteries, but can be found throughout the country. White bronze was also commonly used in Civil War memorials. White bronze monuments could be mass produced, providing a more affordable alternative to more traditional materials like bronze, marble, and granite. Northern manufacturers, like the Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the National Fine Art Foundry in New York City, often produced both Union monuments for Northern communities and Confederate monuments for Southern communities. Southern communities tended to be less forthcoming about the Northern origins of the statues. The monuments in the different parts of the country were often very similarly designed, only minuscule details such as the letters on belt buckles, differentiating them. The durability and longevity of the monuments made from this material was advertised by manufacturers, however they were particularly weak around the seams. The demand for white bronze monuments declined after World War I.
References
Copper alloys
Tin alloys
Zinc alloys
Bronze | White bronze | [
"Chemistry"
] | 297 | [
"Tin alloys",
"Alloys",
"Zinc alloys",
"Copper alloys"
] |
54,981,574 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Configuration%20space%20%28mathematics%29 | In mathematics, a configuration space is a construction closely related to state spaces or phase spaces in physics. In physics, these are used to describe the state of a whole system as a single point in a high-dimensional space. In mathematics, they are used to describe assignments of a collection of points to positions in a topological space. More specifically, configuration spaces in mathematics are particular examples of configuration spaces in physics in the particular case of several non-colliding particles.
Definition
For a topological space and a positive integer , let be the Cartesian product of copies of , equipped with the product topology. The nth (ordered) configuration space of is the set of n-tuples of pairwise distinct points in :
This space is generally endowed with the subspace topology from the inclusion of into . It is also sometimes denoted , , or .
There is a natural action of the symmetric group on the points in given by
This action gives rise to the th unordered configuration space of ,
which is the orbit space of that action. The intuition is that this action "forgets the names of the points". The unordered configuration space is sometimes denoted , , or . The collection of unordered configuration spaces over all is the Ran space, and comes with a natural topology.
Alternative formulations
For a topological space and a finite set , the configuration space of with particles labeled by is
For , define . Then the th configuration space of X is denoted simply .
Examples
The space of ordered configuration of two points in is homeomorphic to the product of the Euclidean 3-space with a circle, i.e. .
More generally, the configuration space of two points in is homotopy equivalent to the sphere .
The configuration space of points in is the classifying space of the th braid group (see below).
Connection to braid groups
The -strand braid group on a connected topological space is
the fundamental group of the th unordered configuration space of . The -strand pure braid group on is
The first studied braid groups were the Artin braid groups . While the above definition is not the one that Emil Artin gave, Adolf Hurwitz implicitly defined the Artin braid groups as fundamental groups of configuration spaces of the complex plane considerably before Artin's definition (in 1891).
It follows from this definition and the fact that and are Eilenberg–MacLane spaces of type , that the unordered configuration space of the plane is a classifying space for the Artin braid group, and is a classifying space for the pure Artin braid group, when both are considered as discrete groups.
Configuration spaces of manifolds
If the original space is a manifold, its ordered configuration spaces are open subspaces of the powers of and are thus themselves manifolds. The configuration space of distinct unordered points is also a manifold, while the configuration space of not necessarily distinct unordered points is instead an orbifold.
A configuration space is a type of classifying space or (fine) moduli space. In particular, there is a universal bundle which is a sub-bundle of the trivial bundle , and which has the property that the fiber over each point is the n element subset of classified by p.
Homotopy invariance
The homotopy type of configuration spaces is not homotopy invariant. For example, the spaces are not homotopy equivalent for any two distinct values of : is empty for , is not connected for , is an Eilenberg–MacLane space of type , and is simply connected for .
It used to be an open question whether there were examples of compact manifolds which were homotopy equivalent but had non-homotopy equivalent configuration spaces: such an example was found only in 2005 by Riccardo Longoni and Paolo Salvatore. Their example are two three-dimensional lens spaces, and the configuration spaces of at least two points in them. That these configuration spaces are not homotopy equivalent was detected by Massey products in their respective universal covers. Homotopy invariance for configuration spaces of simply connected closed manifolds remains open in general, and has been proved to hold over the base field . Real homotopy invariance of simply connected compact manifolds with simply connected boundary of dimension at least 4 was also proved.
Configuration spaces of graphs
Some results are particular to configuration spaces of graphs. This problem can be related to robotics and motion planning: one can imagine placing several robots on tracks and trying to navigate them to different positions without collision. The tracks correspond to (the edges of) a graph, the robots correspond to particles, and successful navigation corresponds to a path in the configuration space of that graph.
For any graph , is an Eilenberg–MacLane space of type and strong deformation retracts to a CW complex of dimension , where is the number of vertices of degree at least 3. Moreover, and deformation retract to non-positively curved cubical complexes of dimension at most .
Configuration spaces of mechanical linkages
One also defines the configuration space of a mechanical linkage with the graph its underlying geometry. Such a graph is commonly assumed to be constructed as concatenation of rigid rods and hinges. The configuration space of such a linkage is defined as the totality of all its admissible positions in the Euclidean space equipped with a proper metric. The configuration space of a generic linkage is a smooth manifold, for example, for the trivial planar linkage made of rigid rods connected with revolute joints, the configuration space is the n-torus .
The simplest singularity point in such configuration spaces is a product of a cone on a homogeneous quadratic hypersurface by a Euclidean space. Such a singularity point emerges for linkages which can be divided into two sub-linkages such that their respective endpoints trace-paths intersect in a non-transverse manner, for example linkage which can be aligned (i.e. completely be folded into a line).
Compactification
The configuration space of distinct points is non-compact, having ends where the points tend to approach each other (become confluent). Many geometric applications require compact spaces, so one would like to compactify , i.e., embed it as an open subset of a compact space with suitable properties. Approaches to this problem have been given by Raoul Bott and Clifford Taubes, as well as William Fulton and Robert MacPherson.
See also
Configuration space (physics)
State space (physics)
References
Manifolds
Topology
Algebraic topology | Configuration space (mathematics) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 1,318 | [
"Algebraic topology",
"Space (mathematics)",
"Topological spaces",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Topology",
"Space",
"Manifolds",
"Geometry",
"Spacetime"
] |
54,983,009 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thioxoethenylidene | Thioxoethenylidene, is a reactive heteroallene molecule with formula CCS.
Occurrence
CCS is found in space in large quantities. This includes the Taurus Molecular Cloud in TMC-1, TMC-1c and L1521B. These are likely in young starless molecular cloud cores.
Production
By condensing propadienedithione SCCCS or thioxopropadienone OCCCS in solid argon and irradiating with ultraviolet radiation, CCS is formed. Another way is via a glow discharge in a mixture of carbon disulfide and helium. Yet another way is through electron irradiation of sulfur containing heterocycles.
CCS and the anion CCS− can be formed in solid neon matrices also.
Properties
CCS can be a ligand. It can form an asymmetrical bridge between two molybdenum atoms in Mo2(μ,σ(C):η2(C′S)-CCS)(CO)4(hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)borate)2 In this one carbon atom has a triple bond to a molybdenum and the other has a double bond to the other molybdenum atom, which also has a single bond to the sulfur atom.
The ultraviolet spectrum shows absorption bands between 2800 and 3370 Å and also in the near infrared between 7500 and 10000 Å.
CCS can react with CCCS to form C5S.
The infrared spectrum in solid argon shows a vibration band at 1666.6 cm−1 called v1 and another called v2 at 862.7 cm−1. The 2v1 overtone is at 3311.1 cm−1. A combination vibration and bending band is at 2763.4 cm−1
The microwave spectrum has emission lines 43 − 32 at 45.4 GHz and 21 - 10 at 22.3 GHz, important for detection of molecules in molecular clouds.
Theoretical predictions show that the C-C bond is 1.304 Å long and the C–S bond is 1.550 Å.
References
Sulfur(−II) compounds
Inorganic carbon compounds | Thioxoethenylidene | [
"Chemistry"
] | 458 | [
"Inorganic carbon compounds",
"Inorganic compounds"
] |
54,985,030 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stresser | Stresser (or booter) services provide denial-of-service attack as a service, usually as a criminal enterprise.
They have simple front ends, and accept payment over the web. Marketed and promoted as stress-testing tools, they can be used to perform unauthorized denial-of-service attacks, and allow technically unsophisticated attackers access to sophisticated attack tools. Usually powered by a botnet, the traffic produced by a consumer stresser can range anywhere from 5-50 Gbit/s, which can, in most cases, deny the average home user internet access.
Targets of booter/stresser services include network gaming services. Motivations for the use of stresser services include revenge, extortion, and simple mischief.
Law enforcement activity
The use or provision of booter/stresser services for unauthorized DDoS attacks is illegal in both the United States and the United Kingdom under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Computer Misuse Act 1990 respectively.
In 2023 it was revealed that a cross-industry organization called "Big Pipes" with representatives from major Internet companies had been working with law enforcement to find and shut down illegal booter/stresser services for the previous five years.
The UK National Crime Agency has set up numerous "honeypot" websites purporting to be booter/stresser services. The details of people registering with these fake services are logged.
References
See also
Cyberattack
Operation PowerOFF
Cyberattacks
Cybercrime
Denial-of-service attacks | Stresser | [
"Technology"
] | 306 | [
"Denial-of-service attacks",
"Computer security exploits"
] |
54,985,664 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURO%20Journal%20on%20Transportation%20and%20Logistics | The EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics (EJTL) is a peer-reviewed academic journal in operations research that was established in 2011 and is now published by Elsevier. It is an official journal of the Association of European Operational Research Societies, promoting the use of mathematics in general, and operations research in particular, in the context of transportation and logistics.
The editor-in-chief is
Dominique Feillet.
Past Editor-in-Chief:
Michel Bierlaire (2011-2019).
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in the following databases:
EBSCO Information Services
Emerging Sources Citation Index
Google Scholar
International Abstracts in Operations Research
OCLC
Research Papers in Economics
Scopus
Summon by ProQuest
Transportation Research International Documentation (TRID) of Transportation Research Board
External links
Operations research
English-language journals
Academic journals established in 2011
Transportation journals | EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics | [
"Mathematics"
] | 173 | [
"Applied mathematics",
"Operations research"
] |
54,985,970 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alba%20Orbital | Alba Orbital is a Scottish company that specializes in building PocketQube satellites and Albapod satellite deployment systems. Alba Orbital is the developer and manufacturer of the Unicorn-1 and Unicorn-2 satellite platforms.
Overview
Alba Orbital specializes in designing and building PocketQube satellites. The company has developed two satellite platforms. The Unicorn-1 platform is a 1P (5cm x 5cm x 5cm) PocketQube satellite, while its larger counterpart, Unicorn-2, is a 2P satellite (5cm x 5cm x 10cm).
Launches
Alba Orbital is a launch broker and has purchased capacity with several space companies, including SpaceX and Rocket Lab, to launch PocketQube satellites into orbit. The company also hold contracts with the European Space Agency for ARTES. These launches harbor clusters containing space for PocketQubes that are sold to teams wanting to launch pods. Every Alba Orbital flight uses Albapod deployers to release the clusters. These deployers come in two sizes: 6P and 96P. As of December 2023, Alba Orbital has successfully launched seven missions into low Earth orbit, while one mission failed before deployment on the first flight of Orbiter SN1.
Funding
In 2021, Alba Orbital participated in the startup accelerator program Y Combinator, located in Silicon Valley, United States. They raised US$3.4 million after completing the program.
See also
PocketQube – The satellite format Alba Orbital specializes in building
References
External links
Company website
Aerospace companies of the United Kingdom
Aerospace companies of Scotland
Space programme of the United Kingdom
Spacecraft manufacturers
Space technology
Manufacturing companies of Scotland
Technology companies established in 2012
Companies based in Glasgow | Alba Orbital | [
"Astronomy"
] | 330 | [
"Space technology",
"Outer space"
] |
54,987,630 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EF-Tu%20receptor | EF-Tu receptor, abbreviated as EFR, is a pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) that binds to the prokaryotic protein EF-Tu (elongation factor thermo unstable) in Arabidopsis thaliana (and other members of Brassicaceae). This receptor is an important part of the plant immune system as it allows the plant cells to recognize and bind to EF-Tu, preventing genetic transformation by and protein synthesis in pathogens such as Agrobacterium.
Background
The plant Arabidopsis thaliana has a genome with only around 135 megabase pairs (Mbp), making it small enough to fully synthesize. It also makes it relatively easy to study, leading to its use as a common model organism in the field of plant genetics. One important use of A. thaliana is in the study of plant immunity. Plant pathogens are able to travel through a plant's vascular system, but plants do not have specific immune cells that can travel this way. Plants also do not have an adaptive immune system, so other forms of immunity are required. One is the use of pattern-recognition receptors (PRR) to bind to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP), which are highly conserved structures on the outside of many invasive organisms. This form of immunity acts on intercellular pathogens, which are ones outside of individual plant cells. PRRs are transmembrane proteins, which have an anchor inside the cell and portions that extend beyond the membrane. They are part of the innate immune system and bind to and prevent the proliferation of pathogens with the PAMPs that they can bind.
EF-Tu, a very common and highly conserved protein, is an example of a PAMP that can be found in numerous pathogens. Its function as an elongation factor means that it helps create new proteins during translation in the ribosome. When a protein is being formed, amino acids are connected in a long sequence, known as a protein's primary structure. Elongation factors help coordinate the movement of transfer RNAs (tRNA) and messenger RNAs (mRNA) so they stay aligned as the ribosome translocates along the mRNA chain. Due to its importance in ensuring the accuracy of translation and preventing mutations, EF-Tu is a good target of both immune systems and drug therapies designed to prevent infections and subsequent diseases.
Biological function
Synthesis
EFR, like other proteins, undergoes translation in a cell's ribosomes. After the primary structure of the protein has been formed it must fold into its three dimensional tertiary structure to become functional. This occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). While in the ER, this primary polypeptide chain undergoes a regulatory process known as ER-quality control (ER-QC) to help ensure it folds into the correct 3-D structure. ER-QC process consists of a series of chaperone proteins that help guide the folding of the EFR polypeptide chains, preventing the aggregation of many polypeptide chains into one large group. Proteins that have not folded are kept in the ER until they have folded into their correct 3-D shape. If folding does not occur then the unfolded protein is eventually destroyed.
One of the control mechanisms of EFR is the protein Arabidopsis stromal-derived factor-2 (SDF2). A genetic variant of the A. thaliana plant that did not have the gene to encode for this protein had a far lower production of functional EFR proteins. SDF2 also cannot be substituted for other enzymes in EFR production. Experimental analysis indicated that EFR is destroyed in the cell when it is produced without SDF2, though the mechanism of this action is unknown. Other proteins that are required for the proper synthesis of EFR include Arabidopsis CRT3 and UGGT, which are members of the EFR-QC and act as chaperones to help folding.
Role in plant immunity
EFR receptors have a high affinity for the EF-Tu PAMP. This has been proven analytically through competitive binding assays and SDS-PAGE analysis. When EFR binds to EF-Tu, the basal resistance is activated. This response happens after an infection has already been established and it is important to the plant immune system because it prevents the spread of the pathogen throughout the plant. Only bacteria that have a high amount of EF-Tu are effectively inhibited by EFR, such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Similarities to FLS2
Like EFR, FLS2 (flagellin-sensing 2) is a plant receptor-like kinase that acts as a PRR in the plant innate immune system. Instead of binding to EF-Tu, it binds to flagellin, another highly conserved structure present on many pathogens. Flagellin, like EF-Tu, is a good target for the plant immune system since it is so widespread. It also triggers an immune response in a larger variety of plants than EF-Tu. The immune response triggered by FLS2 is very similar to the one that is triggered by EFR and the enzymes that are activated by both receptors likely come from a common pool that is found in many cells. This indicates that the two receptor pathways converge, which has been shown to occur at the ion channels in the plasma membrane. By perceiving multiple PAMPs, a plant is able to respond to a pathogenic infection more quickly and efficiently, as well as respond to a wider array of pathogens.
Applications
EFR is found only in the plant family Brassicaceae, meaning it has a limited effect in nature. Experiments have demonstrated the ability to successfully transfer EFR to plants in other families, such as Nicotiana benthamiana, a relative of tobacco, and Solanum lycopersicum, the tomato plant. The ability to transfer PRRs between plants and have them retain their effectiveness broadens genetic engineering techniques to promote disease resistance in crops. It can also reduce chemical wastes associated with mass agriculture and enable the transfer of immunity rapidly and without traditional breeding.
See also
EF-Tu
FLS2
Flagellin
Arabidopsis thaliana
References
Receptors
Immune system
Plant anatomy | EF-Tu receptor | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 1,292 | [
"Organ systems",
"Receptors",
"Immune system",
"Signal transduction"
] |
54,988,081 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary%20Thomford%20Sellmer | Mary Hamilton Thomford Sellmer (born September 7, 1902) was the first woman Game warden in California.
Early life
Mary Hamilton Thomford was born in Hayward, California, on September 7, 1902, the daughter of John William Thomford (December 15, 1866 - May 21, 1957 and Mary Hamilton.
Career
On November 22, 1927, Mary Thomford Sellmer was appointed Deputy Game Warden of Marin County, the first woman Game warden in California and the only one in the world in the 1920s. She acted under the supervision of her husband, Captain Walter B. Sellmer, of the State Fish and Game Commission. She was not an "honorary officer" like other women before her, but a full-fledged game warden. In one year since her appointment she arrested forty-seven violators of the game laws. She was an expert rifle and pistol shot.
In 1929 she was featured in the July number of American Forests.
She was a member of the Associated Sportsmen's Club of California and the Marin Rod and Gun Club.
Personal life
On January 8, 1923, at Hayward, California, Mary Thomford married Captain Walter Bruno Sellmer (May 16, 1891 - August 20, 1982) and they had one son, William Ross Sellmer (1923-1984). Later Walter Sellmer became Sheriff of Marin County.
She lived at 230 Forest Ave., Fairfax, California.
In 1940 she filed for divorce on dual charges of desertion and extreme cruelty and asked custody of their 16-years-old son and $100 monthly alimony and support for the child.
References
1902 births
Wildlife conservation
Year of death missing
People from Hayward, California
American law enforcement officials
People from Fairfax, California | Mary Thomford Sellmer | [
"Biology"
] | 343 | [
"Wildlife conservation",
"Biodiversity"
] |
54,988,304 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20470 | NGC 470 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. Located approximately 91 million lightyears from Earth, it was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1784. The galaxy also weakly interacts with NGC 474.
Gallery
See also
List of galaxies
List of spiral galaxies
References
External links
Deep Sky Catalog
SEDS
470
Pisces (constellation)
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Discoveries by William Herschel
004777 | NGC 470 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 86 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
54,990,614 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure%20Stream%20Analytics | Microsoft Azure Stream Analytics is a serverless scalable complex event processing engine by Microsoft that enables users to develop and run real-time analytics on multiple streams of data from sources such as devices, sensors, web sites, social media, and other applications. Users can set up alerts to detect anomalies, predict trends, trigger necessary workflows when certain conditions are observed, and make data available to other downstream applications and services for presentation, archiving, or further analysis.
Query Language
Users can author real-time analytics using a simple declarative SQL-like language with embedded support for temporal logic. Callouts to custom code with JavaScript user defined functions extend the streaming logic written in SQL. Callouts to Azure Machine Learning helps with predictive scoring on streaming data.
Scalability
Azure Stream Analytics is a serverless job service on Azure that eliminates the need for infrastructure, servers, virtual machines, or managed clusters. Users only pay for the processing used for the running jobs.
IoT applications
Azure Stream Analytics integrates with Azure IoT Hub to enable real-time analytics on data from IoT devices and applications.
Real-time Dashboards
Users can build real-time dashboards with Power BI for a live command and control view. Real-time dashboards help transform live data into actionable and insightful visuals.
Data Input Sources
Stream Analytics supports three different types of input sources - Azure Event Hubs, Azure IoT Hubs, and Azure Blob Storage. Additionally, stream analytics supports Azure Blob storage as the input reference data to help augment fast moving event data streams with static data.
Stream analytics supports a wide variety of output targets. Support for Power BI allows for real-time dashboarding. Event Hub, Service bus topics and queues help trigger downstream workflows. Support for Azure Table Storage, Azure SQL Databases, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure SQL, Document DB, Azure Data Lake Store enable a variety of downstream analysis and archiving capabilities.
References
External links
Cloud computing
Cloud computing providers
Cloud infrastructure
Cloud platforms
Microsoft cloud services | Azure Stream Analytics | [
"Technology"
] | 417 | [
"Cloud infrastructure",
"Cloud platforms",
"Computing platforms",
"IT infrastructure"
] |
54,990,692 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesinurad/allopurinol | Lesinurad/allopurinol (trade name Duzallo) is a fixed-dose combination drug for the treatment of gout. It contains 200 mg of lesinurad and 300 mg of allopurinol. In August 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration approved it for the treatment of hyperuricemia associated with gout in patients for whom target serum uric acid levels have not been achieved with allopurinol alone. It was approved for medical use in the European Union in August 2018. In February 2019, it was discontinued by its manufacturer for business reasons and is no longer available.
References
Antigout agents
Combination drugs
Drugs developed by AstraZeneca
Withdrawn drugs | Lesinurad/allopurinol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 147 | [
"Drug safety",
"Withdrawn drugs"
] |
59,813,020 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%207418 | NGC 7418 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located in the constellation Grus. It is located at a distance of circa 60 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7418 is about 60,000 light-years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on August 30, 1834.
Characteristics
NGC 7418 has a bright nucleus incorporated into a bar. The bar appears strong in the infrared H-band while in the optical wavelengths it appears weaker or even unbarred. The spiral arms of the galaxy emanate from the end of the bar. The galaxy has four grand design spiral arms. Their inner parts have knots while the outermost are smooth. The galaxy is seen with an inclination of 42 degrees.
In the centre of NGC 7418 is believed to lie a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass between 1 and 15 million (106.58 ± 0.59) , based on the spiral pitch angle. The centre of the galaxy has also been found to host a massive stellar cluster, with an estimated mass of nearly 60 million (107.78 ± 0.19) . The existence of this nuclear star cluster doesn't rule out the existence of a supermassive black hole. Galaxies like the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy have been found to host both. The stellar population at the nucleus of NGC 7418 has been found to be quite young, with mean age less than 100 million years, indicating recent star forming activity.
One supernova has been observed in NGC 7418, SN 1983 Z. It was discovered by L. E. Gonzalez at Cerro El Roble 11" west and 52" south of the nucleus. On September 3, 1983 it had an apparent magnitude of 15.5.
Nearby galaxies
NGC 7418 is a member of a galaxy group known as the IC 1459 group. It is a loose group centred at IC 1459 and contains a large number of spiral galaxies. Other members include NGC 7418A, NGC 7421, IC 5264, IC 5269, IC 5269B, IC 5270, and IC 5273. NGC 7421 lies 19.5 arcminutes away and NGC 7418A lies 16.5 arcminutes to the north as seen in the sky. This group, along with the NGC 7582 group, form the Grus cloud, a region of elevated galaxy density. The Grus cloud, along with the nearby Pavo-Indus cloud, lies between the Local Supercluster and Pavo–Indus Supercluster.
The group features both diffuse X-ray emission from the intergalactic medium and HI emission. Based on the presence of both, it has been suggested that the group is in its early stages of assembling from different subgroups. Three HI clouds have been found to be associated with the group, two located near IC 5270 and one near NGC 7418, at its northwest edge, with total mass . These HI clouds are believed to have formed from gas stripped from the galaxies as a result of interactions.
References
External links
NGC 7418 on SIMBAD
Intermediate spiral galaxies
Grus (constellation)
7418
70069
Discoveries by John Herschel
Astronomical objects discovered in 1834 | NGC 7418 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 661 | [
"Grus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,813,144 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid%20del%20Carmen%20Montes%20Gonz%C3%A1lez | Ingrid del Carmen Montes González (born 1958), is a Puerto Rican chemist who is a professor in at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Her research focus is on chemical education and organometallic chemistry. Montes has been Director-at-large at the American Chemical Society (ACS) since 2013. Montes founded the "Festival de Química" (Chemistry Festival) in 2005, this program was then adopted by the ACS in 2010.
Education
Montes attended the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (UPR-RP). She earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1980 and went on to complete a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1985 under the supervision of Gerald Larson. Her doctoral research focused on organometallic chemistry, particularly the synthesis of functionalized organosilanes and their applications in organic synthesis.
Montes began became a teaching assistant at UPR-RP in 1980. From 1981 to 1984, she worked as a research assistant while pursuing her doctoral studies, contributing to laboratory research in organometallic chemistry. In 1984, Montes also served as a part-time instructor at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, teaching general and organic chemistry.
Career
Montes was a lecturer at the College of Pharmacy at University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus from 1985 to 1986 and as a curriculum specialist at Puerto Rico Junior College from 1986 to 1988. In 1987, she joined the faculty at UPR-RP as an assistant professor in the department of chemistry, where she taught courses in general chemistry, organic chemistry, organic synthesis, and hazardous waste disposal. Her research at the time focused on the synthesis of ferrocene derivatives, exploring their potential applications in catalysis, sensors, and materials science. She developed a strong interest in chemical education, emphasizing the use of inquiry-based and active learning approaches in teaching organic chemistry.
Montes was promoted to associate professor in 1992 and became a full professor in 1998. During this period, her research interests expanded to include the synthesis and characterization of ferrocenyl chalcones and their potential applications in biological systems, polymers, and sensors. Her work contributed to understanding the redox properties of ferrocene derivatives and their use in electrochemical sensors. She also played a role in chemical education, integrating active learning strategies and developing laboratory manuals for organic chemistry courses. Her work on chemical education included studies on different learning styles and their impact on student achievement in organic chemistry. Montes co-authored several laboratory manuals used in chemistry education at UPR. Montes served as coordinator of the Pre-MARC Program (a training program for minority students in biomedical research) from 1995 and assistant to the chairman in academic affairs from 1996 to 1998. In 2015, she was appointed assistant dean of graduate studies and research at UPR-RP.
Montes founded the “Festival de Química” in 2005, a community outreach event designed to demonstrate the importance of chemistry in everyday life. The initiative, initially implemented in Puerto Rico, expanded internationally through the American Chemical Society (ACS). Her involvement with ACS extended beyond outreach; she held leadership positions, including chair of the committee on community activities. She also served as president of the Puerto Rico section of ACS, contributing to the development of educational resources and mentoring programs for chemistry students. Montes is a fellow of ACS. In 2012, she was awarded the ACS volunteer service award.
In 2017, she received the Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The following year, she was recognized as with the Mujer Puertorriqueña Distinguida en STEM, G Works, Inc.
See also
History of women in Puerto Rico
List of Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
References
External links
Faculty profile at the University of Puerto Rico Department of Chemistry website
1958 births
University of Puerto Rico alumni
University of Puerto Rico faculty
Puerto Rican women scientists
21st-century Puerto Rican scientists
Living people
American women academics
21st-century American women scientists
21st-century American chemists
American women chemists
21st-century Puerto Rican women educators
American organic chemists | Ingrid del Carmen Montes González | [
"Chemistry"
] | 847 | [
"Organic chemists",
"American organic chemists"
] |
59,813,966 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC%205201 | IC 5201 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Grus. It is located at a distance of about 35 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that IC 5201 is about 90,000 light years across. It was discovered by Joseph Lunt in 1900.
IC 5201 is characterised by its bright bar, that measures 0.6 × 0.16 arcminutes. The galaxy has multiple thin arms which contain a large number of HII regions, where new stars are born. The largest of these regions have diameter about 5 arcseconds. The galaxy has been found to have HII region activity in its nucleus. The total star formation rate of the galaxy is estimated to be 1.7 per year. The galaxy is close enough so as its stars can be resolved. The brightest of them have apparent magnitude about 21.5. One ultra-luminous X-ray source has been detected in the galaxy.
One supernova has been observed in IC 5201: SN 1978G. It was first reported by J. C. Blades, of the Anglo-Australian Observatory, and R. E. Griffiths, of Center for Astrophysics, on November 24.5 UTC, with apparent magnitude at discovery 13.5. The supernova was detected in its early stages. Spectroscopic observations revealed it was a type II supernova. It was located 1'.6 west and 0'.7 north of the nucleus.
IC 5201 is characterised as an isolated galaxy. Despite the fact IC 5201 does not belong to a galaxy group, it is the largest galaxy in an area of the universe where lie other galaxies too, like NGC 7462.
References
External links
IC 5201 on SIMBAD
Barred spiral galaxies
Grus (constellation)
5201
68618
? | IC 5201 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 370 | [
"Grus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,814,182 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGCG%20049-033 | CGCG 049-033 is an elliptical galaxy, located some 680 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Serpens. It is the central galaxy (BCG) of the galaxy cluster Abell 2040.
CGCG 049-033 is known for having the longest galactic jet ever discovered. The beam is about 1.5 million light-years long and was discovered in December 2007. The spectrum of the galaxy suggests a supermassive black hole with a mass of .
References
Serpens
Elliptical galaxies
Radio galaxies
054213
J15113138 | CGCG 049-033 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 122 | [
"Constellations",
"Serpens"
] |
59,814,243 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular%20demon | A molecular demon or biological molecular machine is a biological macromolecule that resembles and seems to have the same properties as Maxwell's demon. These macromolecules gather information in order to recognize their substrate or ligand within a myriad of other molecules floating in the intracellular or extracellular plasm. This molecular recognition represents an information gain which is equivalent to an energy gain or decrease in entropy. When the demon is reset i.e. when the ligand is released, the information is erased, energy is dissipated and entropy increases obeying the second law of thermodynamics. The difference between biological molecular demons and the thought experiment of Maxwell's demon is the latter's apparent violation of the second law.
Cycle
The molecular demon switches mainly between two conformations. The first, or basic state, upon recognizing and binding the ligand or substrate following an induced fit, undergoes a change in conformation which leads to the second quasi-stable state: the protein-ligand complex. In order to reset the protein to its original, basic state, it needs ATP. When ATP is consumed or hydrolyzed, the ligand is released and the demon acquires again information reverting to its basic state. The cycle may start again.
Ratchet
The second law of thermodynamics is a statistical law. Hence, occasionally, single molecules may not obey the law. All molecules are subject to the molecular storm, i.e. the random movement of molecules in the cytoplasm and the extracellular fluid. Molecular demons or molecular machines either biological or artificially constructed are continuously pushed around by the random thermal motion in a direction that sometimes violates the law. When this happens and the gliding back of the macromolecule from the movement it had made or the conformational change it underwent to its original state can be prevented, as is the case with molecular demons, the molecule works as a ratchet; it is possible to observe for example the creation of a gradient of ions or other molecules across the cell membrane, the movement of motor proteins along filament proteins or also the accumulation of products deriving from an enzymatic reaction. Even some artificial molecular machines and experiments are capable of forming a ratchet apparently defying the second law of thermodynamics. All these molecular demons have to be reset to their original state consuming external energy that is subsequently dissipated as heat. This final step in which entropy increases is therefore irreversible. If the demons were reversible, no work would be done.
Artificial
An example of artificial ratchets is the work by Serreli et al. (2007). Serreli et al. constructed a nanomachine, a rotaxane, that consists of a ring-shaped molecule, that moves along a tiny molecular axle between two different equal compartments, A and B. The normal, random movement of molecules sends the ring back and forth. Since the rings move freely, half of the rotaxanes have the ring on site B and the other half on site A. But the system used by Serreli et al. has a chemical gate on the rotaxane molecule and the axle contains two sticky parts, one at either side of the gate. This gate opens when the ring is close by. The sticky part in B is close to the gate and the rings pass more readily to A than from A to B. They obtained a deviation from equilibrium of 70:50 for A and B respectively, a bit like the demon of Maxwell. But this system works only when light is shone on it and thus needs external energy, just like molecular demons.
Energy and information
Landauer stated that information is physical. His principle sets fundamental thermodynamical constraints for classical and quantum information processing. Much effort has been dedicated to incorporating information into thermodynamics and measuring the entropic and energetic costs of manipulating information. Gaining information, decreases entropy which has an energy cost. This energy has to be collected from the environment. Landauer established equivalence of one bit of information with entropy which is represented by kT ln 2, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is room temperature. This bound is called the Landauer's limit. Erasing energy increases entropy instead. Toyabe et al. (2010) were able to demonstrate experimentally that information can be converted in free energy. It is a quite elegant experiment that consists of a microscopic particle on a spiral-staircase-like potential. The step has a height corresponding to kBT, where kB is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature. The particle jumps between steps due to random thermal motions. Since the downward jumps following the gradient are more frequent than the upward ones, the particle falls down the stairs, on average. But when an upward jump is observed, a block is placed behind the particle to prevent it from falling, just like in a ratchet. This way it should climb the stairs. Information is gained by measuring the particle's location, which is equivalent to a gain in energy, i.e. a decrease in entropy. They used a generalized equation for the second law that contains a variable for information:
ΔF is the free energy between states, W is the work done on the system, k is the Boltzmann constant, T is temperature, and I is the mutual information content obtained by measurements. The brackets indicate that the energy is an average. They could convert the equivalent of one bit information to 0.28 of energy or, in other words, they could exploit more than a quarter of the information’s energy content.
Cognitive demons
In his book Chance and Necessity, Jacques Monod described the functions of proteins and other molecules capable of recognizing with 'elective discrimination' a substrate or ligand or other molecule. In describing these molecules he introduced the term 'cognitive' functions, the same cognitive functions that Maxwell attributed to his demon. Werner Loewenstein goes further and names these molecules 'molecular demon' or 'demon' in short.
Naming the biological molecular machines in this way makes it easier to understand the similarities between these molecules and Maxwell's demon.
Because of this real discriminative if not 'cognitive' property, Jacques Monod attributed a teleonomic function to these biological complexes. Teleonomy implies the idea of an oriented, coherent and constructive activity. Proteins therefore must be considered essential molecular agents in the teleonomic performances of all living beings.
See also
Molecular machine
Protein–ligand complex
Protein
Ligand
Maxwell's demon
Jacques Monod
Teleonomy
References
Biophysics
Entropy and information
Molecular machines
Cell biology | Molecular demon | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Mathematics",
"Technology",
"Biology"
] | 1,340 | [
"Machines",
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Physical quantities",
"Cell biology",
"Entropy and information",
"Physical systems",
"Molecular machines",
"Entropy",
"Biophysics",
"Nanotechnology",
"Dynamical systems"
] |
59,814,416 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple%20principal%20problem | The multiple principal problem, also known as the common agency problem, the multiple accountabilities problem, or the problem of serving two masters, is an extension of the principal-agent problem that explains problems that can occur when one person or entity acts on behalf of multiple other persons or entities. Specifically, the multiple principal problem states that when one person or entity (the "agent") is able to make decisions and / or take actions on behalf of, or that impact, multiple other entities: the "principals", the existence of asymmetric information and self-interest and moral hazard among the parties can cause the agent's behavior to differ substantially from what is in the joint principals' interest, bringing large inefficiencies. The multiple principal problem has been used to explain inefficiency in many types of cooperation, particularly in the public sector, including in parliaments, ministries, agencies, inter-municipal cooperation, and public-private partnerships, although the multiple principal problem also occurs in firms with multiple shareholders.
Background: principal–agent theory
When one person or entity (an agent) acts on behalf of another person or entity (a principal), a principal–agent relationship exists. There are often benefits to these relationships, usually because the agent has some expertise the principal does not have. However, this type of relationship also causes some problems for the principal. Since there is asymmetric information, where the principal is not necessarily aware of what the agent is doing, moral hazard can exist: the agent can act in such a way that the agent's own interests are met, rather than those of the principal. This is called the principal–agent problem and is an important theory in economics and political science.
Principal–agent theory has suggested that some governance mechanisms can help align the interest of the principal with those of the agent. Steering and monitoring are key mechanisms to bring this about. Clear directives build awareness of expectations, and provide the principal with criteria to audit; similarly, some incentives, such as variable pay or bonus-malus systems, can help align the agent's interests with the principal's interest. Monitoring the agent also helps, but can come at high costs. Altogether, these governance mechanisms can help make the agent more accountable to the principal.
Multiple principals
The simple principal-agent model involves only one agent, one principal, and one task, and is a simplification of reality. In organizations, relationships typically involve multiple actors, and in particular, multiple principals. The director of a firm acts on behalf of all shareholders, typically not on behalf of one. Once multiple principals are introduced, governance gets substantially harder, and so the principal-agent problem gets more serious.
The multiple principal problem occurs specifically when one agent acts on behalf of multiple principals. The principal-agent problem here is intensified: not only is there still asymmetric information between the principals and agent that can bring moral hazard, but there is also asymmetric information between the principals themselves that can lead to moral hazard between the principals. In particular, since principals' interests often diverge, they face incentives to advance their individual interests instead of the joint interests by all principals, in addition to the moral hazard problem that is still faced by the agent. As a result, introducing governance to align the interests of the principals with those of the agent is much more difficult.
Consequences
The multiple principal problem can surface in many ways. First, individual principals may lobby or bribe the agent to advance their interests in lieu of those of the other principals. Second, individual principals may free-ride in the steering or monitoring of the agent, leading to insufficient governance. Third, and alternatively principals may duplicate steering and monitoring that other principals have already pursued, leading to much higher costs of governance than necessary, again discouraging governance. All of this can lead to conflict between principals and higher than usual autonomy for the agent, in turn causing even more asymmetric information between principals and agent and increasing the moral hazard risk of the agent. This in turn leads to much inefficiency.
Examples
The multiple principal problem is a serious problem in particularly the public sector, where democratic institutions make the presence of multiple principals common. Both efficiency and democratic accountability are undermined in the absence of salient governance. An example of how this can occur in practice is when Congress and the White House pressure agencies to pursue conflicting objectives. In this case, the agencies gain a lot of room to maneuver, benevolently or opportunistically, capable of cooperating with either principal on a case-by-case basis, able to play out both branches of government against each other and making the agencies less accountable to the public. Examples of other public sector organizations in which this problem may occur are in parliaments, ministries, agencies, intermunicipal cooperation, and public-private partnerships.
However, the multiple principal problem can also occur in the private sector, for instance in firms with multiple shareholders. The field of corporate governance deals among others with the governance mechanisms that limit inefficiencies in such firms with shared ownership.
Solutions
Elections have been proposed as a solution to the multiple principal problem. If the multiple principals can delegate governance of the agent to one principal whose interests approximately represent the joint interests of the principals, inefficiencies from moral hazard between the principals can be reduced. Median voter theorem suggests that electoral processes can help bring this about. If delegation through elections is successful, elections can reduce the multiple principal problem to essentially a dyadic principal-agent problem, which should be much less severe.
References
Organizational theory
Market failure
Asymmetric information | Multiple principal problem | [
"Physics"
] | 1,136 | [
"Asymmetric information",
"Symmetry",
"Asymmetry"
] |
59,814,480 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directing%20group | In organic chemistry, a directing group (DG) is a substituent on a molecule or ion that facilitates reactions by interacting with a reagent. The term is usually applied to C–H activation of hydrocarbons, where it is defined as a "coordinating moiety (an 'internal ligand'), which directs a metal catalyst into the proximity of a certain C–H bond." In a well known example, the ketone group () in acetophenone is the DG in the Murai reaction.
The Murai reaction is related to directed ortho metalation, a reaction is typically applied to the lithiation of substituted aromatic rings.
A wide variety of functional groups can serve as directing groups.
Transient directing groups
Since directing groups are ligands, their effectiveness correlates with their affinities for metals. Common functional groups such as ketones usually are only weak ligands and thus often are poor DGs. This problem is solved by the use of a transient directing group. Transient DGs reversibly convert weak DGs (e.g., ketones) into strong DG's (e.g., imines) via a Schiff base condensation. Subsequent to serving their role as DGs, the imine can hydrolyze, regenerating the ketone and amine.
References
Organic reactions | Directing group | [
"Chemistry"
] | 283 | [
"Organic reactions"
] |
59,815,745 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROB1 | Proline-rich basic protein 1 (PROB1) is a protein encoded by the PROB1 gene located on human chromosome 5, open reading frame 65. PROB1 is also known as C5orf65 and weakly similar to basic proline-rich protein.
Gene
Characteristics
The PROB1 gene is 3251 bp long and contains a single exon.
Location
The PROB1 gene is located on human chromosome 5, cytogenetic band 5q31.2.
mRNA
Expression
PROB1 is expressed in 89 types of tissue in the human body, with highest expression in the skeletal muscle of the leg and cardiac muscle of the heart. While mRNA expression is somewhat ubiquitous and was also elevated in the spinal cord, cerebrum, and lymphocytes, measurable protein expression was only recorded in cardiac and skeletal muscle.
Protein
PROB1 is composed of 1015 amino acids. It contains two proline-rich regions, which compose the majority of the protein, and a domain of unknown function (DUF).
Structure
Predicted secondary structures for PROB1 reveal that the protein is mostly composed of random coils, with a small percentage of alpha helices and beta sheets present. This is likely due to the properties of proline; its large size, ring structure, and confined phi angle cause it to disrupt secondary structure formation. The DUF, which resides in the second proline-rich region of the protein, is also predicted to be completely composed of random coils. A tertiary structure prediction for PROB1 was generated using I-Tasser and rendered in PyMOL; overall, the protein displays an elongated structure.
Sub-cellular Localization
Analysis of protein structure, post-translational modifications, and localization signals reveals that PROB1 has no transmembrane domains and is an intracellular protein. Immunohistochemistry indicates its localization to the nucleoplasm of the cell.
Post-translational Modifications
An array of post-translational modifications were found for PROB1, including an S-palmitolyation site and a multitude of overlapping O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation sites. A representation containing a subset of the predicted modifications was generated using Dog 2.0 and is shown below.
Interactions
PROB1 has been found to be coexpressed with proteins SPATA24 and JADE2, but no notable functional protein interactions with PROB1 are known at this time.
Homology
Paralogs
There are no known human paralogs of PROB1 to date.
Orthologs
PROB1 has only mammalian orthologs. Its most distant ortholog is the marsupial Vombatus ursinus (common wombat), which is estimated to have diverged about 159 million years ago as dated by TimeTree. A subset of the multitude of orthologs produced by BLAST is shown in the accompanying table.
Clinical Significance
PROB1 is implicated in keratoconus, which causes collagen-related degeneration of the cornea. Variants of PROB1 in the 5q31.1-q35.3 linkage region completely segregated with the keratoconus phenotype in a study utilizing segregation analysis methodology. Additionally, PROB1 expression is shown to be significantly elevated in several disease states, including head and neck cancer and prostate inflammation.
References
Disorders of sclera and cornea
Evolutionary biology
Proteins | PROB1 | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 706 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Proteins",
"Molecular biology"
] |
59,817,077 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroPort | MicroPort is a multinational medical technology developer and manufacturer that is primarily headquartered in Shanghai, China. It mainly designs and produces medical devices for a range of fields including cardiology, interventional radiology, orthopedics, electrophysiology, and surgical management. MicroPort is considered one of the global Medtech Big 100 and has been consistently known as the leading spender in research and development by percentage of revenue.
History
MicroPort was founded in 1998 by Zhaohua Chang, who currently serves as CEO, chairman, and Director. The company rose to prominence from the early success of its coronary stent line due its focus on serving the needs of the Chinese device market. It is now one of the top global manufacturers of cardiac interventional devices. Notably, it produces the world's first and only commercially available targeted drug eluting stent system, which uses a significantly reduced amount of drug than traditional drug eluting stents while maintaining effectiveness. As of early 2018, MicroPort is one of few medical device companies still developing a commercial coronary bioresorbable stent with ongoing clinical trials.
Beginning in the 2010s, MicroPort has rapidly expanded around the world via international acquisitions to other medical device industries, including orthopedics and cardiac rhythm management. These acquisitions have been followed up with substantial local investment, including a US$398 Million investment in 2019 to develop pacemakers and defibrillators in France.
In 2022, MicroPort established its US headquarters in Irvine, California with facilities that include a manufacturing base and innovation center. As of 2022, its principal business is valued at over US$6.5 Billion.
Acquisitions
In 2014, MicroPort expanded operations in the United States by acquiring Wright Medical's OrthoRecon business to become the 6th largest international producer of orthopedic devices at the time. MicroPort's orthopedic business is based in Arlington, Tennessee and in 2018 has expanded its business into India.
In 2018, MicroPort and LivaNova closed the sale of LivaNova's cardiac rhythm management business for $190M.
In 2018, MicroPort purchased Lombard Medical, a UK-based endovascular device company, from bankruptcy after it defaulted on loans in early 2018.
In 2021, MicroPort purchased Hemovent GmbH, a German-based manufacturer of extracorporeal life support systems.
References
Medical device manufacturers
Life sciences industry
Medical technology companies of China
Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Health care companies established in 1998
Technology companies established in 1998
Chinese companies established in 1998
Manufacturing companies based in Shanghai
Chinese brands | MicroPort | [
"Biology"
] | 526 | [
"Life sciences industry"
] |
59,817,638 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redfish%20%28specification%29 | The Redfish standard is a suite of specifications that deliver an industry standard protocol providing a RESTful interface for the management of servers, storage, networking, and converged infrastructure.
History
The Redfish standard has been elaborated under the SPMF umbrella at the DMTF in 2014. The first specification with base models (1.0) was published in August 2015. In 2016, Models for BIOS, disk drives, memory, storage, volume, endpoint, fabric, switch, PCIe device, zone, software/firmware inventory & update, multi-function NICs), host interface (KCS replacement) and privilege mapping were added. In 2017, Models for Composability, Location and errata were added. There is work in progress for Ethernet Switching, DCIM, and OCP.
In August 2016, SNIA released a first model for network storage services (Swordfish), an extension of the Redfish specification.
Industry adoption
Redfish support on server
Advantech SKY Server BMC
Dell iDRAC BMC with minimum iDRAC 7/8 FW 2.40.40.40, iDRAC9 FW 3.00.00.0
Fujitsu iRMCS5 BMC
HPE iLO BMC with minimum iLO4 FW 2.30, iLO5 and more recent
HPE Moonshot BMC with minimum FW 1.41
Lenovo XClarity Controller (XCC) BMC with minimum XCC FW 1.00
Supermicro X10 BMC with minimum FW 3.0 and X11 with minimum FW 1.0
IBM Power Systems BMC with minimum OpenPOWER (OP) firmware level OP940
IBM Power Systems Flexible Service Processor (FSP) with minimum firmware level FW860.20
Cisco Integrated Management Controller with minimum IMC SW Version 3.0
Redfish support on BMC
Insyde Software Supervyse BMC
OpenBMC a Linux Foundation collaborative open-source BMC firmware stack
American Megatrends MegaRAC Remote Management Firmware
Vertiv Avocent Core Insight Embedded Management Systems
Software using Redfish APIs
OpenStack Ironic bare metal deployment project has a Redfish driver.
Ansible has multiple Redfish modules for Remote Management including redfish_info, redfish_config, and redfish_command
ManageIQ
Redfish libraries and tools
DMTF libraries and tools
GoLang gofish
Mojo::Redfish::Client
python-redfish
Sushy
Redfish is used by both proprietary software (such as HPE OneView) as well as FLOSS ones (such as OpenBMC).
See also
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
Create, read, update and delete (CRUD)
JSON
OData – Protocol for REST APIs
References
Networking standards
DMTF standards
System administration
Out-of-band management
Computer hardware standards | Redfish (specification) | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 595 | [
"Computer standards",
"DMTF standards",
"Computer networks engineering",
"System administration",
"Information systems",
"Networking standards",
"Computer hardware standards"
] |
59,818,585 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BD%20Phoenicis | BD Phoenicis is a variable star in the constellation of Phoenix. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, it is located at a distance of from Earth. Its absolute magnitude is calculated at 1.5.
Description
BD Phoenicis is a Lambda Boötis star, an uncommon type of peculiar stars that have very low abundances of iron-peak elements. In particular, BD Phoenicis has near-solar carbon and oxygen content, but its iron abundance is only 4% of the solar value. BD Phoenicis is also a pulsating variable of Delta Scuti type, varying its apparent magnitude between 5.90 and 5.94. A study of its light curve detected seven pulsation periods that range from 50 to 84 minutes, the strongest one having a period of 57 minutes and an amplitude of 9 milli-magnitudes. Pulsations are common among Lambda Boötis stars and seem to be more common than normal main sequence stars of the same spectral type.
BD Phoenicis is an A-type main-sequence star with a spectral type of A1Va. Stellar evolution models indicate it contains double the solar mass and an age of about 800 million years—having completed 83% of its main sequence lifetime. It is radiating 21 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of . BD Phoenicis has a composite spectra that indicate it is a binary star, but nothing is known about its companion.
Observations by the Herschel Space Observatory have detected an infrared excess from BD Phoenicis, indicating that there is a debris disk in the system. By modeling the emission as a black body, it is estimated that the dust has a temperature of and is at a distance of from the star. The existence of debris disks is possibly related to the Lambda Boötis phenomenon.
References
Delta Scuti variables
Lambda Boötis stars
Phoenix (constellation)
A-type main-sequence stars
Durchmusterung objects
011413
008593
0541
Phoenicis, BD | BD Phoenicis | [
"Astronomy"
] | 429 | [
"Phoenix (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,819,153 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrolevoglucosenone | Dihydrolevoglucosenone (Cyrene) is a bicyclic, chiral, seven-membered heterocyclic cycloalkanone which is a waste derived and fully biodegradable aprotic dipolar solvent. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to dimethylformamide (DMF) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).
Preparation
Dihydrolevoglucosenone can be prepared through the hydrogenation of unsaturated ketone levoglucosenone (LGO) with heterogenous palladium catalysts under mild conditions. LGO is a chemical building block obtained by acid-catalyzed pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass such as sawdust.
Properties
Dihydrolevoglucosenone is a clear colorless, to light-yellow liquid with a mild, smoky ketone-like odor. It is miscible with water and many organic solvents. Dihydrolevoglucosenone has a boiling point of 226 °C at 101.325 kPa (vs 202 °C for NMP), and a vapor pressure of 12.98 Pa near room temperature (25 °C). It has a comparatively high dynamic viscosity of 14.5 cP (for comparison DMF: 0.92 cP at 20 °C, NMP: 1.67 cP at 25 °C).
The compound is stable at temperatures up to 195 °C and weak acids and bases. Dihydrolevoglucosenone can react with inorganic bases via an aldol condensation mechanism. Dihydrolevoglucosenone is readily biodegradable (99% within 14 days) and reacts to oxidants such as aqueous 30% hydrogen peroxide solution even at room temperature.
Applications
Dihydroglucosenone as a precursor
Dihydrolevoglucosenone can be used as a renewable building block to produce valuable chemicals such as drugs, flavours and fragrances and specialty polymers.
As dihydrolevoglucosenone is produced as a single enantiomer, it can be used for chiral pool synthesis. For instance, oxidation with peroxy acids such as peroxyacetic acid produces optically pure 5-hydroxymethyldihydrofuranone, from which zalcitabine, formerly a HIV drug, is available.
]
In a two-step hydrogenation process with a metal catalyst – first at 60 °C then at 180 °C – 1,6-hexanediol is mainly obtained via several intermediates. 1,6-hexanediol can be used as a starting material for the production of polyesters, polyurethanes and diamine 1,6-diaminohexane.
At elevated temperature and in the presence of a palladium catalyst, hydrogenolysis of dihydrolevoglucosenone via levoglucosanol selectively yields tetrahydrofuran-2,5-dimethanol (THF-dimethanol), which is a biodegradable solvent and a bio-based precursor to 1,6-hexanediol (and 1,6-diaminohexane).
Dihydroglucosenone as a safer solvent
The search for alternative "green" solvents made from biomass or low-cost renewable raw materials, which are accessible through high-efficiency processes, in high yields, and meet the performance of conventional solvents, has triggered intensive research activities in industry and academia worldwide.
Dihydrolevoglucosenone is considered a "green" replacement for DMF. Several standard reactions of organic chemistry, e.g. Menshutkin reaction, Sonogashira coupling, Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and the production of ureas have been carried out in dihydrolevoglucosenone.
Production
Circa Group produces dihydrolevoglucosenone from cellulose under the Cyrene brand and has built a 50-tonne demonstration plant with partners in Tasmania. The company estimates that dihydroglucosenone performs better than NMP in 45% and comparably to NMP in 20% of trials to date. Circa received authorization in 2018 from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to produce or import up to 100 tonnes per year of dihydroglucosenone to the EU.
Literature
DS van Es: Study into alternative (biobased) polar aprotic solvents. Wageningen University, Wageningen 2017 (wur.nl [PDF]).
JH Clark, A. Hunt, C. Topi, G. Paggiola, J. Sherwood: Sustainable Solvents: Perspectives from Research, Business and Institutional Policy . Royal Society of Chemistry, London 2017, .
Dickson Kong and Anton V. Dolzhenko. "Cyrene: A Bio-Based Sustainable Solvent for Organic Synthesis." Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 25 (April 1, 2022): 100591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2021.100591
References
Cyclic ketones
Solvents
Heterocyclic compounds with 2 rings
Ethers
Oxygen heterocycles | Dihydrolevoglucosenone | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,106 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Functional groups",
"Ethers"
] |
59,821,743 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese%20calendar%20era%20bug | The Japanese calendar era bug is a possible computer bug related to the change of the Japanese era name.
Background
The Japanese calendar has era names that change with the reign of the Japanese emperor. As much of the initial rise of modern computing had occurred during the Heisei era, most software had only supported that era.
A new era name was expected with the 2019 Japanese imperial transition. However, since the change of eras is infrequent, most software had not been tested to ensure that it would behave correctly with an additional era. To ensure that the new era would be handled correctly, some systems were provided test mechanisms to simulate a new era ahead of time.
In early April 2019, the new era name was announced to be Reiwa for "beautiful harmony."
Documented errors
Some minor problems have been reported due to improper handling of the era transition.
ATMs placed inside the Lawson chain of konbini reported that due to a banking holiday, funds deposited would not be available until May 7, 1989, due to a date conversion improperly using Heisei 1 (1989) instead of Reiwa 1 (2019).
Fixes
Windows 10 version 1803 included a registry entry with placeholder information for the expected era transition, intended to help users discover any software limitations around the expected change to the new era.
macOS Mojave 10.14.5 and iOS 12.3 included support for the Reiwa era.
Unicode code point U+32FF was reserved in September 2018 for representing the new era name, and Unicode 12.1 included .
The GNU C Library was updated to include the new era name in the 2.30 release.
See also
Time formatting and storage bugs
2019 Japanese imperial transition
References
Calendars
Software bugs
Time formatting and storage bugs | Japanese calendar era bug | [
"Physics"
] | 356 | [
"Spacetime",
"Calendars",
"Physical quantities",
"Time"
] |
59,823,126 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedin%20I | Bedin I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy located in the constellation Pavo. It is situated around 28.38 million light-years from Earth, behind the globular cluster NGC 6752. Bedin I is possibly one of the oldest galaxies known, having formed around 10–13 billion years ago, and is one of the most isolated dwarf galaxies known, situated around 2.12 million light-years away from NGC 6744, its nearest neighbor with which it may be physically associated. As such, it has been deemed by astronomers as a "fossil" from the early universe. It was accidentally discovered by Italian astronomer Luigi Bedin, whose team was studying white dwarfs in NGC 6752 using the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2018; the discovery was announced in a paper published in January 2019.
Nomenclature
Bedin I, pronounced , was named by its discovery team after their leader, Luigi Bedin, who is a researcher at the National Institute for Astrophysics's observatory in Padua, Italy. He was credited as the galaxy's sole discoverer. Bedin and the team opted to avoid the galaxy being given "an anonymous identification based on its coordinates."
Characteristics
Bedin I is an isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxy located around 8.7 megaparsecs, or around 28.38 million light-years, from Earth, with similar characteristics to KKR 25 and the Tucana Dwarf Galaxy. It is estimated to be around 840 by 340 parsecs, or 2,700 by 1,100 light-years, in size, which is a fifth the size of the Large Magellanic Cloud. At a metallicity of −1.3, the galaxy's population is made up of metal-poor red giant stars, and its luminosity is roughly a thousand times dimmer than the Milky Way Galaxy, at an absolute magnitude of −9.76. Bedin I is believed to have formed around 10–13 billion years ago with no star formation having occurred since then, making it one of the oldest galaxies known. Bedin I is also possibly the most isolated dwarf galaxy known, located at least 650 kiloparsecs, or 2.12 million light-years, from its nearest neighbor, the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 6744; the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are separated by a similar distance. A physical association with NGC 6744 has been speculated however, due to the close angular distance between the galaxies, and their similar physical distances from Earth. Its age, isolation, and lack of interaction with other galaxies has led to the galaxy being deemed a "fossil" from the early universe.
Observation
Bedin I is located in the constellation Pavo, at a right ascension of and declination of . The galaxy is situated behind a group of unnamed foreground stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752. Bedin I measures around 20 by 8 arcseconds across and has an apparent magnitude of 19.94, although its visibility is significantly decreased by NGC 6752, one of the brightest globular clusters in the sky with an apparent magnitude of 5.4. Bedin I was accidentally discovered by Luigi Bedin's team researching white dwarfs in the cluster in an effort to better determine the cluster's age. The galaxy partially appeared in the field of view during program GO-15096 of the Hubble Space Telescope, led by principal investigator Luigi R. Bedin, which occurred between 7 and 18 September 2018. The program, which saw the Wide Field Channel (WFC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) pointed at NGC 6752 for 75 exposures lasting 1,270 seconds each, was conducted over 40 orbits; these exposures were able to capture objects with an apparent magnitude above 30. Five of the orbits failed however, due to poor guide star acquisition. The journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters published the team's three-part scientific paper on findings from the program on 31 January 2019, with the first part dedicated to the discovery of Bedin I. A second program of 40 orbits, GO-15491, is currently scheduled for late 2019.
See also
List of galaxies named after people
List of nearest galaxies
References
Notes
Sources
Citations
External links
The HST Large Programme on NGC 6752. I. Serendipitous discovery of a dwarf Galaxy in background at Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters (Archived 31 January 2019)
Astronomical objects discovered in 2018
Discoveries by the Hubble Space Telescope
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies
Pavo (constellation) | Bedin I | [
"Astronomy"
] | 927 | [
"Constellations",
"Pavo (constellation)"
] |
59,823,154 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunistic%20Wireless%20Encryption | Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) is a Wi-Fi standard which ensures that communication between a public hotspot and end devices is protected from other end devices. In contrast to conventional public hotspots, the data is transmitted in encrypted form. OWE was introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2018 as part of the Wi-Fi Certified Enhanced Open program.
OWE is an extension to IEEE 802.11. it is an encryption technique similar to that of Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) and is specified by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in RFC 8110 with devices certified as Wi-Fi Certified Enhanced Open by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
With a network without a password, each WPA3 device that connects to it will still have its connection encrypted, OWE does encryption, not authentication, Evil twin (wireless networks) attack protection requires either WPA3-Personal or WPA3-Enterprise.
Unlike conventional Wi-Fi, it provides "Individualized Data Protection" such that data traffic between a client and access point is "individualized". Other clients can still sniff and record this traffic, but they can't decrypt it.
"OWE is a means of adding encryption to open networks...OWE only protects against passive attacks."
Opportunistic Wireless Encryption is a Wi-Fi Enhanced Open authentication mode, as a part of Wi-Fi Protected Access 3. OWE performs an unauthenticated Diffie–Hellman (DH) key exchange at association time.
For the wireless client to know the WLAN supports OWE, it must receive a Probe Response from the wireless access point in response to its Probe Request. OWE still uses 802.11 Open System Authentication, then the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral exchange occurs in the Association process. After Association is successful the 4-way handshake can occur, and from then on data frames are encrypted.
See also
Wi-Fi Protected Access
References
Further reading
Internet privacy | Opportunistic Wireless Encryption | [
"Technology"
] | 412 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer network stubs"
] |
59,823,364 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie%20Rockward | Willie S. Rockward is a physics professor and has served as the chair of the department of physics and engineering physics at Morgan State University since August 2018. His research interests include Micro/Nano Optics Lithography, Extreme Ultraviolet Interferometry, Metamaterials, Terahertz imaging, Nanostructure Characterization, and Crossed Phase Optics. From 2018 to 2020 he was the president of the National Society of Black Physicists.
Early life and education
Rockward grew up in Louisiana. He attended South Terrebonne High School. He played American football at college (for the South Terrebonne High School Gators) and was a member of the varsity team. He also took part in track and field. He was offered football scholarships at Duke University and Louisiana State University, but was interested in Grambling State University because of the coach Eddie Robinson. Rockward achieved high scores in his ACT and was offered a physics scholarship at Grambling State. At Grambling State, Rockward served as President of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He graduated with a B.S. degree cum laude in Physics in 1988. Rockward joined University at Albany, SUNY for his graduate study and earned an M.S. degree in physics in 1991. He moved to Georgia Institute of Technology where he received an M.S. degree in physics in 1994, and a Ph.D. degree in physics in 1997, this under the supervision of Donal O'Shea. Together they worked on diffractive optics and quadrature microscopy. Whilst completing his doctorate he worked as a research physicist at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He developed laser radar and guided munitions.
Career
Rockward joined the faculty of Morehouse College in 1998. He was research director of the Materials and Optics Research & Engineering (MORE) Laboratory. He worked on nanolithography, terahertz imaging and physics education. He developed a range of research experiences for undergraduates and the Scholarly Mentorship in Laboratory Experiences (SMILE) program. He also established the Nuclear, Materials, and Space Sciences (NuMaSS) Summer School (NuMaSS) which introduced middle and high school students to a physics career. He was awarded tenure in 2008.
In 2011 Rockward was appointed chair of the department of physics and dual degree engineering, resulting in Morehouse College having the most underrepresented minority Bachelor of Science graduates. As Chair of Department, Rockward investigated the barriers for HBCU physics departments. Rockward is an advocate for mentoring as a method to support students from underrepresented groups in physics. He launched "We C.A.R.E" (Curriculum, Advisement, Recruitment/ Retention/ Research, and Extras) a pedagogical approach that combines sessions on culture, collaboration and career, alongside the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers program. He was made the Society of Physics Students Outstanding Chapter Advisor in 2012.
In 2017 Rockward was appointed president of Sigma Pi Sigma. He joined Morgan State University in 2018. Working with Associated Universities, Inc. to secure support from the National Science Foundation to deliver the National Society of Black Physicists conference. He has delivered the keynote talk at the Conference for Underrepresented Minority Physicists (CU2MiP).
His current work focuses on extreme ultraviolet laser light and spectroscopic analysis of binary star systems.
Personal life
Rockward has served a combination of 23 years as Pastor of the Divine Unity Missionary Baptist Church in East Point Georgia and Associate Minister of Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, Georgia. Rockward is married to mathematician Michelle Rockward.
References
Georgia Tech alumni
Morehouse College faculty
Morgan State University faculty
20th-century American physicists
21st-century American physicists
Scientists from Louisiana
Grambling State University alumni
University at Albany, SUNY alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Members of the National Society of Black Physicists
20th-century African-American scientists
21st-century African-American scientists
African-American physicists | Willie Rockward | [
"Materials_science"
] | 803 | [
"Metamaterials scientists",
"Metamaterials"
] |
59,823,517 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental%20Toxicology%20and%20Chemistry | Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering environmental toxicology and environmental chemistry. It was established in 1982 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell in conjunction with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The founding editor-in-chief was C.H. Ward (Rice University), and the current one is G.A. Burton, Jr. (University of Michigan). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 4.218, ranking it 117th out of 279 journals in the category Environmental sciences and 29th out of 94 in the category Toxicology.
References
External links
Academic journals established in 1982
Wiley-Blackwell academic journals
Monthly journals
Environmental toxicology
Environmental chemistry
Toxicology journals
Environmental science journals
Chemistry journals
English-language journals | Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry | [
"Chemistry",
"Environmental_science"
] | 159 | [
"Toxicology",
"Environmental chemistry",
"Environmental toxicology",
"Toxicology journals",
"Environmental science journals",
"nan",
"Environmental science journal stubs"
] |
59,823,612 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map%20%28graph%20theory%29 | In topology and graph theory, a map is a subdivision of a surface such as the Euclidean plane into interior-disjoint regions,
formed by embedding a graph onto the surface and forming connected components (faces) of the complement of the graph.
That is, it is a tessellation of the surface. A map graph is a graph derived from a map by creating a vertex for each face and an edge for each pair of faces that meet at a vertex or edge of the embedded graph.
References
Topology
Graph theory objects | Map (graph theory) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 109 | [
"Graph theory stubs",
"Graph theory objects",
"Graph theory",
"Topology stubs",
"Topology",
"Mathematical relations",
"Space",
"Geometry",
"Spacetime"
] |
59,823,656 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture%20of%20Yugoslavia | The architecture of Yugoslavia was characterized by emerging, unique, and often differing national and regional narratives. As a socialist state remaining free from the Iron Curtain, Yugoslavia adopted a hybrid identity that combined the architectural, cultural, and political leanings of both Western liberal democracy and Soviet communism.
Interwar modernism
Yugoslav architecture emerged in the first decades of the 20th century before the establishment of the state; during this period a number of South Slavic creatives, enthused by the possibility of statehood, organized a series of art exhibitions in Serbia in the name of a shared Slavic identity. Following governmental centralization after the 1918 creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, this initial bottom-up enthusiasm began to fade. Yugoslav architecture became more and more dictated by an increasingly concentrated national authority which sought to establish a unified state identity.
Beginning the 1920s, Yugoslav architects began to advocate for architectural modernism, viewing the style as the logical extension of progressive national narratives. The Group of Architects of the Modern Movement, an organization founded in 1928 by architects Branislav Đ Kojić, Milan Zloković, Jan Dubovy, and Dusan Babic pushed for the widespread adoption of modern architecture as the "national" style of Yugoslavia to transcended regional differences. Despite these shifts, differing relationships to the west made the adoption of modernism inconsistent in Yugoslavia WWII; while the westernmost republics of Croatia and Slovenia were familiar with Western influence and eager to adopt modernism, long-Ottoman Bosnia remained more resistant to do so. Of all Yugoslavian cities, Belgrade has highest concentration of modernist structures.
Socialist realism (1945–48)
Immediately following the Second World War, Yugoslavia's brief association with the Eastern Bloc ushered in a short period of socialist realism. Centralization within the communist model led to the abolishment of private architectural practices and the state control of the profession. During this period, the governing Communist Party condemned modernism as "bourgeois formalism," a move that caused friction among the nation's pre-war modernist architectural elite.
Modernism (1948–92)
Socialist realist architecture in Yugoslavia came to an abrupt end with Josip Broz Tito's 1948 split with Stalin. In the following years the nation turned increasingly to the West, returning to the modernism that had characterized pre-war Yugoslav architecture. During this era, modernist architecture came to symbolize the nation's break from the USSR (a notion that later diminished with growing acceptability of modernism in the Eastern Bloc). The nation's postwar return to modernism is perhaps best exemplified in Vjenceslav Richter's widely acclaimed 1958 Yugoslavia Pavilion at Expo 58, the open and light nature of which contrasted the much heavier architecture of the Soviet Union.
Spomeniks
During this period, the Yugoslav break from Soviet socialist realism combined with efforts to commemorate World War II, which together led to the creation of an immense quantity of abstract sculptural war memorials, known today as spomenik.
Brutalism
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Brutalism began to garner a following within Yugoslavia, particularly among younger architects, a trend possibly influenced by the 1959 disbandment of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. Brutalism's growing influence in the nation was most prominently exemplified in reconstruction efforts of Skopje following a destructive 1963 earthquake. Japanese architect Kenzo Tange played a key role in pushing for Brutalism in the city, going so far as to propose a full redesign of Skopje in the style.
The architecture of the city is compiled in Kenzo Tange's Masterplan of Skopje City 1963 with a collaboration led by the UNs teams of international architects.
Decentralization
With 1950s decentralization and liberalization policies in SFR Yugoslavia, architecture became increasingly fractured along ethnic lines. Architects increasingly focused on building with reference to the architectural heritage of their individual socialist republics in the form of critical regionalism. A notable example of this shift is the Juraj Neidhardt and Dušan Grabrijan's seminal 1957 publication Architecture of Bosnia and the way into modernity () which sought to understand modernism through the lens of Bosnia's Ottoman heritage.
Growing distinction of individual ethnic architectural identities within Yugoslavia was exacerbated with the 1972 decentralization of the formerly centralized historical preservation authority, providing individual regions further opportunity to critically analyze their own cultural narratives.
In popular culture
Yugoslav architecture, particularly that of monuments, has attracted increased public attention in recent years. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers released a series of photographs documenting dilapidated World War II monuments and memorials in Yugoslavia. In July 2018 MoMA opened a 6 month exhibition entitled "Toward a Concrete Utopia" that provided visitors with a large collection of images, architectural models, and drawings from Yugoslav architecture from 1948 to 1980. Meanwhile, American researcher and author Donald Niebyl has been working since 2016 to create an online educational resource to explore and catalog the history of Yugoslav monuments and architecture, titled "Spomenik Database".
Gallery
See also
Architecture of Serbia
Architecture of Kosovo
Architecture of Croatia
Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Architecture of Montenegro
Architecture of North Macedonia
Architecture of Slovenia
Utopian architecture
References
External links
Spomenik Database
Culture of Yugoslavia
Architecture related to utopias | Architecture of Yugoslavia | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,046 | [
"Architecture related to utopias",
"Architecture"
] |
59,824,785 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humberto%20Calder%C3%B3n%20Berti | Humberto Calderón Berti (born 21 October 1941 in Boconó, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan geologist, petroleum engineer, diplomat, politician and author, named in 2019 as ambassador to Colombia by disputed interim Venezuelan president Juan Guaidó during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, and welcomed by Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Colombia's foreign minister.
Career
Calderón Berti is a former president of PDVSA (Venezuela's state-owned petroleum company), and the country's former Minister of Energy and Mines, as well as former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also a former OPEC president. His undergraduate degree was from the Central University of Venezuela, and he has a Master's in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 2003, he and other former PDVSA petroleum executives founded the Colombian company, Vetra Energia, S.L. He solicited and was granted Spanish citizenship, where he has family and cultural ties, in 2018 because of persecution due to his membership in Venezuela's Social Christian political party (Copei).
On 26 November 2019, Guaidó dismissed Calderón as ambassador in Colombia, citing plans to change foreign policy. Venezuelan diplomat Diego Arria condemned the dismissal, calling it a "huge mistake".
Berti is a member of the Madrid Forum.
Personal life
Humberto is the uncle of Coromoto Godoy, a diplomat who has served as ambassador of the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro to Trinidad and Tobago, India and Spain.
Publications
His publications include:
Hacia una Política Petrolera Integral: la Responsabilidad Nacional, el Compromiso Internacional (1979)
La Coyuntura Petrolera Venezolana 1982 (1982)
Venezuela y Su Política Petrolera, 1979–1983 (1986)
La Invasión a Kuwait (1991)
References
External links
Bloomberg profile
1941 births
Living people
People from Trujillo (state)
Central University of Venezuela alumni
Copei politicians
OPEC people
University of Tulsa alumni
People of the Crisis in Venezuela
Venezuelan geologists
20th-century Venezuelan engineers
Petroleum engineers
20th-century geologists
Ministers of foreign affairs of Venezuela
Venezuelan presidential crisis
Presidents of PDVSA
Energy ministers of Venezuela
Ambassadors of Venezuela to Colombia
Carlos Andrés Pérez ministers
Luis Herrera Campins ministers
Exiled Venezuelan politicians | Humberto Calderón Berti | [
"Engineering"
] | 468 | [
"Petroleum engineers",
"Petroleum engineering"
] |
59,825,449 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM%20Conference%20on%20Fairness%2C%20Accountability%2C%20and%20Transparency | ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT, formerly known as ACM FAT*) is a peer-reviewed academic conference series about ethics and computing systems. Sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, this conference focuses on issues such as algorithmic transparency, fairness in machine learning, bias, and ethics from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The conference community includes computer scientists, statisticians, social scientists, scholars of law, and others.
The conference is sponsored by Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and large foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Luminate. Sponsors contribute to a general fund (no "earmarked" contributions are allowed) and have no say in the selection, substance, or structure of the conference.
FATE Overview
The acronym FATE refers to Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics in sociotechnical systems. FATE is a topic of rising interest as the societal and ethical implications of complex systems such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP) are increasing. The topic provides an interdisciplinary challenge of bridging the gap of transparency between technical and non technical academics and policy makers to ensure the safety and equity of algorithmic systems as they advance at a rapid rate. Some solutions and techniques that have been discovered include Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI).
Recent adoptions of AI in both the public and private sector include the predictive recidivism algorithm (otherwise known as COMPAS) which was deployed in the US Court, as well as Amazon’s AI Powered recruitment tool, later proven to favor male over female applicants. Further, AI based decision support (ADS) powered by machine learning techniques is more commonly being integrated across fields including criminal justice, education, and benefits provision. FATE functions as a means to look further into algorithms to raise awareness and work towards a solution. Companies such as Microsoft have created research teams specifically devoted to the topic.
Key Research Areas and Emerging Trends in FATE
The FAccT Conference 2024 is looking for articles specifically within the following areas: Audits and Evaluation Practices, System Development and Deployment, Experiences and Interactions, Critical Studies, Law and Policy, and Philosophy.
Impact and Influence
The research from the ACM FAccT conference has greatly influenced both public rules and how companies operate. Governments and organizations have used ideas from the conference to create guidelines and policies. For example, studies on bias in algorithms have helped change hiring methods at big tech companies, making them fairer. Additionally, laws about how artificial intelligence (AI) should be managed have been shaped by this research. The conference has also helped guide global discussions about ethical AI, contributing to important guidelines like the European Union's AI Act and the AI Principles from the OECD.
Criticisms and Controversies
Although the ACM FAccT conference is well-regarded, it has received some criticism. Some people say that the ideas shared at the conference are often too focused on theory and may not work well for real-world issues. Others have noticed that even though the conference talks about fairness and transparency in AI, the companies that sponsor it don’t always create technology that follows these values. There is also debate about whether the conference can stay truly independent while receiving money from big tech companies.
For further reading on areas relevant to FATE see:
Algorithmic bias
Artificial intelligence art
Artificial intelligence marketing
Ethics of artificial intelligence
List of conferences
Past and future FAccT conferences include:
References
External links
Computer science conferences
Association for Computing Machinery conferences | ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency | [
"Technology"
] | 720 | [
"Computer science",
"Computer science conferences"
] |
74,909,616 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4C-MAR | 4'-Chloro-4-methylaminorex (4C-MAR, 4'-Cl-4-MAR) is a recreational designer drug from the substituted aminorex family, with stimulant effects. It has reportedly been sold since around 2021 and was first definitively identified in Austria in January 2022.
See also
2C-B-aminorex
2F-MAR
4B-MAR
4,4'-DMAR
4'-Fluoro-4-methylaminorex
4-Methylaminorex
Clominorex
MDMAR
4-Chloroamphetamine
4-Chloromethcathinone
References
Aminorexes
4-Chlorophenyl compounds
Designer drugs | 4C-MAR | [
"Chemistry"
] | 151 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
74,910,559 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeotremella%20roseotincta | Phaeotremella roseotincta is a species of fungus in the family Phaeotremellaceae. It produces pinkish to pale pinkish brown, frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and grows on dead attached and recently fallen branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Japan and has also been recorded from far eastern Russia.
Description
Fruit bodies are gelatinous, pinkish to pale pinkish brown, up to 4 cm (1.5 in) across, and seaweed-like (with branched, undulating fronds). Microscopically, the hyphae are clamped and occur in a dense gelatinous matrix. The basidia are tremelloid (globose to ellipsoid, with oblique to vertical septa), 16 to 20 by 11 to 18 μm. The basidiospores are globose to ellipsoid, smooth, 7 to 10 by 7 to 9 μm.
Similar species
Phaeotremella frondosa is a widespread species parasitizing Stereum hirsutum and other Stereum species on broad-leaved trees. It produces brown to pale brown fruit bodies without pink tints. Phaeotremella fuscosuccinea occurs in eastern Asia, but is darker and grows on conifers.
Habitat and distribution
Like all Phaeotremella species, P. roseotincta is a parasite of other fungi. Its host species is, however, currently unknown. It occurs on broad-leaved trees in north-eastern Asia (Japan and Russia).
References
Tremellomycetes
Fungi described in 1923
Fungi of Asia
Taxa named by Curtis Gates Lloyd
Fungus species | Phaeotremella roseotincta | [
"Biology"
] | 362 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,911,177 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conocybe%20macrospora | Conocybe macrospora is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.
Taxonomy
It was described in 1918 by the American mycologist George Francis Atkinson who classified it as Galerula macrospora.
In 1929 John Eugene Sass described Galera tenera f. bispora as a form variant of Galera tenera (now known as Conocybe tenera) which differed from this species by virtue of having two spored basidia with examination of the basidia being the only means noted of distinguishing them. This form is listed as a synonym of Conocybe macrospora by species fungorum.
In 1971 Conocybe ochracea f. macrospora was described by Robert Kühner and Roy Watling and Conocybe rubiginosa as described by Watling is now also considered a synonym.
In 2003 the species was reclassified as Conocybe macrospora by Anton Hausknecht and in Conocybe pubescens var. macrospora as described in 2007 by Erhard Ludwig is now also considered a synonym.
Description
Cap: 0.6–2.5 cm wide and 0.5–2.2 cm tall or up to 4 cm wide and 3 cm tall in the largest specimens, campanulate to convex and often as high as it is wide. The surface is pale orange to brown, hygrophanous and moist with striations running almost to the centre. It is smooth but when viewed under a magnifying glass has fine hairs. Gills: Adnexed, crowded and light yellow brown to light rusty brown with a slight ventricose bulge and lighter edge. Stem: 3.1–10 cm long and 1-3mm thick or up to 15 cm long and 4mm thick in the largest specimens. It is cylindrical with a slightly bulbous base that is 2-6mm thick. The surface is orange yellow with a yellow tip when immature and uniformly brassy yellow to orangy yellow when mature often with a slightly darker orange brown base when old. Longitudinal striations run up the length of the stem and the surface has some hairs. Flesh: Whitish to light yellow in the cap and orangish yellow in the stem. Smell: Odourless or slightly radish like when crushed. Taste: Indistinct.
Microscopic details
Spores: (11.5) 13.5–21 (23.5) x 7.5–11 (12.5) μm or (15.1) 15.6–19 x 7.8–10.6 μm on average. Ellipsoidal or rarely slightly limoniform (lemon shaped) with a thick wall and large 2–4 μm wide germ pore. Orange-brown to reddish-brown in KOH. Basidia: 18–30 x 9–13.5 μm. 2 spored. Round-petiolate to barrel shaped. Cheilocystidia: 15–22.5 x 6–11 μm. Lecythiform (skittle shaped) with a large 3–4 (5) μm head and thick short neck. Caulocystidia: Mix of lecythiform similar to cheilocystidia but larger and non-lecythiform hairs almost evenly distributed over the length of the stem.
Habitat and distribution
The specimens studied by Atkinson were found growing on the ground amongst mixed grassed and moss on the edge of a coniferous wood near Stockholm, Sweden. Hausknecht described them as growing in grassy, nitrate-rich meadows or in dung, disturbed ground, compost and rarely in leaf litter or on the edge of burnt areas. It is common in Europe and Hausknecht's description was based on collection in Austria in Italy.
References
Bolbitiaceae
Fungi described in 1918
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Conocybe macrospora | [
"Biology"
] | 808 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,911,229 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdi%20al-Saleh | Majdi al-Saleh ((مجدي الصالح) born: 1963)) is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Local Government since April 2019.
Early life and education
He was born in 1963 near Nablus. He earned his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Damascus in Syria.
Career
Al-Saleh, an engineer by profession, had a background in the private sector prior to his notable roles in Palestinian organizations. He was the founder of the General Union of Palestinian Contractors and went on to be elected as the Secretary General of the Palestinian General Federation of Engineers. Additionally, he held the position of head of the Engineer's Syndicate.
In April 2019, Majdi al-Saleh assumed the position of Minister for Local Government in the Palestinian Authority (PA) government led by Mohammad Shtayyeh. Notably, he is a member of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC).
Al-Saleh possesses extensive experience in overseeing and executing infrastructure projects. He has played a crucial role in offering support and guidance to various local government institutions, including municipalities, village councils, and other local authorities as Minister for Local Government.
References
1963 births
Living people
Palestinian politicians
Government ministers of the State of Palestine
People from Nablus Governorate
Damascus University alumni
Civil engineers | Majdi al-Saleh | [
"Engineering"
] | 269 | [
"Civil engineering",
"Civil engineers"
] |
74,912,428 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara%20Shollock | Barbara Ann Shollock is a metallurgist focusing on nickel-based superalloys and other advanced alloys, including their mechanical properties and the growth and selection of crystal grains in their formation. Educated in the US and England, she works in England as head of the Department of Engineering at King's College London.
Education and career
Shollock was an engineering student as an undergraduate at Lehigh University, became a researcher at AT&T Bell Labs, and while at Bell Labs earned a master's degree from Lehigh. She completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford.
After postdoctoral research in Keble College, Oxford as a Rolls Royce Junior Research Fellow from 1988 to 1991, she joined the academic staff at Imperial College London. She became a senior lecturer there, before moving to the University of Warwick in 2014 as the holder of a Tata Steel Chair in Advanced Characterisation and Coatings. In 2019 she moved again, to her present position at King's College London.
Recognition
Shollock was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2023, "for her research contributions to the fundamental, theoretical and experimental understanding, development, and performance enhancement of advanced metallic alloys".
References
External links
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American metallurgists
British metallurgists
Women materials scientists and engineers
Lehigh University alumni
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Academics of Imperial College London
Academics of the University of Warwick
Academics of King's College London
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering | Barbara Shollock | [
"Materials_science",
"Technology"
] | 312 | [
"Women materials scientists and engineers",
"Materials scientists and engineers",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
74,912,560 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NearLink | NearLink (; also known as SparkLink and formerly Greentooth) is a short-range wireless technology protocol, which was developed by the NearLink Alliance, led by Huawei to set up on September 22, 2020. As of September 2023, the Alliance has more than 300 enterprises and institutions on board, which include automotive manufacturers, chip and module manufacturers, application developers, ICT companies, and research institutions.
On November 4, 2022, the Alliance released the SparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0, which incorporates two modes of access, namely, SparkLink Low Energy (SLE) and SparkLink Basic (SLB), to integrate the features of traditional wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with enhanced prerequisites for latency, power consumption, coverage, and security.
The Alliance unveiled the Standard 2.0 on March 30, 2024, which enhances end-to-end protocol system and extends application standards, supporting native audio and video capabilities, human-computer interaction, and positioning applications.
NearLink employs the Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Cyclic Prefix-OFDM) waveform to address latency issues in various applications. The waveform features an ultra-short frame structure and a flexible scheduling scheme of time-domain resources, reducing transmission latency to approximately 20 microseconds. In addition, NearLink applies polar codes and adopts Hybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest (HARQ) schemes to support applications with high reliability requirements, such as industrial closed-loop control applications for automated assembly lines, where reliability requirements are at least 99.999%.
The first product to feature NearLink technology was the Huawei Mate 60 series smartphone introduced by Huawei on August 29, 2023, followed by FreeBuds Pro 3 on November 25, 2023, M-Pencil 3rd gen with the MatePad 13.2 tablet on 14 December 2023, and the Pura 70 series on April 18, 2024.
History
On September 22, 2020, the SparkLight Alliance was established to formulate the NearLink short-range wireless technology standard.
By the end of 2021, the NearLink 1.0 standards were finalized, establishing a core end-to-end architecture that includes the NearLink access layer, basic service layer, and basic application layer.
On November 4, 2022, the SparkLink Alliance officially released the SparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0 , which covers two modes of access: SLB (SparkLink Basic) and SLE (SparkLink Low Energy). They also unveiled "The White Paper for Promotion of SparkLink Short-Range Wireless Communication (SparkLink 1.0) for Industrial Use."
On August 4, 2023, Huawei officially unveiled the NearLink short-range wireless communication technology at the Developer Conference, providing a new wireless communication method for HarmonyOS.
On August 29, 2023, Huawei released the Huawei Mate 60 series smartphones, which are equipped with NearLink technology.
On September 25, 2023, at Huawei's Autumn Full-Scenario New Products Launch event, a new range of products supporting NearLink technology were unveiled. These products include the Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2-inch tablet, the third-generation M-Pencil stylus, and the FreeBuds Pro 3 earbuds.
On March 30, 2024, the Intelligent Car Connectivity Industry Ecosystem Alliance ("ICCE Alliance") and the NearLink Alliance jointly released the ICCE Alliance Digital Key System Part 6: NearLink System Requirements during the 2024 International NearLink Alliance Industry Summit". The Requirements were formulated by various parties including Huawei, BYD, Changan, GAC, FAW, etc.
On November 12, 2024, Huawei released a beta version of HarmonyOS 5.0.1 targeted for developers that has full support of native NearLink Kit API integration of the operating system for third party applications support.
System structure
The system structure of NearLink technology mainly consists of three layers: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer.
Physical Layer: the core layer of NearLink technology, primarily responsible for the transmission and reception of high-frequency signals. The physical layer uses GFSK modulation and PSK modulation of different orders. In addition the physical layer has forward error correction (FEC) based on Polar codes.
Data Link Layer: primarily responsible for packaging and unpacking data, as well as data validation and error correction.
Network Layer: mainly responsible for data routing and forwarding, ensuring that data is correctly transmitted to its intended destination.
Access modes
NearLink incorporates two access modes, namely SparkLink Low Energy ("SLE") and SparkLink Basic ("SLB").
The SLE mode is mainly aimed at low-power, low-latency, and high-reliability application scenarios, such as wireless headsets, mice, car keys, etc. It reportedly offers a data transmission rate of up to 12 Mbit/s, or six times that of Bluetooth, and supports bidirectional latency of 250 microseconds, simultaneous access by 256 users, and a power consumption of less than 2mA.
The SLB mode focuses on high-speed, high-capacity, and high-precision application scenarios, such as video transmission, large file sharing, and precise positioning. It reportedly provides a data transmission rate of up to 1.2 Gbit/s, or twice that of Wi-Fi, and supports latency of 20 milliseconds and simultaneous access by 4096 users.
Modules
See also
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Ultra-wideband
LoRa
NB-IoT
ZigBee
HarmonyOS
Huawei Mate 60 Series
Notes
References
External links
Radiocommunication services ITU | NearLink | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,184 | [
"Computer standards",
"Wireless networking",
"Computer networks engineering",
"Wireless communication systems",
"Networking standards",
"Mesh networking"
] |
74,914,321 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau%20Ferr%C3%A9%20National%20%28France%29 | In France, the Réseau Ferré National (RFN) is made up of railroad lines and infrastructure belonging to the French state, and assigned to SNCF Réseau.
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) was responsible for the network from January 1, 1983, when it was set up as an "établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial" (EPIC), until February 13, 1997, on the basis of the network conceded by the State, which had built it up since 1938 from the networks of the former major railway companies. From February 13, 1997, to December 31, 2014, the national rail network belonged to the EPIC Réseau ferré de France (RFF), with maintenance and operation delegated to SNCF. On January 1, 2015, following the demise of RFF, the network became the property of SNCF Réseau, which manages and operates it directly. In 2020, it will become the property of the French State, while remaining entrusted to SNCF Réseau.
By 2018, with over 28,000 km of track in operation and more than 2,800 stops and stations served, France has the second largest network in Europe (behind Germany), as well as the leading network of high-speed lines. Most of the network's traffic (81%) is passenger traffic (1.35 billion people carried, with an average occupancy rate of 45%). However, trains face stiff competition from trucks, roads, and even airplanes. France has developed its high-speed network but has abandoned many small lines and stations, making access to certain services more difficult in rural areas. These short lines are considered unprofitable, due to their high cost for low ridership, as well as their environmental impact when not electrified.
History
Under old companies
The very first French railroad line, and also the first in continental Europe, was the Saint-Étienne–Andrézieux railway, granted by order of King Louis XVIII to Louis-Antoine Beaunier in 1823 and opened on June 30, 1827. The 18 km line was designed to transport coal from the mines in the Loire coalfield to the river. It opened to passengers on March 1, 1832.
The law on the establishment of major railway lines (also known as the "Railway Charter"), passed on June 11, 1842, defined the French railroad system, creating a model of public-private partnership. The State became the owner of the land on which the lines were to be constructed and financed the construction of the infrastructure (engineering structures and buildings). Use of the line was then granted to private companies, who built the superstructure (tracks and facilities), invested in rolling stock, and enjoyed a monopoly of operation on their lines.
The rail network rapidly expanded throughout the country. The network was built from Paris in the form of a star network, known as the Legrand star.
The Freycinet plan, adopted in 1879, envisaged linking each sub-prefecture to the rail network.
The network reached 3,000 km by 1852, 17,000 km by 1870, and 26,000 km by 1882.
Alsace-Lorraine was annexed to the German Empire in 1871. As a result, its rail network was operated by the Kaiserliche Generaldirektion der Eisenbahnen in Elsaß-Lothringen (Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine - EL). When Alsace-Lorraine returned to France after World War I, this network was operated by the Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine, created in 1919 and managed by the State, since the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est, which had operated it before 1871, did not wish to take it over.
By 1914, the French general-interest rail network had reached 39,400 km, rising to 42,000 km at its peak in the late 1920s. Added to this was the voie ferrée d'intérêt local, with a maximum extension in 1928 of 20,921 km of lines, operated directly by the general councils or by various private companies on behalf of the départements. The total represents some 63,000 km of track in mainland France. This local network declined rapidly from the 1930s onwards, with 70 km remaining in 2010.
In 1937, just before the creation of the SNCF, the French rail network was operated by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord (Nord), the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (Est), the communauté d'intérêt financière, commerciale et technique des Compagnies des chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans and du Midi et du Canal latéral à la Garonne (known as PO-Midi), the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM), plus the Syndicats du chemin de fer de Grande Ceinture et de Petite Ceinture and the two national administrations, chemins de fer d'Alsace-Lorraine (AL) and chemins de fer de l'État (État).
Under the SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français was created by agreement on August 31, 1937, between the French government and the various private railway companies of the day: Nord, Est, PO, Midi, PLM, the Grande Ceinture and Petite Ceinture railway unions, and the national administrations of the Alsace and Lorraine railways and the state railways. On January 1, 1938, the operation of the lines of these former companies, unions, and administrations was transferred to the new SNCF, while the former railway companies remained owners of their own private domain.
At the time of its creation, the SNCF was a semi-public company, operating a network of 42,500 km of track (8% of which was electrified) and organized around five regions: East, North, West, South-East and South-West. These regions correspond to the networks of the former companies, with the Alsace-Lorraine network integrated into the East region. The SNCF also operates the lines conceded by the Société royale grand-ducale des chemins de fer Guillaume-Luxembourg (GL), which were previously operated by the Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine.
The creation of the SNCF was accompanied by the strengthening of the rail-road coordination policy initiated in 1934, which led to a major program of line closures. By the end of 1939, 9,546 km were closed to passenger service, most of them in 1938 and 1939. The vast majority, however, continued to be used for freight services, pending the generally later closure to all traffic. Passenger and freight closures continued from the 1950s onwards, reaching a total of over 17,000 km of lines closed to all traffic in 2011.
After the second German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the Deutsche Reichsbahn managed the Alsace-Moselle and Guillaume-Luxembourg rail networks during World War II, from July 1, 1940, until the Liberation (from September 1944).
The sixth region, Méditerranée, was created in 1947.
France's first high-speed line, the LGV Sud-Est, was inaugurated on September 22, 1981.
On January 1, 1983, SNCF became an Établissement Public à Caractère Industriel et Commercial (EPIC).
The creation of RFF
Réseau ferré de France (RFF) was created on February 13, 1997, as a split-off from SNCF.
The aim was to separate two distinct activities: railway infrastructure management on the one hand, and the organization of transport services on the other. It was a response to European directives aimed at creating a supranational railway area. It had two consequences: by taking over infrastructure-related debts, RFF reduced SNCF's debt, and by managing only the infrastructure, it allowed the network to be opened up to other operators without any risk of conflict of interest.
However, while RFF became the owner of the network, Infra, the network maintenance and operations department, remained with SNCF. This allowed RFF to call on third-party companies when they are less expensive.
Ownership of the "public railway domain" was transferred for the most part to Réseau ferré de France when it was created in 1997: 30,000 kilometers of lines in service and 108,000 hectares spread over more than 10,000 communes. The SNCF, for its part, retained ownership of the "industrial tracks" (equipment maintenance workshops, depots, goods halls, etc.) as well as commercial and administrative buildings (notably passenger station buildings), covering a total of 7,000 hectares. Certain areas, proportionally very limited but quantitatively not insignificant, remained disputed for a long time before the French government imposed external arbitration between 2005 and 2006.
Between February 13, 1997, and December 31, 2014, Réseau ferré de France owned and managed the national rail network, with Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) as delegated manager (as defined by Decree 2002–1359), which in practice consists of all rail infrastructure: tracks, platforms, signal boxes; the passenger buildings in stations, as well as several hundred service tracks for parking rolling stock, are still owned by SNCF.
Reuniting RFF and SNCF
A new reform of the rail system was adopted by the Senate and National Assembly in 2014. It provides for the reunification of SNCF and RFF into a single entity on January 1, 2015. A new organization was set to be put in place. The SNCF will be structured around three EPICs: the head company SNCF, the infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau, and SNCF Mobilités, responsible for train operations.
RFF ceased to exist on December 31, 2014, and the new SNCF organization took effect on January 1, 2015.
The SNCF (through SNCF Réseau and SNCF Mobilités) then became the owner of the national rail network and all railway stations and infrastructure, as well as the owner, manager, and operator of the network.
The 2015 law on the new territorial organization of the Republic (NOTRe) gives regions and inter-municipalities the opportunity to become owners of capillary freight lines on the national rail network. Capillary freight lines represent around 3,000 km of track (or 10% of the RFN).
Two new high-speed lines went into service on July 2, 2017: the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire and the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, the latter financed by a public-private partnership. At the inauguration of the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire, President Emmanuel Macron declared: "the promise I want us to keep together for the years to come is this: (...) not to relaunch major new projects, but to commit to financing infrastructure renewal".
Article 9 of Ordinance no. 2019-552 of June 3, 2019, containing various provisions relating to the SNCF group, assigns ownership of the national rail network to the State, while declaring SNCF Réseau, which will become a public limited company in January 2020, to be responsible for this network.
Line closure
After an initial wave of closures, essentially limited to passenger services in 1938 and 1939, as a result of transport coordination measures, closures resumed after World War II, extending to lines still open to freight traffic.
Already reduced from 42,000 kilometers in 1937 to around 28,000 kilometers in the 21st century, the national rail network could lose a further 9,000 kilometers of lines (i.e. almost a third of the remaining network) in the coming years. Indeed, this is what is recommended by the "Spinetta" report published on February 15, 2018. However, when presenting the reform of the public company, the Prime Minister guaranteed that the Spinetta report would not be followed on this point.
Rail network
Overview
The French State is the owner and SNCF Réseau the operator of rail lines and infrastructure in France, with the exception of:
certain sections of the Île-de-France regional express network (RER) operated by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP), i.e. line A-except for the SNCF branches from Nanterre-Préfecture to Poissy and Cergy-le-Haut-and line B south of Gare du Nord;
certain lines with passenger services still operated by local railroads: Chemins de fer de la Corse, the line from Nice to Digne;
a few local lines only served by freight trains: in Bouches-du-Rhône (Pas-des-Lanciers-La Mède line), in Hérault (Colombiers-Cazouls-les-Béziers line), in Auvergne (Livradois-Forez line);
certain concession lines: Channel Tunnel, LGV Perpignan-Figueras;
the French section of the Luxembourg line from Bettembourg to Volmerange-les-Mines via Dudelange-Usines (linked only to the Luxembourg rail network);
port rail networks (RFP);
private industrial networks;
several hundred private sidings (also known as branch terminals) serving shippers (factories, warehouses, etc.);
most tourist railways and vélorails;
overseas lines;
tramway and metro lines, managed by the public transport authorities of each city or conurbation;
disused passenger buildings, flagman posts, and signal boxes, sold to private individuals.
According to Danielle Brulebois, LREM MP and member of the board of the Établissement public de sécurité ferroviaire, the French rail network is suffering from "30 to 40 years of underinvestment".
Consistency
By the year 2022, the national rail network, owned by SNCF Réseau, includes around 28,000 km of lines in service, of which around 24,000 km are open to passenger service, with the remaining lines limited to freight service. It includes 2,700 km of high-speed lines, 1,576 tunnels for a total length of 656 km, 26,733 bridges and viaducts, 1,201 overhead walkways, 2,200 signal boxes, including 1,250 electric ones, and 15,000 level crossings.
The highest point on the SNCF-owned network is the Bolquère-Eyne station in the Pyrénées-Orientales region, at an altitude of 1,593 m: it is served by TER Occitanie trains on the Cerdagne line.
Some 15,000 trains run on the national rail network every day.
It is the second longest rail network in the European Union, behind the DB Netz network in Germany.
In 2013, 3,029 SNCF stations were open to passengers (including Monaco). By 2022, some 2,850 stations or stops will serve the passenger network.
Nearly 1,400 private branches are connected to the national rail network, and more than 300 stations have freight yards.
The network comprises 15,687 km of electrified lines, of which 5,863 km, mainly south of Paris, are direct current at 1,500 volts. The rest of the network uses alternating current at 25,000 volts.
Track gauge is 1,435 mm (standard track). However, three lines belonging to the national rail network are metre-gauge: the Chemin de fer du Blanc-Argent, the Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway (frontier) and the Cerdagne line.
Trains run on the left-hand side of the national rail network's double-track lines, except in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle, where they run on the right-hand side (with the exception of a few sections of line linking Alsace-Moselle to the rest of the national network, such as between Mulhouse and Territoire de Belfort, or on the LGV Est high-speed line). As these three departments were annexed by Germany in 1871, the standards in force on the German rail network were maintained after Alsace-Moselle was returned to France in November 1918.
French rail signalling uses several systems: on high-speed lines, it is on board, based on the TVM 300 and 430 systems. On other lines, signalling is by trackside light signals (absolute, automatic, BAPR). On a few lightly used lines, mechanical signalling is still used, or the single-track simplified signalling system (VUSS). Finally, some capillary freight lines are operated under a single track with a restricted traffic (VUTR) system. Speed is controlled by the KVB system. With the standardization of rail signalling in Europe, high-speed lines and certain major freight routes are also equipped with ERTMS signalling.
Some 15,000 km of lines are equipped with the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R).
Corsica's railroads are owned by the Corsican local authority, not the State. Corsican lines do, however, have an official number, as they were operated by SNCF from 1983 to 2011. Other local lines operated by the SNCF have also been assigned numbers, such as the Chemin de fer de l'Est de Lyon line or the Colombiers to Cazouls-lès-Béziers line, although they do not belong to the national rail network.
Some lines carry an official number, but are no longer part of the national rail network; they may have been decommissioned, but are still operated for tourist traffic, or transferred to third parties (local authorities, chambers of commerce and industry, autonomous ports).
Finally, the military rail network comprises 2,000 km of track.
Delegated operations
Some lines, although part of the national rail network, are operated under a leasing contract. This is notably the case for the following lines:
Guingamp to Paimpol;
Guingamp to Carhaix.
Line classification
According to the classification of the International Union of Railways (UIC, French: Union internationale des chemins de fer), the lines of the national network are divided into nine categories, according to the importance of traffic. Today, the first six categories-the most important ones, covering high-speed lines, electrified main lines, and the Ile-de-France network, i.e. almost 90% of traffic-are regularly maintained and modernized. The last three, covering a total of 15,000 kilometers, are maintained when essential, and in the meantime are subject to more or less extensive speed restrictions. Regional services, which are more numerous and have greatly renewed rolling stock, are sometimes hampered by this state of affairs. It should not be forgotten, however, that RFF inherited a large part of SNCF's debt, which had a significant impact on its financing capacity.
Speed limits and performance
The network is divided into six speed limits. These speeds, which meet the various needs of rail transport, from local service to very high speed, are divided as follows:
1-100 km/h
101-120 km/h
121-140 km/h
141-160 km/h
161-200 km/h
201-350 km/h
Maps
Economic liberalization
In rail transport, opening up to external competition-or liberalization-commonly refers to the possibility for different companies to offer their transport services to customers. In Europe, rail network management is recognized as a natural monopoly, and rail network facilities as an essential infrastructure to which rail companies must have access.
Without opening up the network to several transport companies, there could be no competition between them. The institutional separation of the railway infrastructure manager (French: RFF) from the original railway company (SNCF) was intended to reinforce equality between railway companies and make competition more effective.
Beyond the general aspects of opening up rail transport in France to competition, the opening up of the network is characterized by:
the publication of a document de référence du réseau (network reference document), setting out in particular the terms of access to the network and the scale of charges for its use;
the reception, processing, and response to requests for train paths from the various railway companies, according to a single, non-discriminatory process;
informing railway companies about their operations (timetable changes, incidents, etc.);
the development of services offered by RFF to railway companies, according to their specific needs. Various types of contracts have been signed between RFF and different customers (framework agreements, conventions, etc.).
Definition and legal status
History
Law no. 97-135 of February 13, 1997, on the creation of the public establishment Réseau ferré de France with a view to the renewal of rail transport, specifies that "the consistency and main characteristics of this network are set by the State, under the conditions laid down in article 14 of law no. 82-1153 of December 30th, 1982 on the orientation of domestic transport". (LOTI).
The definition and scope of the national rail network were set out in Decrees 97-444 and 97-445 of May 5, 1997. Article 1 of decree no. 97-445 of May 5, 1997, concerning the initial assets of the public establishment Réseau ferré de France, specifies that "the assets transferred in full ownership to Réseau ferré de France, hereinafter referred to as RFF, in accordance with article 5 of the aforementioned law of February 13th, 1997, are divided into four categories, which are listed in the appendix to this decree". These four categories correspond respectively to track, telecommunications facilities, buildings and installations, and other assets.
Current regime
Code des transports
Article L.2111-1 of the French Transport Code states: "The composition and main characteristics of the national rail network are laid down by regulation (...). The SNCF Réseau company is responsible for the lines of the national rail network, which are the property of the State". Railroad lines are part of the State's real estate public domain.
Decree 97-444
Article 2 of "Decree no. 97-444 of May 5th, 1997 concerning the missions of SNCF Réseau" states that "the composition of the national rail network is set by decree. (...) The list of lines on the national rail network is kept up to date by Réseau ferré de France (now SNCF Réseau). The lines or sections of lines to which railway companies have access are specified in the national rail network reference document provided for in article 17 of decree no. 2003-194 of March 7th, 2003, as amended, on the use of the national rail network."
Decree 2002-1359
The RFN was defined in "Decree 2002-1359 of November 13th, 2002 stipulating the composition of the national rail network". According to art. 1 of the decree, it includes:
lines conceded by the State to SNCF before December 31, 1982, and not removed from the RFN;
lines for which a DUP has been issued since January 1, 1983, and which are operated by SNCF or RFF;
lines incorporated into the RFN and not removed from it;
lines known as "main branch lines".
Article 2 of this text specifies that "the list of lines or sections of lines making up the national rail network is appended to the decree provided for in the third paragraph of article 2 of the aforementioned decree of May 5th, 1997" (decree 97-444).
Decree 2003-194
Decree no. 2003-194 of March 7, 2003 relatif à l'utilisation du réseau ferré national, introduced the concept of a national rail network reference document, which contains all the information required to exercise access rights to the national rail network. It was drawn up by Réseau ferré de France (now SNCF Réseau).
The reference document includes, in particular, a presentation of the structure and characteristics of the infrastructure.
Ministerial decrees
Several ministerial decrees have been issued in succession to define the basic sections of the national rail network and the list of stations for which station-stop reservation fees are payable, most recently on December 4, 2006. To consult the annexed list, readers are referred to the Ministry of Ecological Transition website, which in turn refers to the network reference document on the SNCF Réseau website.
Line statuses
Open for traffic
A line is open (in whole or in part) when it gives rise to a user charge for rail traffic. The list is updated in the network reference document. It can be used by both passenger and freight trains. Some lines are used solely for passenger traffic, while others are used solely for freight.
Neutralized
A line is neutralized (in whole or in part) when its access is blocked by physical means (crossbeams, bolts blocking the access needle), but can be reopened after technical safeguards have been taken.
Closed
A line is closed (in whole or in part) when the Board of Directors of SNCF Réseau has decided to close it, after having submitted its project to the Regional Council responsible for organizing regional passenger rail transport (in accordance with article 22 of decree no. 97-444), and for which the Minister of Transport has expressed no opposition. The line may be closed and the track kept in place, either for national defense purposes, or to make it available to a third party (cyclo-draisine, tourist railway, community), or at the request of the Minister for subsequent use.
Cut-off
A line is cut off (in whole or in part) when the Board of Directors of Réseau ferré de France has decided to do so. Introduced when RFF was created in 1997, line cutting no longer exists since the publication of decree no. 2006-1517 of December 4, 2006. During this period, the cutting off of a line meant its removal from the national rail network.
While the possibility of line cutting no longer exists, lines cut between 1997 and 2006 without any subsequent change in status are still covered by this status.
Decommissioned
A line is decommissioned (in whole or in part) when SNCF Réseau has decided to decommission it, following authorization to close the line without maintaining it. SNCF Réseau may decommission a line:
unilaterally within five years of the closure authorization (article 4 of decree no. 2019–1516 on the rules governing the management of public property applicable to SNCF Réseau);
after authorization by the Minister of Transport beyond five years following authorization of closure (article 3 of decree n°2019-1516).
When a line is decommissioned, it passes from the public domain to the private domain (in any case, it is no longer part of the national rail network). Once the line has been decommissioned, SNCF Réseau can sell the land.
Some decommissioned lines can still be operated (tourist trains or even regular freight or passenger services).
In planning
A planned non-concessioned line is assigned a line number at the latest when the declaration of public utility is pronounced, in order to identify and reference all documents.
Filed
This is not a status of the line, but a state of the line, referring to the presence or absence of the track. A line can be deposited when it is closed or decommissioned.
Non-exhaustive list of lines
Eastern Region
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Northern Region
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Western Region
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Southwest Region
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Southeast region
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Île-de-France
Legend: (1) Line in operation; (2) Line neutralized; (3) Line closed; (4) Line decommissioned; (5) Line cut-off; (6) Line filed; (7) Line in planning (situation as of July 24, 2019).
Corsica Lines
The three lines in Corsica are not part of the Réseau Ferré National. The two lines with passenger services still in operation are managed by Chemins de fer de la Corse, the infrastructure being the property of the Collectivité de Corse. Numbers for these lines were created in the RFN nomenclature for IT purposes, when they were operated by SNCF (from 1983 to 2012).
References
See also
Related articles
List of railway lines in France
:fr:Lignes ferroviaires françaises désaffectées ou disparues
:fr:Numérotation des lignes de chemin de fer de la région Est
Railway electrification in France
Béziers to Neussargues Railway
External links
SNCF Réseau website archive
Access to the RFN on the Ministry's website archive
Trains
Railway Acts
Public transport
Public transport in France
SNCF | Réseau Ferré National (France) | [
"Technology"
] | 6,268 | [
"Trains",
"Transport systems"
] |
74,914,546 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meril%20Life%20Sciences | Meril Life Sciences is an Indian multinational medical device company, with headquarters in Vapi, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 2006 and is a part of the Bilakhia Group. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of vascular intervention devices, orthopedic implants, endosurgery, ENT products and in-vitro diagnostics. Meril Life Sciences operates in over 100 countries and has employed 4000 people, as of 2022.
It develops and manufactures healthcare technologies and therapies.
The company has also developed the MeRes100 bioresorbable scaffold (BRS), which is India's first domestically produced bio-resorbable scaffold for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
History
Meril Life Sciences was established in 2006 as a part of the Bilakhia Group's healthcare diversification plan.
In February 2022, the company raised funding of US$210 million (₹15.75 billion crores) from the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, facilitated through its Dutch affiliate, South Elm Investments BV.
In November 2023, the company entered into an agreement with the medtech company Japan Lifeline, granting exclusive rights for Japan Lifeline to promote Meril's transcatheter heart valve, Myval Octacor, upon approval by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency in Japan.
Operations
It operates in more than 100 countries. It has established subsidiaries in countries such as the United States, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, China, and Bangladesh.
It is also engaged in sale of specific medical devices like Surgical Robots to hospitals. The company has established research and development (R&D) facilities focusing on orthopedics, endosurgery, cardiovascular and in-vitro diagnostics. As of February 2017, the company derived 50 percent of its revenue from international operations.
Products
Meril Life Sciences is engaged in the development and manufacturing of medical devices used in various medical fields. In December 2018, Meril Life Sciences introduced the indigenously designed and manufactured Myval Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve (TAVR), making it the first Indian company to commercially launch Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve replacement (TAVR) Therapy in the global market. The Myval TAVR technology received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in November 2018 and obtained European Conformity in June 2019.
In March 2021 Meril Life Sciences launched the MeRes100 BRS, a 100-micron Bioresorbable scaffold, which received approvals from the Drug Controller General of India and European Conformity. In February 2022, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, India's pharmaceutical regulator, granted a five-year rare exemption from price control for MeRes100 BRS under the provision of the Drug Price Control Order 2013. The development of MeRes100 took around two to three years to complete.
The company also has a range of surgical sutures, including absorbable and non-absorbable options like polydioxanone sutures, PGA & PGLA absorbable sutures, polyester sutures, and polypropylene sutures. It manufactures diagnostic equipment, reagents, and rapid tests for diseases such as Dengue, HIV 1 and 2, hCG, Ag, HCV, and Malaria.
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Meril manufactured its RT-PCR COVID-19 test kit. In June 2020, Meril Diagnostics was among the seven companies authorized by the Indian Council of Medical Research to manufacture the Covid Kavach ELISA IgG antibody test using Anti-body technology.
The company developed CoviFind, a self-use Rapid antigen test for COVID-19, which received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research in June 2021, and is designed to provide results within approximately 15 minutes for individuals with a medium to high viral load of the virus. In August 2021, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was appointed as the brand ambassador for CoviFind. He appeared in two digital films and TV commercials, promoting testing to consumers.
Other activities
Meril runs the Meril Academy which provides education and training to healthcare personnel. It has organized numerous workshops and conferences in specialties including general surgery, diagnostics, orthopedics, interventional cardiology, operation theater nursing, and hospital management.
Awards and recognition
It won the Frost & Sullivan's Emerging Medical Technology Company of the Year at the India Healthcare Excellence Award in 2015.
In 2017, the Government of India's Department of Pharmaceuticals awarded the company with the India Medical Devices Company of the Year Award and the India Medical Devices Export Company of the Year Award.
In 2017, Meril Life Sciences was awarded the Innovative Model for CSR implementation award by the Gujarat CSR Authority, Government of Gujarat, at the National CSR Conclave.
In 2018, it received the Company of the Year Award in the Indian Cardiac Stents Provider category by Frost & Sullivan.
In 2019, Meril Life Sciences was awarded the SME Business Excellence Award in the Mid-Corporate category by Dun & Bradstreet and RBL Bank.
It received the Best Employer Award at the National Best Employer Brand Awards 2019 and 2022 by the Employer Branding Institute.
The company won the Indian Medical Device Innovation of the Year award at the 7th edition of India Pharma and Indian Medical Device 2022, by the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The award was given by Bhagwanth Khuba, the Minister of State for the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, in April 2022.
Meril Life was named on the 2023 list of top health tech companies by the Healthcare Technology Report.
In October 2023, the company received the WIPO National Award for Inventors from the World Intellectual Property Organization.
References
External links
Medical device manufacturers
Health care companies of India
Medical equipment
Companies based in Gujarat
Medical and health organisations based in India
Indian companies established in 2006 | Meril Life Sciences | [
"Biology"
] | 1,239 | [
"Medical equipment",
"Medical technology"
] |
74,916,493 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeotremella%20eugeniae | Phaeotremella eugeniae is a species of fungus in the family Phaeotremellaceae. It produces blackish brown, frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and grows on dead attached and recently fallen branches of oak. It was originally described from far eastern Russia and named after Russian mycologist Eugenia Bulakh.
Description
Fruit bodies are gelatinous, blackish brown with rusty tints, drying black, up to 5 cm (2 in) across, and seaweed-like (with branched, undulating fronds). Microscopically, the hyphae are clamped and occur in a dense gelatinous matrix. The basidia are tremelloid (subglobose to ellipsoid, with oblique to vertical septa), 10 to 19 by 7 to 10 μm. The basidiospores are subglobose to ellipsoid, smooth, 6.5 to 8.5 by 5 to 6.5 μm.
Similar species
Phaeotremella frondosa is a widespread species parasitizing Stereum hirsutum and other Stereum species on broad-leaved trees. It produces brown to pale brown fruit bodies. Phaeotremella fuscosuccinea occurs in eastern Asia, but grows on conifers.
Habitat and distribution
Like all Phaeotremella species, P. eugeniae is a parasite of other fungi. Its host species is, however, currently unknown. It occurs on Quercus mongolica in the Russian Far East.
References
Tremellomycetes
Fungi described in 2018
Fungi of Asia
Fungus species | Phaeotremella eugeniae | [
"Biology"
] | 341 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,916,950 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous%20earth%20filtration | Diatomaceous earth filtration is a special filtration process that removes particles from liquids as it passes through a layer of fossilized remains of microscopic water organism called diatoms. These diatoms are mined from diatomite deposits which are located along the Earth's surface as they have accumulated in sediment of open and moving bodies of water. Obtained diatomaceous earth is then purified using acid leaching or liquid-liquid extraction in order for it to be used in any form of application. The process of D.E. filtration is composed of three main stages: pre-coating, body feed, and cleaning.
Due to the precision of diatomaceous earth filtration; being able to capture dangerous and microscopic particles while maintaining efficiency has allowed D.E. filters to be a highly popularized choice for aquariums, wastewater treatment, food and beverage filtration, and more.
Function
Swimming pools
Diatomaceous earth filters has been generally accepted to be the top contender for removing pollutants while having a high efficiency rate. When applied to pool filtration, a DE filter has demonstrated its capability in capturing varying particle sizes to maintain water clarity. Recent studies show that diatomaceous earth filters have been able to remove particles, ranging from 1-6 micrometers (micron) in size, thus maximizing water quality. This degree of filtration allows small particles to be removed including bacteria, algae, viruses and other microscopic particles. Many of these particles come from bodily fluids, fecal matter, and other bacteria that can contaminate the water. Although there are coagulants, such as chlorine, that can be added to aid the filtration process by eliminating such particles; common pollutants that can not be efficiently removed by chlorine can include cryptosporidium, giardia duodenalis, pseudomonas aeruginosa and more. These parasites often have a high tolerance to chlorine and therefore are resistant to removal through conventional means such as coagulation. Despite this, outbreaks of cryptosporidium or giardia are seemingly low and in recent studies conducted in Atlanta, Georgia: out of 160 pools, 13 pool samples (18.1%) tested positive for at least one of both parasites.
Other possible bacteria, viruses, parasites
Source:
Hepatitis A
Norovirus
E. coli
Legionella
Shigella
Cercariae
Campylobacter
Staphylococcus
Considering the nature of certain bacteria, viruses, and parasites filtration is a key component in ensuring the well-being of those that utilize swimming pools. If a diatomaceous earth filter is employed and properly designed, the application can prove to be extremely efficient in the removal and minimization of almost 100% of parasites. In order to achieve this, filtration media (diatomaceous earth) must be at least 4 micrometers to remove Cryptosporidium, and at least 7 micrometers to filter Giarda duodenalis (G. lamblia). Research has shown that DE filtration can provide a greater reduction in parasite oocyst concentrations that other methods including conventional and granular media filtration. DE filtration studies showed 6 logs of removal of parasitic oocysts in a full-scale water treatment simulation. (6 logs refers to the reduction of a microorganism by 99.9999% of one million) Because of DE filters low micron rating, it is able to trap the smallest pollutant particles present.
DE Filters usage in surface water treatment and recreational water treatment requires regular maintenance and depending on volume of water, maintenance and replacement may be required more frequently. Efficiency of filtration requires continuous flow of water through the filter, with periodic pressure checks. Maintenance must be conducted regularly and the filter must be backwashed every four to six weeks; with fresh DE media added after every backwash. If maintenance is not conducted properly, build of bacteria, viruses, and parasites may overflow and the efficiency will be comprised. It is important to note that filtration systems do not guarantee full removal of possible contaminants, therefore risk of bacteria, viruses, and parasites can still be present.
Food & beverage industry
Diatomaceous earth filtration can also be used in food and beverage application to eliminate contaminants including bacteria and microorganisms which can often change the quality of the consumable item. If bacteria and fungi are not removed from certain consumable liquids, it can result in long term contamination which affects the preservation and quality of the product. Many products must meet filtration requirements, for example: brewers must meet certain requirements during the production of certain alcohols including malt beverages (beer, ale, etc.). It is common that beer filtration must remove the turbidity, (yeast, hops resin, calcium oxalate) which can leave harmful microorganisms and affect the taste of the beverage. By conducting this filtration, microbes are eliminated improving the taste and appearance of the beer, while allowing preservation to be extended. While there are many ways to filter, diatomaceous earth filtration is used as a catcher, which intercepts particles in beer thus improving clarity. Diatomaceous earth has become a relatively simple choice for brewers, as it undergoes a natural process with no chemicals and quantity of D.E. can be adjust based on individual brewing needs.
Environmental remediation
Major components and process
Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) filters can be modified based on the planned function of this filter, but all basic D.E. filters are composed of similar parts. The process first begins with a direct pipeline to a raw water source, in which the water flow can be continuously controlled. Throughout the whole mechanism, it is recommended to use copper metal pipes as it is corrosion resistant.
Adjoining water pipes
Filtration of liquids must be supplied from a direct water source; which can vary in regards to location and water supply. Depending on the location or distribution of such fluids, the materials used to facilitate the flow of these fluids must be rust proof and corrosion resistant. Among the popular choice of materials, copper is the most commonly used element which has distributed safe drinking due to its strong characteristics resisting natural wear. In most industrial and non-commercial usage, copper piping used for fluids can also be insulated with sleeving or wrapping with polyphenylene ether pipe sleeves to grant additional protection. Some alternatives to metal depending on independent usages, can include water pipes made with polvinyl chloride pipes (PVC), cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). This category of pipes utilizes plastic as they durable and can easily conformable; while being able to withstand high pressures and prevents rust or corrosion. During D.E. filtration, the same material for piping must be utilized throughout the process to maintain the purity of water flow as it undergoes the filtration process.
Precoat tank / body feed tank
Fluids, commonly known as slurry, often consists of a mixture of particles varying in size which can not be efficiently filtered out by the main D.E. filter. Build up of such particles can increase pressure which results in reduced flow of liquid and a nonfunctional filter. To prevent this, the filtration process can include additional filter aid to distribute certain particles to prevent any problems that hinder the filtration process. Filter aid are solid particles that can improve the permeability and porosity to improve filtrate clarity by trapping specific sized particles while allowing continuous flow of liquids. When filter aid builds up it has a high porosity; although the volume may accumulate, approximately fifteen percent of the total volume is solid, which leaves the rest to be empty space. These filters can serve as a precoat that is applied prior to the filtration process. It is pumped through the filter press, simultaneously creating a porous filter cake on the specified filter cloths. Body feed is an additional filter aid which is often pumped throughout the whole filtration process to improve clarification and prevent build up of filter cake. Build up the filter cake can be detrimental as it becomes impermeable and can block the continuous flow of slurry. Usually, body feed is coarse and has a greater volume, which can assist filter cake build up while allowing particles to be efficiently removed. The pre-coat tank and body feed tank generally serve the same purpose which is to filter out larger particles that can impede the filtration process. Depending on the purity of the initial slurry, the quantity needed of either the body feed or pre-coat can vary.
Septum
The formation of filter cake does not occur spontaneously, and requires a membrane to support the accumulation of filter cake. This membrane is commonly known as the septum, which often is made up of plastic or metallic material that serves a similar function as mesh. The septum is porous and permeable with openings, allowing slurry to flow while diatomaceous earth accumulate and crowd the septum openings.
Water pressure regulator
Cycle times, improper maintenance, damaged septum, and an increase/decrease in flow can result in a change of pressure. Pressure is crucial to the efficiency in filtration: high pressure can damage the filter which can lead to unnecessary forces that push fluids to quickly through the septum. It is important to monitor the flow of filtrate as well as pre-coat and body feed to ensure that the proper flow is achieved with no hindrance.
Manufactured diatomaceous filter types
Pressure filter
A method for eliminating particulates like iron, magnesium, mill scale, and other precipitates involves the usage of a pressure filter. This type of filter comprises a sturdy filter vessel designed to withstand internal pressure, along with a network of pipes for water distribution and collection, and can incorporate one or more types of filter media. Pressure filters find widespread application in municipal water systems, industrial settings, residential well water systems, and swimming pools. These DE filtration systems are rather simple and can be used in a vertical or horizontal setting and can be modified to allow the application of multimedia filters. Pressure filter systems have a water inlet and outlet with the inlet site at the top and the water outlet at the base of the filter. As the water flows through water inlet, it will encounters a grid assembly covered in synthetic cloth which provides support for the diatomaceous earth cake. Gravity plays a part by forcing the flow of water to pass through the D.E. cake which filters out any unwanted particles. As the flow of water continues, water that has been clarified at the base of the filtration tank exits through the water outlet to any designated vessel. These pressure filters serve a general purpose and are most applicable where the flow of fluids is consistent, thus requiring internal pressure monitoring of filtrated fluids.
Vacuum filter
References
Additional reading
Drinking water treatment processes for removal of Cryptosporidium and Giardia
Recommended Standards for WaterWorks
List of State-Specific Water Quality Standards for Turbidity
Water Turbidity Benchmarks (CA)
Precoat Filtration with Body-feed and Variable
What is Precoat and Body Feed?
Handbook of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations, 4th Edition
Written Report on FILTRATION (Marciano et al., 2011)
Advanced Physiochemical Treatment Processes Volume 4 (Kang et al. 2006)
Slow sand and diatomaceous earth filtration of cysts and other particulates (Schuler et. al. 2003)
Wikipedia Student Program
Filtration techniques | Diatomaceous earth filtration | [
"Chemistry"
] | 2,388 | [
"Filtration techniques",
"Filtration"
] |
74,917,010 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse%20Aerospace | Toulouse Aerospace, formerly Montaudran Aerospace or Aerospace Campus, is a campus project linked to the aeronautics, space and embedded systems jobs and part of Aerospace Valley. Located in Toulouse in the Montaudran district, it will be built entirely by the Toulouse Métropole. Its surface area will be 40 hectares on the site of the former Toulouse-Montaudran airport which saw the beginnings of Aéropostale.
Description
It is the town planner David Mangin who will direct the entire project, construction of which began in the first quarter of 2011. The Institut Clément Ader, from the Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, has set up within the walls of the Espace Clément Ader in March 2014, and was inaugurated in October.
Building B 612 of 26,140 m2 opened its doors on July 1, 2018.
Mangin's project was preferred for the place it gave to the preservation of the heritage of Aéropostale: ten hectares should be dedicated to it and certain historic buildings will be preserved (map room, Château Petit Raynal, etc.), to make the L'Envol des pionniers museum.
Project
Like the Cancéropôle for oncology, this involves bringing together in the same place the main players in training and research in a field, in this case aeronautics and space:
Bringing together the two Toulouse aeronautical grandes écoles of the GEA: ENAC and SUPAERO – as well as universities and university institutes located in the same geographical area: Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University, INSA Toulouse and INPT. The Maison de la formation Jacqueline Auriol will thus bring together under the same roof all Toulouse training courses in mechanical and production engineering in the aeronautics and space sector (opening planned for January 2022).
Group of 1000 researchers mainly from ONERA, CCR EADS, CNRS, and CNES.
Creation of infrastructure necessary for the development of SMEs and provision of common services.
This project is a continuation of the Rangueil scientific complex where ISAE, ENAC, INSA Toulouse, Paul-Sabatier University, LAAS-CNRS, CNES are already located... and close to important players such as Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space, Thales Alenia Space, Freescale, Latécoère, Siemens VDO Automotive, Thales. Toulouse Aerospace will therefore be the whole made up of this new area under development and the current Rangueil complex. It is part of the continuation of making Toulouse the international capital of aeronautics and space.
References
External links
Website of Toulouse Aerospace
High-technology business districts in France
Aviation in France
Aerospace engineering organizations
Toulouse
Midi-Pyrénées
Companies based in Occitania (administrative region) | Toulouse Aerospace | [
"Engineering"
] | 552 | [
"Aeronautics organizations",
"Aerospace engineering organizations",
"Aerospace engineering"
] |
74,917,376 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric%20methane%20removal | Atmospheric methane removal is a category of potential approaches being researched to accelerate the breakdown of methane that is in the atmosphere, for the purpose of mitigating some of the impacts of climate change.
Atmospheric methane has increased since pre-industrial times from 0.7 ppm to 1.9 ppm. From 2010 to 2019, methane emissions caused 0.5 °C (about 30%) of observed global warming. Global methane emissions approached a record 600 Tg CH4 per year in 2017.
Natural atmospheric methane sinks
Methane has a limited atmospheric lifetime, about 10 years, due to substantial methane sinks. The primary methane sink is atmospheric oxidation, from hydroxyl radicals (~90% of the total sink) and chlorine radicals (0-5% of the total sink). The rest is consumed by methanotrophs and other methane-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in soils (~5%).
Potential approaches
Different methods to remove methane from the atmosphere include thermal-catalytic oxidation, photocatalytic oxidation, biological methanotrophic methane removal, concentration with zeolites or other porous solids, and separation by membranes.
Potential methods can be categorized by the underlying catalytic process, or the potential deployment form.
Enhanced atmospheric methane oxidation
Enhanced Atmospheric Methane Oxidation is the concept of enhancing the overall oxidative methane sink in the atmosphere, through generating additional hydroxyl or chlorine atmospheric radicals.
Iron salt aerosols
Iron salt aerosols are one proposed method of enhanced atmospheric methane oxidation which involves lofting iron-based particles into the atmosphere (e.g. from planes or ships) to enhance atmospheric chlorine radicals, a natural methane sink.
Winds over the Sahara raise dust into the troposphere and disperse it over the Atlantic. A 2023 study suggests that this has contributed to natural atmospheric methane oxidation.
Iron salt aerosols are being studied for the potential of iron(III) chloride (FeCl3) to catalyze chlorine radical production. Chlorine atoms are produced by photolysis from the FeCl3 stemming from iron-containing airborne dust aerosol particles in the oceanic boundary layer.
FeCl3 + hv → FeCl2 + oCl
The chlorine atoms initiate methane oxidation:
CH4 + oCl → HCl + oCH3
The resulting methyl radical is unstable and oxidises naturally to CO2 and water:
3.5O2 + 2oCH3 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
Side effects of ferric chloride
Fine particles dispersed in the atmosphere can serve as cloud condensation nuclei and thereby cause marine cloud brightening
Eventually all FeCl3 particles are washed out of the air and fall on land or water, where they dissolve into iron compounds and salt.
Iron salt aerosols may also therefore contribute to iron fertilization.
Terrestrial methanotroph enhancement
Soil bacteria and archaea account for approximately 5% of the natural methane sink. Early research is going into how the activity of these bacteria may be able to be enhanced, either through the use of soil amendments, or introduction of selected or engineered methane-oxidizing bacteria.
Catalytic engineered systems
Catalytic engineered systems are designed to pass air from the atmosphere, either passively or actively, through catalytic systems which leverage energy from the sun, an artificial light, or heat to oxidize methane. These catalysts include thermocatalysts, photocatalysts, and radicals produced artificially through photolysis (using light to break apart a molecule).
References
Climate engineering
Greenhouse gases | Atmospheric methane removal | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Environmental_science"
] | 720 | [
"Greenhouse gases",
"Geoengineering",
"Environmental chemistry",
"Planetary engineering"
] |
74,918,000 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkadzor%20fuel%20depot%20explosion | On 25 September 2023, at about 19:00 (UTC+4), an explosion occurred at a military fuel depot in Berkadzor near Stepanakert, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in the deaths of at least 218 people and 120 injuries. The explosion occurred amidst the chaotic exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, following a major military offensive launched by Azerbaijan against the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.
Explosion
The explosion occurred during the exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, following Azerbaijan's large-scale military offensive launched a week earlier against the self-declared Republic of Artsakh. Prior to the offensive, the region had been subjected to a months-long blockade by Azerbaijan, causing shortages of essential supplies, including fuel. After the offensive, petrol stations became overwhelmed by the volume of people seeking to leave the region. At the moment of the explosion, hundreds of people were gathered at the fuel depot.
Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the de-facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, said that the blast was caused by a violation of safety rules in the underground depot that was used for storage of gasoline for the local military.
Reactions
Following the explosion, nearly 300 people were admitted to hospitals. Local authorities requested urgent medical aid from Armenia, citing Stepanakert's local strained hospitals being unable to provide adequate care. Armenia initiated an airlift using helicopters, sending doctors to the region and evacuating injured patients to Armenia. Azerbaijan also sent medical supplies.
According to Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Azerbaijani city of Horadiz, local hospitals in Azerbaijan were prepared, and negotiations began for evacuating the injured, but representatives of the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh declined the proposal.
Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council, offered condolences for the victims and urged the need for humanitarian access to the region.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey expressed condolences regarding the explosion and Turkey's readiness to provide assistance.
References
Explosions in 2023
2023 disasters in Asia
September 2023 events in Asia
2023 disasters in Europe
September 2023 events in Europe
2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh
Industrial fires and explosions
2023 industrial disasters | Berkadzor fuel depot explosion | [
"Chemistry"
] | 482 | [
"Industrial fires and explosions",
"Explosions"
] |
74,918,521 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrosera | Hydrosera is a genus of diatom described in 1858 by George Charles Wallich. Hydrosera exhibits valve margins resembling two superimposed triangles and the presence of a distinct rimoportula. Hydrosera also feature porefields at the three poles of one of the apparent triangles, which contain pseudocelli. Dead Hydrosera create siliceous oozes.
Hydrosera grows in the streams of southern coastal areas and tropical islands.
Species
Hydrosera boryana Pantocsek, 1889
Hydrosera brasiliensis Zimmerman, 1918
Hydrosera compressa Wallich, 1858
Hydrosera javanica (Cleve)
Hydrosera mauritiana Bergon, 1890
Hydrosera novaecaesarae Boyer, 1895
Hydrosera tricornuta Stolterfoth, 1881
Hydrosera tricoronata Stolterfoth, 1881
Hydrosera trifoliata Cleve, 1881
Hydrosera triquetra Wallich, 1858
Hydrosera whampoensis (A.F. Schwarz) Deby, 1891
References
Diatom genera
Diatoms | Hydrosera | [
"Biology"
] | 230 | [
"Diatoms",
"Algae"
] |
74,918,885 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S25 | The Samsung Galaxy S25 is a series of high-end Android-based smartphones developed, manufactured, and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of its flagship Galaxy S Series. They collectively serve as the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. The S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra models were announced on January 22, 2025, at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California and are expected to be released on February 7, 2025. Additionally, a phone called Galaxy S25 Edge was teased, however further details about the phone are not yet known.
Lineup
The Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup includes 4 different models of phones, the Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Galaxy S25+, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. Although not much is known about the S25 Edge (as Samsung only teased it on stage), what we do know is that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is a slimmer version of the normal S25, and marks a new addition to the line up of the S Series of smartphones and the return of Galaxy S Edge series since 2016's Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
The S25 and S25+ share the same display size as their predecessors, whereas the top-end S25 Ultra has a slightly larger display. The flagship S25 features a flat 6.2 inch (155 mm) display. The S25+ has similar hardware, but with a larger 6.7 inch (168 mm) form factor. The S25 Ultra is slightly larger than its predecessor, with a screen size of 6.9 inches (175 mm). The S25 Ultra also features smoother edges, making it align more with the rest of the Galaxy S Series of smartphones. The S25 lineup of smartphones is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which, unlike previous generations of the S Series, will be used in all S25 smartphones worldwide.
Galaxy AI
Samsung continues the development of Galaxy AI feature introduced with Galaxy S24 Series in 2024.
Galaxy AI is the bundle of intellectual features of Artificial Intelligence deeply integrated into Galaxy devices.
It's designed to be accessible, and improve user experience, communication, productivity and creativity.
Some recent Galaxy AI features that were introduced with Galaxy S25 Series include:
1. Now Brief: Personalized Daily Digest
The Now Brief feature delivers a tailored daily briefing, designed to provide users with the most relevant information at the right time. This includes updates on sleep scores, energy levels, weather forecasts, traffic conditions, meeting reminders, and daily summaries. The feature adapts over time to offer more accurate and context-specific data based on the user’s habits and routines.
2. Audio Eraser: Enhanced Video Audio Quality
Audio Eraser leverages AI to improve the quality of videos by isolating and enhancing specific sounds. It allows users to reduce background noise and amplify desired sounds such as voices or music. This feature is integrated into the phone’s built-in video editor, making it a convenient tool for content creators and users who wish to refine their videos post-recording.
3. Drawing Assist: AI-Powered Artistic Transformation
The Drawing Assist feature allows users to transform basic sketches into polished works of art. With a variety of artistic styles, including Illustration, Watercolor, 3D Cartoon, and Pop Art, the AI enhances hand-drawn sketches. Users can input prompts via text, voice, or sketches, enabling the creation of unique visuals with minimal effort.
4. Gemini deep integration: Both Personal assistant and AI chatbot
Google Gemini, while available on other Android devices, is more deeply integrated into the system. Gemini can now connect to System services, such as Messages, Notes and Calendar.
It takes action based on synergy between Google services, AI knowledge, and System apps.
Examples: search for some information and save it as a note in Samsung Notes, or find an event online and add it to calendar, or summarize a video, or summarize a YouTube video and send it to a friend
Here’s a breakdown of all Galaxy AI capabilities, mostly includes features introduced within 2024:
1. Circle to Search: Snap a circle around any text or image on your screen, and Galaxy AI will instantly search the web for related information. 
2. Live Translate: Engage in real-time translations during phone calls or in-person conversations, bridging language gaps seamlessly. 
3. Chat Assist: Craft messages with ease by receiving suggestions to improve tone, grammar, and spelling across various messaging apps.Additional feature includes translation of entire chats, designed to break communication barriers and communicate easily without switching apps
4. Note Assist: Transform your note-taking by summarizing, fixing grammar, formatting or translating lengthy documents, creating templates, and converting handwritten notes into text.
5. Transcript Assist: Convert voice memos into text transcripts and speaker tags, making it easier to review and share audio content. It is possible to Summarize or translate the Voice Memo transcript
6. Browsing Assist: Summarize or translate web pages within the Samsung Internet app, saving you time and enhancing your browsing experience. 
7. Generative Photo Editing: Edit photos by removing or repositioning objects, and even generate new content to enhance your images. 
8. Edit Suggestions: Receive intelligent recommendations to improve your photos, such as remastering, removing reflections, or adding artistic effects. 
9. Generative Wallpaper: Create personalized wallpapers based on selected categories and keywords, adding a unique touch to your device. 
10. Instant Slow-mo: Transform standard videos into slow-motion clips just by holding finger on video, allowing you to capture and share moments in a new light. You can also share the Slow-mo—applied video with a click
11. Call Assist: enhances communication by providing real-time audio translation during voice calls in native Phone calls and calls from messenger apps. This functionality supports 20 languages offline and locally, facilitating seamless conversations between speakers of different languages.
Design
The S25 and S25+ smartphones have an aluminium body and a glass back, similar to the design of their predecessors. They both use Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for their protection. They come in 4 (four) standard colours: Icy Blue, Mint, Navy and Silver Shadow, with an additional 3 (three) colours being available only through Samsung's online website: Pink Gold, Coral Red and Blue Black.
The S25 Ultra has a titanium body, and a glass back, similar to the S24 Ultra. The S25 Ultra comes in 4 (four) standard colours: Titanium Silver Blue, Titanium Black, Titanium White Silver and Titanium Grey, as well as 3 (three) additional colours that are only available through Samsung's online website: Titanium Jade Green, Titanium Jet Black and Titanium Pink Gold.
Specifications
Display
The S25 series of phones use a "Dynamic LPTO AMOLED 2X" display with HDR10+ support, a 120 Hz refresh rate and 2600 nits peak brightness. Additionally, the S25 and S25+ phones feature a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 as protection for the display, whereas the S25 Ultra has a Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2 as it's protection for the display. All phones feature an ultra-sonic in-screen fingerprint sensor. The display on the S25 series of phones has the capability to go up to 120 Hz.ModelDisplay sizeResolutionDensityAspect ratioMax refresh rateVariable refresh rateShapeS252340x1080~416 ppi19.5:9120 Hz1 Hz to 120 HzRounded corners, flat sidesS25+3120×1440~513 ppiS25 Ultra~505 ppi
Camera
The Galaxy S25 and S25+ both have a 50 MP wide sensor, a 10 MP 3x telephoto lens and a 12 MP ultrawide sensor.
On the other hand, the S25 Ultra has a 200 MP wide sensor, a 50 MP 5x periscope telephoto lens, a 10 MP 3x telephoto lens, and a 50 MP ultrawide sensor.
All 3 models of phones feature a 12 MP front-facing camera (also known as a selfie camera).
From upgrades, the S25 Series now support LOG video shooting format, the professional grade standard, giving more freedom for Editing
Batteries
There were no improvements in battery capacity compared to the S24 predecessors.
Memory and storage
Unlike previous generations, all Samsung Galaxy S25 phones launched with 12 GB of RAM. While you can't customize the amount of RAM on an S25, like previous generations of the S Series of phones, you can customize the amount of storage. Software
The Galaxy S25 phones were launched with Android 15, and Samsung One UI 7. Samsung has promised 7 years of OS and security updates to the S25 series of phones (meaning support may end in 2032).
The devices are additionally shipped with Galaxy AI, Samsung's advanced AI features on Galaxy devices. This year, Galaxy AI being a relatively young technology, now has new updates with S25 Series
References
Android (operating system) devices
Samsung Galaxy
Flagship smartphones
Samsung smartphones
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones introduced in 2025
Phablets
Mobile phones with 8K video recording
Mobile phones with stylus | Samsung Galaxy S25 | [
"Technology"
] | 1,928 | [
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
74,919,576 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation%20SSI-2001 | Innovation SSI-2001 is a sound card for IBM PC compatible computers introduced by the Innovation Computer Corporation in 1989. Unique to its design was the use of the MOS Technology SID as its sound chip of choice.
Description
The sound card was produced by Innovation Computer Corporation and was intended to compete with Adlib. It has a mono output RCA connector and a game port, there are also 3 groups of jumpers that allow you to enable or disable the joystick port, control its sensitivity and change the audio port address from the default 280hex to 2A0hex, 2C0hex or 2E0hex. During use, the card uses 32 serial I/O ports. Connects via 8-bit ISA.
This sound card did not gain much popularity and was supported only by a few computer games. Lack of support also led to the discontinuation of production, and many of the cards released were later disassembled into SID chips for the Commodore 64. Considered one of the rarest PC sound cards, only about 10 copies of the original board are known to exist worldwide. However, since 2015, DIY specialists have mastered the production of replicas.
Emulation
Reverse emulation is currently possible: the DOSBox emulator supports Innovation SSI-2001 emulation, without the presence of a real device.
References
Links
Innovation SSI-2001: the history of one of the rarest sound cards for the IBM PC (and its replica)
Photography
Sound cards
Input/output
History of computing | Innovation SSI-2001 | [
"Technology"
] | 309 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computers",
"Computer hardware stubs",
"History of computing"
] |
74,919,811 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine%20Hadida | Sabine Hadida is a pharmacologist and senior vice president at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. She works at Vertex's cystic fibrosis research center in San Diego. She was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2024.
Education
Hadida has a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in pharmacy from the University of Barcelona, Spain. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh studying fluorous chemistry.
Career
At Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Hadida led the chemistry team to work on drug treatments for cystic fibrosis and pain.
Awards and honors
Hadida has garnered over 30 peer reviewed scientific articles and over 60 U.S. patents. She is the recipient of the 2022 Drug Hunter Award, 2019 Distinguished Scientist Award by the American Chemistry Society, San Diego Chapter, and the 2013 American Chemistry Society Heroes of Chemistry award.
In September 2023, she received the 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences alongside Paul Negulescu and Frederick Van Goor, for developing treatment for cystic fibrosis.
References
Living people
Medical researchers
Pharmacologists
Women pharmacologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Women medical researchers | Sabine Hadida | [
"Chemistry"
] | 240 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Biochemists",
"Pharmacologists"
] |
74,919,843 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2F-MAR | 2'-Fluoro-4-methylaminorex (2F-MAR, 2'-F-4-MAR) is a recreational designer drug from the substituted aminorex family, with stimulant effects, first reported in 2018.
See also
2C-B-aminorex
4,4'-DMAR
4'-Fluoro-4-methylaminorex
4-Methylaminorex
4C-MAR
MDMAR
2-Fluoroamphetamine
2-Fluoromethamphetamine
References
Aminorexes
Designer drugs
2-Fluorophenyl compounds | 2F-MAR | [
"Chemistry"
] | 125 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
74,920,130 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryostigma%20huriellae | Bryostigma huriellae is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus of uncertain familial placement in the order Arthoniales. Found in South Korea, it was formally described as a new species in 2020 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk and Jae-Seoun Hur.
Bryostigma huriellae infects the thallus and apothecia of the crustose lichen Huriella pohangensis–it is this host that is referred to in the species epithet huriellae. The infection spots it forms on the host are highly inconspicuous, often only visible under 100x magnification or when examining sections of the host. These spots often display tiny, widely spaced or . Over time, this fungus can be lethal to the host lichen.
The ascomata of Bryostigma huriellae ranges from 70 to 100 μm in diameter and is 50 to 70 μm thick when sectioned. These structures are mostly embedded deep within the host's thallus or reproductive parts, and typically group in small clusters of 1 to 3. Their colour is predominantly black but can exhibit a dark brown to blackish hue at the top and sides. When treated with a solution of potassium hydroxide (K), this colour turns a muted greyish-black, with the brown tint fading. The base of the , however, remains clear. in the fungus can reach up to 3 μm in diameter, and some might widen slightly at the tips to around 3–4 μm. They tend to curve above the asci tips. The asci measure between 20 and 24 by 12–15 μm. The , which turn slightly grey over time, are hyaline, 1-septate, and have dimensions of 9–13 by 3.5–5.5 μm. One cell of the ascospore is noticeably broader. In water, the of these ascospores is barely discernible.
Bryostigma huriellae bears resemblance to both B. parietinarium and B. dokdoense. However, it distinguishes itself from these by producing much smaller infection spots and exhibiting unique microscopic features. Additionally, its host preference differs from those of the mentioned species.
References
Arthoniomycetes
Lichenicolous fungi
Fungi described in 2020
Fungi of South Korea
Taxa named by Sergey Kondratyuk
Taxa named by Jae-Seoun Hur
Fungus species | Bryostigma huriellae | [
"Biology"
] | 516 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,921,090 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium%20permanganate | Magnesium permanganate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Mg(MnO4)2. It can be used as an oxidant.
Preparation
Magnesium permanganate hexahydrate was prepared by E. Mitserlich and H. Aschoff by reacting barium permanganate with magnesium sulfate:
It can be obtained by the reaction of magnesium chloride and silver permanganate:
The hexahydrate Mg(MnO4)2·6H2O can be crystallized from the solution, which is slightly hygroscopic. The anhydrous form can be obtained by decomposing the hexahydrate by heating it.
Chemical properties
Magnesium permanganate hexahydrate is a blue-black solid. It decomposes at 130 °C with the evolution of oxygen in an autocatalytic decomposition process. The tetrahydrate decomposes above 150 °C. The crystals are practically insoluble in carbon trichloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, toluene, nitrobenzene ether, ligroin and carbon disulfide, but soluble in pyridine and glacial acetic acid. It dissolves in water and dissociates completely in dilute solutions. It oxidizes a range of organic compounds and reacts instantly (in some cases with fire) with common solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, ethanol, methanol, t-butanol, acetone and acetic acid.
Applications
Magnesium permanganate is used in various branches of industry and technology, such as:
a wood impregnation agent.
an additive in tobacco filters.
as a catalyst in the air oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid and in proteome research.
References
Magnesium compounds
Permanganates | Magnesium permanganate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 385 | [
"Oxidizing agents",
"Permanganates"
] |
74,921,114 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclei%20in%20the%20Cosmos | Nuclei in the Cosmos (NIC) is an internationally hosted series of biennial nuclear astrophysics conferences. Bringing together nuclear scientists and astronomers, it has served as the primary forum within the field leading it to be called "the most important international meeting in the field of nuclear astrophysics". Prior to the conference, a school for graduate students and postdocs is held along with a pre-workshop. The conference series was initiated by Heinz Oberhummer and Claus Rolfs with the first held in 1990 in Austria and rotates internationally.
Conferences
1990 NIC-I Austria
1992 NIC-II Germany
1994 NIC-III Italy
1996 NIC-IV United States
1998 NIC-V Greece
2000 NIC-VI Denmark
2002 NIC-VII Japan
2004 NIC-VIII Canada
2006 NIC-IX Switzerland/France
2008 NIC X United States
2010 NIC-XI Germany
2012 NIC-XII Australia
2014 NIC-XIII Hungary
2016 NIC-XIV Japan
2018 NIC-XV Italy
2021 NIC-XVI China
2023 NIC-XVII South Korea
2025 NIC-XVIII Spain
See also
Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics
References
1990 establishments
Recurring events established in 1990
1990 establishments in Austria
Academic conferences | Nuclei in the Cosmos | [
"Astronomy"
] | 230 | [
"Astronomy conferences",
"Astronomy events"
] |
74,921,117 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National%20Office%20Against%20Racial%20Discrimination | The National Office Against Racial Discrimination (), also known by the acronym UNAR, is an Italian state body with the function of promoting equal treatment and the removal of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin. Active since 2003, it is established at the Department for Equal Opportunities of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The organisation operates in an autonomous and impartial manner and also deals with the different impact that discrimination can have on women and men, as well as the existence of forms of racism of a cultural and religious nature. It was established by the second Berlusconi government with the legislative decree 9 July 2003, No. 215, transposing community directive No. 2000/43 EC.
Functions
The tasks entrusted to the office by law are the following:
Provide assistance, in jurisdictional or administrative proceedings undertaken, to people who consider themselves harmed by discriminatory behaviour, also according to the forms referred to in Art. 425 of the Italian Civil Procedure Code.
Carry out investigations, in compliance with the prerogatives and functions of the judicial authority, to verify the existence of discriminatory phenomena;
Promote the adoption, by public and private entities, in particular by associations and bodies carrying out activities in the field of combating discrimination, of specific measures, including projects positive actions, aimed at avoiding or compensating for disadvantaged situations linked to racial or ethnic origin.
Spread the maximum possible knowledge of the protection instruments in force also through actions to raise public awareness of the principle of equal treatment and the implementation of information and communication campaigns;
Formulate recommendations and opinions on issues related to discrimination based on race and ethnic origin, as well as proposals for amendments to current legislation.
Draw up an annual report for Parliament on the effective application of the principle of equal treatment and on the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms, as well as an annual report to the Prime Minister on the activity carried out.
Promote studies, research, training courses, and exchanges of experiences, also in collaboration with associations and bodies that carry out activities in the field of combating discrimination, with other non-governmental organisations operating in the sector and with institutes specialists in statistics detection, also for the purpose of developing guidelines on the fight against discrimination.
Composition
The office is directed by a manager appointed by the Prime Minister of Italy or by a Minister delegated by them. It also makes use of personnel from other public administrations, including magistrates, lawyers, and public prosecutors, in positions of command, on leave or outside the role, as well as external consultants and experts. Experts are chosen from among individuals, including those outside the public administration, with high levels of professionalism in legal matters, as well as in the sectors of the fight against discrimination, material, and psychological assistance to individuals in disadvantaged conditions, social recovery, public utility services, social communication, and analysis of public policies.
Editorial series
UNAR directs the editorial series "Rights, Equality, Integration", which has the declared aim of contributing to the realization of the general principle of non-discrimination and equality, enshrined in Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, and to spread the values of diversity and differences against every form and cause of discrimination.
Publications
The series is composed of the following volumes:
Controversies
In 2017, an investigation by the program Le Iene reported that in a private club affiliated to the National Association Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (ANDDOS), which had access to state funding amounting to €55,000 thanks to a UNAR tender, not yet disbursed, there was homosexual group sex and prostitution. Subsequently, ANDDOS specified that the money paid by UNAR (awarded through a regular tender) was not linked to the support of the group but the aim was to finance specific projects relating to courses on discrimination. On 20 February 2017, following the media outcry caused by the investigation, the UNAR director Francesco Spano resigned from office. In July 2018, all the accusations relating to Spano, the former director of UNAR, were dropped and the Court of Auditors confirmed the correctness of the announcement that ended up under accusation.
See also
Equal opportunity
Racism in Italy
References
External links
Equality rights
Discrimination
Immigration to Italy
Discrimination in Italy | National Office Against Racial Discrimination | [
"Biology"
] | 844 | [
"Behavior",
"Aggression",
"Discrimination"
] |
74,922,692 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benatar%27s%20asymmetry%20argument | Benatar's asymmetry argument for antinatalism is an argument based on the difference between harms and benefits viewed in two scenarios — when the person in question exists and when the person in question never exists. The argument, introduced by David Benatar in his book, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, aims to establish that coming into existence is always a harm for the one who's coming into the world.
The argument
David Benatar argues that there is a crucial asymmetry between the good and the bad things, such as pleasure and pain:
1. the presence of pain is bad;
2. the presence of pleasure is good;
however
3. the absence of pain is good, even if that good is not enjoyed by anyone;
4. the absence of pleasure is not bad unless there is somebody for whom this absence is a deprivation.
Regarding procreation, the argument follows that coming into existence generates both good and bad experiences, pain and pleasure, whereas not coming into existence entails neither pain nor pleasure. The absence of pain is good, the absence of pleasure is not bad. Therefore, the ethical choice is weighed in favor of non-procreation.
Supporting basic asymmetries
Benatar explains the main asymmetry using four other asymmetries that he considers quite plausible:
The asymmetry of procreational duties: we have a moral obligation not to create unhappy people and we have no moral obligation to create happy people. The reason why we think there is a moral obligation not to create unhappy people is that the presence of this suffering would be bad (for the sufferers) and the absence of the suffering is good (even though there is nobody to enjoy the absence of suffering). By contrast, the reason we think there is no moral obligation to create happy people is that although their pleasure would be good for them, the absence of pleasure when they do not come into existence will not be bad, because there will be no one who will be deprived of this good.
The prospective beneficence asymmetry: it is strange to mention the interests of a potential child as a reason why we decide to create them, and it is not strange to mention the interests of a potential child as a reason why we decide not to create them. That the child may be happy is not a morally important reason to create them. By contrast, that the child may be unhappy is an important moral reason not to create them. If it were the case that the absence of pleasure is bad even if someone does not exist to experience its absence, then we would have a significant moral reason to create a child and to create as many children as possible. And if it were not the case that the absence of pain is good even if someone does not exist to experience this good, then we would not have a significant moral reason not to create a child.
The retrospective beneficence asymmetry: someday we can regret for the sake of a person whose existence was conditional on our decision, that we created them – a person can be unhappy and the presence of their pain would be a bad thing. But we will never feel regret for the sake of a person whose existence was conditional on our decision, that we did not create them – a person will not be deprived of happiness, because they will never exist, and the absence of happiness will not be bad, because there will be no one who will be deprived of this good.
The asymmetry of distant suffering and absent happy people: we feel sadness by the fact that somewhere people come into existence and suffer, and we feel no sadness by the fact that somewhere people did not come into existence in a place where there are happy people. When we know that somewhere people came into existence and suffer, we feel compassion. The fact that on some deserted island or planet people did not come into existence and suffer is good. This is because the absence of pain is good even when there is not someone who is experiencing this good. On the other hand, we do not feel sadness by the fact that on some deserted island or planet people did not come into existence and are not happy. This is because the absence of pleasure is bad only when someone exists to be deprived of this good.
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Benatar, David (2006). Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence. Oxford University Press
Benatar, David (2017). The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions. Oxford University Press
Coates, Ken (2014). Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar. First Edition Design Publisher
External links
Reviews of and responses to Better Never to Have Been
Bioethics
Philosophy of biology
Philosophical pessimism | Benatar's asymmetry argument | [
"Technology"
] | 979 | [
"Bioethics",
"Ethics of science and technology"
] |
74,922,764 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarmalators | Swarmalators are generalizations of phase oscillators that swarm around in space as they synchronize in time. They were introduced to model the diverse real-world systems which both sync and swarm, such as vinegar eels, magnetic domain walls, and Japanese tree frogs. More formally, they are dynamical units with spatial degrees of freedom and internal degrees of freedom whose dynamics are coupled.
Real world examples
Swarmalation occurs in diverse parts of Nature and technology some of which are discussed below. The Figure to the right plots some examples in a (discipline, number of particles) plot.
Biological microswimmers. Sperm, vinegar eels and potentially other swimmers such as C elegans swarm through space via the rhythmic beating of their tails. This beating may synchronize with the beating of a neighboring swimmer via hydrodynamic coupling, which in turn causes spatial attraction; sync links to self-assembly. This can lead to vortex arrays, trains metachronal waves and other collective effects.
Magnetic domain walls are key features in the field of magnetism and materials science, defined by the boundary between different magnetic domains in ferromagnetic materials. These domains are regions within a material where the magnetic moments of atoms are aligned in the same direction, creating a uniform magnetic field. The hold great promise as memory devices in next generation spintronics. In a simplified model, a domain wall can be described by its center of mass and the in-plane angle of its magnetic dipole vector, thereby classifying them as swarmalators. Experiments reveal that the interaction between two such domain walls leads to rich spatiotemporal behaviors some of which is captured by the 1D swarmalator model listed above.
Japanese Tree frogs. During courtship rituals, male Japanese Tree frogs attract the attention of females by croaking rhythmically. Neighboring males tend to alternate the croaking (croak degree out of phase) so as to avoid "speaking over each other". Evidence suggests this (anti)-synchronization influences the inter-frog spatial dynamics, making them swarmalators.
Janus particles are spherical particles with one hemisphere coated in a magnetic substance, the other remaining non-magnetic. They are named after the Roman God Janus who has two faces. This anisotropy gives the particles unusual magnetic properties. When subject to external magnetic fields, their magnetic dipoles vectors begins to oscillate which induces and couples to movements (thus qualifying as a swarmalators). The resultant "sync-selected self-assembly" gives rise novel superstructure with potential use in biomedicine contexts such as targeted drug delivery, bio imaging, and bio-sensing.
Quincke rollers are a class of active particle that exhibits self-propelled motion in a fluid due to an electrohydrodynamic phenomenon known as the Quincke effect. This effect occurs when a dielectric (non-conducting) particle is subject to an electric field. The rotation of the particle, combined with frictional interactions with the surrounding fluid and surface, leads to a rolling motion. Thus, the particle has a phase and a position which couple, as required of swarmalator. Collections of Quincke rollers produce rich emergent behavior such as activity waves
and shock waves.
Embryonic cells are the foundational building blocks of an embryo, undergoing division and differentiation to form the complex structures of an organism. These cells exhibit remarkable plasticity, allowing them to transform into a wide range of specialized cell types. In the context of swarmalators, embryonic cells display a unique blend of synchronization and swarming behaviors. They coordinate their movements and genetic expression patterns in response to various cues, a process essential for proper tissue formation and organ development. This linking of sync and self-assembly make embryonic cells a compelling example of a real-world swarmalators.
Robot swarms. Land based rovers as well as aerial drones programmed with swarmalator models have been created and has recreated the five collective states of the swarmalator model (see Mathematical Models section for the plot of these states). The linking of sync and swarming defines a new kind of bio-inspired algorithm which several potential applications.
2D swarmalator model
A mathematical model for swarmalators moving in 2D has been proposed. This 2D swarmalator model in generic form is
The spatial dynamics combine pairwise interaction with pairwise , which produces swarming / aggregation. The novelty is the attraction is modified by a phase term ; thus the aggregation becomes phase-dependent. Likewise, the phase dynamics contain a sync term modified by a spatial term so the synchronization becomes position dependent. In short, the swarmalators model the interaction between self-synchronization and self-assembly in space.
While in general the position could be in 2D or 3D, the instance of the swarmalator model originally introduced is a 2D model and the choices for etc. were
There are two parameters and are parameters: controls the strength of phase-space attraction/repulsion, while describes the phase coupling strength. The above can be considered a blending of the aggregation model introduced from biological swarming (the spatial part) and the Kuramoto model of phase oscillators (the phase part).
Phenomena
The model above produces five collective states depicted in Figure 1:
Static sync: Swarmalators form a disk in space and are fully synchronized in phase.
Static async: Swarmalators form a disk in space and are fully asynchronous in phase.
Static phase wave: Swarmalators form an annulus in space with a phase wave (e.g. a full color-wheel or rainbow.)
Splintered phase wave: The phase wave splinters into clusters of synchronous swarmalators. Within each cluster, the swarmalators execute periodic motion in space and phase.
Active phase wave: Swarmalators run in a space-phase vortex, with half running clockwise and the remaining half running counter-clockwise.
To demarcate where each state arises and disappears as a parameters are changed, the rainbow order parameters,
where are used. Figure 2 plots versus for fixed . As can be seen, in the rainbow-like static phased wave state (at = 0), and then declines as decreases. A second order parameter , defined as the fraction of swarmalators that have completed at least one cycle in space and phase after transients in also plotted, which can distinguish between the active phase wave and splintered phase wave states.
Puzzles
There are several unresolved puzzles and open questions related to swarmalators:
Melting point : What is the value at which the static async state melts into the active phase wave state?
Splitting point : What is the splitting point at which the active phase wave splits into the splintered phase wave?
Rainbow order parameters: Can you derive an expression for the supercritical branch of the for fixed in the active phase wave and splintered phase wave states?
: What determines the number of clusters formed in the splintered phase wave?
1D swarmalator model
A simpler swarmalator model where the spatial motion is confined to a 1D ring has also been proposed
where are the (random) natural frequencies of the i-th swarmalator and are drawn from certain distributions . This 1D model corresponds to the angular component of the 2D swarmalator model. The restriction to this simpler topology allows for a greater analysis. For instance, the model with natural frequencies can be solved by defining the sum/difference coordinates the model simplifies into a pair of linearly coupled Kuramoto models
where , and the rainbow order parameters are the equivalent of the 2D model
For unimodal distribution of such as the Cauchy distribution, the model exhibits four collective states depicted in the figure on the right.
Async or state. Swarmalators do not exhibit any coherence either in space or phase, being distributed uniformly in position and phase. This state is characterized by the absence of any synchronization or spatial clustering among the swarmalators, as reflected by the zero values of both order parameters .
Phase wave or state. In the phase wave state, swarmalators form a band or wave pattern with the position and phase are correlated. The wave can either run clockwise or counterclockwise.
Mixed or state. Swaramlators again form a phase wave, but now the wave is distorted, forming two rough clusters; thus it is the a mixture of the phase wave and the sync state (described next).
Sync or state. Swarmalators form two synchronous cluster in both space and phase. Single cluster states are formed for some initial conditions.
Note in each state, the swarmalators split into a locked/drifting sub-populations, just like the Kuramoto model. The locked population are the denser regions in the Figure, the drifters the light grey regions.
The figure to the right compares the bifurcations of the Kuramoto model to those of the 1D swarmalator model. For the Kuramoto model (top row), the sync order parameter bifurcates from the async state () and then increases monontonically in the sync state (). For the 1D swarmalator model, the bifurcations are richer. Starting with the phase coupling and increasing, bifurcate from the async state () to the phase wave () then to the mixed state () before finally ending up in the sync state (). Note we have taken without loss of generality and are constants that depend on . Expressions for have been worked out, those for in the mixed state are unknown (see ref [25]).
References
Mathematical modeling | Swarmalators | [
"Mathematics"
] | 1,990 | [
"Applied mathematics",
"Mathematical modeling"
] |
74,925,213 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational%20harm | Systems cause representational harm when they misrepresent a group of people in a negative manner. Representational harms include perpetuating harmful stereotypes about or minimizing the existence of a social group, such as a racial, ethnic, gender, or religious group. Machine learning algorithms often commit representational harm when they learn patterns from data that have algorithmic bias, and this has been shown to be the case with large language models. While preventing representational harm in models is essential to prevent harmful biases, researchers often lack precise definitions of representational harm and conflate it with allocative harm, an unequal distribution of resources among social groups, which is more widely studied and easier to measure. However, recognition of representational harms is growing and preventing them has become an active research area. Researchers have recently developed methods to effectively quantify representational harm in algorithms, making progress on preventing this harm in the future.
Types
Three prominent types of representational harm include stereotyping, denigration, and misrecognition. These subcategories present many dangers to individuals and groups.
Stereotypes are oversimplified and usually undesirable representations of a specific group of people, usually by race and gender. This often leads to the denial of educational, employment, housing, and other opportunities. For example, the model minority stereotype of Asian Americans as highly intelligent and good at mathematics can be damaging professionally and academically.
Denigration is the action of unfairly criticizing individuals. This frequently happens when the demeaning of social groups occurs. For example, when searching for "Black-sounding" names versus "white-sounding" ones, some retrieval systems bolster the false perception of criminality by displaying ads for bail-bonding businesses. A system may shift the representation of a group to be of lower social status, often resulting in a disregard from society.
Misrecognition, or incorrect recognition, can display in many forms, including, but not limited to, erasing and alienating social groups, and denying people the right to self-identify. Erasing and alienating social groups involves the unequal visibility of certain social groups; specifically, systematic ineligibility in algorithmic systems perpetuates inequality by contributing to the underrepresentation of social groups. Not allowing people to self-identify is closely related as people's identities can be 'erased' or 'alienated' in these algorithms. Misrecognition causes more than surface-level harm to individuals: psychological harm, social isolation, and emotional insecurity can emerge from this subcategory of representational harm.
Quantification
As the dangers of representational harm have become better understood, some researchers have developed methods to measure representational harm in algorithms.
Modeling stereotyping is one way to identify representational harm. Representational stereotyping can be quantified by comparing the predicted outcomes for one social group with the ground-truth outcomes for that group observed in real data. For example, if individuals from group A achieve an outcome with a probability of 60%, stereotyping would be observed if it predicted individuals to achieve that outcome with a probability greater than 60%. The group modeled stereotyping in the context of classification, regression, and clustering problems, and developed a set of rules to quantitatively determine if the model predictions exhibit stereotyping in each of these cases.
Other attempts to measure representational harms have focused on applications of algorithms in specific domains such as image captioning, the act of an algorithm generating a short description of an image. In a study on image captioning, researchers measured five types of representational harm. To quantify stereotyping, they measured the number of incorrect words included in the model-generated image caption when compared to a gold-standard caption. They manually reviewed each of the incorrectly included words, determining whether the incorrect word reflected a stereotype associated with the image or whether it was an unrelated error, which allowed them to have a proxy measure of the amount of stereotyping occurring in this caption generation. These researchers also attempted to measure demeaning representational harm. To measure this, they analyzed the frequency with which humans in the image were mentioned in the generated caption. It was hypothesized that if the individuals were not mentioned in the caption, then this was a form of dehumanization.
Examples
One of the most notorious examples of representational harm was committed by Google in 2015 when an algorithm in Google Photos classified Black people as gorillas. Developers at Google said that the problem was caused because there were not enough faces of Black people in the training dataset for the algorithm to learn the difference between Black people and gorillas. Google issued an apology and fixed the issue by blocking its algorithms from classifying anything as a primate. In 2023, Google's photos algorithm was still blocked from identifying gorillas in photos.
Another prevalent example of representational harm is the possibility of stereotypes being encoded in word embeddings, which are trained using a wide range of text. These word embeddings are the representation of a word as an array of numbers in vector space, which allows an individual to calculate the relationships and similarities between words. However, recent studies have shown that these word embeddings may commonly encode harmful stereotypes, such as the common example that the phrase "computer programmer" is oftentimes more closely related to "man" than it is to "women" in vector space. This could be interpreted as a misrepresentation of computer programming as a profession that is better performed by men, which would be an example of representational harm.
References
Wikipedia Student Program
Technology
Information ethics
AI safety | Representational harm | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,170 | [
"Safety engineering",
"AI safety",
"Computing and society",
"Ethics of science and technology",
"Information ethics"
] |
77,885,498 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium%20hexafluororhenate | Ammonium hexafluororhenate is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula .
Synthesis
The compound is produced from the corresponding potassium salt by ion-exchange procedure.
Physical properties
Ammonium hexafluororhenate forms crystals of the hexagonal system, space group Pm1. It is soluble in water.
When heated, the compound decomposes to the black nitride fluoride, ReNF.
References
Fluoro complexes
Ammonium compounds
Fluorometallates
Hexafluorides | Ammonium hexafluororhenate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 107 | [
"Ammonium compounds",
"Salts"
] |
77,885,880 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GALEX%20J2339%E2%80%930424 | GALEX J2339–0424 (GALEX J233917.0–042425, GALEX J2339) is a white dwarf that is suspected to be polluted with material originating from an icy exomoon. This is evident from the first detection of beryllium in this white dwarf, together with GD 378.
GALEX J2339 was first identified as a possible quasar with GALEX in 2007. It was identified as a white dwarf candidate from Gaia and virtual observatory data in 2018. In 2020 it was identified as a DBAZ: white dwarf, which means that it had helium, hydrogen and metal absorption lines. In 2021 the white dwarf was observed with Lick, Magellan 1 and Keck. The observations showed that the object had absorption due to hydrogen, helium, beryllium, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, calcium, titanium, chromium, manganese and iron. The oxygen is present in excess, which indicates a water ice-rich body. The accreted parent object had a chondrite-like composition and was 85% water ice in volume. The accretion event lasted for 2–4 Million years and the parent body had a mass of 3 × 1020–1 × 1021 kg, or between about the mass of Vesta to about the mass of Ceres.
Exomoons as a source of white dwarf pollution has been proposed since 2016/2017 and their fate around white dwarfs was further studied later, showing that around 1% of polluted white dwarfs should be polluted with exomoons. The presence of beryllium is thought to be the result of spallation of heavier elements (especially oxygen) on the surface of an icy dust belt around a giant planet. The icy dust belts enriched in beryllium will then form exomoons, which might pollute white dwarf. These icy dust belts are comparable to Saturns rings and rings around J1407b. Other scenarios are mentioned, such as the radiation of a Wolf-Rayet star. But these environments are less favourable to produce the observed beryllium excess. The spallation should also produce lithium and boron, but (as of September 2024) these are not detected around GALEX J2339 or GD 378.
See also
List of exoplanets and planetary debris around white dwarfs
List of exomoon candidates
References
White dwarfs
Aquarius (constellation) | GALEX J2339–0424 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 497 | [
"Constellations",
"Aquarius (constellation)"
] |
77,886,772 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD%202317%2B1830 | WD 2317+1830 (SDSS J231726.72+183049.6) is one of the first white dwarfs with lithium detected in its atmosphere. The white dwarf is surrounded by a debris disk and is actively accreting material. Researchers suggest that the presence of alkali metals indicates the accretion of crust material. Another work however cautions to use alkali metals as a single indicator of crust material. They suggest that such objects could be polluted by mantle material instead. An analysis in 2024 finds that the abundance of lithium is in agreement with Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and galactic nucleosynthesis. WD 2317+1830 likely was a star with sub-solar metallicity, which is evident from its old age, as well as from its thick disk or halo kinematics. This low metallicity means that the planetesimals that formed around this old white dwarf had a composition more similar to BBN abundances. The lithium-enhancement is not in agreement with the accretion of terrestrial continental crust material. The accretion of an exotic exoplanet is not ruled out, but the accretion of a primitive planetesimal is more likely. The accretion of an exomoon as a lithium source is excluded.
WD 2317+1830 was first discovered in 2021 from Gaia and SDSS data as a candidate white dwarf. A first spectral analysis was published in 2020, identifying it as a DZ white dwarf. In 2021 observations with the Gran Telescopio Canarias were published. The white dwarf is massive and has a mass of 1.00 ± 0.02 . The cooling age was determined to be 9.5±0.2 Gyrs and the total age is 9.7±0.2 Gyrs. A more recent work found a higher temperature and younger cooling age of about 6.4 Gyrs. The researchers detected sodium, lithium and weak calcium absorption. The researchers also detected infrared excess, indicative of a debris disk, around this white dwarf. The disk is inclined by 70°, has an inner disk temperature of 1,500 K and an outer disk temperature of 500 K. In the past WD 2317+1830 had a mass of 4.8 ± 0.2 and was likely a B-type star.
See also
List of exoplanets and planetary debris around white dwarfs
WD J2356−209 is another cool white dwarf with sodium detected
LSPM J0207+3331 is another old white dwarf with a disk detected
References
white dwarfs
circumstellar disks
Pegasus (constellation) | WD 2317+1830 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 549 | [
"Pegasus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,887,023 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium%20hexachlororhenate | Ammonium hexachlororhenate is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula .
Physical properties
Ammonium hexachlororhenate forms yellow-green crystals of cubic system, space group Fm3m.
References
Chloro complexes
Ammonium compounds
Chlorometallates | Ammonium hexachlororhenate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 60 | [
"Ammonium compounds",
"Salts"
] |
77,887,902 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral%20epitaxial%20overgrowth%20and%20pendeo-epitaxy | Epitaxy refers to a type of crystal growth or material deposition in which new crystalline layers are formed with one or more well-defined orientations with respect to the crystalline seed layer. The deposited crystalline film is called an epitaxial film or epitaxial layer. Epitaxial growth and semiconductor device fabrication are technologies used to develop stacked crystalline layers of different materials with specific semiconductor properties on a crystalline substrate, commonly silicon or silicon carbide (SiC) materials, to achieve the desired performance of the microelectronic devices, such as transistors and diodes. The crystal structure of these layers is with high density of imperfections, such as dislocations and stacking faults. Therefore the microelectronic engineers and technologists have developed different techniques to eliminate or minimize the density of these structural defects in order to improve the microelectronic devices operation. One such approach is Selective Area Growth technology.
Lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) along with pendeo-epitaxy (PE) are selective area growth (SAG) techniques, developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s for epitaxial growth of wide bandgap semiconductor materials, such as gallium nitride (GaN): gallium nitride on silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. GaN on sapphire (Al2O3) substrate, and GaN on silicon (Si) substrate. Epitaxial GaN is relevant to a semiconductor device technology important in microelectronics and chip manufacturing for development of high-power, high frequency, high temperature electronic devices. LEO and PE are technologies that are not limited to the wide bandgp GaN materials. Conventional epitaxial growth techniques of GaN on SiC, sapphire and Si substrate are known to produce high density of structural defects, mainly edge and screw dislocations and stacking faults, in the order of 109-1010 cm−2. PE and LEO, the latter also referred to epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO), are known to enable two to four orders of magnitude lower density of dislocations, compared to conventional growth,as revealed via transmission electron microscopy [3]. Having device layers of low defect density enables improved device characteristics and performance
Lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO)
LEO involves growing a seed GaN layer of the material on a substrate, then etching a patterned mask on the surface of the seed layer, commonly silicon dioxide or silicon nitride, leaving some GaN seed windows exposed that act as crystallographic template for the subsequent growth of the GaN layer (Figure 1). The new LEO film grows simultaneously from the GaN windows both vertically and at the same time extends laterally over the mask, forming wings of much lower density of structural defects (mostly treading dislocations). The wings can merge together to form a continuous GaN film, or remain separated by seams. Notably LEO process drastically reduces the defects in the crystal structure of the laterally grown areas by filtering them out at the mask interface. LEO can be performed from the vapor phase, depending on the material and the growth conditions via epitaxial growth techniques such as metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOCVD) or hydride vapour-phase epitaxy (HVPE).
Pendeo-epitaxy
Initially PE was developed as an alternative technology and complementary approach to lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) of GaN on SiC substrate. Pendeo-epitaxy of GaN involves growing a continuous GaN film, commonly with high density of dislocations, as a seed layer on a substrate (SiC, sapphire or Si), then etching away portions from the GaN film (seed layer) thus leaving GaN seed stripes or columns, separated by trenches. The subsequent PE layer grows simultaneously from the tops and the side walls of the GaN stripes or columns (Figure 2). Thus, the top and the side walls of these columns act as homoepitaxial seed layers, which act as crytallographic templates for the subsequent vertical and lateral growth of continuous PE GaN layers. The regions of lateral growth are again with two to four orders of magnitude lower density of dislocations. Importantly, the film grows laterally from the side walls of the columns and extends horizontally over the trenches without touching the initial seed layer, forming wings of low crystallographic defect density. Hence pendeo-epitaxy, a term from Latin pendare, meaning to hang down, suspend. The wings can merge to form a continuous film or remain separated by seams. As with LEO, pendeo-epitaxy mechanism reduces the crystallographic defects in the film by avoiding the direct contact with the substrate, eliminating the lattice mismatch and the thermal mismatch stress/strain. Pendeo-epitaxy is mainly performed from the vapor phase via MOCVD and HVPE, and initially is used for growing gallium nitride (GaN) microelectronic device structures.
In the case of GaN material system, LEO and PE technology was initiated in the late nineties and early 2000s in Prof. R.F. Davis group at NCSU. The PE and LEO technologies are not limited to the development of low defect density wide bandgap GaN layers, important for the microelectronics industry, but also for many other epitaxial materials systems (Si, SiC, diamond etc.). Modeling of the LEO and PE growth processes reveals improved stress/strain characteristics and the concomitant improved characteristics in the microelectronic devices fabricated thereby. The strong microelectronics relevance of PE and LEO technologies to enable low density of dislocations in the semiconductor layers was documented in numerous patents.
References
Semiconductor technology
Semiconductor device fabrication | Lateral epitaxial overgrowth and pendeo-epitaxy | [
"Materials_science"
] | 1,203 | [
"Semiconductor device fabrication",
"Semiconductor technology",
"Microtechnology"
] |
77,888,054 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyloxalus%20spilotogaster | Hyloxalus spilotogaster is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is known from a single specimen found in Peru.
Description
The single specimen, an adult female, measured 24.0 mm in snout-vent length. She had expanded climbing disks and fringed skin on the toes of all four feet. In preservative, the skin of the head and body was dull brown with some dark brown stripes. The lips were cream-white in color. The sides of the body were brown with some white marks. There were light brown stripes on flanks from the nose over the eye to where the hind legs meet the body. These were bordered by a dark brown stripe below each. The tops of the back legs were light brown with some other brown spots. The rest of the back legs were brown with some white spots. The front legs were light brown with dark brown lines. The belly was cream-white in color with brown spots.
Habitat
Scientists known this frog exclusively from the type locality in Utcubamba Province in Amazonas, 2326 meters above sea level in the Cordillera Colán. They observed exactly one female frog and no male frogs. She was on the leaf litter in a cloud forest. Scientists believe that the frog's tadpoles swim in streams, but they did not observe any.
Threats
The IUCN classifies this species as data deficient. Scientists believe the fungal disease chytridiomycosis may pose a threat because it killed so many other stream-breeding, high-elevation-dwelling frogs in Peru, but they do not know for certain.
Original description
References
Frogs of South America
Endemic fauna of Peru
Species known from a single specimen
spilotogaster | Hyloxalus spilotogaster | [
"Biology"
] | 353 | [
"Individual organisms",
"Species known from a single specimen"
] |
77,890,300 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD%20J2147%E2%80%934035 | WD J2147–4035 (DES J214756.46-403529.3) is a very cold white dwarf with a temperature of about 3,050 Kelvin (2780 °C; 5030 °F). It also shows signs of pollution with planetary debris.
WD J2147–4035 was first identified from Gaia data as a white dwarf candidate in 2019. In 2021 it was pointed out as an unusual faint white dwarf in the solar neighbourhood. The researchers found it could be extremely old (about 10 Gyrs). In 2022 results from observations with X-shooter on the Very Large Telescope were published. The object was identified as a white dwarf, likely with a helium-dominated atmosphere. The researchers also detected metal pollution in the form of sodium, lithium, potassium and possibly carbon. The lithium line shows Zeeman splitting, which indicates that WD J2147–4035 is a magnetic white dwarf. The researchers measure a magnetic field strength of 0.55 ±0.03 Megagauss. The magnetism can lead to inhomogeneous brightness distribution and the TESS light curve shows that the white dwarf has a rotation period of around 13 hours. The nature of the accreted parent body is unclear as of September 2024.
WD J2147–4035 was once a main-sequence star with a mass of 2.47 ±0.22 , which had a lifetime of about 500 Myrs. Once the star became an AGB star, it lost mass and became a white dwarf with a mass of 0.69 ±0.02 . The white dwarf existed for 10.21 ±0.22 Gyrs, meaning the total age is 10.7 ±0.3 Gyrs.
Cold white dwarfs are often strongly affected by collision induced absorption (CIA) of hydrogen. This can lead to faint optical red and infrared brightness. These white dwarfs are also called IR-faint white dwarfs. WD J2147–4035 is however very red (r-z=2.29 mag) which is seen as evidence that it only has a low hydrogen to helium ratio, resulting in very mild CIA and therefore giving it the distinct orange color.
See also
List of exoplanets and planetary debris around white dwarfs
ESO 439-26 is a cold white dwarf, once thought to be the faintest
Other cool metal-polluted white dwarfs:
WD J2356−209
WD 2317+1830
References
white dwarfs
Magnetism in astronomy
variable stars
Grus (constellation) | WD J2147–4035 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 522 | [
"Magnetism in astronomy",
"Grus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,890,842 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JJC8-016 | JJC8-016 is an atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI) derived from modafinil. It was an early lead in the development of novel modafinil analogues with improved properties for potential use in the treatment of psychostimulant use disorder (PSUD).
Pharmacology
The affinities of JJC8-016 for the monoamine transporters are 114nM for the dopamine transporter (DAT), 3850nM for the norepinephrine transporter (NET) (34-fold lower than for the DAT), and 354nM for the serotonin transporter (SERT) (3.1-fold lower than for the DAT). JJC8-016 also has high affinity for the dopamine D2 receptor (Ki = 228nM), the dopamine D3 receptor (Ki = 65.9nM), the dopamine D4 receptor (Ki = 28.1nM), and the sigma σ1 receptor (Ki = 159nM). It has much higher affinity for the DAT than modafinil (Ki = 2600nM; 23-fold difference), but is also much less selective in comparison.
Animal studies
JJC8-016 does significantly modify dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens, does not produce cocaine- or psychostimulant-like effects, and is not self-administered in animals. As such, it shows a profile of low misuse liability. Its actions are in contrast to modafinil and other analogues, which do significantly increase nucleus accumbens dopamine levels, albeit much less robustly than cocaine. JJC8-016 has been found to blunt cocaine-mediated increases in dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens, to dose-dependently block the psychostimulant-like effects of cocaine, to block self-administration of cocaine, and to prevent cocaine-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior in animals. It has also been found to reduce methamphetamine self-administration and escalation of its intake.
Preclinical development
JJC8-016 was under investigation for the potential treatment of PSUD. However, it was abandoned following findings that it interacts with high affinity at the hERG antitarget ( = 60nM) and thereby would be predicted to produce cardiotoxicity. This was also the reason for the abandonment of vanoxerine (GBR-12909), a structurally distinct atypical DRI that was in clinical trials for PSUD. In addition to its hERG affinity, JJC8-016 was described as having poor metabolic and pharmacokinetic characteristics. Subsequently, more selective modafinil-derived DAT blockers, like JJC8-088 and JJC8-091, were developed. JJC8-088 has ~90-fold higher affinity for the DAT than JJC8-016 and ~2-fold lower affinity for the hERG. Newer related modafinil analogues and DRIs with further reduced affinity for the hERG were also subsequently developed.
JJC8-016 was first described in the scientific literature by 2014.
See also
List of modafinil analogues and derivatives
References
4-Fluorophenyl compounds
Abandoned drugs
Amines
Dopamine receptor modulators
Dopamine reuptake inhibitors
HERG blocker
Organosulfur compounds
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Sigma receptor ligands
Modafinil analogues | JJC8-016 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 758 | [
"Organosulfur compounds",
"Drug safety",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Amines",
"Bases (chemistry)",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,891,657 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C5%BCenna%20Ho%C5%82ownia | Bożenna Urszula Hołownia (born 27 July 1953) is a geographer, hydrologist, computer scientist, and politician. Since 2024, she is a member of the Sejm of Poland, representing the constituency of Warsaw.
Biography
Bożenna Hołownia was born on 27 July 1953 in Warsaw, Poland.
In 1977 she graduated from the University of Warsaw with a degree in geography. She was specialised in the hydrology and worked in the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management and the Warsaw Regional Water Management Office. Later, until her retirement, she was a director in an internet provider company. For over 20 years Hołownia was active in the scouting and guiding structures, being a group commander, and district deputy commander.
Hołownia is a member of the Poland 2050 political party. She unsuccessfully run for office of member of the Sejm of Poland during the 2023 parliamentary elections. She was a candidate from the constituenct no. 19, which consists of the city of Warsaw, and received 22,593 votes (1.32%). In 2024 she unsucefully run for the office of a councillor in Mokotów, o
ne of the districts of Warsaw, as well as, for the office of the Member of the European Parliament from the Warsaw constituency.
On 26 June 2024, she became a member of the Sejm of Poland, replacing Michał Kobosko, who became a member of the European Parliament. She joined the Poland 2050 parliamentary group, and became a member of the Commission of Social and Family Politics.
Private life
Since the age of four, Hołownia has tetraplegia which developed due to polio infection. She walked with crutches, and later begun using a wheelchair.
References
1953 births
Living people
21st-century Polish women politicians
Women members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Members of the Polish Sejm 2023–2027
University of Warsaw alumni
People from Warsaw
Politicians from Warsaw
Polish geographers
Women geographers
20th-century geographers
21st-century geographers
Hydrologists
Women hydrologists
Polish computer scientists
Scientists from Warsaw
Polish women computer scientists
Polish Scouts and Guides
Polish wheelchair users
Polish politicians with disabilities
People with tetraplegia
Polio survivors | Bożenna Hołownia | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 468 | [
"Hydrology",
"Hydrologists"
] |
77,892,279 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UB-311 | UB-311 is a vaccine targeting β-amyloid and hence anti-amyloid agent which is under development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. It is under development by Vaxxinity. Meningoencephalitis has been described as a possible side effect of the drug. As of February 2024, the drug is in phase 2 clinical trials. In May 2022, UB-311 received fast-track designation for Alzheimer's disease from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
References
External links
How a new kind of vaccine could lead to the eradication of Alzheimer's - New Scientist
Vaccines
Experimental drugs for Alzheimer's disease | UB-311 | [
"Biology"
] | 139 | [
"Vaccination",
"Vaccines"
] |
77,892,541 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD%2018742 | HD 18742 (proper name Ayeyarwady) is a 8th-magnitude subgiant star located about away in the constellation of Eridanus. It is orbited by one confirmed exoplanet, super-Jupiter HD 18742 b (proper name Bagan), and possibly by another Jovian planetary candidate (HD 18742 c).
Stellar characteristics
HD 18742 is a yellow subgiant star with a spectral type of G8/K0 IV. Its precise physical parameters vary from publication to publication, with calculated radii ranging between 4.086.34 , and mass estimates falling mostly between 1.361.73 , though a 2017 paper suggests a significantly higher value of . The star has an effective temperature of about and a luminosity of 13.2 or 20.7 , and is thought to be about 2.32.5 billion years old. Seen from Earth, the star has an apparent magnitude of 7.81, making it visible with binoculars and by the naked eye under the darkest skies with effort.
Nomenclature
In 2019, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar was assigned to giving the HD 18742 system a proper name as part of the IAU100 NameExoWorlds Project, planned to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which grants the right to name an exoplanetary system to every state and territory in the world. Names were submitted and selected within Myanmar, which were then presented to the IAU to be officially recognized. On 17 December 2019, the IAU announced that HD 18742 and its confirmed planet, b, were named Ayeyarwady and Bagan, respectively.
Ayeyarwady was named after a river of the same name, the longest and most important river in Myanmar. Bagan refers to one of the ancient cities of the country located right beside the Ayeyarwady, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
Planetary system
In 2011, radial-velocity observations made at the W. M. Keck Observatory revealed the existence of one exoplanet around HD 18742. The planet, HD 18742, is thought to be a gas giant with a minimum mass of 3.362 , which orbits its host star at a distance of 1.82 AU once every . Its orbit is nearly circular (i.e., with a low eccentricity), similar to planets in the Solar System.
Other than the doppler shifts caused by HD 18742 b, radial-velocity measurements used to discover the planet also included an additional linear trend. Utilizing data gathered at the Keck Observatory between 2007 and 2015, Luhn et al. subtracted the effects of HD 18742 b from the radial-velocity curve, revealing a 900-day-period signal, possibly caused by another similar planet. Though the existence of such a planet would provide a far better match to the observed curve, this signal remains a planetary candidate since it would be in a 9:10 resonance with HD 18742 b, a non-physical resonance that is previously unheard of. Follow-up observations are expected to show the true nature of the system.
See also
List of proper names of stars
List of proper names of exoplanets
List of stars in Eridanus
List of exoplanets discovered in 2011
References
External links
Ayeyarwady
Eridanus (constellation)
018742
013993
BD-21 00533
K-type subgiants
G-type subgiants
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
J03001065-2048091
Planetary systems
Stars | HD 18742 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 739 | [
"Eridanus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,892,943 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMS-986187 | BMS-986187 is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) and the κ-opioid receptor (KOR).
The drug is highly potent as a DOR PAM, with an of 30nM. It has been found to increase the affinity of the endogenous peptide DOR agonist leu-enkephalin for the receptor by 32-fold. The drug has been found to act as a biased allosteric agonist of the DOR, activating G protein signaling ( = 301nM; Emax = 92%) but with little capacity to recruit β-arrestin ( = 579μM) (bias factor = 1787). Although a PAM, BMS-986187 is able to activate the DOR even in the absence of an orthosteric agonist, and as such, has been referred to as an "ago-PAM".
Subsequent to its discovery, BMS-987187 was found to act as a potent KOR PAM as well. It is also a weak μ-opioid receptor (MOR) PAM ( = 3,000nM), but has 100-fold selectivity for potentiation of the DOR over the MOR. BMS-986187 has about 20- to 30-fold higher affinity for the conserved allosteric site on the DOR and KOR relative to the corresponding site on the MOR. It is not a PAM of the nociceptin receptor, which is less homologous to the other opioid receptors.
The drug was first described by 2015 and was the first selective DOR PAM as well as the first selective KOR PAM to be discovered. It was identified via high-throughput screening (HTS). DOR PAMs like BMS-986187 might prove to be useful in the clinical treatment of certain gastrointestinal disorders.
See also
BMS‐986122
References
Ketones
Opioid receptor positive allosteric modulators
Xanthenes | BMS-986187 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 436 | [
"Ketones",
"Functional groups"
] |
77,893,541 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS1%20%28drug%29 | MS1 is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR). It was developed from structural modification of the earlier MOR PAM BMS‐986122.
The drug has been found to augment the affinity of the MOR agonist levomethadone ((R)-methadone) for the MOR by 7-fold in vitro and to potentiate activation of the MOR by levomethadone by 4-fold in a G protein assay. However, MS1 displays strong probe dependence, and while it potentiates the MOR agonists levomethadone and morphine, it had no effect on the affinity or potency of the MOR agonists DAMGO or endomorphin-1. MS1 shows a preference for β-arrestin recruitment over G protein activation with endomorphin-1 exposure. The drug's actions are reportedly similar to those of BMS-986122, though its unclear if their mechanisms of action are the same. MS1 shows potentiated analgesic effects with opioids in animals. It also did not worsen opioid withdrawal symptoms, respiratory depression, or analgesic tolerance.
MS1 and other atypical MOR activators are of potential interest in the development of novel opioid analgesics with reduced adverse effects and misuse potential. MS1 has notably been found to penetrate the blood–brain barrier in animals. The potential of the related MOR PAMs BMS-986121 and BMS-986122 as pharmaceutical drugs has been restricted owing to their complex chemical synthesis. MS1 has a much simpler synthesis in comparison and hence has been regarded as having overcome this limitation.
MS1 was first described in the scientific literature by 2015. Additional MOR PAMs related to MS1, such as Comp5, have been developed.
References
Acetamides
Amines
Analgesics
Bromoarenes
Chloroarenes
Experimental drugs
Methoxy compounds
Opioid receptor positive allosteric modulators
Sulfonamides | MS1 (drug) | [
"Chemistry"
] | 433 | [
"Amines",
"Bases (chemistry)",
"Functional groups"
] |
77,894,050 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CherryPicks | The CherryPicks is a review-aggregation website site for film and television that was founded in 2018 by Miranda Bailey and Rebecca Odes. The site includes female and non-binary critics, excluding the opinions of male critics to offer a different perspective from sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
History
Miranda Bailey, who produced the films The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Swiss Army Man, and Rebecca Odes founded the site in 2018, which was announced at South by Southwest. It was inspired by the male perspective in film being dominant over its equal number of female critics. Unlike Rotten Tomatoes' option of Fresh or Rotten approval rating, the CherryPicks uses a four level rating system including bowl of cherries, two cherries, one cherry, and the pits.
References
External links
Official site
Internet properties established in 2018
American film review websites
Online film databases
Recommender systems
Television websites
2018 establishments in the United States | CherryPicks | [
"Technology"
] | 180 | [
"Information systems",
"Recommender systems"
] |
77,895,395 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDSS%20J0849%2B1114 | SDSS J0849+1114 (SDSS J084905.51+111447.2) is a late-stage galaxy merger forming from a trio of galaxies located in the constellation of Cancer. At the redshift of 0.077, they are located 1.06 billion light-years from Earth. First discovered as a triple active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidate in a Sloan Digital Sky Survey study published in 2011, they received significant attention when astronomers discovered it harbors three supermassive black holes in its center.
Characteristics
SDSS J0849+1114 is made up of three closely spaced interacting spiral galaxies, all showing signs of distortion. It has tidal tail features indicative of a late-stage merger. The nuclei in SDSS J0849+1114 are considered active and the galaxies classified as type 2 Seyferts according to long-slit spectroscopy observations from Apache Point Observatory. A study also mentions out of the triple AGN candidates studied, SDSS J0849+1114 is also the first known triple Seyfert nucleus. In addition, they are classified as luminous infrared galaxies with luminosity of 8-1000 μm.
According to a study published in 2022, the primary nucleus of SDSS J0849+1114 is more powerful compared to the secondary and tertiary nuclei. Further evidence also points out it has a double-sided jet with its orientation changing by 20 degrees, explaining the angular momentum of the black hole might be changed by a merger-enhanced accretion. The secondary nucleus shows absence of radio emission at all frequencies while the tertiary nucleus also has a two-sided jet but shown enlarging a radio lobe. Based on the internal energy of the lobe, it is estimated 5.0 × 1055 erg. Furthermore, the three nuclei showed extended disc and budge components which the two showed signs of tidal stripping by the main nucleus.
Supermassive black holes
The three supermassive black holes in SDSS J0849+1114 are found colliding together with a separation gap of only between 10,000 and 30,000 light-years. All of them are surrounded by dusty structures and each of the black holes have a mass of ~1011.3 , 106.4 and 106.7 respectively. According to Chandra and NuSTAR observations, one of the black holes showed large quantities of interstellar matter surrounding its torus. It is estimated that the black holes from the merging galaxies will form a gravitationally bound triple black hole system within a few billion years.
References
Cancer (constellation)
08463+1126
1390839
Luminous infrared galaxies
SDSS objects
Seyfert galaxies
Galaxy mergers | SDSS J0849+1114 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 558 | [
"Cancer (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,896,056 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%20Lebanon%20electronic%20device%20attacks | On 17 and 18 September 2024, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies intended for use by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously in two separate events across Lebanon and Syria, in an Israeli attack nicknamed Operation Grim Beeper. The attack killed at least 42 people, including at least 12 civilians. The estimates of the number of injured ranged from 1,500 Hezbollah fighters (according to an unnamed Hezbollah official) to 4,000 civilians (according to Moustafa Bayram, Minister of Labour and a member of Hezbollah). Victims had injuries including losing fingers, hands, and eyes, as well as brain shrapnel. The incident was described as Hezbollah's biggest security breach since the start of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict in October 2023.
The first wave of explosions on 17 September targeted pagers, killing at least 12 people, including two Hezbollah members and two children, and wounding more than 2,750, including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon. The second wave on 18 September targeted Icom walkie-talkies, killing at least 30 people and injuring over 750. The 150 hospitals across Lebanon that received victims of the explosions experienced chaotic scenes.
Seven months before the explosions, Hezbollah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah instructed the group's members to use pagers instead of cell phones, claiming Israel had infiltrated their cell phone network. About five months before the explosions, Hezbollah purchased Gold Apollo AR-924 pagers. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had secretly manufactured and integrated the explosive PETN into the devices, and sold them to Hezbollah through a shell company. International officials and scholars of the law of war have debated the legality of the attacks, with critics suggesting they might constitute war crimes or acts of terrorism.
Responding to the attacks, Nasrallah described the explosions as a "major blow" and labeled them an act of war, possibly a declaration of war by Israel. Initially Israel denied involvement, but in November 2024 Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israeli responsibility. Following the explosions, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "new phase" of the war in northern Israel and Lebanon had begun. Hezbollah vowed retaliation, launching a rocket attack on northern Israel a few days later that struck cities such as Nazareth and Kiryat Bialik, injuring several civilians. Ten days after the device explosions, Israel assassinated Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut. On 27 November, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon went into effect, although some attacks continue.
Background
Hezbollah is opposed to Israel and was founded in 1982 by Lebanese clerics in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Shortly after the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Hezbollah joined the conflict, citing solidarity with Palestinians. This quickly escalated into regular cross-border military exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel, impacting northern Israel, southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights. Hezbollah said it aimed to pressure Israel by forcing it to fight on two fronts. Hezbollah has offered an immediate ceasefire should a ceasefire also happen in Gaza, where 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, with at least half identified as women and children. From 8 October 2023 to 20 September 2024, Hezbollah has launched 1,900 cross border attacks, and Israel has launched another 8,300. The fighting killed 564 in Lebanon (including 133 civilians) and 52 in Israel (including 27 civilians), displacing entire communities in both countries, with significant damage to civilian infrastructure.
On 10 September, the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern border. Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, announced it had thwarted a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former senior defense official using an explosive device, and The Jerusalem Post speculated that the pager explosions may have been in retaliation.
Use of pagers
While popular in the late twentieth century, pagers have since largely been replaced by cell phones, except in hospitals. Some Hezbollah members had used pagers for years before the 7 October attacks, but more members began using them after February 2024, when Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah called on members to stop using smartphones, citing Israel's capability to infiltrate them. Hezbollah subsequently imported the pagers to Lebanon in the months before the explosion. Reuters was told that the explosives were not detected despite checks and the pagers were still being distributed immediately before the attack.
In 2015, Mossad began planting booby-trapped walkie-talkies in Lebanon, which secretly allowed Israel to monitor Hezbollah communications while holding the option to detonate them. For nine years, Israel limited its use of these devices to surveillance. However, in 2023, a new tactic emerged with the introduction of explosive-laden pagers which Hezbollah unknowingly purchased.
The exploding pagers were the AR924 model by the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, which met Hezbollah's requirements for devices capable of operating for months without needing to be recharged, and could be recharged with a cable. This model is not available for sale in Taiwan nor the United States, and the ministry's figures recorded no direct exports of any Gold Apollo-manufactured pagers from Taiwan to Lebanon during the same period. Indirect exports via third parties could not be ruled out.
Gold Apollo denied making the pagers, explaining that they were made and sold by Budapest-based BAC Consulting Kft., which had a licensing agreement with Gold Apollo for the previous three years. Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said BAC's payments were "very strange", arriving via the Middle East. Taiwanese police opened an investigation into Gold Apollo's involvement, searched four locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, and questioned two individuals. Both Economic Minister J.W. Kuo and Premier Cho Jung-tai denied the pagers were made in Taiwan. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) visited BAC's official address in Budapest but found only a sheet of paper on the door with the company name; the doorbell was not answered. DW cited the New York Times, which reported that BAC and at least two other shell companies were part of an Israeli front, intended to obscure links to Israeli intelligence officers. The CEO of BAC Consultancy said they were intermediaries, not involved in manufacturing the devices.
BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono acknowledged working with Gold Apollo, but stated "I don't make the pagers. I am just the intermediate [sic]." Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said BAC Consulting "is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary."
The New York Times reported that the Israeli intelligence operated BAC Consulting and created two other unnamed shell corporations to hide their involvement. The pagers produced for Hezbollah had batteries that integrated of the explosive PETN in such a way that it would have been extremely difficult to detect. Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah did in fact disassemble the pagers for inspections, and may have even scanned them with x-rays, yet were unable to detect the explosive materials. The explosive could not be detected by an airport security check.
Sky News quoted Lebanese security officials saying that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 devices. Israeli agencies have previously carried out operations involving explosive communication devices—notably the assassination of Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash in 1996.
Explosions
First wave
On 17 September 2024 at around 15:30 EEST, many pagers across Lebanon and Syria unexpectedly exploded in an apparently coordinated attack on Hezbollah members, many of whom were seriously wounded. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the vast majority of those who came to emergency rooms were in civilian clothing and their Hezbollah affiliation was unclear.
Facial and eye injuries were the most common effect of the explosions and, according to Tracy Chamoun, the pagers emitted a sound to encourage users to pick the devices up and lift them to their heads. Other reports say that the device vibrated and showed an error message on the screen, and only detonated when the user pressed a button to clear the error, increasing the chance that the operator of the device would be holding it.
The explosions occurred in several areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, including its stronghold of Dahieh in Beirut; southern Lebanon; and the Beqaa Valley near the Syrian border, where explosions were reported in the towns of Aali en Nahri and Riyaq. In Syria, explosions of pagers were also reported in Damascus and its vicinity. Blasts reportedly continued for up to 30 minutes after the initial detonations, intensifying the resulting chaos.
Witnesses reported seeing multiple individuals with bleeding wounds in the aftermath of the blasts. In one instance, an explosion occurred inside the trouser pockets of a man standing outside a shop. Photos and videos circulating on social media and local media from Beirut's southern suburbs showed individuals lying on the ground with injuries on their hands or near their pockets.
Around 150 hospitals received victims of the attack, which saw chaotic scenes. Hospitals in southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and Beirut's southern suburbs were overwhelmed with patients, many suffering from injuries to the face, hands and waist. In response, the Ministry of Health advised individuals with pagers to dispose of them and instructed hospitals to remain on "high alert". It also called on health workers to report to work and asked them not to use wireless devices. The state-run National News Agency appealed for blood donations. Ambulance crews were deployed from the northern cities of Tripoli and Al-Qalamoun to help in Beirut.
The attack came just a day after the Biden administration's special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel and warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against provoking a major escalation in Lebanon. Just before the blasts, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant told the US defense secretary Lloyd Austin that an operation was planned in Lebanon.
Second wave
At around 17:00 EEST on 18 September, about 24 hours after the initial attack, a second wave of explosions occurred, targeting handheld radios.
Explosions were reported in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon. The explosions also caused fires in at least two homes. Other explosions occurred at a funeral held in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child who had been killed by the initial explosions. Lebanese Civil Defense said it responded to fires in at least 71 homes and shops, including a lithium battery store in Majdel Selm, as well as 15 cars and numerous motorcycles. These fires were triggered by explosions in various locations across Nabatieh Governorate.
One compromised device was discovered inside an ambulance outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) and neutralized in a controlled explosion by the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah supporters reportedly prevented journalists from filming the incident at the AUBMC. The Lebanese Red Cross dispatched 30 ambulances to transport victims in the affected areas.
The targeted devices were reported as Icom IC-V82 VHF walkie-talkies, known to be used by Hezbollah. Manufacture of the IC-V82 model ceased in 2014, and Icom had previously issued an advisory warning about counterfeit radios, including the IC-V82. The company said on 19 September that it was conducting an investigation and, two days later, announced that it was "highly unlikely" that the radios were theirs. A sales executive at Icom's US subsidiary said the transceivers involved appeared to be "knockoff" (counterfeit) products.
Other electronic devices, such as fingerprint biometric devices, were also reported to have exploded, though it remains unclear whether those devices caught fire from other explosions or detonated on their own.
In the aftermath of the second wave of explosions, a group of men attacked United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon vehicles in Tyre, before Lebanese armed forces intervened.
Deaths and injuries
Deaths
, the death toll from the attacks was 42, including at least 12 civilian deaths. At least 12 people were killed in the first wave of attacks, including civilians such as two health workers, a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. In the second wave on 18 September, at least 30 people were killed and 750 others were injured. The adult son of Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah member of Parliament was killed; Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited southern Beirut to pay his respects.
Injuries
On 20 September 2024, it was reported that more than 3,500 people were injured. An unnamed Hezbollah official told Reuters 1,500 Hezbollah fighters were taken out of action by injuries.
On 17 September Health Minister Firass Abiad said the vast majority of those being treated in emergency rooms were in civilian clothing and their Hezbollah affiliation was unclear, but casualties included elderly people as well as young children. As of 18 September, it was unclear if only Hezbollah members were carrying the pagers. During his speech on 19 September, Secretary-General Nasrallah clarified the exploded pagers were those distributed to lower ranking members while Hezbollah's leaders did not use the model. According to the Health Ministry, healthcare workers were also injured and it advised all healthcare workers to discard their pagers. On 26 September, Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanon's Foreign Minister, confirmed that most of those carrying pagers were not fighters, but civilians like administrators. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese expert on Hezbollah, said the attacks mostly struck civilian workers, leaving its military wing largely unaffected. On 11 November, , the Lebanese Labour Minister from Hezbollah, made a formal complaint to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO), in which he stated that the pagers wounded or killed 4,000 civilians – much higher than initial reports of casualties.
One eye doctor at Mount Lebanon University Hospital reported that a number of those injured showed signs of something being blown up directly in their face, with some losing one or both eyes, while others had shrapnel in their brains. The Lebanese health ministry reported that 300 people had lost both eyes and 500 people had lost one eye as a result of the pager attacks. Other doctors saw severe hand, waist and facial injuries, reporting patients with fingers torn, hands amputated, eyes popped out of the socket and facial lacerations. The Iranian Ministry of Health reported that it performed 1,500 eye and limb surgeries for Hezbollah operatives in Iran, and that Iran sent 12 doctors to Lebanon to assist in treatment.
Mojtaba Amani, Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, lost one eye and suffered severe injuries in the other. Two staff of the Iranian embassy were also injured.
Impact
Lebanon
Lebanese health minister Firas Abiad said the scale of the attack was greater than the 2020 Beirut explosion, which was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. The head of Lebanon's disaster response committee also compared the pager attack with the Beirut explosion, in terms of the sudden influx of casualties and the strain imposed on Lebanon's emergency response system. Many Lebanese doctors who were treating the injured concurred that the level of injuries was greater than that after the port explosion.
Schools were closed in Lebanon on 18 September, and the Lebanese army announced it was conducting controlled blasts in various areas to destroy any suspicious devices.
On 19 September, the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority imposed an indefinite ban on carrying pagers and walkie-talkies inside checked luggage and carry-on items on flights at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. Air France and Lufthansa suspended flights to Beirut (along with Tel Aviv and Tehran), citing the security situation caused by the attacks.
Hezbollah
CNN suggested that the operation was likely intended to instill paranoia among Hezbollah members, undermine their recruitment efforts, and weaken confidence in Hezbollah's leadership and its ability to protect its operations and personnel. John Miller, CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, stated the message for Hezbollah was: "We can reach you anywhere, anytime, at the day and moment of our choosing and we can do it at the press of a button."
The Economist suggested that the pager-bombs, aimed at disrupting Hezbollah's command and communications structure, could be a precursor to an Israeli invasion. Lina Khatib of Chatham House said the breach could paralyze Hezbollah's military and instill fear, making the group more cautious with its communications. Another theory is that Israel acted preemptively to prevent Hezbollah from discovering the vulnerability.
Lebanese journalist Kim Ghattas, who also contributes to The Atlantic, spoke to CNN, suggesting the incident could be an effort "to cow Hezbollah into submission, and make clear that an increase of their attacks against Israel will be met with even further violence." She noted that it might act as a precursor to a large-scale Israeli campaign, especially as Hezbollah contends with the chaos from the attack.
Jewish-American political scientist Eliot A. Cohen wrote in The Atlantic that the attacks were "a strategic win for Israel"—beyond the Hezbollah casualties—because Hezbollah would not be able to trust electronic communications, and an organization cannot function without them. He also said the explosions served as a "morale boost" for Israel after the killings of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages three weeks prior.
The Washington Post later reported that the attack severely weakened Hezbollah's leadership and encouraged Israel to target and kill its top leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran
Within days, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps suspended use of all types of communication devices and undertook an inspection of all their devices. About a month later, the Iranian Civil Administration Organization issued a ban on all electronic communication devices, with the exception of mobile phones, on all commercial passenger flights.
Responsibility
Shortly after the attack, Hezbollah issued a statement placing blame for the attack on Israel. While Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the attack, at least two US officials and a senior diplomat in the Middle East told NBC reporters that Israel was behind the attack on 18 September. The New York Times later reported that while Israel had continued to deny any role in the attack, twelve current and former defense and intelligence officials, who were briefed on the attack, said Israel was behind it.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initially declined to comment when approached by the Associated Press. Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi held a meeting with Israeli generals to discuss "preparation for defensive and offensive operations on all fronts". In a statement the next day, Halevi said: "We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated... we have seen some of these things, it seems to me that we are well prepared and we are preparing these plans going forward." He also said that Israel will move further in stages, with each stage more painful for Hezbollah, and stated that the IDF is determined to allow displaced citizens in northern Israel to safely return to their homes.
On 22 September 2024, Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied any Israeli involvement in the explosions, though Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu the same day said, "If Hezbollah has not understood the message, I promise you, it will understand the message." Netanyahu reportedly acknowledged for the first time that Israel was behind the pager and walkie-talkie attacks during a cabinet meeting on 10 November. He stated that the operations "were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon."
On 10 November 2024, Netanyahu admitted that Israel was responsible for the attacks. In an apparent dig against recently fired defense minister Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu is quoted as saying; "The pager operation and the elimination of [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon". The following month, Israel authorized a couple of Mossad agents involved in the operation to be interviewed (in disguise) on the American news program 60 Minutes.
International law
Josep Borrell, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, questioned the legality of the attacks due to their high collateral damage among civilians, including the deaths of children. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, also raised concerns over the attack's legality. Belgian deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter went further, calling it a "terror attack". Former CIA director Leon Panetta also described the attack as "a form of terrorism".
The legal questions that were examined attempted to determine whether the attacks violated the principle of distinction (including the prohibition against using booby traps) and the principle of proportionality.
A large group of United Nations special rapporteurs in conjunction with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also said the attacks could be a war crime on the basis that they were "intended to spread terror among civilians", as well failing to distinguish protected civilians and contravening the prohibitions on booby trap usage. They called for an investigation.
Distinction
Indiscriminate attacks
Experts at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the attack was indiscriminate in nature since, by detonating thousands of devices simultaneously, the attacker failed to verify each target to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Alonso Gurmendi-Dunkelberg of the London School of Economics also said that, in order to meet the principle of distinction, Israel would have had to verify if each individual device was in the possession of a military target and not a civilian one. He said it was unlikely that Israel did so, given that thousands of devices were detonated simultaneously.
Professor William Boothby wrote for the Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare that the targets appeared to be persons to whom the pagers were issued and it was "probably reasonable" to assume the pagers would be in their users' possession.
Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, stated: "The use of an explosive device whose exact location could not be reliably known would be unlawfully indiscriminate, using a means of attack that could not be directed at a specific military target and as a result would strike military targets and civilians without distinction."
David M. Crane, founding chief prosecutor for the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone, wrote that the attacks potentially violated the principle of distinction if "methods employed were not precise enough to target Hezbollah while avoiding civilians"; however, if civilian casualties were unforeseen the attack would be lawful.
Civilian status of Hezbollah members
Many sources cautioned that under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) only combatants may be targeted; anyone not taking part in hostilities cannot be targeted. While Hezbollah has a military wing, it is also a political party. US-based human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf pointed out that civil servants are considered civilians under international law unless there is evidence that they have taken part in hostilities. Professor William Boothby wrote that attacks on pagers would be illegal if it was known that pagers were also issued to non-combatant members of Hezbollah: for example, its diplomatic, political, or administrative staff.
Andreas Krieg, a professor of security studies at King's College London, said it was likely the pagers were distributed among civilian members of Hezbollah, such as those working in charities or the civil service, and these people were not taking part in hostilities. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese expert on Hezbollah, said the attacks mostly struck civilian workers, leaving its military wing largely unaffected. On 26 September, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that some of those who carried pagers were fighters, but most were instead administrators.
Hezbollah also provides social services through affiliated charities. For example, one of those killed was a hospital orderly carrying a pager at Al Rassoul Al Azam Hospital, which is linked to one such charity.
Marko Milanovic writes it is almost impossible for Israel to have known whether Hezbollah issued the pagers to military members or civilian ones, given that some pagers had been issued mere hours before the explosions. He concludes the attacks were most likely indiscriminate.
Booby traps
Booby traps are mostly outlawed under the Protocol on Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices ("Amended Protocol II") of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, to which Israel is a party. Article 7.2 of Amended Protocol II prohibits the use of "booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material".
The rules of engagement of some countries, such as the United Kingdom, also ban explosive devices disguised as harmless items. The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual gives watches, cameras, tobacco pipes, and headphones as examples of such items, which are prohibited to "prevent the production of large quantities of dangerous objects that can be scattered around and are likely to be attractive to civilians, especially children".
Brian Finucane, an adviser at the International Crisis Group and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the NYU School of Law, noted that the Law of War Manual gives "exploding WWII-era communications headsets" as a specific example of prohibited booby traps, but also noted that "the United States submitted an understanding to Amended Protocol II that 'the prohibition contained in Article 7(2) of the Amended Mines Protocol does not preclude the expedient adaptation or adaptation in advance of other objects for use as booby-traps or other devices.'
Law of war professor William H. Boothby wrote in the Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare's Articles of War that the likelihood is that "once the arming signal has been sent, the devices used against Hezbollah in Lebanon fall within Article 7(2) and are therefore prohibited on that basis."
Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, stated: "Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby traps – objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use – precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon today."
Proportionality
Janina Dill of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict doubted the attacks were proportionate because people carry pagers to different places, including taking them home. She questioned whether, given hundreds of pagers exploding simultaneously, it was even possible for the attacker to make a meaningful calculation on the expected harm to civilians. British human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice said the attack was committed without regard to proportion, stating, "The pagers and walkie-talkies were of unknown position and destination when they were activated, therefore, it was impossible for Israel to contemplate whether the outcome would be proportionate".
Marko Milanovic writes that a proportionality analysis requires considering two sets of civilians:
civilians to whom the pagers were issued
bystanders near the pager at the time of the explosion
Israel could argue, he writes, that the likelihood of harm to the second set of civilians would be low given the small size of pager explosives. But the first set of civilians would be seriously harmed with a high likelihood. Former Mossad agents said that Mossad tested the explosives to minimize injury to bystanders.
Raphael Cohen, a senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation, pointed out that it was "a whole lot more targeted than dropping a 2,000-pound bomb".
Reactions
Lebanon
A senior Lebanese security source told Al-Hadath that Israel had infiltrated the communication systems of individual devices, leading to their detonation. The office of Prime Minister Mikati said the incident was a criminal "violation of Lebanese sovereignty" by Israel. The government contacted the United Nations, asking them to hold Israel responsible for the attack. Health Minister Firas Abiad praised the health system's response, noting the system was able to "get care to those who needed it, especially for those with serious injuries".
Lebanese journalist Mohammad Barakat, known for his anti-Hezbollah views, called the pager attacks a "Lebanese 9/11". The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that "the enemy succeeded in directing its harshest blows to the body of the Islamic Resistance since the beginning of the conflict with the enemy, in an exceptional security operation in terms of the ability to reach targets and means".
On 6 November 2024, Lebanon filed a complaint against Israel in the International Labour Organization over the attacks, with labour minister Mustafa Bayram citing the threats posed by the explosions to workplace safety as his reason to submit the complaint to the ILO.
Hezbollah
Hezbollah described Israel's attacks as "criminal aggression" and pledged a "just retribution". Those close to the group described a state of shock following the explosions. Lebanese analyst Qassim Qassir said the attacks mostly struck civilian workers within Hezbollah, and not fighters.
Eight days before his assassination on 27 September 2024, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Nasrallah called the attack a "severe blow", describing it as "unprecedented" for Hezbollah, Lebanon and possibly the region. He added that Israel had crossed all "red lines". Nasrallah challenged the IDF to invade Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah was ready, and said that Israelis displaced in the north would only be allowed to return if Israel ceased the invasion of Gaza.
On the morning of 22 September, Hezbollah retaliated by firing dozens of rockets at northern Israel. Some of the rockets were intercepted over Haifa and Nazareth. In Kiryat Bialik, two houses were struck. Four people were wounded by shrapnel: three older men, and a teenage girl. A rocket struck Nazareth, causing a large fire in the city, and in Beit She'arim, a barn was hit, killing several cows.
Israel
According to Axios, Israeli officials said they were aware of the risk of major escalation on the northern border and that the IDF was on high alert for Hezbollah's retaliation. The Israeli news website Walla cited unnamed officials reportedly saying: "Israeli intelligence services assessed before the operation that Hezbollah might respond with a significant counterattack against Israel." Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced the beginning of a "new phase" in the conflict with Hezbollah, and that the IDF was redirecting forces and resources to the North.
On the day of the first wave of attacks, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid was on a trip to the United States to discuss a "ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas". He cut his trip short and returned to Israel in response to the attack.
Shortly after the attack, many Israeli figures and pro-Israel accounts on social media celebrated the attacks and mocked the victims. Internet personality Noya Cohen posted a video wearing a headscarf and speaking in mock Arabic, before picking up a phone which explodes. Similar content was posted across pro-Israel accounts, while Israeli social media influencer Einav Avizemer called the attack an "operation below the belt." Memes were widely shared, including one naming a pager as the new Mossad agent "Motti Rola" and another showing a deceased Hezbollah fighter with missing genitals due to an exploding pager.
Multi-national organizations
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, condemned the attack, saying "civilians are not a target and must be protected at all times". Stéphane Dujarric, the Secretary-General's spokesperson, said the organization deplored the civilian casualties and warned of the risks of escalation in the region. Speaking on 18 September, Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that "civilian objects" should not be weaponized. The Security Council held an emergency session on 20 September to address the situation. Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement saying that "Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law." Amnesty international condemned the attacks, calling it a violation of international law.
European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell condemned the attack, saying they were aimed "to spread terror in Lebanon".
Non-governmental organizations
The Iraq-based pro-Iranian militia groups Kata'ib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba offered medical and military assistance to Hezbollah.
The Palestinian organization Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, described the attacks as a "crime that defies all laws". In a statement, Hamas praised Hezbollah's "efforts and sacrifices" and said "this terrorist act is part of the Zionist enemy's larger aggression on the region".
Mohammed Abdelsalam, the spokesperson of the Houthis who govern much of Yemen, called the attacks "a heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty" and said that Lebanon was "capable of deterring the Zionist enemy entity and making it pay a heavy price for any escalation." Hours after the explosions and two days after firing a supersonic ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, the deputy head of the Houthis' media authority, Nasr Al-Din Amer, said the group was ready to send thousands of fighters to Lebanon in the event of war with Israel.
Governments
Middle East
: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reaffirmed Lebanon's security, stability, and sovereignty and said that his government rejects any "attempts to escalate the conflict and expand its scope regionally", calling on all parties to act responsibly. Egypt also offered medical assistance.
: The Palestinian Authority denounced the attack, fearing an escalation in Lebanon.
: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi referred to the attacks as "Israeli terrorism" and pledged to provide medical assistance to those affected. Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani called the attack as an "example of mass murder" by the "Zionist regime". Iran dispatched a medical team of twelve doctors, twelve nurses and the president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society to Lebanon to provide medical assistance.
: The government provided medical supplies to Lebanese hospitals following the first wave of attacks. It also said that it will strengthen controls at its borders to avoid any "infiltration" or security risk with the imports of electronic equipment. The Iraqi Red Crescent Society and the Popular Mobilization Forces sent planes with aid to Beirut to help the victims of the attack.
: Syria expressed solidarity with the Lebanese people and said it "stands by their side in their right to defend themselves" while condemning the blasts. The Syrian foreign ministry issued a statement carried by state news agency SANA accusing Israel of "its desire to expand the scope of the war and its thirst to shed more blood". It called on nations to "unequivocally condemn this aggression". Syria also offered medical assistance.
: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Israel during a phone call with Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati, saying that its attempts to spread conflicts in the region are "extremely dangerous" and that Turkey's efforts to stop "Israeli aggression" will continue. Turkey also offered medical assistance.
: Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah Al-Khater, called the international community's lack of a response to the attack "terrifying", and stated, "These mobile ticking bombs indiscriminately injure and kill people in public and civilian spaces, when did this become acceptable?"
Other
: Deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter condemned the "massive terror attack in Lebanon and Syria".
: Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian stated that China is closely following the attacks and opposed any act which "infringes on Lebanon's sovereignty and security". Lin also expressed concerns over possible escalations in the region. At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council convened following the attacks, permanent representative Fu Cong called for "the parties to exercise maximum restraint". Fu said the attacks were "so outrageously brutal and atrocious that they deserve nothing less than condemnation in the strongest terms". He called for a "prompt, full investigation".
: President Emmanuel Macron addressed the Lebanese people in a video, expressing his support and emphasizing that "war is not inevitable" and a "diplomatic path exists".
: Foreign Minister Micheál Martin condemned the attack, saying it endangered the lives of civilians and violated the Geneva Convention on indiscriminate attacks. Prime Minister Simon Harris criticized the attack and called for de-escalation.
: The Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, stating that it undermines Lebanon's security, stability, and sovereignty.
: The country is investigating whether a Norwegian-owned company is linked to the attack. Norwegian police also issued an international search request for a Norwegian-Indian man linked to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah.
: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned the attack, adding that it requires investigation and international attention. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the attacks were "leading to an escalation of tensions" in the region.
: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said the government was closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East with concern and urged the relevant parties to seek a peaceful solution through dialogue.
: Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressed concern about "rising tensions and civilian casualties" and urged British citizens to leave Lebanon as the situation "could deteriorate rapidly". He said the UK government wanted to see a negotiated political settlement "to restore stability and security", so that both Israelis and Lebanese people could return to their homes.
: State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller denied involvement in the attacks and said that the country was not aware of them in advance. The United States also urged Iran to refrain from retaliating. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed the need for a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah. Asked whether the attack might have constituted terrorism, she replied, "obviously children being harmed, people being harmed is difficult to see and not something that we want to see".
See also
Assassination of Fuad Shukr
Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh
Assassination of Mahmoud Hamshari
Assassination of Yahya Ayyash
Black operation
List of Israeli assassinations
Targeted killing by Israel
Notes
References
Further reading
2024 in international relations
2020s crimes in Beirut
21st-century mass murder in Lebanon
September 2024 crimes in Asia
Electronic device attacks
Mass murder in 2024
Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2024
Improvised explosive device bombings in 2024
Acts of sabotage
Beirut in the Israeli–Lebanese conflict
Cross-border operations of Israel into Lebanon
Extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military
Filmed improvised explosive device bombings
Filmed killings in Asia
Improvised explosive device bombings in Beirut
Improvised explosive device bombings in Lebanon
Israeli war crimes in Lebanon
Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
Massacres committed by Israel
Targeted killing by Israel
Terrorism committed by Israel
Terrorist incidents in Lebanon
Mossad operations
Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)
Israel–Lebanon relations
Israel–Syria relations
Lebanon–Syria relations
Hezbollah
Pagers
Walkie-talkies | 2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks | [
"Technology"
] | 8,008 | [
"Pagers",
"Radio paging"
] |
77,897,015 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojtaba%20Amani | Mojtaba Amani (; born 21 March 1963) is an Iranian diplomat, who has served as Iran's ambassador to Lebanon since 2022. Prior to this, he headed Iran's interest section in Egypt from 2009 to 2014.
In September 2024, during the Lebanon pager explosions, Amani was injured by an exploding pager. The New York Times reported that he lost one eye and sustained injury to the other, though the Iranian embassy in Beirut denied these claims. His first public appearance since the pager explosion took place in November 2024. He was seen with injuries to the hand, face and eyes.
Education
Amani holds a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Tehran.
Professional experience
Amani began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988, with his first role as the Deputy Head of the Minister's Office.
Other roles
Expert in the First Department of Middle East and North Africa.
Deputy Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Cairo.
Expert in the Office for Political and International Studies.
Deputy Director of the Office for Political and International Studies.
Head of the Iranian Representation in Cairo.
Senior Expert on Egypt Studies in the Office for Political and International Studies.
References
1963 births
Living people
Ambassadors of Iran to Lebanon
21st-century Iranian diplomats
University of Tehran alumni
Explosion survivors | Mojtaba Amani | [
"Chemistry"
] | 267 | [
"Explosion survivors",
"Explosions"
] |
77,898,298 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshtastic | Meshtastic is a decentralized wireless off-grid mesh networking LoRa protocol. The main goal of the project is enabling low-power, long-range communication over unlicensed radio bands. It is designed around exchanging text messages and data in off-grid environments, with potential applications in IoT projects where a decentralized communication system is needed without existing infrastructure.
Meshtastic uses LoRa peer to peer (p2p), a long-range radio protocol, to form a mesh network by rebroadcasting messages to extend communication reach. Each device can connect with a single phone, enabling messaging in off-grid areas, making it useful for not only messages, but also data transmissions.
Hardware
Meshtastic uses hardware development boards, like ESP32 and nRF52840, that support LoRa and BLE communication technologies, along with GNSS receivers. These devices enable seamless mobile app connectivity via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, allowing long-range message retransmission across a mesh network using LoRa transceivers. This setup is ideal for developing communicators that don't rely on conventional infrastructure.
Commercial purpose built Meshtastic boards and kits are available.
See also
FreedomFi
References
External links
Meshtastic Official Site
Mesh networking
Open source projects | Meshtastic | [
"Technology"
] | 269 | [
"Wireless networking",
"Mesh networking"
] |
77,899,535 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diasoma | Diasoma is a proposed clade of mollusks uniting the classes Scaphopoda and Bivalvia. Whether scaphopods and bivalves are each other's closest living relatives among mollusks is disputed, leaving the monophyly of Diasoma in doubt.
Diasoma was originally proposed on morphological grounds by Bruce Runnegar and John Pojeta Jr., in 1974. The name means "through-body", referring to the relatively straight gut with a mouth at the anterior end and anus at the posterior end, contrasting with gastropods and cephalopods, in which the gut is more curved and the mouth and anus are usually much closer together. The grouping was accepted by many studies in the 1980s and 1990s, but a phylogenetic analysis of 18s rDNA conducted by Gerhard Steiner and Hermann Dreyer in 2003 found scaphopods to be more closely related to cephalopods than bivalves. A 2020 phylogenetic analysis by Kevin Kocot and colleagues found scaphopods to be more closely related to gastropods than bivalves. However, a molecular phylogenetic analysis published by Hao Song and colleagues in 2023 supports the monophyly of Diasoma.
The extinct rostroconchs, a group possibly ancestral to the Scaphopoda, are also considered to belong to Diasoma. Song and colleagues inferred that Diasoma originated approximately 520 million years ago, during the Cambrian period, and considered the earlier fossil genera Anabarella, Watsonella, and Mellopegma to be members of the diasome stem group.
References
Controversial taxa
Mollusc taxonomy | Diasoma | [
"Biology"
] | 336 | [
"Biological hypotheses",
"Controversial taxa"
] |
77,900,550 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afabicin | Afabicin (Debio 1450) is an experimental antibiotic developed by Debiopharm for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections. It is a prodrug which is converted in vivo into the active form afabicin desphosphono (Debio 1452) which acts as an inhibitor of the staphylococcal enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabI) enzyme. It has shown similar efficacy in clinical trials to established drugs such as vancomycin, but has not yet been approved for clinical use.
See also
Mupirocin
References
Antibiotics
Acrylamides
Benzofurans
Naphthyridines
Organophosphates | Afabicin | [
"Biology"
] | 148 | [
"Antibiotics",
"Biocides",
"Biotechnology products"
] |
77,900,847 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudouridimycin | Pseudouridimycin (PUM) is an experimental antibiotic isolated from the soil bacteria Streptomyces albus. It inhibits bacterial RNA polymerase through a different mechanism from previously discovered drugs. Pseudouridimycin shows useful activity against pathogens such as multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes, and while it is unclear whether it will be suitable for development for medical use in its own right, modified derivatives have been produced with improved stability and similar antibiotic properties.
See also
Teixobactin
Salbostatin
References
Antibiotics
Carboxamides
Guanidines
Hydroxamic acids
Pyrimidinediones
Tetrahydrofurans
Amides | Pseudouridimycin | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 146 | [
"Biotechnology products",
"Biocides",
"Guanidines",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Antibiotics",
"Amides",
"Hydroxamic acids"
] |
77,900,932 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic%20leaf-crown | The Celtic leaf-crown (German: ) is a motif of Celtic art from the early La Tène period. A leaf-crown is composed of two broad lobe-shaped elements. The crowns adorn the heads of anthropomorphic figures, almost always male and often bearded. The lobes have been identified with mistletoe leaves. The interpretation of this motif is doubtful, but it has been suggested to bear connotations of high status or divinity.
History of the term
The term "leaf-crown" was introduced by art historian Paul Jacobsthal in his 1944 book Early Celtic Art. This motif had been previously termed the "fish-bladder" (German: ) design. Jacobsthal wrote of the leaf-crown that it was "more than mere 'ornament'", and conjectured that it was a symbol of "superhuman beings, gods or deified mortals."
Description and history
Leaf-crowns adorn the heads of anthropomorphic figures, almost always male and often bearded. The leaf-crown is a ubiquitous motif in early La Tène art, surviving on precious metalwork and on stone monuments. Leaf-crowns have been found as far east as Hořovičky in Bohemia. Celtic fibulae are often decorated with leaf-crowned faces. Such metalwork has been found in the burials of elite men and women, such as that of the Reinheim 'princess'. Some have suggested, on the basis of fragmentary archaeological evidence, that actual leaf-crowns of leather were made by the Celts (discussed below). Sometimes the leaf-crown is depicted in concert with other motifs, such as gold torcs or lotus flower designs, but the leaf-crown was apparently symbolically potent enough that it was often allowed to stand on its own.
Artefacts bearing leaf-crowns are generally dated to the early La Tène period, with the earliest dated leaf-crowns in metalwork. Celtic leaf-crowns belong to a period when Central Europe was open to Mediterranean influences, for example from the Etruscans and Greeks. There is no doubt that design elements from these cultures were adopted by the Celts and adapted to fit their belief systems. For example, the leaf-crown is depicted in concert with the Near Eastern Master of Animals motif on a belt-clasp found at the Weiskirchen barrow and on the . Archaeologist Venceslas Kruta has suggested that the leaf-crown arose from a combination of the palmette and lotus flower designs, both broadly Meditteranean motifs.
Some have detected traces of the leaf-crown in later Celtic art. A stater of the Bodiocasses, dating to the 2nd or 1st century BC, has an obverse depicting a human head with horn-like protrusions which T. G. E. Powell has connected with the leaf-crown. Megaw has suggested that the handle-like helmet which adorns a head on the 1st-century BC Aylesford bucket perhaps represents a very late leaf-crown.
Interpretation
For the Celts, the head (and especially the severed head) was an extremely important motif and site of veneration. As Vincent Megaw has put it, "to the Celt the human head was regarded as all-important, the heart and soul in one, the symbol of divinity and the Otherworld". Mistletoe also seems to have been religiously important. Pliny describes a Celtic ritual in which druids cut mistletoe from an oak and mixed it to make a fertility potion. With this context, some scholars have identified the lobes of the leaf-crown with leaves of mistletoe.
Important context for the leaf-crown comes from princely grave at the Celtic oppidum of Glauberg. A life-sized sandstone statue found here, called the Glauberg prince or warrior, is one the best known leaf-crowned figures in early La Tène art. Notable is that much of the equipment the person had been buried with is mirrored in the garb of the statue. This suggests there was some level of identification between the statue and the high-status person whose burial this was. The metal lining of a leather bonnet found in Glauberg has been reconstructed by Renate Fröhlich in the shape of the leaf-crown. The ceremonial Agris Helmet, which bears the holes for some sort of crest, has also been suggested to have originally borne a leather leaf-crown. However, it is not clear from this whether the leaf-crown was "a real ruling attribute or if it is just a means for the dead person’s glorification for the passing into the afterlife".
Associations between the leaf-crown and divinity or supernatural power appear throughout early La Tène art. Multiple Janus-faced, leaf-crowned figures are known within early La Tène art: most prominently the Heidelberg head, Holzgerlingen figure, and a two-headed sculpture from the Celtic shrine at Roquepertuse (though its leaf-crown is now broken off). These are often believed to be Celtic cult images or even depictions of a dicephalic god. The lid of the Reinheim flagon is decorated with an anthropomorphic horse statuette, bearded and wearing a leaf-crown. Venceslas Kruta has suggested this statuette is a "representation of a divine being, probably of a solar nature". The leaf-crowned heads of the Heidelberg head, Glauberg prince, and Pfalzfeld obelisk bear a common lotus motif on their foreheads. In the ancient world, the lotus was a symbol of rebirth, eternity, and of solar gods; here it perhaps possesses a divine meaning.
Gallery
Notes
References
Further reading
Baitinger, H., Pinsker, P. (eds.) Das Rätsel der Kelten vom Glauberg. Glaube – Mythos – Wirklichkeit. Stuttgart (2002)
Fröhlich, R. "Experiment Glauberg. Zur Blattkrone des Keltenfürsten" Denkmalpflege & Kulturgeschichte 3 (2006): 34–36.
Jacobsthal, P. Early Celtic Art. Oxford University Press (1944; reprinted 1969)
Lambrechts, P. L’exaltation de la Tète dans la pensée et dans l’art des Celtes. Dissertationes archaeologicae Gandenses 2. Burges: De Tempel (1954)
Polenz, H. "Ein maskenverzierter Achsnagel der Spätlatènezeit vom Donnersberg in der Pfalz" Germania 52 (1975): 386-400.
Celtic art
Crowns (headgear)
La Tène culture
Plants in art
Visual motifs | Celtic leaf-crown | [
"Mathematics"
] | 1,386 | [
"Symbols",
"Visual motifs"
] |
77,901,927 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPR741 | SPR741 is an experimental antibiotic related to Polymyxin B. It shows activity against a number of bacterial pathogens, especially Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae, acting as an antibiotic adjuvant which disrupts the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and allows other antibiotics to more effectively penetrate into the cell.
References
Antibiotics
Cyclic peptides
Polymyxin antibiotics
Polypeptide antibiotics | SPR741 | [
"Biology"
] | 93 | [
"Antibiotics",
"Biocides",
"Biotechnology products"
] |
77,902,125 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganfeborole | Ganfeborole (GSK3036656, GSK-070) is an experimental antibiotic which shows activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It acts as a potent and selective inhibitor of the bacterial leucyl-tRNA synthetase enzyme, and is currently in clinical trials.
References
Antibiotics
Glycol ethers
Oxaboroles
Amines | Ganfeborole | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 78 | [
"Biotechnology products",
"Functional groups",
"Antibiotics",
"Amines",
"Biocides",
"Bases (chemistry)"
] |
58,165,091 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond%20Clark%20%28engineer%29 | Raymond Clark (engineer) is a British engineer. He is best known for his leadership of the Society of Environmental Engineers where he served as chief executive for nearly two decades.
Clark earned his BSc in engineering in 1964 from the University of Manchester and his BA in psychology in 1967. Starting in 2001, he served as the chief executive of the Society of Environmental Engineers. In 2010, Clark was elected to the Engineering Council where he represented the smaller licensed member institutions.
Clark is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Environmentalist, and a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Engineers. In 2005, he was recognized as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 2014, he was recognized as an honorary fellow of the Society for the Environment.
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Environmental engineers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Society of Environmental Engineers | Raymond Clark (engineer) | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 178 | [
"Environmental engineers",
"Environmental engineering"
] |
58,165,221 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LdcC%20RNA%20motif | The ldcC RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure that was discovered by bioinformatics.
ldcC motif RNAs are found in Bacillota and two species of Spirochaetota.
ldcC motif RNAs likely function as cis-regulatory elements, in view of their positions upstream of protein-coding genes. The genes presumably regulated by ldcC RNAs are decarboxylases of arginine, ornithine, S-adenosylmethionine or other substrates. Endopeptidase C39A and potA (a transporter of spermidine/putrescine) is also relatively common. Thus, ldcC RNAs could regulate polyamine metabolism.
The ldcC motif might have a pseudoknot in its secondary structure, but it is unclear.
References
Non-coding RNA | LdcC RNA motif | [
"Chemistry"
] | 172 | [
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Molecular and cellular biology stubs"
] |
58,165,292 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane%20Maclagan | Diane Margaret Maclagan (born 1974) is a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick. She is a researcher in combinatorial and computational commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, with an emphasis on toric varieties, Hilbert schemes, and tropical geometry.
Education and career
As a student at Burnside High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, Maclagan competed in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1990 and 1991, earning a bronze medal in 1991. As an undergraduate, she studied at the University of Canterbury, graduating in 1995. She did her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 2000. Her dissertation, Structures on Sets of Monomial Ideals, was supervised by Bernd Sturmfels.
After postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study, Maclagan was a Szegő Assistant Professor at Stanford University from 2001 to 2004, an assistant professor at Rutgers University from 2004 to 2007, then an associate professor there from 2007 to 2009. She moved to her present position at the University of Warwick in 2007.
Books
With Bernd Sturmfels, Maclagan is the author of the book Introduction to Tropical Geometry. With Rekha R. Thomas, Sara Faridi, Leah Gold, A. V. Jayanthan, Amit Khetan, and Tony Puthenpurakal, she is the author of Computational Algebra and Combinatorics of Toric Ideals.
References
External links
Home page
Living people
Women mathematicians
Academics of the University of Warwick
Geometers
20th-century New Zealand mathematicians
1974 births
21st-century New Zealand mathematicians
University of Canterbury alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni | Diane Maclagan | [
"Mathematics"
] | 326 | [
"Geometers",
"Geometry"
] |
58,165,888 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT%20Pegasi | MT Pegasi is a single, yellow-hued star in the northern constellation of Pegasus. It has the designation HD 217813 in the Henry Draper Catalogue; MT Pegasi is the variable star designation. With an apparent visual magnitude of 6.616, it is a dim star that is at or below the nominal limit for visibility with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of as measured from Earth's orbit, it is located 79.24 light years away. This star is a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a collection of stars that originated in the same open cluster and now share a common motion through space.
This is a G-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of G1 V. Harlan and Taylor (1970) had assigned it a class of G5 V, but this gives a poor match to the color index. HD 217813 was found to be variable in 1995 and hence it was given the variable star designation MT Pegasi (MT Peg). It displays brightness variations with a period of several days, which is caused by star spots that are modulated by the star's rotation period. MT Peg is classified as a BY Draconis variable.
MT Peg is considered a young solar analog, which means it is a solar-type star representative of how a young, more active Sun may have appeared when it was less than 1.5 billion years old. The estimated age based upon the chromospheric activity level is 397 million years, per Gray et al. (2015). Marsden et al. (2014) gave a larger age estimate of 1.2 billion years, but with a margin of error that overlaps the younger value. Age estimates of the Ursa Major group are around 300 million years old.
The star has 1.07 times the mass of the Sun and 1.01 times the Sun's radius. It is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 3.2 km/s, giving it a rotation period of 5.8 days. The elemental composition of the stellar atmosphere is similar to the Sun. MT Peg is radiating 1.07 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 5,885 K.
References
G-type main-sequence stars
BY Draconis variables
Solar analogs
Pegasus (constellation)
BD+20 5264
217813
113829
Pegasi, MT
Ursa Major moving group | MT Pegasi | [
"Astronomy"
] | 502 | [
"Pegasus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
58,165,894 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung%20Galaxy%20Note%209 | The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (stylized as Samsung Galaxy Note9) is an Android-based phablet developed, produced and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy Note series. It was unveiled on 9 August 2018, as the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It is available in six colours (Ocean Blue, Midnight Black, Lavender Purple, Metallic Copper, Cloud Silver, and Alpine White).
History
Many Galaxy Note 9 features were leaked before the official launch, including its S-Pen. On 27 June 2018, Samsung sent out invites for the next "Unpacked" event, showing a gold S Pen image. According to that teaser, it was announced on 9 August 2018.
On 15 July 2018, a picture was posted showing Samsung co-CEO Koh Dong-Jin holding a Galaxy Note 9.
On 2 August 2018, a picture of the box with the Note 9 was posted from Russia.
Specifications
Hardware
Screen
The Note 9 has a 6.4-inch (160 mm) 1440p Super AMOLED display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The design on the front is otherwise similar to the Note 8, using an "Infinity Display" as marketed by Samsung.
Chipsets
The Note 9 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC in North America, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Latin America or a Samsung Exynos 9810 SoC in Australia, United Kingdom and the rest of the world.
Storage
It has 128 or 512 GB storage options. The 128 GB model has 6 GB of RAM while the 512 GB model has 8 GB of RAM, making it the first Samsung flagship mobile phone with 512 GB of internal storage and 8 GB of RAM. All models also have a microSD card slot that can support a microSD card that stores up to 512 gigabytes of data, expanding storage up to 1 terabyte with the 512 GB model.
Battery
The 4000 mAh battery is significantly upgraded from previous Samsung Galaxy phones such as the Note 8, which came with a 3300 mAh, while the Galaxy Note 7 and Galaxy Note 5 came with 3500 mAh and 3000 mAh respectively. A 4000 mAh battery was previously seen only in the Active variants of the S7 and S8.
The Note 9 has fast wireless charging capabilities via the Qi standard.
Wired fast charging is supported at up to 15 Watts using Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0.
Camera
The dual-camera system on the Note 9 is similar to that of the Note 8 and the S9+, consisting of a 12MP primary wide-angle lens (with the notable addition of a dual-aperture system going from ƒ/1.5-ƒ/2.4 with a 1/2.55-inch sensor and dual-pixel PDAF) and a 12MP ƒ/2.4 telephoto lens capable of 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom (with a 1/3.6-inch sensor and AF). Both lenses are optically stabilized. The lenses were arranged horizontally in the camera module on the back of the phone. Like on the S9, the Note 9 supports video recording at 4K resolution (2160p) at up to 60 fps, with slow motion ranging from 240 fps at 1080p (FHD) and 960 fps (marketed as Super Slow-Mo) at 720p (HD).
The camera software now includes AI scene recognition that is capable of identifying 20 different types of scenes then making appropriate adjustments to the camera's settings to improve image quality.
A unique feature has been added which warns of blinking eyes, blurred photo, dirty lens etc after each photograph is taken.
Exterior
The Note 9 has IP68 water & dust resistance and a USB-C connector that supports Samsung DeX with a dock, through HDMI. It has a 3.5 mm headphone jack along with AKG tuned stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. It is the last Samsung Galaxy Note device to come with a headphone jack. The phone is made out of metal.
The fingerprint sensor has been moved to below the camera setup, just like the S9 & S9+, rather than next to the camera like on the Note 8.
There is also a water carbon heat pipe on the phone as part of the touting towards its gaming capability allowing for longer gaming sessions without thermal throttling.
S-Pen
The biggest change to the Note 9 is to the S-Pen. The S-Pen now has Bluetooth capabilities, including the ability to tap the button on it (hold, single or double) to do certain tasks, such as moving forwards or backwards in presentations or taking photos, and third party support is provided for apps via an SDK.
The S-Pen now has a "battery" (essentially a Super Capacitor) that charges when the pen is docked in the silo, with Samsung claiming 30 minutes of usage (or up to 200 clicks of the button) with only 40 seconds of charging.
Software
The Note 9 ships with Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.5 as the software overlay. The phone was later updated to Android 10 with Samsung's One UI. One UI version 2.5 was released to the phone in October 2020.
See also
Samsung Galaxy S9
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Samsung Galaxy Note series
References
External links
Official website
Mobile phones introduced in 2018
Samsung Galaxy
9
Samsung mobile phones
Samsung smartphones
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Mobile phones with stylus
Discontinued flagship smartphones
Discontinued Samsung Galaxy smartphones | Samsung Galaxy Note 9 | [
"Technology"
] | 1,144 | [
"Discontinued flagship smartphones",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
58,165,976 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian%20Aquifer%20System | The Arabian Aquifer System is primarily located in Saudi Arabia but also in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen.
Starting in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia's rapid agricultural development fueled by government involvement and subsidies resulted in a large increase in water being drawn from the aquifers in the system, many of which are non-renewable. In 1995, an estimated 15.2 km3 of water was removed from the aquifer per year. By 2004, it is observed many natural springs in the area had dried up and the aquifers were turning brackish. According to NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data (2003–2013) analysed in a University of California, Irvine (UCI)-led study published in Water Resources Research on 16 June 2015, 60 million people depend on it for water and it is the most over-stressed aquifer system in the world. The Saudi agricultural sector was shut down after depleting four fifths of its aquifers, which prompted Saudi Arabia to look for less arid land elsewhere, one example being in Ethiopia, causing water conflict as a result.
See also
Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia
Water supply and sanitation in Yemen
References
Aquifers | Arabian Aquifer System | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 264 | [
"Hydrology",
"Aquifers"
] |
58,169,929 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di-tert-butylphenol | Di-tert-butylphenol may refer to:
2,4-Di-tert-butylphenol
2,6-Di-tert-butylphenol | Di-tert-butylphenol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 44 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
58,172,797 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory%20marriage | Predatory marriage is the practice of marrying an elderly person exclusively for the purpose of gaining access to their estate upon their death. While the requirements for mental capacity to make a valid will are high, in most jurisdictions the requirements for entering into a valid marriage are much lower; even a person suffering dementia may enter into marriage. In many jurisdictions, a marriage arrangement will invalidate any previous will left by the person, resulting in the spouse inheriting the estate.
In the United Kingdom a campaign, Predatory Marriage UK (originally known as Justice for Joan) was started, working to change laws and procedures around marriage to reduce this practice, supported by lawyer Sarah Young of Ridley and Hall. The local MP, Fabian Hamilton MP, introduced a bill in Parliament during 2018 entitled the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Consent) Bill, to establish that marriage should no longer always revoke a previous will and have introduced other protections against predatory marriage. The bill was passed but ran out of parliamentary time, but work is continuing.
Common scams and methods
There are several techniques known to have been employed in targeting vulnerable people in this way, often involving coercive and controlling behavior. One example is convincing a vulnerable person to sign over assets before or after marriage to avoid prenuptials. This can be disguised either as a way to avoid tax or in exchange for care and affection, and is often accompanied with legal documentation purporting to protect the person being scammed but such documentation often does not hold up in court, especially if provided by the scammer.
See also
Elder financial abuse
Sham marriage
References
Sham marriage
Elder law
Abuse
Psychological manipulation | Predatory marriage | [
"Biology"
] | 325 | [
"Abuse",
"Behavior",
"Aggression",
"Human behavior"
] |
58,175,832 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitask%20optimization | Multi-task optimization is a paradigm in the optimization literature that focuses on solving multiple self-contained tasks simultaneously. The paradigm has been inspired by the well-established concepts of transfer learning and multi-task learning in predictive analytics.
The key motivation behind multi-task optimization is that if optimization tasks are related to each other in terms of their optimal solutions or the general characteristics of their function landscapes, the search progress can be transferred to substantially accelerate the search on the other.
The success of the paradigm is not necessarily limited to one-way knowledge transfers from simpler to more complex tasks. In practice an attempt is to intentionally solve a more difficult task that may unintentionally solve several smaller problems.
There is a direct relationship between multitask optimization and multi-objective optimization.
Methods
There are several common approaches for multi-task optimization: Bayesian optimization, evolutionary computation, and approaches based on Game theory.
Multi-task Bayesian optimization
Multi-task Bayesian optimization is a modern model-based approach that leverages the concept of knowledge transfer to speed up the automatic hyperparameter optimization process of machine learning algorithms. The method builds a multi-task Gaussian process model on the data originating from different searches progressing in tandem. The captured inter-task dependencies are thereafter utilized to better inform the subsequent sampling of candidate solutions in respective search spaces.
Evolutionary multi-tasking
Evolutionary multi-tasking has been explored as a means of exploiting the implicit parallelism of population-based search algorithms to simultaneously progress multiple distinct optimization tasks. By mapping all tasks to a unified search space, the evolving population of candidate solutions can harness the hidden relationships between them through continuous genetic transfer. This is induced when solutions associated with different tasks crossover. Recently, modes of knowledge transfer that are different from direct solution crossover have been explored.
Game-theoretic optimization
Game-theoretic approaches to multi-task optimization propose to view the optimization problem as a game, where each task is a player. All players compete through the reward matrix of the game, and try to reach a solution that satisfies all players (all tasks). This view provide insight about how to build efficient algorithms based on gradient descent optimization (GD), which is particularly important for training deep neural networks. In GD for MTL, the problem is that each task provides its own loss, and it is not clear how to combine all losses and create a single unified gradient, leading to several different aggregation strategies. This aggregation problem can be solved by defining a game matrix where the reward of each player is the agreement of its own gradient with the common gradient, and then setting the common gradient to be the Nash Cooperative bargaining of that system.
Applications
Algorithms for multi-task optimization span a wide array of real-world applications. Recent studies highlight the potential for speed-ups in the optimization of engineering design parameters by conducting related designs jointly in a multi-task manner. In machine learning, the transfer of optimized features across related data sets can enhance the efficiency of the training process as well as improve the generalization capability of learned models. In addition, the concept of multi-tasking has led to advances in automatic hyperparameter optimization of machine learning models and ensemble learning.
Applications have also been reported in cloud computing, with future developments geared towards cloud-based on-demand optimization services that can cater to multiple customers simultaneously. Recent work has additionally shown applications in chemistry.
See also
Multi-objective optimization
Multi-task learning
Multicriteria classification
Multiple-criteria decision analysis
References
Machine learning | Multitask optimization | [
"Engineering"
] | 715 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Machine learning"
] |
58,176,210 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%20Train%20des%20Plantations | Le Train des Plantations of the Les Rails de la Canne à Sucre association is a long, privately owned heritage railway with Usine Sainte-Marie's (USM's) original gauge of in Sainte-Marie in Martinique.
Location
The narrow gauge train runs from Rhum Museum at the Saint James Distillery in Sainte-Marie through sugarcane and banana plantations over two Bailey bridges to the Banana Museum.
Operation
The heritage train is operated by an enthusiastic team of retired employees of RATP, SNCF, Police and Post Office. It runs Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 13:30.
Locomotives
A Davenport diesel locomotive Moïse with a 232 hp Deutz engine was salvaged from the bed of the Cherry River (Rivière Cerise).
A Corpet-Louvet six-wheeler steam locomotive with works No 1701 of 1925 is exhibited in a well preserved but non-functional condition at Saint James station.
External links
www.traindesplantations-rcs.fr (Official Website)
Victor Monier: You-Tube Video: Le petit train de l'habitation Saint James
Jacques Mathou: You-Tube Video: Le train des plantations (extraits)
References
3 ft 10 in gauge railways
Sugar mill railways
Heritage railways
Transport in Martinique
Sugar industry of Martinique | Le Train des Plantations | [
"Engineering"
] | 260 | [
"Heritage railways",
"Engineering preservation societies"
] |
58,176,588 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint%20Global%20Ocean%20Flux%20Study | The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) was an international research programme on the fluxes of carbon between the atmosphere and ocean, and within the ocean interior. Initiated by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the programme ran from 1987 through to 2003, and became one of the early core projects of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).
The overarching goal of JGOFS was to advance the understanding of, as well as improve the measurement of, the biogeochemical processes underlying the exchange of carbon across the air—sea interface and within the ocean. The programme aimed to study these processes from regional to global spatial scales, and from seasonal to interannual temporal scales, and to establish their sensitivity to external drivers such as climate change.
Early in the programme in 1988, two long-term time-series projects were established in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. These — Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) and Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) — continue to make observations of ocean hydrography, chemistry and biology to the present-day. In 1989, JGOFS undertook the multinational North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE) to investigate and characterise the annual spring bloom of phytoplankton, a key feature in the carbon cycle of the open ocean.
An important aspect of JGOFS lay in its objective to develop an increased network of observations, made using routine procedures, and curated such that they were easily available to researchers. JGOFS also oversaw the development of models of the marine system based on understanding gained from its observational programme.
See also
Biological pump
Geochemical Ocean Sections Study (GEOSECS)
Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP)
Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC)
Solubility pump
World Ocean Atlas (WOA)
World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
References
External links
International Web Site of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study , Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Joint Global Ocean Flux Study CD-ROM National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Biological oceanography
Carbon
Chemical oceanography
Oceanography
Physical oceanography | Joint Global Ocean Flux Study | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Environmental_science"
] | 428 | [
"Hydrology",
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Oceanography",
"Chemical oceanography",
"Physical oceanography"
] |
58,177,213 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unimicron | Unimicron Technology Corporation (Unimicron; ) is a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer headquartered in Taiwan. The company produces PCBs, high density interconnection (HDI) boards, flexible PCBs, rigid flex PCBs, integrated circuit (IC) carriers, and others. In addition, it provides testing and burn-in services of IC substrates and PCBs. Applications of its products and services include liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, personal computers (PCs) and peripheral products, notebook computers, network cards, facsimile machines, scanners, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and others. Unimicron has manufacturing sites and/or service centers in Taiwan, China, Germany, and Japan.
Overview
Unimicron, a subsidiary of United Microelectronics Corporation, started in 1990, grew to global rank of 6th in 2006, and became global No. 1 in the PCB industry in 2009 and 2010. Unimicron arrived at a second position in the 2012 global PCB market with a market share of 3.7% and $2.4 billion in revenue.
References
External links
Official Website
PCB Assembly
1990 establishments in Taiwan
Companies based in Taoyuan City
Electronics companies established in 1990
Printed circuit board manufacturing | Unimicron | [
"Engineering"
] | 266 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Electronic engineering",
"Printed circuit board manufacturing"
] |
58,177,742 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChemInform | ChemInform was an indexing and abstracting service and database in chemistry. The service published abstracts related to organic, organometallic, inorganic and physical chemistry.
Products
ChemInform: Selected Abstracts in Chemistry
The abstracts were published in ChemInform: Selected Abstracts in Chemistry from 1970 to 2016. It was originally published in two parts as Chemischer Informationsdienst: anorganische und physikalische Chemie and Chemischer Informationsdienst: organische Chemie, which merged in 1972 into the single Chemischer Informationsdienst, which superseded in part Chemisches Zentralblatt. The publication acquired its final title in 1987. ChemInform was acquired by Wiley from FIZ Chemie Berlin in 2013. In 2016 Wiley terminated ChemInform service without explanation.
ChemInform RX
A reaction database ChemInform RX (CIRX) enabled users to search for specific reactions published in ChemInform journal.
SPORE
SPORE (Solid Phase Organic Reactions) was a database for synthetic pathways via polymer-bound organic compounds, with extensive data on each individual reaction.
See also
Chemical Abstracts Service
References
External links
ChemInform: Selected Abstracts in Chemistry
Bibliographic databases and indexes
Chemical databases | ChemInform | [
"Chemistry"
] | 257 | [
"Chemical databases"
] |
58,179,215 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot%20Particulate%20Ingestion%20Rig | The Hot Particulate Ingestion Rig (HPIR) is a gas burner that can shoot sand into a hot gas flow and onto a target material to test how that material's thermal barrier coating is impacted by the molten sand. It was developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to experiment with new coating materials for gas turbine engines used in military aircraft.
Mechanism
The HPIR uses standard military fuel and dry compressed air to produce combusted gas flows that can range from 400 °C to 1650 °C that travels as fast as 1060 meters per second or Mach 0.8. A LabVIEW interface is used to monitor and control all the operations of the HPIR parameters and pneumatic table. Monitoring is also performed by Williamson PRO series single/dual wavelength pyrometers, S-type thermocouples, and a FLIR SC6700 mid-wave infrared (IR) camera in order to determine the emissivity of each sample.
Samples are placed in a steel holder in front of the rig at a 10 degree incident angle so that heats up the surface in a uniform manner. A pneumatic table moves the sample into the flame and an S-type thermocouple is used to monitor the flame's temperature. During testing, the sample is initially exposed to a hot gas flow at 0.28 Mach at a flame temperature of 815 °C until the pyrometer detects that the surface temperature of the target has reached 540 °C. Then, the sample goes through several cycles of heating and cooling as an initial survivability check before it can be exposed to even higher temperatures. Short-term durability testing consists of three of these cycles with the heating stage reaching engine-relevant temperatures and the cooling stage set at ambient conditions.
In 2016, the HPIR was modified to ingest sand and salt into the combustion chamber at 1 to 200 grams per minute.
Sandphobic coating technology
In 2015, researchers at ARL were tasked with finding a way to prevent flying, micron-sized sand and dust particles from entering the gas turbine engines of military aircraft and damaging the internal machinery.
While modern engines have particle separators that can filter out large particles, fine, powder-like sand particles that are smaller than 100 micrometers in size have consistently managed to pass through the engine's combustors and attach to the blades and vanes. As the rotor blades experienced cycles of heating and cooling during operation, the particles melted due to the extreme temperatures and then subsequently hardened onto the turbine blades. As a result, the micron-sized sand particles have frequently destroyed the engine's internal coating, which has led to severe sand glazing, blade tip wear, calcia-magnesia-alumina-silicate (SMAS) attack, oxidation, plugged cooling holes, and, ultimately, engine loss. This problem has recently worsened due to the fact that more recent, state-of-the-art turbine engines operate at much higher temperatures than past generation turbomachinery, ranging from 1400 °C to 1500 °C.
According to ARL scientists, the damage caused by these tiny sand particles have reduced the lifespan of a typical T-700 engine from 6000 hours to 400 hours, and replacing the rotors can cost more than $30,000. They estimate that one third of fielded engines used by the military have been affected by this sand ingestion problem.
As part of a collaborative research effort with the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), the U.S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), ARL modified the HPIR so that it can model how sand particles adhere, melt, and glassify on thermal barrier coatings.
According to ARL researchers, the HPIR is the first system to confirm how the sand particles damage the turbine blades at temperatures similar to that of a turbine engine out on the field. Using high-speed imaging technology, ARL scientists were able to film how sand particles experience a phase change from solid to liquid before being deposited onto turbine blade material targets and vaporizing. In 2018, the team used the HPIR to test different coating materials and develop what they call “sandphobic coatings,” which will be designed so that the sand particles flake off the rotor blades instead of attaching to them.
References
Military technology
Gas turbines
Turbines
Test equipment
Sand | Hot Particulate Ingestion Rig | [
"Chemistry",
"Technology"
] | 912 | [
"Engines",
"Turbines",
"Turbomachinery",
"Gas turbines"
] |
58,183,003 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko%C5%A1evski%20Potok | Koševski Potok is a river in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river is partially subterranean, as a significant portion of its course passing through long box culvert, covering the river in a man-made structure and diversion project, designed for gaining space for urban development since the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Headwaters
The Koševski Potok originates from a confluence of two smaller creeks in the region of Nahorevo neighbourhood, on the northern outskirts of Sarajevo, Nahorevski Potok and Grončavica creek (itself continuation of sinking creek called Grabovica which runs between plateaus of Crepoljsko and Biosko), draining from plateaus of Bukovik, Crepoljsko and Biosko, southeastern and southern slopes of Ozren mountain.
Subterranean section
The Koševski Potok enters the urban area of Sarajevo from the north, between Pionirska Dolina recreation park and neighbourhood of Koševo, and at that point is diverted underground. From this point Koševski Potok is underground and it runs through the urban area of Sarajevo all the way to Skenderija neighbourhood, where it meets the Miljacka river near the Sarajevo City Hall.
The stream emerges from underground just below ZETRA Olympic hall, and runs through open space for about 100 meters, before enters culvert again. Some 100 meters before the confluence with the Miljacka, Koševski Potok emerges from it within a public park where the Sarajevo City Hall is situated, just a few meters below the Ali Pasha Mosque. It runs through the park and enters culvert once more for the last 30 or so meters, running under the one of city's main street before empties into the Miljacka.
References
External links
Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Subterranean rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Subterranean rivers of Sarajevo
Geography of Sarajevo
Miljacka
Hydraulic engineering
Water tunnels | Koševski Potok | [
"Physics",
"Engineering",
"Environmental_science"
] | 392 | [
"Hydrology",
"Physical systems",
"Hydraulics",
"Civil engineering",
"Hydraulic engineering"
] |
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