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76,556,237 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamount%20microbial%20communities | Seamount microbial communities refer to microorganisms living within the surrounding environment of seamounts. Seamounts are often called the hotspot of marine life serving as a barrier that disrupts the current and flow in the ocean, which is referred to as the seamount effect.
Around 25 million seamounts are known to exist, however, the research on microbial communities are focused on volcanically active seamounts. The microbial interactions with marine life, such as sponges and corals, demonstrates the potential importance of microbes in the foundational success of seamount communities.
Overview of Seamounts and the Significance of Microbial Communities
Seamounts are submarine mountains which are widely prevalent across the globe, often with an active hydrothermal system. Seamounts also contribute to the global circulation of oceanic primary productivity as biodiversity hotspots, enhancing biomass and species diversity within and beyond marine ecosystems. Their distinctive topographies alter the regional oceanic circulation, resulting in upwelling that transport nutrient-rich water from deep ocean to the surface. This results in unique habitats that sustain the lives of marine organisms, including a diverse range of microbial communities. These unique features of seamounts overall contribute significantly to biogeochemical cycles, particularly due to the involvement of microbial communities in nutrient recycling. Given that microbes are most abundant in aquatic environments, seamounts serve as an excellent focus for research.
Geological Features and Distribution of Seamounts
Seamounts are primarily formed due to underwater volcanic and tectonic activities beneath the ocean floor at the plate boundaries of lithosphere. Additionally, mid-ocean ridges at divergent plate boundaries are common locations for high-temperature hydrothermal venting, which are distinctive habitats, especially to many chemoautotrophic microbes. However, these systems tend to be more uniform in their physical and chemical characteristics compared to vent systems found near volcanic arcs and back-arc regions. Seamounts features a variety of geological characteristics that affect hydrodynamic conditions in a local and regional scale, thus impacting the entire marine ecosystem globally.
The diverse landscapes of seamounts, from cone-shaped to chain-like formations with multiple summits, influence the hydrodynamic patterns which define the distribution and composition of microbial communities within the regions, as observed in the environments of Seine and Sedlo seamounts. Research on various seamounts, such as Kocebu Guyot, the seamounts in the South China Sea, and those like Sedlo and Seine, shows a notable influence on the diversity of habitats and seasonal changes in microbial populations. The variety of microbes found on seamounts is often correlated with levels of Total Organic Carbon (TOC), where higher TOC concentrations are associated with a richer microbial diversity. Specific microbial groups, like Zetaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria, are predominant in certain seamount areas, their presence shaped by the unique geochemical conditions resulting from the geological activities of the seamounts. This phenomenon, known as the 'seamount effect', alters the patterns of ocean currents, leading to enhanced biodiversity and increased ecological productivity. This makes seamounts critical study areas for understanding the patterns and structures of microbial communities.
Diversity
Habitat diversity
Diversity and connectivity of bacteria, protists, and fungi was investigated through studies around the Kocebu Guyot in the Magellan Seamount chain in western Pacific Ocean. The studies showed that bacterial communities had higher interlayer connectivity than protists and fungi. Fungi appeared to have the lowest connectivity of the three groups. The seamount notably decreased the protist connectivity in the horizontal scale, while increasing vertical connectivity for both bacteria and protists, creating ecological opportunities for species' diversity. The differences observed between bacteria and protists may be due to bacteria's smaller size and free dispersal. This study in the Magellan Seamount observes an unusual finding regarding protists, where protists show the highest diversity in deeper water layers. Typically, eukaryotic diversity tends to be lower in deep water layers due to food limitation.
Microbial community dominance around the South China Sea (SCS) seamounts was investigated through examining the similarities and differences of seamount and non-seamount sites. Low microbial diversity is associated with low Total Organic Carbon (TOC) concentration in deep waters, while high microbial diversity correlates with high TOC in shallow waters. In both seamount and non-seamount sites, Thaumarchaeota, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteriota, Planctomycetota, Bacteroidota, and Acidobacteriota were identified. The dominant microbial communities in SCS seamounts included Nitrosopumilales, Alteromonadales, Anaerolineales, Rhodobacterales, Flavobacteriales, Steroidobacterales, and “Candidatus Actinomarinales.” These microbes were not exclusive to SCS seamounts as they were also found in non-seamount sediments. In seamount seafloor ecosystems, Oceanospirillales, Corynebacteriales, Rhodobacterales, S085, and Kordiimonadales are the dominant microbial communities.
In volcanically active seamounts, within the surface hydrothermal vents, Zetaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria are the dominant microbial communities. Archaea are not abundant in this habitat, except in the Mariana forearc, where they dominate. Epsilonproteobacteria and Zetaproteobacteria are rare in the seawater surrounding seamounts. In general, microbial communities are influenced by the geochemistry shaped by the seamount geological processes.
Seasonal diversity
During all seasons, heterotrophic microbial communities dominate for both Seine and Sedlo seamounts. The autotrophic community of both seamounts are primarily composed of small cells. In winter, Prochlorococcus-2 existed on both seamounts.
Seine
The Seine region is in close proximity to the African coast. This area exhibits regional strong upwelling that provides ideal conditions for larger phytoplanktons. During springtime, the Seine seamount has more contributions from nanoplankton and microphytoplankton, however, less from picoplankton. The integrated abundance of Picoeukaryotes and Synechococcus is highest in spring as well. Comparably, the Prochlorococcus dominates in summer and winter.
Sedlo
In winter, the Sedlo seamount experiences more contributions from picophytoplankton near the thermocline. During summer, there is a threefold increase in total heterotrophic activity. The integrated abundance of Synechococcus is high in the southern region of Sedlo, suggesting surface water nutrient enrichment.
Ecological roles of microbial communities
The Seamount Effect
The seamount effect is the principle that the topography of seamounts disrupts the oceanic flow in their area. Due to increased turbulence in the water, this phenomenon results in a greater amount of particulate organic matter (POC) coming down from the surface ocean, which fuels higher biodiversity and production rates than surrounding areas. Seamounts have a higher biodiversity than both coastal and open oceans, but this decreases with distance. Increased production rates lead to increased community growth, especially for unrelated organisms. A large community means that an abundance of niches are occupied, some of which include consuming the waste that is produced when organic matter is consumed.
Sediment Communities
The microbial communities that thrive within the sediments of seamounts differ from those which occupy the sediments in non-seamount areas throughout the world's oceans. Many sediments have ferromanganese crusts, which include ammonia, that can be used as an electron donor for growth. The sediments at the surface of seamounts house more heterotrophs than autotrophs as a result of the large amounts of POC that become trapped within the sediments following turbulence created by the seamount effect.
Trophic Transfer and Consumption
The high production levels present in seamounts contribute to a substantial food source for larger organisms, providing sustenance to higher trophic levels. Food sources also come from a disruption in the diel vertical migration (DVM) cycle, as zooplankton which descend back into the deep ocean in at daybreak following their daily cycle can become trapped by high points on the seamount, where they become a prey item for larger consumers. Both pelagic and benthic organisms are found in seamounts as part of their diverse biological communities. When the water flow is changed, it moves microorganisms horizontally between regions of the seamount, further increasing community biodiversity, but also increasing ecological interactions between different trophic levels.
Interactions with other Marine Life
The topographical effects on physical oceanography can boost diversity, enhance biomass, and alter production levels. In biologically abundant seamounts, microbes are no strangers to interacting with other marine life forms.
Sponges and corals are two of many organisms that find water movements in seamounts favorable. As they grow abundant, their encounter with seamount microbes gets more prevalent. Some sponges can be categorized as high-microbial abundance species, harboring up to 100 million microbes g−1 of sponge tissue. This relationship provides mutually beneficial interactions, such as those related to metabolism, nutrient availability,and microbe protection. Although coral-microbe interaction studies specifically in seamount environments are limited, corals in other deep sea environments also exhibit such important relationships. These mutually beneficial interactions include those related to nutrient availability, anti-pathogen protection, and microbe protection.
Although other seamount microbe-marine life interactions are currently very limited, the microbial life supports higher levels of biodiversity through sponges and corals. These two are foundational organisms that provide substrate stability, allowing other life forms to exist in that environment. With the right conditions, these can flourish into a web of complex ecology indirectly supported by microbes.
References
Ecology
Seamounts | Seamount microbial communities | [
"Biology"
] | 2,103 | [
"Ecology"
] |
76,556,523 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug%20antagonism | Drug antagonism refers to a medicine stopping the action or effect of another substance, preventing a biological response. The stopping actions are carried out by four major mechanisms, namely chemical, pharmacokinetic, receptor and physiological antagonism. The four mechanisms are widely used in reducing overstimulated physiological actions. Drug antagonists can be used in a variety of medications, including anticholinergics, antihistamines, etc. The antagonistic effect can be quantified by pharmacodynamics. Some can even serve as antidotes for toxicities and overdose.
Receptor Antagonism
Mechanism of Action
Receptors bind with endogenous ligands to produce a physiological effect and regulate the body and cellular homeostasis. In a ligand-receptor interaction, the ligand binds with the receptors to form a drug-receptor complex, producing a biological response. The biological nature of receptors can be enzymes, nucleic acids or cellular proteins. Common types of receptors include G-protein coupled receptors, nuclear receptors and ion channels.
Functional antagonists would not produce a biological response after binding with a receptor. It blocks the binding of endogenous ligands to the receptors and thus inhibits the subsequent physiological effect.
Types of receptor antagonism
Reversible and irreversible competitive antagonism
Both agonist and antagonist bond the same active site. Adding agonist dose can reverse the effect of reversible competitive antagonism. Irreversible competitive antagonism occurs when the antagonist binds to the same spot on the receptor as the agonist but dissociates from the receptors very slowly or not. As a result, when the agonist is delivered, there is no change in the antagonist occupancy. Since a receptor can only hold one molecule at a time, competitive antagonists can reduce the agonist occupancy (percentage of receptors to which the agonist is bound). Raising the agonist concentration can bring back the agonist occupancy and the subsequent tissue response due to their competition. Thus, the opposition is surmountable. The amount to which the competitive antagonist causes the agonist log concentration–effect curve to shift to the right while maintaining its maximum slope is a measure of the dosage ratio. The antagonist concentration causes the dosage ratio to rise linearly.
Non-competitive (irreversible) antagonism
Allosteric antagonists
Different active sites are bonded by agonist and antagonist, which means in which the antagonist obstructs the chain of events that triggers the agonist to produce a response at a point downstream from the agonist binding site on the receptor. It irreversibly binds to the active site.
One examples is when Ketamine enters the NMDA receptor's ion channel pore and blocks it, stopping ions from passing through the channels. Also, medication like nifedipine and verapamil stops Ca2+ from entering the cell membrane and so non-selectively prevent medications that act at any receptor that binds to these calcium channels from causing smooth muscle contraction.
Partial agonists and full agonists
In the presence of a full agonist exerting its maximal effect, a partial agonist can behave like a competitive antagonist to lower the effect of receptor binding, generating merely a submaximal reaction. These variations can be evaluated regarding effectiveness, indicating the agonist-receptor complex's "strength" in causing a tissue response. It relies on receptor occupancy and response. A particular medication of intermediate efficacy may appear as a partial agonist in one tissue (lower level of receptor expression) and a full agonist in another (high level of receptor expression) across distinct cell types expressing the same receptor but at varying densities.
Clinical use
Reversible and irreversible competitive antagonism
Competitive antagonists are usually structurally similar to the active compound since they are structural analogues that have to bind to the same pocket. Examples of reversible competitive antagonists like antihistamines (Figure 1) compete with histamine (Figure 2) to bind to histamine receptors, blocking the allergic response by histamine. They are used in treating histamine-mediated allergies and allergic rhinitis.
Irreversible competitive antagonists like phenoxybenzamine do not dissociate from alpha-adrenergic receptors. It is used to block the activity of alpha receptors in sympathetic pathway and is used in the treatment of paroxysmal hypertension and sweating resulting from pheochromocytoma and benign prostate hyperplasia.
Chemical antagonism
Mechanism of Action
Chemical antagonism occurs when a chemical antagonist combines with a ligand to form an inactive product compound, inhibiting the response. In chemical antagonism, the receptors are not involved in the process, and the antagonist directly binds with or removes the ligand. It prevents the ligand from binding to the receptor. As the ligand cannot stimulate the receptor, no physiological effect is generated by the receptors and thus provides an inhibitory effect. The common types of chemical antagonism include chelating agents, neutralising antibodies and salt aggregation.
Clinical use
Chelating agent
Chelating agents are organic compounds which are capable of linking to metal ions. They are usually useful for removing toxic heavy metal ions from body. Dimercaprol is a common chelating agent to treat toxic exposure to arsenic, mercury, gold, and lead. It is in the chelating class of drugs. From Figure 3, the SH-ligands of dimercaprol can compete with -SH groups in natural enzymes for heavy metal, forming a stable metal complex to be excreted through urine. The action antagonises the toxic metal ions and helps remove them from body circulation. However, dimercaprol has a narrow TI and is later replaced by its derivative, 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA).
Neutralising antibodies
Neutralising antibodies block pathogen entry into cells to prevent further infection and replication. Infliximab is a monoclonal antibody binding with tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), inhibiting its pro-inflammatory action. Its efficacious anti-inflammatory action is clinically used in Crohn's Disease, active rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and active ankylosing spondylitis.
Salt aggregation
Salt aggregation refers to reactions between a drug and an active compound forming a salt. Strongly anionic unfractionated heparin reacts with the positive cationic protamine arginine peptide to generate a salt aggregation. The resulting salt aggregate is not anticoagulant and is inactive. Protamine acts quickly, taking only five minutes to neutralize unfractionated heparin, and its half-life is only ten minutes.
Pharmacokinetics antagonism
Mechanism of Action
A drug which can affect the pharmacokinetics (absorption, digestion, metabolism, excretion) profile of another chemical (or drugs), thereby reducing the action of the target chemical. There could be a rise in the active drug's rate of metabolic breakdown. As an alternative, there may be a decrease in the rate at which the active medication is absorbed from the digestive system or a rise in the rate at which the drug is excreted by the kidneys.
Clinical use
Drugs affecting Absorption: antacid
Most drugs are taken orally and are absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. Antacids would increase the pH environment in the stomach and cause premature release of enteric coated drugs, which are designed to be protected from an acidic environment in stomach. For example, proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are enteric coated to protect them from decomposition under an acidic environment. Co-administration of antacids with PPIs would lead to premature release into acidic gastric environments and inactivate PPIs before absorption. These types of pharmacokinetics antagonism should be carefully avoided to prevent loss of drug efficacy.
Since most drugs are either weakly acidic or weakly basic, modified pH would also affect the location at which the drug is deionised, thus affecting the required time for absorption and onset.
Drugs affecting metabolism: phenytoin
Many drugs are metabolised by a set of liver enzymes called CYP450s. The activity of these enzymes would determine the rate of pro-drug activation and the rate of inactivation of active drugs. For example, warfarin, a commonly-used anticoagulant drug in atrial fibrillation, is metabolised by an enzyme called CYP2C9. Phenytoin, a CYP2C9 inducer, would increase its activity and the rate of warfarin breakdown, thereby reducing its efficacy. Patients should avoid the co-administration of warfarin and phenytoin. In cases where both drugs must be used together, warfarin dosing may be titrated up to cope with the reduced efficacy.
Drugs affecting excretion: intravenous sodium bicarbonate
The kidney excretes most drugs through urine. Since urine is weakly alkaline in nature, weakly acid drugs would ionise in urine, making it difficult for them to be reabsorbed. Therefore, in cases of aspirin (weak acid) toxicity, injecting intravenous sodium bicarbonate could increase urine pH, thereby increasing the excretion of aspirin through urine. A similar approach can be used in other weakly acidic drug toxicity.
Physiological antagonism
Mechanism of action
Physiologic antagonism refers to the behaviour in which an antagonist behaves the opposite of the agonist but does not bind to the same active site as the agonist does. A physiologic antagonist binds to a different receptor but not the original agonist receptor.
Clinical use
Both insulin and glucagon are synthesised naturally in the human body to regulate blood glucose levels at homeostasis. Insulin binds to insulin receptors to decrease blood glucose levels, whilst glucagon binds to glucagon receptors to increase blood glucose levels. In cases of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, glucagon injection could help increase blood glucose levels.
Another example is epinephrine (a bronchodilator) and histamine (a bronchoconstrictor). Epinephrine binds to adrenergic receptors to promote bronchodilation whilst histamine binds to histamine receptors which leads to bronchoconstriction. Since they have opposite effects in different pathways, they are considered physiological antagonists, and they are not advised to be taken together.
Quantifying effects of antagonists using pharmacodynamics
Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacodynamics (PD) is the core principle of quantifying the effects of antagonists by measuring the drug’s efficacy and safety. PD emphasises the relationship between the dose and response of a certain drug, which can be illustrated using a dose-response curve.
Efficacy
Efficacy is the maximal effect (Emax) that an agonist can produce. As a receptor antagonist does not affect receptors after binding, it is said to have zero efficacy.
A competitive antagonist does not affect the Emax of the agonist. This is because the effect of an agonist can be maximized by adding the dose of the agonist as the action of the antagonist is reversible. The maximum effect of the agonist can be achieved by adding the concentration of the agonist.
A non-competitive antagonist(or Allosteric antagonist) lowers the Emax of an agonist. The Emax of an agonist is inversely proportional to the concentration of the antagonist, which means a higher concentration of antagonist results in a lower Emax. The maximal efficacy of agonists is reduced as the inhibition cannot be reversed by adding the agonist concentration.
Potency
Potency is the amount of drug needed to give a certain therapeutic effect. It is affected by the drug’s affinity to the receptors and the number of receptors available. For antagonists, half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) is used to measure the potency of antagonists. IC50 means the concentration of antagonist needed to give a 50% inhibition. It can be directly compared with EC50, which is commonly used to measure the potency of an agonist. EC50 means the concentration of agonist needed to give a 50% response.
IC50 is significant in determining the optimal dose of antagonist. A high concentration of an antagonist in the body may result in toxicity in the cell and damage the cell membrane. A lower IC50 means the inhibitory effect can be met with a lower concentration of antagonist and, therefore a lower risk of toxicity. For example, the IC50 of antagonists on cancer cell growth is essential for determining the optimal dose which inhibits cancer cells while inducing less harmful systemic effects in the body.
Therapeutic index
The therapeutic index (TI) is used to quantify the risks and benefits of a certain drug. It describes the relationship between toxic dose and minimum effective dose, thus providing an important insight into the safety of a drug. The Therapeutic Index is calculated using the following equation:
TI = TD50 / ED50, where TD50 is the dose at which toxicity presents in 50% of the population, and ED50 is the dose needed to produce 50% of maximal response. From the equation, a high TI indicates that the drug needs a high dose to induce toxicity in 50% of the population or a low dose to achieve the minimum effective dose, and vice versa.
In the case of physiological antagonists, for example, insulin has a narrow TI. A narrow TI indicates that either excess or lack of insulin can cause significant risks. On one hand, lack of insulin may result in high blood glucose levels and kidney or cardiovascular damage. On the other hand, excess insulin may result in insulin-induced hypoglycemia as aforementioned. Another example is dimercaprol, a chemical antagonist in treating metal toxicity. Dimercaprol has a narrow TI so it is replaced by its derivative, 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA).
Upregulation of receptors in functional antagonists
Upregulation of receptors is the increase in receptor number or sensitivity of receptors. The receptors involved in functional antagonism are regulated in sensitivity, number and location. Therefore, changes in receptors are common. Using a long-term antagonist drug or continuous exposure to an antagonist may cause the upregulation and hypersensitivity of receptors, which means an increase in the number and sensitivity of receptors. The increase in the number of receptors is due to the increased expression of receptors after prolonged inhibition. The upregulation of receptors is important in the clinical aspect.
One example of upregulation of receptors is the upregulation of β-receptors caused by β receptor antagonists (also called β-blocker). The prolonged use of β-blockers results in the blockade of β-receptors, causing cells (mainly myocardial cells) to increase their expression of β-receptor. After removing the blockage, more receptors available for stimulation, resulting in higher sensitivity of β-receptors called the hypersensitivity of β-receptors. Abrupt discontinuation of β-blocker may potentially aggravate coronary artery disease, tachycardia, or even sudden cardiac death. Therefore, to prevent the adverse effects, doses of β-blocker must be reduced gradually over 10–14 days.
Antidotes
Antidotes are agents that can neutralise the effects of a poison or toxin. Antidotes counteract the effects of toxins in many ways, such as by blocking the absorption of the toxin, binding and neutralising the poison, opposing the toxin's end-organ function, or blocking the toxin's conversion to more hazardous metabolites. In addition to lowering the amount of free or active poison present, antidote delivery may also lessen the toxin's effects on organs through competitive inhibition, receptor blockage, or direct antagonistic interaction.
The therapeutic index or ratio (TD50/ED50), which is the ratio of the toxic dosage (TD) or fatal dose (LD) to the effective dose (ED), determines the level of safety associated with a substance.
Mechanism of action
Decrease the active toxin level
Agents that "bind" to the toxin can reduce free or active toxin present. It is possible for this binding to be nonspecific or specific.
Activated charcoal is the non-specific binding agent most frequently utilised as it has strong adsorption capacity and could prevent the toxin's enterohepatic recirculation. Chelation agents, immunotherapy, and bioscavenger therapy are examples of specific binders. Urinary alkalization or hemadsorption may improve elimination in some circumstances.
Block the site of action of the toxin
It might occur either at the enzyme or receptor level. There are two possible outcomes at the enzyme level: competitive inhibition or enzyme activity reactivation. Ethyl alcohol or fomepizole used in methyl alcohol or ethylene glycol poisoning is a typical example of competitive enzyme inhibition. By posing competition for alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) with methyl alcohol and ethylene glycol, these drugs reduce the production of harmful metabolites. For receptor level, the traditional antidotes include naloxone and flumazenil. Flumazenil functions as a competitive antagonist at the GABA-A receptor complex's benzodiazepine site. By doing this, the CNS and respiratory depression would reverse and the inward chloride current would reduce. Flumazenil is useful in treating and preventing benzodiazepine-induced coma from recurring.
Decreasing the toxic metabolite
Antidotes can be employed to either mop up hazardous metabolites or change them into less toxic forms once they have developed. Hepatic glutathione stores are replenished by N-acetyl cysteine, and this process is what leads to the conjugation of the poisonous metabolite N-acetyl P-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI).
See also
Receptor antagonist
Receptor
Dose–response relationship
Pharmacodynamics
Antidotes
References
Medicinal chemistry
Drugs
Pharmacodynamics | Drug antagonism | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 3,800 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Products of chemical industry",
"Pharmacodynamics",
"nan",
"Medicinal chemistry",
"Biochemistry",
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Drugs"
] |
76,556,879 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterbium%28III%29%20bromate | Ytterbium(III) bromate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Yb(BrO3)3. It can be produced by the reaction of ytterbium(III) sulfate and barium bromate. After filtering out the barium sulfate, the solution is concentrated to crystallize ytterbium(III) bromate nonahydrate. The nonahydrate is thermally decomposed via anhydrate to obtain ytterbium oxybromide.
References
External reading
Serebrennikov, V. V.; Batyreva, V. A.; Tsybakova, T. N. Neodymium bromate-ytterbium bromate-water and neodymium selenate-ytterbium selenate-water systems at 25°. Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 1981. 26 (10). 2837–2840. .
Ytterbium(III) compounds
Bromates | Ytterbium(III) bromate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 207 | [
"Bromates",
"Oxidizing agents"
] |
76,556,919 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterbium%28II%29%20bromide | Ytterbium(II) bromide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula YbBr2.
Preparation
Ytterbium(II) bromide can be produced by the reduction reaction of ytterbium(III) bromide and hydrogen at 500~600 °C:
The ammonia compound can be obtained by reacting metallic ytterbium and ammonium bromide in liquid ammonia at −78 °C. The ammonia compound can be decomposed in high vacuum at 200 °C to obtain ytterbium(II) bromide:
Ytterbium(II) bromide can also be prepared by vacuum reduction of metallic ytterbium at 960 °C:
Properties
Ytterbium(II) bromide is a light yellow solid and is highly hygroscopic. It can only be stored in an inert atmosphere or high vacuum. It is unstable in air or moisture and rapidly converts to the oxybromide and releases hydrogen gas. Ytterbium(II) bromide belongs to the orthorhombic crystal system, with SrI2 structure and space group Pbca, or CaCl2 structure and space group Pnnm. Its unit cell parameters are a=6.63 Å, b=6.93 Å, c=4.47Å.
References
Ytterbium(II) compounds
Bromides
Lanthanide halides | Ytterbium(II) bromide | [
"Chemistry"
] | 282 | [
"Bromides",
"Salts"
] |
76,556,946 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium%28II%29%20fluoride | Neodymium(II) fluoride is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NdF2. It can be obtained by shock compression of neodymium(III) fluoride and neodymium at 1000 °C and above 200 kbar. It can also be obtained by reacting in a eutectic system of neodymium and lithium fluoride-neodymium(III) fluoride at 1100 °C.
References
External reading
Neodymium compounds
Fluorides
Lanthanide halides | Neodymium(II) fluoride | [
"Chemistry"
] | 104 | [
"Fluorides",
"Salts"
] |
76,557,122 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg%20Starykh | Oleg Aleksandrovich Starykh () is a Russian physicist.
Starykh earned a master's of science in physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, then worked as a researcher for the Institute for High Pressure Physics before obtaining a doctorate in theoretical condensed matter physics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Starykh split his postdoctoral research experience at the University of Houston's Texas Center for Superconductivity, the University of California, Davis, the University of Florida, and Yale University between 1993 and 2000.
Starykh subsequently began his teaching career at Hofstra University as an assistant professor. In 2004, he joined the University of Utah faculty as an associate professor, and was promoted to a full professorship in 2012. Starykh was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2020.
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century Russian physicists
Fellows of the American Physical Society
21st-century Russian physicists
Russian expatriates in the United States
Hofstra University faculty
University of Utah faculty
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni
Condensed matter physicists | Oleg Starykh | [
"Physics",
"Materials_science"
] | 224 | [
"Condensed matter physicists",
"Condensed matter physics"
] |
76,557,174 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changzhi%20Li | Changzhi Li is a full professor and Whitacre Endowed Chair in Electrical & Computer Engineering, at Texas Tech University. He is also head of Biomedical Integrated Devices and Systems (BIDS).
Professor Li specializes in portable radar sensor technologies that significantly advance healthcare, smart living, structural monitoring, and wireless human-machine interfaces. His research focuses on RF/Analog Circuits and Microwave/Millimeter-Wave sensing for Healthcare, Security, and Human-Machine Interface.
His contributions have led to his elevation as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and he was named as an IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) Distinguished Microwave Lecturer (DML), Tatsuo Itoh class of 2022–2024. In 2024 he was elevated to IEEE Fellow Li is also an IEEE MTT TC-28 Member (TC-28 Biological Effects and Medical Applications Committee)
Early life and education
Li was born in Chengdu, China in 1982.He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University, China, in 2004. He pursued his MSc and PhD in 2007 at University of Florida. His PhD research focused on Doppler Phase Modulation Effect for non-contact accurate measurement of vital signs and other periodic movements, culminating in the integration of theory into CMOS system-on-chip technology. Li became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer at Texas University in 2009, later in 2014 became Associate Professor and from 2020 is Full Professor in the same university.
Academic career
Currently, Li holds the position of Full Professor and Whitacre Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas Tech University and is the head of the research group Biomedical Integrated Devices and Systems (BIDS). The Texas Tech Biomedical Integrated Devices and Systems (BIDS) emphasizes multi-disciplinary research in mathematical modeling and algorithms for signal and image processing. Ongoing research addresses current issues in these areas:
Computer Vision
Stereography
Stenagography
Medical Imaging
South Plains Alcohol & Addiction
Research Center
Image Registration
Compression
Segmentation
Professor Li currently serves as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF, and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology, and he is a guest editor for various academic journals and publications, and guest chair of conferences, workshops and technical committees.
Awards and honors
2024: Six pioneers shortlisted for A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize
2018: IEEE MTT-S Outstanding Young Engineer Award,
2016: the IEEE Sensors Council Early Career Technical Achievement Award,
2015: the NSF Faculty Early CAREER Award.
2014: the ASEE Frederick Emmons Terman Award,
2014: the IEEE-HKN Outstanding Young Professional Award,
Books and publications
Li is the co-author of the following books:
2017: Radar for Indoor Monitoring Detection, Classification, and Assessment, Changzhi Li, Jenshan Lin, Wiley
2013: (book chapter) Microwave Noncontact Motion Sensing and Analysis, Edited By Moeness G. Amin, CRC Press
Li has an h-index of 56, more than 13100 citations, and more than 200 articles in journals (Sep2024)
References
1982 births
Living people
Fellows of the IEEE
Texas Tech University
Electrical engineering | Changzhi Li | [
"Engineering"
] | 638 | [
"Electrical engineering"
] |
76,558,849 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V762%20Cassiopeiae | V762 Cassiopeiae is a red supergiant and a variable star located about 2,500 light-years away in the Cassiopeia constellation. Its apparent magnitude vary between 5.82 and 5.95, which makes it faintly visible to the naked eye under dark skies. It is a relatively cool star with an average surface temperature of 3,869K.
Characteristics
V762 Cassiopeiae has a spectral classification of K0I, meaning that it is an evolved K-type red supergiant star. It is estimated to be ten million years old, has around 16.9 times the Sun's mass and has expanded to 266 times the Sun's diameter. It radiates 15,000 times the solar luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 3869K, which gives it an orange-red hue, typical of red supergiants. Parallax measurements from the Gaia spacecraft show that V762 Cassiopeiae is located 2,480 light-years away. At the estimated distance, V762 Cassiopeiae's apparent brightness is diminished by 1.04 magnitudes due to interstellar extinction.
Hipparcos satellite data showed that the star is variable, and because of that it was given the variable-star designation V762 Cassiopeiae, in 1999. The variability amplitude in visible light is only about 0.1 magnitudes. The International Variable Star Index lists it as an irregular variable, but the General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) classifies it as a BY Draconis star. The designation of GCVS is erroneous, since BY Draconis variability is a characteristic of main sequence stars.
Distance and titleholding
Some websites claim V762 Cassiopeiae is the "farthest star visible to the naked eye", at a distance of 16,308 light-years. This is inconsistent with parallax measurements from both Hipparcos, which found a parallax of , corresponding to a distance of about 2,800 light-years, and Gaia DR3, which lists a parallax of , corresponding to a distance of about 2,500 light-years. The websites claiming that V762 Cassiopeiae is the "farthest star visible to the naked eye" also do not cite any references for the distance of 16,308 light-years, making the origin of this value uncertain.
Notes
References
Cassiopeia (constellation)
BD+70 0090
007389
005926
0365
Cassiopeiae, V762
K-type supergiants | V762 Cassiopeiae | [
"Astronomy"
] | 551 | [
"Cassiopeia (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
76,560,924 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse%20photography | Eclipse photography involves the photographic capturing of solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. This niche field combines elements of astronomy, astrophotography, and sometimes travel photography, as photographers often venture to specific locations to capture these celestial events. Because of the intensity of the sun and the quickly changing conditions, eclipse photography necessitates the use of extremely strong solar filters, usually adhering to the ISO 12312-2 standard.
History
Eclipse photography has a rich history dating back to the 19th century, with advancements in photographic technology and astronomical knowledge significantly impacting its development. The first known photograph of a solar eclipse was taken on July 28, 1851, by Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski, using the daguerreotype process.
Techniques
Photographers utilize various techniques to capture the different phases of an eclipse, often employing special equipment such as solar filters to protect the camera sensor and the photographer's eyes from the intense sunlight. Long focal lengths and tripods are also commonly used to stabilize the image and capture detailed shots of the celestial event.
Challenges
Eclipse photography presents unique challenges, including the need for precise timing, specialized equipment, and often travel to remote locations. Weather conditions can also significantly impact the ability to capture these events.
Notable photographers
Fred Espenak - Known as "Mr. Eclipse," Espenak has documented over 20 solar eclipses and provides educational resources on eclipse photography.
Miloslav Druckmüller - A mathematician and photographer known for his high-resolution images of solar eclipses, which reveal solar corona details usually invisible to the naked eye.
External links
NASA's Eclipse Photography Guide
How to Photograph a Solar Eclipse - B&H Photo, April 19, 2023
References
Astrophotography
Astronomical imaging
Photography by genre
Eclipses | Eclipse photography | [
"Astronomy"
] | 351 | [
"Astronomical events",
"Eclipses"
] |
76,561,136 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paola%20Pinilla | Paola Andrea Pinilla Ortiz is a Colombian astrophysicist whose research concerns the accretion of interplanetary dust clouds into protoplanetary disks as part of the formation of exoplanets. Educated in Colombia and Germany, she works in England as associate professor in exoplanets at the University College London Department of Space & Climate Physics, affiliated with the university's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
Education and career
Pinilla is originally from Bogotá, and was inspired to go into astronomy following the interest of her older brother, and by watching the television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.
As a student at the University of the Andes (Colombia), Pinilla earned a bachelor's degree in physics with a minor in mathematics in 2007 and a master's degree in physics in 2009. She went to Heidelberg University in Germany for doctoral study in physics, completing her Ph.D. there in 2013. Her dissertation, Testing models of dust evolution in protoplanetary disks with millimeter observations, was supervised by Cornelis P. Dullemond.
After postdoctoral research at Leiden University in the Netherlands and as a NASA Hubble Fellow at the University of Arizona in the US, in 2018 she won a Sofia Kovalevskaya Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, funding her research for a five-year term as a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. She moved to her current position as associate professor at University College London in 2022.
Recognition
Pinilla was a 2024 recipient of the New Horizons in Physics Prize, jointly with her coauthors Laura M. Pérez, Nienke van der Marel, and Til Birnstiel, "for the prediction, discovery, and modeling of dust traps in young circumstellar disks, solving a long-standing problem in planet formation".
In 2025 Pinilla received the Royal Astronomical Society Price Medal.
References
External links
Home page
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from Bogotá
Colombian astronomers
Colombian physicists
Colombian women physicists
Astrophysicists
Women astrophysicists
University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Max Planck Institutes researchers
Academics of University College London | Paola Pinilla | [
"Physics"
] | 443 | [
"Astrophysicists",
"Astrophysics"
] |
77,974,312 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISE%20J0304%E2%88%922705 | WISE J0304−2705 (WISE J030449.03−270508.3) is a Y-dwarf discovered in 2014.
The object was first identified from data of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in 2014. Follow-up observation with Gemini South obtained a spectrum of the object. The spectral type was found to be Y0pec, with pec standing for peculiar. The object shows a Y-band and J-band morphology indicative of sub-solar metallicity. Alternatively the J-band morphology could be explained by high gravity. This might indicate an old age of about 10 Gyr and a mass of 21−31 . A later analysis pointed out that metallicity might not be the only cause for its unusual color.
See also
List of Y-dwarfs
References
Y-type brown dwarfs
Brown dwarf stubs
Astronomical objects discovered in 2014
WISE objects
Fornax | WISE J0304−2705 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 186 | [
"Fornax",
"Constellations"
] |
77,975,336 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWISEP%20J1047%2B5457 | CWISEP J1047+5457 (CWISEP J104756.81+545741.6, CWISEP J1047+54) is a Y-dwarf discovered in 2020.
CWISEP J1047+5457 was discovered in 2020 from a preliminary CatWISE catalog, initially determined to have a spectral type of Y0. Follow-up observations with JWST spectroscopy (NIRSpec and MIRI) showed that it had a spectral type of Y1. The observations showed that it had unusually strong carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide absorption. This causes the Spitzer ch1-ch2 color to be extremely blue (2.47 ±0.19 mag) for its spectral type and explains the misidentification as a Y0 in the discovery paper. The strong absorption might be explained with extreme disequilibrium chemistry, low surface gravity, or a low carbon to oxygen ratio. Other molecules, such as water vapor, methane and ammonia are also detected in the spectra. Phosphine is not detected.
See also
List of Y-dwarfs
CWISE J1055+5443 is another Y-dwarf with blue ch1-ch2 color, here this is explained with a young age
List of star systems within 45–50 light-years
References
Y-type brown dwarfs
Brown dwarf stubs
Astronomical objects discovered in 2020
WISE objects
Ursa Major | CWISEP J1047+5457 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 287 | [
"Ursa Major",
"Constellations"
] |
77,975,860 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%20auditory%20ecology | Human auditory ecology (HAE) is a research program in hearing sciences studying the interactions between humans and their acoustic environments.
Concept
HAE studies the "relationship between the acoustic environments in which people live and their auditory needs in these environments. This auditory ecology, a concept initially coined by Stuart Gatehouse, therefore refers to the auditory environments in which humans live and function, the tasks to be undertaken by humans in these complex acoustic environments and the importance of these tasks in daily life and daily routines. The use of this concept was initially restricted to the case of urban life. However, urban habitats are relatively recent in humankind history and evolution, and natural soundscapes have preceded the apparition of Homo sapiens, some 300,000 years ago. For this reason, the concept of auditory ecology was extended to study a different and evolutionary-based question, namely how humans perceive ecological processes at work in natural habitats through their peripheral and central auditory system.
Auditory perception of natural soundscapes
Natural soundscapes correspond to the complex arrangements of biological (animal vocalizations) and geophysical (wind, rain, stream) sounds shaped by sound propagation through non-anthropogenic habitats. According to its most recent definition, human auditory ecology (HAE) is a multidisciplinary research programme attempting to map and explain the ability of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired human listeners to perceive natural soundscapes. In this specific case, HAE aims at characterizing how and to which extent humans perceive ecological processes underlying habitats marginally affected by human activity through their ears and their auditory brain, with a life-span perspective. HAE could be considered as a field of auditory psychophysics, auditory neurosciences and audiology. More broadly, HAE aims to encourage hearing scientists who traditionally work on speech and music perception in urban settings to collaborate with soundscape ecologists, ecoacousticians and neuro-ethologists, and share expertise with environmental and architectural acousticians, anthropologists, philosophers and geographers.
Extended definition of human auditory ecology
HAE studies the (presumably ancestral) monitoring functions of the human auditory system. These monitory auditory functions are used by human auditory system to build a perceptual representation of the close environment, orient and navigate, assess resources (food, water, shelter) and danger (e.g., flooding, predators), opportunities for action, and the general health of the environment. These monitoring functions are assumed to help human listeners build a sense of place and time and operate in their acoustic environment.
From such a perspective, HAE is based on (i) concepts derived from soundscape ecology such as the acoutic adaptation and acoustic niche hypothesis, and (ii) psychophysical and neuroscientific models and methods. HAE operates on the large acoustic databases of natural soundscapes collected by soundscape ecologists and eco-acousticians using standardized procedures and recording material. HAE aims to characterize the monitoring functions of the human auditory system through ordinary listening behaviors (listening to animal vocalisations such as bird songs or insect stridulations, detecting presence of water or rain, assessing water discharge or wind strength ...). Moreover, HAE investigates the extent to which these monitoring functions are adapted to specific information conveyed by natural soundscapes, whether they operate throughout the life span or whether they emerge through individual learning or cultural transmission.
HAE aims to identify testable working hypotheses guided by computational models of the human auditory system, in order to (i) unveil low and high-level auditory mechanisms engaged in the auditory perception of soundscapes associated with natural habitats, green or blue species within or outside cities, (ii) how they develop through life and (iii) the extent to which they are affected by exposure, learning and culture. Although HAE aims to improve fundamental knowledge on the human auditory system and how humans interact with natural environments, it also aims at providing novel solutions to screen and rehabilitate hearing loss via hearing aids and cochlear implants.
Acoustical aspects
Contribution of soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics
Because most vertebrate species send and receive sound for essential life functions (e.g., navigation, courtship, foraging), the collection of sounds perceived in an environment (i.e., soundscapes) can reflect ecological processes. Thus, by studying the structure of the soundscape over space and time, soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics aim to study the dynamics of ecological processes. Soundscape ecology is predicated on two key hypotheses: the acoustic niche hypothesis, where signals have evolved to partition in acoustic space to minimize overlap between species and the acoustic adaptation hypothesis, which states that species' optimize transmission of vocalizations to overcome habitat constraints. Although, the acoustic adaptation hypothesis has received limited support in experimental studies. Recent developments in passive sound collection offer the opportunity to cost-effectively monitor soundscapes at enormous scales. For example, the Australian Acoustic Observatory comprises 360 permanent recording stations and the National Park Service's Natural Sounds and Night Skies division have collected recordings at over 490 sites across the United States. Extracting relevant biological information from resulting enormous datasets remains challenging. Species vocalizations of interest may be manually or automatically extracted, using listening, visualizations of spectrograms, or recognition algorithms. Alternatively, acoustic indices can be used to summarize the properties of the soundscape.
Contribution of computational auditory sciences
The pioneering work of Singh and Theunissen suggests that high spectral modulations (harmonicity) and slow amplitude modulations distinguish biological (animal vocalizations) from geophysical sounds (wind, rain, stream sounds) in natural scenes. Subsequent work by McDermott and Simoncelli showed that geophysical sounds such as wind, rain or stream sounds can be distinguished from other sounds by their textural properties. The latter are reflected in specific regularities or "statistics" of amplitude-modulation patterns computed by the human auditory system in response to these sounds.
The statistics of these sounds and scenes could be characterized further using the large, ecologically valid databases collected by soundscape ecologists and ecoacousticians, allowing to test further efficient-coding principles positing that perceptual systems (e.g., the auditory system) have evolved to encode environmental stimuli in the most efficient way, and that the properties of auditory mechanisms closely match the statistical properties of natural sounds and scenes. The first studies based on this approach indicate that the central auditory system of humans has access to sufficient sensory information in the spectro-temporal domain to achieve accurate auditory discrimination of terrestrial biomes and their changes across moments of the day and seasons.
Psychoacoustical aspects
Historical background
HAE aims to understand human auditory perception of natural (i.e. biophonic and geophonic) acoustic environments. In contrast, the majority of experimental studies of human auditory perception have utilized parametrically generated stimuli which lack acoustic complexity of natural environmental sounds. The prevailing methodological paradigms of psychoacoustics have traditionally focused on investigating how sounds' physical properties relate to the perception of abstract sound qualities such as pitch, loudness and duration without considering sounds' semantic or referential aspects. Furthermore, traditional psychoacoustic methods have relied primarily on detection and discrimination tasks in which a specific acoustic parameter is manipulated (e.g. frequency or intensity) under conditions of low stimulus uncertainty and performed by trained listeners. Overall, traditional psychoacoustics has been highly successful in describing human auditory abilities in relationship to underlying anatomy and physiology, leading to tremendous breakthroughs and achievements in communication and audio technology. However, this approach has had limited utility for understanding the perception of meaningful acoustically complex environmental sounds in everyday life, which typically involves perception of sound producing objects and events along with associated materials and actions.
Ecological psychoacoustics
A growing awareness of these limitations to ecological validity in traditional psychoacoustics has led to the broadening of theoretical approaches and modifications of experimental procedures used in the studies of auditory perception to include tasks involving sound identification, categorization and comprehension. Later efforts explored principles of perceptual organization of complex auditory scenes (under the general framework of auditory scene analysis) and formulated questions in terms of actionable and behaviorally relevant properties of specific sound (under the framework of ecological psychology). A further attempt to bridge the gap between investigations of auditory perception utilizing traditional psychoacoustic paradigms and those pertaining to everyday listening (ordinary listening behaviors) has been proposed under the general heading of ecological psychoacoustics. Ecological psychoacoustics generally considers auditory perception in terms of the ecologically relevant behavioral goals of the listener in specific tasks, situational contexts and environments (e.g. cognition-perception-action loop), while employing psychoacoustic experimental methods to maintain high internal validity.
For example, numerous studies have investigated aspects of listeners' perception of sound producing objects, materials, and actions solely based on associated environmental sounds. These studies consistently demonstrate remarkably accurate perception of sound sources based on acoustic signals alone. For instance, listeners can accurately judge the size and behavior of objects, such as predicting the timing of successive bounces of different types of balls, dropped from different heights, based on preceding sounds. Additionally, listeners can discern the sex and posture of a walker from the sound of their footsteps, estimate the volume of a container from the sound of liquid being poured into it, or infer the configuration of clapping hands from the sound produced.
Ecologically based taxonomies
Efforts have been also made to develop comprehensive ecologically based taxonomies that would apply to sounds of everyday listening environments and integrate them into broader acoustic communication frameworks. However, due to the large inherent variability and complexity of everyday environmental sounds, no general all-inclusive taxonomy has been developed. Nevertheless, valuable classifications have emerged, notably distinguishing between the perception of actions/events and objects/materials. Experimental approaches so far have also mostly failed to distinguish among different types of listening experience such as active and focused listening versus background listening when listener is not actively seeking one or more specific sounds by monitors environment as a whole. Furthermore, unlike HAE, previous approaches to the study of auditory perception have made no systematic distinction between natural (biophonic or geophonic) versus mechanically or electronically generated and technophonic sounds.
Auditory perception of natural soundscapes, biophony and geophony
Two psychoacoustical studies have explored the ability of human listeners to discriminate natural soundscapes in a categorical way. Consistent with predictions of a modelling study, these behavioral studies reveal that human listeners are able to discriminate soundscapes recorded by soundscape ecologists in a nature reserve with their ears only. More precisely, these studies showed that naive (untrained) listeners hear changes in habitat (forest, meadow, grassland, chaparral), moment of the day (dawn, dusk, etc.) and season (summer, fall, etc.), although this capacity is not optimal. Another psychoacoustical study based on 200 scenes including natural settings (forests, parks, hiking trails) corroborated the idea that human listeners consistently perceive global attributes of natural soundscapes, that is structural properties (e.g., openness), constancy properties (e.g., transience), or functional properties (e.g., navigability). These first studies pave the way for further empirical studies aiming to assess the human ability to perceive natural soundscapes and their variations using the sound databases recorded by soundscape ecologists and ecoacousticians.
Statistical representation in ecological sound perception
Many natural environments, such as a flock of birds singing in the trees or a swarm of insects chirping in the grass are composed of large numbers of similar sound events. As a result, their properties tend to be fairly stable over time. Such sounds are commonly referred to as “textures”, and are thought to be represented in the auditory system with summary statistics. Specifically, the brain appears to base its decisions about such sounds on a time-averaged statistical representation, and does not retain the temporal acoustic detail of the individual sound features composing the texture. This average appears to be computed over a window of several seconds. The averaging process occurs even in the presence of other sounds, and helps us to hear other sounds that occur concurrently with a texture. The brain even appears to “fill in” the statistical properties of a texture when it is temporarily masked by a concurrent sound. In contrast, for sounds that are more temporally sparse, such as one bird singing, or a branch breaking, the auditory system does retain the temporal acoustic detail. It appears the auditory system employs two modes when listening to ecological sounds, one that retains the acoustic detail when the sounds are temporally sparse, and the other that averages the acoustic properties over time when the sounds are temporally dense. Although these two modes of hearing have been explored for individual sound sources and for superpositions of a texture with other sounds, we know less about how the auditory system operates when we hear mixtures of ecological sounds. This latter question is an active area of research in human auditory ecology.
Developmental aspects
If human perceptual systems have evolved to efficiently encode environmental signals, as suggested by the efficient neural coding hypothesis, then these mechanisms may be evolutionarily ancestral, and as such may emerge early in ontogenetic development. Few studies to date have explicitly tested this hypothesis for natural sounds, and in general few studies have looked at how young children perceive environmental sounds other than speech and music.
One series of studies. investigated adults and young infants' perception of water sounds. According to the efficient neural coding hypothesis, perceptual systems need to extract the statistical structure of environmental stimuli in order to achieve an information theoretical optimum, i.e. encoding the greatest amount of information at the lowest cost. One common feature of the statistical structure of many natural stimuli is scale-invariance, the property of exhibiting the same statistical structure at different spatial or temporal scales. The studies conducted with water sounds tested whether sounds produced by a generative model of gamma tone chirps obeying scale-invariance were perceived as instances of natural water sounds, while those having a variable-scale structure were not. Indeed, adults rated a wide range of scale-invariant, but not variable-scale, sounds as natural recordings of brooks and streams, and qualitatively described them as various forms of water. Five-month-old infants also showed categorical discrimination between scale-invariant and variable-scale sounds, and the newborn brain just 1–3 days after birth responded differentially to scale-invariant and variable-scale water sounds in the left inferior frontal and temporal areas
These results suggest that the perception of natural sounds may indeed be efficient early on in human development, and pave the way for further studies of this hypothesis involving a much greater variety of natural sounds and soundscapes.
Emotional aspects and health benefits
Psychological studies
Emotion perception of environmental sounds can be described within the dimensional view of affect, specifically along a combination of several continua. Two dimensions often dominate, specifically valence (unpleasant to pleasant) and arousal (calming to exciting), Although emotions could be high on either nor neither dimension, sounds that elicit emotions near the valence extremes (e.g., very pleasant or very unpleasant), also tend to be high in the arousal dimension (e.g., exciting or activating). The valence dimension reflects the motivational theory of emotion, where valence of an emotion supports a person's motivation. Unpleasant emotions (e.g., in response to a lion) facilitate attention and inspire action. Pleasant emotions (e.g., in response to birdsong) encourage approach behavior and support well-being, such as through stress recovery or creative thinking. Thus, both pleasant and unpleasant emotions serve important functions. Adults with permanent, sensorineural hearing loss do not report a full range of emotional responses to non-speech sounds; their range of ratings of valence is less extreme (less pleasant, less unpleasant) compared to their peers with normal hearing, even when they are similarly aged. This is true for natural and manmade sounds.
Soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics
Exposure to nature provides a variety of health benefits. Soundscapes in particular provide crucial information, where sounds enable most species, including humans, to surveil their surroundings. From an evolutionary perspective, a soundscape that is full of natural sounds, can be an indicator of an environment rich in resources needed for survival. Thus, a natural acoustic environment stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing mental recuperation and a reduction in stress-related behaviour. Two psychological theories explain the mechanistic basis of the restorative effects of exposure to natural soundscapes: Attention Restoration Theory, the ability of nature to replenish attention and Stress Recovery theory, where nature is less arousing than fatigue-inducing urban environments, leading to recovery from stress. A synthesis of studies examining the evidence of health benefits of natural soundscapes revealed decreased stress and annoyance and improved health and positive affective outcomes. Examples of beneficial outcomes of listening to natural sounds included decreased pain, lower stress, improved mood, and enhanced cognitive performance
Soundscape studies
Soundscape studies play an important role within the framework of HAE, focusing on human sensory and emotional auditory processing. Defined by ISO 12913 as the acoustic environment perceived by humans within a contextual framework, soundscape studies diverge from traditional environmental noise research by emphasizing positive health and perceptual outcomes, particularly regarding the (measurable) restorative properties of natural sounds. Contrary to assumptions within HAE, soundscape studies reveal cultural variations in individuals' and communities' responses to natural sounds. The ISO 12913 series, comprising theoretical frameworks, data collection and data analysis methods, serves as a cornerstone in soundscape literature. Advancements in the field include innovative methods for visualizing and analyzing quantitative soundscape data, alongside prediction models that simulate human perceptions of present and future/hypothetical acoustic environments. These models utilize objective metrics as predictors and subjective metrics as descriptors, enabling a deeper understanding of how humans experience acoustic environments within context and driving progress in understanding and optimizing auditory experiences in natural habitats.
Audiological aspects
Effects of aging and hearing loss
Older adults with normal hearing or with mild hearing losses appear to maintain generally robust source recognition of environmental sounds in quiet. However, when tested under more challenging conditions which closer approximate everyday listening environments, older adults with and without hearing loss require greater signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to identify sounds in scenes. Middle-aged and older adults with normal hearing and those with some degree of sensorineural hearing loss also perform poorer than younger adults in tasks which involve perception of multiple environmental sounds. Furthermore, irrespective of age and severity of hearing loss, people with hearing loss exhibit great difficulties discriminating natural soundscapes that vary systematically in terms of place (forest, meadow, grassland, chaparral), moment of the day (dawn, midday, dusk and night) and season (autumn, winter, spring and summer)
Effects of conventional hearing aids
The primary complaint of people with hearing impairment is difficulty to understand speech in noise. As such, substantial knowledge has been acquired about mechanisms behind speech perception (2) and several speech-in-noise testing tools have been developed. People with hearing impairment can benefit from the use of hearing aids. Research in auditory reality of hearing aid users has shown that people spend approximately 31% of time in situations involving speech communication, whereas they spend about 45% of time in situations where they are monitoring surroundings or passive listening. It has been proposed that HAE should not be limited to the case of urban settings and communication but should be extended to perception of wild or rural soundscapes. The ability to experience sounds of nature can lead to feeling less pain, lower stress, enhanced mood and improved cognitive performance. People who use hearing aids report positive listening experiences that involve not only communication, but also perception of environmental and nature sounds (e.g., "the forest sounds completely different," "nice to hear the wind howling," "can hear traffic and the rain," "heard rustling leaves and rustling of the trees," "can hear the sparrow singing.").
Effects of cochlear implants
First time users of sensory aids, hearing aids and cochlear implants often report new or renewed ability to recognize various natural, machine-produced or electronic sounds in their environments. Improvement in environmental sound perception is frequently cited by adults with hearing loss as an anticipated benefit of sensory aids. Nevertheless, when explicitly tested, the ability of cochlear implant users to identify common environmental sounds shows considerable decrement compared to normal hearing peers. Limited current research, further indicates no significant improvement in environmental sound perception following implantation. Given the ubiquity of nonlinguistic environmental sounds as well as their recognized importance for maintaining personal safety, well-being and awareness of their surroundings. environmental sound perception appears to be a fertile area for theoretical and applied auditory perception research
Effects of hearing loss and hearing aids on emotional processing
Adults with permanent, sensorineural hearing loss do not experience a full range of emotional responses to non-speech sounds; they report emotional responses that are extreme (less pleasant and less unpleasant) than do their similarly aged peers with normal hearing. The reason for this reduced range of emotional responses is unclear. One explanation is audible bandwidth. Hearing loss in adults commonly causes changes in audible bandwidth, especially reduced audibility of high frequencies, such as those about 2000 Hz. However, low- and high-frequency cues (<800 and >2000 Hz, respectively) are important for emotional responses to non-speech sounds. Therefore, improving audibility of high frequency cues, such as with a hearing aid or cochlear implant, would be expected to expand the range of emotional responses to sound. However, even while using the current standard-of-care intervention for permanent hearing loss, including hearing aids, adults demonstrate this reduced range of pleasant responses Therefore, other acoustic cues, such as amplitude modulations, might play an important role in emotional processing of non-speech sounds. Because modern hearing aids have amplitude compression, it is possible that assistive listening devices are reducing the amplitude modulation cues important for emotional responses to sounds.
Auditory awareness of environmental changes
Contribution of sounsdcape ecology and eco-acoustics
Soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics study ecological questions using the analysis of environmental sound. Because of their unique climate, vegetation and animal communities, ecosystems are associated with environmental sounds showing unique patterns and dynamics. Changing of those soundscapes have been shown to reflect local disturbances within ecosystems. This is exemplified by the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata affecting the local fauna and therefore silencing the forest of New Caledonia, the soundscape's diversity showing a flat response in burned area in comparison to unburned area, 3 years after a massive wildfire in the Chiricahua national monument in Arizona or the increase in biological sounds in cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethnographic surveys in human geography highlight the awareness of human beings in the face of these changes. Altogether, these findings warrant detailed psychoacoustical investigations aiming to assess the ability of human listeners to hear changes reflecting local disturbances within ecosystems.
References
Auditory system
Audiology
Acoustics
Environment and health | Human auditory ecology | [
"Physics"
] | 4,777 | [
"Classical mechanics",
"Acoustics"
] |
77,975,884 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps%20%28supercomputer%29 | The Alps supercomputer is a high-performance computer funded by the Swiss Confederation through the ETH Domain, with its main location in Lugano. It is part of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), which provides computing services for selected scientific customers.
The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) was founded in 1991. This center operates a user lab for computing services. Examples in the past include the analysis of data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, data storage for the X-ray laser SwissFEL of the Paul Scherrer Institute, and simulations for weather forecasts by MeteoSwiss. These computing services have been provided over time by increasingly powerful computing systems. Since 2020 and the commissioning of the high-performance computer HPE Cray EX, the name Alps has been used for the new computers. On September 14, 2024, the latest supercomputer Alps HPE Cray EX254n was inaugurated. Even beforehand, the planned performance of Alps was described as being able to train the LLM GPT-3 from OpenAI in two days. This supercomputer is based on Grace Hopper GH200 integrated circuits (ICs) from Nvidia and achieves a performance of 270 petaflops per second, which means 270 quadrillion operations per second. In 2024, it ranks 6th (TOP500 list) among the world's fastest computers, although the in-house computers of Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet Inc./Google LLC, and Oracle are likely more powerful, but their performance is not known. A panel of experts from various natural sciences decides who is allowed to use this new computer. The use by a research collaboration of EPFL and the Yale Institute for Global Health has already been approved. This research group uses an open-source AI model from Meta and trained it on Alps with health data from medical research. With Alps, scientists in Switzerland receive an infrastructure to exploit many possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI). The new supercomputer is used as part of the Swiss AI Initiative by the ETH Zurich and EPFL.
Structure
To suitably house and operate modern supercomputers, a new data center building and an adjacent office building were constructed in Lugano-Cornadero. The data center building consists of three floors. The lowest floor houses the basic infrastructure with primary power and water distribution as well as an emergency power supply via batteries. The cooling of the computers and the buildings in summer is done with lake water from Lake Lugano. From a depth of 45 meters, 460 liters of cold lake water per second are supplied to the data center via 2.8 km long pipes. There, it cools the internal cooling circuit of the computer via a heat exchanger. The secondary distribution is done on the middle floor using power distribution units, which allow flexible installation of the computers above. The computers are located on the top floor. The latest Alps highly-parallel supercomputer was delivered by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which acquired the supercomputer-specialized company Cray as a subsidiary in 2019. It is installed on an area of 2000 m2. The total cost was about 100 million CHF.
Electronics
In order to achieve superior performance, combinations of central processors (CPUs) with graphics processors (GPUs) as well as their associated memories (128 GB LPDDR-5X RAM; 96 GB HBM-3) are placed in close proximity on the same monolithic integrated circuit provided by Nvidia. Arrays of 72 CPUs are called Grace and consist of ARMv9-Neoverse-V2 processors, which are RISC processors. The 132 GPUs are called Hopper H100 Tensor Core. The combinations of said 72 CPUs together with 132 GPUs integrated on a VLSI chip are called GH200 Grace Hopper in memory of Grace Hopper. A total of 1'305'600 processor cores (CPUs and GPUs) are available on this Alps system. Data exchanges between the 2'688 nodes occur on an Ethernet-type network called Slingshot-11 at a rate of 200 Gbit/s. A single node is composed of four GH200, in a Quad GH200 configuration. Every Quad GH200 node acts as a single NUMA system, with 288 CPU cores and 4 GPUs. The Grace CPUs communicate through a cache-coherent interconnect, while the Hopper GPUs communicate through NVLink.
Operation
A team from CSCS develops special software for different applications. The power consumption of the computer at full load is 10 MW. The electricity costs are estimated to be around 15 million CHF per year.
References
Supercomputers
Massively parallel computers | Alps (supercomputer) | [
"Technology"
] | 980 | [
"Supercomputers",
"Supercomputing"
] |
77,976,030 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-tripping%20%28computer%20science%29 | Round-tripping in computer sciences refers to the process of converting data from one format or system to another and then back again to the original format or system, ensuring that the data remains unchanged throughout the process. This concept is significant in data interchange, software development, and data integrity to verify that data transformations do not introduce errors or loss of information.
Overview
Round-tripping ensures that data can move between different formats or systems without loss of information or fidelity. It is a crucial aspect in systems that require interoperability and accurate data exchange.
For example, a document might be converted from XML to JSON and then back to XML. If the final XML is identical to the original, the round-trip is considered successful.
Common use cases
Databases: When migrating data between different database systems or formats, round-tripping validates that data remains consistent after conversion.
File Formats: Converting documents between formats, such as from Microsoft Word to OpenDocument Format and back, to ensure document fidelity. Converting a document from HTML to Markdown and back, checking for consistency.
Serialization and Deserialization: Converting objects to a storable or transmittable format (like JSON or XML) and back into objects without losing data.
In the context of graph databases, round-tripping can validate conversions between different graph models, such as from the Resource Description Framework (RDF) to Property Graphs and back, ensuring the original semantics and structure are preserved.
Importance
Round-tripping is vital for data integrity, especially in distributed systems where data passes through various components using different formats or models. It helps identify issues in data transformations and ensures that interoperability does not come at the cost of data loss or corruption.
References
See also
Data interchange
Data integrity
Serialization
Data migration
Round-trip format conversion
Data quality
Data management
Computer data | Round-tripping (computer science) | [
"Technology"
] | 371 | [
"Data management",
"Computer data",
"Data"
] |
77,977,581 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera%20autoinducer-1 | Cholera autoinducer-1 (CAI-1) is an autoinducer signaling molecule present in the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera. CAI-1 is known structurally as a (S)-3-hydroxytridecan and regulates expression of virulence factors.
Discovery
V. cholerae is the bacterium that houses the CAI-1 chemokine, and was incidentally discovered twice at different locations and by different people independent of the other. Once by Filippo Pacini in 1854 and again by Robert Koch in 1883. CAI-1 has no readily apparent recordable discovery date, but some of the earliest studies on autoinducers within and the quorum-sensing nature of V. cholerae was done by the Microbiology department of Harvard Medical school. Prior to the study of V. cholerae, researchers obtained data from a close relative, Vibrio harveyi. Interestingly, the accumulation of autoinducer in colonies of V. cholera decrease LuxO repression on hapR expression. Research seems indicative that hapR plays a role in protecting the cell from virulence factors, thereby helping the cell survive.
Chemical structure and properties
CAI-1 is identified as (S)-3-hydroxytridecan. It is produced by multiple Vibrio species, functioning as an intra-genus signal. CAI-1 directly works with AI-2, which aids in interspecies communication. AI-2 is identified as (2S,4S)-2-methyl-2,3,3,4-tetrahydroxytetrahydrofuran borate. The two autoinducers are created by synthase CqsA and LuxS. CAI-1 has a molecular weight of 214.34 g/mol, with the formula C13H26O2. It is synthesized by CqsA, a pyridoxal phosphate dependent amintotransferase enzyme, but its role is not fully known. CqsA can be identified by substrates (S)-2-aminobutyrate and deconyl coenzyme A.
Furthermore, an example of the effects of CAI-1 on its capacity to grow and reproduce can be shown from the studies of the National Library of Medicine (NIH). NIH demonstrates that an abundance of autoinducer within the Vibrio cholerae genus can yield to the formation of a certain protease that upon activation leads to degradation of attachment sites, thereby allowing the bacterial strain to be free from restraints and be carried to another area for growth.
Role in biofilm formation
CAI-1 plays a critical role in regulating biofilm formation in Vibrio cholerae by controlling the switch between biofilm production and dispersal through quorum sensing. At low cell densities and when CAI-1 levels are minimal, V. cholerae favors biofilm formation as a survival strategy in environmental reservoirs. Biofilms protect the bacteria from environmental stresses and allow them to persist in aquatic environments. As cell density increases and CAI-1 accumulates, it activates the quorum sensing pathways that inhibit further biofilm formation and promote dispersal, enabling the bacteria to spread and infect new hosts.
As part of the quorum sensing system, CAI-1 primarily functions to sense the presence of Vibrio species and integrates signals from multiple autoinducers. Research shows that while CAI-1 alone can initiate a response at low cell densities, both CAI-1 and the more abundantly produced autoinducer-2 (AI-2) must be present in sufficient quantities to fully repress biofilm formation. This dual autoinducer system allows V. cholerae to assess both its own population and the presence of other bacterial species in the environment, changing its biofilm behavior based on what is around it.
These insights suggest that CAI-1 plays a key role in ensuring that V. cholerae only disperses from biofilms when sufficient bacterial density is achieved, and when the surrounding environment supports successful transmission and colonization. This makes CAI-1 a potential target for therapies aimed at disrupting biofilm formation to control cholera outbreaks.
Role in quorum sensing
Quorum sensing is essentially the intercommunication between cells to interact and respond to its environment.V. cholerae uses two autoinducers: cholera autoinducer-1 (CAI-1) and autoinducer-2 (AI-2). CAI-1 is the major quorum-sensing signal. Quorum sensing is the cell to cell communication that allows organisms to share information. This process can be used to control pathogenicity and biofilm formation, determine population size and modulate virulence mechanisms, and track changes in the cell or gene expression. Quorum sensing uses production, release, accumulation, and detection of autoinducers to do their work.
CAI-1 and AI-2 transduce information into a cell using a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cascade affecting target gene expression. Specifically in V. cholerae, CqsS detects CAI-1 and LuxS detects AI-2. Information from these two autoinducers is transducer through LuxO to maintain levels of HapR transcription factor. HapR represses genes for biofilm formation and production of virulence factors. This is the goal of quorum sensing at high cell densities. At lower cell densities, without autoinducers, HapR is not produced.
Signaling pathway
In Vibrio cholerae, it is through quorum sensing that bacterial cells are able to behave and communicate based on the amount of bacterial cells present. When the concentration of CAI-1 reaches a certain limit, it binds to CqsS (a receptor for CAI-1). Transcription of virulence genes, including those responsible for the production of cholera toxin, is then activated because of the phosphorylation cascade caused by the binding of CqsS. Because of the ability for V. cholerae to adapt to its environment through CAI-1's ability to facilitate communication, it increases the pathogenic abilities in the host.
The downstream signaling cascades that are triggered by CAI-1 binding to CqsS includes multiple regulatory pathways. CqsS undergoes autophosphorylation which involves the transfer of the phosphate group to LuxO, a response regulator. This activates LuxO, which inhibits the synthesis of HapR, a master regulator, through the expression of small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs). As the HapR levels decrease, there is upregulation of virulence factors and biofilm formation which enhances the ability for the bacteria to cause infection. The way that this system works allows for efficient adaptation to the host environment and for V. cholerae to infect more efficiently.
Function in Vibrio cholerae pathogenesis
CAI-1 is an important signaling molecule that has a role in regulating virulence factors, such as the cholera toxin, in Vibrio cholerae. This is done through a quorum sensing mechanism. As V. cholerae multiplies, genes of the virulence factors are expressed as amount of CAI-1 accumulates including the ones that encode for the cholera toxin. This toxin has the ability to disrupt electrolyte balance in intestinal epithelial cells which can lead to issues including severe diarrhea, which is known to be a common symptom of this toxin. In addition to the cholera toxin, there are other virulence factors such as surface adhesins, which are essential in helping the bacteria to adhere to the intestinal mucosa. This will consequently assist the bacteria in its pathogenic properties.
Because CAI-1 assists in facilitating biofilm formation, it plays a significant role in promoting colonization of the human gut. This provides a way for V. cholerae to avoid attacks from the host immune responses as well as any antibiotics. The signaling cascades initiated by CAI-1 enable V. cholerae to survive and infect in the harsh conditions of the gut. Observing the important role of CAI-1 in V. cholerae can highlight possible key targets for any future therapeutic intervention.
References
Wikipedia Student Program
Cholera
Signal transduction
Bacterial substances | Cholera autoinducer-1 | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 1,696 | [
"Bacterial substances",
"Signal transduction",
"Biomolecules",
"Bacteria",
"Biochemistry",
"Neurochemistry"
] |
77,978,272 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tert-Butyl%20methacrylate | tert-Butyl methacrylate is an organic compound with the formula . A colorless solid, it is a common monomer for the preparation of methacrylate polymers. It is employed in other kinds of polymerizations.
See also
Butyl methacrylate
References
Methacrylate esters
Monomers
Commodity chemicals
Tert-Butyl esters | Tert-Butyl methacrylate | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 80 | [
"Monomers",
"Commodity chemicals",
"Polymer chemistry",
"Products of chemical industry"
] |
77,978,514 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-%CE%B1-synuclein%20drug | An anti-α-synuclein drug, or an α-synuclein inhibitor, is a drug which blocks or inhibits α-synuclein. α-Synuclein is a protein which is thought to be involved in the development and progression of α-synucleinopathies including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. Anti-α-synuclein drugs are under development for treatment of Parkinson's disease and other α-synuclein-related diseases. Examples include the monoclonal antibodies prasinezumab and cinpanemab, which both failed to show effectiveness in slowing the progression of Parkinson's disease in phase 2 clinical trials. Other anti-α-synuclein drugs, like the monoclonal antibody exidavnemab, the α-synuclein vaccines PD01A and PD03A, and the small-molecule α-synuclein misfolding and aggregation inhibitors minzasolmin and emrusolmin, are also under development. Memantine is also being studied as a potential disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson's disease by inhibiting cell-to-cell transmission of α-synuclein and is in a phase 3 trial for this purpose.
See also
Anti-amyloid drugs
References
Experimental drugs
Experimental monoclonal antibodies
Parkinson's disease | Anti-α-synuclein drug | [
"Chemistry"
] | 284 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
77,978,535 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD%2018438 | HD 18438 is a red giant star in the deep northern constellation of Cepheus, located about from Earth. With an apparent magnitude of 5.49, it is visible by the naked eye under dark skies as a red-hued dot of light about 10 degrees away from the celestial north pole. It is part of a wide binary system with an F-type subgiant star. In 2023, HD 18438 was discovered to be orbited by a 21 substellar object, potentially making it the largest host star to an exoplanet ever found as of September 2024.
Stellar characteristics
HD 18438 is a red giant on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) that has already gone through the helium shell flash, with a spectral type of M2.5 III. Thus, it has evolved past the main sequence after using up its core hydrogen. It has 1.84 times the mass of the Sun but 88.48 times its girth and, at an effective temperature of it radiates 929 times Sun's luminosity from its photosphere. The star is aged billion years, making it likely older than the Solar System. It has a low metallicity of dex, which translates to an iron abundance 32–50% that of the Sun.
It is the largest host star to a confirmed exoplanet included in the NASA Exoplanet Archive as of September 2024. However, some definitions may classify the planet as a brown dwarf instead due to its high mass.
Much like many AGB stars, HD 18438 is suspected to be a variable star, its apparent magnitude fluctuating between 5.43 and 5.49.
Binary system
The star has been noted to be part of a double star since at least 1932, receiving the designation ADS 2294 in the Aitken Double Star Catalogue, with a 9th-magnitude F7IV star later designated TYC 4516-2148-1. Due to its similarities to HD 18438 in distance and proper motion, this star is thought to be a physical binary companion to HD 18438. Located at a wide separation of 1,100 AU from the primary star, TYC 4516-2148-1 is slightly more massive than the Sun, but is 2.5 times larger and 7.5 times as luminous. The star is similar to HD 18438 in that it is somewhat more massive than the Sun and is past the main-sequence stage, but its relationship with HD 18438 is poorly understood.
Substellar companion
In 2023, a team of South Korean astronomers reported the discovery of a substellar object, named HD 18438 b, which could either be described as a massive gas giant exoplanet or a low-mass brown dwarf. It is about 8% larger than the planet Jupiter and at least 21 times as massive, which places it above the deuterium burning limit (~13 ). It revolves around the star in a roughly circular (eccentricity 0.1) orbit with a semi-major axis of once every .
See also
HD 208527: Another M-type giant with a gas giant exoplanet.
HD 220074: Same as above.
References
Cepheus (constellation)
018438
014417
M-type giants
Suspected variables
BD+78 00103
J03060788+7925066
Stars
Binary stars
0881 | HD 18438 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 697 | [
"Constellations",
"Cepheus (constellation)"
] |
77,979,018 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirepemat | Pirepemat (; developmental code name IRL752 or IRL-752) is a drug which is under development for the prevention of falls in people with Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia. It has been referred to as a "nootrope" (i.e., nootropic or cognitive enhancer).
Pharmacology
Pirepemat shows affinity for several neurotransmitter receptors and transporters. These include the serotonin 5-HT7 receptor (Ki = 980nM), the sigma σ1 receptor (Ki = 1,200nM), the serotonin transporter (SERT) (Ki = 2,500nM), the α2C-adrenergic receptor (Ki = 3,800nM), the α2A-adrenergic receptor (Ki = 6,500nM), the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor (Ki = 6,600nM), the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (Ki = 8,100nM), and the norepinephrine transporter (NET) (Ki = 8,100nM). It also shows affinity for the rat κ-opioid receptor (KOR) (Ki = 6,500nM) and has weak affinity for the α1-adrenergic receptor (Ki = 21,000nM). The drug was an antagonist or inhibitor at all assessed targets (which included some but not all of the preceding sites).
Pirepemat has been described as a "cortical enhancer" and has been reported to region-specifically increase norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine levels in the cerebral cortex. Serotonin 5-HT7 receptor antagonism and α2-adrenergic receptor antagonism were hypothesized to underlie these effects. In animals, pirepemat has been found to reverse hypoactivity induced by the dopamine depleting agent tetrabenazine whilst not increasing basal locomotor activity and not affecting or minimally influencing dextroamphetamine- and dizocilpine-induced locomotor hyperactivity.
Clinical trials
The drug was reported to improve motivation and reduce apathy in people with Parkinson's disease in a phase 2a clinical trial.
As of September 2024, pirepemat is in phase 2 clinical trials for Parkinson's disease. A phase 3 trial is being planned. The drug was also under development for the treatment of "behavioral disorders" and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, no recent development for the former indication has been reported and development for ADHD was discontinued. In August 2020, pirepemat received an with a novel suffix reflecting its reputedly new and unique mechanism of action. Pirepemat is under development by Integrative Research Laboratories (IRLAB).
See also
Mesdopetam
References
External links
Pirepemat (IRL752) - IRLAB
5-HT2A antagonists
5-HT2C antagonists
5-HT7 antagonists
Alpha-2 blockers
Enantiopure drugs
Experimental drugs
Fluoroarenes
Methoxy compounds
Nootropics
Opioid modulators
Phenethylamines
Pro-motivational agents
Pyrrolidines
Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors
Sigma receptor ligands | Pirepemat | [
"Chemistry"
] | 738 | [
"Stereochemistry",
"Enantiopure drugs"
] |
77,979,997 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flerobuterol | Flerobuterol (; developmental code name CRL-40827) is a selective β-adrenergic receptor agonist related to salbutamol which was under development for the treatment of major depressive disorder but was never marketed. It is an agonist of the β1-, β2-, and β3-adrenergic receptors. The drug was under development in France by Cephalon and Lafon and reached phase 2 clinical trials prior to its development being discontinued. It was first described in the scientific literature by 1988 and its development was terminated in 2007.
References
2-Fluorophenyl compounds
Abandoned drugs
Beta-adrenergic agonists
Experimental antidepressants
Phenylethanolamines
Tert-butyl compounds | Flerobuterol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 162 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,980,483 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary%E2%80%93Blair%20transport%20medium | Cary–Blair transport medium is a solution used to preserve fecal clinical specimens and rectal swabs after collection. The medium was devised by Sylvia G. Cary and Eugene B. Blair in 1964, who noted it allowed for longer-term recovery of Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, and Pasteurella than other transport media.
Cary–Blair transport medium is a modification of a solution devised by R.D. Stuart, S.R. Toshach and T.M. Patsula in 1954 which allowed for high recoverability of Gonococci from fecal samples. Cary and Blair noted Stuart, Toshach and Patsula's medium and other solutions that allowed for long-term recovery of pathogens from feces were characterized by low nutrient content, low oxidation-reduction potential, and high pH.
As of 2024, the use of Cary–Blair transport medium is recommended by the United States Center for Disease Control for laboratory testing of epidemic dysentery and cholera if culture will not begin within two hours
References
Medicinal chemistry | Cary–Blair transport medium | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 219 | [
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Biochemistry stubs",
"nan",
"Medicinal chemistry",
"Biochemistry"
] |
77,980,765 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical%20use%20of%20arsenic%20trioxide | Medical use of arsenic trioxide refers to the use of arsenic trioxide (, also known as "arsenic") as an chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Arsenic trioxide has orphan drug status and is available as the pharmaceutical preparation Trisenox. When in contact with water, it forms arsenous acid, which is believed to be the biologically active substance.
The action of this substance involves inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells and inducing their differentiation or apoptosis, although the exact mechanism of the drug's action is not fully understood. Arsenic, due to its toxic properties, had been used for centuries as an effective and virtually undetectable poison for the senses. In the 20th century, its anticancer properties were observed, but attempts at oral administration were unsuccessful. Only intravenous administration of the substance yielded positive results, particularly in the treatment of a rare form of cancer – acute promyelocytic leukemia. This therapy is introduced after failure of treatment with retinoids and chemotherapy. The treatment is characterized by relative safety and few side effects. Research is ongoing to find other uses for the drug.
History
In the 18th century, William Withering discovered that arsenic trioxide, when used in small doses, exhibited therapeutic effects. During the same period, Thomas Fowler prepared a 1% solution of arsenic and potassium carbonate, which was used to treat skin diseases (primarily psoriasis) until the 20th century. An arsenic-based drug, arsphenamine, was also developed for the treatment of syphilis, synthesized by Paul Ehrlich, though it was eventually replaced by penicillin. Arsenic compounds were widely used to treat various diseases in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The first reports of the anticancer activity of arsenic trioxide date back to 1878, when a report from Boston City Hospital described Fowler's solution lowering leukocyte levels in the blood of two healthy individuals and one patient. Arsenic trioxide continued to be used in the treatment of leukemia until the introduction of radiotherapy. It made a resurgence in the 1930s when the first studies confirmed the high efficacy of arsenic trioxide in treating chronic myelogenous leukemia.
In the late 1960s, physicians working at the Harbin Medical Academy in China were sent to a center focusing on traditional Chinese medicine, where they used a melanoma ointment, with arsenic as its main ingredient. At that time, the arsenal of anticancer drugs was limited, prompting doctors to experiment with arsenic. Early trials used oral administration, but it showed strong toxic effects. In March 1971, the first trials of intravenous arsenic began, which showed significantly lower toxicity. For many years, arsenic trioxide was administered to patients with various cancers, showing the best results in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. More than half of the patients from the first trial in Harbin survived for five years, prompting further research across other centers in China, and eventually at the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Institute in New York. The results of clinical trials were favorable enough that in 2000, the drug received FDA approval.
Mechanism of action
The mechanism of action of arsenic trioxide is complex and not fully understood. Generally, the drug inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells and induces their differentiation and/or apoptosis, which can occur in various ways depending on the involved organelles and biochemical processes. Arsenic trioxide induces apoptosis through:
Interaction with cell membrane receptors (extrinsic pathway)
Interaction with mitochondria (intrinsic pathway)
The first of these pathways involves the binding of a ligand to a receptor located on the surface of the cell membrane. The interaction of these two entities leads to the activation of various genes and releases a cascade of proteins characteristic of the apoptosis process.
Arsenic trioxide also interacts with mitochondria. One of the initial changes in their structure induced by the drug is the opening of megachannels and the release of so-called "death proteins", primarily cytochrome c, APAF-1 (apoptotic peptidase activating factor 1), AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor), Smac/DIABLO protein, and endonucleases from the intermembrane space of mitochondria into the cytosol. In the cytoplasm, a protein complex known as the apoptosome forms, which activates further processes leading to apoptosis.
Regardless of whether apoptosis is induced externally or internally, it always involves caspases, whose activation irreversibly leads the cell down the path of programmed cell death. Additionally, apoptosis is regulated by proteins from the Bcl-2 family, which can act as either pro-apoptotic or anti-apoptotic factors.
The cause of acute promyelocytic leukemia is the translocation of the gene encoding the retinoic acid receptor (RARα) from chromosome 17 to a location near the PML gene on chromosome 15. This leads to the fusion of genes and the production of the PML/RARα protein. This protein inhibits differentiation and the death of the cells in which it is present. Arsenic trioxide, even at low concentrations, causes the degradation of PML/RARα, thereby partially restoring the differentiation of cancerous promyelocytes.
Arsenic trioxide activates JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), also known as stress-activated protein kinase, which belongs to the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) family. These enzymes play a crucial role in signal transduction within the cell. Under normal conditions, JNK is activated by the phosphorylation of threonine and tyrosine residues. However, studies on specific cell lines derived from patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia have demonstrated that this activation also occurs in response to arsenic trioxide.
It seems that the activation of JNK leads to the phosphorylation of both anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-Xl) and pro-apoptotic proteins – Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein), Bak (Bcl-2 homologous killer), and Bid (BH3 interacting domain death agonist) – effectively activating them. Pro-apoptotic proteins contain the BH3 domain, which is responsible for their "death-inducing" activity. They cause the formation of ion channels in the mitochondrial membrane, resulting in the release of the aforementioned apoptotic factors into the cytoplasm. Anti-apoptotic proteins owe their function to a hydrophobic cleft in their spatial structure that binds to the BH3 domain, thereby neutralizing the effects of the "death" proteins. Under normal conditions, the decision for a cell to undergo apoptosis depends on the ratio of pro-apoptotic to anti-apoptotic proteins. In the case of arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis, two mechanisms play a significant role in increasing the levels of pro-apoptotic proteins. The first is related to the functioning of the transcription factor NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells). NF-κB exists in the cytoplasm in an inactive state, in a complex with the specific reaction inhibitor IκB (IKK). This complex consists of two catalytic subunits – IKKα and IKKβ – and a regulatory unit IKKγ/NEMO. The phosphorylation and degradation of the inhibitor release NF-κB, which then translocates to the cell nucleus and activates genes responsible for producing "survival" proteins (such as p53, Bcl-2, and other inhibitors of apoptosis). NF-κB also protects cells from apoptotic stimulation involving the TNF-α receptor. Arsenic trioxide binds to the cysteine at position 179 of IKKβ, thus preventing the release of NF-κB. The absence of this protein in the cytoplasm allows for the induction of apoptosis via the extrinsic pathway and activates caspases 3 and 8.
This mechanism has been observed not only in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells and Hodgkin lymphoma but also in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. The second mechanism that increases the levels of pro-apoptotic proteins is the downregulation of bcl-2 gene transcription. This effect has been observed in HL-60 and NB4 human leukemia cells.
In 2003, Japanese researchers discovered that arsenic trioxide induces apoptosis not only through the TNF-α receptor. Studies indicate that the drug also acts pro-apoptotically through the CD95 receptor, which affects the activation of caspases 8 and 3. In multiple myeloma cells, arsenic trioxide interacts with the APO2/TRAIL receptor, activating caspases 8 and 9.
Arsenic trioxide also affects the intracellular concentration of glutathione, which is a crucial component of the redox system (it removes radicals and reduces hydrogen peroxide). It also participates, along with peroxidase and catalase, in regulating the levels of reactive oxygen species. Arsenic trioxide inhibits glutathione peroxidase, thereby decreasing its concentration in the cell, which leads to an increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species. These, in turn, increase the permeability of the mitochondrial membrane, causing the release of apoptotic factors and initiating the apoptosis process.
Additionally, arsenic trioxide degrades poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, which, combined with the activation of caspases, inhibits DNA repair and halts the cell cycle. The phase of the cell cycle at which the blockage occurs primarily depends on the p53 protein. In cells containing the so-called "wild type" (non-mutated) p53, the cell cycle is halted in the interphase, while in cells with mutated p53, it is halted in the G2/M phase.
Clinical studies
Arsenic trioxide was clinically tested in two open-label, single-arm trials without a control group, involving 52 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia who had previously been unsuccessfully treated with anthracyclines and retinoids. The results of these studies are presented in the table below.
Studies have also been conducted on the effect of arsenic trioxide on other cancers. These showed that the drug also induces apoptosis in lung cancer cells (especially in combination with sulindac). The efficacy of arsenic trioxide has also been demonstrated in the treatment of multiple myeloma, in combination with ascorbic acid and bortezomib.
Animal studies have shown that the drug also affects ovarian, liver, stomach, prostate, and breast cancers, as well as gliomas and pancreatic cancer (in combination with parthenolide). However, attempts to use arsenic trioxide in the treatment of solid tumors have been limited by the drug's toxicity.
Arsenic trioxide also appears promising for treating autoimmune diseases (based on studies in mice).
Pharmacokinetics
Detailed pharmacokinetic studies on arsenic trioxide have not been conducted. When administered intravenously, a steady state is reached after 8–10 days. Arsenic binds to proteins to an insignificant extent. The highest concentrations of arsenic are found in the liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, hair, and nails. Arsenous acid is oxidized to arsenic acid and methylated in the liver, and then excreted 60% in the urine. The drug has a half-life of 92 hours. Arsenic trioxide is neither a substrate nor an inhibitor of cytochrome P450 isozymes (1A2, 2A6, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, 3A4/5, 4A9/11).
Indications
Arsenic trioxide is intended for the induction of remission and consolidation in adult patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia who have the t(15;17) translocation and/or the PML/RARα gene. The drug should be used after treatment failure or relapse. Prior therapy should include retinoid and chemotherapy.
Special warnings
To ensure the safe use of arsenic trioxide, the following precautions should be observed:
25% of patients treated with arsenic trioxide exhibited symptoms resembling leukocyte activation syndrome, characterized by high fever, shortness of breath, weight gain, pulmonary infiltrates with pleural or pericardial exudation, with or without leukocytosis. High doses of steroids (10 mg dexamethasone intravenously, 2–3 times per day) appear to alleviate these symptoms.
40% of patients treated with arsenic trioxide experienced at least one instance of prolonged QT interval, corrected to over 500 ms. QT interval prolongation can lead to ventricular arrhythmias, such as torsades de pointes.
Prior to initiating arsenic trioxide treatment, an ECG should be performed, and blood levels of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and creatinine should be checked. Any abnormalities, particularly a prolonged QT interval on the ECG, should be corrected before starting arsenic trioxide. Any medications that may prolong the QT interval should be discontinued if possible.
Patients receiving arsenic trioxide, particularly those at risk for torsades de pointes, should be closely monitored during treatment.
If toxicity reaches level 3 (as per National Cancer Institute criteria), treatment should be modified or discontinued before the planned completion of therapy. Patients can resume treatment only after symptoms subside, starting with 50% of the prior daily dose. The dose can be increased to the previous level if no toxicity symptoms appear within 3 days. If toxicity reappears, treatment with arsenic trioxide cannot continue.
During the induction phase, electrolyte levels, glucose, blood counts, and liver and kidney function should be tested twice a week. In the consolidation phase, these tests should be performed weekly.
Caution is advised in patients with kidney failure.
During arsenic trioxide treatment, women of childbearing age and men capable of fathering children should use effective contraception. The impact of arsenic trioxide on fertility has not been thoroughly studied.
Interactions
Arsenic trioxide is known to prolong the QT interval. If possible, medications that also prolong QT should not be used concurrently, including:
Class Ia and III antiarrhythmics (e.g., quinidine, amiodarone, sotalol, dofetilide)
Certain psychiatric medications (e.g., amitriptyline, thioridazine)
Some macrolides (e.g., erythromycin)
Some antihistamines (e.g., terfenadine, astemizole)
Some quinolones (e.g., sparfloxacin)
Other QT-prolonging drugs (e.g., cisapride)
Prior use of:
Anthracyclines
Amphotericin B
Non-potassium-sparing diuretics
Other drugs causing hypokalemia or hypocalcemia
increases the likelihood of torsades de pointes.
Side effects
Side effects were reported in 37% of patients treated with arsenic trioxide. However, these effects were generally mild and resolved during treatment. Patients tolerated consolidation therapy better than induction therapy. The most common side effects include:
Hyperglycemia
Hypokalemia
Neutropenia
Elevated AlAt levels
Leukocytosis
Severe adverse effects are relatively rare and include:
Leukocyte activation syndrome
QT interval prolongation (only one case of torsades de pointes was noted during clinical trials)
Atrial fibrillation or flutter
Other side effects include allergic skin reactions (including reactions at the injection site, injection site pain), gastrointestinal disturbances (diarrhea), various types of pain, visual disturbances, and bleeding. If the drug extravasates, local irritation and phlebitis may occur.
Overdose
In the event of arsenic poisoning (manifesting as seizures, muscle weakness, confusion), the administration of the drug should be immediately discontinued, and appropriate treatment should be initiated. Penicillamine is commonly used at a dose of up to 1 g/day. For patients unable to take oral medications, dimercaprol can be administered intramuscularly at a dose of 3 mg/kg body weight every 4 hours until life-threatening symptoms subside. In cases of coagulopathy, DMSA is recommended at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight every 8 hours for 5 days, followed by every 12 hours for 2 weeks. Kidney dialysis may also be considered.
Preparations and form of the drug
Trisenox – Almac Pharma – 1 mg/ml concentrate for intravenous therapy. Trisenox is packaged in 10 ml ampoules for single use. The ampoules contain a pure solution of arsenic trioxide, without preservatives, and also contain sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid. The solution has a pH of 7–9. The drug should be stored at room temperature and must not be frozen. After withdrawing the solution from the ampoule, it should be diluted in 100–250 ml of 5% glucose or saline solution. Arsenic trioxide should not be mixed or administered in the same infusion with other medications.
In pharmaceutical compounding, arsenic trioxide was used in a 1:10 trituration with lactose (Trituratio Acidi arsenicosi 1/10). To prepare the trituration, one part arsenic trioxide is placed in a mortar, and while continuously grinding, nine parts of lactose are added in portions. Achieving a uniformly distributed trituration requires at least 10 minutes of grinding in the mortar.
References
Teratogens
Orphan drugs
Carcinogens
Arsenic
Acute myeloid leukemia | Medical use of arsenic trioxide | [
"Chemistry",
"Environmental_science"
] | 3,779 | [
"Carcinogens",
"Teratogens",
"Toxicology"
] |
77,981,498 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centpropazine | Centpropazine (CPZ, CTZ) is an experimental antidepressant which was under development for the treatment major depressive disorder in India but was never marketed. It is described as having imipramine-like clinical effects, reversing reserpine-induced effects in animals, and potentiating amphetamine-induced effects in animals. The mechanism of action of centpropazine is unknown. The drug reached phase 3 clinical trials prior to the discontinuation of its development. It was first described in the scientific literature by 1980.
References
Abandoned drugs
Drugs with unknown mechanisms of action
Experimental antidepressants
Phenylpiperazines
Benzaldehydes
Secondary alcohols | Centpropazine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 145 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,981,664 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRAS%2010565%2B2448 | IRAS 10565+2448 known as IRAS F10565+2448, is a galaxy merger located in the constellation of Leo. It is located at a distance of 625 million light years from Earth. It is classified as an ultraluminous infrared galaxy with an infrared luminosity of 1.2 x 1012 LΘ. It has a star formation rate of 131.8 MΘ yr−1.
IRAS 10565+2448 has a disturbed morphology. The large galaxy in the system shows dust lanes running through its main body while the smaller galaxy (the westernmost object), has a curved tidal tail pulled downwards from the object. A third galaxy is possibly shown as secondary smaller nucleus located northwest from the primary nucleus in the large galaxy. It is also a late-stage merger as both east and west nuclei components in the system have a projected separation of 6.7 kiloparsecs. It has an obscured X-ray emission with a luminosity of both LSX = 1.21 x 1041 erg s−1 and LHX = 1.6 x 1041 erg s−1. The source appears as Compton-thin obscurer with an absorption column density of 0.05+0.07-0.04 x 1022 cm−2.
The large galaxy in the IRAS 10565+2448 is found to be active. It is categorized as a H II galaxy and a starburst galaxy. It is more luminous when compared to its smaller companion galaxy. It contains a superficial and broad blueshifted HI absorption interpreted as molecular outflows with a mass rate of 140 MΘ yr−1 suggesting it is driven by a radio jet. The large galaxy also shows detections of dust continuum, J = 4-3 ground rotational transition of carbon monoxide (CO) and atomic carbon. It has a compact radio source appearing structured at 8.44 GHz with a rotating CO ring found nearly-face on but lesser inside an outer disk beyond the galaxy's nuclear ring.
The smaller galaxy contains a source of CO(1–0) emission. It has blue and redshifted CO(1–0) wings with an approximate size of 2.15 ± 0.32 kiloparsecs and 2.22 ± 0.30 kiloparsecs based on a circular Gaussian fit. However, the emission from the CO(1–0) narrow core is more condensed than its wings. There is also proof of a plume of CO(1–0) stretching southwest at blueshifted velocities of -150 km−1 and systematic velocity.
References
10565+2448
Leo (constellation)
Galaxy mergers
Interacting galaxies
033083
Luminous infrared galaxies
1709876
Active galaxies | IRAS 10565+2448 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 566 | [
"Leo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,981,782 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melevodopa/carbidopa | Melevodopa/carbidopa, sold under the brand name Sirio, is a combination of melevodopa, a prodrug of the dopamine precursor and hence non-selective dopamine receptor agonist levodopa (L-DOPA), and carbidopa, a peripherally selective aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD) inhibitor, which is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease in Italy. It is taken orally in the form of tablets.
See also
Levodopa/carbidopa
Foscarbidopa/foslevodopa
Levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone
Levodopa/benserazide
References
Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase inhibitors
Antiparkinsonian agents
Combination drugs
Dopamine agonists
Monoamine precursors
Prodrugs | Melevodopa/carbidopa | [
"Chemistry"
] | 183 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Prodrugs"
] |
77,983,097 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%20Cephei | U Cephei is an eclipsing binary star discovered in 1880. It consists of a blue-white main sequence star of spectral type B7Ve that is eclipsed every two and a half days by a less bright giant of type G8III-IV. The drop in brightness lasts 4 hours and the system sees its apparent magnitude increase from 6.7 to 9.2. The total eclipse then lasts 2 hours before an increase in brightness for 4 hours. The two stars, separated by less than , exchange matter. This transfer towards the blue giant caused the system's orbital period to lengthen by 4 minutes during the 20th century. U Cephei is one of the brightest eclipsing binaries. Located near the north celestial pole, it can be monitored continuously with a 60 millimeter telescope.
The system has two visual companions listed in the double and multiple star catalogs. U Cephei B is a twelfth magnitude star that, as of 2016, was located at an angular distance of 13.9 arcseconds and at a position angle of 63° from U Cephei A. It exhibits a common proper motion with the system, which indicates that it is physically linked to it. U Cephei C is another twelfth magnitude star, but it is only a purely optical double and its proximity to the system is a coincidence.
See also
AR Cephei
List of variable stars
References
Cepheus (constellation)
Objects with variable star designations
Eclipsing binaries
B-type main-sequence stars
G-type giants
Henry Draper Catalogue objects
Hipparcos objects
Durchmusterung objects | U Cephei | [
"Astronomy"
] | 327 | [
"Constellations",
"Cepheus (constellation)"
] |
77,983,105 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XP-21279 | XP-21279 is a sustained-release levodopa (L-DOPA) prodrug and hence a dopamine precursor and non-selective dopamine receptor agonist which was under development for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is taken by mouth.
Pharmacology
The drug is said to add a five-carbon ester conjugate to levodopa that allows it to be actively transported by high-capacity nutrient transporters throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. Subsequently, it is rapidly converted into levodopa by carboxylesterases. Levodopa itself can only be transported by a short section of the small intestine and hence XP-21279 allows more time for levodopa to be absorbed, in turn resulting in an increased duration and possibly reduced fluctuations in dopamine levels between levodopa doses.
Clinical studies
As of June 2015, XP-21279 was in phase 2 clinical trials. As of May 2022, there have been no further developmental updates. It was reported in 2018 that development of the drug had been discontinued several years prior. A 2019 review reported that results were conflicting in phase 2 trials and that this likely resulted in the discontinuation of the drug's development.
Chemistry
Many sources do not report the chemical structure of XP-21279, suggesting that its exact structure has not been disclosed. However, one source appears to report its chemical structure.
See also
Etilevodopa
Foslevodopa
Melevodopa
References
Abandoned drugs
Antiparkinsonian agents
Benzoate esters
Catecholamines
Dopamine agonists
Esters
Monoamine precursors
Prodrugs | XP-21279 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 349 | [
"Esters",
"Drug safety",
"Prodrugs",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,983,228 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propionate%20fermentation | Propionate fermentation is a form of fermentation with propionic acid as one of the products. This process is done through the fermentation pathway of bacteria. It is used in a variety of industrial, food-making, and medical applications. Growing interest in the petroleum and chemical industries has led consideration for bioplastic and other chemical applications. All of this has a significant environmental and economic impact.
Process
Propionate fermentation is named for the end product of the process. Bacteria do this process to make ATP, a high energy molecule that powers additional cellular processes. This is done independent of oxygen and is thus anaerobic. Like in standard fermentation pathways, propionate fermentation involves the bacterium taking up saccharides, such as glucose, and breaking them down through glycolysis to produce pyruvate. Pyruvate is then converted into propionic acid through multiple reduction steps in the Wood-Werkman cycle. The resulting products besides propionate include acetic acid, carbon dioxide, and succinic acid.
In Prevotella, the redox reaction is supported with RNF oxidoreductase to metabolize carbohydrates into glucose, succinate, and finally propionate. Also known as ferredoxin-NAD+ oxidoreductase, RNF balances oxidation-reduction cofactors in the latter part of the formation path. With a mixed culture of fermenters, glycerol can be used as a source for high-purity propionate.
Other pathways by which bacteria may reduce sugars to propionate include the acrylate pathway, the propanediol pathway, or by employing a sodium ion-pump.
Applications
Food production
In food production, propionate is a common preservative due to its ability to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth and its classification as safe for consumption. Swiss cheese is a food where propionate fermentation is commonly used for its unique flavor profile.
The production of propionate currently relies on processes that are not cost effective. There is potential to rely on microbes, such as those in the genus Propionibacterium, for the commercial production of propionate instead, using common industrial byproducts such as glycerol.
Physiologically, propionate acts as an appetite suppressant, though the practicality of this characteristic has yet to be explored.
Health applications
Propionate is a short-chain fatty acid produced when gut microbiota ferment dietary fiber. It supports brain health and may protect against neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, propionate has shown potential in reducing serum cholesterol levels, lipogenesis, and carcinogenesis. It is also known for its cardiovascular, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and immunoregulatory properties. By stimulating smooth muscle contractions, propionate promotes bowel movements and gut motility. It also increases mucus secretion, boosts serotonin release, and enhances blood flow through the colonic arteries, which may help reduce colorectal cancer risk. However, elevated propionate levels, often due to vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly, can lead to conditions like propionic acidemia, hyperammonemia, and dementia. Enhancing propionate production can lead to numerous health benefits, and this can be achieved through diet, pre/probiotics, and fecal transplants. Increasing dietary fiber intake encourages gut microbiota to produce more propionate, supporting overall health.
Additional applications
For waste treatment, propionate can be produced from breaking down food waste. Prior to fermentation, it is made into a broth rich in lactate by hydrolysis and fermentation. The broth is then sterilized to be put into pure cultures of microbes with the aforementioned capability. This can be adjusted to produce other fatty acids besides propionate for additional industrial applications.
Economic and environmental application
By using the production of propionic acid through glycerol fermentation is able to offer an economic and environmental sustainability, this is because it is able to be friendlier eco-friendly and an alternative to the typically petrochemical methods used. With this process there is an ability to contribute a positive life cycle assessment that can be done by utilizing renewable resources and minimize environmental impact. This can be from raw materials, fermentation and upstream and down streaming process. Something else than can be taken into consideration for using is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Being able to use raw material means that there can be an achievement towards emission reduction, and overall carbon footprint. The optimization of being able to use feedstocks like glycerol or dairy by-products is able to boost the environments performance by repurposing the waste and materials lowering pollution, this supports waste reduction.
References
Further reading
Hosseini, E., Grootaert, C., Verstraete, W., & Van de Wiele, T. (2011). Propionate as a health-promoting microbial metabolite in the human gut. Nutrition Reviews, 69(5), 245–258.
Pilevar, Zahra; Mousavi Khaneghah, Amin; Hosseini, Hedayat; Ranaei, Vahid (2020-07-31). "Propionic Acid: Method of Production, Current State and Perspectives". Food technology and biotechnology. 58 (2): 115–127. doi:10.17113/ftb.58.02.20.6356.
Sawmiller, D. (Ed.). (2024). Propionate: A double-edged sword for the brain. Frontiers.
Xiong, R.-G., Zhou, D.-D., Wu, S.-X., Huang, S.-Y., Saimaiti, A., Yang, Z.-J., Shang, A., Zhao, C.-N., Gan, R.-Y., & Li, H.-B. (2022). Health benefits and side effects of short-chain fatty acids. Foods, 11(18), 2863.
Propionates
Fermentation in food processing | Propionate fermentation | [
"Chemistry"
] | 1,314 | [
"Fermentation in food processing",
"Fermentation"
] |
77,983,529 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinide%20contraction | The actinide contraction is the greater-than-expected decrease in atomic radii and ionic radii of the elements in the actinide series, from left to right.
Description
It is more pronounced than the lanthanide contraction because the 5f electrons are less effective at shielding than 4f electrons. It is caused by the poor shielding effect of nuclear charge by the 5f electrons along with the expected periodic trend of increasing electronegativity and nuclear charge on moving from left to right. About 40-50% of the actinide contraction has been attributed to relativistic effects.
A decrease in atomic radii can be observed across the 5f elements from atomic number 89, actinium, to 102, nobelium. This results in smaller than otherwise expected atomic radii and ionic radii for the subsequent d-block elements starting with 103, lawrencium. This effect causes the radii of transition metals of group 5 and 6 to become unusually similar, as the expected increase in radius going down a period is nearly cancelled out by the f-block insertion, and has many other far ranging consequences in post-actinide elements.
The decrease in ionic radii (M3+) is much more uniform compared to decrease in atomic radii.
References
Atomic radius
Chemical bonding
Periodic table | Actinide contraction | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 273 | [
"Periodic table",
"Atomic radius",
"Condensed matter physics",
"nan",
"Chemical bonding",
"Atoms",
"Matter"
] |
77,983,634 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS%20Cephei | SS Cephei is a variable star in the constellation Cepheus. It is of spectral type M5IIIvar, and has an estimated temperature of . The star is 847.18 light-years (247.52 parsecs) from Earth. SS Cephei has an apparent magnitude of 7.16.
See also
S Cephei
List of variable stars
References
Mira variables
Cepheus (constellation) | SS Cephei | [
"Astronomy"
] | 85 | [
"Constellations",
"Cepheus (constellation)"
] |
77,983,850 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime%20%28monster%29 | In fiction, slimes, also called oozes, are amorphous creatures composed of gelatinous ooze. In literature and film, slimes typically take the role of horrific monsters, while in video games and anime, they are often depicted as cute low-level enemies.
History
Slimes as monsters in literature originated with the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. In his novella At the Mountains of Madness, Lovecraft described shoggoths, shapeless beings made of black slime. Lovecraft's writings would go on to influence later Gothic fiction and other aspects of popular culture.
Slimes have appeared as monsters in tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons since the first printing in 1974, being partially inspired by horror films such as The Blob. Slime creatures in Dungeons & Dragons, such as the gelatinous cube, envelop prey before dissolving them in acidic ooze. The Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Spelljammer: Adventures in Space (2022) introduced plasmoids as a playable race, making the "ability to reshape their body to their needs" available to players.
Drawing from their depiction in Dungeons & Dragons, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord features slimes as low-level monsters, which in turn inspired their appearance in Dragon Quest. The Dragon Quest slime, designed by Akira Toriyama, became a highly popular and recognizable character, and went on to influence slimes in other fantasy video games. Slimes in video games are typically 'cute' characters, sometimes appearing not only as common enemies but also as allies or pets. Cute slimes feature in games such as Slime Rancher, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Minecraft, and The Legend of Zelda franchise.
In the 2013 light novel series That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, the protagonist is reincarnated in a fantasy isekai world as a small blue slime inspired by the slime from Dragon Quest. This series created a trend of anime featuring cute slimes. In Delicious in Dungeon, slime monsters are a core ingredient in several meals eaten throughout the series. Other examples of Japanese media featuring slimes are By the Grace of the Gods and I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level.
A subcategory of slime creatures are slime girls, which are slimes that take a feminine humanoid appearance rather than an amorphous form. These monsters have appeared in media such as Monster Girl Encyclopedia, Monster Girl Quest, and Monster Musume. While slime girls frequently appear in hentai, they sometimes also feature in children's media, such as Puniru Is a Cute Slime.
Analysis
According to Steven Shaviro, slime creatures in fiction often take the form of either a unicellular organism or a superorganism, "both of which cannot grasp its complex nature." Additionally, slimes lack the differentiation of organs and tissues that are characteristic of multicellular life. In this difference, slimes are "a collective without individuals, without any specialized parts, and without any sort of articulated (or hierarchical) structure." Marijeta Bradić writes that the motif of slimes in fiction "serves as a tool for questioning the idea of human exceptionalism."
Slime has had symbolic meaning in fiction. In science fiction, slime is often "a metaphor for the intangible or unthinkable", according to designer Steven Heller. Historically, some male writers, including Lovecraft, associated slime with femininity, characterizing women as disgustingly different from men. An example of this symbolism is in Lovecraft's short story "Dagon", which features a monster made of ooze and shares a name with Dagon, a Mesopotamian deity sometimes depicted as a hybrid of a fish and a woman. American journalist Daniel Engber considered slimes in cinema of the 1980s, such as Slimer and the ectoplasm in Ghostbusters, to be emblematic of cultural fears during the Cold War of nuclear radiation and radioactive material created by nuclear weapons.
Writing for Polygon, Ana Diaz described video game slimes as "loyal punching bags", owing to their role as common low-level enemies.
See also
Slime (toy)
References
Fantasy tropes
Fictional amorphous creatures
Fictional characters who can stretch themselves
Fictional monsters
Fictional superorganisms
Stock characters
Fantasy creatures | Slime (monster) | [
"Biology"
] | 915 | [
"Superorganisms",
"Fictional superorganisms"
] |
77,984,484 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%206646 | NGC 6646 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Lyra. Its velocity relative to the cosmic microwave background is 5,641 ± 35 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 83.2 ± 5.9 Mpc (∼271 million ly). NGC 6646 was discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel on 26 June 1802. The luminosity class of NGC 6646 is I.
One supernova has been observed in NGC 6646: SN2024gqf (typeIa, mag. 19.7).
See also
List of NGC objects (6001–7000)
References
External links
NGC 6646 at LEDA
NGC 6646 at SEDS
NGC 6646 at SkyMap (DSS2)
6646
18020626
Discoveries by William Herschel
Spiral galaxies
Lyra
+07-38-008
061944
11258 | NGC 6646 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 186 | [
"Lyra",
"Constellations"
] |
77,984,920 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral%20rectopexy | Ventral rectopexy is a surgical procedure for external rectal prolapse, internal rectal prolapse (rectal intussusception), and sometimes other conditions such as rectocele, obstructed defecation syndrome, or solitary rectal ulcer syndrome. The rectum is fixed into the desired position, usually using a biological or synthetic mesh which is attached to the sacral promontory. The effect of the procedure is correction of the abnormal descended position of the posterior compartment of the pelvis (i.e., the rectum), reinforcement of the anterior (front) surface of the rectum, and elevation of the pelvic floor. In females, the rectal-vaginal septum is reinforced, and there is the opportunity to simultaneously correct any prolapse of the middle compartment (i.e., the uterus). In such cases, ventral rectopexy may be combined with sacrocolpopexy. The surgery is usually performed laparoscopically (via small openings made in the abdomen).
Background
There are over 300 different variations of surgical procedures described for rectal prolapse, and this area has seen rapid development. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the best method. Surgical treatment for rectal prolapse may be via the perineal or abdominal (transabdominal / peritoneal) approach. Generally speaking, perineal procedures have less complications but higher rates of recurrence compared to abdominal procedures. Ventral rectopexy falls into the abdominal procedure category, and can be considered as a type of abdominal rectopexy.
Abdominal rectopexy encompasses several procedures which involve mobilization and fixation of the rectum, with or without resection, via abdominal approach. Some of types of abdominal rectopexy are now rarely or never performed. For example, the Ripstein rectopexy (anterior fixation of mesh below the sacral promontory) and the Wells procedure (involving detachment of the lateral ligaments of the rectum) have been abandoned. In general, abdominal rectopexy procedures have been associated with post-operative problems with defecation such as new or worsened constipation, obstructed defecation or fecal incontinence. This does not seem to be a significant problem with ventral rectopexy, which represents the most recent development of abdominal rectopexy. In men, mobilization of the rectum may risk the development of erectile dysfunction.
Another way of categorizing surgery for prolapse of pelvic organs is suspensive or resective (involving removal of sections of the bowel wall). Ventral rectopexy alone is a syspensive type surgery, a category which also includes colposacropexy. Resection rectopexy additionally involves removal of a section of the sigmoid colon (sigmoidectomy). It is thought to have decreased post operative problems of constipation, because the redundant colon is removed and therefore cannot "kink". However, there is no evidence that this improves the outcomes, and the necessary creation of an anastomosis (surgically created joining between two ends of bowel when a section of bowel is removed) increases the risk of severe complications.
Orr-Loygue procedure (lateral mesh rectopexy)
Ventral rectopexy with an autologous graft (fascia lata), and then with a synthetic mesh for external rectal prolapse was first reported in 1971. The Orr-Loygue procedure (lateral mesh rectopexy) was described in 1984. The Orr-Loygue procedure involved anterior and posterior mobilization of the rectum to the level of the levator ani muscle and removal of the pouch of Douglas. Mesh was sutured to the lateral surfaces (sides) of the rectum.
Ventral rectopexy
The Orr-Loygue procedure was modified by D'Hoore in 2004. In ventral rectopexy, there is no posterior dissection and mobilization of the rectum apart from to expose the sacral promontory. With no posterior (dorsal) or lateral dissection, damage to the autonomic nerves is minimized. As a result, there are less problems with post-operative constipation. According to one source, there is no excision of the pouch of Douglas, but another source states that ventral mesh rectopexy results in elimination of the pouch of Douglas. The mesh is placed directly onto the anterior (ventral) surface of the rectum. This procedure aims to suspend the middle and lower sections of the rectum. This modified procedure is now known as the anterior rectopexy or ventral rectopexy. D'Hoore also used a laparoscopic approach (laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy, LVMR).
After 2002, the minimally invasive trans-anal approach known as Stapled Trans-Anal Rectal Resection (STARR) became popular for treating obstructed defecation syndrome. However, over time, there has been a general trend away from STARR towards abdominal rectopexy for surgical treatment of obstructed defecation syndrome.
Ventral mesh rectopexy has become the one of the most popular options for rectal prolapse. Ventral rectopexy also provides the opportunity to simultaneously correct any prolapse of the middle compartment of the pelvis, and is sometimes combined with sacrocolpopexy.
Controversy regarding use of mesh
There has been some controversy connected with transvaginal placement of mesh in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. This is because there is a risk of erosion (tissue breakdown around the mesh) and sepsis (infection). In 2008 and 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration published guidance about potential serious complications caused by such meshes and upgraded their risk classification of such meshes from Class II (moderate risk) to Class III (high risk). Procedures involving transvaginal mesh have since decreased by 40–60% in the USA. In 2011, manufacturers of permanent transvaginal meshes withdrew the products from the market. In Europe, the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) stated in 2015 that implantation of any mesh via the vaginal route should be done only in complicated cases where a primary repair has failed. A Cochrane review in 2016 stated that the risks were higher with such meshes compared to native tissue repair (using the patient's own tissues instead of mesh). Transvaginal meshes have higher risk of repeat surgery, injury to the bladder, and stress urinary incontinence which appears after the surgery. They concluded that transvaginal meshes have limited benefit in the primary surgical management of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. The review was updated in 2024 with the same conclusions but based on newly available evidence.
In response to the controversy connected with transvaginal meshes, the Pelvic Floor Society on behalf of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland issued a position statement regarding the use of mesh in ventral rectopexy in 2020. They stated that meshes in ventral rectopexy are not the same because the mesh is inserted between the rectum and the vagina and not directly into the vagina as with transvaginal meshes. They also stated that according to current evidence ventral mesh rectopexy is the best available treatment to restore normal rectal function, and that the estimated overall risk of complications is about 2.5% based on the worst-case scenario.
Indications
The definitive indication for ventral rectopexy is:
External rectal prolapse in a patient who is fit enough for general anesthesia. In this category of patients, it has been recommended that age and gender are not valid reasons to not perform the procedure. External rectal prolapse may give symptoms of obstructed defecation syndrome, fecal incontinence, or both, Other symptoms are bloody or mucous rectal discharge.
Relative indications are:
Internal rectal prolapse (rectal intussusception), if it causes symptoms.
Anterior rectocele, if large and causing symptoms. This is sometimes present in combination with internal rectal prolapse.
Enterocele, if causing symptoms.
Mucosal prolapse.
Obstructed defecation syndrome (which may be caused by external or internal rectal prolapse, but also by other conditions such as rectocele, enterocele, prolapse of the vaginal vault and cystocele).
Vaginal vault prolapse.
Contraindications
Absolute contraindications are:
Pregnancy.
No detectable pelvic anatomical problem.
Severe adhesions in the abdomen.
Anismus (dyssynergic defecation) which is resistant to conventional treatment.
Active colitis.
Other colonic lesions.
Psychological instability.
Relative contraindications are:
Male gender. Internal rectal prolapse is uncommon in men. The procedure is more difficult in men, and there may be higher risks for this group.
Morbid obesity (body mass index greater than 40 kg/m2). Pelvic dissection is more difficult in such patients. There may also be a higher risk of recurrence.
High-grade endometriosis.
Previous pelvic radiotherapy directed at the pelvis.
Previous sigmoid peridiverticulitis.
Only minimally symptomatic bowel dysfunction, even if high-grade internal rectal prolapse can be detected. When defecography is performed on healthy volunteers, internal rectal prolapse (rectal intussusception) is detected in about 50-60% of cases. Therefore, symptom severity and the impact on quality of life for the individual are more important factors for surgeons when they are considering this type of surgery.
Procedure
Approach
There are 3 options for surgical approach: open abdominal surgery, laparoscopic approach or robotic surgery. The laparoscopic approach is safer than open surgery, and there is less risk of complications after the procedure. There is also less blood loss, less pain after the procedure, shorter average length of stay in hospital and faster recovery. Rarely, the procedure must be converted into an open abdominal surgery.
The procedure is still almost always carried out via laparoscopic approach. However, increasingly some surgeons use robotic surgery to conduct the procedure. Some surgeons claim that the use of robotic surgery makes ventral rectopexy less technically demanding, because it requires careful dissection and suture placement in a tight, narrow space. This is especially true in patients with a narrow pelvis. Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy is also difficult in patients who are obese.
Robotic approach has the benefit of three-dimensional visualization, precise dissection and the possibility of refined, articulated movements suitable for a narrow conical space such as the pelvis. There is less trauma to the tissues and less blood loss compared to conventional laparoscopy. In the case of ventral rectopexy, which is considered a difficult procedure requiring a lot of training (100 cases), robotic surgery is reported to speed up the learning curve for surgeons (20 cases). Longer operation times are usually reported with robotic surgery, but operation time is less With surgeons who are experienced in using the robotic technique. The laparoscopic approach is cheaper than robotic surgery, but when considering the reduced hospital stay, robotic surgery may be cheaper overall.
Mesh
The choice of synthetic material used to perform the rectopexy may also vary and can include nylon, Teflon, Marlex, Ivalon, Gore‐Tex, Vicryl or Dexon. There is debate regarding the best mesh material, and whether a biologic or synthetic mesh is superior. One systematic review found no significant difference between biologic or synthetic mesh with regards to the rates of mesh erosion or recurrence of prolapse. However, a later systematic review reported lower rate of mesh erosion for biologic mesh (0.22%) compared to synthetic mesh (1.87%).
Usually one strip of mesh is placed, but sometimes two are used. The meshes are 15, 17 or 20 cm long. Tackers (Protack), titanium screw tacks, or sutures (absorbably or non-absorbable) are used to fix the mesh to the sacral promontory. Absorbable or non-absorbable sutures (Ethibond, prolypropylene), or 4mm titanium staples are used to fix the mesh to anterior rectal wall.
Postoperative instructions
After the procedure, patients are advised to avoid sex and lifting heavy weights, and to use laxatives for 6 weeks. Continuing pelvic floor physical therapy may be beneficial in those cases where people had symptoms of obstructed defecation or incontinence before the procedure.
Complications
According to one publication, risk of a complication occurring is 14%. Another systematic review reported an average complication rate of 4.8%. Complications involving the urinary tract are most common and mesh related complications are less common.
Recurrence
Recurrence of the prolapse after ventral rectopexy is possible. Recurrence rates are reported as between 1.4 and 9.7% of cases. Recurrence occurs sooner and the overall rate is higher when ventral rectopexy is performed on a prolapse which has already recurred in the past (25% of cases after 5 years). Risk factors for recurrence after ventral rectopexy include old age, male gender, higher body mass index, higher Cleveland Clinic incontinence score, prolonged pudendal nerve terminal motor latency, weak pelvic floor, benign joint hypermobility syndrome, and excessive perineal descent associated with chronic straining. Mesh of 20 cm length has lower risk of recurrence than mesh of 15–17 cm. Recurrence may occur as either full thickness prolapse or mucosal prolapse.
Recurrence may occur if the mesh slips from the sacral promontory. This may happen because of inadequate fixation and adherence of the mesh to the anterior rectal wall or to the sacral promontory, or incorrectly placed staples to the upper sacrum. Another technical reason for relapse is inadequate dissection on the anterior aspect of the rectum. Recurrence can be a challenging situation for surgeons, and in this case the patient is re-evaluated for 6 months to identify the reason for the recurrence. A further surgical procedure to re-fix the mesh may be required.
Mesh-related
Overall risk of complications associated with the mesh have been reported as 2.5%. Such complications include detachment and migration of the mesh. This complication is reported at a rate of 4.6% of cases. The mesh can erode into the vagina (1.3% of cases), or into the rectum. The risk of mesh complications appears to be low regardless of what mesh material is used. However, biologic mesh may have a lower risk of complications compared to synthetic mesh. When suturing synthetic mesh to the rectum, the use of absorbable sutures leads to lower risk of complications compared to non-resorbable sutures. When mesh erosion into the vagina occurs, a further surgical procedure is required to remove the tissue from the mesh and to close the vaginal wall over the defect. Most mesh-related complications can be treated successfully.
Other
At the site where the mesh is attached (lumbosacral region), vertebral discitis may occur. This is a rare but serious complication. In one case, the discitis may have been caused by the use of titanium screws. Signs and symptoms of discitis include chronic back pain and infection. Discitis is treated with intravenous antibiotics and possible removal of the mesh.
Urinary-related complications include urinary tract infection, urinary retention, damage to structures like the ureter, bladder or vas deferens.
Other possible complications are infection or hernia at the port site, ileus and small bowel injury.
Effectiveness
The average improvement in fecal incontinence is reported as 62.5 to 79.3%, and the average improvement in constipation from 76.6% to 71%. However, these conditions may not fully resolve after the procedure. Ventral rectopexy may be more effective as an initial surgical repair of a prolapse rather than treatment for a recurrent prolapse which was previously operated upon.
Robotic approach versus laparoscopic approach
One systematic review comparing laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy and robotic ventral mesh rectopexy concluded that robotic approach resulted in a longer operation time. However, this may be related to lack of operator experience with the robotic platform, and it has been suggested that a surgeon who is experienced with the robotic approach can perform the operation as fast or faster than a surgeon who is experienced with the laparoscopic approach. The robotic approach resulted in a shorter stay in hospital for patients, which balanced the increased cost of the robotic surgery itself. This may be because robotic surgery is more precise and leads to less bleeding and pain after the procedure. One study showed lower scores for obstructed defecation after robotic approach. In general, both approaches showed improvement in function and quality of life, but some studies reported robotic approach as giving slightly more improvement in quality of life. Both approaches resulted in similar long term outcome and recurrence rates. The review authors concluded that robotic ventral mesh rectopexy is safe and results in at least the same outcomes as laparoscopic approach.
Synthetic mesh versus biologic mesh
The most commonly used material for synthetic mesh is polypropylene. This material has a lower risk of mesh exposure compared to polyester. The two most common biologic mesh products are Permacol, which is cross-linked collagen, and Biodesign, which is non-cross linked. It is not known if one type of biologic mesh is better.
In 2020 another systematic review compared the use of synthetic mesh and biologic mesh in ventral mesh rectopexy for external rectal prolapse or symptomatic internal rectal prolapse. The review included 32 studies containing a total of 4001 cases where synthetic mesh was used and 762 where biologic mesh was used. The rate of mesh-related complications ranged from 0 to 2.4% for synthetic mesh, with a pooled incidence rate of 1%. The rate of mesh-related complications ranged from 0 and 0.7% for biologic mesh. The rate of recurrence ranged from 1.1 to 18.8% for synthetic mesh. The rate of recurrence ranged from 0 to 15.4% for biologic mesh. The reviewers stated that the risk of mesh related complications are low for both synthetic and biologic mesh, and there may a small reduction in mesh-related complications with biologic mesh. However, due to lack of sufficient high quality data for biologic mesh, they were unable to make definitive conclusions.
Suture rectopexy versus mesh rectopexy
One systematic review compared laparoscopic suture rectopexy with laparoscopic mesh rectopexy in the treatment of full-thickness rectal prolapse (external rectal prolapse, complete rectal prolapse). Compared to suture rectopexy, mesh rectopexy had lower rate of recurrence and longer operation time. There were no differences in degree of improvement of constipation, incontinence, bleeding during the surgery, length of stay in hospital, and overall rate of complications after the surgery.
See also
colpoplexy
References
External links
Colorectal surgery
Management of fecal incontinence
Gastroenterology
Digestive system surgery
Incontinence
Defecation | Ventral rectopexy | [
"Biology"
] | 4,159 | [
"Incontinence",
"Excretion",
"Defecation"
] |
77,985,195 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-Informed%20Precision%20Dosing | Model-Informed Precision Dosing (MIPD for short) is the use of pharmacometric models with computer software to optimize drug dosage for an individual patient.
Developed in the late 1960s under the impetus of clinical pharmacologists such as Lewis Sheiner and Roger Jelliffe, these approaches involve applying the equations and parameters describing a drug's pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to define the best dosage regimen for a given individual, likely to produce circulating concentrations associated with maximum efficacy and minimum toxicity. Models typically take into account the patient's demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity), clinical profile (body measurements, renal and hepatic function, comorbidities, co-medications, dietary habits, substances use) and possibly genetic factors (e.g. polymorphisms affecting cytochromes or drug transporters). When starting a treatment, these models can be used to select a priori the optimal dosage for a patient, based on simulations. During the treatment course, these same models can be used to integrate the results of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (i.e. the measurement and medical interpretation of circulating drug concentrations) or the measurement of biomarkers of efficacy or toxicity, in an a posteriori approach to dose optimization, derived from Bayesian inference and feedback loops. Practically, these approaches make extensive use of computer software dedicated to the clinical use of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models, belonging to the computerized clinical decision support tools. They complement Model-Informed Drug Development (MIDD), which is mainly carried out by pharmaceutical industry researchers prior to marketing.
Prescribers are expected to make increasingly regular use of model-driven precision dosing tools for patient treatment and follow-up. Dosage individualization represents the quantitative aspect of precision medicine, while the qualitative aspect lies in the personalized choice of the best drug to treat a given pathology. This optimization of dose selection is especially desirable for drugs with narrow therapeutic index (i.e. effective concentration close to toxic ones). It is also important when a treatment is to be applied to patients with peculiarities, such as children, frail elderly persons, polymorbid patients or those already heavily treated. Technical hurdles still limit the wide implementation of these approaches in clinical practice, but it is to be expected that electronic patient records will pursue their development, thus enabling the increasing integration of model-informed precision dosing into medical practice.
References
Pharmacology
Chemical pathology | Model-Informed Precision Dosing | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 517 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Chemical pathology",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry",
"Biochemistry",
"Pharmacology stubs"
] |
77,985,307 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flurpiridaz%20%2818F%29 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:Flurpiridaz (18F)}}
Flurpiridaz (18F), sold under the brand name Flyrcado, is a cyclotron-produced radioactive diagnostic agent for use with positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging under rest or stress (pharmacologic or exercise). Flurpiridaz (18F) It is given by intravenous injection.
The most common adverse reactions include dyspnea (shortness of breath), headache, angina pectoris (severe pain in the chest), chest pain, fatigue, ST segment changes, flushing, nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, and arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
Flurpiridaz (18F) was approved for medical use in the United States in September 2024.
Medical uses
Flurpiridaz (18F) is indicated for positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging under rest or stress (pharmacologic or exercise) in adults with known or suspected coronary artery disease to evaluate for myocardial ischemia and infarction.
History
Flurpiridaz F-18 is a fluorine 18-labeled agent developed by Lantheus Medical Imaging for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.
The efficacy and safety of flurpiridaz (18F) were evaluated in two prospective, multicenter, open-label clinical studies in adults with either suspected CAD (Study 1: NCT03354273) or known or suspected CAD (Study 2: NCT01347710). Study 1 evaluated the sensitivity (ability to designate an imaged patient with disease as positive) and specificity (ability to designate an imaged patient without disease as negative) of flurpiridaz (18F) for the detection of significant CAD in subjects with suspected CAD who were scheduled for invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Across three flurpiridaz (18F) imaging readers, estimates of sensitivity ranged from 74% to 89% and estimates of specificity ranged from 53% to 70% for CAD defined as at least 50% narrowing of an artery.
Study 2 evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of flurpiridaz (18F) for the detection of significant CAD in subjects with known or suspected CAD who had ICA without intervention within 60 days prior to imaging or were scheduled for ICA. Across three flurpiridaz (18F) imaging readers, estimates of sensitivity ranged from 63% to 77% and estimates of specificity ranged from 66% to 86% for CAD defined as at least 50% narrowing of an artery.
Society and culture
Legal status
Flurpiridaz (18F) was approved for medical use in the United States in September 2024.
Names
Flurpiridaz (18F) is the international nonproprietary name.
References
Further reading
External links
Medicinal radiochemistry
PET radiotracers
Radiopharmaceuticals
Pyridazines
Chloroarenes
Tert-butyl compounds | Flurpiridaz (18F) | [
"Chemistry"
] | 646 | [
"Medicinal radiochemistry",
"PET radiotracers",
"Radiopharmaceuticals",
"Medicinal chemistry",
"Chemicals in medicine"
] |
77,985,852 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoPilot | MoPilot (also styled mopilot or mopilot.com) was a mobile website and portal designed for wireless application protocol (WAP) devices. It provided entertainment and communication tools optimised for the limited capabilities of early mobile devices and of early mobile web technologies.
MoPilot was developed by WAP4.com as a successor and extension of their search engine WapMap.com. The site was launched in 2000.
Features
The MoPilot platform offered interactive features designed for WAP-enabled devices. It hosted downloadable content such as mobile games and applications, as well as online competitive games with leaderboards. It also allowed users to create their own user page and an email address. The site had multiple chat rooms with custom alert features, private chat and friends list, a dating section, and a broadcast SMS service. It also contained a search engine and directory for WAP content, and displayed converted HTML web pages provided via a web crawler.
Context
The platform was developed at a time when mobile internet was new, and most devices could only connect over simplified adapted protocols such as WAP or i-mode, limiting users' access to content from the wider web. Wapmap.com, the predecessor of MoPilot, was launched in 1999 as a search engine for WAP sites.
Despite the limitations of WAP, MoPilot wanted to take advantage of rapidly expanding mobile internet use in the early 2000s, especially amongst young people. At the time, such portals were often provided by mobile network operators for use only by their own customers, whereas MoPilot could be used on any WAP-enabled carrier internationally. MoPilot partnered with businesses to develop services for the platform.
As mobile technology advanced and smartphones became more popular, the use of WAP services was phased out.
See also
Wireless Markup Language (WML)
Mobile web
WAP gateway
References
Websites
Mobile web
Web portals | MoPilot | [
"Technology"
] | 390 | [
"Wireless networking",
"Mobile web"
] |
77,986,589 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI%20slop | "AI slop", often simply "slop", is a term for low-quality media, including writing and images, made using generative artificial intelligence technology. Coined in the 2020s, the term has a derogatory connotation akin to "spam".
It has been variously defined as "digital clutter", "filler content produced by AI tools that prioritize speed and quantity over substance and quality", and "shoddy or unwanted AI content in social media, art, books and, increasingly, in search results".
Jonathan Gilmore, Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York, describes the "incredibly banal, realistic style" of AI slop as being "very easy to process".
Origin of the term
As large language models (LLMs) and image diffusion models accelerated the creation of high-volume but low-quality written content and images, discussion commenced for the appropriate term for the volume. Terms proposed included "AI garbage", "AI pollution", and "AI-generated dross". Early uses of the term "slop" as a descriptor for low-grade AI material apparently came in reaction to the release of AI image generators in 2022. Its early use has been noted among 4chan, Hacker News and YouTube commentators as a form of in-group slang.
The British computer-programmer Simon Willison is credited for being an early champion of the term "slop" in the mainstream, which he did in May 2024 on his personal blog. However, he has said it was in use long before he began pushing for the term.
The term gained increased popularity in second quarter 2024 in part because of Google's use of its Gemini AI model to generate responses to search queries, and was widely used in media headlines by the fourth quarter of 2024.
Research found that training LLMs on slop causes model collapse: a consistent decrease in the lexical, syntactic, and semantic diversity of the model outputs through successive iterations, notably remarkable for tasks demanding high levels of creativity.
On social media
AI image and video slop proliferated on social media in part because it was revenue generating for its creators on Facebook and TikTok. This incentivizes individuals from developing countries to create images that appeal to audiences in the United States which attract higher advertising rates.
The journalist Jason Koebler speculated that the bizarre nature of some of the content may be due to the creators using Hindi, Urdu, and Vietnamese prompts (languages which are underrepresented in the model's training data), or using erratic speech-to-text methods to translate their intentions into English.
Speaking to New York magazine, a Kenyan creator of slop images described giving ChatGPT prompts such as "WRITE ME 10 PROMPT picture OF JESUS WHICH WILLING BRING HIGH ENGAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK", and then feeding those created prompts into a text-to-image AI service such as Midjourney.
In politics
In August 2024, The Atlantic noted that AI slop was becoming associated with the political right in the United States, who were using it for shitposting and engagement farming on social media, the technology offering "cheap, fast, on-demand fodder for content".
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the United States, members of the Republican Party circulated an AI-generated image of a young girl holding a puppy in a flood, and used it as evidence of the failure of President Joe Biden to respond to the disaster. Some, like Amy Kremer, shared the image on social media even while acknowledging that it was not genuine.
In event listings
Fantastical promotional graphics for the 2024 Willy's Chocolate Experience event, characterized as "AI-generated slop", misled audiences into attending an event that was held in a cheaply decorated warehouse. Tickets were marketed through Facebook advertisements showing AI-generated imagery, with no genuine photographs of the venue.
In October 2024, thousands of people were reported to have assembled for a non-existent Halloween parade in Dublin as a result of a listing on an aggregation listings website, MySpiritHalloween.com, which used AI-generated content. The listing went viral on TikTok and Instagram. While a similar parade had been held in Galway, and Dublin had hosted parades in prior years, there was no parade in Dublin in 2024. One analyst characterized the website, which appeared to use AI-generated staff pictures, as likely using artificial intelligence "to create content quickly and cheaply where opportunities are found". The site's owner said that "We asked ChatGPT to write the article for us, but it wasn't ChatGPT by itself." In the past the site had removed non-existent events when contacted by their venues, but in the case of the Dublin parade the site owner said that "no one reported that this one wasn't going to happen". MySpiritHalloween.com updated their page to say that the parade had been "canceled" when they became aware of the issue.
In advertising
In November 2024, Coca-Cola used artificial intelligence to create three commercials as part of their annual holiday campaign. These videos were immediately met with negative reception from both casual viewers and artists, with animator Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls, criticizing the company's decision to not employ human artists to create the commercial. In response to the negative feedback, the company defended their decision to use generative artificial intelligence stating that "Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology".
See also
Enshittification – Pattern of quality decline among online products and services
Hallucination (artificial intelligence) – Content generated by AI that contains erroneous information presented as fact
Low culture – Media with mass appeal and ease of accessibility but has little to no artistic or intellectual value
Dead Internet theory – A conspiracy theory based around bot activity online
References
External links
2020s neologisms
2020s slang
Generative artificial intelligence
Pejorative terms related to technology | AI slop | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,242 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Generative artificial intelligence"
] |
77,987,127 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6-Hydroxydopa | 6-Hydroxydopa (6-OH-DOPA; 6-OHDOPA) is a catecholaminergic neurotoxin that damages noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurons and is used in scientific research. It is a precursor and prodrug of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). The drug is a derivative of levodopa (L-DOPA). It has certain advantages over 6-OHDA, such as the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier into the central nervous system and hence the ability to be administered systemically rather than directly into the brain. 6-OH-DOPA was first described in the scientific literature by 1969.
References
Aromatic amino acids
Catecholamines
Peripherally selective drugs
Monoaminergic neurotoxins
Phenethylamines
Prodrugs | 6-Hydroxydopa | [
"Chemistry"
] | 182 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Prodrugs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Pharmacology stubs"
] |
77,987,667 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel%20Shell | Intel Shell was an unfinished Intel building located in Austin, Texas. It was imploded on February 23rd, 2007, and the Austin United States Courthouse now stands in its place.
Halting the building
It was halted in March 2001, abandoned from March 2001 to 2004 by pain, because Intel abruptly stopped its construction.
Aftermath
A few days after the implosion, David Weaver, tried to sell many bottles that comes with the label "Intel Shell Inside" with the left overs for 20$.
In 2009, a courthouse started its construction process and was completed in 2012, and the Austin U.S. courthouse stands today.
References
External links
Intel shell implosion, picture gallery
Intel Shell Demolition - 02/25/07, 2007 video
Buildings and structures demolished in 2007
Demolished buildings and structures in Texas
Buildings and structures in Austin, Texas
Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States
Intel
Unfinished buildings demolished
Buildings and structures
Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion
Unfinished buildings and structures
Buildings and structures in Austin County, Texas | Intel Shell | [
"Engineering"
] | 205 | [
"Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion",
"Buildings and structures",
"Architecture"
] |
77,987,813 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PF-04455242 | PF-04455242 is an experimental κ-opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist which was under development by Pfizer for the treatment of bipolar depression but was never marketed. Its development was discontinued in early clinical trials. It is taken by mouth.
Pharmacology
The drug is a selective KOR antagonist and shows approximately 10- to 20-fold higher affinity for the KOR (Ki = 1–3nM) over the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) (Ki = 10–64nM) and has negligible affinity for the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) (Ki > 4,000nM). It is a "short-acting" or non-inactivating antagonist of the KOR (as opposed to irreversible antagonists like JDTic). Although originally characterized as a KOR neutral antagonist however, subsequent research revealed in 2020 that PF-04455242 is actually only a moderately efficacious partial antagonist of the KOR (Imax ≈ 50%). In any case, the drug reversed the analgesic and prolactin-elevating effects of the KOR agonist spiradoline in animals, showed efficacy in animal models predictive of antidepressant activity, and reversed stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. However, PF-04455242 also showed a variety of other weak off-target activities.
Clinical studies
PF-04455242 reached phase 1 clinical trials for bipolar depression prior to the discontinuation of its development in 2010. Its development was discontinued upon unfavorable toxicological findings in animals that had been exposed to the drug for 3months. Along with JDTic, which was also discontinued due to toxicity findings early in clinical trials, PF-04455242 was one of the first KOR antagonists to be developed for potential treatment of psychiatric disorders. It was in phase 1 trials by 2009 and was first described in the scientific literature by 2010.
See also
κ-Opioid receptor § Antagonists
List of investigational antidepressants
References
External links
PF-4455242 (PF-04455242) - AdisInsight
1-Pyrrolidinyl compounds
Abandoned drugs
Secondary amines
Drugs developed by Pfizer
Experimental antidepressants
Isobutyl compounds
Kappa-opioid receptor antagonists
Kappa-opioid receptor agonists
Sulfonamides | PF-04455242 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 517 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,988,147 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database%20object | A database object is a structure for storing, managing and presenting application- or user-specific data in a database. Depending on the database management system (DBMS), many different types of database objects can exist. The following is a list of the most common types of database objects found in most relational databases (RDBMS):
Tablespace, storage space for tables in a database
Tables, a set of values organized into rows and columns
Indexes, a data structure providing faster queries (at the expense of slower writing and storage to maintain the index structure)
Views, a virtual table that is made as it is queried
Synonyms, alternate names for a table, view, sequence or other object in a database
Stored procedures and user-defined functions
Triggers, procedures which are run automatically based on specific events
Constraints, a constraint on the domain of an attribute
User accounts, schemas and permissions
Database objects are permanent, which means that they remain in their form as long as they are not explicitly changed or deleted. Application- or user-specific database objects in relational databases are usually created with data definition language (DDL) commands, which in SQL for example can be CREATE, ALTER and DROP.
Rows or tuples from the database can represent objects in the sense of object-oriented programming, but are not considered database objects.
References
SQL
Data modeling
Database management systems | Database object | [
"Engineering"
] | 277 | [
"Data modeling",
"Data engineering"
] |
77,988,241 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisorcic | Bisorcic (), also known as N2,N5-diacetyl-L-ornithine, is a drug described as a hepatoprotective agent and "psychostimulant" which has been used in France in the treatment of asthenia. It is the N2,N5-diacetylated derivative of the amino acid L-ornithine.
Bisorcic was first described in the literature in 1973 in a German patent. The was designated around 1975. The drug was marketed in France by Astyl-Gallier in 1987. It was provided in the form of 200mg oral capsules and four capsules were taken daily.
L-Ornithine, as the combination drug L-ornithine L-aspartate (LOLA), has been used in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy and cirrhosis and is likewise described as hepatoprotective. It is thought to work by participating in the urea cycle and lowering ammonia levels.
References
Abandoned drugs
Amino acids
Diamines
Hepatology
Stimulants
Acetamides | Bisorcic | [
"Chemistry"
] | 239 | [
"Amino acids",
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,988,688 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markarian%201014 | Markarian 1014 known as PG 0157+001 is a quasar located in the constellation Cetus. It is located at a distance of 2.47 billion light years from Earth and is classified as a Seyfert galaxy as well as an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG).
Characteristics
Markarian 1014 is an active nucleus-dominated galaxy with a total far-infrared luminosity of 9.93 x 1011 erg s−1 cm−2. Apart from being radio-quiet, it contains optical emission lines considered broad, measured with a full-width half maximum of Hβ > 4000 km s−1. In additional to optical emission lines, Markarian 1014 shows emission features of Lyα, N v and O vi, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
Markarian 1014 is also one of the brightest quasars classified as a warm ULIRG. It is currently in a transitional phase from a typical ULIRG to an ultraviolet-excessive quasar. It has an X-ray emission measured at 2-10 KeV luminosity of 1043.80 erg s−1 when exhibiting a molecular outflow. The mass of the black hole in the center of Markarian 1014 is estimated 2.5+0.6-0.6 x 108 MΘ based on an MBH measurement carried out by the Seoul National University AGN Monitoring Project.
According to imaging and spectra of its host galaxy, Markarian 1014 is described as spiral-like, but also has a budge + disk morphology. It has a curved tidal tail found extending 60 kiloparsecs towards the north-east, suggesting it has gone through a major merger with a disk galaxy. The tidal tail is known to show lengthy low surface brightness extension with another secondary tail shown faint but rotating symmetrically.
Furthermore, the galaxy has twisted spiral isotopes within the 4 kiloparsec central radius hinting its spiral disk is undergoing a starburst or tidal debris caused by the merger. There is also the presence of carbon monoxide (CO) emission in the galaxy. Based on the relationship between its brightness and hydrogen gas (H2) surface density, the gas mass is estimated 4 x 1010 MΘ.
A 8.4 -GHz VLA image shows Markarian 1014 has a triple structure along the east–west direction. On both sides of its central core, two lobes are found with 1.1 arcsec from each other. There is also another component found faint and located at the optical nucleus position. According to the spectral index of the component, it is -1.11 ± 0.02 between 5 and 45 GHz.
Stellar population
A B' - R' color map is presented for Markarian 1014. According to spectroscopy made on its regions with a steeper blue continuum spectrum, it has a young stellar population of stars aged between 180 and 290 million years old. These stars are mainly found inside a clump at the eastern region and along the north edge of its tidal tail, and both southwest and east from its nucleus. The galaxy also has other regions that are seen as redder in a B' - R' color map. This suggests much older stars aged approximately 1 billion years old but with little contribution from the old underlying population.
References
1014
Cetus
07551
Quasars
Seyfert galaxies
Galaxy mergers
Luminous infrared galaxies
01572+0009 | Markarian 1014 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 704 | [
"Cetus",
"Constellations"
] |
77,988,708 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil%20in%20Ukraine | In 2022 almost a fifth of total energy supply in Ukraine was from oil, and most energy imports were oil products such as gasoline and diesel. The country used to produce its own oil. Strategic reserves of oil and products were set up after 2023 to help with energy security.
Products from Lukoil have been banned from transiting the country, except to Hungary. This goes through the Druzhba pipeline. Excise duty on diesel and gasoline was increased in 2024. The Odesa–Brody pipeline is not being used as of 2023. Refineries, such as Kremenchuk were destroyed or shutdown in 2022 in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Formerly supplied from Russia and Belarus, gasoline and diesel now come from ports in Poland and Romania.
References
Petroleum industry in Ukraine | Oil in Ukraine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 163 | [
"Petroleum",
"Petroleum stubs"
] |
77,988,793 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodipine | Prodipine (; developmental code name BY-101) is an experimental antiparkinsonian agent of the 4,4-diphenylpiperidine series related to budipine which was never marketed. It was the predecessor of budipine and was similarly found to be effective in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. However, prodipine produced side effects including gastrointestinal adverse effects, nausea and vomiting, and hypotension. Due to the nausea and vomiting with the oral form, it could only be tolerated with intravenous administration. As a result, budipine, which had fewer side effects, was developed instead.
Pharmacology
The mechanism of action of these drugs is unknown. However, budipine is known to stimulate the catecholaminergic system and to increase motor activity and vigilance in animals. It also increases brain dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels in animals treated with the monoamine depleting agent reserpine. It does not affect monoamine oxidase nor does it appear to interact with dopamine D2 receptors. Both budipine and prodipine have been described as "central stimulants" in addition to antiparkinsonian agents. Prodipine is said to have more tendency to induce hyperactivity than budipine.
Analogues
Besides prodipine and budipine, another close analogue, medipine, was also developed.
References
4-Phenylpiperidines
Abandoned drugs
Antiparkinsonian agents
Drugs with unknown mechanisms of action
Isopropyl compounds
Stimulants | Prodipine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 340 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
77,989,167 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flibusta | Flibusta () is a shadow library project mainly for Russian language books. Its collection comprised over 630,000 books. Dissatisfied with the commercialization of Librusec, Russia's main shadow library, the website was established by a group of volunteers in October 2009. The founder and administrator of the site was known as "Stiver", who lived in Germany. The website had been the subject of legal action by Russian publishing houses on several occasions. German police investigated Stiver for two years but took no action against him in 2016. In 2016, the site was blocked in Russia according to a Moscow City Court's ruling.
In 2024, Stiver announced the closure of the site soon due to his terminal illness.
On October 22, 2024 it was disclosed that Stiver has ended his life on October 20, 2024 through assisted suicide.
References
Book websites
File sharing communities
Intellectual property activism
Internet properties established in 2009
Russian digital libraries
Shadow libraries | Flibusta | [
"Technology"
] | 196 | [
"File sharing communities",
"Computing websites"
] |
66,295,925 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JamKazam | JamKazam is proprietary networked music performance software that enables real-time rehearsing, jamming and performing with musicians at remote locations, overcoming latency - the time lapse that occurs while (compressed) audio streams travel to and from each musician.
JamKazam is available in free and premium versions; the free version is peer-to-peer only, while the paid version offers the client-server model too, choosing whichever route is faster. It also allows streaming to social media, and has pre-recorded "JamTracks" for subscribers to play along to.
The founders ran out of capital in 2017, but like other software of this type, saw huge growth during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and managed to raise over $100,000 through crowdfunding on GoFundMe.
See also
Jamstud.io
Jamulus
Ninjam / Ninbot
SonoBus
HPSJam
Koord
Comparison of Remote Music Performance Software
References
Audio software
2014 software
Music software | JamKazam | [
"Engineering"
] | 206 | [
"Audio engineering",
"Audio software"
] |
66,297,772 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROX2 | Prospero homeobox protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PROX2 gene.
References
External links
Transcription factors | PROX2 | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 30 | [
"Induced stem cells",
"Gene expression",
"Transcription factors",
"Signal transduction"
] |
66,299,647 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HL-2A | HL-2A (Huan-Liuqi-2A) is a medium-sized tokamak for fusion research in Chengdu, China. It was constructed by the China National Nuclear Corporation from early 1999 to 2002, based on the main components (magnet coils and plasma vessel) of the former German ASDEX device. HL-2A was the first tokamak with a divertor in China. The research goals of HL-2A are the study of fundamental fusion plasma physics to support the international ITER fusion reactor.
References
Tokamaks
Fusion reactors | HL-2A | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 117 | [
"Nuclear fusion",
"Fusion reactors",
"Plasma physics stubs",
"Plasma physics"
] |
66,299,671 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen%20Villeda | Karen Villeda (born 1985) is a Mexican writer, poet, and digital artist.
Biography
Villeda was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico in 1985. She began writing at age 9, and had her first poem published in a local newspaper after attending a literary workshop at age 16. She published her first book of poetry at age 18, and studied International Affairs at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Her interest in poetry and its relation with various technological resources began with LABO: laboratory of cyberpoetry.
Her poetry has been translated to several languages, including Arabic, English, French, German and Portuguese.
Her work as poet is part of the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape of the Library of Congress (2015) and she is one of the few Mexican writers in the archive. Part of her digital work is in the third volume of Electronic Literature Collection of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She was the editor-in-chief of the Este País. In 2015, she became the Fall resident of the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, and was selected as the IWP Outreach Fellow.
Her website POETronicA includes works that incorporate hypertext, visuals, and video. She also collaborated with Denise Audirac to create the 2014 project POETuitéame, which incorporates and remixes content from Twitter.
Critical reception
In 2016, Rachel Rose of The Fiddlehead wrote "her writing shows her to be a fierce advocate of children’s rights, especially those children who have left Mexico and moved north, to the US, bringing the traumas of linguistic, social and geographic dislocation with them."
In a review of Visegrado for Words Without Borders, Charlotte Whittle wrote, "Villeda eschews objectivity, sending us postcards of highly distilled observations as she wanders her chosen territory, carrying the weight of home in her backpack. Villeda’s “micro-essays” make up a truly hybrid text that is at once travel notebook, literary criticism, and prose poem."
Daniel Escandell Montiel wrote in Literatura Mexicana, "POETronicA is a web project that brings together Villeda's poetic creations that transcend paper and, within it, POETuitéame is a turning point that definitely opens the way to a natively electronic poetic writing by the author, as opposed to the preceding texts, inspired, based on or derived from the most traditional poetry collections (that is, printed), by the author from Tlaxcala. If Villeda is described in profiles such as the one in the Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico as a "poet and net-artist" (2011), it is evident that POETuitéame has been a fundamental piece to enhance her international weight as a digital artist."
Bibliography
Poetry collections
2021: Anna y Hans. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
2014: Constantinopla. Posdata Ediciones.
2014: Dodo. Fondo Editorial Tierra Adentro.
2011: Babia. Ediciones de Punto de Partida.
2010: Tesauro. Fondo Editorial Tierra Adentro.
2005: La caja de los recuerdos o la instrucción para recordarnos. ITC y Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA).
Essay collections
2019: Agua de Lourdes. Ser mujer en México. (2019). Turner.
2017: Visegrado. Almadía.
2016: Tres. Cuadrivio Ediciones.
Children's books
2016: Pelambres. Pearson.
2015: Cuadrado de Cabeza. El mejor detective del mundo (o eso cree él).
Honors and awards
2005 IV National Award of Poetry for Children Narciso Mendoza
2008 Poetry Prize from Punto de Partida magazine
2013 Elías Nandino National Prize for Young Poetry
2014 Fine Arts Prize of Children's Story for Cuadrado de cabeza
2014 Mexico City Youth Award
2016 Clemencia Isaura National Poetry Award
2017 Clemencia Isaura National Poetry Award
2017 José Revueltas Literary Essay Fine Arts Award 2017 for Visegrad: literary micro-essays from Hungary, Poland
2019 Gilberto Owen National Literature Award
2020 Ignacio Manuel Altamirano National Poetry Award for Anna and Hans
References
External links
Water of Lourdes (Karen Villeda, Asymptote, October 2022)
POETronicA (Official website)
POETuitéame (Official website)
Visegrád (Karen Villeda, Words Without Borders, May 2020)
21st-century Mexican women writers
21st-century Mexican women artists
Mexican women essayists
Mexican women poets
Mexican women short story writers
Mexican digital artists
Women digital artists
New media artists
Net.artists
1985 births
Living people | Karen Villeda | [
"Technology"
] | 982 | [
"Multimedia",
"Net.artists"
] |
66,300,206 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual%20Steenrod%20algebra | In algebraic topology, through an algebraic operation (dualization), there is an associated commutative algebra from the noncommutative Steenrod algebras called the dual Steenrod algebra. This dual algebra has a number of surprising benefits, such as being commutative and provided technical tools for computing the Adams spectral sequence in many cases (such as ) with much ease.
Definition
Recall that the Steenrod algebra (also denoted ) is a graded noncommutative Hopf algebra which is cocommutative, meaning its comultiplication is cocommutative. This implies if we take the dual Hopf algebra, denoted , or just , then this gives a graded-commutative algebra which has a noncommutative comultiplication. We can summarize this duality through dualizing a commutative diagram of the Steenrod's Hopf algebra structure:If we dualize we get mapsgiving the main structure maps for the dual Hopf algebra. It turns out there's a nice structure theorem for the dual Hopf algebra, separated by whether the prime is or odd.
Case of p=2
In this case, the dual Steenrod algebra is a graded commutative polynomial algebra where the degree . Then, the coproduct map is given bysendingwhere .
General case of p > 2
For all other prime numbers, the dual Steenrod algebra is slightly more complex and involves a graded-commutative exterior algebra in addition to a graded-commutative polynomial algebra. If we let denote an exterior algebra over with generators and , then the dual Steenrod algebra has the presentationwhereIn addition, it has the comultiplication defined bywhere again .
Rest of Hopf algebra structure in both cases
The rest of the Hopf algebra structures can be described exactly the same in both cases. There is both a unit map and counit map which are both isomorphisms in degree : these come from the original Steenrod algebra. In addition, there is also a conjugation map defined recursively by the equationsIn addition, we will denote as the kernel of the counit map which is isomorphic to in degrees .
See also
Adams-Novikov spectral sequence
References
Algebraic topology
Hopf algebras
Homological algebra | Dual Steenrod algebra | [
"Mathematics"
] | 479 | [
"Mathematical structures",
"Algebraic topology",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Topology",
"Category theory",
"Homological algebra"
] |
66,300,272 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron%20tris%28diethyldithiocarbamate%29 | Iron tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) is the coordination complex of iron with diethyldithiocarbamate with the formula Fe(S2CNEt2)3 (Et = ethyl). It is a black solid that is soluble in organic solvents.
Synthesis, structure, bonding
Iron tris(dithiocarbamate)s are typically are prepared by salt metathesis reactions.
Iron tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) is an octahedral coordination complex of iron(III) with idealized D3 symmetry.
The phenomenon of spin crossover (SCO) was first reported in 1931 by Cambi et al. who observed anomalous magnetic behavior for the tris(N,N-dialkyldithiocarbamatoiron(III) complexes. The magnetism of these complexes are sensitive to the nature of the amine substituents as well as to temperature. This behavior is consistent with an equilibrium between two or more spin states. In the case of Fe(Et2dtc)3, X-ray crystallography reveals that the Fe-S bonds are 231 pm at 79K but 356 pm at 297 K. These data indicate a low-spin configuration at low temperatures and a high spin configuration near room temperature.
Iron tris(dithiocarbamate)s characteristically react with nitric oxide to give Fe(dtc)2NO. This efficient chemical trapping reaction provides a means to detect NO.
Reflecting the strongly donating properties of dithiocarbamate ligands, iron tris(dithiocarbamate)s oxidize at relatively mild potentials to give isolable iron(IV) derivatives [Fe(S2CNR2)3]+.
Safety
Iron tris(dimethyldithiocarbamate) is the herbicide ferbam, which is poisonous.
See also
Iron tris(dimethyldithiocarbamate) - a related dimethyldithiocarbamate complex of iron
Iron bis(diethyldithiocarbamate)
Cobalt tris(diethyldithiocarbamate)
References
Fungicides
Dithiocarbamates
Iron(III) compounds
Iron complexes | Iron tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 458 | [
"Fungicides",
"Dithiocarbamates",
"Biocides",
"Functional groups"
] |
66,301,614 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitratoauric%20acid | Nitratoauric acid, hydrogen tetranitratoaurate, or simply called gold(III) nitrate is a crystalline gold compound that forms the trihydrate, or more correctly . This compound is an intermediate in the process of extracting gold. In older literature it is also known as aurinitric acid.
Preparation and reactions
Nitratoauric acid is prepared by the reaction of gold(III) hydroxide and concentrated nitric acid at 100 °C:
This compound reacts with potassium nitrate to form potassium tetranitratoaurate at 0 °C:
Properties
Nitratoauric acid trihydrate decomposes to the monohydrate at 72 °C. If continually heated to 203 °C, it decomposes to auric oxide.
Simple gold(III) nitrate
The production of the simple nitrate (Au(NO3)3) was reported from the reaction of gold oxide and dinitrogen pentoxide, however, this was later proven to be nitronium tetranitratoaurate ((NO2)Au(NO3)4).
However, the ammine complex of the simple gold nitrate is known. Au(NH3)4(NO3)3, also known as tetraaminegold(III) nitrate, is produced by the addition of ammonium nitrate to a solution of chloroauric acid. The hydrolysis of this compound produces fulminating gold.
References
Gold(III) compounds
Nitrates
Aurates | Nitratoauric acid | [
"Chemistry"
] | 306 | [
"Oxidizing agents",
"Nitrates",
"Salts"
] |
66,303,751 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoLa%20%28software%29 | LoLa (low latency audio visual streaming system) is proprietary networked music performance software, first conceived in 2005, that enables real-time rehearsing and performing with musicians at remote locations, overcoming latency - the time lapse that occurs while (compressed) audio streams travel to and from each musician.
Unlike similar systems, LoLa offers ultra-low latency video as well as audio streaming, and for this reason has extremely stringent hardware requirements (estimated cost over 12,600 euros). The current version supports up to 3 connections, with up to 4 cameras per site. Over 140 sites - primarily universities and conservatoires - are listed as LoLa installations.
LoLa was conceived in 2005, when a Miami orchestra ran a master class accompanied by the Italian Research and Academic Network (GARR). Alternative solutions suggested at the time included EtherSound (Paris), NetworkSound (Silicon Valley) and Dante (Sydney) but these were limited to high-speed university or laboratory-based local networks.
It has been used for live streaming by individual professional musicians unable to perform in public during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, as well as international concerts. Pinchas Zukerman described the technology as "the savior of the profession".
See also
Jamulus
JamKazam
Ninjam / Ninbot
SonoBus
HPSJam
Koord
Comparison of Remote Music Performance Software
References
Audio software
2017 software
Music software | LoLa (software) | [
"Engineering"
] | 288 | [
"Audio engineering",
"Audio software"
] |
66,304,227 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7010%20aluminium%20alloy | Aluminium 7010 alloy is a wrought aluminum alloy. It is medium strength, having high corrosion and damage tolerance ability.
Chemical Composition
Physical Properties
Mechanical Properties
Other Designations
AMS 4203
AMS 4204
AMS 4205
Applications
Close die forgings for aerospace
Forged bars for aerospace components
High strength aerospace component
Features
High strength alloy
High fatigue strength
High Stress corrosion resistance
Not for high temperature
High Corrosion resistance
References
External links
microstructure
What is aluminium 7010? - Quora
apps.dtic.mil
AA7010 Scientific.Net
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7010 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 112 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,304,420 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7034%20aluminium%20alloy | 7034 aluminium alloy is a wrought type. It having a very high ultimate tensile strength of 750 MPa.
Chemical Composition
Properties
References
Aluminum alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7034 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 36 | [
"Alloys",
"Alloy stubs",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,304,713 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundational%20violence | Foundational violence are acts of violence that create sovereignty, a process that often involves ethnic cleansing or even genocide. Fatma Müge Göçek writes:
References
Sources
Sovereignty
Violence | Foundational violence | [
"Biology"
] | 36 | [
"Behavior",
"Aggression",
"Human behavior",
"Violence"
] |
66,304,780 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7049%20aluminium%20alloy | The Aluminum / aluminum 7049 alloy is a forging aluminum alloy. It has a high stress, corrosion, and cracking resistance and high machinability. Alloy can be hot formed. It can not be weldable (in some cases, tungsten inert gas welding can applied).
Chemical Composition
Properties
Applications
structural forgings, especially in the missile or aircraft industries.
aircraft structural parts.
Forged aircraft and missile fittings
landing gear cylinders
extruded sections
Structural forgings
Missile industries
Designation
Aluminium alloy EN AW 7049 has similarities to the following standard designations and specifications ;
Alloy 7049
UNS A97049
ASTM B209
DIN AlZn8MgCu
References
External links
7049 Aluminum :: MakeItFrom.com
eFunda: Properties of Aluminum Alloy AA 7049
Aluminum 7049 | Alloys International, Inc.
MatWeb - The Online Materials Information Resource
AA Standards Grade 7049 T73 - 7000 Series - Matmatch
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7049 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 202 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,305,060 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7050%20aluminium%20alloy | Aluminium 7050 alloy is a heat treatable alloy. It has high toughness, high strength. It has high stress corrosion cracking resistance. It has electric conductivity of value having 40 percent of copper. 7050 aluminium is known as a commercial aerospace alloy.
Chemical Composition
Physical Properties
Designations
It can be written as:
AMS 4108
AMS 4201
ASTM B247
ASTM B316
QQ A-430
Welding
Welding should be avoided, because it weakens aluminum alloy.
Applications
Aircraft and other structures
Fuselage frames
Bulkheads
Wing skins
Military aircraft applications
References
Further reading
External links
For more properties, visit: http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MA7050T765
Aluminum 7050 properties for different thickness https://www.aircraftmaterials.com/data/aluminium/7050.html
Aluminum alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7050 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 192 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,305,577 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda%20Zall | Linda Zall is an environmental scientist who previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at the CIA she was responsible for establishing in 1992 a task force named Medea, which specialized in using spy satellite images to produce environmental data.
Biography
Zall grew up in North Hornell, New York as the oldest of three children. Her father was the manager of a large dairy. He later became a professor at Cornell University, retiring as Professor Emeritus.
Education and career
Zall received a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University (1976). While at the school, she was mentored by Donald James Belcher.
After graduation, she worked from 1975 to 1984 at the Earth Satellite Corporation and used computers to enhance Landsat images, so that details in the satellites' scanned details could be more easily accessed. In 1985, she moved to the CIA. There, she led teams of scientists and became instrumental in realizing the potential power of spy satellites to keep track of numerous environmental problems and the changes that could be seen from space, an activity that she has called "environmental sleuthing." She retired from the CIA in 2013.
She was awarded the Career Intelligence Medal by CIA Director John Brennan in 2013, and the Intelligence Medal of Merit by CIA Director George Tenet in 2000. In 2023, Zall was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Personal life
Zall married and divorced Charles Sheffield, an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction writer. The pair had two daughters Elizabeth and Victoria Sheffield.
References
External links
People of the Central Intelligence Agency
American environmental scientists
Reconnaissance satellites
Scientists from Washington, D.C.
Scientists from New York (state)
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Cornell University alumni | Linda Zall | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 348 | [
"American environmental scientists",
"Environmental scientists"
] |
66,305,963 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7055%20aluminium%20alloy | 7055 alloy is heat treatable wrought aluminum alloy. It has high ultimate tensile strength value of 593 MPa.
Chemical Composition
Properties
Applications
Aerospace sector
High strength requirement areas
References
External links
Single-aging characteristics of 7055 aluminum alloy
7055: High-Strength Plate and Extrusion Alloy
Microstructure characterization of 7055-T6, 6061-T6511 and 7A52-T6 Al alloys subjected to ballistic impact against heavy tungsten alloy projectile
Grain size prediction and investigation of 7055 aluminum alloy inoculated by Al–5Ti–1B master alloy,Journal of Alloys and Compounds - X-MOL
ShieldSquare Captcha
Aluminum alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7055 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 144 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,305,965 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt%20tris%28diethyldithiocarbamate%29 | Cobalt tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) is the coordination complex of cobalt with diethyldithiocarbamate with the formula Co(S2CNEt2)3 (Et = ethyl). It is a diamagnetic green solid that is soluble in organic solvents.
Synthesis, structure, bonding
Cobalt tris(dithiocarbamate)s are typically are prepared by air-oxidation of mixtures of dithiocarbamate salts and a cobalt(II) nitrate. Cobalt tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) is an octahedral coordination complex of low-spin Co(III) with idealized D3 symmetry. The Co-S distances are 267 pm.
Reactions
Oxidation of Co(Et2dtc)3 occurs at mild potentials to give the cobalt(IV) derivative.
Treatment of Co(Et2dtc)3 with fluoroboric acid results in the removal of 0.5 equiv of ligand giving a binuclear cation:
2Co(Et2dtc)3 + HBF4 → [Co2(Et2dtc)5]BF4 + "Et2NdtcH"
See also
Iron tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) - a related dimethyldithiocarbamate complex of iron
References
Dithiocarbamates
Cobalt complexes | Cobalt tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) | [
"Chemistry"
] | 283 | [
"Dithiocarbamates",
"Functional groups"
] |
66,306,199 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7065%20aluminium%20alloy | 7065 is high zinc containing aluminum alloy. It is used for making plate.
Chemical Composition
Properties
Application
Plate
Aerospace
The combination of high strength and fracture toughness properties and corrosion resistance makes 7065 suitable as a replacement for 7010, 7050, 7075, 7475 and other alloys for critical intermediate thickness applications.
Spar, rib, and integrally machined structural parts for new, derivative, or retrofit aircraft.
References
Aluminum alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7065 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 96 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,306,492 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7072%20aluminium%20alloy | 7072 aluminium alloy is an aluminium alloy, created with just one other element; zinc, at one weight percentage.
Chemical Composition
Physical Properties
Designations
7072 can be designated as:
ASTM B209
ASTM B221
ASTM B234
ASTM B241
ASTM B313
ASTM B345
ASTM B404
ASTM B547
References
External links
For more properties: http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=f755b2226d7f40a2ac2d33b5cb1e5dd1
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7072 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 140 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,306,606 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7085%20aluminium%20alloy | 7085 aluminum alloy is wrought type alloy. It has very high zinc percentage. It also contains magnesium and copper.
Chemical composition
Applications
Thick plate
Aerospace industry
References
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7085 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 37 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,306,667 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7093%20aluminium%20alloy | 7093 aluminum alloy is a wrought alloy composed of aluminum, copper, magnesium, zinc, and other elements.
Chemical Composition
References
Aluminum alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7093 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 35 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,306,884 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7116%20aluminium%20alloy | Aluminium 7116 alloy is heat treatable wrought alloy. It has 4.2 to 5.2 weight percentage of Zinc. It also contains magnesium, copper as small additions.
Chemical composition
Properties
Applications
Its application is in the aviation industry
References
External links
Machinability of 7116 Structural Aluminum Alloy
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/AMP-200060603
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/AMP-200060603?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7116 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 131 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,306,991 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7129%20aluminium%20alloy | Aluminium 7129 alloy is a heat treatable wrought alloy.
Chemical composition
Properties
Applications
Aircraft manufacturing sector
References
External links
Comparison of 6061 and 7129 alloy
http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=d62fafde9ffe4ef68614c5e2ab5869e5
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7129 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 86 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,307,061 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7150%20aluminium%20alloy | Aluminium 7150 alloy is a heat treatable wrought alloy. It is used in the aerospace industry for manufacturing aircraft components. Heat treatment can improve its anti-corrosion properties with a low corresponding decrease in strength.
Chemical composition
Properties
Alternate designations
It has the following alternate designations:
AA 7150
AMS 4252A
4306A
4307S
4345A
UNS A97150
References
External links
http://www.icaa-conference.net/ICAA12/pdf/P046.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240427022_Hot_deformation_behavior_of_7150_aluminum_alloy_during_compression_at_elevated_temperature
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286794197_Mechanical_properties_and_exfoliation_behavior_of_7150-RRA_aluminum_alloy_retrogressed_at_175C
https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:44025414
Aluminium alloy table
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7150 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 238 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,307,267 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7178%20aluminium%20alloy | 7178 aluminum alloy is wrought alloy. It has high zinc content. After annealing, aluminum alloy 7178 has high machinability. Resistance welding can be used.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of Aluminium / Aluminum 7178 alloy is outlined in the following table. It is difficult to cold work. Forming is hard to use for this alloy. It has high machinability.
Properties
Designations
Aluminium alloy 7178 alloy can be designated as:
ASTM B209
ASTM B221
ASTM B241
ASTM B316
QQ A-200/13
QQ A-200/14
QQ A-250/14
QQ A-250/21
QQ A-250/28
QQ A-430
SAE J454
Applications
Aircraft components
Petroleum refineries
Boilers
Heat exchangers
Condensers
Pipelines
Cooling towers
Steam exhausts
Electric generation plants
References
External links
https://www.makeitfrom.com/material-properties/7178-T6-Aluminum
https://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=wrought_aluminum-zinc-magnesium_alloy_7178
Aluminium–zinc alloys | 7178 aluminium alloy | [
"Chemistry"
] | 252 | [
"Alloys",
"Aluminium alloys"
] |
66,307,448 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural%20network%20quantum%20states | Neural Network Quantum States (NQS or NNQS) is a general class of variational quantum states parameterized in terms of an artificial neural network. It was first introduced in 2017 by the physicists Giuseppe Carleo and Matthias Troyer to approximate wave functions of many-body quantum systems.
Given a many-body quantum state comprising degrees of freedom and a choice of associated quantum numbers , then an NQS parameterizes the wave-function amplitudes
where is an artificial neural network of parameters (weights) , input variables () and one complex-valued output corresponding to the wave-function amplitude.
This variational form is used in conjunction with specific stochastic learning approaches to approximate quantum states of interest.
Learning the Ground-State Wave Function
One common application of NQS is to find an approximate representation of the ground state wave function of a given Hamiltonian . The learning procedure in this case consists in finding the best neural-network weights that minimize the variational energy
Since, for a general artificial neural network, computing the expectation value is an exponentially costly operation in , stochastic techniques based, for example, on the Monte Carlo method are used to estimate , analogously to what is done in Variational Monte Carlo, see for example for a review. More specifically, a set of samples , with , is generated such that they are uniformly distributed according to the Born probability density . Then it can be shown that the sample mean of the so-called "local energy" is a statistical estimate of the quantum expectation value , i.e.
Similarly, it can be shown that the gradient of the energy with respect to the network weights is also approximated by a sample mean
where and can be efficiently computed, in deep networks through backpropagation.
The stochastic approximation of the gradients is then used to minimize the energy typically using a stochastic gradient descent approach. When the neural-network parameters are updated at each step of the learning procedure, a new set of samples is generated, in an iterative procedure similar to what done in unsupervised learning.
Connection with Tensor Networks
Neural-Network representations of quantum wave functions share some similarities with variational quantum states based on tensor networks. For example, connections with matrix product states have been established. These studies have shown that NQS support volume law scaling for the entropy of entanglement. In general, given a NQS with fully-connected weights, it corresponds, in the worse case, to a matrix product state of exponentially large bond dimension in .
See also
Differentiable programming
References
Quantum mechanics
Quantum Monte Carlo
Machine learning | Neural network quantum states | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 530 | [
"Quantum chemistry",
"Machine learning",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Quantum states",
"Quantum Monte Carlo"
] |
66,307,674 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-1649b | Kepler-1649b is a Venus-like exoplanet orbiting Kepler-1649.
Host star
Kepler-1649 is a type-M red dwarf star estimated to be roughly ¼ the radius of the Sun with only two confirmed planets in its orbit, the other being Kepler-1649c. Kepler-1649c is similar to Earth from our own solar system in two ways: both Kepler-1649c and Earth have orbits roughly twice the radius of the previous known planets (Kepler-1649b and Venus respectively), and they are of similar size.
Orbit
Kepler-1649b takes only 8.6 Earth days to orbit Kepler-1649.
References
Cygnus (constellation)
Exoplanets discovered in 2017
Transiting exoplanets
Exoplanets discovered by the Kepler space telescope | Kepler-1649b | [
"Astronomy"
] | 160 | [
"Cygnus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
66,308,406 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGX-1027 | VGX-1027 (GIT-27) is a drug which acts as an immunomodulator. It acts by blocking downstream signalling of the Toll-like receptors TLR2, TLR4 and TLR6, and thereby reducing production of various cytokines, including interleukins and TNF-α. In animal studies it has antiinflammatory effects and has been investigated for conditions such as arthritis and lung inflammation.
References
Isoxazolines
Immunomodulating drugs
Carboxylic acids | VGX-1027 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 114 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Carboxylic acids",
"Functional groups",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Pharmacology stubs"
] |
66,308,569 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubly%20triangular%20number | In mathematics, the doubly triangular numbers are the numbers that appear within the sequence of triangular numbers, in positions that are also triangular numbers. That is, if denotes the th triangular number, then the doubly triangular numbers are the numbers of the form .
Sequence and formula
The doubly triangular numbers form the sequence
0, 1, 6, 21, 55, 120, 231, 406, 666, 1035, 1540, 2211, ...
The th doubly triangular number is given by the quartic formula
The sums of row sums of Floyd's triangle give the doubly triangular numbers.
Another way of expressing this fact is that the sum of all of the numbers in the first rows of Floyd's triangle is the th doubly triangular number.
In combinatorial enumeration
Doubly triangular numbers arise naturally as numbers of of objects, including pairs where both objects are the same:
An example from mathematical chemistry is given by the numbers of overlap integrals between Slater-type orbitals.
Another example of this phenomenon from combinatorics is that the doubly-triangular numbers count the number of two-edge undirected multigraphs on labeled vertices. In this setting, an edge is an unordered pair of vertices, and a two-edge graph is an unordered pair of edges. The number of possible edges is a triangular number, and the number of pairs of edges (allowing both edges to connect the same two vertices) is a doubly triangular number.
In the same way, the doubly triangular numbers also count the number of distinct ways of coloring the four corners or the four edges of a square with colors, allowing some colors to be unused and counting two colorings as being the same when they differ from each other only by rotation or reflection of the square. The number of choices of colors for any two opposite features of the square is a triangular number, and a coloring of the whole square combines two of these colorings of pairs of opposite features.
When pairs with both objects the same are excluded, a different sequence arises, the tritriangular numbers which are given by the formula .
In numerology
Some numerologists and biblical studies scholars consider it significant that 666, the number of the beast, is a doubly triangular number.
References
Factorial and binomial topics
Integer sequences | Doubly triangular number | [
"Mathematics"
] | 485 | [
"Sequences and series",
"Factorial and binomial topics",
"Integer sequences",
"Mathematical structures",
"Recreational mathematics",
"Mathematical objects",
"Combinatorics",
"Numbers",
"Number theory"
] |
74,988,673 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana%20Moreo | Adriana Moreo is an Argentine-American condensed matter physicist whose research involves the computer simulation of superconductors, oxides of transition metals, graphene, and other strongly correlated materials. She is a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Tennessee and a member of the research staff in the Materials Science and Technology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Education and career
Moreo studied physics at the Balseiro Institute, earning a licenciado en Fisica in 1983 and completing a Ph.D. in 1985. After postdoctoral research with Eduardo Fradkin at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and then at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1988-1991, she became an assistant professor at Florida State University in 1992. She was promoted to associate professor in 1994 and full professor in 1999. In 2004 she moved to her present position in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on a wide variety of subjects such as: Quantum Materials, Strongly correlated electron systems: high Tc superconductors (cuprates, iron pnictides, iron selenides), manganites with colossal magnetoresistance, magnetism, topological materials, numerical calculations, and computational physics.
Recognition
Moreo was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2002, after a nomination from the APS Division of Condensed Matter Physics, "for important contributions to computational techniques and their application to the manganites, d-wave superconductors and other correlated electronic systems". She was named as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018.
Personal life
Moreo is married to Elbio Dagotto, another physicist, whom she met when they were both undergraduates in Argentina.
References
External links
Correlated Electrons Group, the homepage of Adriana Moreo and Elbio Dagotto's research group
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Argentine physicists
Argentine women physicists
American physicists
American women physicists
Condensed matter physicists
Florida State University faculty
University of Tennessee faculty
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows of the American Physical Society | Adriana Moreo | [
"Physics",
"Materials_science"
] | 442 | [
"Condensed matter physicists",
"Condensed matter physics"
] |
74,989,620 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella%20dysenterica | Tremella dysenterica is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces bright yellow, red-spotted, lobed to subfrondose, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Brazil and has been recorded elsewhere in the neotropics and in Africa.
Taxonomy
Tremella dysenterica was first published in 1895 by German mycologist Alfred Möller based on a collection made in Brazil.
Description
Fruit bodies are gelatinous, bright watery-yellow to deep yellow with orange to scarlet spots and streaks, up to 4 cm (1.5 in) across, and lobed to weakly frondose. Microscopically, the basidia are tremelloid (ellipsoid, with oblique to vertical septa), 4-celled, 14 to 18 by 8 to 12 μm. The basidiospores are ellipsoid, smooth, 5.5 to 8.5 by 4 to 5.5 μm.
Similar species
Tremella rubromaculata, described from Guatemala without reference to T. dysenterica, appears macroscopically very similar but differs microscopically in having larger basidiospores (8 to 10.5 by 6 to 8 μm) and basidia.
Habitat and distribution
Tremella dysenterica is a parasite on lignicolous fungi, but its host species is unknown, though collections have been noted on pyrenomycetes. It is found on dead, attached or fallen branches of broad-leaved trees.
The species is currently known from Brazil, Belize, and Cameroon.
References
dysenterica
Fungi described in 1895
Fungi of South America
Fungus species | Tremella dysenterica | [
"Biology"
] | 373 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,990,551 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competence%20stimulating%20peptide | Competence stimulating peptides (CSP) are chemical messengers that assist the initiation of quorum sensing, and exist in many bacterial genera. Bacterial transformation of DNA is driven by CSP-coupled quorum sensing.
Competence stimulating peptides are a subset of proteins that promote quorum sensing in numerous bacterial genera including Streptococcus and Bacillus. Quorum sensing contributes to regulation of specific gene expressions in response to cell population density fluctuations. Streptococcus pneumonia, a highly studied gram-positive bacterium, is capable of quorum sensing and can release autoinducers, chemical signals that increase as concentration based on density. CSPs are part of a unique form of regulation involved in DNA processing. The form of DNA processing starts abruptly and at the same time in all cells when in a constantly or exponentially growing culture, and then growth rapidly decreases after about 12 minutes of exponential growth.
Background
Competence is the ability of bacteria to pull DNA fragments from the environment and integrate it into their chromosome. Competence stimulating peptides (CSP) are a 17-amino acid signal peptide that triggers quorum sensing, which aids competence, biofilm formation, and virulence. The propensity of S. pneumoniae to become competent is critical to the bacterium's development of antibiotic resistance.
A substantial fraction of cells in the culture of species whose appearance of competence has been studied shows that specific growth conditions (ex. growth-limiting conditions) have led to the development of competence. S. pneumoniae is unique in the sense that virtually all cells of a culture develop the ability to become competent at the same time. The density that the cells have reached during exponential growth plays a role at determining when the competency is triggered. This competency period only lasts for a short period of time, and studies indicate that this does not affect the growth rate of the culture. There are two main specificity groups that S. pneumoniae can be divided into based on the CSP signal they produce and their compatible receptors. The CSP1 signal is received by receptor ComD1 and the CSP2 signal is received by ComD2.
Physiology and biochemistry
Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the mostly highly studied bacterial species containing CSP, though other genus and species also utilize the hormone-like protein. Variations in structure, receptor specificity, and codon sequence occur even between different strains of the same species. However, homology between CSP's retain a single negatively charged N-terminus, an arginine residue in position three (C3), and a positively charged C-terminus. Signal-receptor specificity is demonstrated in Streptococcal species through the relationship between CSP1 and CSP2 signals, and the receptors ComD1 and ComD2. Variations of receptor specificity and composition can be estimated based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analysis.
Alterations in the structure of CSP signals, such as CSP1 and CSP2, are shown to inhibit the cellular response to these peptides, often resulting in reduced biofilm production. Replacement of the first glutamate residue in CSP1 inhibits receptor activation of competency genes, and hydrophobic regions on the CSP1 molecule play key roles in effective ComD1 and Com2 binding. Interspecies interactions between biofilm producing organisms induce the release of chemical signals that inhibit binding or receptor activation in competence stimulating processes.
Initiation of DNA transformation begins as a threshold concentration of CSP is met within a bacterial cell. Cellular density is proportional to CSP concentration. After meeting threshold concentration, transmembrane histidine kinases are activated via binding of corresponding peptides. Regulator proteins in turn are phosphorylated by the activated kinases, thereby inducing competency gene expression. Such genes produce proteins responsible for inducing DNA transformation.
Implications in health and industry
Quorum sensing bacteria within the human microbiome are responsible for many diseases including sinusitis, otitis media, pneumonia, bacteraemia, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and meningitis. In the United States alone there is a death toll of >22,000 a year tracing back to this pathogen. S. pneumoniae uses the competence stimulating peptide and quorum sensing to initiate its attack, establish an infection, and develop antibiotic resistance genes. Overall, competence stimulating peptide allows S. pneumoniae to initiate a more pervading attack on the human host.
Currently in health and industry, studies center on explaining and intercepting the competence region within the S. pneumoniae. The goal is to limit cell–cell communication with the hopes of attenuating S. pneumoniae infectivity. Inhibiting the competence stimulating peptide shows potential as a way to combat pneumococcal infections.
References
Peptides
Microbial population biology | Competence stimulating peptide | [
"Chemistry"
] | 987 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Peptides",
"Molecular biology"
] |
74,990,961 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political%20funding%20in%20India | Political funding in India is a major concern under need for electoral reforms in India. The financing of the world's most extensive electoral process remains a perplexing issue, as the involvement of businesses in supporting both disclosed and undisclosed expenditures during elections has been a matter of public knowledge for a considerable period.
On 21 December 2020, the Central Information Commission issued a verdict that political parties cannot be classified as "public authorities" and hence the disclosure of information regarding the funding of political parties is not mandatory for voters and citizens.
Political Parties
As per a notification dated 23 September 2021 released by the Election Commission, there exist eight National Parties and over 60 State Parties. It also recognizes and mentions an approximate count of 3,000 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP). RUPPs encompass newly established parties, those unable to attain a sufficient vote share in State Assembly or Lok Sabha elections to attain state party status, or those that have abstained from participating in elections since their registration.
Income
Known Sources (includes, but not limited to)
Bank Interest
Membership Fees
Party Levy
Sale of Assets
Sale of Publications
Voluntary donations exceeding ₹20,000
Unknown Sources (includes, but not limited to)
Contribution from meetings/morchas
Electoral Bonds
Miscellaneous Income
Relief Fund
Sale of Coupons
Voluntary contributions less than ₹20,000
As of 2023, Electoral Bonds emerged as the primary means of income for political parties.
The recent unanimous Supreme Court five-judge bench verdict comprising Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra on the Electoral Bond has received much attention. It has been hailed as a significant step in bringing the much needed cleaning in the funding of the parties and would set new paradigms for the funding of the political parties.
Unknown
Donors — individual or corporate — who contribute less than ₹20,000 to any political party in a single tranche are not obligated to disclose their details and their contributions are classified as unknown income. Additionally, after the implementation of Electoral Bonds Scheme in 2018, contributions received through these bonds are also categorized as unknown sources of income.
The aggregate revenue of eight national parties during the fiscal year 2021-22 amounted to ₹3,289 crore. Out of this sum, ₹781 crore was contributed by identified donors, while ₹336 crore originated from various known sources such as the sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, and party levy, among others. Notably, the remaining ₹2,172 crore, constituting 66% of the total income, was derived from unknown sources.
Taxation
Contributions or donations solely in the form of a bank cheque or digital payments to a registered (under Section 29B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951) political party, including electoral trust, in India during the financial year are eligible for deduction in taxable income under Section 80GGC of the I-T Act, 1969. Donations in the form of cash amounting more than ₹2,000 are deemed ineligible for deduction under this provision.
Expenses
According to the Centre for Media Studies estimations, 2019 Indian general election was expected to see an expense of ₹55,000 crore ($8.6 billion)
Expenditure Division of the Election Commission of India publishes the declared expenditure filed by the political parties in public domain.
Disclosures
Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 stipulates specific requirements for public disclosures on the donations received and expenditure made by political parties.
According to a report by ADR, regional political parties garnered an approximate sum of Rs 108 crore during the fiscal year 2015-16 through donations exceeding Rs 20,000. It is noteworthy that this threshold mandates the disclosure of funding sources. Among 16 regional political parties that have publicly acknowledged receiving donations exceeding Rs 20,000, it has come to light that 9 parties, namely Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, Pattali Makkal Katchi, YSR Congress Party, All India United Democratic Front, Indian Union Muslim League, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal, and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, have neglected to disclose the Permanent Account Number (PAN) details of 1,567 donations. These parties have collectively amassed a substantial sum of Rs 6.79 crore through such undisclosed contributions or "unknown sources".
During the financial years of 2014-15 and 2015–16, a collective of 26 regional political parties have failed to submit their donations report to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Among these parties, 21 have neglected to file their reports for both financial years, while the remaining five (AIUDF, DMDK, JD(S), PMK and Shiv Sena) have submitted their report for 2014-15 but have failed to do so for 2015–16.
A comprehensive study conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that 69% of financial resources and contributions acquired by political parties during the period spanning from 2004–05 to 2014-15 originated from undisclosed origins. Income from "unknown sources" is the major chunk of revenue generated by political parties as per their mandatory disclosures.
Challenges
Tax Evasion
All political parties including RUPPs are "entitled" to acquire contributions from both the general public and various organizations, while simultaneously benefiting from tax exemption as stipulated by the Income Tax Act. It is important to note that any donations received by the political party are entirely exempt from income tax, thereby affording the donor the opportunity to claim income tax exemption for the donated amount.
As of 2023, tax evasion is a major concern among approximately 3,000 RUPPs in India. There were around 2,300 such parties in March 2019. Since the year 2001, there has been an increase of 300 percent in the number of RUPPs. Election Commission and the income tax authorities often report and take action against those found with "financial irregularities". During its verification drive, the Election Commission discovered that the existence of these parties, in and of itself, does not pose a significant problem. However, the extensive financial fraud in which these organizations are implicated gives rise to apprehensions regarding various financial transgressions, encompassing tax evasion and illicit money transfers. The magnitude of the sums involved in these illicit activities could potentially reach billions of rupees.
EC investigations have revealed that numerous such political parties are engaged in either evading substantial amounts of income tax or participating in money-laundering activities. For instance, Jan Raajya Party of Uttar Pradesh is currently under investigation for suspected efforts to legitimize illicit funds following the demonetization in November 2016. Additionally, there are indications that certain organizations have served as intermediaries for gathering donations intended for purposes unrelated to electoral activities.
The Election Commission furnished the I-T department with details of 2,174 Registered Unrecognized Political Parties that have failed to furnish their mandatory annual financial reports. In September 2022, the Income Tax Department conducted raids on 23 RUPPs across 110 locations.
In September 2022, a kite selling shop — the premises of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party at Dattapada Road in Borivali, Mumbai was subject to a raid conducted by officials of Income Tax Department. The president of the party, Dashrath Bhai Parekh claimed that all financial contributions were legal and the crores of rupees in party's income came from the donors of his political party comprise philanthropic entities, commercial enterprises, textile manufacturers, diamond traders, and real estate professionals.
Jantawadi Congress Party located at Swadeshi Mills Road in Chunabhatti, Mumbai was also found in financial wrongdoings. The party witnessed a remarkable surge in its donation revenue from ₹2,000 in FY 2018–19 to ₹5.83 crore in the next FY 2019–20. Party president Santosh M. Katke resides at the Mhada Colony Slums in Wadala, Mumbai. He was allegedly involved in money laundering activities.
It is noteworthy that the auditor of both political parties — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party and Jantawadi Congress Party — was Kashyap Kumar Ishwarbhai Patel. Furthermore, Patel's appointment as auditor for both parties occurred on the same date of 5 January 2021, and the letters of appointment issued by both parties share the same reference number. The Election Commission has raised concerns regarding the possibility that the two parties are under the control of the same group of individuals.
Abdul Mabood, the party president of Apna Desh Party in Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh) was investigated by tax authorities for receiving donations of nearly ₹100 crores and found that his associate Abdul B. Razak Pathan "misused" Mabood's PAN card without his knowledge . Razak established a bank account in Gujarat with the intention of facilitating this fraud.
Jan Raajya Party in Kanpur was investigated and feud between its co-founders Ravi Shankar Yadav and Omendra Bharat was revealed. It was found that Bharat is known to have later joined the Aam Aadmi Party. In November 2016, Arunesh Kumar Singh, the incumbent party president at the time, lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Yadav, accusing him of engaging in financial misdeeds. The FIR was registered at the Naubasta police station in Kanpur.
Bharatiya Rajnitik Vikalp Party was registered in Bihar's Bakhtiyarpur but all its financial transactions were carried out in Delhi NCR. This political party actively promotes the financial advantages of contributing and donating to its funds by highlighting the income tax exemption benefits associated with such donations. In 2019–20, the political party successfully amassed a substantial sum of ₹25.44 crore.
Tamil Nadu-based political party, Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi reported donations amounting to Rs22.64 lakh 2018–19. However, in the subsequent year, its income surged to ₹15.77 crore, primarily due to a donation of ₹15 crore from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The party had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the DMK. It remains unclear how the smaller party utilized the significant contribution from the DMK, as neither its audit report nor its election expenditure statement for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls were available on the website of the chief electoral officer, Tamil Nadu. While such transactions are not prohibited, it raises questions about whether the DMK donors were aware that a substantial portion of their donation would be further donated to an unrecognized party in the state.
Bhartiya National Janta Dal, a regional political party registered in Gujarat, received a donation of ₹1.47 lakh and ₹1.62 lakh in the fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017–18, respectively. In 2018–19, there was a significant increase in the donation which amounted to ₹4.32 crore. Notably, ₹4.23 crore was reported as being spent on "other charitable objects," without any accompanying details. This lack of transparency raises concerns about the legitimacy and accountability of this party's financial practices.
Rajasthan's Shashakt Bharat Party is headquartered in Chittorgarh. Remarkably, within a year of its establishment in November 2019, the party received substantial sum of over ₹2.67 crore from a diverse pool of 159 donors located throughout the nation. It is worth noting that this period coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, which undoubtedly presented unique challenges and circumstances. Records shows this Party allocated an amount exceeding ₹1.42 crore towards activities categorized as 'election/general propaganda' and additionally, an expenditure of over ₹97 lakh was dedicated to 'administrative costs'. Further in 2020–21, the Party had tremendously increased its financial resources, accumulating an impressive sum of over ₹6.9 crore. Out of this total, an amount of ₹4.31 crore was allocated towards 'election/general propaganda' activities. It is important to highlight that this financial allocation occurred despite the absence of any elections taking place in Rajasthan during this specific timeframe.
During the Corona Pandemic, the auditor of Garvi Gujarat Party revealed expenditures of an amount exceeding ₹4.0 crore in FY 2019–20. The auditor's report merely mentioned that they did not observe the actual execution of the party's programs or activities. In the year 2022, the income tax department conducted a raid on the premises of the political party's office.
The audit report of the Jan Sangharsh Virat Party indicates that the address in Ahmedabad, whereas the registered office listed on the Election Commission website is situated in Sant Ravidas Ward, Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Interestingly, the audit report bears the countersignatures of three individuals who hold the positions of president, secretary, and treasurer. However, the identities of these individuals have not been disclosed. The audited profit and loss account for the FY 2019-20 includes a mention of an indirect income amounting to ₹1.42 crore and indirect expenses totaling ₹1.38 crore, without providing any specific details. This was also during the pandemic period. Based on this information, the Election Commission deduces that the auditor lacks knowledge regarding the sources and destinations of the aforementioned funds.
The Election Commission's initiative to weed out the RUPP ecosystem has brought to light the involvement of numerous fake political parties in the acceptance of fraudulent donations through cheques or banking channels, subsequently returning the funds in cash after deducting their commission and funneling the money through various intermediaries. Primarily, this practice results in a financial loss for the government, as both these parties and their donors can seek exemptions from income tax. Furthermore, apart from the revenue loss, there exists a potential risk of fund diversion and money laundering.
Non-Disclosure
A significant majority of the RUPPs failed to submit their contribution report for the fiscal year 2019–20, with a staggering 92 per cent of them being non-compliant. In the preceding fiscal year of 2018–19, a total of 199 RUPPs claimed income tax exemptions amounting to ₹445 crore. Subsequently, in the fiscal year 2019–20, 219 RUPPs claimed income tax exemptions worth ₹608 crore. It is worth noting that out of these 219 RUPPs, 66 of them did not fulfill the requirement of submitting their contribution report. Furthermore, for the year 2019, a substantial number of 2,056 RUPPs have yet to file their annual audited accounts. Among the 115 RUPPs located in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, which underwent elections in early 2021, only 15 have successfully submitted their election expenditure statement.
False Identity
Election Commission has initiated a drive in May 2022 to cleanse the political landscape as it was observed that a significant proportion of the RUPPs had exhibited minimal electoral engagement. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a mere 673 parties participated, representing less than 30% of the total RUPPs. Similarly, in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, only 265 RUPPs out of over 800 registered parties contested in the poll.
The commencement of the clean-up initiative involved the authentication of information furnished by the parties, including their address and particulars of office-bearers, while also considering their electoral engagement or absence thereof. In May 2022, the Election Commission removed 87 non-existent RUPPs from its registry of registered parties, whose addresses were discovered to be fraudulent through either physical verification conducted by the respective chief electoral officers or through reports of undelivered letters or notices from the postal authority.
In June 2022, a total of 111 registered political parties were removed from the list due to their failure to comply with the legal obligation of informing the Election Commission about their authentic communication address. Subsequently, in September 2022, an additional 86 non-existent political parties were delisted by the electoral authority. Furthermore, 253 political parties were declared inactive and subsequently removed from the list as they had not participated in any elections, either at the assembly or Lok Sabha level, during the years 2014 and 2019. These parties also neglected to respond to any correspondence or notices sent to them by the Election Commission. Overall, since May 2022, a total of 537 political parties have been delisted by the Election Commission due to their failure to comply with various legal requirements. Nevertheless, this action primarily signifies that these parties are deprived of obtaining a symbol, thereby rendering them ineligible to participate in elections, a circumstance that a considerable number of them do not engage in regardless. Despite this limitation, these parties persist in their existence and retain the ability to receive funds and enjoy the benefits of income tax exemption. In order to revoke this exemption, an amendment to the Income Tax Act would be necessary.
Another issue of concern relates to the potentiality of these registered political parties assuming the role of "proxies" or "surrogates" for other well established political parties, engaging in informal alliances to acquire illicit funds or the "black money" and restricting the utilization of campaign spaces, names, and symbols.
Controversies
In 2018, the Modi-government with the support of opposition Congress changed the legal provisions which enforced prohibition of foreign funding to Indian political parties. Both parties were found guilty in the Court ruling for violating the norms. From an amendment in the previously existing stricter laws of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, political parties in India are presently granted immunity from the scrutiny of their historical foreign funding sources. This newfound privilege enables them to accept political contributions from foreign-residing Indians, as well as foreign business entities with their subsidiaries established within India.
See also
Politics of India
Electoral Bonds
Corruption in India
References
Political corruption
India
Electoral reform in India
Politics of India
Abuse
Organized crime activity
Corruption in India
Political controversies in India
Electoral fraud
State crime | Political funding in India | [
"Biology"
] | 3,672 | [
"Abuse",
"Behavior",
"Aggression",
"Human behavior"
] |
74,991,098 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaomi%20Civi | Xiaomi Civi and Xiaomi Civi 1S are mid-level youth smartphones of Xiaomi. Xiaomi Civi was presented on September 27, 2021, and Civi 1S on April 21, 2022. Xiaomi Civi is the successor of Xiaomi Mi CC9. The main differences between the models are the processor and the silver colour in the 1S.
Design
The screen is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The back panel is made of glass. The side part is made of aluminium.
By design, the models are similar to Vivo smartphones.
The USB-C connector, speaker, microphone and slot for 2 SIM-cards are located below. On top are the second microphone and IR port. On the right side are the volume buttons and the smartphone lock button.
Xiaomi Civi was sold in 3 colors: Black, Blue and Pink.
Xiaomi Civi 1S was sold in 4 colors: Black, Blue, Pink and Silver.
Specifications
Platform
Xiaomi Civi received a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor, and Civi 1S —Snapdragon 778G+. Both are paired with an Adreno 642L GPU.
Battery
The battery received a volume of 4500 mAh and support for fast charging at 55 W.
Camera
Smartphones received a main triple camera 64 MP, f/1.79 (wide-angle) + 8 MP, f/2.2 with a viewing angle of 120° (ultra-wide) + 2 MP, f/2.4 (macro ) with phase detection autofocus and the ability to record video in 4K@30fps resolution. The front camera received a resolution of 32 MP (wide-angle), autofocus and the ability to record video in 1080p@30fps resolution.
Screen
Screen AMOLED, 6.55", FullHD+ (2400 × 1080) with pixel density 402 ppi, aspect ratio 20:9, display refresh rate 120 Hz, support.
References
Android (operating system) devices
Civi
Mobile phones with infrared transmitter
Mobile phones introduced in 2021
Discontinued smartphones | Xiaomi Civi | [
"Technology"
] | 442 | [
"Crossover devices",
"Phablets"
] |
74,991,250 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaomi%20Civi%203 | The Xiaomi Civi 3 is a youth smartphone developed and manufactured by Xiaomi. It was announced on May 25, 2023.
Design
The screen is protected by the curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The back is made of curved glossy glass and the frame is made of matte plastic.
The USB-C port, speaker, microphone and a Dual SIM tray are located on the bottom. On top are the second microphone and IR port. On the right side are the volume rocker and the power button button.
Xiaomi Civi 3 is sold in 4 colors: Rose Purple, Adventure Gold, Mint Green and Coconut Ash (grey). In all color options except Coconut Ash, the top half of the back is lighter and the bottom is darker.
Specifications
Platform
The smartphone features the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultra SoC with Mali-G610 MC6 GPU.
Battery
Civi 3 has a 4500 mAh battery and 67W fast charging support.
Camera
The device featureas a rear triple camera with a 50 MP, (wide-angle) with phase autofocus + 8 MP, (ultrawide-angle) with an angle of 115° + 2 MP, (macro). The smartphone also received a dual front camera 32 Mp, (wide-angle) with a viewing angle of 78° and autofocus + 32 Mp, (ultrawide-angle) with a viewing angle of 100°. The main and front cameras can record video in 4K@30fps resolution. In addition, smartphones received two frontal LED flashes.
Screen
Screen AMOLED, 6.55", FullHD+ (2400 × 1080) with a pixel density of 402 ppi, an aspect ratio of 20:9, a display refresh rate of 120 Hz, support for HDR10+ and a pill-shaped cut-out for the dual front-facing camera, which is placed on top in the middle. Also, an optical fingerprint scanner is mounted under the display.
Sound
The device has mono speaker.
Memory
Xiaomi Civi 3 is sold in 12 GB/256 GB and 12 GB/512 GB and 16 GB/1 TB. RAM type LPDDR5, and storage — UFS 3.1.
Software
The smartphone is released with MIUI 14 based on Android 13. Later it was updated to Xiaomi HyperOS 1 based on Android 14.
Xiaomi Civi 3 Disney 100th Anniversary Limited Edition
The Xiaomi Civi 3 Disney 100th Anniversary Limited Edition is a special edition of the Xiaomi Civi 3 dedicated to the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. This edition differs from the regular model in the back panel design, a stylized box, SIM ejection tool, stickers, UI theme and effects, and stickers in the gallery editor. It was sold in 12/512 GB memory configuration.
References
Android (operating system) devices
Civi 3
Mobile phones with infrared transmitter
Mobile phones introduced in 2023
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Phablets | Xiaomi Civi 3 | [
"Technology"
] | 612 | [
"Crossover devices",
"Phablets"
] |
74,991,751 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian%20Green%20%28chemist%29 | Brian Noel Green OBE (25 December 1933 -17 December 2021) was an English mass spectrometrist.
Early life and career
Green was born in Urmston, Manchester, UK on Christmas Day 1933. He attended Manchester Grammar School and in 1955 graduated from Manchester University. Green had a long career at Metropolitan-Vickers before moving to VG MICROMASS in 1972.
Honours and awards
In 1985, Green was awarded the Order of the British Empire for contributions to mass spectrometry, and in 1996, the British Mass Spectrometry Society awarded him the Aston Medal.
Legacy
In Green's honour, the British Mass Spectrometry Society now presents the B. N. Green Prize to an early career scientist with the best flash oral presentation at their annual meeting.
Notable works
Ferrige, A.G., Seddon, M.J., Green, B.N., Jarvis, S.A., Skilling, J. and Staunton, J. (1992), Disentangling electrospray spectra with maximum entropy. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 6: 707-711. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.1290061115
The Analysis of Human Haemoglobin Variants Using Mass Spectrometry Micromass UK Ltd: Wilmslow (2021 ISBN 978-1-5262-0895-8)
References
1933 births
2021 deaths
People educated at Manchester Grammar School
20th-century English chemists | Brian Green (chemist) | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 318 | [
"Biochemists",
"Mass spectrometry",
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Mass spectrometrists"
] |
74,992,340 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMY%20Lighting%20Technology | GMY Lighting Technology Co., LTD (, doing business as GMY), is a large manufacturer of light source components and products, located in Heshan, Guangdong, China.
History and recognition
GMY was founded in 1998 by Yannan "Edward" Hong, and commercially registered in September 2002. By 2010, GMY was the world's largest manufacturer of halogen bulbs.
GMY opened the largest comprehensive plant factory in South China in 2015. In 2017, GMY was recognized as a "Guangdong Provincial Enterprise Technology Center." GMY won the "Ai Rui Cup" in 2018 as one of the China Automotive Industry's top five national brands. It received recognition by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology in its list of "2022 Guangdong Province Specialized, Special and New Small and Medium-sized Enterprises."
GMY's 222nm ultraviolet light modules won the Zhongzhao China Lighting Award for Science and Technology Innovation issued by the Chinese Lighting Society in March, 2022.The award noted that "The 222nm excimer lamp emits accurate 222nm wavelength ultraviolet light, which is safer to use than traditional 185nm and 254nm ultraviolet light. It does not produce mercury and is harmless to the environment."
Products
GMY's manufacturing facility covers an area of nearly 80,000 square meters, and has an annual output of hundreds of millions of light source products, which are sold to more than 100 countries. GMY's product line includes general lighting, automotive lighting, and specialized light sources, especially ultraviolet lights for disinfection, UV lighting for manufacturing processes, IPL lights for health and beauty applications, and artificial light vertical planting solutions.
GMY has obtained more than 300 patents, including more than 200 ultraviolet-related patents, ranking among the top five China. As of 2021, GMY ranked first in China with patents awarded for 253.7 nm and 185.0 nm ultraviolet germcidall ultraviolet lighting.
References
Manufacturing companies of China
Manufacturing
Lighting brands
Sterilization (microbiology)
Ultraviolet radiation
Waste treatment technology
Radiobiology | GMY Lighting Technology | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 430 | [
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Water treatment",
"Radiobiology",
"Electromagnetic spectrum",
"Manufacturing",
"Ultraviolet radiation",
"Microbiology techniques",
"Sterilization (microbiology)",
"Mechanical engineering",
"Environmental engineering",
"Waste treatment technology",
"Radioactivit... |
74,992,659 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaomi%20Mi%205s%20Plus | Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus is a flagship smartphone from the Chinese company Xiaomi, which is a modification of the Xiaomi Mi 5. It was presented on September 27, 2016, with Xiaomi Mi 5s. This is the first smartphone of the Mi series to receive a dual main camera setup.
Design
The screen is made of glass. The body of the smartphone is made of polished aluminum.
At the bottom there is a USB-C connector, a speaker and a microphone stylized as a speaker. On top are 3.5 mm audio jack, a second microphone and IR port. On the left side of the smartphone, there is a slot for 2 SIM cards. On the right side are the volume buttons and the smartphone lock button. The fingerprint scanner is located on the back panel.
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus was sold in 4 colors: gray, silver, gold and Rose Gold.
Specifications
Platform
Mi 5s Plus has more overclocked processor Qualcomm Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (2×2.35 GHz Kryo & 2×2.2 GHz Kryo) which works with Adreno 530 GPU.
Battery
The battery received a 3800 mAh capacity and support for 18-watt Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
Camera
The smartphone received a dual main camera 13 Mp, f/2.0 + 13 Mp, f/2.0 (B/W) with phase autofocus and the ability to record video in resolution 4K@30fps. The front camera received a resolution of 4 MP, an aperture of f/2.0 and the ability to record video in a resolution of 1080p@30fps.
Screen
Screen IPS, 5.7", FullHD (1920 × 1080) with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a pixel density of 386 ppi.
Memory
The smartphone was sold in configurations of 4/64 and 6/128 GB.
Software
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus was launched on MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The global version of the firmware has been updated to MIUI 10 and the Chinese version to MIUI 11. Both are based on Android 8.0 Oreo.
Controversy
The rear fingerprint sensor and non-metal integrated design of Mi 5s Plus have been criticized by many netizens. Some technology media even said, "When we simply compare Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus, it is difficult for us to believe that they are a series of models." Named Mi 5s The Plus version has almost no similarities in appearance and design, which is the most controversial aspect of Mi 5s Plus.
The dual-camera imaging quality of Mi 5s Plus has dropped significantly compared to Mi 5 and Mi 5s. DxOMark, a well-known French image evaluation media, gave Mi 5s Plus a score of 78 points, including 80 points for static images and 80 points for video. 74 points.
Mi 5s Plus did not activate the NFC-based bus card simulation service when it was launched, causing netizens to complain. and due to system scheduling reasons, the lag is more obvious in high-load scenarios such as games.
References
Xiaomi smartphones
Mobile phones introduced in 2016
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Discontinued flagship smartphones | Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus | [
"Technology"
] | 695 | [
"Discontinued flagship smartphones",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
74,992,891 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella%20fibulifera | Tremella fibulifera is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces soft, whitish, lobed to frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Brazil.
Taxonomy
Tremella fibulifera was first published in 1895 by German mycologist Alfred Möller based on a collection made in Brazil.
Description
Fruit bodies are soft, gelatinous, whitish, up to 2.5 cm (1 in) across, and lobed. Microscopically, the basidia are tremelloid (subglobose, with oblique to vertical septa), 4-celled, 13 to 18 by 9 to 16 μm. The basidiospores are ellipsoid, smooth, 7 to 10 by 6 to 7 μm.
Similar species
Tremella subfibulifera, also described from Brazil, appears macroscopically identical but differs microscopically in having slightly smaller basidiospores (5.5 to 10 by 4 to 6 μm). DNA sequencing has shown that it is a distinct species. Several other species, including Tremella olens and Tremella neofibulifera, are macroscopically similar and belong within the T. fibulifera complex, but occur in Asia or Australia.
Habitat and distribution
Tremella fibulifera is a parasite on lignicolous fungi, but its host species is unknown, though collections have been noted on pyrenomycetes. It is found on dead, attached or fallen branches of broad-leaved trees.
The species is currently known from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela (as T. olens), and Jamaica (as T. olens).
References
fibulifera
Fungi described in 1895
Fungi of South America
Fungus species | Tremella fibulifera | [
"Biology"
] | 399 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
74,993,509 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-click%20result | A zero-click result is the successful resolution of a web query when the user gets their desired result immediately on the search engine results page without having to navigate to any followup source of information.
Conventional pageview tracking does not detect zero-click results, and consequently, conventional digital marketing strategies which rely on pageview analysis do not apply. There are adaptive marketing strategies which can take into account zero-click results.
Scholarly research at the intersection of neuroscience and human–computer interaction has methods of using neuroimaging on users while they use their devices to detect satisfaction with zero-click results. Such measures are necessary to observe natural behavior because otherwise, users may not react in detectable ways as they use computer applications.
References
Search engine optimization
Internet search engines
Internet terminology
Digital marketing | Zero-click result | [
"Technology"
] | 157 | [
"Computing terminology",
"Internet terminology"
] |
74,993,707 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinghuacun%20Fenjiu | Shanxi Xinghuacun Fenjiu Distillery Co. Ltd. () more commonly known as simply Xinghuacun Fenjiu () is a baijiu distillery headquartered in Xinghuacun, Fenyang, Shanxi, China. The primary output of the distillery, Fenjiu, is a qingxiang baijiu that was one of the "Four Famous Spirits" as determined in the 1952 National Alcohol Appraisal Conference, assigning it as the representative of the eponymously named fēnxiāng (汾香; fen aroma) category that preceded the modern qingxiang designation.
As of 2023 Xinghuacun Fenjiu is the third most valuable spirits brand in the world.
Product Characteristics
Xinghuacun's primary output is "Fenjiu", a historic style of qingxiang (清香; light aroma) baijiu. The fermentation base is made of sorghum that is ground, soaked, cooked, and cooled before being mixed with a barley and pea based qū. This mixture is fermented for a month in an earthen jar and distilled, producing once used grain and some amount of spirit. The used grain goes through the process again being mixed with qū, fermented for a month, and distilled. At this point the grain is considered spent and discarded and the two spirits are blended together at which point it will be aged, usually for about a year, blended, proofed, bottled, and sold.
This process produces a spirit with significant levels of ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate resulting in a light aroma that is sometimes described as having floral, herbaceous, and or stone-fruit notes.
Xinghuacun also produces "Zhuyeqingjiu" (), a sweeted herbal liqueur infused with sharen, zitan, dong quai, chenpi, clove, linxiang cao, yunmuxiang, among other herbs with a base of fenjiu itself.
History
According to recent archaeological findings, the production of alcohol in Xinghua village began about 6,000 years ago as early forms of grain wine were developed.
Over the centuries, as the processes of saccharification and fermentation were improved upon, a predecessor to the modern Fenjiu, Fenqingjiu, was developed during the Tang dynasty and received praise in the Book of Northern Qi. The process of fermentation and distillation developed in Xinghua Village became an increasingly cohesive and finalized technique that much resembled the modern Fengjiu during the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368). During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) merchants from Shanxi began to travel across China and spread both Fenjiu and the techniques of distillation which gave rise to what would become the Qīngxiāng (清香; light aroma) style of baijiu.
In 1919, the Jinyu Fenjiu Corporation was established as one of the first modern distilleries in China and it was upon this foundation that the Xinghuacun Fenjiu Distillery was founded in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War shortly before the proclamation of the People's Republic of China.
References
External links
Official Chinese Website
Chinese distilled drinks
Baijiu
Shanxi cuisine
Distilleries
Chinese brands
Drink companies of China
Companies based in Shanxi
Government-owned companies of China
Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
Companies in the SSE 50 Index
Companies in the Hang Seng Index
Companies in the FTSE China A50 Index
1949 in Taiyuan | Xinghuacun Fenjiu | [
"Chemistry"
] | 737 | [
"Distilleries",
"Distillation"
] |
74,994,776 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20jacamars | Jacamars are birds in the family Galbulidae in the order Piciformes. There are currently 18 extant species of jacamars recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union.
Conventions
Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the jacamar's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IOC World Bird List for that species unless otherwise noted. Population estimates are of the number of mature individuals and are taken from the IUCN Red List.
This list follows the taxonomic treatment (designation and order of species) and nomenclature (scientific and common names) of version 13.2 of the IOC World Bird List. Where the taxonomy proposed by the IOC World Bird List conflicts with the taxonomy followed by the IUCN or the 2023 edition of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, the disagreement is noted next to the species's common name (for nomenclatural disagreements) or scientific name (for taxonomic disagreements).
Classification
The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) recognises 18 species of jacamars in five genera. This list does not include hybrid species, extinct prehistoric species, or putative species not yet accepted by the IOU.
Family Galbulidae
Genus Galbalcyrhynchus: two species
Genus Brachygalba: four species
Genus Jacamaralcyon: one species
Genus Galbula: ten species
Genus Jacamerops: one species
Jacamars
Notes
References
Lists of animals
Lists of birds
Galbulidae | List of jacamars | [
"Biology"
] | 330 | [
"Lists of biota",
"Lists of animals",
"Animals"
] |
74,995,856 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutan | Mutan is a sticky colorless water-insoluble glucan with predominant α-1-3 linkages is the major component of dental biofilms, which enhances the formation of dental plaque and dental caries. It is a source made from glucans (D-glucose polysaccharides) which are derived form glucose monomers. Little to nothing is known about the alpha glucans that make up the water-insoluble linkages of mutan with dexteran. These values can be derived using NMR techniques.
Synthesis
Mutan is an extracellular polysaccharide characterized by glucose residues linked through α-1-3 connections. Its synthesis entails transferring monosaccharides from a disaccharide substrate to the elongating oligosaccharide chain's reducing end. Cariogenic and acidophilic oral microorganisms produce mutan via cell-bound or extracellular glucosyltransferases in the presence of dietary sucrose. Mutan structure varies with organism and enzyme type, affecting polymerization, branching, and the ratio of α-1−3 and α-1–6 linkages.
Clinical significance
As the leading causative agent in oral biofilms, Streptococcus mutans forms an integral part of tooth plaque formation and is the bacteria responsible for degradation of tooth enamel. Glucan sucrase is an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of mutans from sucrose, which aids in attachment to hard surfaces such as the facial side of the tooth. While S. mutans is not solely responsible for the function of the biofilm, it creates an EPS (extracellular polysaccharide) environment that provides ideal conditions for countless other species, many of which are acidic and further degrade tooth enamel.
References
Wikipedia Student Program
Polysaccharides
Fouling | Mutan | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 395 | [
"Materials degradation",
"Carbohydrates",
"Fouling",
"Polysaccharides"
] |
74,998,455 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen%20fuel%20cell%20power%20plant | A hydrogen fuel cell power plant is a type of fuel cell power plant (or station) which uses a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity for the power grid. They are larger in scale than backup generators such as the Bloom Energy Server and can be up to 60% efficient in converting hydrogen to electricity. There is little to no nitrous oxide produced in the fuel cell process, which is produced in the process of a combined cycle hydrogen power plant. If the hydrogen could be produced with electrolysis also known as green hydrogen, then this could be a solution to the energy storage problem of renewable energy.
Shinincheon Bitdream Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant
The Shinincheon Bitdream Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant in Incheon, South Korea can produce 78.96 MegaWatts of power. It opened in 2021 and is one of the first large scale fuel cell power plants for the grid, rather than just a backup generator. The plant will also purify the air by sucking in 2.4 tons of fine dust per year and filtering it out of the air. It will also produce hot water as a by-product that will be used to heat houses locally, also known as district heating.
Cogeneration or combined cycle
Fuel cells produce a lot of hot water and a cogeneration or combined cycle could be used for further benefit or to produce more electricity with a steam turbine, increasing the efficiency to >80% using a Phosphoric acid fuel cell.
Water uses
Further studies are needed to see if the water is potable. Places that are dry and have water shortages could use the water for agriculture or other greywater uses. Another use would be to use the hot water by-product for High-temperature electrolysis for more hydrogen fuel.
High temperature electrolysis at nuclear power plants
High-temperature electrolysis at nuclear power plants could produce hydrogen at scale and more efficiently. The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy has demonstration projects to test 3 nuclear facilities in the United States at:
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station in Oswego, NY
Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio
Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant in Red Wing, Minnesota
See also
Strategic natural gas reserve
Comparison of fuel cell types
Green energy
Hydrogen economy
Hydrogen fuel cell train
Hydrogen fuel enhancement
Hydrogen storage
Underground hydrogen storage
Blue hydrogen
Intermountain Power Plant
Smart grid
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Methanol economy
References
Mechanical engineering
Power station technology
Energy conversion
Fuel technology | Hydrogen fuel cell power plant | [
"Physics",
"Engineering"
] | 492 | [
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Mechanical engineering"
] |
74,999,527 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20stack%20%28philosophy%29 | "The stack" is a term used in science and technology studies, the philosophy of technology and media studies to describe the multiple interconnected layers that computation depends on at a planetary scale. The term was introduced by Benjamin H. Bratton in a 2014 essay and expanded upon in his 2016 book The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty, and has been adapted, critiqued and expanded upon by numerous other scholars.
Use in scholarship
The stack refers to the entire global megastructure of interconnected computer systems. The stack includes not only technology and software, but also depends on human users, natural resources and corporate infrastructures.
The term draws upon the concept of the stack in programming and by the layered architecture of the Internet Protocol, but provides a model at a planetary scale.
In an essay that is critical of Bratton's model, Geert Lovink proposes instead of referring to a singular stack we should speak of "a rainbow of a thousand stacks", such as Tiziana Terranova's "red stack" or the "green stack" aiming to reduce the extreme energy use of blockchain and data centres.
Stacks and layers
Different scholars have proposed different layers that make up the stack as they understand it. The layers often depend on what the scholar wants to research, whether it is a specific cultural context, such as the Chinese or European internet, or a specific technology, as artificial intelligence or self-driving cars. The term has also been used to describe a model for ensuring diversity in the digital humanities.
Bratton's six layers
Bratton proposed six interconnected layers: earth, cloud, city, address, interface and the user.
Earth: Computing requires materials mined from the earth and energy that is often generated by oil or coal, and they produce electronic waste. This layer provides the building blocks of the global digital stack.
Cloud: Global, usually corporate technology services like Google, which have a type of power Bogost calls a "weird sovereignty".
City: The lived experience of physically interacting with the global computer network in daily life, often discussed in relation to smart cities.
Address: Identification of individual users and objects and its use for management and control.
Interface: How users are connected to computers and systems.
The user: The actual humans (and nonhumans) that interact with computers and computational systems.
Layers in "the Chinese stack"
Gabriele de Seta has proposed three additional layers that are needed to understand what he calls "the Chinese stack", which is not delimited to the borders of China but is entwined with planetary networks. These layers maintain the focus on planetary computing and the internet as a global system, but support analysis of the connections - and lack of connections - between parts of the internet, and how this relates to power.
Gateways: interfaces between systems allowing different types of data to be connected. QR codes are an example.
Sieves: filters, blacklists, verification systems and regulations that provide access to parts of the internet to some users.
Domes: enclosures that aim to control parts of the internet by shutting off access to the rest of the stack.
Other layers
In an article on European digital sovereignty, Haroon Sheikh uses layers inspired by but not identical to Bratton's: the resource layer, the chips layer, the network layer, the cloud layer, the intelligence layer, the applications layer and the connected device layer. Sheikh describes Bratton's layers as coming from a "more speculative philosophical approach", while his analysis is more pragmatic in that it aims to understand the digital capacities of the EU and therefore follows industry distinctions and leaves out users, while keeping the basic idea of a layered stack.
Governance and power
The layered framework of the stack is often used to analyse how power, control and governance are enacted globally through technology. The stack has been used in the fields of economics and business to explain the connections between technology and global capitalism.
Bratton discusses how sovereignty changes with global structures like the stack, with a shift from territorial or national sovereignty, where a geographically defined nation rules itself, to a system where a global corporation like Google can operate as a global sovereign. This builds on Michel Foucault's theories of governmentality and power, and Bratton's book has been described as possible to read as "a Foucaudian toolkit that lifts out the useful parts".
Criticism
Although Bratton's book has been criticised as overly long and complex, the term the stack is now commonly used in scholarship on the internet. In his critical essay "Stacktivism" (a reference to the pejorative term slacktivism) Geert Lovink describes the book as a "media theory classic" that is "inspiring to disagree with." Lovink further argues that the term "the stack" has become a "general container concept, in danger of becoming an empty signifier".
References
Control (social and political)
Philosophy of technology
Media studies | The stack (philosophy) | [
"Technology"
] | 1,006 | [
"Philosophy of technology",
"Science and technology studies"
] |
74,999,719 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleobiota%20of%20the%20Ca%C3%B1ad%C3%B3n%20Asfalto%20Formation | The Cañadón Asfalto Formation is a geological formation which dates to the Toarcian age of the Early Jurassic period of Argentina. The rocks of the formation preserve a diverse biota, including plants, dinosaurs, invertebrates, mammals and pterosaurs, among others. The formation is divided into two members: the lower Las Chacritas Member, and the overlying Puesto Almada member, though the latter has also been assigned to the overlying Cañadón Calcáreo Formation by some authors. The members are typically composed of fluvial-lacustrine deposits consisting of sandstones and shales, with a limestone carbonate evaporitic sequence also being present in the lower of the two.
Invertebrates
Demospongiae
Crustacea
Mollusca
Insecta
Insect eggs of unknown affinity were reported from several layers of the Estancia Fossati locality.
Vertebrates
Fish
Amphibians
Turtles
Lepidosaurs
Crocodylomorpha
Pterosaurs
Theropods
During a campaign conducted in early 2021, remains of a large theropod dinosaur were found near the town of Las Chacritas. In 2020 a new fossil locality was found, named Cañadón de las Huellas due to the large number of sauropod, and probably theropod, footprints on one of the canyon walls. In the same locality in 2021, articulated remains where recovered and represent at least one sauropod and one large theropod.
At least four theropod morphotypes, including one with ceratosaur and another with Piatnitzkysauridae affinities, are known from the Cañadón Bagual.
Sauropodomorphs
A sediment tubular shaped mass enriched in organic matter, closely associated within the ventral area of articulated remains of a sauropod, was recovered at Cerro Condor, composed of a high concentration of pollen grains & cuticular fragments, mainly leaves of two morphotypes (Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidaceae), probably representing the gut contents of the sauropod, inferring a conifer-based diet.
Ornithischians
Mammals
Fungi
Plants
According to a palynological study the dominant pollen was produced by the conifer families Cheirolepidiaceae (Classopollis) and Araucariaceae (mainly Araucariacites and Callialasporites), suggesting that warm-temperate and relatively humid conditions under highly seasonal climate prevailed during the depositional times of the unit. The abundance of Botryococcus supports the presence of a shallow lake with probably saline conditions. Locally, the Cañadón Asfalto represents a more poor record of the floras seen in the undeliying Lonco Tapial Formation, with its closest floras found on the Antarctic Peninsula Sweeney Formation at Potter Peak, sharing Brachyphyllum spp. and Elatocladus confertus.
Phytoplankton
Possible freshwater "calcareous algae", associated with conifer shoots and aquatic invertebrates, have been reported from Cerro Caracoles.
Bryophyta
Equisetales
Pteridophyta
Peltaspermales
Cycadeoidopsida
Czekanowskiales
Gnetopsida
Coniferophyta
See also
Cañadón Asfalto Formation
Cañadón Calcáreo Formation
References
Cañadón Asfalto Formation
Geologic formations of Argentina
Cañadón Asfalto Basin
Jurassic paleontological sites
Mesozoic paleontological sites of South America
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America
Paleontology in Argentina
Dinosaur-related lists
Cañadón | Paleobiota of the Cañadón Asfalto Formation | [
"Biology"
] | 736 | [
"Mesozoic paleobiotas",
"Prehistoric biotas"
] |
75,000,176 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Society%20for%20Transgenic%20Technologies | The International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT) is an organization dedicated to advancing research, communication, and technology exchange regarding transgenic technologies.
Purpose
Support for scientific research and education in the field of generating genetically modified model organisms in adherence with the 3Rs principles.
Promotion of science and technology used in the generation and analysis of genetically modified organisms for biomedical research and biotechnological application.
Providing the organizational framework for a scientific community that includes academic and industrial scientists, students and technical assistants, and in general, any individuals with an interest in the generation of and the analysis of genetically modified organisms.
Providing a communication and knowledge sharing platform that brings together scientists from academic research and industry, as well as research technology experts.
Organization of a regular international scientific conference entitled "Transgenic Technology Meeting".
Publication of specialist information in the form of books, protocols, and other specialist texts in the field of transgenic technologies.
Organization and promotion of courses, seminars, and other educational activities for training in transgenic technologies.
Cooperation with other national and international societies with similar aims (e.g., IMGS, AALAS, AAALAC, FELASA).
Providing information to the public about the benefits associated with using and applying transgenic technologies.
Providing local, national and international bodies with expert advice and guidance on scientific, technical or other aspects of generating genetically modified organisms.
Resources and education
Every one and a half years the ISTT organizes an international scientific conference, the Transgenic Technology Meeting, also known as the TT Meeting. To promote communication and technology exchange, the website of the society publishes information and protocols related to transgenic technologies as well as the locations of transgenic service facilities, recognized as a valuable resource in the scientific literature. A collection of ISTT subject-related protocols has been published in the book Advanced Protocols for Animal Transgenesis – an ISTT Manual. The society is also associated with the peer-reviewed scientific journal Transgenic Research, which publishes scientific findings on transgenic and genome-edited higher model organisms. As a platform for the rapid exchange of scientific information, the ISTT hosts two mailing lists, the public transgenic-list (often referred to as tg-l) and the ISTT-list reserved for ISTT members with around 1500 and 660 participants (April 2024).
History of Transgenic Technology meetings
Presidents
Rebecca Haffner-Krausz (since 2023)
Ernst Martin Füchtbauer (2020-2023)
Wojtek Auerbach (2017–2019)
Jan Parker-Thornburg (2014–2016)
Lluís Montoliu (2006–2014)
Awards
ISTT Prize
The ISTT Prize recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions to the field of transgenic technologies and is presented at the Transgenic Technology Meeting. Prominent winners included Ralph Brinster (2011), Janet Rossant (2014), Mario Capecchi (2017) and Rudolf Jaenisch (2025).
ISTT Young Investigator Award
The ISTT Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding achievements by young scientists whose work is advancing the field of transgenic technologies with new ideas and who have recently received an academic degree. The ISTT Young Investigator Award is presented at the Transgenic Technology Meetings. Prominent winners included Feng Zhang (2014) and Alexis Komor (2017) for their work on genome editing in model organisms.
3Rs Award
The 3Rs Award recognizes outstanding achievements by a researcher or research team that advances the field of transgenic technologies with new methods and improvements in strict accordance with the 3Rs principles for reduction, refinement, and replacement of animals used in research. The prize is awarded during the Transgenic Technology Meetings.
See also
International Mammalian Genome Society
List of genetics research organizations
References
External links
Official website from the International Society for Transgenic Technologies
Genetic engineering
Genome editing
Scientific societies
International educational organizations | International Society for Transgenic Technologies | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
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"Genetics techniques",
"Biological engineering",
"Genome editing",
"Genetic engineering",
"Molecular biology"
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72,198,733 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop%27s%20graph | In mathematics, a bishop's graph is a graph that represents all legal moves of the chess piece the bishop on a chessboard. Each vertex represents a square on the chessboard and each edge represents a legal move of the bishop; that is, there is an edge between two vertices (squares) if they occupy a common diagonal. When the chessboard has dimensions , then the induced graph is called the bishop's graph.
Properties
The fact that the chessboard has squares of two colors, say red and black, such that squares that are horizontally or vertically adjacent have opposite colors, implies that the bishop's graph has two connected components, whose vertex sets are the red and the black squares, respectively. The reason is that the bishop's diagonal moves do not allow it to change colors, but by one or more moves a bishop can get from any square to any other of the same color. The two components are isomorphic if the board has a side of even length, but not if both sides are odd.
A component of the bishop's graph can be treated as a rook's graph on a diamond if the original board is square and has sides of odd length, because if the red squares (say) are turned 45 degrees, the bishop's moves become horizontal and vertical, just like those of the rook.
Domination
A square is said to be attacked by a bishop if the bishop can get to that square in exactly one move. A dominating set is an arrangement of bishops such that every square is attacked or occupied by one of those bishops. An independent dominating set is a dominating set in which no bishop attacks any other. The minimum number of bishops needed to dominate a square board of side n is exactly n, and this is also the smallest number of bishops that can form an independent dominating set.
By contrast, a total domination set, which is a dominating set for which every square, including those occupied by bishops, is attacked by one of the bishops, requires more bishops; on the square board of side n ≥ 3, the least size of a total dominating set is about 1/3 larger than a minimum dominating set.
References
Graph theory
Mathematical chess problems
Chess-related lists | Bishop's graph | [
"Mathematics"
] | 443 | [
"Recreational mathematics",
"Mathematical chess problems"
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72,199,752 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SASTRA-CNR%20Rao%20Award | SASTRA-CNR Rao Award is an award instituted by SASTRA University, a private and deemed university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, to honor excellence in chemistry and material science, the two areas in which C N R Rao has made great, important and substantial contributions. The Award was instituted in 2013 and the first award was presented jointly to Suresh Das the then Director of National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram and Sourav Pal, the Director of National Chemical Laboratory, Pune on 28 February 2014. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and a citation.
Awardees
See also
SASTRA Ramanujan Prize
References
Science and technology awards
Indian science and technology awards
Awards established in 2013 | SASTRA-CNR Rao Award | [
"Technology"
] | 165 | [
"Science and technology awards"
] |
72,200,152 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford%20Model%20A%20engine | The Ford Model A engine – primarily developed for the popular Ford Model A automobile (1927–1931, 4.8 million built) – was one of the most mass-produced automobile engines of the 1920s and 1930s, widely used in automobiles, trucks, tractors, and a wide variety of other vehicles and machinery.
A four-cylinder, carbureted, gasoline-fueled, piston engine, derived from the Ford Model T engine, the Ford Model A engine – with a bigger bore and stroke, and higher compression ratio – was twice as powerful as the Model T engine. Some derivatives, with improvements, were produced until 1958. Tens of thousands of the original design remain active even in the 21st century.
Design and development
Development and production history
The Ford Model A engine was an evolution of the Ford Model T engine, but with double the power. It was developed in secret at Ford's Rouge Plant, in Michigan, and unveiled – with the Ford Model A automobile – December 2, 1927. The first Model A engine was completed earlier, October 20, 1927, and eventually installed in a 1928 Model A Fordor sedan, which Henry Ford gave to his friend, inventor Thomas A. Edison. There was immediate market demand for the Model A, but by January 1, 1928, just 5,275 Model A engines had been built – some not yet installed in a chassis, let alone shipped to a dealer.
However, by February 1929, production of the engines reached 1,000,000 units. At the end of Model A production in March 1932, 4,849,340 Model As had been built. (Several hundred thousand Model AA trucks had also been built, typically with the same Model A engine.) Model A historian Steve Plucker, using Ford company records, calculates that 4,830,806 production engines were built between October 1927 and November 1931.
All Model A engines built in the U.S. were built in the Rouge plant, however some were built at Ford plants in Canada and Europe. During that time, the Model A and AA engine cylinder block (part number A-6010), went through various external and internal changes.
The Model A was replaced by the 1932 Ford Model B, with an updated 4-cylinder engine, and by the 1932 Ford Model 18, with its new Ford V8 engine.
Basic design and characteristics
Like the Model T engine, the Model A engine was a water-cooled L-head inline-four (four vertical cylinders in line), "cast-en-bloc"-type piston engine. It had a displacement of (compared to the Model T's ).
This engine provides (brake horsepower) at 2,200 RPM – but at 1,000 RPM produces substantially more torque: . SAE-rated horsepower is 24.03, and compression ratio is 4.22:1.
The cylinder bore and piston stroke were also enlarged from the original Model T engine; they measured . Cylinder firing order is 1-2-4-3.
The engine has a 5-quart oil capacity. The crankcase is filled through an engine fill/breather tube mounted on the engine's left side. Modern 10W30 oils are recommended for newly rebuilt engines. The recommended oil change interval is 500 miles.
Comparison to modern designs
The Model A's engine has three main bearings (versus five found in modern 4-cylinder engines), and they are smaller diameter, and longer, than bearings in a modern engine. The bearings are poured babbitt bearings, rather than modern replaceable insert bearings.
Rather than a full pressure oil system typical of a modern engine, the Model A engine's oil system lubricates the main bearings by gravity feed, and lubricates the piston connecting rods by them dipping into the oil during motion.
A Model A engine has no crankshaft counterweights. There are no cam bearings. The Model A engine lacks valve seats, versus steel ring seats typical in a modern engine. The engine has a rather restricted intake port design, as compared to a modern engine.
Equipment, accessories, and drivetrain
Intake, injection, and fuel
Normally, the Model A engine was supplied with a Zenith one-barrel, up-draft, float-type carburetor, which was gravity-fed from a tank in the engine cowl (between firewall and dash). The carburetor underwent many modifications during its relatively short (four-year) production run.
The Zenith has features, advanced for that era, that solved some early engine performance problems. The carburetor is designed to run lean, to allow for high-altitude driving. To allow better performance at low altitudes, and in cold weather, the fuel/air mixture ratio is controlled by a manual choke and "Gas Adjusting Valve" (GAV). To ensure adequate fuel flow during starting or acceleration, a secondary well momentarily provides an extra supply of fuel. A manual fuel shut-off valve is also supplied, and some also have a manual throttle.
Although the Zenith Model A carburetor was fitted to the engines in the vast majority of Ford Model A cars (reportedly to 3.5 million of the approximately 4.8 million built), it was not the only carburetor used. Another 19 brands were fitted to various Model A engines – either as original equipment or aftermarket retrofits – and some Model A engines were retrofitted with the slightly larger, more sophisticated Zenith designed for the Ford Model B engine.
The engine works with modern unleaded regular gasoline.
In rare instances, the Model A engine has been powered by wood gas, produced in a wood gas generator, such as a "Gazogene," typically a large, sealed, stove-like cylinder mounted on the vehicle, or towed, which heated or burned wood (or charcoal), to produce fumes of flammable wood gas, as a minimal substitute for gasoline. The resulting gas was routed to the engine's intake manifold, via a duct and special induction system.
Engine electrical system
The electrical system supporting the engine typically consisted of a 6-volt battery, a 6-volt DC generator (driven by a belt connected to the crankshaft pulley), starter, lights, ammeter, and ignition system (ignition coil, distributor, spark plugs) with connecting wires. A manual spark lever advances or retards the ignition, particularly retarding the spark plug ignition during engine starting.
The Model A was configured with a positive-ground system (positive battery terminal connected to vehicle frame and engine block) – opposite of the norm in modern "negative-ground" vehicles, often causing technical confusion.
Engine cooling system
The Model A engine uses a centrifugal water pump, mounted to the engine cylinder head, and it works with the engine fan. The Model A engine uses plain water to cool the engine; antifreeze coolant is not recommended because the original Model A radiator is not a pressurized system. The pump circulates radiator-cooled water into the lower engine, and as the water becomes heated in the block's water jacket, it is forced out of the water jacket through the upper radiator hose, and back into the radiator, where it cools, and settles, and the cycle repeats.
Drivetrain
Model A automobile
When implemented in the Ford Model A automobile, the Model A engine was coupled, via a 63-pound flywheel, and clutch, with a traditional three-speed, sliding gear ("sliding-pinion" type), manual transmission (compared to the earlier Model T's planetary band-type gearbox).
The Ford three-speed, selective sliding gear transmission (with 1-speed reverse) initially came (on early 1928 cars) with a multiple-disc clutch (as on the Model T), but it was eventually replaced with a single-plate clutch. There were no synchronizers, making "double clutching" a useful skill for Model A drivers.
The drivetrain ended at the wheels with the final drive ratio of 3.77:1. On a typical Model A, this typically provided 25–30 miles per gallon, and speeds up to 65 miles per hour.
Model AA truck
When the Model A engine is implemented in the 1.5-ton Ford Model AA truck, the engine serial number – normally preceded by the single letter "A" – is, instead, preceded by "AA", denoting the implementation of a stronger clutch spring, to accommodate multiple-disc clutch units, or (for single-disc clutch units) the AA-7563 clutch pressure plate and its cover assembly, or units with the 4-speed transmission and clutch.
Various transmissions and other drivetrain options were offered. Combinations of drivetrain equipment affected the top speed which an AA could reach, while slower, lower-geared AA's could pull with greater torque.
The AA trucks were typically supplied with the 3-speed transmission of the Model A automobile, or an optional AA truck 4-speed transmission. If equipped with the 3-speed transmission, a "Dual High" factory-option underdrive for the AA was offered. The AA's rear axles were available with two different gear ratios.
Various aftermarket drivetrain options were available, including the Warford 3-speed transmission.
Operational history and adaptations
The Ford Model A engine, produced in the millions, was one of the most mass-produced automobile engines of the 1920s and 1930s, used in automobiles, trucks, tractors, farm machinery, industrial applications, boats, military vehicles, and even aircraft.
With an already established dealer-and-servicing network created by Ford for the Model T, the Ford Model A and its engine had the advantage of a pre-positioned distribution-and-support network. This superior support system further enhanced sales. As the Ford system grew, and as economies of scale made the engine more competitive against rivals, the Model A engine rapidly became increasingly popular for a wide range of applications, across the United States, and around the world. The vast quantities of Ford Model A engines produced, during a short time, flooded the market.
Even after the engine was superseded by Ford's Model B engine, and discontinued by Ford in 1932, demand for used Model A engines, or license-built copies, continued – for a growing range of applications, with some Model A engines remaining in service for decades. Some derivatives, with improvements, were produced until 1958. Tens of thousands of the original design remain active even in the 21st Century – particularly powering Ford Model A cars preserved as recreational antiques.
Automobiles
Range of application
Primarily developed for the popular Ford Model A automobile (1927–1931), the Ford Model A engine was the engine almost universally installed in that automobile, of which 4.8 million were built by 1932, in a wide range of styles and configurations: Coupe, Business Coupe, Roadster Coupe, Sport Coupe, Convertible Cabriolet, Convertible Sedan, Victoria, Tudor, Phaeton, Town Car, 2- and 3-window Fordor, Station Wagon, Taxicab, Commercial and Truck.
Controls and adjustments
In automotive applications, the Ford Model A engine originally used a complex assortment of controls, including accelerator pedal, manual throttle, choke and mixture control (officially known as "Gas Adjusting Valve" or GAV), gas shutoff, ignition key-switch, starter pedal, and manual spark advance (in addition drivetrain controls: clutch and gear-shifter).
These controls were mounted on the floor (accelerator and starter pedals), or steering column (spark advance and manual throttle), or on (or immediately below) the dashboard. Reportedly, the State of Pennsylvania required the gas shutoff valve to be mounted inside the engine compartment, instead.
Starting the Model A engine commonly requires a detailed sequence of manipulation of all these controls, and properly shutting down the engine is almost as complex.
Additionally, occasional adjustment of the idle throttle and idle mixture controls, mounted on the carburetor, may be required.
Trucks
The 1.5-ton Ford Model AA truck – produced for only five years, but widely used for decades – was powered by the Ford Model A engine, commonly driving a four-speed manual transmission.
The U.S. Postal Service – to eliminate the complexity and cost of its variety of postal trucks (including 1,444 acquired as war surplus), and to accommodate the needs of parcel post service – purchased a fleet of Model A and AA vehicles from Ford, fitted with custom-built postal truck bodies manufactured and assembled by outside builders, mounted on a Ford Model A and AA chassis. These trucks remained in use, until the 1950s.
Other truck manufacturers used the Ford Model A engine, as well, or a variant thereof – particularly if they were also using a Ford Model A or Model AA chassis, or license-building the same under their own name. The GAZ-AA (Soviet Union), produced from 1931 to 1938 is one example, though by 1938 it was using an improved engine.
Model AA trucks commonly used engine controls similar to those in Model A automobiles.
Racing
During the 1930s, the Ford Model A (and Model B) engines were popular for racing, in part because their lightweight internal moving parts had little inertia to overcome in acceleration – both from the starting line, and from acceleration out of curves. However, that same light construction resulted in fragile engines that often broke during a race.
Aftermarket parts and modifications became widely available, enabling improvements for racing – with some modified engines reaching compression ratios of 12:1, producing 250 horsepower. The Ford Model A and B engines dominated American auto racing until World War II
Some racing is still done with Ford Model A engines, and high-performance aftermarket modifications are available to increase performance, with some achieving 110 horsepower, at compression ratios of up to 6.5-to-1.
Tractors
Great Depression (1930s)
Some Model A Ford engines were used to power tractors. The 1929 Worthington Model A golf tractor was fitted with a Model A engine, as was the scarce PAL Tractor.
Thieman Harvester Company / Thieman Brothers, in 1936, began offering tractors – either complete with Ford Model A engine (about $500), or as a kit, without engine, driveshaft, or rear end ($185). Farmers were expected to cut costs on kits by buying used parts to complete them, but the company recommended a Ford HD truck radiator and four-blade fan.
Some other manufacturers' tractors, such as Thrifty Tractor (starting in 1930, and listed in the Sears spring and fall catalogs from 1932 to 1941), were sold by Sears, Montgomery Ward, and others as kits, without the engine – though designed to use the Ford Model A engine, which buyers were expected to find on their own. Some even required a whole Model A vehicle, to be cannibalized for the conversion, though others only required the engine and a few other components.
Evolving from the kits they sold, Sears, Roebuck & Company's Economy (or "New Economy") tractors, first built in 1938 by Peru Plow Works, were complete tractors, with a rebuilt Ford Model A engine included, along with self-starter, governor, special carburetor, air cleaner and oil filter. The Economy offered belt drive and power take-off (PTO) options, to allow the engine to power other farm machinery. The Economy was priced at $495, about half the price of other tractors and, by far, the least-expensive 2-plow tractor available then. Estimates of units sold vary – from under 500, to about 1000 – with the line discontinued around 1940.
Some farmers even designed and built their own tractors, and powered them with the Model A engine.
During the economic hardships of the Great Depression, which financially devastated many farmers, these various low-cost tractors – powered by the affordable, plentiful Ford Model A engine – provided a comparatively inexpensive, minimal tractor for essential, basic agricultural work.
World War II and after (1940s)
During World War II, a national tractor shortage motivated some American farmers to build their own tractors from Model A components. These were known as "doodlebug tractors."
Around 1946, the line of Speedex Tractors (initially Pond Tractors) added the Speedex Model FG ("Farm and Garden Tractor"), which used the Ford Model A engine and other Ford parts. However, production ended in 1948 when Ford became a competitor, manufacturing tractors of its own, and stopped selling components to Speedex.
Military vehicles
In Ford military vehicles
Ford Model A and Model AA vehicles, modified, were the basis of the U.S. Army's first serious development of the motorized light field artillery gun battery. In 1932, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 17th Field Artillery Ford Motorized Battery used these vehicles to transport 75mm guns, supplies, and support and command personnel. Previously, the Army had relied on horses and mules to transport light artillery; this experiment changed that.
In other military vehicles
Although the Ford Model A and Model AA trucks were not built with a chassis strong enough for the weight of armor, some countries developed armored cars, and even miniature tanks, on those chassis, anyway – generally with the Ford Model A engine, or a variant thereof. Some were largely devoid of Ford structure, but used the Ford Model A engine and/or a derivative. Examples include the wheeled FAI & FAI-M (Soviet Union) armored cars, and the tracked TKD and TK-3 "tankettes" (Poland) (lightweight, fast scout tanks – 690 in all – the short-lived bulk of Polish armor at the start of World War II).
Aircraft
Great Depression substitute
Compared to most automotive engines, aircraft engines are typically highly refined (for very high reliability, light weight, continuous high power settings, at high torque and low-RPM, with air-cooling and redundant systems, and unusual flight conditions) – usually produced in relatively small quantities – and are thus are very expensive.
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, aviation enthusiasts were frustrated by the cost of acquiring or building an airplane, largely due to the most expensive part: the engine. Some built their own "homebuilt" airplanes, using whatever engines they could find – particularly automobile engines, usually modified.
The most plentiful engines of the time were Ford Model T, Model A, and Model B engines. The Model A engine, available cheaply, and fairly light while providing 40 horsepower – and designed for operation at low-RPM speeds ideal for propellers – proved adaptable to some single-seat or two-seat aircraft. Its carburetor's design for high-altitude operation, and its "Gas Adjusting Valve" (GAV) mixture control, enabled in-flight adjustment to altitude changes.
The $700 airplane competition
In November, 1933, the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce started a program to make personal aircraft as common as medium-priced automobiles. The Bureau encouraged aircraft manufacturers to design a simple, safe aircraft priced at $700 or less. It invested money to develop conversions of Ford auto engines for aircraft use, with the expectation of cutting the cost of an airplane's engine, from 60% of an aircraft's total cost, down to just to 25%.
The program yielded only three aircraft that earned Approved Type Certificates: The $990 Wiley Post Model A biplane, using the Ford Model A engine – the first airplane certified in the U.S. with an automobile engine (though only about 13 were built) – plus versions of the Arrow Sport (using a Ford V-8 engine), and the Funk Model B (using a modified Ford Model B engine).
Pietenpol AirCamper
The airplane most famously equipped with the Model A engine was the Pietenpol Air Camper, a popular homebuilt aircraft designed by Bernard Pietenpol, who eventually standardized his design on the Ford Model A engine.
Though all Pietenpol homebuilts put the engine in the nose of the plane, configurations varied widely. Some modified the cylinders to allow for a second spark plug (to accommodate dual ignition systems for redundant safety and enhanced performance). Some replaced the battery/generator-powered coil-and-distributor ignition system with one or two aftermarket magnetos for greater reliability.
Some were customized with aluminum heads. A few were modified with air-cooled cylinders, but most used the engine's water-cooling system, usually with the original Ford radiator. Though radiator placements varied, it was most often placed immediately above the engine, significantly blocking the pilot's forward view. Others placed the radiator under the engine cowling, above the wing, or elsewhere. Additional modifications could include carburetor heat piping and a shorter water pump.
Fuel to a Pietenpol's Ford engine is generally gravity-fed from a header tank or wing tank (Pietenpols have a high wing). Exhaust generally is not muffled, with headers often replaced by short exhaust stacks.
The Pietenpol designs, despite having adapted to many other engines over the decades, are still occasionally built with Ford Model A engines. However, the strain of aircraft operations results in a higher rate of engine failure with automotive engines, and Pietenpol pilots thus-equipped generally plan for the risk of occasional off-field forced landings.
Industrial, agricultural and marine
The Model A "industrial" engine
Ford offered the Model A engine, very slightly modified, as the "Ford Industrial Engine," for "industrial, agricultural or marine purposes." The "industrial engine" was advertised as producing 39 brake horsepower at 2200 rpm, or 23 horsepower at the engine's more customary 1000 rpm.
The engine was offered in three models in 1930:
A-6002 – Engine with clutch and transmission, $180 (serial numbers typically in the format "*IA#######*")
AA-6002 – Engine with heavy duty (truck) clutch and 4-speed transmission, $190 (serial numbers typically in the format "*IAA#######*")
A-6007 – Engine, without clutch or transmission, $135.
Ford offered "special wholesale prices to manufacturers," and advertised that "complete service" for the engine was available "from any of the ... Authorized Ford Dealers ... throughout the country."
Industrial use
The Ford Model A engine was used to power various industrial machinery, some with very unusual adaptations. For example, Gordon Smith & Co. (Bowling Green, Kentucky), developed a portable air compressor conversion of the Model A engine, which used cylinders 1 and 4 normally, for motive power – but used cylinders 2 and 3 for air compression. This hybrid industrial adaptation was produced through the 1950s.
In another case, a Ford Model A engine was used to drive a suction pump used to dredge the bottoms of bodies of water for gold mining. At another site, another Model A engine was used to reverse a dredge's bucket line when it scooped a rock too big for the machine. The engine has also been used to power drilling rigs.
Agricultural use
In addition to the Ford Model A engine's use in tractors, its industrial variant also powered the popular Gleaner-Baldwin farm combines. The Gleaner Baldwin Model A, built from 1930 to 1935, was so equipped, as were later Gleaner Models, the NA and NR, until 1938. The combine's Model A engine was mounted on a frame fitted for the radiator, and was coupled to a power take-off unit.
Marine use
Some Model A engines powered boats. In 1931, and again in 1935, Popular Mechanics Press published The Boat Book: Everything of Interest to the Amateur Boatman, with plans for building a modified recreational boat – a Gentleman's Racer / Gentleman's Runabout, common in the 1920s and 1930s. It called for powering the boat with a Ford Model A engine – though it was not ideal, owing to weight, temperament, and carburetors that sometimes leaked fuel. Nevertheless, it also powered other speedboats, as well.
Other marine applications for the Model A engine have been developed – including
powering small commercial fishing boats, and air boats and boat-beaching systems.
Modern Developments
The Ford Model A engine remains in demand, chiefly to power vintage Ford Model A automobiles (an estimated 200,000) kept for recreational purposes. A very few are still used to power light aircraft, such as the Pietenpol Air Camper.
Several individuals and enterprises have specialized in the preservation, restoration, modification, and supplying of replacement parts and modifications for the engine.
Additionally, Model A engine aficionado and engineer Terry Burtz, of Campbell, California, after a prolonged research and development program, has begun the manufacturing and sale of new Model A engine blocks, and kits for constructing an entire Model A engine, tweaked with various refinements typical of modern engines.
Several organizations, publications and websites support owners of vehicles that use the Model A engine, including antique auto, truck, and tractor clubs, as well as experimental aircraft associations. These organizations often provide information and advice about the Ford Model A engine and its variants and relatives.
Specifications (1927–1931)
Type: Reciprocating piston engine
Engine case: L-head
Displacement:
Cylinders: 4, vertical, inline
Bore:
Stroke:
Compression ratio: 4.22:1
Power: at 2200 RPM
Torque:
Cooling: Water-cooled
Ignition: Spark plug, via distributor and coil, fed by battery and DC generator
Weight: (complete engine, without flywheel and clutch assembly, but including generator, manifolds, etc.).
Aspiration & injection: Normally aspirated via Zenith updraft carburetor, fed by gravity from cowl tank.
Fuel: Gasoline
References
External links
Model A Ford Foundation, Inc. (MAFFI) & the Model A Ford Museum
Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA)
Model A Restorers' Club (MARC)
Ford Model AA Truck Club (FMAATC)
Canadian Model A Ford Foundation (CMAFF) Their online library contains literature, manuals and documents unique to Canadian-built Model A's
"1928-'31 Ford Model A" Hemmings Motor News (ends with lists of related clubs and specialists)
Reference Desk - Magazines (list of magazines relevant to the Ford Model A and its engine), MAFCA
Model A Ford Technical Index for technical articles from The Restorer (MAFCA), The Model A News (MARC), Model A Times, and Skinned Knuckles; last updated December 22, 2011, Model A Ford Club of New Jersey.
"Pluck's 3-29s" Ford Model A history site, with extensive documentation, some copied from Ford records, with company permission.
"Ford Model A Engine Number," (cross-referenced to date of manufacture), Sooner Model A Club of Oklahoma. (Similar and/or additional data at FordGarage.com and at MAFCA "Reference Desk")
"Video Gallery" showing numerous regular and highly modified Ford Model A engines, Sooner Model A Club Of Oklahoma.
video: "Ford Model "A" Magneto Equipped Air Camper Engine," angelica14709 on YouTube.
Ford Engines: Model A
Products introduced in 1927
Gasoline engines by model
Straight-four engines
Automobile engines
Automotive industry
Industrial equipment
Tractors
Aircraft engines | Ford Model A engine | [
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72,201,514 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3cos | L3COS (Level 3 Consensus Operating System) is an algorithm for digitising processes based on Blockchain, which has a three-level structure and is distributed as Platform as a Service for state bodies and businesses. The algorithm is based on the blockchain, in which any decision made at any of the levels will become part of the common chain. The technology involves a three-level framework that provides national governments, businesses, and private individuals with the tools to create a digital economy that does not allow fraudulent activity, financial or otherwise.
History
Work on the “three-in-one” algorithm was started in 2013 and completed in October 2019. Founder and CEO of the project is Zurab Ashvil, a PHD in Cybernetics and Applied Mathematics, who was previously an executive of the Softbank Capital. The official launch of the algorithm was held at the World Economic Forum in Davos from 21 to 24 January 2020. Over the first eight years, more than $65 million was invested in the company.
In March 2020, the Central Bank of England invited private companies to participate in the development of a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). In June 2020, a proposal was made to the Central Bank of England to use L3COS technology.
In March 2021, information emerged that the world’s first digital platform for agricultural goods and foodstuffs, AgriDex, was investing $85 million to develop it's platform on L3COS blockchain. The creation of a smart marketplace allows improvements in global food security, with reduced transaction costs and reduced food costs to consumers. The plan was to create a tokenised payment and exchange platform for AgriDex based on blockchain. The volume of supplies was estimated at $2.25 trillion annually. The technology will enable the company to process more than 1.5 million concurrent transactions per second and provide more than 150 companies with access to the marketplace.
In April 2021, L3COS announced a new partnership with US label ENT Global Technologies and entertainment company TITLE 9 Inc. The $110 million deal will enable L3COS to create a global digital rights management system and a trading platform for music and film.
In September 2022 Eros Investments, a portfolio of entertainment and tech companies like Eros Media World, Eros Now, and Xfinite's Mzaalo, has picked up a 90% stake in digital rights management company ENT Global for an undisclosed sum, and partnered with blockchain-based operating system L3COS.
Principle of operation
More than 1200 programmers worked on the development of PaaS (Platform as a Service). This platform enables governments, organisations, businesses, and individuals to create and run applications on its operating system.
The technology at the state level allows smart contracts and business applications to be developed without the involvement of an algorithm developer. The technology works on the basis of separate consensus algorithms, which allows users to access highly effective functionality and automate their processes while retaining the capabilities of discrete digital identification and creating a basis for managing them.
The L3COS algorithm consists of three levels:
The top level operates on the basis of the Proof of Government (PoGvt) algorithm and is designed for national governments, providing them with their own ‘Supernode’ which allows them to regulate the citizens’ financial history.
The middle level of the technology is targeted at commercial enterprises and organisations.
The lower level is based on the Proof of Storage (PoST) consensus algorithm and provides individuals with the opportunity to lease their storage to other blockchain participants, thereby providing control over the use of personal data.
References
External links
l3cos.com — Official website
Blockchains
Cryptographic software | L3cos | [
"Mathematics"
] | 746 | [
"Cryptographic software",
"Mathematical software"
] |
72,201,853 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3152%20CT | 3152 CT is an extremely toxic bisquaternary carbamate with powerful anticholinesterase action.
See also
EA-3966
EA-3990
EA-4056
T-1123
References
Carbamate nerve agents
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
Quaternary ammonium compounds
Phenol esters
Phenol ethers
Iodides | 3152 CT | [
"Chemistry"
] | 75 | [] |
72,202,102 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisCoCat | DisCoCat (Categorical Compositional Distributional) is a mathematical framework for natural language processing which uses category theory to unify distributional semantics with the principle of compositionality. The grammatical derivations in a categorial grammar (usually a pregroup grammar) are interpreted as linear maps acting on the tensor product of word vectors to produce the meaning of a sentence or a piece of text. String diagrams are used to visualise information flow and reason about natural language semantics.
History
The framework was first introduced by Bob Coecke, Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, and Stephen Clark as an application of categorical quantum mechanics to natural language processing. It started with the observation that pregroup grammars and quantum processes shared a common mathematical structure: they both form a rigid category (also known as a non-symmetric compact closed category). As such, they both benefit from a graphical calculus, which allows a purely diagrammatic reasoning. Although the analogy with quantum mechanics was kept informal at first, it eventually led to the development of quantum natural language processing.
Definition
There are multiple definitions of DisCoCat in the literature, depending on the choice made for the compositional aspect of the model. The common denominator between all the existent versions, however, always involves a categorical definition of DisCoCat as a structure-preserving functor from a category of grammar to a category of semantics, which usually encodes the distributional hypothesis.
The original paper used the categorical product of FinVect with a pregroup seen as a posetal category. This approach has some shortcomings: all parallel arrows of a posetal category are equal, which means that pregroups cannot distinguish between different grammatical derivations for the same syntactically ambiguous sentence. A more intuitive manner of saying the same is that one works with diagrams rather than with partial orders when describing grammar.
This problem is overcome when one considers the free rigid category generated by the pregroup grammar. That is, has generating objects for the words and the basic types of the grammar, and generating arrows for the dictionary entries which assign a pregroup type to a word . The arrows are grammatical derivations for the sentence which can be represented as string diagrams with cups and caps, i.e. adjunction units and counits.
With this definition of pregroup grammars as free rigid categories, DisCoCat models can be defined as strong monoidal functors . Spelling things out in detail, they assign a finite dimensional vector space to each basic type and a vector in the appropriate tensor product space to each dictionary entry where (objects for words are sent to the monoidal unit, i.e. ). The meaning of a sentence is then given by a vector which can be computed as the contraction of a tensor network.
The reason behind the choice of as the category of semantics is that vector spaces are the usual setting of distributional reading in computational linguistics and natural language processing. The underlying idea of distributional hypothesis "A word is characterized by the company it keeps" is particularly relevant when assigning meaning to words like adjectives or verbs, whose semantic connotation is strongly dependent on context.
Variations
Variations of DisCoCat have been proposed with a different choice for the grammar category. The main motivation behind this lies in the fact that pregroup grammars have been proved to be weakly equivalent to context-free grammars. One example of variation chooses Combinatory categorial grammar as the grammar category.
List of linguistic phenomena
The DisCoCat framework has been used to study the following phenomena from linguistics.
Entailment
Coordination
Hyponymy and hypernymy
Ambiguity with density matrices
Discourse analysis
Anaphora and ellipsis
Language evolution
Applications in NLP
The DisCoCat framework has been applied to solve the following tasks in natural language processing.
Word-sense disambiguation
Semantic similarity
Question answering
Machine translation
Anaphora resolution
See also
Lambek calculus
Pregroup grammar
Distributional semantics
Principle of compositionality
String diagram
Categorical quantum mechanics
Quantum natural language processing
External links
DisCoPy, a Python toolkit for computing with string diagrams
lambeq, a Python library for quantum natural language processing
References
Computational linguistics
Category theory | DisCoCat | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology"
] | 835 | [
"Functions and mappings",
"Mathematical structures",
"Mathematical objects",
"Computational linguistics",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Mathematical relations",
"Category theory",
"Natural language and computing"
] |
72,202,201 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redmi%20A1 | The Redmi A1 and Redmi A1+ are Android-based smartphones designed, marketed and manufactured by Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi. They were announced on September 6, 2022 and they were released on September 9, 2022. The smartphones have a MediaTek Helio A22 processor, Leather Design and 8MP dual camera. Additionally, The Redmi A1+ features a fingerprint sensor.
The Redmi A1 is the first Redmi smartphone since Redmi Go that runs on Android Go.
In India, the Redmi A1+ was introduced as the Poco C50 with 2 color options with darker blue color.
Design
The front of the smartphone is made of glass and the back is made of plastic with a leather-like texture. The design of the camera island is similar to that of the Xiaomi Mi 11.
On the bottom side, there is a microUSB port, an audio jack port, and a microphone. On the top side, there is a speaker. On the left side, there is a dual SIM tray with microSD slot. On the right side, there is the volume rocker and the power button.
The Redmi A1 and A1+ were available in 3 color options: Black, Light Blue and Light Green, while the Poco C50 was available in Royal Blue and Country Green color options.
Specifications
Hardware
The smartphones feature the same MediaTek Helio A22 SoC with a PowerVR GE8300 GPU, which was previously used in the Redmi 6A. All three models were available in 2/32 GB and 3/32 GB memory configurations with LPPDR4X type of RAM and eMMC 5.1 type of ROM.
The smartphones are equipped with a non-removable 5000 mAh Li-Po battery that supports 10W charging.
Also, they feature a 6.52-inch display with IPS LCD technology at an HD+ (720 × 1600) image resolution, a 20:9 aspect ratio, a 269 ppi pixel density and a waterdrop notch.
The devices use a dual-camera system as the rear camera, consisting of an 8 MP wide-angle lens and a 0.08 MP (QVGA) auxiliary lens. There is also an 8 MP front camera.
Software
Smartphones use a slightly modified version of Android 12 (Go Edition), which is the version of Android for low-end smartphones.
References
Exrernal links
Android (operating system) devices
Phablets
A1
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones introduced in 2022
Discontinued smartphones | Redmi A1 | [
"Technology"
] | 521 | [
"Crossover devices",
"Phablets"
] |
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