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70,768,110 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR%20J0523%E2%88%927125 | |- style="vertical-align: top;"
| Distance
| 160,000 ly
PSR J0523−7125 is a pulsar that, due to its size and brightness, was initially believed to be a distant galaxy. It is located about away in the southern constellation of Dorado, near the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Investigation via the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder showed the pulsar to have a high circular polarization with a steep spectrum. Its rotation measure is twice as large as any other pulsar found in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which also makes it one of the most luminous pulsars ever found.
References
Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Dorado
Pulsars | PSR J0523−7125 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 156 | [
"Dorado",
"Constellations"
] |
70,768,864 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics%20of%20the%20Incas | The mathematics of the Incas (or of the Tawantinsuyu) was the set of numerical and geometric knowledge and instruments developed and used in the nation of the Incas before the arrival of the Spaniards. It can be mainly characterized by its usefulness in the economic field. The quipus and yupanas are proof of the importance of arithmetic in Inca state administration. This was embodied in a simple but effective arithmetic, for accounting purposes, based on the decimal numeral system; they too had a concept of zero, and mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The mathematics of the Incas had an eminently applicative character to tasks of management, statistics, and measurement that was far from the Euclidean outline of mathematics as a deductive corpus, since it was suitable and useful for the needs of a centralized administration.
On the other hand, the construction of roads, canals and monuments, as well as the layout of cities and fortresses, required the development of practical geometry, which was indispensable for the measurement of lengths and surfaces, in addition to architectural design. At the same time, they developed important measurement systems for length and volume, which took parts of the human body as reference. In addition, they used appropriate objects or actions that allowed to appreciate the result in another way, but relevant and effective.
Inca numeral system
The prevailing numeral system was the base-ten. One of the main references confirming this are the chronicles that present a hierarchy of organized authorities, using the decimal numeral system with its arithmometer: Quipu.
It is also possible to confirm the use of the decimal system in the Inca system by the interpretation of the quipus, which are organized in such a way that the knots — according to their location — can represent: units, tens, hundreds, etc.
However, the main confirmation of the use of this system is expressed in the denomination of the numbers in Quechua, in which the numbers are developed in decimal form. This can be appreciated in the following table:
Accounting systems
Quipus
The quipus constituted a mnemonic system based on knotted strings used to record all kinds of quantitative or qualitative information; if they were dealing with the results of mathematical operations, only those previously performed on the "Inca abacuss" or yupanas were cancelled. Although one of its functions is related to mathematics — as it was an instrument capable of accounting — it was also used to store information related to census, product amount, and food kept in state warehouses. Quipus are even mentioned as instruments the Incas used to record their traditions and history in a different way than in writing.
Several chroniclers also mention the use of quipus to store historical news. However, it has not yet been discovered how this system worked. In the Tahuantinsuyo, it was specialized personnel who handled the strings. They were known as quipucamayoc and they could be in charge of the strings of an entire region or suyu. Although the tradition is being lost, the quipus continue to be used as mnemonic instruments in some indigenous villages where they are used to record the product of the crops and the animals of the communities.
According to the Jesuit chronicler Bernabé Cobo, the Incas designated to certain specialists the tasks related to accounting. These specialists were called quipo camayos, in whom the Incas placed all their trust. In his study of the quipu sample VA 42527 (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin), Sáez-Rodríguez noted that, in order to close the accounting books of the chacras, certain numbers were ordered according to their value in the agricultural calendar, for which the khipukamayuq — the accountant entrusted with the granary — was directly in charge.
Yupanas
In the case of numerical information, the mathematical operations were previously carried out on the abacuss or yupanas. These could be made of carved stone or clay, had boxes or compartments that corresponded to the decimal units, and were counted or marked with the help of small stones or grains of corn or quinoa. Units, tens, hundreds, etc. could be indicated according to whether they were implicit in each operation.
Recent research regarding the yupanas suggests that they allowed to calculate considerable numbers based on a probably non-decimal system, but based in relation to the number 40. If true, it is curious to note the coincidence between the geometric progression achieved in the yupana and the current processing systems; on the other hand, it is also contradictory that they based their accounting system on the number 40. If the investigations continue and this fact is confirmed, it would be necessary to compare its use with the decimal system, which according to the historical tradition and previous investigations, was the one used by the Incas.
In October 2010, Peruvian researcher Andrés Chirinos with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (in Spanish, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, AECID), reviewed drawings and ancient descriptions of the indigenous chronicler Guaman Poma de Ayala and finally deciphered the riddle of the yupana — that he calls "pre-Hispanic calculator" — as being capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. This made him hopeful to finally discover how the quipus worked as well.
Units of measurement
There were different units of measurement for magnitudes such as length and volume in pre-Hispanic times. The Andean peoples, as in many other places in the world, took parts of the human body as a reference to establish their units of measurement. There was not a single system of units of obligatory and uniform use throughout the Andean world. Many documents and chronicles have recorded different systems of local origin that remained in use until the 16th century.
Length
Among the units of length measurement, there was the rikra (fathom), which is the distance measured between a man's thumbs with arms extended horizontally. The kukuchu tupu (kukush tupu) was equivalent to the Spanish codo (cubit) and was the distance measured from the elbow to the end of the fingers of the hand. There was also the capa (span), and the smallest was the yuku or jeme, which was the length between the index finger and the thumb, separating one from the other as much as possible. The distance between two villages would have been evaluated by the number of chasquis required to carry an errand from one village to the other. They would have used direct proportionality between the circumference of a sheepfold and the number of chacra partitions.
Surface
The tupu was the unit of measurement of surface area. In general terms it was defined as the plot of land required for the maintenance of a married couple without children. Every hatun runa or "common man" received a plot of land upon marriage and its production had to satisfy the basic needs of food and trade of the spouses. It did not correspond to an exact measurement, since its dimensions varied according to the conditions of each land and from one ethnic group to another. The quality of the soil was taken into consideration and the necessary rest time was calculated accordingly, which had to be considered after a certain number of agricultural campaigns. After that time, the couple could claim a new tupu from their curaca.
Capacity
Among the units of measurement of capacity there is the pokcha, which was equivalent to half a fanega or 27.7 liters. Some crops such as corn were measured in containers; liquids were measured in a variety of pitchers and jars. There were boxes of a variety of cántaros and tinajas, and straw or reed boxes in which objects were kept. These boxes were also used in warehouses to store delicate or exquisite products, such as dried fruits. Coca leaves were measured in runcu or large baskets. Other baskets were known as ysanga. Among these measures of capacity there is the poctoy or purash (almozada), which is equivalent to the portion of grains or flour that can be kept in the concavity formed with the hands together. The ancient inhabitants of the Andes knew the scales of saucers and nets as well as the huipe, an instrument similar to steelyards. Apparently, its presence is associated with the works of jewelry and metallurgy, trades in which it is necessary to know the exact weights to use the right proportions of the alloys.
Volume
Especially the volume of their colcas (trojas) and their tambos (state warehouses, located in key points of the Qhapaq Ñan). They used the runqu (rongos: bales), portable containers or ishanka (baskets) or the capacity of a chacra. They would have handled the proportionality of the volumes of prisms with respect to their heights — without varying the bases.
Time
To measure time, they used the day (workday), which could include a morning, even an afternoon. Time was also useful, indirectly, to appreciate the distance between two cities; for example, 20 days from Cajamarca to Cusco was the accepted time measurement.
Months, years, and the phases of the moon — much consulted for the tasks of sowing, aporques and harvests and in navigation — were also measured in days.
See also
Inca Empire
History of the Incas
History of Peru
Mathematics
Notes
References
Bibliography
Inca Empire
Inca mathematics
Inca culture
Pre-Columbian cultures
Numeral systems | Mathematics of the Incas | [
"Mathematics"
] | 1,960 | [
"Numeral systems",
"Mathematical objects",
"Numbers"
] |
70,769,267 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinopsis%20pseudoradiata | Coprinopsis pseudoradiata is a species of coprophilous fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It grows on the dung of sheep.
See also
List of Coprinopsis species
References
Fungi described in 2001
Fungi of Europe
pseudoradiata
Fungus species | Coprinopsis pseudoradiata | [
"Biology"
] | 56 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
70,769,298 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinopsis%20stercorea | Coprinopsis stercorea is a species of coprophilous fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It grows on the dung of sheep, goats and donkeys.
See also
List of Coprinopsis species
References
Fungi described in 2001
Fungi of Europe
stercorea
Fungus species | Coprinopsis stercorea | [
"Biology"
] | 59 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
70,769,354 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinopsis%20vermiculifer | Coprinopsis vermiculifer is a species of coprophilous fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is known to grow on the dung of goats.
See also
List of Coprinopsis species
References
Fungi described in 2001
Fungi of Europe
vermiculifer
Fungus species | Coprinopsis vermiculifer | [
"Biology"
] | 61 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
70,769,413 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasola%20misera | Parasola misera is a species of coprophilous fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It grows on the dung of goats and possibly on that of sheep.
References
Fungi described in 2001
Fungi of Greece
Psathyrellaceae
Fungus species | Parasola misera | [
"Biology"
] | 52 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,601,455 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%207721 | NGC 7721 is a spiral galaxy located around 79 million light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. NGC 7721 was discovered on September 10, 1785, by the astronomer William Herschel, and its diameter is 70,000 light-years across. NGC 7721 is not known to have much star formation, and it is not known to have an active galactic nucleus. A supernova was observed in NGC 7721 in 2007, named 2007le.
References
External links
Aquarius (constellation)
Unbarred spiral galaxies
7721
72001
23362-0647
72001
Astronomical objects discovered in 1785
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 7721 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 128 | [
"Constellations",
"Aquarius (constellation)"
] |
76,602,078 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylammonium%20formate | Methylammonium formate is an ionic liquid consisting of methylammonium (CH3NH3+) as the cation and formate (HCOO–) as the anion. This salt can be formed by the reaction between methylamine (CH3NH2) and formic acid (HCOOH). It has characteristics of both an ammonium salt and a formate salt. It is soluble in water, as well as other polar solvents.
References
Formates
Methylammonium compounds
Ionic liquids | Methylammonium formate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 105 | [
"Analytical chemistry stubs"
] |
76,602,254 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford%20Forest%20Conservation%20Area | The Oxford Forest Conservation Area is a protected forest area of located in foothills near the township of Oxford in North Canterbury, New Zealand. The area is also an accredited International Dark Sky Park.
The forest is a remnant of extensive beech and podocarp forests that previously covered inland parts of North Canterbury. Species present in the forest include mountain beech and examples of the podocarps rimu, mataī, kahikatea, and tōtara. The forest is mainly black beech (Nothofagus solandri) at lower altitudes, with mountain beech (Nothofagus cliffortioides) above . From around 1851 to 1909, logging took place in the Oxford Forest and the nearby Woodside Forest property. Several fires in the late 19th century destroyed much of the forest, and logging ceased in 1915. Some areas of beech forest regenerated following a major fire in 1898. Sheep were grazed in some places from 1914, but grazing reduced after the 1930s, allowing more land to revert to beech. By 1973, the area was being managed as a forest park, with increasing areas of regenerating beech and plantations of exotic species.
The Oxford Forest Conservation Area is classified as stewardship land, under section 25 of the Conservation Act 1987. It includes walking and mountain biking tracks and is a recreational hunting area. The conservation area includes Mount Oxford, with a height of .
International Dark Sky Park
In 2024, the conservation area was designated by DarkSky International as New Zealand's second International Dark Sky Park. Readings of night sky luminance in the park have a median value of 21.45 mag/arcsec2 (corresponding to Bortle scale 3), and in places are as dark as 21.76 and 21.80 mag/arcsec2 (Bortle scale 1).
The application for designation was prepared by the Oxford Dark Sky Group, with member organisations including the Department of Conservation, the Waimakariri District Council, local schools, the Oxford Promotions Action Committee, community groups and sports clubs. The accreditation of the Oxford Forest Conservation Area is an initial step towards a larger dark-sky preserve. There are plans to reduce light pollution from the township of Oxford and extend the area of the dark-sky preserve by ten times, with the conservation area as the central dark core.
References
External links
Mt Oxford Conservation Area Short Walks at Visit Waimakariri
Oxford Dark Sky Incorporated at NZBN
Dark-sky preserves in New Zealand
Forests of New Zealand
Protected areas of the Canterbury Region
Waimakariri District | Oxford Forest Conservation Area | [
"Astronomy"
] | 513 | [
"Dark-sky preserves",
"Dark-sky preserves in New Zealand"
] |
76,602,480 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-Oxodecenoic%20acid | 9-Oxodecenoic acid (9-oxo-2(E)-decenoic acid, also called 9-ODA) is an unsaturated ketocarboxylic or fatty acid and a pheromone secreted by the queen bee of the honeybee species Apis mellifera. It functions as a sex attractant that stimulates the olfactory receptors of male drones. Additionally, this acid plays a crucial role in regulating the colony's social structure; it inhibits the development of ovaries in worker bees, which are sterile females. However, its inhibitory effect on the worker bees' ovaries is only fully effective when combined with another pheromone, 9-hydroxydecenoic acid. When the queen bee is removed from the hive, the worker bees initiate the construction of new queen cells and the previously inhibited drones develop functional ovaries. The exact biological mechanisms through which 9-oxodecenoic acid and related substances influence these processes are not fully understood, but they are thought to affect the nervous system in some way.
Synthesis
9-Oxodecenoic acid can be synthesized starting from azelaic acid.
An efficient synthesis is possible starting from diethyl-3-oxoglutarate. This is alkylated by 6-bromo-1-hexene and magnesium ethanolate, then decarboxylated. The double bond is oxidized to the aldehyde with osmium tetroxide and sodium periodate in aqueous tert-butanol. The acid group is introduced by condensation with malonic acid.
References
Pheromones
Alkenoic acids
Ketones | 9-Oxodecenoic acid | [
"Chemistry"
] | 350 | [
"Ketones",
"Pheromones",
"Chemical ecology",
"Functional groups"
] |
76,602,561 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokubu%20Tile%20Kiln%20ruins | The is an archaeological site with the ruins of a Nara period kiln, located in the city of Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture Japan. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1922.
Overview
roof tiles made of fired clay were introduced to Japan from Baekche during the 6th century along with Buddhism. During the 570s under the reign of Emperor Bidatsu, the king of Baekche sent six people to Japan skilled in various aspects of Buddhism, including a temple architect. Initially, tiled roofs were a sign of great wealth and prestige, and used for temple and government buildings. The material had the advantages of great strength and durability, and could also be made at locations around the country wherever clay was available.
The Kokubu Tile Kiln ruins are located approximately 200 meters northeast of the Chikuzen Kokubun-ji ruins. More than nine noborigama-style kilns were built in a valley, but during the Edo period a dam was built and submerged the site. Two of the kilns have been excavated and were found to be 1.5 meters high, 5.5 meters deep, and 1.5 meters wide, and to be constructed of sun-dried bricks. It is constructed in an arched manner and finished by painting clay on top. The kilns date from the Nara period, and were made to supply the roof tiles necessary for the construction of the adjacent Chikuzen Kokubun-ji monastery and Chikuzen Kokubun-niji nunnery as well as the temple of Kanzeon-ji. The tiles had a similar pattern to those which have been excavated from the Heijō Palace site.
The site is approximately a 15-minute walk from Tofurōmae Station on the Nishitetsu Tenjin Ōmuta Line; however, the kiln remains have been backfilled and are lso located under the surface of the reservoir.
See also
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Fukuoka)
References
External links
Cultural Properties in Fukuoka Prefecture
Fukuoka Tourism web
Dazaifu Heritage
Historic Sites of Japan
History of Fukuoka Prefecture
Chikuzen Province
Nara period
Japanese pottery kiln sites
Dazaifu, Fukuoka | Kokubu Tile Kiln ruins | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 447 | [
"Kilns",
"Japanese pottery kiln sites"
] |
76,602,972 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wai-iti%20Dark%20Sky%20Park | The Wai-iti Dark Sky Park is an accredited International Dark Sky Park, located near the township of Wakefield in the Tasman District of New Zealand. It covers an area of of Tasman District Council land, including Tunnicliff Forest and the Wai-iti Recreation Reserve. Wai-iti is the first International Dark Sky Park to be designated in New Zealand by DarkSky International.
The park is located around from Wakefield, and from Nelson, and is adjacent to the Wai-iti River.
The application for the dark sky park status was prepared by the Top of the South Dark Sky committee, a group associated with the Nelson Science Society Astronomy Section. Accreditation was announced in July 2020. The application reported that readings of night sky luminance in the park taken over a period of 5 years have an average value of 21.52 mag/arcsec2 (corresponding to Bortle scale 3), with a few individual readings of 21.84 mag/arcsec2 (Bortle scale 1).
In July 2023, the Top of the South Dark Sky Committee warned the District Council that the Dark Sky Park accreditation was at risk because there had been a 150% increase in light pollution in the park over a period of three years. Factors leading to the increase in light pollution were thought to include the expansion of residential and industrial subdivisions within of the park, increasing street lighting, and the use of 4000k LED street lights. At the time of the application for accreditation, the District Council had agreed to a lighting management plan, but as of 2023, this had not been implemented. The advocates for the Dark Sky Park urged that luminaires in sensitive areas be refitted with 2200K amber phosphorus LEDs.
References
External links
Official website
2020 establishments in New Zealand
Dark-sky preserves in New Zealand
Tasman District | Wai-iti Dark Sky Park | [
"Astronomy"
] | 374 | [
"Dark-sky preserves",
"Dark-sky preserves in New Zealand"
] |
76,603,394 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar%20Panoramic%20Photography%20-%20Apollo%2016 | NASA's Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ) records the details of each mission's period on the lunar surface as a timeline of the activities undertaken, the dialogue between the crew and Mission Control, and the relevant documentary records. Each photograph taken on the mission is catalogued there and each panoramic photograph sequence is also recorded. This page tabulates the Apollo 16 panoramas and, where appropriate, provides updated representations of the panoramas blended using more recent technologies than the originals.
Context
Apollo 16 was the second of Apollo's "J Missions" using an enhanced Lunar Module that was capable of supporting a 3-day stay on the lunar surface *and* the delivery of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV or "Rover") to the surface to allow the crew to extend the range of their exploration and to provide remote TV coverage.
In terms of photography, Apollo 16's crew surpassed their predecessors on Apollo 15 in no short measure. 1800 frames were captured whilst on the lunar surface resulting in around 100 panoramic sequences. An interesting point that arises in the subsequent tables is the ratio of panoramas taken by the Commander (John Young) and the Lunar Module Pilot (Charlie Duke) - Duke takes around four times as many as his colleague and this 4:1 ratio is the highest across all the missions.
The Lunar Module (LM), Orion, landed with its door and ladder leg (AKA "+Z strut") pointing approximately due west. The Sun's elevation was around 22°-25° for EVA 1, 34°-38° for EVA 2, and 46°-49° for EVA 3.
The higher elevations of the Sun across the EVAs can be seen through the improvement in the quality of the panoramas; the Sun itself, and any resulting lens flair, is barely noticeable whereas it featured prominently in the earlier missions.
Rover Panoramas (LVR Pans)
Charlie Duke is credited with inventing a new procedure during EVA 2; the "LRV Pan" or "Rover Pan" (also known as a "360"). The process of getting on and off of the rover was protracted due to the bulky suit and backpack that the astronauts wore, but Duke realised that by having Young drive the rover in a tight circle he could snap a panoramic sequence simply by pointing the camera straight ahead and continuously pressing the shutter button from his seated position ("click - click - click - click - click -click")
Although efficient in terms of time and effort, the approach presented some issues:-
Panoramic sequences are best shot from a single position - in these cases the camera was moved (or was being moved) for each shot
Every shot contains foreground items (the rover's TV camera and antenna) that impact on as much as 50% of each image
The camera is subject to the movements and orientation of the rover
Camera settings have to be changed "On the fly"
The first noted LRV Pan was the sequence AS16-115-18503 to 18511 - see "Timestamp 148:41:11" below. Empirical analysis suggests that the sequence is limited to AS16-115-18107 to 18711 and the result is shown below:-
Non-EVA (LM-based) panoramas
By this, the fifth landing, the need for contingency photos taken from the Lunar Module was greatly reduced, so low in fact, that only one panorama was taken through each of the windows (and subsequently combined). No panoramas were taken from the LM between the EVAs or after the final return.
EVA Panoramas - EVA 1
EVA Panoramas - EVA 2
EVA Panoramas - EVA 3
Somewhere between EVAs 2 and 3, the Reseau Plate on one of the cameras was smeared and all of the pictures on magazine 116 were impacted. Note the example shown below:-
Table Column Key
Mission Flight Number
Time (MET) Time since lift-off (MET - Mission Elapsed Time)
EVA # Moonwalk number
Title Title as extracted from source (i.e. ALSJ/LPI)
Astronaut Who took the images
Magazine NASA film canister number
Type Either Colour or Monochrome
Start Frame First frame of the panoramic sequence
End Frame Last frame of the panoramic sequence
Source Where the panorama was sourced from (Typically ALSJ or LPI)
Reference Panorama Image referred to by ALSJ/LPI for the given Title
Sourced Alternate Alternate image(s) referred to by ALSJ/LPI for the given Title
Updated Panorama Unofficial panorama generated by a non-NASA organisation/individual
Notes Additional detail
See Also
Apollo 11
Apollo 12
Apollo 14
Apollo 15
Footnotes
These tables catalogue the panoramic photos captured during the Apollo 16 mission. Entries in the 'Updated Panorama' column have been created using panorama blending software working on the High Resolution scans of the original frames held as the "Project Apollo Archive" on Flickr. Where a Reference Panorama is pre-existing, that has been used in preference to creating a new variant, unless there is additional value to be gained by regenerating it. Apart from some source image masking, all such new variants have been created using the minimum of processing, relying on the software package's inherent blending and optimisation capabilities - typically, such panoramas have been created within 3–5 minutes as they are intended to be 'representations' rather than 'definitive' examples. Consequently, brightness and contrast levels, as well as the removal of some frame-edges, have not been adjusted.
All 5-digit image references relate to the last 5 digits of the image names. The full image names follow the format AS16-MMM-NNNNN, where MMM relates to the Magazine number and NNNNN is the identifier.
EVA images include the overlaying of Réseau plate "crosses" to assist in their post-mission evaluation.
Almost all tabular data, such as time and image identifiers, has been extracted from the source location such as the ALSJ or LPI. The entries in the 'Title' column relate to the term used for the panorama as listed in the source's 'Assembled Panoramas' section.
References
Spaceflight
Apollo 16
Moon
Panoramic art
Photography | Lunar Panoramic Photography - Apollo 16 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,271 | [
"Spaceflight",
"Outer space"
] |
76,607,931 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler%20in%20a%20Box | Butler in a Box was an early voice-controlled home automation device developed in 1983 by magician Gus Searcy and programmer Franz Kavan. The device allowed users to control various home electronics, such as lights and phones, using voice commands. It predated modern smart speakers and virtual assistants by several decades.
History
The idea for the Butler in a Box originated in 1983 when Searcy was asked by friends why he couldn't simply command lights to turn on and off if he could pull rabbits out of hats, given his background as a professional magician. Searcy partnered with former IBM programmer Kavan to develop the device, with their first prototype being named "Sidney".
The Butler in a Box combined remote control technology with voice recognition to enable control of home devices. However, it faced challenges due to the technological limitations of the era and its high price point of nearly $1,500 (equivalent to around $3,700 in 2021).
Features and functionality
Users could activate the Butler in a Box by speaking a wake word, typically a traditional butler name, and the device would address the user as "boss". It was capable of performing tasks such as:
Turning lights on and off, controlling individual zones if lights were connected to remote control modules
Making and receiving phone calls
Setting timers
Pairing with sensors to function as a security alarm system
However, the device required extensive voice training for each user, a time-consuming process compared to modern voice recognition. Additionally, settings and trained commands would be lost if power was out for over 3 hours due to the volatile memory technology used at the time.
Reception and legacy
While innovative for its time, the Butler in a Box did not achieve widespread commercial success due to its high price and the technical limitations of the 1980s.
Nevertheless, it served as an important early step in the development of home automation and showcased the potential for voice-controlled technology to enhance accessibility and convenience in the home. Decades later, products like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple's Siri would make voice-controlled smart home devices commonplace and affordable, building on the groundwork laid by early attempts like the Butler in a Box.
References
Home automation
Smart speakers
Virtual assistants
1983 establishments in the United States
Products introduced in 1983
Robotics
Assistive technology
History of human–computer interaction
American inventions
Computing input devices | Butler in a Box | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 467 | [
"Home automation",
"Automation",
"History of computing",
"Robotics",
"History of human–computer interaction"
] |
76,608,109 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boronization | Boronization is a wall conditioning technique for fusion machines (such as tokamaks), where a thin film of boron is deposited on the walls of the vacuum vessel in order to reduce the impurity content (for example oxygen) which can be deleterious for fusion plasma operation.
This technique can be seen as a plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition of boron. The typical workflow involves performing a glow discharge and injecting a gas containing boron into the vacuum vessel chamber.
Boronization as a wall conditioning technique was first developed for the TEXTOR tokamak at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. It is now a well-established technique and has been successfully applied on many machines, examples include DIII-D and ASDEX.
Real-time boron powder injection is an advanced technique that offers several advantages over traditional boronization. This method involves injecting submillimeter boron powder directly into the plasma during operation, where it evaporates and deposits a thin boron layer on plasma-facing surfaces. Unlike earlier approaches, it avoids the use of toxic diborane gas and allows continuous conditioning without interrupting plasma operations. This approach is particularly valuable in long-pulse or steady-state devices, where traditional coatings may degrade quickly, helping to maintain wall integrity and limit impurities entering the plasma. It has been studied in many devices like ASDEX Upgrade and DIII-D and is now also being considered for ITER.
See also
Glow discharge
Sputtering
Plasma surface interaction
References
Electrical discharge in gases
Fusion power | Boronization | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 321 | [
"Matter",
"Physical phenomena",
"Electrical discharge in gases",
"Plasma physics",
"Plasma phenomena",
"Fusion power",
"Nuclear fusion",
"Ions"
] |
76,608,384 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plucker | Plucker is an open-source offline e-reader for PDAs, and the associated Plucker file format. The Plucker software suite includes a supporting desktop application for creating Plucker files and transferring them to supported devices.
Plucker was designed for late-1990s and early-2000s low-power handheld devices such as the Palm Pilot, before the advent of widespread wireless internet and internet-enabled mobile devices. Plucker uses an extensible plugin design to convert content from file formats and web-based formats into a compact Plucker file with formatted text and embedded images, for offline mobile reading.
See also
Wikipedia:Snapshots – 2000 Wikipedia articles in Plucker format
FBReader – free FictionBook ebook reader which can view Plucker and HTML files.
iSiloX
Evernote
Calibre
References
Sources
External links
SourceForge
Vade-Mecum, Plucker viewer for Pocket PC.
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Plucker
https://sunrise.mobileread.com/
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/SunriseXP_reference
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Web-clipping_software
Ebooks
Free web browsers | Plucker | [
"Technology"
] | 276 | [
"Mobile computer stubs",
"Mobile technology stubs"
] |
76,609,559 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetpack%20Compose | Jetpack Compose is an open-source Kotlin-based declarative UI framework for Android developed by Google. The first preview was announced in May 2019, and the framework was made ready for production in July 2021.
History
The first preview of Jetpack Compose was announced at the Google I/O conference in May 2019. The developer preview was released in October 2019, and the alpha release took place in August 2020.
Compose entered its beta phase in February 2021, with its first production release taking place that July.
Features
Jetpack Compose supports Android 5.0 and later. It uses the Kotlin programming language, and provides a reactive programming model similar to other UI frameworks such as Vue.js and React Native. Compose is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing Android apps and libraries, allowing developers to gradually migrate their apps to Compose.
In Compose, a user interface is defined using functions that have been annotated with the @Composable annotation, which are known as composable functions and define the screen's state. The annotation is used by the Compose compiler to generate the UI boilerplate code.
The 1.0 release introduced Compose Preview, which is built into Android Studio starting with Arctic Fox. It allows composables to be previewed using different configurations without deploying the app to a device.
Usage
At the time of Jetpack Compose's 1.0 release, Google said, "There are already over 2,000 apps in the Play Store using Compose – in fact, the Play Store app itself uses Compose." As of October 2022, 16% of the top 1000 apps on the Play Store included Compose. The apps included those from companies such as Airbnb, Lyft and Square. In May 2024, this number had grown to 40%.
Google rewrote parts of Android's Settings app using Compose in Android 14. Meta Platforms developed its Threads social media app in five months using Compose.
Compose Multiplatform
Compose Multiplatform is a multi-platform UI framework developed by JetBrains and based on Jetpack Compose. It is a port of Jetpack Compose for Windows, macOS, Linux and the web. Version 1.0 alpha was released in August 2021. iOS support was added in May 2023.
References
External links
Android (operating system)
Google software
Mobile software development
Software development | Jetpack Compose | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 487 | [
"Software engineering",
"Computer occupations",
"Software development"
] |
76,610,109 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAQVEC | The IAQVEC (Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings) is an international scientific organisation whose mission is to provide technical support, guidance and technical publications to industry and research organizations for the optimization of indoor air quality, ventilation technology and energy conservation through annual conferences and workshops. The conferences cover a wide range of key research areas with the goal of simultaneously improving indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and energy efficiency enhancing wellbeing and sustainability. The association was established in 2016.
History
Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings (IAQVEC) was founded by Fariborz Haghighat and Francis Allard in 1992. The first IAQVEC conference was held October 7–9, 1992 at the 5th International Jacques Cartier Conference in Montreal, and an annual meeting has been held since 1992.
Past and future IAQVEC conferences include:
Objectives
The objectives of the association are:
To promote scientific, technological and technical advances related to IAQVEC fields at the international level
To develop and disseminate knowledge and information related to IAQVEC
To promote and organize IAQVEC conferences every three years.
See also
Air infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC)
American Society of Heating, Refirigeration, Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA)
International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ)
References
External links
Scientific societies
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
Ventilation
Energy conservation
International professional associations
Scientific organizations established in 1992
Institution of Engineering and Technology
Building engineering organizations
Low-energy building | IAQVEC | [
"Engineering"
] | 324 | [
"Building engineering",
"Institution of Engineering and Technology",
"Building engineering organizations"
] |
76,610,851 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywaters%20Residences | Skywaters Residences is a 63-storey mixed-use building under construction in the Downtown Core district of Singapore. The skyscraper is expected to replace Guoco Tower as the tallest building in Singapore upon its completion in 2028. The tall building will house offices, retail stores, residential units and a hotel.
Background
Jointly developed by Singapore's Perennial Holdings and Alibaba, the skyscraper stands on the site of the former AXA Tower. The redevelopment of the AXA Towers were first announced on July 7, 2022, when redevelopment plans for a new 63-storey building with a height of 1,001 feet (305 metres) were approved by the Urban Redevelopment Authority for a consortium consisting of Alibaba, Perennial Holdings, and local partners. This marked the new building as the tallest skyscraper ever approved to be constructed in Singapore. The mixed-use building will be mostly made up of office, hotel, and residential spaces, with an observation level and some retail space. It is planned to be completed by 2028.
Construction and design
In May 2022, AXA Tower was closed and demolition began shortly after. The new building will retain the AXA tower's foundation, to reduce materials used in the construction and to reduce environmental impact during redevelopment. A S$3 billion real estate green loan was secured by Perennial Holdings and its partners in November 2022 for the development of the site, with sustainability construction being incorporated into the design and development of the new building.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Singapore's DCA Architects, the building will feature of floor space, with 3 storeys of retail spaces, 19 storeys of offices, 3 storeys of hotel suites and 36 storeys of residential units. The building will also feature of green spaces, as well as a rainwater irrigation system for plants located within the green spaces.
See also
List of tallest buildings in Singapore
List of buildings
References
External links
Official website
Skyscraper office buildings in Singapore
Buildings and structures under construction
Buildings and structures under construction in Singapore
Downtown Core (Singapore)
Tanjong Pagar
Residential buildings in Singapore | Skywaters Residences | [
"Engineering"
] | 422 | [
"Construction",
"Buildings and structures under construction"
] |
76,610,962 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferroelectric%20tunnel%20junction | A Ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) is a form of tunnel junction including a ferroelectric dielectric material sandwiched between two electrically conducting materials. Electrons do not directly pass through the junction, and instead they pass the barrier via quantum tunnelling. The structure is similar to a ferroelectric capacitor, but the ferroelectric layer is fabricated thin enough to enable significant tunneling current. The magnitude of the tunneling current is switched by the ferroelectric polarization and is governed by the tunneling electroresistance (TER).
There exists two conditions that must be met in order to manufacture a reliable FTJ: the FE-layer must be at maximum 3 nm in order to allow the electron tunneling (see section tunneling), and the interfaces on both sides need to be energetically asymmetrical in order to obtain two separate potential barrier heights.
Description
Ferroelectric tunnel junctions are being developed as a memristive component for the semiconductor industry. As of early 2024, FTJ based technologies are not commercially available. To enable sufficient tunneling probability, the ferroelectric layer must be thin enough (in the nanometer scale), rendering many conventional ferroelectric materials redundant. Ferroelectricity as a phenomenon was long thought to disappear in thicknesses required for tunneling, which hindered research around the topic until the 2000s. Since, significant ferroelectricity has been shown in thin films, and FTJs have been successfully shown to follow the proposed working principle.
While most ferroelectric materials require high fabrication temperatures, polycrystalline thin film hafnium oxide has been shown to be ferroelectric even with back-end complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication temperatures, rendering FTJs especially interesting for the semiconductor industry.
The hafnium oxide is deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to enable precise growth to form thin enough layers. FTJs have gained significant interest due to the memristive properties as well as CMOS compatible operating voltages and fabrication methods.
In addition to ferroelectric tunnel junctions, there are other ferroelectric devices, including ferroelectric capacitors (FeCAP), ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFET), ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM) and multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJ), which are ferroelectric tunnel junction with ferromagnetic materials as the two electrodes.
Basic operating principle
Ferroelectric tunnel junctions are devices where the current through the device can be controlled by the voltage driven across the device. These memristive components use ferroelectric behavior to change the tunneling probability through the device.
Ferroelectricity
In a simple explanation of ferroelectricity, the electric dipole moments of the crystalline unit cells point first in random directions. As a voltage is driven across the material, these dipole moments rotate to align with the electric field induced by the voltage difference. Once the voltage is lowered back to zero, the dipole moments remain aligned with the previous field. The sum of individual dipole moments form the polarization of the material. In non-ferroelectric materials the polarization relaxes back to zero once the voltage is brought down; in ferroelectric materials the polarization remains. When a voltage of the opposite sign is driven through the same piece of ferroelectric material, the polarization switches to point in the opposite direction. Again, the polarization remains even after the field is reduced to zero. This results in a hysteresis effect seen in the polarization-electric field (PE) curve.
Switching the ferroelectric polarization of the material affects the height of the potential barrier in the device. The potential barrier influences the tunneling probability and thus the current measured, which can be utilized as voltage-controlled memory.
Tunneling
As the name ferroelectric tunnel junction suggests, the devices operate based on quantum tunneling through a barrier. As electrons tunnel through the barrier, the resulting movement can be measured as current. The amplitude of the current is determined by the tunneling probability.
On the interface of the insulating potential barrier, when the energy of the incident wave is lower than the barrier energy, the wavefunction decays exponentially into the insulator. Depending on the ratio of thickness with respect to the decay constant of the material, there is a chance of tunneling through the material, which is represented as the transmission coefficient:
where and are the edges of the potential barrier, is the height of the potential barrier at point ,
is the energy of the electron, and is the mass of electron.
In addition to direct tunneling, Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, and thermionic emission contribute to the total current significantly in different operating voltages.
Current state of research and development
As of now, FTJs are CMOS back-end compatible, whereas the front-end compatibility is still under development. Nevertheless, the back-end compatibility allows the integration of FTJs into current silicon semiconductor technology with relatively small investments into new fabrication infrastructure. As computing, due to emergence of machine learning and artificial intelligence, is shifting increasingly from logic-centric into memory-centric computing, the research and development into power efficient, fast, and reliable CMOS compatible non-volatile memory is highly relevant.
Due to the non-destructive readout of the non-volatile memory implemented with FTJs, the components have gained interest in the field of neuromorphic computing. In addition, FTJs exhibit behavior such as accumulative switching, which is promising in hardware implementations of spiking neural networks.
The existence of interfacial layers between the metal and FE material, also known as dead layers, cause changes in device characteristics plaguing the functionality of the device.
Other tunnel junctions
In addition to ferroelectric tunnel junctions, other more established and emerging devices based on the same principles exist. These include:
Magnetic tunnel junction: the electrons tunnel from one magnetic material to another via a thin insulating barrier.
Multijunction photovoltaic cell
Tunnel diode
Superconducting tunnel junction
Scanning tunneling microscope tip/air/substrate structure can be also viewed as a tunnel junction. Some research has been done with STM tips concerning ferroelectricity, in controlling the domain switching with an STM tip. This is not a ferroelectric tunnel junction since the ferroelectric material does not function as the potential barrier.
References
Ferroelectric materials | Ferroelectric tunnel junction | [
"Physics",
"Materials_science"
] | 1,355 | [
"Physical phenomena",
"Ferroelectric materials",
"Materials",
"Electrical phenomena",
"Hysteresis",
"Matter"
] |
76,612,605 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%205790 | NGC 5790 is a lenticular galaxy located 541 million light-years away in the Boötes constellation. It was discovered on 16 May 1884 by French astronomer Édouard Stephan. The galaxy is approximately 180,000 light-years across. NGC 5790 is a type 2 Seyfert galaxy according to the SIMBAD database.
See also
List of NGC objects (5001–6000)
References
External links
5790
Boötes
Unbarred lenticular galaxies
09624
Astronomical objects discovered in 1884
Discoveries by Édouard Stephan | NGC 5790 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 105 | [
"Boötes",
"Constellations"
] |
76,613,104 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protodontia%20fascicularis | Protodontia fascicularis is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales, first described by Johannes Baptista von Albertini & Lewis David de Schweinitz and given the current name by Albert Pilát ex Władysław Wojewoda.
Distribution and habitat
It appears in Europe. It grows on dead wood of Abies alba and Pinus sylvestris.
References
External links
Auriculariales
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Protodontia fascicularis | [
"Biology"
] | 97 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,613,228 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteorhodophytina | Proteorhodophytina is a subdivision of red algae containing unicellular, pseudofilamentous, and filamentous photosynthetic eukaryotes.
Taxonomy
Class Compsopogonophyceae G. W. Saunders & Hommersand
Class Porphyridiophyceae M. Shameel
Class Rhodellophyceae Cavalier-Smith
Class Stylonematophyceae H. S. Yoon, K. M. Müller, R. G. Sheath, F. D. Ott & D. Bhattacharya
Genomics
Plastid genomes of Proteorhodophytina are large, highly diversified, and intron-rich which contrasts with the generally compact and slow-evolving plastid genomes of other rhodophytes. Mitochondrial genomes of Proteorhodophytina are also larger than in other groups of red algae.
References
Red algae
Subphyla | Proteorhodophytina | [
"Biology"
] | 195 | [
"Red algae",
"Algae"
] |
76,613,341 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psathyrella%20maculata | Psathyrella maculata is a species of mushroom in the family Psathyrellaceae. Found most frequently in Europe, it was described as new to science by C.S. Parker and in 1972 given its current name by mycologist Alexander H. Smith.
References
External links
Psathyrellaceae
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Psathyrella maculata | [
"Biology"
] | 67 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,613,683 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9%20Castro%20Mendivil%20Digital%20Planetarium | José Castro Mendivil Digital Planetarium (), also known simply as the Morro Solar Planetarium (), is a planetarium and site museum dedicated to astronomy in the Morro Solar of Chorrillos District, Lima, Peru. It is named after the engineer who designed it.
It is administered by the Peruvian Astronomy Association (, APA), founded on August 15, 1946, and then headed by Peruvian astronomer . Besides its 360° theatre, it also features remnants of the Battle of San Juan during the War of the Pacific.
History
The first stone was placed at 1 p.m. by Peruvian astronomer and head of the Peruvian Astronomy Association , during a ceremony that took place on February 19, 1954, three years after the Peruvian government granted the terrain for the building's construction. It was formally inaugurated on April 23, 1960.
In 1968, construction of an observatory began, with the Astronomical League of the United States donating a Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. The building's iron dome was designed by the industrial service of the Peruvian Navy, with the entire complex having a cost of US$62,800.
In 2013, a digital projector was added to the planetarium.
In 2018, the APA donated three bronze plaques to replace the ones stolen at the nearby Monument to the Unknown Soldier.
See also
Morro Solar
References
Chorrillos District
Museums in Lima
Planetaria
Astronomical observatories in Peru
1960 in science
1960 in Peru
Museums established in 1960 | José Castro Mendivil Digital Planetarium | [
"Astronomy"
] | 303 | [
"Astronomy education",
"Astronomy organizations",
"Planetaria"
] |
76,614,588 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauri%20%28software%20framework%29 | Tauri is an open-source software framework designed to create cross-platform desktop and mobile applications on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android and iOS using a web frontend. The framework functions with a Rust back-end and a JavaScript front-end that runs on local WebView libraries using rendering libraries like Tao and Wry. Tauri aims to provide a more lightweight alternative to similar existing frameworks such as Electron.
Tauri is governed by the Tauri Foundation within the Dutch non-profit Commons Conservancy. As of 2024, Tauri is licensed and distributed under the MIT license, and Apache 2.0 license.
Tauri 1.0 was released in June 2020. In early 2024, Tauri v2 Beta was released, which included mobile support for iOS and Android systems. On 2 October 2024, Tauri v2 was released as a stable release.
Architecture
Central to Tauri's architecture are core components such as the Tauri crate, which serves as a hub for managing various functionalities like runtimes, macros, utilities, and APIs. The toolkit also includes essential tooling such as bundlers, CLI interfaces, and scaffolding kits, to streamline the development and deployment processes. Tauri supports cross-platform application window creation (TAO) and WebView rendering (WRY), which allows compatibility across macOS, Linux and Windows platforms.
Tauri is built using Rust, a programming language emphasizing performance, type safety, and memory safety. It also allows users the function to switch individual APIs on and off, and provides an isolation pattern to prevent untrusted scripts from accessing the back-end from a WebView.
See also
References
External links
2020 software
Cross-platform desktop-apps development
Cross-platform free software
Free software for Linux
Free software for Windows
Free software for macOS
Software using the MIT license
Free software programmed in Rust | Tauri (software framework) | [
"Technology"
] | 388 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Software stubs"
] |
76,615,121 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La%20Atarjea%20Water%20Treatment%20Plant | La Atarjea is a water treatment plant located in El Agustino, a district of Lima, Peru. Originally a spring, it serves the headquarters of SEDAPAL, the city's water treatment company that also services Callao.
History
La Atarjea was originally a spring located in the eastern outskirts of the city of Lima, behind Presbítero Maestro Cemetery. People from Lima drank their water straight from the Rímac River until 1552, when local authorities began looking for alternate sources. An aqueduct was built in 1563 to supply the fountain at the Plaza Mayor and the city's convents.
On December 24, 1953, a freight train of the Ferrocarril Central Andino headed for Lima derailed next to the area, killing seven people.
In 1955, the government of Manuel A. Odría signed a contract with Degrémont in order to construct a proper treatment plant in an 11-month period with a capacity of 5 m3/s, the largest of its time. In the following decade, its capacity was increased to 7.5 m3/s.
See also
SEDAPAL
References
Buildings and structures in Lima
Water treatment facilities
El Agustino District | La Atarjea Water Treatment Plant | [
"Chemistry"
] | 243 | [
"Water treatment",
"Water treatment facilities"
] |
75,032,569 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tscherniak-Einhorn%20reaction | The Tscherniak-Einhorn reaction is an organic chemistry name reaction initiated in 1901 by Joseph Tscherniak. It involves the condensation of N- hydroxymethylphthalimide with varied aromatic compounds. This process was later expanded upon in 1905 by Alfred Einhorn to include the condensation of N- hydroxymethylchloroacetamide and benzoic or cinnamic acid.
Overview of reaction
This reaction entails an acid-catalyzed Electrophilic aromatic substitution amidoalkylation, utilizing an N-hydroxymethylamide or N-hydroxymethylimide, which are also known as the Tscherniak-Einhorn reagents. The reaction is catalyzed by potent acids such as 85-100% sulfuric acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, or trifluoroacetic acid.
N-hydroxymethylamides may be prepared by the condensation of corresponding amides with an aqueous formaldehyde solution in dioxane, in the presence of sodium hydroxide.
Reaction mechanism
In the first step, the N-hydroxymethylamide is subject to acid protonation. Post water elimination, a mesomerically stabilized cation forms. This reacts with the aromatic compound in line with an electrophilic aromatic substitution process.
Applications
The Tscherniak-Einhorn reaction is used to synthesize some alkaloid derivatives.
Literature
References
Alkaloids
Name reactions | Tscherniak-Einhorn reaction | [
"Chemistry"
] | 318 | [
"Biomolecules by chemical classification",
"Natural products",
"Name reactions",
"Organic compounds",
"Alkaloids"
] |
75,033,425 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella%20vesiculosa | Tremella vesiculosa is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces light brown, lobed, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from New Zealand.
Taxonomy
Tremella vesiculosa was first published in 1990 by Robert Bandoni and Peter Buchanan, based on collections and notes made by the late New Zealand mycologist R.F.R. McNabb.
Description
Fruit bodies are firm, gelatinous, brick-red to reddish brown, up to 5 cm (2 in) across, and lobed, the lobes thick and inflated (vesiculose). Microscopically, the basidia are tremelloid (subglobose to broadly clavate, with oblique to vertical septa), 4-celled, 11.5 to 20 by 8 to 12.5 μm. The basidiospores are ellipsoid, smooth, 8 to 9 by 5.5 to 7 μm.
Similar species
Phaeotremella species are both brown and gelatinous, but have lobes that are comparatively thin, uninflated, and frondose. Tremella laurisilvae, described from the Canary Islands, is similar but geographically distant.
Habitat and distribution
Tremella vesiculosa is a parasite on lignicolous fungi, but its host species is unknown, though the original collections were associated with xylariaceous fungi. It is found on dead, attached or fallen branches of broad-leaved trees.
The species was described from New Zealand and has been reported from Australia.
References
vesiculosa
Fungi described in 1990
Fungi of New Zealand
Fungus species | Tremella vesiculosa | [
"Biology"
] | 370 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
75,033,767 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester%20Mackey | Lester Mackey is an American computer scientist and statistician. He is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. Mackey develops machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks driven by applications from climate forecasting, healthcare, and the social good. He was named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow.
Early life and education
Mackey grew up on Long Island. He has said that, as a teenager, the Ross Mathematics Program in number theory introduced him to proof-based mathematics, where he learned about induction and rigorous proof. He got his first taste of academic research at the Research Science Institute. He joined Princeton University as an undergraduate student, where he earned his BSE in Computer Science. There he conducted research with Maria Klawe and David Walker. Mackey was a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a PhD in Computer Science (2012) and an MA in Statistics (2011). At Berkeley, his dissertation, advised by Michael I. Jordan, included work on sparse principal components analysis (PCA) for gene expression modeling, low-rank matrix completion for recommender systems, robust matrix factorization for video surveillance, and concentration inequalities for matrices. After Berkeley, he joined Stanford University, first as a postdoctoral fellow working with Emmanuel Candès and then as an assistant professor of statistics and, by courtesy, computer science. At Stanford, he created the Statistics for Social Good working group.
Research and career
In 2016, Mackey joined Microsoft Research as a researcher and was appointed as an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He was made a principal researcher in 2019.
Mackey's early work developed a method to predict progression rates of people with ALS. He used the PRO-ACT database of clinical trial data and Bayesian inference to predict disease prognosis. He has also developed machine learning models for subseasonal climate and weather forecasting, to more accurately predict temperature and precipitation 2-6 weeks in advance. His models outperform the operational, physics-based dynamical models used by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
Awards and honors
2003 Intel Science Talent Search 6th Place
Namesake of minor planet 15093 Lestermackey
2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
2007 Computing Research Association Outstanding Undergraduate Award Winner
2007 Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize
2009 Second Place in the $1 million Netflix Prize competition for collaborative filtering
2010 Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Machine Learning
2012 First Place in the ALS Prediction Prize4Life Challenge for predicting Lou Gehrig's disease progression
2019 Winner of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Subseasonal Climate Forecast Rodeo
2022 Elected to the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies Leadership Academy
2022 Outstanding Paper Award, NeurIPS
2023 Ethel Newbold Prize
2023 Elected Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
2023 MacArthur Fellowship
2024 Elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Selected publications
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Long Island
Princeton University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Microsoft employees
MacArthur Fellows
Statisticians
American statisticians
African-American statisticians
Computer scientists
American computer scientists
African-American computer scientists
Stanford University Department of Statistics faculty
Fellows of the American Statistical Association | Lester Mackey | [
"Technology"
] | 652 | [
"Computer science",
"Computer scientists"
] |
75,035,379 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%20Hongxing | Beijing Hongxing Co. Ltd (), commonly known as "Hongxing" () is a baijiu distillery in Beijing, China. The distillery is best known for producing an iconic, low-cost erguotou baijiu, a variety of qingxiang (清香; "light aroma") baijiu which is the most popular baijiu sold in the Chinese capital city.
History
The origin of erguotou dates back to 1680 when the three Zhou brothers, as the heads of the Yuanshenghao distillery, developed the technique after noticing that as the condenser of the still needed cooling, it was the product resulting from the second of three pots of cooling water that produced the finest product. It was after this process that the style was named "Er-Guo-Tou"(二锅头; "Second-Pot-Head").
During the Chinese Civil War the seeds of Beijing Hongxing were sewn when the People's Republic banned the private production and sale of liquor and implemented a state monopoly on production. In May of that year, the "North China Liquor Company" (later renamed Beijing Distillery) was founded, merging 12 distilleries in the region, become the first state owned distillery in the newly founded People's Republic, and becoming the sole legal producer of erguotou baijiu. The first batch of erguotou was produced in September and named Hong Xing (红星;"Red Star") in honor of the founding of the republic. The soon to be iconic label was designed by a Japanese Red Army enlistee named Sakurai. Hongxing became one of the first trademarks registered in the nation in 1951 and demand for the drink only grew. In 1965, in an attempt to keep up with demand, and to keep prices low and accessible in accordance with the directions of then premier, Zhou Enlai Beijing Honxing took over management of 19 distilleries in the surrounding region where production of erguotou baijiu could be expanded into. Eventually, Beijing Hongxing relinquished the trademark for the exclusive use of the term "erguotou" in 1981. Throughout these years however, Beijing Hongxing retains the legacy of the Zhou brothers that had originally developed erguotou as Ai Jinzhong, the 9th generation descendent of the Zhou brothers serves as director of production.
Today Beijing Hongxing continues to hold an iconic place in Chinese drinking culture and due to its low cost is seen as a popular working class spirit.
References
Chinese distilled drinks
Baijiu
Beijing cuisine
Distilleries
Chinese brands
Drink companies of China
Companies based in Beijing
Government-owned companies of China
1949 in Beijing | Beijing Hongxing | [
"Chemistry"
] | 552 | [
"Distilleries",
"Distillation"
] |
75,035,919 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber%20Astronautics | Saber Astronautics is an space operations and software company based in Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, and Boulder, Colorado in the United States.
Company Structure
Saber Astronautics consists of two separately [[incorporation (business)|incorporated entities] ]– Saber Astronautics, LLC in the US and Saber Astronautics Australia Pty Ltd in Australia.
The Australian business has a headquarters in Chippendale, New South Wales. The US business has a headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.
History
Saber Astronautics was first established in 2007 as a research and development startup in Boulder, Colorado, and in 2008, in Sydney, New South Wales with a mission to reduce barriers to spaceflight and the "democratisation of space".
The company initially developed machine learning diagnostics software for satellites in 2010 with a focus area on system of systems, and conducted spacecraft design on contract. The machine learning diagnostics tools were demonstrated on the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer space weather satellite in 2012.
Saber entered the space operations software market in 2012 with the Predictive Ground station InterfaceTM (PIGI) in 2012. PIGI was first used in live operations in 2014 for the California-based cubesat startup Southern Stars' SkyCube mission in 2014.
In 2013 Saber was accepted into NASA's Flight Opportunities Program for an Electrodynamic Deorbit Tether to deorbit cubesats. The tether completed parabolic flight tests in 2015 and 2016.
Since 2017 the company has supplids the United States Space Force with the Space Cockpit software. It provided civilian space operators as part of the JCO Pacific in 2020. Between 2020 and 2022 the company led the Sprint Advanced Concepts Training (SACT) wargames for the Pacific timezone. In 2023 the New Zealand Defence Force was selected to take over lead.
In 2020 the company won an Australian Space Agency’s Space Infrastructure Fund (SIF) grant to construct an operations center in Adelaide. In 2022, the company opened this new office, operations centre and concurrent design facility on Lot 14 in Adelaide in proximity to the Australian Space Agency (ASA).
Notable achievements
In 2010 the company, in partnership with the 4 Pines Brewing Company, worked on developing the first space-drinkable beer. The project was funded by a crowdsourcing campaign that failed to achieve its goal investment. The project was continued through internal funding, and has conducted parabolic flight tests every few years. The 'Nitro Stout' beer is sold by 4 Pines in a regular bottle.
In 2016 the company founder, Dr Jason Held, was assigned to lead a taskforce to advocate for an Australian space agency. The taskforce delivered its report in late 2017. In 2018, Held was assigned to the government appointed "Expert Reference Group" to design the Australian Space Agency which was founded in 2019. He remains a member of the ASA Space Industry Leaders Forum, which informs the agency on issues relevant to the industry and civil space sector.
Since 2020 the company has been a partner of the US Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commercial Operations Cell (JCO) Pacific.
In 2022 the company won a contract to conduct the launch tracking and in orbit operations for the AST SpaceMobile BlueWalker 3 satellite. This satellite is a prototype for space to ground mobile phone service.
Products
Software
Predictive Interactive Ground-station Interface (PIGI) - satellite command and control
Space Cockpit - defence focused satellite command and control
Terrestrial and Astronomical Rapid Observation Toolkit (TAROT) - a space domain awareness visualisation
Mission Management Board (MMB) - a space operator focused chat board
Services
Commercial spaceflight operations
Space domain awareness services and advice
Facilities
Responsive Space Operations Centre, Adelaide
Responsive Space Operations Centre, Colorado Springs
References
External links
Australian companies established in 2008
Space technology
Private spaceflight companies
Aerospace companies of Australia
Companies based in Sydney | Saber Astronautics | [
"Astronomy"
] | 766 | [
"Space technology",
"Outer space"
] |
75,036,186 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather%20of%202005 | The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2005. The year began with a weak El Niño, although this would fade into a neutral phase later in the year. The most common weather events to have a significant impact are blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.
Overview
Deadliest events
Types
The following listed different types of special weather conditions worldwide.
Cold snaps and winter storms
Floods
Heat waves and droughts
Tornadoes
Tropical cyclones
When the year began, a tropical low was active near the northwest coast of Australia, which soon became the first named storm of the year – Tropical Cyclone Raymond, which soon moved ashore the Kimberley region. Throughout the year, there were a total of nine named storms in the Australian basin. The strongest and most notable of these was powerful Cyclone Ingrid, which made landfalls in Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia, the only cyclone on record to strike all three regions as a severe tropical cyclone. Two Australian storms entered the South-West Indian Ocean, where an additional six named storms developed. Also in the southern hemisphere, the South Pacific was active with eight named storms, including a succession of four cyclones that struck the Cook Islands – Meena, Nancy, Olaf, and Percy. The four cyclones' monetary damage totaled over US$25 million, equivalent to 14% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The two deadliest tropical cyclones of the year were a part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. In October, Hurricane Stan and a broader weather system produced severe flooding across eastern Mexico and Central America, killing 1,668 people, with Guatemala hit the hardest. In late August, Hurricane Katrina became the costliest U.S. hurricane, leaving $125 billion in damage and 1,392 deaths. The strongest tropical cyclone of the year was Hurricane Wilma, which in October became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, with a barometric pressure of . Wilma was one of four Category 5 hurricanes – the strongest ranking on the Saffir-Simpson scale – in the hyperactive season, along with Emily, Katrina, and Rita. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active season on record, with 28 named storms in the Atlantic, including an unnamed subtropical storm, as well as Zeta, which developed in December and continued into early January 2006.
Also in the northern hemisphere, there were 23 named storms in the western Pacific Ocean, including 13 typhoons, of which Haitang was the strongest. In the eastern Pacific, there were 15 named storms, of which Kenneth was the strongest and longest-lived. In the North Indian Ocean, there were four named storms, although none of them intensified beyond a cyclonic storm, or roughly a weak tropical storm.
Wildfires
Extratropical cyclones and other weather systems
Timeline
This is a timeline of deadly weather events during 2005.
January
January 16–25 – Cyclone Ernest struck southern Madagascar after previously moving around the northern and western portions of the country, killing 78 people.
February
March
March 1–August 31 – A drought across the American Midwest caused US2.4 billion worth of crop damage.
March 2–15 – Heavy rains in Madagascar left 8,000 people homeless and caused 25 fatalities.
March 4–16 – Cyclone Ingrid became the first ever severe tropical cyclone to make landfalls in the Australian subdivisions of Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. In its formative stages, high waves from the cyclone killed five people when a boat capsized off Papua New Guinea.
March 10 – Inclement weather caused boat accidents that killed 29 people.
March 12–19 – Tropical Storm Roke, known locally as Auring, moved through the central Philippines, killing 18 people.
March 24–26 – Floods in the Malagasy province of Anosy killed four people.
April
May
May 12 – Floods caused a fatality in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the southern Philippines.
May 17–21 – Tropical Depression Adrian struck the Pacific coast of Honduras after weakening from hurricane intensity, killing five people across Central America.
June
June 8–13 – Tropical Storm Arlene struck the Florida panhandle, causing one drowning death.
June 27–July 5 – A land depression moved across India, producing flooding across Madhya Pradesh that killed 26 people.
June 28–30 – Tropical Storm Bret struck the Mexican state of Veracruz, killing two people.
July
July 3–7 Hurricane Cindy killed three people as it moved through the southeast United States. Cindy produced an outbreak of 33 tornadoes, with one causing $40 million in damage to the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
July 4–13 – Hurricane Dennis moved through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, striking Cuba and later the Florida panhandle. On July 8, Dennis became the strongest Atlantic hurricane before the month of August. The hurricane killed 88 people and left US$4.06 billion in damage.
July 10–20 – Typhoon Haitang hit Taiwan, killing 15 people, and it later hit Zhejiang in mainland China, killing another three people.
July 11–21 – Hurricane Emily moved through the Caribbean, striking Grenada and two locations in Mexico – along the Yucatán Peninsula and in Tamaulipas. Emily caused 17 fatalities and about US$1 billion in damage. On July 16, Emily broke the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane before the month of August, set by Dennis eight days earlier.
July 18–20 – Tropical Storm Eugene brushed the southwest coast of Mexico, causing one death when a boat overturned.
July 23–25 – Tropical Storm Gert hit the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, killing one person.
July 29–31 – A depression moved ashore Bangladesh, with its heavy rains causing a fatality when a wall collapsed.
July 29–August 7 – Typhoon Matsa moved ashore southern Zhejiang in mainland China, killing 25 people.
August
August 2–11 – In South Korea, landslides from heavy rain killed 15 people.
August 4–18 – Hurricane Irene caused a rip current death as it moved offshore the eastern United States.
August 13–16 – A storm in Vietnam killed 13 people.
August 17–27 – Typhoon Mawar brushed eastern Japan, causing one death.
August 22–23 – Tropical Storm Jose hit the Mexican state of Veracruz, killing 16 people.
August 23–30 – Hurricane Katrina became the costliest American hurricane when it struck Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, estimated at US$125 billion. Katrina was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since 1928, with a death toll of 1,392 people, which was more recently surpassed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Katrina left large portions of the New Orleans area underwater after storm surge breached the levee. The hurricane's widespread effects resulted in the greatest number of displaced people in the country since the Dust Bowl.
August 24–September 1 – Typhoon Talim struck Taiwan, killing five. It later hit Fujian in mainland China, where the typhoon killed 167 people.
August 29–September 8 – Typhoon Nabi moved from the Northern Marianas Islands to Japan, killing 35 people.
September
September 1–10 – Hurricane Maria traversed the Atlantic Ocean, while its remnants impacted Europe, with a landslide in Bergen, Norway killing three people. Rip currents from Maria and nearby Hurricane Nate caused a drowning death in New Jersey.
September 6–17 – Hurricane Ophelia meandered off the east coast of the United States, killing three people.
September 12–17 – A depression struck Odisha and moved across India, killing six people in Madhya Pradesh from flooding.
September 14–16 – A depression struck Gujarat, killing 13 people.
September 16–18 – Tropical Storm Vicente killed 22 people when it struck Vietnam, including two drowning deaths in Hong Kong.
September 17–21 – Cyclonic Storm Pyarr originated offshore Bangladesh and moved ashore eastern India, killing 91 people between the two countries.
September 18–26 – Hurricane Rita became the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, before weakening and striking the U.S. Gulf coast near the border of Texas and Louisiana. There were 120 deaths, and damage was estimated at US$18.5 billion.
September 19–28 – Typhoon Damrey moved from the Philippines, through the southern Chinese island of Hainan, and with a final landfall Vietnam, killing at least 124 people.
September 25–October 3 – Typhoon Longwang struck eastern Taiwan, killing three people, and later mainland China in Fujian province, where the typhoon killed at least 133 people.
October
October 1–3 – Floods in Bangladesh killed 16 people and displaced 50,000.
October 1–5 – Hurricane Stan made hit the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Veracruz. The storm, along with a broader weather disturbance, killed 1,669 people across Mexico and Central America, particularly in Guatemala, while damage was estimated at US$2.7 billion. El Salvador's Santa Ana Volcano erupted on October 1, occurring simultaneous to the flooding.
October 5–14 – Tropical Storm Tammy and a subtropical depression fueled moisture to produce flooding across the northeastern United States, resulting in ten deaths and
October 7–10 – Floods in Vietnam killed 17 people.
October 15–26 – Hurricane Wilma moved from the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico and across the western Atlantic Ocean, becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record on October 19. At its peak, Wilma had an estimated barometric pressure of , while its eye measured only across, the smallest known eye in an Atlantic hurricane. Its winds reached , the fourth Category 5 hurricane of the season. Along its path, Wilma killed 48 people and caused US$20.2 billion in damage.
October 20–28 – Floods in Vietnam killed 67 people.
October 21–29 – Monsoonal floods and a deep depression in southern India killed 127 people.
October 22–24 – Tropical Storm Alpha struck Hispaniola, killing 26 people. Alpha was the first tropical storm to be named using the Greek Alphabet, due to the hyperactive season exhausting the regular naming list.
October 28–November 2 – Typhoon Kai-tak struck Vietnam, killing 20 people.
October 26–31 – Hurricane Beta struck Nicaragua after becoming the final of a record seven major hurricanes to occur during the season. Beta killed nine people.
November
November 14–21 – Tropical Storm Gamma moved across the Caribbean, causing 39 deaths, most of them in Honduras.
November 22–28 – Former Tropical Storm Delta struck the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, leaving 19 people missing or killed, most of them from a shipwreck.
November 28–December 2 – Cyclonic Storm Baaz originated over the eastern Bay of Bengal and later struck India, killing 11 people in Thailand and another 11 in India.
December
References
Notes
Weather by year
2005-related lists
2005 meteorology | Weather of 2005 | [
"Physics"
] | 2,170 | [
"Weather",
"Physical phenomena",
"Weather by year"
] |
75,036,351 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%20Puppis | The Bayer designations T Puppis and t Puppis are distinct and refer to two different stars in the constellation Puppis:
T Puppis (HD 63640, TYC 7649-108-1, HIP 38074, HR 3041, 189 G. Puppis), a non-variable star, although T Puppis is a variable star designation
t Puppis (HR 2619, HD 52092, HIP 33558, TYC 7097-2515-1)
Puppis, t
Puppis | T Puppis | [
"Astronomy"
] | 109 | [
"Puppis",
"Constellations"
] |
75,037,284 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional%20selection%20%28evolution%29 | Emotional selection is a form of evolutionary selection where decisions are made based primarily on emotional factors.
The German philosopher Ferdinand Fellmann proposed in 2009 emotional selection as a third form of evolutionary selection besides natural and sexual selection. Loving, monogamous pair-bonding seems to be the favored field where sexual selection is being transformed in emotional selection specific for human courtship and mating.
The concept of emotional selection fits the recent trend of evolutionary psychology which suggests that individual differences are more than the raw material upon which natural selection operates as a homogenizing force. Instead, personality and individual differences are created by "psychosocial selection" in the more intense forms of pair-bonding in primate sociality. Pair-bonds are based on detecting and supporting emotional complexity in partners with whom we maintain long-term intimate intercourse.
References
Selection
Evolutionary biology
Ecological processes
Emotion | Emotional selection (evolution) | [
"Physics",
"Biology"
] | 168 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Emotion",
"Physical phenomena",
"Earth phenomena",
"Behavior",
"Evolutionary processes",
"Selection",
"Ecological processes",
"Human behavior"
] |
75,037,323 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/265%20%28number%29 | 265 (two hundred [and] sixty-five) is the natural number following 264 and preceding 266.
In mathematics
265 is an odd composite number with two prime factors.
265's sum of its proper divisors is 59.
265 is the number of derangements possible with 6 digits. That means that it is equivalent to !6.
The number 265 is associated with the geometric shape known as the Vesica Piscis. This is shown by having 2 circles overlap in a way that the circumference of each circle touches the center of the other. Archimedes estimated that the ratio of the height of this shape to the width was 265:153 or approximately √3.
265 is the 22nd Padovan number which is defined by the two equations P(0)=P(1)=P(2)=1 and P(n)=P(n-2)+P(n-3) similar to the Fibonacci sequence.
265 is the 7th number to be the hypotenuse for two separate Pythagorean Triples. The other two values would be 23 and 264 or 96 and 247.
265 is the sum of two sets of two perfect squares. Those being 11 and 12 or 16 and 3.
References
Integers | 265 (number) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 264 | [
"Elementary mathematics",
"Integers",
"Mathematical objects",
"Numbers"
] |
75,037,396 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional%20selection%20%28dreaming%29 | Emotional selection is a psychological theory of dreaming that describes non-REM dreams as modifying mental schemas and REM dreams as testing prior non-REM modifications. Schemas hold concepts that contribute to a mental model of the self and external reality. Consequently, according to emotional selection theory, dreams modify and test a person's perceived self and perceived reality.
As an example of emotional selection in action, a dreamer's sense of independence may be elevated by processing a non-REM dream in which he or she acts independently, such as competently completing a complex task or successfully navigating a challenging social situation. During this non-REM dream, schemas accommodate the dream's theme, resulting in an elevated sense of independence at the close of the non-REM sleep phase. Despite the goal of enhancing schemas, such accommodations can be unintentionally maladaptive. For instance, children typically benefit from a blend of dependence and independence, as an overly developed sense of independence can result in them wandering into dangerous situations. Due to such potential maladaptations, during subsequent REM sleep, a second set of dreams is executed in the form of test scenarios that test the prior non-REM accommodations. In our example, the dreamer may find himself or herself exercising their newfound elevated independence during a REM dream of exploring a dangerous environment or singlehandedly coping with a complex problem. Regardless of the dream scenario, during a REM dream, the mind monitors its emotional response. If the prior accommodations alleviate anxiety, frustration, sadness, or in other ways appear emotionally adaptive during the REM dream test, the accommodations are selected for retention. Those accommodations that exacerbate the emotional response are abandoned or further modified and tested.
Emotional selection's descriptions of REM dreams as tests explains why dreams are often bizarre. Common dream scenarios that incorporate outwardly bizarre scenarios, such as teeth falling out, accidental nudity in public, monsters, flying, and other surreal objects, characters, and situations, provide the extreme conditions necessary to test whether mental schemas can cope with trauma and other severities while awake.
Emotional selection also explains why dreams can be both pleasant and unpleasant. As summarized in Emotional Selection: How Your Dreams Evolve Your Mind:
...after the accommodation phase, the dream process moves to the emotional selection phase, in which dreams serve as test scenarios that tax prior tentative accommodations. These dream tests can be unpleasant, including themes of being chased, falling, being rejected, and performing poorly. Such unpleasant themes test schema modifications that cope with thwarted needs. Conversely, emotional selection also processes dream tests with pleasant themes, such as flying, finding treasure, making discoveries, and achieving success. These enjoyable themes ensure schemas can embrace occasions when our needs are satisfied.
Emotional selection theory is akin to natural selection. Charles Darwin described evolution as a process that includes two phases: a modification phase (variation) and a selection phase (natural selection). Emotional selection also includes two phases: a modification phase (accommodation) and a selection phase (emotional selection). However, unlike the life-or-death tests described by natural selection theory to evolve a genome, emotional selection theory employs dreams to both modify and test mental schemas during sleep.
The schemas targeted by emotional selection are typically those essential for meeting human needs, such as those define by Abraham Maslow and Henry Murray. Consequently, emotional selection theory agrees with evolutionary forces by describing a role for dreams as improving an individual's mental fitness.
References
Selection
Evolutionary biology
Ecological processes
Emotion
Oneirology | Emotional selection (dreaming) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics",
"Biology"
] | 731 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Emotion",
"Oneirology",
"Physical phenomena",
"Earth phenomena",
"Behavior",
"Evolutionary processes",
"Selection",
"Symbols",
"Ecological processes",
"Human behavior"
] |
75,037,508 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional%20selection%20%28information%29 | Emotional selection describes the perpetuation and evolution of information based on its ability to evoke emotions. The hypothesis posits that information spreads throughout populations not just based on their factual accuracy or utility, but also based on the emotional impact it has on recipients. Emotional selection suggests that if a meme or a piece of information evokes strong emotions—whether positive or negative—it is more likely to be shared and propagated. The emotional response effectively acts as a selection mechanism, giving certain memes an advantage in the competition for attention and dissemination. This hypothesis underscores the importance of emotional resonance in the virality and longevity of information in cultural evolution.
References
Selection
Evolutionary biology
Ecological processes
Emotion
Information theory | Emotional selection (information) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics",
"Technology",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 145 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Emotion",
"Physical phenomena",
"Earth phenomena",
"Telecommunications engineering",
"Behavior",
"Evolutionary processes",
"Selection",
"Applied mathematics",
"Computer science",
"Information theory",
"Ecological processes",
"Human behavior"
] |
75,037,896 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykhailo%20Holubets | Mykhailo Andriiovych Holubets (October 30, 1930, Velykyi Liubin – August 14, 2016, Lviv) was a Ukrainian state and political figure, a member of the first convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor, and an academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU). He was laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology. Holubets served as the vice-president of the Forestry Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and held the position of honorary director of the NASU Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians. He also was an honorary doctor of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Biography
Mykhailo Holubets was born on October 30, 1930, in the village of Velykyi Liubin, which is now part of Lviv District in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. In 1953, he obtained a higher education degree from Lviv Agricultural Institute with a specialization in ecology and forestry and the qualification of forestry engineer. He embarked on his scientific career in 1953 as a postgraduate student and later, from 1954 to 1957, as a lecturer at Lviv Agricultural Institute and Ukrainian National Forestry University.
In 1960, Holubets defended his dissertation to obtain the degree of Candidate of Agricultural Sciences. Until 1962, he worked as a junior and senior researcher at the Research Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of the Western Regions of the Ukrainian SSR. From 1962, Mykhailo Holubets worked in scientific institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. He initially served as a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Natural Sciences, and later as a senior researcher in the Department of Experimental Ecology and Biocenology at the M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. He also held positions as the head of a department and director of the State Museum of Natural History.
In 1969, he defended his dissertation titled "Spruce Forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians" to earn a Doctor of Biological Sciences degree with a specialization in botany. He defended his dissertation at the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. From 1974, Mykhailo Holubets served as the deputy director for Scientific Work at the M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences and led the Lviv branch of this institute. Simultaneously, from 1974 to 1995, he worked as a professor at the Department of Plant Morphology and Systematics at Ivan Franko Lviv State University.
In 1978, Holubets became a professor and was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. From 1991 to 2007, he headed NASU Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians, and from 2008, he held the honorary position of director of the research institution.
In 1990, Mykhailo Holubets became an academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He educated specialists in the fields of ecology, botany, and forestry. Holubets was a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Studia Biologica, Ecology and Noosphereology, Scientific Works of the Forestry Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Botanical Journal.
He was the Ukrainian curator of the MAB-6a project within the UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere" program and chaired sections on Fundamental and Applied Problems of Ecology of the Scientific Council on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Ecology, General Biology, and Nature Conservation of the Scientific Council of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Mykhailo Holubets passed away on August 14, 2016, at the age of 86 and was buried in the family grave at the 59th Field of Yaniv Cemetery in Lviv.
Public and political activities
In 1989–1990 Mykhailo Holubets was a member of the People's Movement of Ukraine.
From 1990 till 1994 he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection. He participated in the development and signing of documents at the Belovezha Accords, during which the existence of the USSR was terminated.
In 1995–1996 Holubets was a member of the Lviv Oblast Executive Committee.
From 1996 till 2002 he was a member of the Lviv City Executive Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Lviv Regional Organization of the Congress of Ukrainian Intelligentsia.
He published journalistic works about the People's Movement of Ukraine (1998), the Belovezha meeting of the heads of state of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine (2001), the consequences of russification of the Ukrainian language (2006), "The Tree of Life" (2008) and others.
Scientific works
Professor Holubets' primary research focus included the structural and functional organization of terrestrial ecosystems and geosociosystems, as well as prospects for managing sociospheric processes. He supervised postgraduate students starting from 1965. Under his guidance, 5 doctoral and 17 candidate dissertations were defended.
He paid significant attention to various issues in eidology.
Mykhailo Holubets authored approximately 500 scientific papers, including 19 monographs, and served as the editor for nearly thirty collective monographs.
Selected scientific works by Mykhailo Andriiovych Holubets include:
"Spruce forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians" (Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1978) – 264 pages.
"The Film of Life" (Lviv: Polli, 1997) – 185 pages.
"From Biosphere to Sociosphere" (Lviv: Polli, 1997) – 252 pages.
"Current Issues in Ecology" (Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1982) – 158 pages (in Russian).
"Ecosystemology" (Lviv: Polli, 2000) – 316 pages.
"Ecological Potential of Terrestrial Ecosystems" (Lviv: Polli, 2003) – 180 pages.
```
This additional information has been integrated into the original article. Please make sure to add appropriate references and citations if necessary.
References
1930 births
2016 deaths
Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology
Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class
First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada
Burials at Yaniv Cemetery
People from Lviv Oblast | Mykhailo Holubets | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 1,274 | [
"Environmental scientists"
] |
75,038,015 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision%20cut%20lung%20slices | Precision cut lung slices or PCLS refer to thin sections of lung tissue that are prepared with high precision and are typically used for experimental purposes in the field of respiratory research. These slices are utilized to study various aspects of lung physiology, pathology, and pharmacology, providing researchers with a valuable tool for investigating lung diseases and testing the effects of drugs on lung tissue.
Precision cut lung slices are prepared using specialized equipment called Vibratomes, ensuring that the tissue remains viable and retains its structural and functional characteristics, making them ideal for a wide range of experimental applications.
History
The history of Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) dates back to the 1920s when scientists first explored tissue slices for studying organ metabolism and toxicology. Initially, manual slicing of tissues, such as the liver, led to significant variability in thickness and limited viability.
A critical advancement occurred in the 1940s when Stadie and Riggs introduced a microtome equipped with a thin razor blade, reducing thickness variability to about 5%. These improved slices became known as precision-cut tissue slices.
Creating PCLS posed unique challenges due to the lung's intricate structure. In the 1980s, Placke and Fisher achieved a breakthrough by infusing heated liquid agarose into the airways of hamster and rat lungs, preventing airway and alveolar collapse during slicing.
Basic preparation
Creating Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) is a meticulous process that involves several essential steps. The use of vibratomes is crucial in ensuring the production of precise and high-quality lung slices for research purposes.
Use of vibratomes
The basic steps involved in preparing PCLS using vibratomes include:
Tissue Selection
Start by carefully selecting lung tissue from the desired species, such as rodents or humans, ensuring the tissue is of high quality and health.
Tissue Embedding
To facilitate slicing and maintain tissue structure, the lung tissue is typically embedded in a suitable medium, such as agarose or gelatin, into the specimen holder of the vibratome.
Slicing Process
The vibratome operates by oscillating a blade vertically or horizontally at high frequencies while the tissue is submerged in a cutting solution. This mechanical oscillation creates thin and precise slices of lung tissue. Researchers can adjust cutting parameters, such as slice thickness, to meet specific experimental requirements. Typically, PCLS have thicknesses ranging from 200-500 μm.
Post-processing
Depending on the research objectives, PCLS may undergo additional steps such as washing, culturing, or treatment with substances of interest, such as drugs or stimuli.
Maintenance of PCLS
Ensuring the viability of Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) during ex vivo maintenance presents several challenges. Typically, PCLS are submerged in culture medium within multi-well plates, simulating tissue culture conditions at 37 °C, 5% CO2, and 95–100% air humidity. The culture medium is refreshed daily and optimized with essential nutrients, enabling viable PCLS to be maintained for up to 14 days, a significant improvement compared to previous reports of only 3–5 days. Additionally, the inclusion of antibiotics like penicillin and streptomycin helps prevent pathogen contamination from the outset of culture.
While in culture, PCLS retain their viability, normal metabolic activity, tissue integrity, and responsiveness to stimuli such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). However, it's important to note that extended culture periods may lead to some changes in PCLS function. For instance, although human PCLS can contract in response to methacholine, the secretion of LPS-induced TNF-α, while maintained, may diminish over time. Furthermore, long-term cultivation can result in the loss of certain cell populations, such as pneumocytes and lymphocytes, as well as the degradation of connective tissue fibers. These changes may contribute to decreased sensitivity of cultured PCLS to external stimuli.
In practice, PCLS can maintain comparable viability and tissue homeostasis for 1 to 3 days, though extended periods can be achieved with optimized culture conditions.
Experimental applications
Precision-cut lung slices find extensive use in a variety of experimental applications in the field of respiratory research. Some of the key areas where PCLS are employed include:
Asthma
In the pursuit of understanding and developing treatments for asthma, researchers have explored various models, including animal models like mice and rats, to mimic different aspects of the condition. While these animal models have contributed to our knowledge, they come with limitations, particularly in terms of translatability to humans.
To address these limitations and enhance our understanding of asthma, researchers have turned to human Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) obtained from both healthy and diseased individuals as a valuable ex vivo tool. PCLS derived from healthy and asthmatic lungs exhibit altered responses to various stimuli, including bronchoconstriction and hyperresponsiveness, which closely resemble those observed in patients and various animal models.
Moreover, PCLS from individuals with asthma have been shown to display significantly increased airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness when stimulated by factors such as rhinovirus. These PCLS also exhibit elevated gene expression related to asthma pathogenesis, including genes like Il25, Tslp, and Il13. These findings align with observations in asthmatic patients, indicating that PCLS models provide a promising platform for asthma research.
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
While no in vivo models fully encompass all aspects of clinical COPD pathology, certain animal models, such as those involving cigarette smoke exposure, elastase-induced emphysema, and LPS challenge, have yielded valuable insights. For instance, exposing guinea pigs or mice to cigarette smoke can reproduce key features of human COPD, including emphysema, small airway remodeling, and pulmonary hypertension. However, this model typically manifests mild emphysema and requires months to develop. In contrast, delivering elastase to the lungs of mice rapidly induces an emphysematous phenotype, allowing for controlled disease severity by adjusting elastase dose, administration route, and duration. It's worth noting that the physiological relevance of elastase and LPS models is debatable due to differences in underlying mechanisms.
The use of Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) from in vivo models has proven particularly valuable in modeling COPD. For instance, PCLS obtained from smoke-exposed mice have shown elevated expression of chemokines when stimulated with viral mimics or influenza A virus. Murine PCLS have also demonstrated that Influenza A infection and cigarette smoke can impair bronchodilator responsiveness to β2-adrenoceptor agonists. Future studies employing PCLS from COPD patients hold the potential to enable both functional and phenotypic immune cell characterization, facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying disease heterogeneity.
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) have proven effective in studying the early stages of lung fibrosis in IPF. When exposed to TGF-β1 and cadmium chloride, both human and rat PCLS have displayed relevant pathohistological changes commonly observed in the early phases of lung fibrosis. These changes include the upregulation of critical pro-fibrotic genes, increased thickness of alveolar septa, and abnormal activation of pulmonary cells.
Recent advancements in research have led to the establishment of an ex vivo human PCLS model specifically focused on early-stage fibrosis. This model involves exposing PCLS to a combination of pro-fibrotic growth factors and signaling molecules, including TGF-β1, TNF-α, platelet-derived growth factor-AB, and lysophosphatidic acid. This approach offers a pathway to investigate the underlying mechanisms of early IPF and assess novel therapies.
Researchers are actively evaluating novel treatments for IPF using PCLS. For example, caffeine, which inhibits TGF-β-induced increases in pro-fibrotic gene expression, has shown promise by significantly reducing fibrosis in PCLS from bleomycin-treated mice. Additionally, targeting PI3K signaling has emerged as a promising anti-fibrotic treatment strategy, as demonstrated using PCLS derived from IPF patients.
The use of PCLS in IPF research holds great potential for understanding the disease's early stages, testing innovative therapies, and uncovering novel treatment strategies.
Infection and Inflammation
Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) have been instrumental in studying the body's innate responses to viral and, to a lesser extent, bacterial challenges. This system has shed light on which cells become infected within the intact lung, offering insights distinct from in vitro air-liquid interface cultures.
Studies by Goris et al. have revealed variations in the infectability of different cell types within the lung. For instance, bovine parainfluenza virus infection was observed primarily in cells beneath the lung epithelium within the PCLS system. Importantly, this suggests that the epithelium, when in its natural physiological structure, resists infection. Similar findings were reported by Kirchhoff et al. These studies emphasize the significance of studying cells within their physiological environment, considering cell associations and structural architecture. Such interactions not only affect infectability but also shape the system's response to infection.
The PCLS system serves as a valuable tool for understanding inflammatory responses. It has been employed to investigate the innate response to bacterial wall components like LPS and to conduct complex mixed infection studies involving multiple viruses or viral and bacterial co-infections. This approach enables precise analysis of immune responses to each stimulus. In simpler models, PCLS have been used to assess the impact of LPS on the innate immune response, testing the effects of various immunomodulators on innate signaling.
Furthermore, the ability to obtain slices from diseased lungs, such as those affected by conditions like COPD and asthma, provides a robust model for studying how respiratory diseases influence infectivity and host responses. This is particularly relevant for diseases like COPD and asthma, which have links to pathogen-induced exacerbations.
PCLS research in infection and inflammation enhances our understanding of immune responses, paving the way for insights into disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies.
Drug Testing
Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) play a crucial role in evaluating novel therapeutic targets for asthma, especially as tolerance to conventional treatments like glucocorticoids and β2-receptor agonists becomes more common. Researchers have increasingly focused on targets relevant to asthma pathogenesis, and PCLS have become a valuable tool for evaluating these targets as potential therapeutics.
For instance, studies have shown that inhibiting histone deacetylase with trichostatin A can alleviate airway constriction in human PCLS and simultaneously reduce airway hyperresponsiveness in antigen-challenged mice. Additionally, activating soluble guanylate cyclase in airway smooth muscle using riociguat and cinaciguat analogs has been found to induce bronchodilation in normal human PCLS and reverse airway hyperresponsiveness in allergic asthmatic mice, restoring normal lung function.
The use of PCLS in drug development is expanding further, with specific agonists or inhibitors targeting bitter-taste receptors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ, phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K), BK channels, and spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) all undergoing investigation within this context.
PCLS research contributes significantly to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for asthma, addressing the evolving challenges of treatment resistance.
Advantages of PCLS
Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) offer several distinct advantages that make them invaluable tools in respiratory research. They excel in preserving the intricate lung architecture, maintaining essential tissue structures like small airways, respiratory parenchyma, structural and immune cell populations, and connective tissue. The cellular composition within PCLS closely mirrors that of intact lungs, retaining the organization of structural and immune cells. However, it's important to note that specific cell types' distribution may vary among slices due to regional variability within the lung, especially in the presence of non-uniform disease-related changes.
In certain contexts, PCLS can be considered as "mini" lungs. While lacking a recruitable immune system, PCLS provide a unique opportunity to correlate cell-specific functions with organ physiology. They exhibit complex responses to challenges and stimuli, such as airway contraction and immune responses, shedding light on disease mechanisms and treatment evaluations.
PCLS have found applications in a wide range of respiratory research areas, including asthma, COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, allergies, infections, and toxicology studies. Researchers have harnessed the advantages of PCLS to model and study these prominent respiratory diseases, facilitating insights and translational relevance to human disease.
Limitations of PCLS
Precision-cut Lung Slices (PCLS) provide valuable insights into lung physiology and pathology, but they do have limitations. Firstly, PCLS represent a static "snapshot" of lung tissue at the time of excision, lacking access to the dynamic, recruitable immune system present in living organisms. This limitation hinders the full understanding of immune responses within the lung.
Furthermore, lung tissue is inherently heterogeneous, with variations in epithelial integrity, immune cell populations, and responses to stimulation across different lung regions. When studying diseases, such as respiratory conditions, this heterogeneity can complicate data interpretation, requiring careful statistical analysis to account for variability between slices.
PCLS have a limited ability to fully replicate the intricate and dynamic immune responses observed in living organisms. They cannot recruit non-resident immune cells, and their viability is restricted to approximately two weeks. While they can capture initial signals induced by pathogens, they cannot fully mimic the complex immune responses seen in a living lung.
Another limitation is that PCLS are typically used as static systems and do not replicate the natural breathing motion of the lung. This is particularly relevant when studying diseases like ventilator-induced lung injury, where mechanical stress from ventilation plays a crucial role. Attempts to stretch or deform PCLS have been made to simulate mechanical dynamics, but accurately replicating these processes remains a challenge.
Administering treatments in PCLS can be challenging because the entire slice is bathed in the compound or stimulant of interest. This poses difficulties in translating findings to inhaled or systemic applications in vivo, making dosing and translation
Administering treatments in PCLS can be challenging because the entire slice is bathed in the compound or stimulant of interest. This poses difficulties in translating findings to inhaled or systemic applications in vivo, making dosing and translation complex.
See also
Vibratome
References
Histology
Pulmonology | Precision cut lung slices | [
"Chemistry"
] | 3,077 | [
"Histology",
"Microscopy"
] |
75,038,618 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppo%20Find%20X6 | The Oppo Find X6 is a series of two Android-based smartphones manufactured by Oppo as part of its flagship Find X series. Unveiled as successors to the Oppo Find X5 series, both phones were unveiled on 21 March 2023. Currently, the Find X6 series is available for sale only in mainland China.
Lineup
The Find X6 series consists of two devices - the regular Find X6 and the top of the line Find X6 Pro.
The Find X6 features a curved display with a variable refresh rate from 40 Hz to 120 Hz, either 12 GB or 16GB of RAM, and storage options from 256 GB to 512 GB.
The Find X6 Pro flagship comes with a curved LTPO3 display that offers a variable refresh rate starting at 1 HZ and a higher 1440p resolution, either 12 GB or 16GB of RAM, and storage options from 256 GB to 512 GB. Both phones feature 10-bit HDR10+ capable displays, but the Find X6 Pro's battery capacity is the largest in the lineup and comes with upgraded cameras compared to the Find X6.
Design
Both the Find X6 and the Find X6 Pro feature curved displays and aluminium frames. However, only the Find X6 Pro's screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The Find X6 comes in either Black, Green or Gold colourways. The Green and Gold variants were manufactured with Oppo's patented Oppo Glow process, while the Black variant features a mirrored glass rear. The Find X6 is also IP64 protected.
The more advanced Find X6 Pro features IP68 water and dust resistance. Its colour options are Black, Green and Brown, with the Brown variant being the only one that is uniquely crafted with a dual tone vegan leather and glass rear. The Black and Green variants are fitted with matte glass backs.
Specifications
Hardware
The Find X6 is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9200 and operates on Octa-core (1x3.05 GHz Cortex-X3 & 3x2.85 GHz Cortex-A715 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A510), an upgrade from its predecessor the Find X5.
The flagship Find X6 Pro uses Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the highest specced Snapdragon chip in 2023. It operates on a more advanced octa-core system (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.80 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510).
Both the Find X6 and the Find X6 Pro offer UFS 4.0 without expandable storage, as well as 256 GB or 512 GB of ROM paired with either 12 or 16 GB of RAM. Both phones include Dolby Atmos stereo speakers with active noise cancellation, and have no audio jack. Biometric options include an optical fingerprint scanner and facial recognition.
Camera
While both the Find X6 and the Find X6 Pro are equipped with identical 32MP front-facing Sony IMX709 cameras, subsequent software updates have enabled the latter to shoot videos in 4K resolution.
The Find X6 has a slightly inferior rear camera setup, utilising the 50 MP Sony IMX890 as the main sensor and the 50 MP Isocell JN1 as the ultrawide sensor. The Sony IMX890 is also used as the periscope telephoto lens with 2.8x optical zoom and 6x hybrid zoom.
The Find X6 Pro, on the other hand, features the 1-inch type Sony IMX989 main sensor, while both the ultrawide and the 2.8x-periscope telephoto lens use the Sony IMX890, giving rise to the claim of having 'Three Main Cameras' that offer parity in image quality across focal lengths.
Both phones also feature software-based tuning co-developed with Hasselblad and the custom-made MariSilicon X image processing NPU.
In the end of 2023, it was the 8th best smartphone camera in the world according to DxOMark.
Battery
The Find X6 and Find X6 Pro's battery capacity are 4800 mAh and 5000 mAh respectively. The Find X6 supports up to 80 W wired charging, while the Find X6 Pro is capable of up to 100W wired charging. In addition, the Find X6 Pro supports 50W wireless charging, whereas the Find X6 misses out on wireless charging support.
Oppo claims that its proprietary battery technology allows the Find X6 series to retain 80% of their battery capacity after 1,600 charging cycles.
Software
The Find X6 and Find X6 Pro run on ColorOS 13.1, which is based on Android 13.
See also
List of large sensor camera phones
References
External links
Find X5
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Flagship smartphones
Mobile phones introduced in 2023 | Oppo Find X6 | [
"Technology"
] | 1,041 | [
"Phablets",
"Crossover devices",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
75,038,808 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially%20assistive%20robot | A socially assistive robot (SAR) aids users through social engagement and support rather than through physical tasks and interactions.
Background
The field of socially assistive robotics emerged in the early 2000s, following the emergence of the field of social robots. In contrast to social robots, SARs aid users with specific goals related to behavior change rather than serving as purely social entities. The term "Socially assistive robot" was initially defined by Maja Matarić and David Feil-Seifer in 2005. Since its inception, the field has gained substantial recognition, featuring numerous research projects, a wealth of global research publications, startup companies, and a growing array of products on the consumer market.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the immense potential of socially assistive robots, particularly in addressing the needs of large user populations, including children engaged in remote learning, elderly individuals grappling with loneliness, and those affected by social isolation and its associated negative consequences.
Characteristics of interaction
SARs rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to generate real-time, responsive, natural, and meaningful robot behaviors during interactions with humans. The robots employ various forms of communication, such as facial expressions, gestures, body movements, and speech. In contrast to robots intended for physical tasks, SARs are designed to support and motivate users to perform their own tasks. The tasks a user engages in can be physical (e.g., rehabilitation exercises for post-stroke users), cognitive (e.g., dementia screening for elderly users), or social (e.g., turn-taking for users with autism spectrum disorders). This complex interaction involves detecting and interpreting the user's movement, behavior, intent, goals, speech, and preferences. Machine learning and robot learning techniques are frequently employed to enhance the robot's understanding of the user, predict user preferences, and provide effective assistance.
The effectiveness of socially assistive robots is assessed based on objective measurements of user performance and improvement resulting from the robot’s assistance and support. Unlike other branches of robotics, where effectiveness depends on the robot's physical task completion, SAR measures the success of the robot based on the user's progress and achievements. This evaluation is carried out using quantitative objective metrics, such as time spent on tasks, accuracy, retention, and verbalization, as well as quantitative subjective metrics, such as user survey tools.
SAR is based on the large body of evidence showing that users tend to respond more positively to interactions with physical robots compared to interactions with screens. Interaction with physical robots also encourages users to learn and retain more information than screen-based interactions. This fundamental insight underlines why physical robots in SAR applications are more effective, as opposed to interactions solely involving screens, tablets, or computers.
Uses and applications
SARs have been developed and validated in a wide array of applications, including healthcare, elder care, education, and training. For example, SARs have been developed to support children on the autism spectrum in acquiring and practicing social and cognitive skills, to motivate and coach stroke patients throughout their rehabilitation exercises, monitoring individuals health (ex. fall detection), and to encourage elderly users to be more physically and socially active.
There is a concern that technophobia and lack of trust in robots will pose a barrier to the effectiveness of SARs in older adults.
References
Robotics
Social work
Machine learning | Socially assistive robot | [
"Engineering"
] | 683 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Robotics",
"Automation",
"Machine learning"
] |
75,040,170 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose%20Luis%20Mendoza-Cortes | Jose L. Mendoza-Cortes is a theoretical condensed matter physicist and material scientist specializing in computational physics, materials science, chemistry, and engineering. His studies include methods for solving Schrödinger's or Dirac's equation, machine learning equations, among others. These methods include the development of computational algorithms and their mathematical properties.
Because of graduate and post-graduate studies advisors, Dr. Mendoza-Cortes' academic ancestors are Marie Curie and Paul Dirac. His family branch is connected to Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes and the first Viceroy of New Spain Antonio de Mendoza.
Dr. Mendoza is a big proponent of renaissance science and engineering, where his lab solves problems, by combining and developing several areas of knowledge, independently of their formal separation by the human mind. He has made several key contributions to a substantial number of subjects (see below) including Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, models for Beyond Standard Model of Physics, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Future Batteries, Machine Learning and AI, Quantum Computing, Advanced Mathematics, to name a few.
Education
Throughout his childhood, he participated in various events such as the National Olympiad for Primary Schools, and the Chemistry, Informatics, Mathematics, and Physics Olympiads. He participated in the 34th International Chemistry Olympiad at Groningen, Netherlands 2002.
Jose L. Mendoza completed his B.Sc. in chemistry and physics from Tec de Monterrey (ITESM), Monterrey, Mexico in 2008. During this time, he had an interchange program in the last two years of his B.Sc. to finish all the master's degree classes at the University of California, Los Angeles. Following this, he moved to Pasadena, California to complete his M.Sc. at California Institute of Technology (CalTech)in 2010. After the completion of his M.Sc., he stayed at Caltech and completed his Ph.D. in physics in 2012. His research advisor was William Goddard III and his dissertation title is “Design of Molecules and Materials for Applications in Clean Energy, Catalysis and Molecular Machines Through Quantum Mechanics, Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulations.” He completed his postdoctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Career
During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Mendoza was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is annually awarded to the author(s) of outstanding scientific paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of Science. This is AAAS's oldest and most prestigious award. Specifically, Dr. Mendoza-Cortes synthesized and designed the first 3D-Covalent organic framework (COF), ever, COF-103 and COF-108, helping unleash this new field. Besides synthesizing them, Dr. Mendoza-Cortes created the computational models that would simulate their X-ray pattern, thus identifying and characterizing their chemical structures.
Following his graduation, Mendoza joined the Caltech & Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) as a Staff Scientist until 2013 and then as a Postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology, where he served until 2014. He started the theory and simulations arm of JCAP at Caltech and then moved to UC Berkeley.
In 2015, he started as a Faculty with Florida State University at the Department of Physics, Scientific Computing, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering until 2020. During this time, he was also a scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Condensed Matter group. He is credited with starting and developing the first class in Quantum Computing and Machine Learning at Florida State University.
Mendoza is currently a Faculty at the Department of Physics and Astronomy & Chemical Engineering and Material Science at Michigan State University. He created several courses combining Machine Learning, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and Quantum modeling to create materials starting at the atomic scale.
His work and reputation have already led to significant national attention as he is the only researcher to be named four times in a row to the prestigious Scialog Fellowship (2020-2023) for his contributions to the development of negative emissions technologies. This is a fellowship is for only 50 faculty per year including both the US and Canada. His works on the amphidynamic behavior in oligo-functionalized covalent-organic frameworks were selected as one of the 2018 Emerging Investigators collection from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was also the recipient of the GAP awards in 2018 from Florida State University for his work on creating the database to reliably predict which compounds will produce materials with the most desirable properties for a given purpose.
He was part of the American Physical Society (APS) national committee on diversity and inclusion (9 persons), which developed the Bridge program; which has now expanded into the Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) which is made of 30 societies (including ACS, MRS, APS), corporations, and national laboratories, which is considered one of the most influential programs in post-graduate education for minorities in the USA.
Dr. Mendoza's research has been featured in Forbes,
CNBC, MRS Bulletin, C&EN News, Public Radio, Laser Focus World magazine, and the DOE Highlights, to name a few. This work has been disseminated across more than 60 national and international invited and keynote lectures at scientific meetings and universities all over the world.
Published Work
As an independent researcher, Dr. Mendoza-Cortes' work has been cited over 8,000 times with an average of over 157 citations/paper, as well as Erdős number = 5, H-index = 29, and i10-index = 42.
Relativistic Quantum Mechanics
The nuclear waste problem can be alleviated if we can understand the heaviest elements, the actinides. Studies of actinide-containing compounds are at the frontier of the applications of current theoretical methods due to the need to consider relativistic effects and approximations to the Dirac equation in them. The Mendoza-Cortes lab contributed to creating new ways to understand relativistic effects by implementing and deploying four-component relativistic quantum calculations and scalar approximations, thus pushing the frontier of what can be done currently.
The Mendoza-Cortes lab has expanded the study of relativistic effects to 2-dimensional materials, which will allow us to design and understand quantum materials, specifically topological insulators. They did this by implementing and developing the spin current density functional theory (SCDFT), which is the generalization of the standard DFT to treat a fermionic system embedded in the effective external field produced by the spin-orbit coupling interaction. They showed that the explicit account of spin currents in the electron-electron potential of the SCDFT is key to the appearance of a Dirac cone at the onset of the topological phase transition.
Beyond Standard Model of Physics
In December 2023, Dr. Mendoza-Cortes and co-workers published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society a design of a diamond material that would detect a non-zero electric dipole moment in a particle, indicating physics beyond the Standard Model. The cover of the paper discusses how we understand the structure of a certain type of defect in diamond and its use in quantum applications, which was featured in the cover.
"Philosophical Transactions is the world's first and longest-running scientific journal", some "Famous and notable contributors" include Isaac Newton, Dorothy Hodgkin, Alan Turing, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, and Stephen Hawking.
Renewable Energy and Sustainability
Solar Energy - Artificial Photosynthesis. The Mendoza-Cortes lab created a new workflow for designing and predicting semiconductor structures made of abundant elements suitable for applications, especially for solar energy (i.e. photovoltaics) and photocatalytic water splitting. The methodology, named SALSA (Substitution Approximation evoLutionary Search and Ab-initio calculations), involves generating candidate structures from a database of known compounds, filtering them based on desired properties, and then employing algorithms to determine their most stable crystal structures. The study successfully identifies numerous semiconductor candidates made of earth-abundant elements with ideal properties for artificial photosynthesis, highlighting a significant advancement in the conversion of sunlight into chemical fuels.
Hydrogen Storage. Dr. Mendoza-Cortes and coworkers published a breakthrough paper related to sustainable fuels, more specifically Hydrogen storage.
In this paper, they designed porous materials that can achieve the US Department of Energy hydrogen storage targets for 2025. These porous materials incorporated the more affordable and abundant elements often outperformed the precious metals. This promising development brings us one step closer to realizing a Hydrogen economy. This paper was featured on the Journal cover.
Future Batteries
High-voltage lithium batteries. The Mendoza-Cortes lab helped to better understand and design high-voltage lithium batteries. The breakthrough involves using cationic chain transfer agents to prevent the degradation of ether electrolytes by arresting uncontrolled polymer growth at the anode. Additionally, cathode electrolyte interphases (CEIs) composed of preformed anionic polymers and supramolecules are used to extend the high-voltage stability of these electrolytes. This study contributes to the broader field of energy storage technologies, offering methods to overcome challenges related to the stability of polymer electrolytes in high-voltage lithium batteries, thus advancing the development of more sustainable and effective energy storage solutions.
Potassium Batteries. The Mendoza-Cortes lab in collaboration with the Rodriguez-Lopez labs found a way to improve the performance of potassium-ion batteries (KIBs). The research utilizes ultrathin few-layer graphene (FLG) electrodes. The FLG electrodes are preconditioned in a Li+-containing electrolyte to form a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI). This method is aimed at improving the intercalation performance of K+ in these electrodes. The findings are considered a step forward in developing high-performance KIBs, offering a method to overcome previous challenges related to K+ intercalation in carbon-based electrodes. This research contributes to the broader field of energy storage technologies and could have implications for the development of more sustainable and cost-effective battery systems.
Machine Learning and AI
The paper "Polychrony as Chinampas" delves into the dynamics of signal flow through nonlinear pathways, emphasizing nodes that emit signals upon receiving stimuli or when two incoming signals surpass a threshold. This process forms polychrony groups, which can lead to cascades, characterized by a net gain in activated nodes termed as 'profit.' Dr. Mendoza et al introduced a novel analogy to graph theory, referring to cascades as 'chinampas' and providing a topological classification for them. They enumerate chinampas with zero and one profits, offering algorithms for predicting vertex activation and efficiently reconstructing cascades, thereby advancing the understanding of complex signal flow networks and their potential applications in various domains.
The Mendoza-Cortes lab created a Machine Learning course that includes machine learning methods, quantum computing, and game development: Machine Learning guide for non-Computer Science majors with applications to Art, Engineering, Physics, Medicine, and Chemistry. Some algorithms that are covered include Neural Networks (NN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Bayesian methods, Genetic Algorithms, Decision Trees, K-Nearest-Neighbors (KNN), Non-Negative Tensor Factorization to name a few. Some of these algorithms are applied to problems in Physics, Chemistry, Art, and Medicine.
Quantum Computing
The Mendoza-Cortes lab created guides for introduction to Quantum Computing. Quantum computing is one approach to obtaining answers that classical conventional computers cannot easily handle or are intractable at all. Using the power of superposition and entanglement of quantum systems, quantum algorithms have the potential to provide speed-up (exponential or quadratic) over classical algorithms. For now, the existing quantum devices are not identified as universal quantum computers but have their advantages over conventional computers. We can implement certain algorithms with a limited number of qubits in systems such as IBM Q, DWave, and Qiskit.
Advanced Mathematics
Dr. Mendoza has been working on advanced mathematics, specifically on the fundamentals of machine learning and AI as well as problems that can not be solved with classical computers. One of the these problems is discussed in the paper, titled "A Poset Version of Ramanujan Results on Eulerian Numbers and Zeta Values," authored by Eric R. Dolores-Cuenca and Jose L. Mendoza-Cortes. It explores the application of finite posets and their algebras to investigate the combinatorial properties of zeta values. It introduces new proofs of some of Ramanujan’s results regarding Eulerian numbers by generalizing a family of zeta value identities and demonstrating their relevance in the context of disjoint unions of points. The study establishes a significant connection between these findings and the linear independence of zeta values, leveraging the operad of finite posets to achieve a deeper understanding of these mathematical phenomena.
Random facts
These are some random facts about his life so far:
He published a paper in the field of mathematics, and, due to this, he now have an Erdős number number of 5. With this paper, anyone who publishes with him will gain at least Erdős number of 6.
He met the president of the country as one of the best students in the national academic Olympiad, which included all the 6th graders.
He appeared on the back cover of all the textbooks of a public high school system because he participated in all of the available Science Olympiads at the time (Chemistry, Physics, Informatics, and Mathematics) and represented a country.
References
Living people
Theoretical physicists
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education alumni
California Institute of Technology alumni
Michigan State University faculty
Date of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people) | Jose Luis Mendoza-Cortes | [
"Physics"
] | 2,823 | [
"Theoretical physics",
"Theoretical physicists"
] |
75,041,845 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella%20imshaugiae | Tremella imshaugiae, is a lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus that is parasitic on the lichen Imshaugia aleurites.
It is a species of Basidiomycota belonging to the family Tremellaceae.
Description
The fungus is typically found on the thallus of Imshaugia aleurites with an amber-colored fruiting bodies 0.1–1 mm in diameter. Like other fungi in the family Tremellaceae it has two to four celled septate basidia that average at 15.5–21.5 × 13–16.5 μm. Unlike others in the family Tremellaceae, it has somewhat spherical basidiospores averaging 6.5–9 × 6.5–8.5 μm. Its closest relative is Tremella diploschistina.
Habitat and distribution
The species has been documented in four areas across the globe including Scotland, Spain, USA, and Canada. The first documented occurrence was in 2012 on the Great Wass Island Preserve in Maine, USA. The lichen is recorded within habitats that contain Imshaugia aleurites that include conifer forests, particularly pines and maples.
References
imshaugiae
Lichenicolous fungi
Fungi described in 2020
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Taxa named by Paul Diederich
Taxa named by Brian John Coppins
Taxa named by Mats Wedin
Fungus species
Taxa named by Richard Clinton Harris | Tremella imshaugiae | [
"Biology"
] | 301 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
75,044,219 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firsocostat | Firsocostat is an acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitor that functions in the liver. Its original designation was GS-0976. It was discovered by Nimbus Therapeutics. The drug is under development by Gilead as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
References
2-Methoxyphenyl compounds
Carboxylic acids
Oxazoles | Firsocostat | [
"Chemistry"
] | 81 | [
"Carboxylic acids",
"Functional groups"
] |
75,045,458 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/285%20%28number%29 | 285 is the natural number following 284 and preceding 286.
In mathematics
285 is an odd composite number.
285 is the 9th square pyramidal number. That means it is the sum of a number of consecutive perfect squares starting with 1. For 285, it is the sum of all of the single digits' perfect squares.
285 is the number of variations possible with a binary rooted tree with 13 points. A binary rooted tree means that it always begins with 1 point that is rooted. From there, each point can branch in up to two directions.
285 is a sphenic number which means that it has three prime factors.
285 is a Harshad number. That means that it is divisible by the sum of its digits. 285 is divisible by 15.
285 is a repdigit number in base 7. In base 7, 285 is 555.
285 is a very symmetric number. If flipped horizontally, these numbers are symmetrical.
References
Integers | 285 (number) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 193 | [
"Elementary mathematics",
"Integers",
"Mathematical objects",
"Numbers"
] |
75,048,606 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etrasimod | Etrasimod, sold under the brand name Velsipity, is a medication that is used for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. It is a selective sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator that modifies the activity of the immune system. It is taken by mouth.
The most common side effects include lymphopenia (low levels of lymphocytes) and headache.
Etrasimod was discovered by Arena Pharmaceuticals, with subsequent development by Pfizer. Etrasimod was approved for medical use in the United States in October 2023, and in the European Union in February 2024.
Medical uses
Etrasimod is used for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.
Mechanism of action
It works by causing T cells to become trapped in the lymph nodes, preventing them from entering the bloodstream, from where they would travel to other tissues in the body and mediate inflammation.
Society and culture
Legal status
Velsipity was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2023.
In December 2023, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Velsipity, intended for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. The applicant for this medicinal product is Pfizer Europe MA EEIG. Etrasimod was approved for medical use in the European Union in February 2024.
Names
Etrasimod is the international nonproprietary name.
References
Anti-inflammatory agents
Immunosuppressants
S1P receptor modulators
Cyclopentyl compounds
Indoles
Carboxylic acids
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Aromatic ethers
Drugs developed by Pfizer | Etrasimod | [
"Chemistry"
] | 382 | [
"Carboxylic acids",
"Functional groups"
] |
75,048,709 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primogenic%20Effect | In inorganic chemistry, the Primogenic Effect describes the change in excited state manifolds for first row vs second and third row metal complexes. The effect is used to rationalize the ability or inability of certain metal complexes to function as photosensitizers, which in turn is relevant to photocatalysis.
Complexes of the type [M(2,2’-bipyridine)3]2+ are low spin for M2+ = Fe(II), Ru(II), and Os(II). These species have similar ground state properties: they are diamagnetic and undergo reversible oxidation to the trications. As a consequence of the Primogenic Effect, the first excited state for [Fe(bipy)3]2+ is a ligand field state (LF state) with a high spin configuration. Such LF states characteristically decay to the ground state rapidly (femtoseconds). By contrast, for [Ru(bipy)3]2+ and [Os(bipy)3]2+, the first excited state is charge-transfer in character. Bonding in this kind of excited state can be described as [MIII(bipy−)(bipy)2]2+, i.e. an oxidized metal ion bound to one bipy radical anion as well as two ordinary bipy ligands. Such charge-separated states have relatively long lifetimes of 900 (Ru) and 25 (Os) nanoseconds. Nanosecond lifetimes are sufficiently long that these excited states can participate in bimolecular reactions, i.e. they can photosensitize. One consequence of the primogenic effect is that first-row metals are usually incapable of serving as photosensitizers. This failure is unfortunate because first row metals are far cheaper than second and third row metals.
The origin of the Primogenic Effect is traced to the presence (2nd and 3rd row metals) or absence (1st row metals) of a radial nodes in the wave functions of the valence d orbitals.
References
Chemical bonding
Electron states
Quantum chemistry
Photochemistry | Primogenic Effect | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 442 | [
"Electron",
"Quantum chemistry",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Theoretical chemistry",
"Condensed matter physics",
" molecular",
"nan",
"Atomic",
"Chemical bonding",
"Electron states",
" and optical physics"
] |
75,048,716 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva%20G.%20Belford | Geneva Grosz Belford (born May 18, 1932) was a computer scientist who worked at the University of Illinois. She worked at the University of Illinois for over 40 years and advised over 140 graduate students including Thomas M. Siebel.
Belford was an contributor for Britannica and worked on their article on computer science. She also co-authored a textbook on the Pascal programming language. Her papers are located at the University of Illinois Archives.
Early life
Belford was born on May 18, 1932 in Washington, D.C. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and received her bachelor's degree in Mathematics. She then attended the University of Illinois and graduated in 1960 with a PhD in mathematics PhD. Her research originally focused on chemistry and mathematics. Later on, she focused on computer science.
Career
After graduating with her PhD, Belford was hired as a research associate at the University of Illinois Chemistry Department. She continued working there until she was became an assistant professor of Mathematics in 1964. Belford later became a research assistant professor with the Center for Advanced Computation in 1972. In 1976, she was promoted to a research associate professor and in 1977, she joined the Department of Computer Science. Belford was promoted to full professor in 1982 Her research involved database and distributed systems and the ILLIAC computer.
She was Professor Emerita of Computer Science and officially retired from the University of Illinois in 2000.
Awards and recognition
1986 College of Engineering Halliburton Educational Leadership Award
1991 Dad’s Association Outstanding Faculty Award
2005 Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award
2007 Mom’s Association Medallion of Honor
2012 CS @ ILLINOIS Distinguished Service Award
List of publications
Alsberg, P. A, et al.. Networking Research In Front Ending And Intelligent Terminals: H6000 Software Specifications
Belford, Geneva G, and D. E. (Daniel E.) Putnam Networking research in front ending and intelligent terminals: Experimental network front end experiment plan
Belford, Geneva G. An algorithm for fitting related sets of straight-line data
Belford, Geneva G. Investigation of one-step methods for integro-differential equations
Belford, Geneva G. Optimization problems in distributed data management
Belford, Geneva G. Research In Network Data Management And Resource Sharing: Initial Mathematical Model Report
Liu, C. L. and Belford, Geneva G. Pascal
Putnam, D. E. (Daniel E.), David C Healy, Geneva G Belford Networking research in front ending and intelligent terminals : UNIX/ENFE experimental performance report
Schwartz, P. M., Grapa, E., Day, J. D., Belford, G. G., Research in network data management and resource sharing: network file allocation
Yan, Y. L., Smet, A. D., Moon, A., Manolas, A. P., Leo, J., Kim, C. K., Kaufman, K. A., Hwund, S. C., Goldstein, J. D., England, S., Cotten, P., Cho, D., Liu, J. W. S., Belford, G. G. Mutual consistency maintenance in a prototype data traffic management system
References
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign people
Computer scientists
People from Washington, D.C.
Contributors to the Encyclopædia Britannica
University of Pennsylvania alumni
1932 births
2014 deaths | Geneva G. Belford | [
"Technology"
] | 689 | [
"Computer science",
"Computer scientists"
] |
63,534,082 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body-part%20counting%20system | Some languages of the world have numeral systems that do not make use of an arithmetic base. One such system is the body-part counting system which make use of further body parts to extend the system beyond the ten fingers.
Counting typically begins by touching (and usually bending) the fingers of one hand, moves up the arm to the shoulders and neck, and in some systems, to other parts of the upper body or the head. A central point serves as the half-way point. Once this is reached, the counter continues, touching and bending the corresponding points on the other side until the fingers are reached.
Use
The body-part counting system is quite typical of a number of languages within the New Guinea Highlands.
Oceania
Foi, an East Kutubuan language, features a body-part numeral system that counts up to 37.
Oksapmin, a Trans–New Guinea language spoken in Sandaun Province, features a body-part counting system that goes up to 27. Geoffrey Saxe, in ethnographic work, has described shifts in form and function of the system in recent history linked to shifts towards a cash economy and the introduction of Western-styled schooling.
Kobon, a Papuan language spoken in the Madang Province, counts up to 23. The count can then be reversed for larger numbers.
Reverse counting
For example, in Kobon, the body parts on the left-hand side of the body are used in order to count from 1 to 12. The count can then continue down the right-hand side of the body up to 23. It is then possible to reverse the count, starting from the end point on the right as 24 back up to the 12th position on the left as 35, then down again to the end point on the left as 46.
One effect of this is that the names of particular body parts when used as numerals are multiply ambiguous. The same body part can represent multiple numbers depending on the how many passes across the body were made. There are usually means, optional or obligatory depending on the language, to distinguish the second side of the body used in a count from the first, as well as to indicate which pass across the body is being used, but there is no productive means to identify other than a small number of passes across the body.
References
Numbers | Body-part counting system | [
"Mathematics"
] | 470 | [
"Arithmetic",
"Mathematical objects",
"Numbers"
] |
63,534,975 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letovirinae | Letovirinae is a subfamily of viruses within the family Coronaviridae, where it is the only subfamily besides the more diverse Orthocoronavirinae (coronaviruses). Letovirinae contains one accepted genus, Alphaletovirus, which contains one accepted subgenus, Milecovirus, which contains one accepted species, Microhyla letovirus 1 (MLeV). This species was discovered in 2018 and is hosted by the ornate chorus frog (Microhyla fissipes).
Other, as yet unaccepted species in the Letovirinae have been discovered in Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus), and in Murray River carp (Cyprinus).
References
External links
Coronaviridae
Virus subfamilies
Virus genera | Letovirinae | [
"Biology"
] | 154 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
63,535,261 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced%20Physical%20Layer | Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) describes a physical layer for the Ethernet communication technology which is especially developed for the requirements of the process industries. The development of Ethernet-APL was determined by the need for communication at high speeds and over long distances, the supply of power and communications signals via common single, twisted-pair (2-wire) cable as well as protective measures for the safe use within explosion hazardous areas.
Because it was created specifically for demanding industrial applications, Ethernet-APL, as a subset of the widely adopted Ethernet standard, offers a high level of robustness for extremely reliable operation.
Ethernet has long become the standard communication solution in the information technology field, while Industrial Ethernet is the common description of the variant of this standard for the manufacturing and process industries. Ethernet-APL provides the missing link, extending unified Ethernet communication all the way down to field instrumentation.
Structure
Being a physical layer, Ethernet-APL is independent of any protocol or communications stack and designed for wide adoption and application in process automation.
Ethernet as basis for APL
Ethernet-APL is a specific, single-pair Ethernet based on 10BASE-T1L as defined in IEEE 802.3cg, with additional provisions for process industries. The Ethernet-APL communication is thus part of and fully compatible with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet specification.
Ethernet-APL communication relies on 10 Mbit/s full duplex communication transported via one twisted pair cable. It supports all major network topologies including the well known trunk & spur topology which is widely utilized in process industries. The maximum trunk length is 1000 meters into Zone 1, Div 2. The maximum spur length is specified as 200 m into Zone 0, Div. 1.
Ethernet-APL incorporates a number of enhancements especially tailored to the demanding requirements of process and other industries like Intrinsic safety and adds port profiles for optional power supply and hazardous area protection.
Intrinsic safety
Intrinsic safety is a vital requirement especially by the worldwide process industries which demand an easy to implement solution to control and power field instruments in explosion hazardous areas. For this reason, optional intrinsic safety is fully integrated into the definitions of the Ethernet-APL communication standard.
In the technical specification 2-WISE the 2-wire intrinsically safe Ethernet is defined.
The intrinsic safety barrier is an electronic circuit at each output or input of a switch or instrument. It prevents ignitable electric energy from reaching the connector. The intrinsic safety barrier is separate from the communications circuit (PHY). This design principle ensures:
Chip manufacturers can build commercially available PHY in quantities also available for applications not requiring intrinsic safety
Device vendors can easily build intrinsically safe devices
Ethernet-APL is designed to support easy planning, validation, installation, documentation and implementation of the intrinsically safe operation of field instruments in hazardous areas. This includes among other aspects live work on cables and instruments without a hot work permit. All suitable products carry an approval by a notified body.
Port profile specifications
Part of the standards for Ethernet-APL include the definition of port profiles for interoperability in various application scenarios. This includes aspects such as segment type, differentiating a trunk-to-trunk port from a spur-to-spur port. Other specifications refer to the power characteristics, differentiating between source-to-load and unpowered-to-unpowered ports. Another provision is the definition of power classes. This includes the limitation of the maximum supply voltage and supply current for intrinsically safe power supply.
Further topics that are specified in the port profile specification are wiring rules, pin assignments for terminals and connectors as well as shielding and grounding rules.
References
Further reading
Ethernet
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial automation | Advanced Physical Layer | [
"Engineering"
] | 745 | [
"Industrial Ethernet",
"Industrial automation",
"Automation",
"Industrial engineering"
] |
63,535,323 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabassou%20virus | Cabassou virus is an RNA virus in the genus Alphavirus.
References
Alphaviruses | Cabassou virus | [
"Biology"
] | 20 | [
"Virus stubs",
"Viruses"
] |
63,535,776 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGC%209391 | UGC 9391 is a Magellanic spiral galaxy in constellation Draco. 130 million light years from Earth, it is not a member of any group of galaxies, and is moving away from the Earth at 1939 km/s.
In 2003, a supernova catalogued as SN 2003du was detected within the galaxy, with an apparent magnitude of 15.9.
References
Draco (constellation)
Barred spiral galaxies
Magellanic spiral galaxies
09391
+10-21-011
052091 | UGC 9391 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 106 | [
"Constellations",
"Draco (constellation)"
] |
63,535,786 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilia%20Fridman | Emilia Fridman (Hebrew: אמיליה פרידמן, Russian: Фридман Эмилия Моисеевна) is an Israeli professor of Electrical Engineering in the Engineering Faculty at Tel Aviv University, specializing in control theory, time-delay and distributed parameter systems. She is an IEEE fellow for “contributions to time-delay systems and sampled-data control”.
Early life and education
Emilia Fridman was born in Kuibyshev, USSR. During the years 1976-1981 she studied Mathematics, B.A. and M.Sc (with distinction) at Kuibyshev (Samara) State University. Her Ph.D. degree was received in 1986 in Mathematics from Voronezh State University (USSR). Fridman authored the thesis Integral Manifolds of Singularly Perturbed Time-Delay Systems and Their Applications, under the supervision of Prof. Vadim Strygin.
Career
Fridman was a researcher at Kuibyshev Polytechnical Institute, USSR in the years 1981-1982. She joined Kuibyshev Institute of Railroad Engineers, Department of Mathematics, as Assistant Professor in 1985, and in 1989 was promoted to Associate Professor.
In 1992 Emilia moved with her family to Israel, and joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Systems at Tel Aviv University. She worked on various programs supported by the Ministry of Absorption, starting from Senior Researcher in 1993, and becoming a Principal Research Associate (parallel to Associate Professor) in 2002. She was promoted to Full Professor in 2012.
During the years, Fridman has held visiting positions in many institutions, including: Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics in Berlin (Germany), INRIA in Rocquencourt (France), Ecole Centrale de Lille (France), Valenciennes University (France), Leicester University (UK), Kent University (UK), CINVESTAV (Mexico), Zhejiang University (China), St. Petersburg ITMO (Russia), Melbourne University (Australia), Supelec (France), KTH (Sweden).
Research work
Emilia’s research interests include time-delay and singularly perturbed systems, sampled-data and network-based control, control of partial differential equations (PDEs) and nonlinear control.
She has pioneered a time-delay approach to sampled-data control. This approach became popular in networked control systems, allowing communication delays to be larger than the sampling intervals.
She has also introduced the descriptor method for time-delay systems and robust control that led to efficient analysis and design methods. Additionally she has introduced the Lyapunov-Krasovskii method for systems with fast-varying delays (without any constraints on the delay derivative).
Fridman has pioneered the linear matrix inequalities approach to robust control of PDEs and network-based control of PDEs.
According to Google Scholar (August 2020) her h-index is 63 and she is the most highly cited woman in control theory.
Professional experience
Fridman is a fellow of IEEE Control Systems Society.
She is an Associate Editor of Automatica, and has been an Associate Editor in leading control journals: IMA J. Control & Information, SIAM J. Control & Optimization.
Fridman was nominated as Highly Cited Researcher in 2014 by Thomson Reuters (Web of Science).
In 2017 she was elected as a council of the International Federation of Automatic Control.
Since 2018, she is incumbent for Chana and Heinrich Manderman Chair on System Control at Tel Aviv University.
In 2021 she was awarded the IFAC Delay Systems Life Time Achievement Award and the Kadar Family Award.
Publications
Prof. Fridman has authored more than 170 journal papers and two monographs: Fridman, Emilia. Introduction to Time-Delay Systems: Analysis and Control. Birkhauser. Systems & Control: Foundations & Applications, 2014.; Liu, Kun, Fridman, Emilia, Xia, Yuanqing. Networked Control Under Communication Constraints: A Time-Delay Approach. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
Selected articles
Fridman E., "New Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals for stability of linear retarded and neutral type systems," Systems & Control Letters, vol. 43, no. 4, 309–319, 2001.
Fridman E. and Shaked U., "A descriptor system approach to H∞ control of linear time-delay systems," IEEE Trans. on Automatic control, vol. 47, no. 2, 253–270, 2002.
Fridman E.,"Stability of Linear Descriptor Systems with Delay: A Lyapunov-Based Approach," Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, vol. 273, no. 1, pp. 24–44, 2002.
Fridman E. and Shaked U., "Delay-dependent stability and H∞ control: constant and time-varying delays," Int. J. Control, vol. 76, no. 1, 48–60, 2003.
Fridman E., Seuret A. and Richard J.-P., "Robust sampled-data stabilization of linear systems: an input delay approach," Automatica, vol. 40, no. 8, 1441–1446, 2004.
Fridman E., "A refined input delay approach to sampled-data control," Automatica, vol. 46, 421–427, 2010.
Liu K. and Fridman E., "Wirtinger's Inequality and Lyapunov-Based Sampled-Data Stabilization," Automatica, vol. 48, 102–108, 2012.
E. Fridman and A. Blighovsky. Robust Sampled-Data Control of a Class of Semilinear Parabolic Systems. Automatica, 48, 826-836, 2012.
N. Bar Am. and E. Fridman Network-based Distributed $H_{\infty}$-Filtering of Parabolic Systems. Automatica, 50 (12), 3139–-3146, 2014.
D. Freirich, E. Fridman Decentralized networked control of systems with local networks: a time-delay approach, Automatica, 69, 201-209, 2016.
E. Fridman, L. Shaikhet. Stabilization by using artificial delays: an LMI approach. Automatica, 81, pp. 429–437, 2017.
A. Selivanov, E. Fridman Delayed $H_\infty$ control of 2D diffusion systems under delayed pointlike measurements. Automatica, 109, 2019.
Personal life
Fridman is married to Eugenii Shustin, a professor at the Mathematical Department of Tel Aviv University. They have a son, and live in Tel Aviv.
Her brother, Leonid Fridman, is a professor in the Department of Control at the Engineering Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
External links
Emilia Fridman, Tel Aviv University
Emilia Fridman, at DBLP Bibliography Server
Interview with Emilia Fridman , IEEE Control Systems Magazine
References
Control theorists
Living people
Voronezh State University alumni
Academic staff of Samara State Technical University
Israeli women engineers
20th-century women engineers
Fellows of the IEEE
Academic staff of Tel Aviv University
Soviet emigrants to Israel
Israeli electrical engineers
21st-century women engineers
Year of birth missing (living people) | Emilia Fridman | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,549 | [
"Control engineering",
"Control theorists"
] |
63,536,836 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19%20apps | COVID-19 apps include mobile-software applications for digital contact-tracing—i.e. the process of identifying persons ("contacts") who may have been in contact with an infected individual—deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Numerous tracing applications have been developed or proposed, with official government support in some territories and jurisdictions. Several frameworks for building contact-tracing apps have been developed. Privacy concerns have been raised, especially about systems that are based on tracking the geographical location of app users.
Less overtly intrusive alternatives include the co-option of Bluetooth signals to log a user's proximity to other cellphones. (Bluetooth technology has form in tracking cell-phones' locations.))
On 10 April 2020, Google and Apple jointly announced that they would integrate functionality to support such Bluetooth-based apps directly into their Android and iOS operating systems. India's COVID-19 tracking app Aarogya Setu became the world's fastest growing application—beating Pokémon Go—with 50 million users in the first 13 days of its release.
Rationale
Contact tracing is an important tool in infectious disease control, but as the number of cases rises time constraints make it more challenging to effectively control transmission. Digital contact tracing, especially if widely deployed, may be more effective than traditional methods of contact tracing. In a March 2020 model by the University of Oxford Big Data Institute's Christophe Fraser's team, a coronavirus outbreak in a city of one million people is halted if 80% of all smartphone users take part in a tracking system; in the model, the elderly are still expected to self-isolate en masse, but individuals who are neither symptomatic nor elderly are exempt from isolation unless they receive an alert that they are at risk of carrying the disease. Some proponents advocate for legislation exempting certain COVID-19 apps from general privacy restrictions.
Issues
Uptake
Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, listed a number of potential practical problems with app-based systems, including false positives and the potential lack of effectiveness if takeup of the app is limited to only a small fraction of the population. In Singapore, only one person in three had downloaded the TraceTogether app by the end of June 2020, despite legal requirements for most workers; the app was also underused, as it required users to keep it open at all times on iOS.
A team at the University of Oxford simulated the effect of a contact tracing app on a city of 1 million. They estimated that if the app was used in conjunction with the shielding of over-70s, then 56% of the population would have to be using the app for it to suppress the virus. This would be equivalent to 80% of smartphone users in the United Kingdom. They found that the app could still slow the spread of the virus if fewer people downloaded it, with one infection being prevented for every one or two users.
In August 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that there were disparities in smartphone use between demographics and minority groups, and that "even the most comprehensive, all-seeing contact tracing system is of little use without social and medical systems in place to help those who may have the virus — including access to medical care, testing, and support for those who are quarantined."
App store restrictions
Addressing concerns about the spread of misleading or harmful apps, Apple, Google and Amazon set limits on which types of organizations could add coronavirus-related apps to its App Store, limiting them to only "official" or otherwise reputable organizations.
Ethical principles of mass surveillance using COVID-19 contact tracing apps
The advent of COVID-19 contact tracing apps has led to concerns around privacy, the rights of app users, and governmental authority. The European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations and the Siracusa Principles have outlined 4 principles to consider when looking at the ethical principles of mass surveillance with COVID-19 contact tracing apps. These are necessity, proportionality, scientific validity, and time boundedness.
Necessity is defined as the idea that governments should only interfere with a person's rights when deemed essential for public health interests. The potential risks associated with infringements of personal privacy must be outweighed by the possibility of reducing significant harm to others. Potential benefits of contact-tracing apps that may be considered include allowing for blanket population-level quarantine measures to be lifted sooner and the minimization of people under quarantine. Hence, some contend that contact-tracing apps are justified as they may be less intrusive than blanket quarantine measures. Furthermore, the delay of an effective contact-tracing app with significant health and economic benefits may be considered unethical.
Proportionality refers to the concept that a contact tracing app's potential negative impact on a person's rights should be justifiable by the severity of the health risks that are being addressed. Apps must use the most privacy-preserving options available to achieve their goals, and the selected option should not only be a logical option for achieving the goal but also an effective one.
Scientific validity evaluates whether an app is effective, timely and accurate. Traditional manual contact-tracing procedures are not efficient enough for the COVID-19 pandemic, and do not consider asymptomatic transmission. Contact-tracing apps, on the other hand, can be effective COVID-19 contact-tracing tools that reduce R value to less than 1, leading to sustained epidemic suppression. However, for apps to be effective, there needs to be a minimum 56-60% uptake in the population. Apps should be continually modified to reflect current knowledge on the diseases being monitored. Some argue that contact-tracing apps should be considered societal experimental trials where results and adverse effects are evaluated according to the stringent guidelines of social experiments. Analyses should be conducted by independent research bodies and published for wide dissemination. Despite the current urgency of our pandemic situation, we should still adhere to the standard rigors of scientific evaluation.
Time boundedness describe the need for establishing legal and technical sunset clauses so that they are only allowed to operate as long as necessary to address the pandemic situation. Apps should be withdrawn as soon as possible after the end of the pandemic. If the end of the pandemic cannot be predicted, the use of apps should be regularly reviewed and decisions about continued use should be made at each review. Collected data should only be retained by public health authorities for research purposes with clear stipulations on how long the data will be held for and who will be responsible for security, oversight, and ownership.
Privacy, discrimination and marginalisation concerns
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has published a set of principles for technology-assisted contact tracing and Amnesty International and over 100 other organizations issued a statement calling for limits on this kind of surveillance. The organisations declared eight conditions on governmental projects:
surveillance would have to be "lawful, necessary and proportionate";
extensions of monitoring and surveillance would have to have sunset clauses;
the use of data would have to be limited to COVID-19 purposes;
data security and anonymity would have to be protected and shown to be protected based on evidence;
digital surveillance would have to address the risk of exacerbating discrimination and marginalisation;
any sharing of data with third parties would have to be defined in law;
there would have to be safeguards against abuse and the rights of citizens to respond to abuses;
"meaningful participation" by all "relevant stakeholders" would be required, including that of public health experts and marginalised groups.
The German Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and Reporters Without Borders also issued checklists.
The Exposure Notification service intends to address the problem of persistent surveillance by removing the tracing mechanism from their device operating systems once it is no longer needed.
On 20 April 2020, it was reported that over 300 academics had signed a statement favouring decentralised proximity tracing applications over centralised models, given the difficulty in precluding centralised options being used "to enable unwarranted discrimination and surveillance." In a centralised model, a central database records the ID codes of meetings between users. In a decentralised model, this information is recorded on individual phones, with the role of the central database being limited to identifying phones by their ID code when an alert needs to be sent.
In Moscow use of the tracking app was made mandatory during the lockdowns in April 2020 when most Muscovites were mostly required to stay indoors. Vladimir Putin signed laws introducing criminal penalties, including up to seven years imprisonment, for quarantine violations that led to others being infected. Moscow also implemented government-issued QR codes that were made mandatory. It was not disclosed what information the codes contain, but they must be shown to police when requested. Opposition members were uncomfortable with the Russian government's introduction of COVID surveillance tools. In May 2020 Human Rights Watch reported that the authorities in Moscow had wrongly fined hundreds of Muscovites for breaching self-quarantine. The dubious behavioral interpretations recorded by the social monitoring tracking application led to the mistaken fining of hundreds of people in Moscow.
Contact-tracing apps were deployed rapidly by governments and other organisations in spring and summer 2020. Initial releases were found to come with incongruent privacy policies, hidden built-in surveillance and location-tracing functions, and generally contained few cues about a proper specification and quality assurance process. Code quality in several apps was found to be poor, while hardly any of 28 apps surveyed in May and June 2020 managed to address all privacy principles laid forth in the EU's GDPR.
Accuracy of proximity reports
According to ZDNet, Bluetooth-based proximity detection carries a risk of over-reporting interactions and leading to "a huge amount of false positives"; hypothetically, a system could flag an interaction with "(a) person waiting for the bus on the (opposite) side of the road". One problem is that using Bluetooth signal strength to infer distance can be unreliable; the range of a given Bluetooth device can vary due to the environment or the way the device is held. False positives could result in needless self-isolation, or could cause users to ignore warnings if the warnings are perceived as unreliable. GPS-based proximity detection can also be unreliable: according to the United States' GPS.gov, "GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within a 4.9 meter (16 ft.) radius under open sky", with accuracy decreasing further in the presence of signal blockage. In contrast, social distancing guidelines are usually 2 m (6 ft).
In the Google/Apple mechanism, a log entry is only added on the phone if Bluetooth proximity persists for five minutes (or possibly longer, depending on app configuration). Logs are retained for 14 days. Bluetooth tracking is prone to false negatives; for example, unlike time-stamped GPS matching, Bluetooth cannot detect that a user has entered a possibly-infected space that an infected person has just left.
General approaches
Centralized contact tracing
Some countries used network-based location tracking instead of apps, eliminating both the need to download an app and the ability to avoid tracking. Israel authorized its secret service (Shin Bet) to use its surveillance measures for network-based tracking. Network-based solutions that have access to raw location data have significant potential privacy problems. However, not all systems with central servers need to have access to personal location data; a number of privacy-preserving systems have been created that use central servers only for intercommunication (see section below).
In South Korea, a non-app-based system was used to perform contact tracing. Instead of using a dedicated app, the system gathered tracking information from a variety of sources including mobile device tracking data and card transaction data, and combined these to generate notices via text messages to potentially-infected individuals. In addition to using this information to alert potential contacts, the government has also made the location information publicly available, something permitted because of far-reaching changes to information privacy laws after the MERS outbreak in that country. This information is available to the public via a number of apps and websites.
Countries including Germany considered using both centralized and privacy-preserving systems. , the details had not yet been released.
Decentralized contact tracing
Development
Privacy-preserving contact tracing is a well-established concept, with a substantial body of research literature dating back to at least 2013.
On 17 March 2020 the CEN protocol developed by Covid Watch, later renamed the TCN Protocol, was first released.
Covid Watch was the first organization to develop and open source an anonymous, decentralized Bluetooth digital contact tracing protocol, publishing their white paper on the subject in March 2020. The group was founded as a research collaboration between Stanford University and the University of Waterloo.
On 1 April 2020, the CEN Protocol was presented at Stanford HAI's COVID-19 and AI virtual conference.
As of 1 April 2020, a group of European researchers, including from the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), were under the umbrella of the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) project, developing a BLE-based app to serve this purpose that is designed to avoid the need for intrusive surveillance by the state. However, PEPP-PT is a co-ordination effort which contains both centralised and decentralised approaches.
As of 7 April 2020, over a dozen expert groups were working on privacy-friendly solutions, such as using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to log a user's proximity to other cellphones. Users then receive a message if they've been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
On 9 April 2020, the Singaporean government announced that it had open-sourced a reference implementation of the BlueTrace protocol, used by TraceTogether, its official government app. As of 23 March 2020, Mary-Louise McLaws, professor at the University of New South Wales' School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Australia, a technical adviser to the World Health Organization's Infection Prevention and Control Global Unit and a member of European, US and UK epidemiology and infection control bodies recommended the idea for wider adoption.
On 17 April 2020, EPFL and the ETH Zurich pulled out of PEPP-PT, criticizing PEPP-PT for a lack of transparency and openness, and for not respecting personal privacy enough. Later it was reported that KU Leuven, the CISPA Helmholz Center for Information Security, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems and the Technical University of Denmark, also withdrew from the project. On 26 April 2020, Germany switched to decentralised approach to support solutions like DP-3T.
Methods
Decentralised protocols include Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-PPT/DP-3T), The Coalition Network's Whisper Tracing Protocol, the global TCN Coalition's TCN ("Temporary Contact Numbers") Protocol, and the MIT Media Lab's SafePaths. The goal of decentralization is to reduce the loss of privacy, by exchanging anonymous keys that do not include identifiable information.
COCOVID is being developed as a common effort of several European companies and institutions. The Mobile Application, the Big Data and the Artificial Intelligence components will be available to any government. The COCOVID app is Open Source and the backend is based on a highly scalable solution that is already used by several of the largest financial institutions in Europe. COCOVID will support the coordination of tests at medical institutions, allowing users with a high infection risk to book a test slot directly from the app. This will reduce the effort and increase the efficiency of the medical test processes. COCOVID will use both location and Bluetooth contact data, allowing a high level of effectiveness. The solution is designed following the EU data privacy recommendations.
The team working on the project includes persons from Orange, Ericsson, Proventa AG, Stratio, TH Köln and Charta digitale Vernetzung.
Apple / Google Exposure Notification protocol
On 10 April 2020, Google and Apple, the companies that control the Android and iOS mobile platforms, announced an initiative for contact tracing, which they stated would preserve privacy, based on a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy technology and privacy-preserving cryptography. They also published specifications of the core technologies used in the system. According to Apple and Google, the system is intended to be rolled out in three stages:
API specification and publication
rollout of tools to enable governments to create official privacy-preserving coronavirus tracing apps
integration of this functionality directly into iOS and Android
Google and Apple plan to address the take-up and persistent surveillance problems by first distributing the system through operating system updates, and later removing it in the same way once the threat has passed.
The ACLU stated the Google and Apple's approach "appears to mitigate the worst privacy and centralization risks, but there is still room for improvement".
By 20 April 2020, Google and Apple described the systems as "Exposure Notification" rather than "contact tracing", stating the system should be "in service of broader contact tracing efforts by public health authorities". The name change was received positively by journalists in Vox/Recode and Salon, who stated "Exposure notification schemes like the Apple-Google system aren't true contact tracing systems because they don't allow public health authorities to identify people who have been exposed to infected individuals."
List of frameworks
List of countries/territories with official contact tracing apps
Australia
COVIDSafe is a digital contact tracing app announced by the Australian Government on 14 April 2020 to help combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The app is based on the BlueTrace protocol developed by the Singaporean Government, and was first released on 26 April 2020. The efficacy of the app was questioned over its lifetime, ultimately identifying just 2 confirmed cases by the time it was decommissioned on 16 August 2022.
Austria
Stopp Corona is the contact tracing app published by the Austrian red cross on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health. The app is supported both on Android and IOS platforms. The source code was released on 24 April 2020 as open source on GitHub.
Azerbaijan
e-Tabib is an official contact tracing and informational mobile app, prepared by Force Task under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan. 'e-Tabib' is designed to be an application which will inform the users in real-time about the number of patients (both sick and recovered from COVID-19) in Azerbaijan. The app will provide daily updates on the status of COVID-19 from the Force Task under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan (or other applicable authorities designed in the Republic of Azerbaijan). 'e-Tabib' application was created with the assistance of "The Association for the Management of Medical Territorial Units" public entity (TƏBİB), which was established by the decree of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 20 December 2018.
Bahrain
BeAware Bahrain is the official mobile app for Android and iOS, developed by The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), in collaboration with the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The application aims to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by implementing contact tracing efforts to identify and keep track of all active cases and their contacts. It also uses location data of citizens to alert individuals in the event they approach an active case or a location an active case has visited, as well as track the movement of quarantine cases for a duration of 14 days. It also posts health recommendations and live data of global COVID-19 developments; iGA Chief Executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed said: "The application deploys a tamper-proof GPS Tracking Bracelet to share real time-tracking information with health workers. Health workers are notified when quarantine cases exit their pre-set area by 15 meters, in which case the team will respond by reminding individuals of the importance of following procedures to safeguard the well-being of citizens and residents."
Bangladesh
People's Republic of Bangladesh Government announced & launched a mobile app named Corona Tracer BD in May 2020 in Google Play Store.
Brazil
The public ministry of RN launched "Tô de Olho", a multipurpose app (including contact tracing, agglomeration denunciation, selective infectious testing), released in Rio Grande do Norte starting 4 April 2020. The "Tô de Olho" research paper has more details on platform's design.
Canada
On 31 July 2020, the Canadian federal government launched their voluntary, "private, and anonymous" COVID-19 exposure notification app, called COVID Alert which was developed along with Shopify and BlackBerry as technology partners, and has both an iOS and an Android version. The federal COVID Alert exposure notification app is not a contact tracing app and does not have access to information such as user names, health information, addresses, smartphone contacts, or GPS location. The app uses Bluetooth technology to check and share a random list of codes from any nearby smartphones held by people who have tested positive. By mid-November, all the provinces except Alberta and British Columbia had access to the app. The Alberta government had launched their own app in May and in October said that the delay in signing on to the federal COVID Alert app, was to ensure all the existing 247,000 ABTraceTogether app accounts could be "transitioned" to the federal app. On 28 September 2021, the Citizen Lab published an analysis of COVID-19 data collection practices in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
China
The Chinese government, in conjunction with Alipay and WeChat, has deployed an app that allows citizens to check if they have been in contact with people that have COVID-19. It is in use across more than 200 Chinese cities.
In China, within these apps pose three colors as a result of the risk they pose. For example, green is good and can go about normal activities. On the other hand, yellow indicates the user they have been in contact with someone who tested positive with the virus and should exercise precaution. Lastly, red indicates to the user they have the virus and should remain quarantined to not expose others. These tests and colors are shared with the local police. So every QR code is central to a city/district.
Colombia
CoronApp is the mobile app for Android and iOS –and available for the Huawei AppGallery– developed by the Colombian government. The app, downloaded more than 12 million users (March 2021), is a free application, which does not consume data; it helps detect affected areas and nearby people with a positive diagnosis for COVID-19. CoronApp facilitates the real-time monitoring of data collected to the Emergency Operations Center of the Instituto Nacional de Salud (National Health Institute, INS). It incorporates technologies such as those developed by the Governments of Singapore and South Korea, as well as Apple. Privacy, the major concern with these applications from organizations around the world, has not been the exception for Colombia: Fundación Karisma points out some vulnerabilities of CoronApp. Along with the criticisms, there were analysis that found strengths and weaknesses in it. As an additional benefit of the app, the Colombian Government financed 1 gigabyte per month and 100 minutes for users of prepaid lines that install it.
Croatia
Stop COVID-19 is a mobile app for Android and iOS, developed by an agency of the Croatian government.
Czech Republic
The government launched a Singapore-inspired tracing app called eRouška (eFacemask). The app was developed by the local IT community, released as open-source software and will be handed over to the government.
Denmark
Smittestop is a digital contact tracing app developed by the Ministry of Health and the Elderly, the Danish Agency for Patient Safety, the National Board of Health, the Danish Serum Institute, the National Board of Digitization and Netcompany. It was released on 18 June 2020 to help combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The app uses Bluetooth technology to alert the user if they have been within one meter for more than fifteen minutes of a person who tested positive. Available on the Google Play store and Apple store.
Fiji
The Fijian government launched the country's contact tracing app which is known as careFIJI. The app uses Bluetooth Low Energy Technology and is based on the BlueTrace protocol developed by the Singaporean Government.
Finland
The Finnish app Koronavilkku launched on 31 August 2020 with Finnish and Swedish localizations. An English translation was released later on.
France
The French National Assembly approved the release of "StopCovid" on 27 May 2020 to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. StopCovid is a digital contact tracing app based on a bluetooth tracing protocol developed specially for the app. It was released on 2 June 2020. The app was later renamed TousAntiCovid. Updates have also included the addition of a "News" section with daily information about the state of the pandemic in France, as well as a "Forms" section to generate the travel declaration forms needed to go outside during the various lockdowns and curfews.
Germany
The official app called "Corona-Warn-App" was made available for download on 16 June 2020 and presented in a press conference the same day. It was developed as open-source software jointly by Deutsche Telekom and SAP with scientific advice from the federal Robert Koch Institute and uses the Exposure Notification APIs from Google and Apple.
Greece
The official platform in Greece against covid, called Covid Checker, is one of the first solution in Europe against COVID-19 pandemic that was approved and made available on 29 March 2020. Covid Checker is a mobile & web solution designed to identify coronavirus symptoms and associated risk, provide reliable guidance, & connect qualified patients with a doctor for further assistance. Covid Checker powered by Docandu was first released as a widget attached to the governmental websites such as the patt.gov.gr while few weeks later was released as an app in Google Playstore. It was developed jointly by DOCANDU, the Region of Attica and the Medical Association of Athens.
Ghana
The government launched "GH COVID-19 Tracker App", an Android and IOS app equipped with location tracking technology to provide detailed information about people who have been at the same event, location, country or other defined locations in order to provide accurate information to health authorities overtime to know who to screen and provide needed assistance. The app was developed by the Ministry of Communication and Technology and Ministry of Health. , the app was awaiting approval by the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Gibraltar
The "BEAT Covid Gibraltar" App, based on the App from Ireland, was launched on 18 June with downloads of 15,000 by 8 August, from an estimated 20,000 phone users.
Hong Kong
The government launched LeaveHomeSafe on 16 November 2020. It was initially not compulsory for people to use but starting from 18 February 2021, customers are required to scan the QR code with the app or register their contact details before entering some of the restaurants. However, the government refused to open the source code for peer-review by using an excuse of protecting the intellectual property of the program.
Hungary
VírusRadar, an Android app, was launched on 13 May and an iOS version on 30 May 2020. The app uses Bluetooth technology to track unique, random application IDs within a proximity of 2 meters for more than 20 minutes in the previous 14 days. The system has been developed by Nextsense, based on the company's contact tracing technology. According to the developer, a version of the application integrating Google and Apple's API is currently under testing. The app is operated under the umbrella of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Hungary, operated by the Governmental Agency for IT Development and supported by Biztributor.
Iceland
Rakning C-19 route tracking is a GPS logger app for Android and iOS, with a user interface and content from the national COVID-19 web page. When infection is confirmed the route data is used to support more traditional contact tracing. According to MIT Technology Review as of 11 May 2020 it had the largest national market penetration rate of contact trackers in the world, having been downloaded by 38% of Icelanders.
India
The Aarogya Setu app is developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. The app is available on Google Play Store and Apple's App Store for download.
The MyGov app is developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. The app is available on Google Play Store and Apple's App Store for download.
Ireland
The official COVID Tracker app was launched by the Irish government on 7 July 2020. Within two days of launch, the app had been downloaded by one million people. The Health Service Executive subsequently made the code behind the app available to other countries.
Israel
On 22 March 2020 the Ministry of Health launched "HaMagen" (המגן,"the shield"), an iOS and Android contact tracing app. Hamagen tracks a user's whereabouts using standard location APIs and then compares them to known movements of those diagnosed with COVID-19, in order to check if their paths crossed within the previous 14 days. The Hamagen app was specifically designed with a privacy-first approach where information about locations and times is cross-referenced on the user's device, and not transmitted on to the cloud database.
Italy
On 1 June 2020 the Ministry of Health launched the Italian Government's exposure notification solution, "Immuni", an iOS and Android contact tracing app build on top of the Google/Apple API. The solution was realized by the Special Commissioner for the COVID-19 emergency (Presidency of the Council of Ministers), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitalization. It only uses public infrastructures located within the national borders. It is exclusively managed by the public company Sogei S.p.A. The source code has been developed for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers by Bending Spoons S.p.A., and it is released under a GNU Affero General Public License version 3.
Japan
On 19 June 2020 the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released . It is available on iOS 13.5 or above and Android 6 or above.
Jersey
Jersey COVID Alert is the official contact tracing mobile app for Jersey that was released on 14 October 2020.
Jordan
The AMAN App - Jordan app is developed for Jordan's Ministry of Health. AMAN is a privacy-conscious exposure detection App. The App was released on 21 May 2020 and is currently available on Google Play Store and App Store.
Latvia
A consortium of IT companies and volunteers launched decentralized proximity tracing Apturi Covid application on 29 May 2020. It is Android and Apple compatible. The county's president and government ministers installed the application on their phones on the launch day. Application developers hoped to reach 400 000 users, approximately 20% of the country's population.
Malaysia
The government launched MySejahtera on 16 April 2020, one of three tracing app that released alongside MyTrace and Gerak Malaysia. MySejahtera is a contact tracing app introduced by the National Security Council and the Ministry of Health on 16 April 2020 to retrieve updated information and statistics of the pandemic. MyTrace is a tracing app that utilizes Bluetooth to detect how long a user smartphone are in close proximity with other smartphone users with a similar app installed, and is currently available on Android. Gerak Malaysia is a tracing app which allows police and the Ministry of Health to track and analyze users movement, and register for permission to allow state border crossing.
Nepal
Nepal Engineers Association Launched COVIRA app, developed by Science Hub on 22 June 2020. COVIRA has been developed on a multidisciplinary framework where several facctors are considered to provide the risk level. It can be used for individual risk assessment which can be assessed from all over the world, and regional risk are provided for Nepal in palika level. This is available on web application platform.
Netherlands
The official contract tracing app by the Dutch government is called CoronaMelder.
New Zealand
The Health Ministry launched the NZ COVID Tracer on 20 May, though some users reported being able to access the App on 19 May. The app is available on Apple's App Store and Google Play. NZ COVID Tracer allows users to scan their own QR codes at businesses, public buildings and other organisations to track where they have been for contract tracing purposes. Bluetooth Exposure Notification System was added in December 2020.
North Macedonia
The government launched "StopKorona!" on 13 April 2020, becoming the first country in the Western Balkans to launch a COVID-19 tracing app. The Bluetooth-based app traces exposure with potentially infected persons and is designed to help healthcare authorities provide a fast response. The app was developed and donated by Skopje-based Software company Nextsense. To comply with laws on data protection, the app does not use the users' locations nor personal information. The users' mobile phone numbers are the only user-related data, stored on servers managed by the Ministry of Health.
Norway
The Smittestopp app is developed by the Norwegian government, and uses Bluetooth and GPS signals. On 15 June 2020 the country halted the app over privacy concerns after the Norwegian Data Protection Authority said low infections could no longer justify the risk of privacy invasion by the end user. The app ceased collecting new data and plans to delete all data collected so far with any additional collections effectively paused indefinitely.
Philippines
Staysafe is the official contact tracing app for the Philippines.
Portugal
Stayaway COVID is the official contact tracing mobile app for Portugal.
Qatar
Ehteraz application (app) has allowed Qatar citizens and residents to move with ease and responsibly in the country while helping the authorities prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). A Cabinet decision, which came into effect on 22 May, requires citizens and residents to mandatorily install and activate the mobile app on their smartphones when leaving the house for any reason. Since then, more and more entities in the country have made it compulsory for clients and visitors to show the green status on the Ehteraz app to be allowed entry into their premises. Apart from hypermarkets and other retail outlets, banks, as well as several commercial buildings and offices, in Qatar have put in place similar measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Saudi Arabia
Tabaud is the official mobile app for Web, Android and iOS, developed by the National Health Information Center (NHIC). It allows users to track and trace via Apple/Google Exposure Notification API. More than 1,000,000 users have downloaded the app.
Scotland
Protect Scotland is the official contact tracing app for Scotland. Scotland uses the Test and Protect method. Throughout the country they test people with symptoms, isolate people who were in close contact with positive testers, and limit exposure to as many people as possible.
Singapore
An app called TraceTogether is being used. It uses a digital contact tracing protocol called BlueTrace, developed with an open source reference implementation called OpenTrace.
South Africa
COVID AlertSA is a digital contact tracing app announced by the Government of South Africa on 8 August 2020 to help combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Spain
The official app called Radar COVID has been released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation for Android and iOS for a pilot test in La Gomera. The app is based on the DP-3T protocol and uses the Apple/Google API for contact tracing and it is expected to be rolled out to further Spanish regions in September. In its first year, it only notified 74.280 out of more of 4 million infections. Less than 20% of citizens had installed it. Bugs and battery exhaustion discouraged further usage.
Slovenia
ZVem is a e-government platform for public health in the Republic of Slovenia. Citizens can access the web based platform and associated mobile app via SI-PASS, a secure authorization software developed for public platforms. Users of the service can make a doctor's appointment with few simple clicks. They can see their prescriptions and e-documents. During COVID-19 pandemic, e-documents were usable for the COVID-19 vaccination certificates. Health insurance information is available via the platform as well. The solution was developed by National Institute for Public Health and the Ministry for Health. And the mobile application for protecting public health and lives, #OstaniZdrav (#StayHealthy), is a tool that informs you if you have been in contact with an infected person. With its use and the observance of recommendations, each person contributes their share to restricting the spread of the virus and the protection of our own health, the health of our loved ones and that of society as a whole.
Switzerland
An app called SwissCovid which uses the DP-3T protocol and is built top of Apple/Google bluetooth API. Application is licensed under Mozilla Public License 2.0.
Taiwan
Taiwan AILabs in conjunction with the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on 12 March 2021 released the Taiwan Social Distancing app for Android and iOS.
Turkey
Security was ensured by checking the HES codes received by the users at the entrances to closed areas. The HES codes of people who were in contact or became ill were processed as "sick" and kept in quarantine for 14 days. With this separate application, citizens could control the health status of people's immediate environment (mother, father, sibling). If someone with covid positive is too close to you, you can see this in the application and take precautions. It also counts how many people you have come into contact with who are covid positive.
United Kingdom
The NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app for England and Wales was released on 24 September 2020. The NHS app uses Google/Apple exposure notification technology. (The NHS previously tried a centralised system rather than a decentralised approach). Scotland and Northern Ireland contact tracing apps were launched in the weeks prior to England & Wales. To aid contract tracing, the NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app for England and Wales allows users to scan official NHS QR code posters at businesses, venues and transport hubs. To ensure data integrity, the QR code is constructed from a JSON Web Signature (JWS). On 28 September 2021, the Citizen Lab published an analysis of COVID-19 data collection practices in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
As of 27 April 2023 the NHS COVID-19 App was discontinued.
Countries considering deployment
Centralized approaches
In the United Kingdom, Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, the government body responsible for policy regarding technology in the NHS, said in late March 2020 that the organisation was looking seriously at an app that would alert people if they had recently been in contact with someone testing positive for the virus after scientists advising the government suggested it "could play a critical role" in limiting lockdowns. On 22 April, the government announced that alpha testing of a prototype of the app was in progress at RAF Leeming. Beta testing began on the Isle of Wight on 5 May for council staff and NHS workers before a wider rollout to all residents on 7 May. By 15 May, over 72,000 had downloaded the app, equivalent to more than half of the island's population.
On 18 June, following reports that the app was only detecting 75% of contacts on Android devices and 4% of contacts on iPhones, the UK government announced that it would cease the development of its centralized system, and move to a decentralized system based on the Apple/Google Exposure Notification system. This was later scheduled for release in England and Wales on 24 September; by this date, the devolved administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland had already released their own apps.
Decentralized approaches
Both Australia and New Zealand are considering apps based on Singapore's TraceTogether app and BlueTrace protocol as of April 2020.
Many countries have announced the official development, trial or adoption of decentralized proximity tracing systems, where the matching of proximity encounters happens locally on individuals' devices, such as the Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T) protocol or the Google-Apple Exposure Notification API. These include Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark.
In the United States, as of 10 June 2020, three states, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Dakota, have committed to using the Google-Apple Exposure Notification API. In May 2020, the U.S. state of Arizona began testing the Covid Watch app developed with the Apple/Google protocol. In August 2020, the app launched publicly for a phased roll-out in the state of Arizona. At least nineteen states have not yet decided, and at least seventeen other states stated there were no plans to use smartphone-based contact tracing.
Geofencing
Russia introduced a geofencing app, Social Monitoring, for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 living in Moscow, designed to ensure they do not leave home.
List of apps by country
Note: This table should list only apps that are either supported by citations from third-party reliable sources or are from or supported by independently notable organizations such as national governments, industrial collaborations, major universities, NGOs, or one of the framework collaborations listed above. MIT Technology Review also maintained a Google spreadsheet listing of contact tracing and exposure notification apps that are being used around the world.
See also
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Government by algorithm
SM-COVID-19
References
Further reading
External links
Mobile applications
apps
Privacy
Mass surveillance
Government by algorithm | COVID-19 apps | [
"Engineering"
] | 8,646 | [
"Government by algorithm",
"Automation"
] |
63,538,213 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria%20Sk%C5%82odowska-Curie%20Monument%20%28Lublin%29 | The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument (Polish: Pomnik Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie w Lublinie) is a bronze statue in Lublin, eastern Poland, dedicated to Polish physicist and chemist Marie Curie (1867–1934).
History
The bronze monument was designed by Polish sculptor Marian Konieczny (with Stanisław Ciechan) and ceremonially unveiled on 24 October 1964. It is 9 metres high (including pedestal) and stands on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Square (Plac Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie), near Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS).
Marie Curie is depicted in a long robe and holding a book in her right hand. The pedestal inscriptions read: "To Maria Skłodowska-Curie, from the University Bearing Her Name, and from [Polish] Society" and "On the 20th Anniversary of the Founding of the University. 1944–1964."
Gallery
See also
Maria Konopnicka Monument in Września
References
Monuments and memorials in Poland
1964 establishments in Poland
1964 sculptures
Buildings and structures completed in 1964
Buildings and structures in Lublin
Outdoor sculptures in Poland
Statues of women in Poland
Tourist attractions in Lublin
Monuments and memorials to Marie Curie
Colossal statues | Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument (Lublin) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 267 | [
"Quantity",
"Colossal statues",
"Physical quantities",
"Size"
] |
63,539,106 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital%20Technologies%20and%20the%20Museum%20Experience | Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience (2008), edited by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker, is a book about the use of digital technology by museums.
Overview
The book is divided into 11 contributed chapters by a variety of authors, in two parts, Defining the Context: Three Perspectives and Delivering Potential. The book includes a foreword by James M. Bradburne and introduction by Loïc Tallon. There is also a bibliography, index, and short biographies of contributors. The book is available in cloth (), paperback (), and electronic versions ().
Contributors
The following authors contributed to chapters in the book:
Jonathan P. Bowen
Alexandra Burch
Lynn D. Dierking
John H. Falk
Silvia Filippini-Fantoni
Ben Gammon
Ellen Giusti
Halina Gottlieb
Sherry Hsi
Peter Lonsdale
Julia Meek
Ross Parry
Peter Samis
Mike Sharples
Jeffrey K. Smith
Pablo P. L. Tinio
Giasemi Vavoula
Kevin Walker
Reviews
The book has been reviewed in a number of journals, including:
Educational Technology.
International Journal of Heritage Studies.
Library Hi Tech.
MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research.
Science Education.
Visitor Studies.
See also
Museums and Digital Culture: New Perspectives and Research (2019)
References
External links
Book extract by Loïc Tallon
Amazon USA information
Amazon UK information
2008 non-fiction books
Technology books
Museum books
Museum informatics
Digital humanities
Digital technology | Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience | [
"Technology"
] | 295 | [
"Digital humanities",
"Digital technology",
"Computing and society",
"Information and communications technology"
] |
63,539,376 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-dimensional%20critical%20Ising%20model | The two-dimensional critical Ising model is the critical limit of the Ising model in two dimensions. It is a two-dimensional conformal field theory whose symmetry algebra is the Virasoro algebra with the central charge .
Correlation functions of the spin and energy operators are described by the minimal model. While the minimal model has been exactly solved (see Ising critical exponents), the solution does not cover other observables such as connectivities of clusters.
The minimal model
Space of states and conformal dimensions
The Kac table of the minimal model is:
This means that the space of states is generated by three primary states, which correspond to three primary fields or operators:
The decomposition of the space of states into irreducible representations of the product of the left- and right-moving Virasoro algebras is
where is the irreducible highest-weight representation of the Virasoro algebra with the conformal dimension .
In particular, the Ising model is diagonal and unitary.
Characters and partition function
The characters of the three representations of the Virasoro algebra that appear in the space of states are
where is the Dedekind eta function, and are theta functions of the nome , for example .
The modular S-matrix, i.e. the matrix such that , is
where the fields are ordered as .
The modular invariant partition function is
Fusion rules and operator product expansions
The fusion rules of the model are
The fusion rules are invariant under the symmetry .
The three-point structure constants are
Knowing the fusion rules and three-point structure constants, it is possible to write operator product expansions, for example
where are the conformal dimensions of the primary fields, and the omitted terms are contributions of descendant fields.
Correlation functions on the sphere
Any one-, two- and three-point function of primary fields is determined by conformal symmetry up to a multiplicative constant. This constant is set to be one for one- and two-point functions by a choice of field normalizations. The only non-trivial dynamical quantities are the three-point structure constants, which were given above in the context of operator product expansions.
with .
The three non-trivial four-point functions are of the type . For a four-point function , let and be the s- and t-channel Virasoro conformal blocks, which respectively correspond to the contributions of (and its descendants) in the operator product expansion , and of (and its descendants) in the operator product expansion . Let be the cross-ratio.
In the case of , fusion rules allow only one primary field in all channels, namely the identity field.
In the case of , fusion rules allow only the identity field in the s-channel, and the spin field in the t-channel.
In the case of , fusion rules allow two primary fields in all channels: the identity field and the energy field. In this case we write the conformal blocks in the case only: the general case is obtained by inserting the prefactor , and identifying with the cross-ratio.
In the case of , the conformal blocks are:
From the representation of the model in terms of Dirac fermions, it is possible to compute correlation functions of any number of spin or energy operators:
These formulas have generalizations to correlation functions on the torus, which involve theta functions.
Other observables
Disorder operator
The two-dimensional Ising model is mapped to itself by a high-low temperature duality. The image of the spin operator under this duality is a disorder operator , which has the same left and right conformal dimensions . Although the disorder operator does not belong to the minimal model, correlation functions involving the disorder operator can be computed exactly, for example
whereas
Connectivities of clusters
The Ising model has a description as a random cluster model due to Fortuin and Kasteleyn. In this description, the natural observables are connectivities of clusters, i.e. probabilities that a number of points belong to the same cluster.
The Ising model can then be viewed as the case of the -state Potts model, whose parameter can vary continuously, and is related to the central charge of the Virasoro algebra.
In the critical limit, connectivities of clusters have the same behaviour under conformal transformations as correlation functions of the spin operator. Nevertheless, connectivities do not coincide with spin correlation functions: for example, the three-point connectivity does not vanish, while . There are four independent four-point connectivities, and their sum coincides with . Other combinations of four-point connectivities are not known analytically. In particular they are not related to correlation functions of the minimal model, although they are related to the limit of spin correlators in the -state Potts model.
References
Exactly solvable models
Conformal field theory
Lattice models
Spin models
Statistical mechanics | Two-dimensional critical Ising model | [
"Physics",
"Materials_science"
] | 1,001 | [
"Spin models",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Lattice models",
"Computational physics",
"Condensed matter physics",
"Statistical mechanics"
] |
63,539,530 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distyly | Distyly is a breeding system in plants that is characterized by two separate flower morphs, where individual plants produce flowers that have either long styles and short stamens (L-morph flowers) or short styles and long stamens (S-morph flowers). However, distyly can refer to any plant that shows some degree of self-incompatibility and has two morphs if at least one of the following characteristics is true; there is a difference in style length, filament length, pollen size or shape, or the surface of the stigma. Specifically these plants exhibit intra-morph self-incompatibility, flowers of the same style morph are incompatible. Distylous species that do not exhibit true self-incompatibility generally show a bias towards inter-morph crosses - meaning they exhibit higher success rates when reproducing with an individual of the opposite morph.
Distyly is a type of heterostyly in which a plant demonstrates reciprocal herkogamy.
Background
The first scientific account of distyly can be found in Stephan Bejthe's Caroli book Clusii Atrebatis Rariorum aliquot stirpium . Bejthe describes the two floral morphs of Primula veris. Charles Darwin popularized distyly with his account of it in his book The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species. Darwin's book represents the first account of intramorphic self-incompatibility in distylous plants and focuses on garden experiments in which he looks at seed set of different distylous Primula. Darwin names the two floral morphs S- and L-morph, moving away from the vernacular names, Pin (for L-morph) and Thrum (for S-morph), which he states were initially assigned by florist.
Distylous species have been identified in 28 families of Angiosperm, likely evolving independently in each family. This means, the system has evolved at least 28 times, though it has been suggested the system has evolved multiple times within some families. Since distyly has evolved more than once, it is considered a case of convergent evolution.
Reciprocal herkogamy
Reciprocal herkogamy likely evolved to prevent the pollen of the same flower from landing on its own stigma. This in turn promotes outcrossing.
In a study of Primula veris it was found that pin flowers exhibit higher rates of self-pollination and capture more pollen than the thrum morph. Different pollinators show varying levels of success while pollinating the different Primula morphs, the head or proboscis length of a pollinator is positively correlated to the uptake of pollen from long styled flowers and negatively correlated for pollen uptake on short styled flowers. The opposite is true for pollinators with smaller heads, such as bees, they uptake more pollen from short styled morphs than long styled ones. The differentiation in pollinators allows the plants to reduce levels of intra-morph pollination.
Models of evolution
There are two main hypothetical models for the order in which the traits of distyly evolved, the 'selfing avoidance model' and the 'pollen transfer model'.
The selfing avoidance model suggests self-incompatibility (SI) evolved first, followed by the morphological difference. It was suggested that the male component of SI would evolve first via a recessive mutation, followed by female characteristics via a dominant mutation, and finally male morphological differences would evolve via a third mutation.
The pollen transfer model argues that morphological differences evolved first, and if a species is facing inbreeding depression, it may evolve SI. This model can be used to explain the presence of reciprocal herkogamy in self-compatible species.
Genetic control of distyly
A supergene, called the self-incompatibility (or S-) locus, is responsible for the occurrence of distyly. The S-locus is composed of three tightly linked genes (S-genes) which segregate as a single unit.
Traditionally it was hypothesized that one S-gene controls all female aspects of distyly, one gene that controls the male morphological aspects, and one gene that determines the male mating type. While this hypothesis appears to be true in Turnera, it is not true in Primula nor Linum. The S-morph is hemizygous for the S-locus and the L-morph does not have an allelic counterpart . The hemizygotic nature of the S-locus has been shown in Primula , Gelsemium, Linum , Fagopyrum , Turnera, Nymphoides and Chrysojasminum.
The presence of the S-locus results in changes to gene expression between the two floral morphs, as has been demonstrated using transcriptomic analyses of Lithospermum multiflorum , Primula veris, Primula oreodoxa , Primula vulgaris and Turnera subulata, and Forsythia suspensa.
The S-locus of Chrysojasminum
In Chrysojasminum, the S-locus is composed of two S-genes, BZR1 and GA2ox. GA2ox is hypothetically involved in establishing self-incompatibility.
The S-locus of Fagopyrum
The S-morph of Fagopyrum contains ~2.8 Mb hemizygous region which likely represents the S-locus as it contains S-ELF4 which establishes female morphology and mating type.
The S-locus of Gelsemium
In Gelsemium, the S-locus is composed of four genes, GeCYP, GeFRS6, and GeGA3OX are hemizygous and TAF2 appears to be allelic with a truncated copy in the L-morph. GeCYP appears to share a last common ancestor (or ortholog) with the Primula S-gene CYPT. It is currently hypothesized that the for S-genes in Gelsemium were inherited as a group rather than separately. This is the only known case of the S-genes being inherited as a group rather than individually.
The S-locus of Linum
In Linum the S-locus is composed of nine genes, two are LtTSS1 and LtWDR-44 the other seven are unnamed and are of unknown function. LtTSS1 is hypothesized to regulate style length in the S-morph. Synonymous substitution analysis of three of the S-genes suggest the S-locus in Linum evolved in a step by step manner, though only three of the nine genes were analyzed.
The S-locus of Nymphoides
The S-locus of Nymphoides contains three genes NinS1, NinKHZ2, and NinBAS1. NinBAS1 is only expressed in the style and is hypothetical involved in regulation of brassinosteroids, NinS1 is only expressed in the stamen, NinKHZ2 is expressed in both stamen and style. Similar to other S-loci, the Nymphoides S-locus appears to have evolved via stepwise duplication events.
The S-locus of Primula
In Primula the S-locus is composed of five genes, CYPT(or CYP734A50), GLOT (or GLOBOSA2), KFBT, PUMT, and CCMT. The supergene evolved in a step-by-step manner, meaning each S-gene duplicated and move to the pre-S-locus independently of the others. Synonymous substitution analysis of the S-genes suggest the oldest S-gene in Primula is likely KFBT which likely duplicated about 104 million years ago, followed by CYPT(42.7 MYA),GLOT (37.4 MYA), CCMT(10.3 MYA). It is unknown when PUMT evolved as it does not have a paralog within the Primula genome.
Of the five S-genes, two have been characterized. CYPT, a cytochrome P450 family member, is the female morphology and it is the female self-incompatibility gene, meaning it promotes rejection of self pollen. CYPT is likely producing these phenotypes via inactivation of brassinosteroids. Inactivation of brassinosteroids in the S-morph by CYPT results in repression of cell elongation in the style by repressing expression of PIN5, ultimately producing the short pistil phenotype. GLOT , a MADS-BOX family member, is the male morphology gene as it promotes corolla tube growth under the stamen. It is unknown how the other three S-genes are contributing to distyly in Primula.
The S-locus of Turnera
In Turnera the S-locus is composed of three genes, BAHD, SPH1, and YUC6. BAHD is likely an acyltransferase involved in inactivation of brassinosteroids; it is both the female morphology and female self-incompatibility gene. YUC6 is likely involved in auxin biosynthesis based on homology; it is the male self-incompatibility gene and establishes pollen size dimorphisms. SPH1 is likely involved in filament elongation based on short filament mutant analysis.
List of families with distylous species
Source:
References
Plant reproduction
Plant morphology
Pollination
Genetics
Evolution | Distyly | [
"Biology"
] | 2,011 | [
"Behavior",
"Plant reproduction",
"Plants",
"Reproduction",
"Plant morphology",
"Genetics"
] |
63,540,262 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver%20diethyldithiocarbamate | Silver diethyldithiocarbamate is a chemical compound, with formula AgS2CN(CH2CH3)2. It is the silver salt of diethyldithiocarbamic acid; the latter is a well-known chelator of heavy metals. In most of its applications, silver diethyldithiocarbamate resembles the cheaper sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, but it is uniquely insoluble in water. That property makes it a useful analytical reagent for determining arsenic concentrations.
Preparation
Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can be prepared by mixing a solution sodium diethyldithiocarbamate with a solution of silver nitrate. A precipitate forms immediately and can be filtered to isolate from the rest of the mixture. The solid should then be rinsed with hot water in order to remove the residual acid salt that will be present.
Application
Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can be applied to introduce the diethyldithiocarbamato ligand to a coordination compound. Silver diethyldithiocarbamate can also be used to detect Nitrogen monooxide in the brain and other tissue. These applications are similar to the applications of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, which is more practical to use from a synthetic and toxicological perspective.
Determination of arsenic concentration
The solubility of silver diethyldithiocarbamate, compared to sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, allows it to be used to determine arsenic concentrations in water. Silver diethyldithiocarbamate dissolved in pyridine appears as an intensely yellow-colored solution. Arsenic ions are transferred to an arsine generating flask and diluted with water. Sulfuric acid, potassium iodide solution, and stannous chloride dihydrate are diluted in a solution of concentrated hydrochloric acid and mixed. The apparatus is plugged loosely with lead acetate wool, which acts as a scrubber. The pyridine and silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution is added to the tube and serves as the absorber solution. Granulated zinc is added to the arsine generator flask, which will result in the production of hydrogen because of the presence of acid. The arsine is carried through the tube by the generated hydrogen gas. The arsine reacts with the silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution and forms red-colored products (535 nm). Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy can be used to determine the concentration of arsenic can be calculated based on Beer's Law.
The red product is a result of arsine bubbling through the silver diethyldithiocarbamate solution and there are two likely products responsible for the color change. One is arsenic substituting the silver in diethyldithiocarbamate, resulting a coordination compound in which three diethyldithiocarbamate ligands are bound to an arsenic atom (Figure 1). The other product is a result of the reduction of silver diethyldithiocarbamate (Figure 2).
This method for determination of arsenic concentration is applicable to not only waste water and mineral water but also petroleum, the human body, various foods and ores, and pyrolysis gasses. There have been reports of silver diethyldithiocarbamate being modified into an electrode to be used for similar purposes.
This method of determining arsenic levels in water is compared to the Gutzeit procedure and has the advantages of faster hydrogen gas absorption and more objective color interpretation.
References
Dithiocarbamates
Silver compounds | Silver diethyldithiocarbamate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 725 | [
"Dithiocarbamates",
"Functional groups"
] |
63,543,216 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azficel-T | Azficel-T, sold under the brand name Laviv, is a cell therapy product for the improvement of the appearance of moderate to severe nasolabial fold wrinkles in adults. It consists of fibroblasts harvested from the patient's own skin.
It was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2011.
References
Further reading
External links
Medical treatments
Plastic surgery | Azficel-T | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 80 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Cell therapies",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
63,543,883 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoid%20gearboxes | Hypoid gearboxes are gearboxes having axes that are non-intersecting and not parallel. The hypoid gearboxes are a subcategory of spiral bevel gearbox with the axes of gears at an offset from one another. In comparison to the conical geometry of a spiral bevel gear, the basic geometry of hypoid gear is hyperbolic. The spiral angle of the pinion is larger than the spiral angle of the gear in a hypoid gearbox, so the pinion diameter can be larger than that of a bevel gear pinion. This helps in attaining an enhanced contact surface and a better tooth strength which allows for higher gear ratios and scope of higher torque transmission. Bearings can also be used on both sides of gears for extra rigidity as the offset between the axes allows the scope for extra support.
Applications
Hypoid gear sets have long been used in the differential of rear-wheel drive cars, trucks and robotic arms. The scope of misalignment between the centers of the two interlinking shafts permits utilization of larger sized gears which enhances the contact surface area and reduces the wear and tear on the gear hence extending the life and power transmission capabilities of the gearboxes. The reduction in friction also ensure reduction in the loss of energy and improve the overall efficiency of power transmission. This leads to a quieter running gear set.
References
Mechanical power transmission | Hypoid gearboxes | [
"Physics"
] | 280 | [
"Mechanical power transmission",
"Mechanics"
] |
59,965,347 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive%20computer-aided%20design | Responsive computer-aided design (also simplified to responsive design) is an approach to computer-aided design (CAD) that utilizes real-world sensors and data to modify a three-dimensional (3D) computer model. The concept is related to cyber-physical systems through blurring of the virtual and physical worlds, however, applies specifically to the initial digital design of an object prior to production.
The process begins with a designer creating a basic design of an object using CAD software with parametric or algorithmic relationships. These relationships are then linked to physical sensors, allowing them to drive changes to the CAD model within the established parameters. Reasons to allow sensors to modify a CAD model include customizing a design to fit a user's anthropometry, assisting people without CAD skills to personalize a design, or automating part of an iterative design process in similar fashion to generative design. Once the sensors have affected the design it may then be manufactured as a one-off piece using a digital fabrication technology, or go through further development by a designer.
Context
Responsive computer-aided design is enabled by ubiquitous computing and the Internet of Things, concepts which describe the capacity for everyday objects to contain computing and sensing technologies. It is also enabled by the ability to directly manufacture one-off objects from digital data, using technologies such as 3D printing and computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Such digital fabrication technologies allow for customization, and are drivers of the mass-customization phenomenon. They also provide new opportunities for consumers to participate in the design process, known as co-design.
As these concepts mature, responsive design is emerging as an opportunity to reduce reliance on graphical user interfaces (GUIs) as the only method for designers and consumers to design products, aligning with claims by Golden Krishna that "the best design reduces work. The best computer is unseen. The best interaction is natural. The best interface is no interface." Calls to reduce reliance on GUIs and automate some of the design process connects with Mark Weiser's original vision of ubiquitous computing.
Related concepts
A variety of similar research areas are based on gesture recognition, with many projects using motion capture to track the physical motions of a designer and translate them into three-dimensional geometry suitable for digital fabrication. While these share similarities to responsive design through their cyber-physical systems, they require direct intent to design an object and some level of skill. These are not considered responsive, as responsive design occurs autonomously and may even occur without the user being aware that they are designing at all.
This topic has some common traits with responsive web design and responsive architecture, with both fields focused on systems design and adaptation based on functional conditions.
Current work
Responsive computer-aided design has been used to customize fashion, and is currently an active area of research in footwear by large companies like New Balance who are looking to customize shoe midsoles using foot pressure data from customers.
Sound waves have also been popular to customize 3D models and produce sculptural forms of a baby's first cries, or a favorite song.
See also
Design computing
Four-dimensional product
Industry 4.0
Product design
References
Further reading
Greenfield, Adam (2006). Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing. Berkeley, California USA: New Riders.
Computer-aided design
Human–computer interaction | Responsive computer-aided design | [
"Engineering"
] | 676 | [
"Human–computer interaction",
"Computer-aided design",
"Design engineering",
"Human–machine interaction"
] |
59,968,610 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning%20curve%20%28machine%20learning%29 | In machine learning (ML), a learning curve (or training curve) is a graphical representation that shows how a model's performance on a training set (and usually a validation set) changes with the number of training iterations (epochs) or the amount of training data.
Typically, the number of training epochs or training set size is plotted on the x-axis, and the value of the loss function (and possibly some other metric such as the cross-validation score) on the y-axis.
Synonyms include error curve, experience curve, improvement curve and generalization curve.
More abstractly, learning curves plot the difference between learning effort and predictive performance, where "learning effort" usually means the number of training samples, and "predictive performance" means accuracy on testing samples.
Learning curves have many useful purposes in ML, including:
choosing model parameters during design,
adjusting optimization to improve convergence,
and diagnosing problems such as overfitting (or underfitting).
Learning curves can also be tools for determining how much a model benefits from adding more training data, and whether the model suffers more from a variance error or a bias error. If both the validation score and the training score converge to a certain value, then the model will no longer significantly benefit from more training data.
Formal definition
When creating a function to approximate the distribution of some data, it is necessary to define a loss function to measure how good the model output is (e.g., accuracy for classification tasks or mean squared error for regression). We then define an optimization process which finds model parameters such that is minimized, referred to as .
Training curve for amount of data
If the training data is
and the validation data is
,
a learning curve is the plot of the two curves
where
Training curve for number of iterations
Many optimization algorithms are iterative, repeating the same step (such as backpropagation) until the process converges to an optimal value. Gradient descent is one such algorithm. If is the approximation of the optimal after steps, a learning curve is the plot of
See also
Overfitting
Bias–variance tradeoff
Model selection
Cross-validation (statistics)
Validity (statistics)
Verification and validation
Double descent
References
Model selection
Machine learning | Learning curve (machine learning) | [
"Engineering"
] | 454 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Machine learning"
] |
59,969,032 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River%20Styles%20Framework | The River Styles Framework is a scientific tool used to describe and explain the diversity and distribution of river types in a catchment according to river character and behaviour. The River Styles Framework is based on the science of fluvial geomorphology. Each river type is called a "River Style" and its name is constructed following a consistent naming convention. The River Styles Framework provides an open-ended process for interpreting rivers rather than fitting them into pre-existing categories. The River Styles Framework is designed to provide a scientific basis for river management. It was developed by researchers at Macquarie University.
History
The River Styles Framework was developed by Gary Brierley and Kirstie Fryirs at Macquarie University. The first peer reviewed paper on River Styles was published in 2000. Initial research that helped to develop the River Styles Framework was funded by Land & Water Australia and New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation.
Stages of the River Styles Framework
The River Styles Framework has four stages of analysis, which provide a framework to describe river character, explain how the river behaves and predict how a river may adjust its form in the future. The following overview of the stages is sourced from the book,"Geomorphology and River Management: Application of the River Styles Framework".
Stage 1
Stage 1 provides a baseline survey of a river's character and behaviour. Steps in Stage 1 include:
Analysis of the catchment setting and controls on river morphology
Mapping River Styles across the catchment
Interpretation of the controls on river character and behaviour and the downstream pattern of River Styles in a catchment.
Stage 2
Stage 2 assesses and explains geomorphic river condition throughout a catchment. River condition is a determination of environmental quality pertaining to a river's geomorphology. Steps in Stage 2 include:
Determination of a River Style's ability to adjust its geomorphology
Assessment of the River Style's evolutionary history in order to identify if a river has changed irreversibly
Determination and explanation of the geomorphic condition of the section of river being assessed.
Stage 3
Stage 3 determines the potential for a river to 'recover', or improve in condition. Steps in Stage 3 include:
Determination of the trajectory of a river's geomorphic adjustment (how it has adjusted in the past and how it might change in the future)
Assessment of the potential for a river to recover and assessment of factors limiting recovery.
Stage 4
Stage 4 uses information from Stages 1 to 3 to identify 'target conditions' for a River Style as a goal toward which river rehabilitation (or restoration) can work. Steps in Stage 4 include:
Identification of target conditions for river rehabilitation and level of intervention required to reach target conditions
Prioritisation of river management efforts based on geomorphic river condition and potential for the river to recover
Monitoring and auditing of adjustments to geomorphic river condition.
Applications and uses of the River Styles Framework
The River Styles Framework has been used to support river management in Australia, New Zealand, United States and Brazil. In Australia, the Department of Industry (New South Wales) used the River Styles Framework as a key component in developing the River Condition Index (RCI) as a tool to assess river value, risk to river value and to monitor changes in river condition over time. The River Styles Framework also contributes to the method for determining 'High Ecological Value Aquatic Ecosystems' (HEVAE) as part of the Australian National Water Initiative.
In the United States, The River Styles Framework formed part of the protocol for the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP) developed for the Columbia River Basin. The CHaMP protocol used River Styles to help with comparing river types, predicting fish habitat suitability and prioritising river conservation and rehabilitation activities.
A cost-benefit analysis completed by Land & Water Australia found that the River Styles Framework had a benefit-to-cost ratio of 28:1 and had contributed a net value of $40 million (AUD) in 2010.
Training and accreditation
An accreditation framework has been developed for use of the River Styles Framework to ensure quality control. There are two levels of accreditation: 'Provisional' and 'Accredited'. 'Provisional' practitioners have undertaken a River Styles Short Course and have passed the associated assessment tasks. 'Provisional' practitioners may undertake assessments of River Styles under the supervision of a fully accredited practitioner. Full accreditation is gained following successful completion of a River Styles Short Course and completion of a satisfactory River Styles Report. 'Accredited' practitioners may undertake River Styles assessments unsupervised and may also supervise 'Provisional' practitioners.
References
Fluvial geomorphology
Geographic classifications
Geology
Geological processes
Planetary science
Physical geography
Earth sciences
Geomorphology
Topography
Watercourses | River Styles Framework | [
"Astronomy"
] | 937 | [
"Planetary science",
"Astronomical sub-disciplines"
] |
59,969,558 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning%20rate | In machine learning and statistics, the learning rate is a tuning parameter in an optimization algorithm that determines the step size at each iteration while moving toward a minimum of a loss function. Since it influences to what extent newly acquired information overrides old information, it metaphorically represents the speed at which a machine learning model "learns". In the adaptive control literature, the learning rate is commonly referred to as gain.
In setting a learning rate, there is a trade-off between the rate of convergence and overshooting. While the descent direction is usually determined from the gradient of the loss function, the learning rate determines how big a step is taken in that direction. A too high learning rate will make the learning jump over minima but a too low learning rate will either take too long to converge or get stuck in an undesirable local minimum.
In order to achieve faster convergence, prevent oscillations and getting stuck in undesirable local minima the learning rate is often varied during training either in accordance to a learning rate schedule or by using an adaptive learning rate. The learning rate and its adjustments may also differ per parameter, in which case it is a diagonal matrix that can be interpreted as an approximation to the inverse of the Hessian matrix in Newton's method. The learning rate is related to the step length determined by inexact line search in quasi-Newton methods and related optimization algorithms.
Learning rate schedule
Initial rate can be left as system default or can be selected using a range of techniques. A learning rate schedule changes the learning rate during learning and is most often changed between epochs/iterations. This is mainly done with two parameters: decay and momentum. There are many different learning rate schedules but the most common are time-based, step-based and exponential.
Decay serves to settle the learning in a nice place and avoid oscillations, a situation that may arise when a too high constant learning rate makes the learning jump back and forth over a minimum, and is controlled by a hyperparameter.
Momentum is analogous to a ball rolling down a hill; we want the ball to settle at the lowest point of the hill (corresponding to the lowest error). Momentum both speeds up the learning (increasing the learning rate) when the error cost gradient is heading in the same direction for a long time and also avoids local minima by 'rolling over' small bumps. Momentum is controlled by a hyperparameter analogous to a ball's mass which must be chosen manually—too high and the ball will roll over minima which we wish to find, too low and it will not fulfil its purpose. The formula for factoring in the momentum is more complex than for decay but is most often built in with deep learning libraries such as Keras.
Time-based learning schedules alter the learning rate depending on the learning rate of the previous time iteration. Factoring in the decay the mathematical formula for the learning rate is:
where is the learning rate, is a decay parameter and is the iteration step.
Step-based learning schedules changes the learning rate according to some predefined steps. The decay application formula is here defined as:
where is the learning rate at iteration , is the initial learning rate, is how much the learning rate should change at each drop (0.5 corresponds to a halving) and corresponds to the drop rate, or how often the rate should be dropped (10 corresponds to a drop every 10 iterations). The floor function () here drops the value of its input to 0 for all values smaller than 1.
Exponential learning schedules are similar to step-based, but instead of steps, a decreasing exponential function is used. The mathematical formula for factoring in the decay is:
where is a decay parameter.
Adaptive learning rate
The issue with learning rate schedules is that they all depend on hyperparameters that must be manually chosen for each given learning session and may vary greatly depending on the problem at hand or the model used. To combat this, there are many different types of adaptive gradient descent algorithms such as Adagrad, Adadelta, RMSprop, and Adam which are generally built into deep learning libraries such as Keras.
See also
Hyperparameter (machine learning)
Hyperparameter optimization
Stochastic gradient descent
Variable metric methods
Overfitting
Backpropagation
AutoML
Model selection
Self-tuning
References
Further reading
External links
Machine learning
Model selection
Optimization algorithms and methods | Learning rate | [
"Engineering"
] | 897 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Machine learning"
] |
59,969,920 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C20H22O7 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C20H22O7}}
The molecular formula C20H22O7 (molar mass: 374.384 g/mol, exact mass: 374.1366 u) may refer to:
Diffractaic acid
Hydroxymatairesinol (HMR)
Saudin
Tinosporide
Molecular formulas | C20H22O7 | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 78 | [
"Molecules",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas",
"Isomerism",
"Molecular formulas",
"Matter"
] |
59,971,428 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallactic%20instrument%20of%20Kapteyn | The parallactic instrument of Kapteyn is a measuring instrument created by the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn around 1886. Using this instrument, Kapteyn analyzed over 1,700 glass plate photos of stars seen from the southern hemisphere. This research contributed to the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, a star catalogue containing 454,875 entries. Together with the measurements of stars seen from the northern hemisphere (the Bonner Durchmusterung) the measurements of Kapteyn formed a complete star catalogue with a scope and accuracy that was impressive for its time.
The instrument is currently located in the collection of the University Museum of Groningen.
Origin
Since Kapteyn lacked an observatory of his own in Groningen, he used a homemade instrument for the analysis of glass plate photos of stars, made by his colleague David Gill in Cape Town. Kapteyn built the instrument with several parts from other (measuring) instruments.
Although Kapteyn called it a ‘parallactic instrument’, the instrument is not related to the parallax effect. The name may come from the chassis of the instrument, which is originally from an instrument with a 'parallactic mount'.
Use
Three researchers were needed to perform measurements with the instrument, each with their own task:
Aiming the lens at a star, estimating the diameter of the star, and reading the declination.
Reading the right ascension using a small microscope.
Writing down the results, as told to him by the other researchers.
To use the instrument, the researcher must look through the ocular (part J), and aim the lens (H) at a glass plate photo (see drawing). The distance between the center point of the instrument and the plate to be measured must be the same distance as the focal length of the telescope that was used to take the photos (in the case of Gill's photos: . By rotating the right axis (B) the researcher can aim the lens at a star of interest. The researcher can read the position of the star on the wheel (D) below the right axis (B). Similarly, parts A and C can be used to determine the right ascension. Part L is no longer on the instrument. Using this smaller telescope the researcher could correctly position the instrument in relation to the glass plate photo.
For each position on the sky, Kapteyn used two photos (each made on a different night). He placed these photos in sequence (with approximately 1 millimeter of space in between), with one being slightly displaced. This allowed him to easily distinguish stars from dust particles on the glass plate.
Use by Kapteyn
Kapteyn and his staff members analyzed the first photo (aimed at the South Pole) on October 28, 1886, and the final photo (aimed at 85° declination) on June 9, 1887. They used in the instrument in a laboratory of Dirk Huizinga, a professor in physiology who made two of his rooms available to them. Kapteyn and his staff members analyzed the glass plate photos in duplicate and darkened the room to get a better view of details in the photos.
Kapteyn and his staff performed some repeat measurements in 1892, 1896, 1897 and 1892.
Kapteyn and Gill published their Durchmusterung in three volumes that together formed the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung: declination zones -18° to -37° (1896), -38° to -52° (1897) and -53° to -89° (1900).
Influence on the private life of Kapteyn
Working with the instrument had a significant impact on the health and private life of Kapteyn. Kapteyn often felt pain in his eyes and stomach and became easily agitated due to the intense labor.
After completing one of the last measurements, Kapteyn wrote to Gill: "...- and the truth is that I find my patience nearly exhausted", with which he referred to the analysis for the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung.
Additionally, Kapteyn wrote about working on the Durchmusterung: "There is a sort of fate that which makes me do my life long just what I want to do least of all."
Prisoners
The British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington claimed that prisoners were part of the staff of Kapteyn that worked with his instrument. However, this fact is deemed implausible, since prisoners only performed relatively simple tasks in this time period and because this fact was never brought up in any correspondence with Kapteyn.
Impact
The publication of the measurements performed with the instrument of Kapteyn marked a major breakthrough for Kapteyn in the field of astronomy. In 1901 Kapteyn was the first Dutchman to receive a golden medal from the British Royal Astronomical Society. Kapteyn had been a member of this organisation since 1892. Furthermore, working with the instrument may have inspired the theories of Kapteyn about the shape of the Milky Way. Kapteyn first discussed these theories in 1891 during a rectorial speech.
The American astronomer Simon Newcomb praised Kapteyn and his work: "This work [the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung] of Kapteyn offers a remarkable example of the spirit which animates the born investigator of the heavens."
Jacob Halm remarked that the results of the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung had an accuracy comparable to that of the results of the northern hemisphere. The astronomer Henry Sawerthal, who visited the laboratory of Kapteyn in 1889, described the results as "...sufficient in the present instance to give results more accurate than those of the Northern Durchmusterung, a remark which not only applies to positions, but to magnitude (also)."
The German astronomer Max Wolf had such admiration for the instrument of Kapteyn that he built his own 'improved' version of the instrument.
See also
Jacobus Kapteyn
Kapteyn's Star (discovered with this instrument in 1897)
Durchmusterung
David Gill (astronomer)
Triquetrum (astronomy)
Further reading
References
Astronomical instruments | Parallactic instrument of Kapteyn | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,269 | [
"Astronomical instruments"
] |
59,971,656 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%202300 | NGC 2300 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Cepheus. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 1876 ± 7km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of . However, 11 non redshift measurements give a distance of . The galaxy was discovered in 1871 by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly using an 18 cm telescope.
Together with NGC 2276, they form the 114th object in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
According to the SIMBAD database, NGC 2300 is an Active Galaxy Nucleus Candidate, i.e. it has a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars.
One supernova has been observed in NGC 2300: SN2024uai (typeIa-91bg-like, mag. 16.58).
See also
List of NGC objects (2001–3000)
References
External links
SEDS
Cepheus (constellation)
Discoveries by Alphonse Borrelly
Lenticular galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1871
2300
021231
03798
+14-04-031 | NGC 2300 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 247 | [
"Constellations",
"Cepheus (constellation)"
] |
59,973,182 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature%20Machine%20Intelligence | Nature Machine Intelligence is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio covering machine learning and artificial intelligence. The editor-in-chief is Liesbeth Venema.
History
The journal was created in response to the machine learning explosion of the 2010s. It launched in January 2019, and its opening was met with controversy and boycotts within the machine learning research community due to opposition to Nature publishing the journal as closed access. To address this issue, now Nature Machine Intelligence gives authors an option to publish open access papers for an additional fee, and "authors remain owners of the research reported, and the code and data supporting the main findings of an article should be openly available. Moreover, preprints are allowed, in fact encouraged, and a link to the preprint can be added below the abstract, visible to all readers."
Abstracting and indexing
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 25.898, ranking it 1st out of 144 journals in the category "Computer Science, Artificial intelligence" and first out of 113 journals in the category "Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications".
References
External links
Official website
Nature Research academic journals
Machine learning
Artificial intelligence journals
Academic journals established in 2019
English-language journals | Nature Machine Intelligence | [
"Engineering"
] | 253 | [
"Artificial intelligence engineering",
"Machine learning"
] |
59,973,760 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermanaeromonas%20burensis | Thermanaeromonas burensis is a species of Gram-positive, non-motile, endospore-forming bacteria belonging to the family Thermoanaerobacteraceae that was isolated from a low-permeability argillaceous rock layer, at a depth of 490 m, in northern
France. This species is thermophilic, strictly anaerobic, halotolerant, and can reduce thiosulfate.
References
Thermoanaerobacterales
Thermophiles
Anaerobes
Bacteria described in 2016 | Thermanaeromonas burensis | [
"Biology"
] | 115 | [
"Bacteria",
"Anaerobes"
] |
59,975,023 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppSheet | AppSheet is a no-code development platform for application software, which allows users to create mobile, tablet, and web applications. It allows using data sources like Google Drive, DropBox, Office 365, and other cloud-based spreadsheet and database platforms. AppSheet can be utilized for a broad set of business use cases including project management, customer relationship management, field inspections, and personalized reporting.
AppSheet was acquired by Google in January 2020.
Platform
The AppSheet platform allows users to create mobile apps from cloud-based spreadsheets and databases. Apps can also be created directly as an add-on from spreadsheet platforms like Google Sheets. The platform is available from both a self-service model and a corporate licensing model for larger organizations with more governance, data analytics, and performance options. Compared to low-code development platforms which allow developers to develop with faster iteration cycles, AppSheet is a no-code platform which allows business users familiar with basic spreadsheet and database operations to build apps.
AppSheet compatible data sources include:
Google Sheets
Google Forms
Microsoft Excel on Office 365
Microsoft Excel on Dropbox
Microsoft Excel on Box (company)
Smartsheet
Salesforce
DreamFactory
Microsoft SQL Server
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Amazon DynamoDB
Features
Data Capture
AppSheet apps capture data in the form of images, signatures, geolocation, barcodes, and NFC. Data is automatically synced to the cloud-based, or users can opt to manually sync the data at any time. Common uses for data capture include field or equipment inspections, safety inspections, reporting, and inventory management.
Data Collaboration
Synced, shared data allows users to collaborate across mobile or desktop devices. Workflow rules can also be used to trigger notifications or work-based assignments where appropriate. Offline access is also possible as data storage is localized to the device and synced upon internet connectivity returns.
Data Display
AppSheet data can be displayed in graphical and interactive formats. Common data views include tables, forms, maps, charts, calendars, and dashboards. Each app can hold multiple views consisting of data from various sources.
Declarative Programming Model
AppSheet's platform allows users to declare the logic of the app's activity in order to customize the app's user experience rather than use traditional code. This level of abstraction essentially trades a granular level of customization that would be available through hard code for increased efficiency, scalability, and security that would be available through a declarative model.
History
AppSheet was originally founded by Praveen Seshadri in March 2014 after several months of developing the product at his home in Seattle, Washington.
In 2015, AppSheet received seed funding from New Enterprise Associates.
In 2018, AppSheet launched SPEC, a natural-language programming tool allowing non-coders to build apps by asking users in plain English what they want to build.
On January 14, 2020, AppSheet announced they had been acquired by Google and would be joining the Google Cloud team.
References
External links
Software companies established in 2014
2014 establishments in Washington (state)
Software development
Software companies based in Washington (state)
2020 mergers and acquisitions
Google acquisitions
Google Cloud
Defunct software companies of the United States
Web applications
Cloud applications | AppSheet | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 670 | [
"Software engineering",
"Computer occupations",
"Software development"
] |
59,976,010 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian%20threshold | Darwinian threshold or Darwinian transition is a term introduced by Carl Woese to describe a transition period during the evolution of the first cells when genetic transmission moves from a predominantly horizontal mode to a vertical mode. The process starts when the ancestors of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (the LUCA) are no longer primarily dependent on horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer (HGT) and become individual entities with vertical heredity upon which natural selection is effective. After this transition, life is characterized by genealogies that have a modern tree-like phylogeny.
Before the Darwinian threshold
The Last Universal Common Ancestor is often considered to be an already complex organism with a DNA-based genome, a complex informational flow and an efficient metabolism, but some authors, like Carl Woese, believe instead that the LUCA was not a discrete entity but rather a diverse community of cells that survived and evolved as a biological unit.
Carl Woese indicated that most likely there existed high mutation rates and small genomes. Also present were small proteins and larger imprecisely translated "statistical proteins". Entities in which translation had not yet developed to the point that proteins of the modern type could arise, have been termed “progenotes,” and the era during which these were the most advanced forms of life, the “progenote era”.
These organisms or biological entities, these progenotes (or ribocytes), had RNA as informational molecule instead of DNA. RNA is capable of both catalysis and replication and could have been central to the origins of heredity and life itself. It has been proposed that the initial molecular events were carried out by transfer RNAs (tRNAs). It is hypothesized that structured tRNAs could have provided amino acids during a process called self-translation of a single extended tRNA strand.
Compartmentalization with membranes was not yet completed and translation of proteins was not precise. Not every progenote had its own metabolism; different metabolic steps were present in different progenotes. Therefore, it is assumed that there existed a community of sub-systems that started to cooperate collectively and culminated in the LUCA.
After the Darwinian threshold
Most scientists place the LUCA at the root of the tree of life. From this root depart two Prokaryotic Domains: the Bacteria and the Archaea. Just after this first split, one of the branches, going towards the Archaea, splits again and gives rise to a third branch which is that of the Eukaryotes so that now there are three Domains of life. Carl Woese thought that even during the era around the origin of the LUCA, the root and the first branches were very blurred since the cells were not very well defined yet and HGT was still quite important. Some authors maintain LUCA was a mesophilic eukaryote. According to these authors the Domains that derived from LUCA through a process of reductive evolution or "streamlining" were Prokaryotes; mesophilic and thermophilic Bacteria and thermophilic Archaea. The term "prokaryote" should therefore be abandoned, since it suggests that "prokaryotes" preceded "eukaryotes" in their evolution from LUCA towards complexity.
See also
Horizontal gene transfer
Horizontal gene transfer in evolution
Evolution
Carl Woese
Last universal common ancestor
References
Origin of life
Evolutionary biology
Genetic genealogy
Phylogenetics
Hypothetical life forms
Most recent common ancestors | Darwinian threshold | [
"Biology"
] | 700 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Origin of life",
"Hypothetical life forms",
"Taxonomy (biology)",
"Bioinformatics",
"Biological hypotheses",
"Phylogenetics"
] |
59,976,745 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amabiline | Amabiline is a pyrrolizidine alkaloid first isolated in 1967 from Cynoglossum amabile. It is also found in the seeds and flowers of borage (Borago officinalis) and in borage seed oil.
Chemically, it is the ester derived from viridifloric acid and supinidine.
Amabiline is hepatotoxic and may contribute to the potential liver damage caused by consumption of borage and its seed oil.
References
pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Esters
Diols | Amabiline | [
"Chemistry"
] | 123 | [
"Esters",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Pyrrolizidine alkaloids",
"Alkaloids by chemical classification"
] |
59,980,675 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implant%20induction%20welding%20of%20thermoplastics | Implant induction welding is a joining method used in plastic manufacturing. The welding process uses an induction coil to excite and heat electromagnetically susceptible material at the joint interface and melt the thermoplastic. The susceptible material can be contained in a gasket placed between the welding surface, or within the actual components of a composite material. Its usage is common for large, unusually shaped, or delicate parts that would be difficult to weld through other methods.
Physical mechanisms
In non-magnetic electrical conductors like aluminum, nickel, or copper, an alternating electromagnetic field will induce Eddy currents in the material. These currents generate thermal energy through Joule heating. Ferromagnetic materials like iron and carbon steels will see heating from both Eddy current formation and hysteresis losses.
Welding process
Material considerations
Induction heating is an efficient method of heating electrically conductive or magnetic materials. Warm-up times are minimal and direct contact with the part is not needed. Unfortunately most thermoplastics are non-magnetic and excellent insulators. To take advantage of induction heating for thermoplastic welding purposes, a susceptible implant must be used as an intermediary material. Nearly any electrical conductor or ferromagnetic material may be used as an implant. Implant styles include meshes, fibers, and fine powders. The most common gasket design is a thermoplastic composite with suspended susceptible fibers. . This composite gasket can be formed into any shape required for the welding application. The gasket matrix is typically made of the same thermoplastic being welded. In situations where two dissimilar materials are to be welded, the gasket material is usually a blend of the two thermoplastics.
Composite materials
Carbon fiber is of interest due to its widespread use in composite materials. Provided there are closed loops of carbon within the composite structure, eddy currents can be induced in the material. Unidirectional carbon fiber composites can have poor susceptibility when fiber to fiber contact is limited.
Focusing heat only at the weld point is difficult with susceptible composite fibers throughout the material. In carbon fiber composites, thin electrically insulating layers with non-aligned fibers may be inserted between conducting layers to electrically isolate the joint surface from the material bulk. Using this technique, induction heating of the bulk is avoided.
Equipment
An induction generator is used to produce high frequency current in the range of 2 to 10 MHz. The range used is regulated by the FCC to avoid interference with broadcast signals.
An induction coil converts the high frequency current from the induction generator into the necessary alternating magnetic field. A single turn coil may be used when space is limited, however multiturn coil designs are more common due to their generation of a stronger and deeper penetrating magnetic field. Split coil designs are also available, which may be disassembled to fully surround a large part such as plastic piping. The high currents used in induction welding produce large amounts of heat in the coil. To avoid overheating, the coil turns are made with hollow tubing, and water is circulated during welding. Coil heat is dissipated by an attached heat exchanger.
Fixtures are used to hold the parts in position during welding. One fixture is fixed and the other moveable so that a press may apply and maintain pressure during heating and cooling.
Welding steps
An implant rich gasket is placed at the surface to be welded. Pressure is applied to the joint to force out air cavities and ensure a sound bond. An electromagnetic field is applied by the induction coil to heat the implants, and pressure is applied to the joint. Heat conducts into the surrounding thermoplastic, which melts the gasket and creates a melt layer at the joint surfaces. The applied pressure flows the molten thermoplastic and fills the joint. When sufficient bonding has been achieved, the induction coil is turned off and the joint is cooled under pressure. For large items with long joints, the joint can be welded continuously by scanning the active coil along the length of the interface.
Parameters
Power
Typical induction generators provide a power output of 1 to 5 kW. High power output is necessary for longer and larger joints. Power output must also be increased as coil distance from the joint increases, due to electromagnetic field decay.
Pressure
Even distribution of the molten polymer in the joint is imperative for strong bonding. Weld pressure must be sufficient to induce squeeze flow in the molten gasket, achieve intimate contact with the joint surface, and fill the joint.
Weld time and cooling time
Weld time will vary based on the joint size, the volume of susceptible implant material, and the power and frequency. Cycle times can be very fast since no preheating is needed, and heat generation happens exclusively at the weld joint. This also benefits the cooling time. With little heat wasted on the bulk of the part, cooling is brief. Under 1 second for some applications.
Joint design
Unusual joint designs are possible using implant induction welding. The simplest is the flat to flat joint, where a gasket is placed between two thermoplastic plates. This joint is common for continuous welding processes, or long weld lines where the active coil is scanned along the joint interface. The flat to groove joint uses a plate with a channel to accurately align the weld versus the flat to flat joint. The tongue in groove joint is similar to the flat to groove joint, but has the advantage of complete encapsulation of the gasket and a pressure tight seal.
Applications
Food packaging
Implant induction welding is heavily used in the production of Tetra Pak containers for products like juice boxes. The use of induction heating shortens the sealing time versus other joining methods that use external heat, and avoids damage to the paperboard layer from direct contact with hot tooling. An aluminum foil layer is used to block oxygen diffusion into the packaging, so no additional implant material is needed.
Automotive manufacturing
The automotive industry makes large scale use of implant induction welding for the manufacture of large plastic items such as bumpers, plastic body panels, and fuel tanks. Manufacturing costs of components with complex geometries are brought down by manufacturing the parts in separate pieces, to be assembled later using induction welding.
Tamper-proof packaging
Polyethylene coated aluminum foil is induction welded to the top of many food, supplement, and drug containers. The seal helps retain product quality and provides evidence of tampering.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
Implant induction welding does not require physical contact with a heat source, so it is useful for joining components with unusual dimensions or delicate surfaces.
The induction coil can be moved continuously to heat the entire surface of long joints. Extremely large parts can be effectively welded using this method.
Heat generation is limited to the exact area where it is required for joining, so thermal stress generated by welding is low.
The joint can be reopened using induction heating for repairs or recycling.
The heating and joining steps are simultaneous, so cycle times are short.
Disadvantages
There are additional costs due to the implant and gasket material. Custom tooling may also be required for some part designs. This can make the method cost prohibitive for small and simple items.
Heating is limited by the penetration depth of the electromagnetic field. Care must be taken to avoid uneven heating in complex joint designs.
Implant material at the joint can have an impact on strength.
The electromagnetic field may affect metallic or electronic components of the part.
References
Welding | Implant induction welding of thermoplastics | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,507 | [
"Welding",
"Mechanical engineering"
] |
59,980,849 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton%20capture | Proton capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more protons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus.
Since protons have positive electric charge, they are repelled electrostatically by the positively charged nucleus. Therefore, it is more difficult for protons to enter the nucleus compared to neutrally charged neutrons.
Proton capture plays an important role in the cosmic nucleosynthesis of proton rich isotopes. In stars it can proceed in two ways: as a rapid (rp-process) or a slow process (p-process).
See also
p-nuclei
Proton emission
List of particles
Neutron capture
Radioactive decay
Rays: α — β — γ — δ
References
External links
Nuclear physics
Capture
This process makes lithium in stars to get converted into helium in main-sequence stars. | Proton capture | [
"Physics"
] | 165 | [
"Nuclear and atomic physics stubs",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
73,657,024 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random%20flip-flop | Random flip-flop (RFF) is a theoretical concept of a non-sequential logic circuit capable of generating true randomness. By definition, it operates as an "ordinary" edge-triggered clocked flip-flop, except that its clock input acts randomly and with probability p = 1/2. Unlike Boolean circuits, which behave deterministically, random flip-flop behaves non-deterministically. By definition, random flip-flop is electrically compatible with Boolean logic circuits. Together with them, RFF makes up a full set of logic circuits capable of performing arbitrary algorithms, namely to realize Probabilistic Turing machine.
Symbol
Random flip-flop comes in all varieties in which ordinary, edge triggered clocked flip-flop does, for example: D-type random flip-flop (DRFF). T-type random flip-flop (TRFF), JK-type random flip-flop (JKRFF), etc. Symbol for DRFF, TRFF and JKRFF are shown in the Fig. 1.
While varieties are possible, not all of them are needed: a single RFF type can be used to emulate all other types. Emulation of one type of RFF by the other type of RFF can be done using the same additional gates circuitry as for ordinary flip-flops. Examples are shown in the Fig. 2.
Practical realization of random flip-flip
By definition, action of a theoretical RFF is truly random. This is difficult to achieve in practice and is probably best realized through use of physical randomness. A RFF, based on quantum-random effect of photon emission in semiconductor and subsequent detection, has been demonstrated to work well up to a clock frequency of 25 MHz. At a higher clock frequency, subsequent actions of the RFF become correlated. This RFF has been built using bulk components and the effort resulted only in a handful of units. Recently, a monolithic chip containing 2800 integrated RFFs based on quantum randomness has been demonstrated in Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) process.
Applications and prospects
One straightforward application of a RFF is generation of random bits, as shown in the Fig. 3.
Since each RFF operates independent of all others, N RFFs can generate N bits per clock, thus the overall generation throughput of a random number generator is only limited by the number of available RFFs and their maximum operating clock frequency.
The biggest difference between a RFF and a true random number generator is that a plethora of RFFs can work concurrently, independently of each other, with or without any synchronicity among them. This is useful in stochastic computing, also known as Random Pulse Computing (RPC)[1], where many information-processing circuits work in parallel. RFF could also find its use in: prosthetic implants such as artificial cochlear or prosthetic limbs using, near-sensor image processing as well as in artificial intelligence processors. Furthermore, having in mind its high speed, a single RFF can be used to generate on the order of hundred thousand 256-bit cryptographic keys per second, or nonce data, without requiring any special or proprietary protocol to communicate with, making it potentially indispensable piece of security hardware such as IoT devices, smart cards, car keys, as well as of any computer or digital communication device.
While the technology of realizing a RFF on a chip is young, it is conceivable that in the future RFF as an electronic element will appear in universal logic chips (such as 7400-series integrated circuits), in Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), and in Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips, thus facilitating designs that could benefit from it.
References
Digital electronics
Logic gates
Electronic engineering | Random flip-flop | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 788 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Electronic engineering",
"Computer engineering",
"Digital electronics"
] |
73,657,154 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinogene%20Biotechnology | Sinogene Biotechnology is a Chinese biotechnology company, focusing on animal cloning technology for consumers. Their pet cloning services include: dog, cat, cow, and horse cloning.
In 2022, Sinogene made history by being the first to clone a wild Arctic wolf.
History
Sinogene Biotechnology began offering dog cloning services in 2017 and later introduced cat cloning in 2019.
In 2022, Sinogene became the first company to successfully clone an Arctic wolf, and started horse cloning in 2023. The donor cell came from a wild female Arctic wolf, the oocyte was from a female dog, and the surrogate was a beagle. The company transferred 85 embryos into seven beagles and one Arctic wolf was born. In June of the same year, Sinogene cloned a male horse using skin cells from a horse born in 1995.
Sinogene partnered with Beijing Wildlife Park in 2022 to work together on improving breeding for endangered animals as well as improving ways to protect endangered animals.
Sinogene clients can harvest cells from their living pets, to one day use in the cloning process after their pet dies. Customers receive their cloned animals three months after they are born.
References
External links
Official website
Cloning
Biotechnology companies | Sinogene Biotechnology | [
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 258 | [
"Cloning",
"Biotechnology stubs",
"Genetic engineering",
"Biotechnology companies",
"Biotechnology organizations"
] |
73,657,939 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field%20barn | A field barn is an outbuilding located in a field, some distance ("further afield") from farmer's residence or the main cluster of buildings that constitute a farmstead. Field barns were necessary when arable fields or valuable pastures were located some distance from a village or the residences of the agricultural workers who tended the fields. Rather than "commuting" back and forth to the field with livestock, tools, or harvests, the field barn allowed on-site storage (usually of straw, hay, and additional feed), as well as providing shelter for herds during inclement weather or when pregnant cattle or sheep needed respite and a clean place to labor. Field barns were also used for the drying and curing of hay, which protected the nutritional content of the crop better than drying and curing in the field.
In English agricultural history, many farms ended up "pie-shaped" (in order to connect the farm to the central village) and field barns were constructed at the distant wide end. Early examples in Staffordshire were essentially just a shed, those latterly built often had a foldyard and an additional shelter shed. Field barn construction began to decline with the rise of mechanized threshing.
Field barns in England
Historic England have been mapping field barns and outfarms across England and have noted that 72% have disappeared since 1900. They have confirmed the significance of these structures noting that:
Examples dating back to the 18th century or earlier are very rare
Some field barns and outfarms may provide evidence of former farmsteads where the farmhouse has been demolished following the amalgamation of farms.
Field barns and outfarms have particularly vulnerable to dereliction once they are no longer in use.
Some county-based research projects have been carried out by the County Councils:
The Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service's Farmsteads in the Suffolk Countryside Project found evidence for 265 field barns in Suffolk.
Gallery
See also
Field cabin
Bank barns
Waino Tanttari Field Hay Barn
Field Barn Heaths, Hilborough
References
Buildings and structures
Vernacular architecture
Barns
Agricultural buildings | Field barn | [
"Engineering"
] | 420 | [
"Buildings and structures",
"Architecture"
] |
73,660,177 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual%20grasslands | Annual grasslands are a type of grassland ecosystem characterized by the dominance of annual grasses and forbs. They are most commonly found in regions with Mediterranean climates, such as California, and provide important habitats for a variety of wildlife species.
Annual grasslands have a history of disturbance factors, including grazing, crop production, fire, and drought, which have contributed to the conversion of native perennial grasslands to non-native annual-dominated grasslands. Management issues in annual grasslands include carbon sequestration, native grass restoration, invasive species control, and land use change.
Characteristics
Annual grasslands are dominated by non-native annual grasses and forbs, with a few native perennial grass species present. These grasslands are subject to seasonal and yearly variations in species composition and productivity, which are largely controlled by the timing and amount of precipitation and temperature.
Vegetation dynamics
Long-term changes in annual grassland productivity, species composition, and ecosystem processes are influenced by continuing waves of invasion, changes in soil moisture depletion patterns, and fire frequency. Species composition in annual grasslands can change throughout a growing season, depending on germination, seedling establishment, and plant growth progress.
Disturbance factors
Grazing, crop production, fire, and drought have all contributed to the conversion of native grassland to non-native annual-dominated grassland. Severe droughts, such as those in 1828, 1862, and 1864, have also played a role in this conversion. Some researchers suggest that high-frequency burning by native peoples and Europeans may have made the native grasslands susceptible to invasion by non-native species.
Management issues
Management issues in annual grasslands include carbon sequestration, native grass restoration, invasive species control, and land use change.
Carbon sequestration
In the absence of reliable and cost-effective restoration techniques for re-establishing deep-rooted native perennial grasses and forbs, the potential for enhancing carbon storage in annual grassland ecosystems remains limited. The only exception occurs in locations where successful tree planting can be carried out.
Native grass restoration
The restoration of native perennial grasses, like needlegrass, has proven difficult due to the intense competition from prevailing annual grasses and forbs. Particularly on steep, rocky, and eroded sites, the rate of restoration failures surpasses successes.
Invasive species
Invasive species, such as medusahead, barbed goatgrass, and yellow starthistle, are particularly troublesome in annual grasslands. These species can outcompete native grasses and forbs, and their management is an ongoing challenge.
Land use change
Since 1973, conversion to residential, industrial, and agricultural uses has led to significant losses in annual grasslands. This has resulted in increased urban-rural conflicts, habitat fragmentation, and loss of habitat for various species.
Water quality
Water quality is a concern in annual grasslands and oak-woodlands, particularly in California, where the majority of reservoirs are located within or near these ecosystems. Sediment, nutrients, pathogens, and heat are among the possible water pollutants linked to grazing in annual grassland watersheds. In 2004, the California State Water Resources Control Board implemented policies to regulate non-point source pollution, impacting landowners and agricultural producers, such as range livestock operations.
Practices and uses
Annual grasslands have primarily been used for livestock production since European settlement. More than 80% of the annual grasslands are in private ownership, and most are grazed. Orchards, wine grapes, and irrigated pastures have also displaced some annual grasslands in certain areas.
Grazing management practices
Annual grasslands are suitable for grazing by various livestock types throughout the year. Grazing systems such as continuous grazing and seasonal-suitability grazing are commonly used. Proper stocking rates are crucial to avoid overgrazing and ensure long-term sustainability.
Forage sources and seasonal use
Forage sources in annual grasslands are seasonal in their availability, productivity, and quality. The grasslands provide green feed in late fall, winter, and spring, and low-quality dry feed during the rest of the year. Many ranches supplement livestock diets with additional feed when green forage is scarce.
Animal nutrition and forage quality
Balancing the nutrient requirements of livestock with the nutrients provided by range forage is a significant challenge for a substantial part of the year. The quality of range forage is influenced by factors such as plant species, season, geographical location, and range improvement techniques.
Poisonous plants
Several poisonous plants are present in annual grasslands, although livestock losses are rare. Common toxic plants in the region include yellow starthistle, fiddleneck, milkweeds, and larkspur. Livestock poisoning often occurs when hungry animals are concentrated on toxic plants.
Brush and weed control
Effective management of harmful weeds in annual grasslands necessitates a comprehensive, multi-year strategy that encompasses both prevention and control of existing infestations. Various techniques, such as controlled burning, herbicide application, mechanical methods, and selective grazing, can be employed. However, the implementation of prescribed fires has decreased in recent years due to concerns regarding liability and regulatory policies.
Seeding and fertilization
Enhancing forage production and quality can be accomplished by sowing annual legumes, including rose clover and subterranean clover, as well as annual grasses like ryegrass. In specific rainfall zones, the application of nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus fertilizers may also contribute to increased production.
See also
Grassland
Mediterranean climate
Rangeland management
References
Grasslands
Ecosystems
Biomes | Annual grasslands | [
"Biology"
] | 1,067 | [
"Grasslands",
"Symbiosis",
"Ecosystems"
] |
73,660,540 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand%20G.%20Winfield | Armand Gordon Winfield (1919–2009) was an American artist, plastics engineer, inventor, and educator. He impacted the field of plastics with his work in embedded plastics, synthetic stone, and reinforced plastics, which were used in everything from jewelry to architectural materials. Winfield published over 300 works and obtained 7 patents. His papers and plastic artifacts have been collected by the University of New Mexico Library Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, the Special Collection Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Museum of Design in Plastic (MoDiP) at the Arts University Bournemouth, and the National Museum of American History Archives Center. Winfield's legacy includes his dedication to education, and he was quoted as stating, "The only thing of permanence is the passing of knowledge from one generation to another."
Education
Winfield graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1941 with a B.S. degree in geology. He also pursued graduate studies at the University of New Mexico, State University of Iowa, and Washington University (St. Louis).
Career highlights
Developed a technique for embedding items in acrylic.
Along with his brother, Rodney, he founded Winfield Fine Art In Jewelry, in New York, NY (1944-1947).
Produced Crystopal, a decorative plastic made from glass fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester cured with styrene, at Crystopal Ltd. in Hazardville, CT during the 1960s.
Established Armand G. Winfield, Inc., an international plastics consulting firm, and consulted for 30 years (1964-1994).
Developed cultured/engineered stones including synthetic granite and marble.
Developed low cost reinforced plastic housing for developing countries with CARE and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Developed light weight fiber reinforced plastic sets for the Metropolitan Opera.
Designed and constructed 13 pavilions and exhibits for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Taught and lectured at over 40 colleges and universities including Yale School of Art (1960-61), Pratt Institute Industrial Design Department (1964-70), and University of Massachusetts Lowell (1978-81).
Elected to the Plastics Pioneers Association (1983).
Founded the Training and Research Institute for Plastics at the University of New Mexico in 1993.
Named a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers in 2000.
Patents and trademarks
Winfield, A. G. Impact Absorbing Laminate and Articles Fabricated Therefrom. US 3,816,234. 1974.
Winfield, A. G.; Winfield, B. L. Reinforced and Insulating Building Panel. US 3,819,466. 1974.
Winfield, A. G.; Winfield, B. L. Abrasion Resistant Impact Absorbent Animal Stall Floor and Wall Covering. US 4,333,981. 1982.
Rede, H.; Winfield, A. G.; Winfield, B. L. Apparatus for Preservation of a Leather Glove. US 4,565,287. 1986.
Carter, N. A.; Winfield, A. G. Insulated Window Shade Assembly. US 4,625,786. 1986.
Aguirre, J. A.; Winfield, A. G.; Dennett Jr., J. G. Self-defense/Attack Device. US 4,739,990. 1988.
DeForest, J. I.; Kaplan, C. D.; Winfield, A. G. Body Lotion Applicator With Applicator Head Pivotally Mounted on Tubular Extension Arm. US 5,240,339. 1993.
Crystolume Trademark Announcement. Official Gazette of the US Patent Office, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, Vol. 798, January 1964, p.775.
References
External links
Armand G. Winfield Papers and artifacts at Syracuse University
Cast acrylic jewelry manufactured by Winfield Fine Art is pictured on the MoDiP website.
Crystopal artifacts are pictured on the Syracuse University website and were recently studied by Raman spectroscopy.
Polymer scientists and engineers
1919 births
2009 deaths
American scientists
Franklin & Marshall College alumni
University of New Mexico alumni
University of Iowa alumni
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
University of Massachusetts Lowell faculty
Yale School of Art faculty
Pratt Institute faculty | Armand G. Winfield | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 852 | [
"Polymer scientists and engineers",
"Physical chemists",
"Polymer chemistry"
] |
73,664,269 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal%20microbiota%20spores%2C%20live | Live fecal microbiota spores, sold under the brand name Vowst, are a fecal microbiota product used to prevent the recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (C. difficile).
Live fecal microbiota spores contain live bacteria and are manufactured from human fecal matter donated by qualified individuals.
Vowst was approved for medical use in the United States in April 2023. It is the first fecal microbiota product that is taken by mouth (orally).
Medical uses
Fecal microbiota spores (live) are indicated to prevent the recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in individuals 18 years of age and older following antibacterial treatment for recurrent CDI (rCDI).
History
The safety of fecal microbiota spores (live) was evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study and an open-label clinical study conducted in the US and Canada. The participants who suffered from recurrent C. difficile infection were subjected to 48 to 96 hours post-antibacterial treatment and their symptoms were controlled.
Across both studies, 346 individuals 18 years of age and older with recurrent C. difficile infection received all scheduled doses of fecal microbiota spores, live. In an analysis among 90 recipients of fecal microbiota spores, live, when compared to 92 recipients of placebo, the most commonly reported side effects by recipients of fecal microbiota spores, live, which occurred at a greater frequency than reported by placebo recipients, were abdominal bloating, fatigue, constipation, chills and diarrhea. The effectiveness of fecal microbiota spores, live was evaluated in the randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study in which 89 participants received fecal microbiota spores, live and 93 participants received placebo. Through eight weeks after treatment, CDI recurrence in Vowst-treated participants was lower compared to placebo-treated participants (12.4% compared to 39.8%).
The FDA granted the application for fecal microbiota spores, live-brpk priority review, breakthrough therapy, and orphan drug designations. The FDA granted approval of Vowst to Seres Therapeutics Inc.
References
Further reading
Feces
Gut flora bacteria
Orphan drugs | Fecal microbiota spores, live | [
"Biology"
] | 497 | [
"Excretion",
"Animal waste products",
"Gut flora bacteria",
"Feces",
"Bacteria"
] |
73,665,215 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus%20sinoedulis | Boletus sinoedulis is an edible basidiomycete mushroom, of the genus Boletus in the family Boletaceae. Morphologically similar to Boletus edulis and belonging to the porcini group (Boletus sect. Boletus), it was first described in 2015, and is known to be found only in China.
Morphology
Cap
The cap is 10 to 12 cm in diameter, initially convex in shape, before becoming broadly convex to plane as it ages; The surface is dry with small hair, yellowish brown to dark brown. The flesh is white and does not turn blue when bruised.
Pores
The pores are white when young, becoming yellowish to yellowish brown, unchanged when bruised.
Stipe
From 9 to 10 cm long; 1.2–1.5 cm thick; white to pale gray to yellowish; reticulated; shaped clavate to subcylindrical.
Spores
Subfusiform, 14–17.5 x 5–6.5 μm.
Habitat and distribution
Solitary or gregarious in the subalpine conifer forests dominated by spruce or fir in Southwest China.
References
External links
Edible fungi
sinoedulis
Fungi described in 2015
Fungi of China
Fungus species | Boletus sinoedulis | [
"Biology"
] | 253 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
73,666,242 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus%20subviolaceofuscus | Boletus subviolaceofuscus is an edible basidiomycete mushroom, of the genus Boletus in the family Boletaceae. Morphologically similar to Boletus violaceofuscus and belonging to the porcini group (Boletus sect. Boletus), it was first described in 2015, and is known to be found only in China, Yunnan.
Morphology
Cap
The cap is 4 to 8 cm in diameter, initially convex in shape, before becoming broadly convex to plane as it ages; The surface is dry with small hair, dark purple to vinaceous brown. The flesh is white and does not turn blue when bruised.
Pores
The pores are whitish when young, becoming cream to yellowish, unchanged when bruised.
Stipe
From 4.5 to 10 cm long; 1.2–1.5 cm thick; concolorous or paler than the pileus; reticulated; shaped clavate to subcylindrical.
Spores
Subfusiform, 16–18.5 x 4.5–6 μm.
Habitat and distribution
Solitary or gregarious in the Lithocarpus forests in Southwest China.
References
External links
Edible fungi
subviolaceofuscus
Fungi described in 2015
Fungi of China
Fungus species | Boletus subviolaceofuscus | [
"Biology"
] | 260 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
73,666,286 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus%20tylopilopsis | Boletus tylopilopsis is an edible basidiomycete mushroom, of the genus Boletus in the family Boletaceae. Morphologically similar to the members of Tylopilus in the pinkish hymenophore and belonging to the porcini group (Boletus sect. Boletus), it was first described in 2015, and is known to be found only in China, Yunnan.
Morphology
Cap
The cap is 8.5 to 10.5 cm in diameter, hemispherical in shape; The surface is dry and distinctly rugose, dull yellow to yellow with olivacous tinge. The flesh is cream to yellowish in color and does not turn blue when bruised.
Pores
The pores are white-stuffed when young, becoming pinkish like those of Tylopilus spp., unchanged when bruised.
Stipe
From 9 to 12 cm long; 1.5–2.2 cm thick; yellowish with reticulations concolorous to the pileus; shaped clavate to subcylindrical, tapered upwards.
Spores
Subfusiform, 12.5–15 x 4.5–5.5 μm.
Habitat and distribution
Solitary or gregarious in the subtropical Fagaceae forests in Southwest China.
References
External links
Edible fungi
tylopilopsis
Fungi described in 2015
Fungi of China
Fungus species | Boletus tylopilopsis | [
"Biology"
] | 285 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
73,666,430 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus%20umbrinipileus | Boletus umbrinipileus is an edible basidiomycete mushroom, of the genus Boletus in the family Boletaceae. Morphologically similar to Boletus phaeocephalus and belonging to the porcini group (Boletus sect. Boletus), it was first described in 2015, and is known to be found only in China, Yunnan.
Morphology
Cap
The cap is 4.5 to 7 cm in diameter, initially plano-convex in shape, before becoming applanate as it ages; The surface is dry with small hair, brownish gray to olivaceous brown, sometimes with paler, grayish to grayish white margin. The flesh is white and does not turn blue when bruised.
Pores
The pores are stuffed with white when young, becoming pallid yellow with slightly olivaceous tinge, unchanged when bruised.
Stipe
From 8.5 to 10 cm long; 0.8–1.5 cm thick; subcylindrical shape; upper two-thirds colored brownish to grayish brown and covered with whitish reticulations which become more enlongated downward; lower one-third colored dirty white to white and not reticulated.
Spores
Subfusiform, 10–13 x 3.5–4 μm.
Habitat and distribution
Solitary or gregarious in the subtropical Fagaceae forests in Southwest China.
References
External links
Edible fungi
umbrinipileus
Fungi described in 2015
Fungi of China
Fungus species | Boletus umbrinipileus | [
"Biology"
] | 308 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
73,667,209 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outfarm | An outfarm is a smaller cluster of buildings set around a yard which provides facilities for outlying fields separate from the main farmsteads. They are often considered alongside field barns as enabling larger farms to work more distant films more efficiently. However, they are usually somewhat larger. Examples of facilities include shelter for cattle, threshing floors, and other storage facilities. Some outfarms included cottages to house the workers located there.
Some outfarms have become listed buildings as they provide important surviving example of the local regional character. Often they indicate a local response to the development of farming methods in the nineteenth century and are built from local materials in a vernacular style. For example, Wood Barn Outfarm in Ipplepen.
References
Buildings and structures
Agricultural buildings
Outfarms | Outfarm | [
"Engineering"
] | 157 | [
"Buildings and structures",
"Architecture"
] |
73,667,456 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus%20griseiceps | Boletus griseiceps is an edible basidiomycete mushroom, of the genus Boletus in the family Boletaceae. Morphologically similar to Boletus barrowsii and belonging to the porcini group (Boletus sect. Boletus), it was first described in 2015, and is known to be found only in Southeast China.
Morphology
Cap
The cap is 5 to 11 cm in diameter, applanate; The surface is dry, brownish gray, covered with brownish gray tomentose squamules. The flesh is white and does not turn blue when bruised.
Pores
The pores are stuffed with white when young, becoming grayish to brownish, unchanged when bruised.
Stipe
From 9 to 10 cm long; 1.5–2.3 cm thick; clavate to subcylindrical shape; colored pale gray to pale yellowish; reticulated.
Spores
Ellipsoid to ovoid, 7–9 x 4–6 μm.
Habitat and distribution
Solitary or gregarious in the Fagaceae forests in Southeast China.
References
External links
Edible fungi
griseiceps
Fungi described in 2015
Fungi of China
Fungus species | Boletus griseiceps | [
"Biology"
] | 245 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
73,667,530 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon%20hexafluoride | Radon hexafluoride is a binary chemical compound of radon and fluorine with the chemical formula . This is still a hypothetical compound that has not been synthesized so far.
Potential properties
The compound is calculated to be less stable than radon difluoride. Radon hexafluoride is expected to have an octahedral molecular geometry, unlike the C3v of xenon hexafluoride.
The Rn-F bonds in radon hexafluoride is predicted to be shorter and more stable compared to Xe-F bonds in xenon hexafluoride.
References
Radon compounds
Hexafluorides
Nonmetal halides
Hypothetical chemical compounds | Radon hexafluoride | [
"Chemistry"
] | 148 | [
"Inorganic compounds",
"Hypotheses in chemistry",
"Inorganic compound stubs",
"Theoretical chemistry",
"Hypothetical chemical compounds"
] |
73,668,337 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National%20Quantum%20Mission%20India | National Quantum Mission India is an initiative by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to foster quantum technologies related scientific and industrial research and development to support national Digital India, Make India, Skill India and Sustainable development goals.
Background
The union cabinet of Government of India approved the National Quantum Mission with a cost of INR 6003.65 cr ($730,297,000) from 2023–24 to 2030–31. Quantum key distribution (QKD) satellites are being developed by ISRO as part of the National Quantum Mission to provide secure communication.
Selection of Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs) and Technical Groups (TGs)
In January 2024, the National Quantum Mission issued a Call for Proposals (CFP), inviting top-tier academic and research institutions to contribute to the development of quantum technologies in four main areas:
1. Quantum Computing
2. Quantum Communication
3. Quantum Sensing & Metrology
4. Quantum Materials & Devices
The initiative garnered an impressive 384 submissions from across the country.
Four T-Hubs and 14 TGs Announced
On September 30, 2024, the National Quantum Mission reached a decisive phase with the announcement of the four T-Hubs.
After a thorough evaluation, 17 proposals were selected, representing the pinnacle of quantum research excellence. The T-Hubs bring together 152 researchers from 43 institutions nationwide, showcasing India's collective drive to become a global leader in quantum science and technology.
The four T-Hubs will be 1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru for quantum computing 2. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) along with Centre for Development of Telematics New Delhi for Quantum Communications 3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) for Quantum Sensing & Metrology and 4. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) for Quantum Materials & Devices and comprises 14 Technical Groups.
References
Science and technology in India
Quantum computing
Quantum mechanics | National Quantum Mission India | [
"Physics"
] | 399 | [
"Theoretical physics",
"Quantum mechanics"
] |
73,668,603 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security%20orchestration | Security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) is a group of cybersecurity technologies that allow organizations to respond to some incidents automatically. It collects inputs monitored by the security operations team such as alerts from the SIEM system, TIP, and other security technologies and helps define, prioritize, and drive standardized incident response activities.
Organizations uses SOAR platforms to improve the efficiency of physical and digital security operations. SOAR enables administrators to handle security alerts without the need for manual intervention. When the network tool detects a security event, depending on its nature, SOAR can raise an alert to the administrator or take some other action.
Components
"Orchestration" connects the different security tools and systems of the Information system. It integrates custom-built applications with built-in security tools, so they all work with each other. It also connects diverse endpoints, firewalls and behavior analysis tools.
"Automation" takes the huge amount of information generated through orchestration and analyzes it through machine learning processes. SOAR handle a lot of manual tasks of log analysis and can also handle ticket requests, vulnerability checks and auditing processes.
"Incident response" allows security teams to react when a potential threat is indicated. This component also handles post-incident activities such as threat intelligence sharing in an automated way.
Playbooks and runbooks
SOAR allows security administrators to define the potential incidents and the response, thanks to playbooks and runbooks.
A playbook is a document that describes how to verify a cybersecurity incident and how the incident should be responded. The purpose of the playbook is to document what the runbook should do. Playbook can be used as a manual backup in case the SOAR fails.
A runbook implements the playbook data into an automated tool so that it performs predefined actions to mitigate the threat.
References
Data security
Security software | Security orchestration | [
"Engineering"
] | 385 | [
"Cybersecurity engineering",
"Data security"
] |
73,668,960 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarex | Icarex is a line of 35mm single lens reflex cameras (SLRs) made by Zeiss Ikon, derived from an earlier Bessaflex project developed by Voigtländer. The Icarex line, which included the Icarex 35, Icarex 35CS, Icarex 35S, and SL 706, was aimed at a mid-range market above the Contaflex SLR, which was intended for advanced amateurs, but below the Contarex line for professionals.
Icarex SLRs were manufactured from 1966 until Zeiss Ikon ceased camera production in 1972; the Voigtländer marque and associated designs were sold to Rollei, who would later rebrand the last of the Icarex line, the Zeiss Ikon SL 706 (1971–72), and fit it with their QBM lens mount as the Rolleiflex SL35 M, released in 1976.
Cameras
Carl Zeiss AG previously had purchased a minority stake in Voigtländer in the 1940s and acquired the remainder of the company in 1956; Voigtländer released the Bessamatic/Ultramatic line of SLRs with leaf shutters and DKL-mount interchangeable lenses in the early 1960s, in direct competition with the Contaflex line. Voigtländer next developed a Bessaflex SLR prototype with a focal plane shutter by 1963 as a replacement for the Bessamatic/Ultramatic, but further development was paused as it would have competed in the same market segment against the existing Contaflex SLR line. However, faced with competition both at the high end for its Contarex line, and at the low end for the Contaflex, Zeiss Ikon decided to bring the Bessaflex project to market in 1966 as the Icarex 35. The release of the Icarex 35 in 1966 demonstrated the Voigtländer unit had been integrated completely into Zeiss Ikon. The Icarex 35 had significant disadvantages compared to the competition at launch; there were no fast normal lenses, and neither of the two viewfinders (an eye-level pentaprism or folding waist-level finder) had an internal light meter.
These were remedied in 1968 by the release of a fast Ultron lens, designed by Albrecht Tronnier, Joachim Eggert, and Fritz Uberhagen, and an uncoupled through-the-lens (TTL) metering eye-level pentaprism, which also was offered and sold bundled with the camera as the Icarex 35CS. However, the operation of the uncoupled 35CS prism was awkward, requiring the photographer to transfer shutter speeds manually, and so the 35 and 35CS were supplemented by the Icarex 35S in 1970, which switched to a fixed, eye-level viewfinder with a coupled TTL meter, although metering with the 35S still had to be performed with the lens stopped down. That year, both the 35 and the 35S added M42 mount variants, giving four distinct SLR models in total. Finally, in 1971, an enhanced version of the 35S with the M42 mount was released as the SL 706, which added full-aperture metering.
However, Zeiss Ikon stopped production of all cameras by 1972, discontinuing the entire Icarex line, including the SL 706; relatively few examples of the SL 706 were sold. The Voigtländer brand and SL 706 design were acquired by Rollei, which moved production to Singapore and first sold it with few changes as the Voigtländer VSL 1 starting from 1974, then later adapted it for its SL35 line as the SL35 M, released in 1976.
An unrelated Icarex 126 SLR was developed for the 126 film (Instamatic) cartridge developed by Kodak, but it was produced and sold as the Contaflex 126 starting from 1967. Contaflex 126 lenses are not physically compatible with either Icarex lens mount.
Lenses
The first Icarex 35 SLRs were available with a proprietary "ZIV" (Zeiss Ikon Voigtländer) two-lug breech-lock bayonet lens mount and a version with the M42 lens mount was added in 1969; bayonet mount cameras are either unmarked or carry a "BM", while thread mount cameras are marked "TM". In addition to the lenses sold by Zeiss Ikon for the Icarex listed, Soligor marketed some of their lenses with Icarex BM/ZIV mount.
References
External links
135 film cameras
Single-lens reflex cameras | Icarex | [
"Technology"
] | 969 | [
"System cameras",
"Single-lens reflex cameras"
] |
73,672,727 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van%20der%20Waals%20integration | van der Waals integration is a physical assembly strategy, in which prefabricated building blocks are physically assembled together through weak van der Waals interactions. This concept was originally proposed in two-dimensional materials research community to construct 2D van der Waals heterostructures.
A key benefit of van der Waals integration is that it offers an alternative way to integrate highly disparate material systems with unprecedented degrees of freedom, regardless of their crystal structures, lattice parameters, or orientation. As this physical assembly method does not involve one-to-one chemical bonds between adjacent layers, the van der Waals integration approach can thus enable the creation of a wide spectrum of series of artificial van der Waals heterostructures and novel moiré superlattices through layer transfer. Highly disparate material systems with diverse functionalities can be integrated together with atomically clean and electronically sharp interfaces., eliminating the rigorous lattice matching and process compatibility requirements that applied epitaxy This approach has proven fruitful in 2D photonics, polariton physics, hetero-integrated photonics, and wearable optoelectronic applications.
References
Van der Waals molecules | Van der Waals integration | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 236 | [
"Molecules",
"Matter",
"Van der Waals molecules"
] |
58,323,451 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi%20Inoue%20%28entomologist%29 | was a Japanese lepidopterist. He studied a wide range of moths, in particular the families Zygaenidae, Geometridae, and Pyralidae. During his career Inoue authored 1042 taxa.
References
Further reading
External links
Data related to Hiroshi Inoue (ent.) at Wikispecies
1917 births
2008 deaths
Taxon authorities
Japanese entomologists
Japanese lepidopterists
20th-century Japanese zoologists | Hiroshi Inoue (entomologist) | [
"Biology"
] | 89 | [
"Taxon authorities",
"Taxonomy (biology)"
] |
58,325,116 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titu%27s%20lemma | In mathematics, the following inequality is known as Titu's lemma, Bergström's inequality, Engel's form or Sedrakyan's inequality, respectively, referring to the article About the applications of one useful inequality of Nairi Sedrakyan published in 1997, to the book Problem-solving strategies of Arthur Engel published in 1998 and to the book Mathematical Olympiad Treasures of Titu Andreescu published in 2003.
It is a direct consequence of Cauchy–Bunyakovsky–Schwarz inequality. Nevertheless, in his article (1997) Sedrakyan has noticed that written in this form this inequality can be used as a proof technique and it has very useful new applications. In the book Algebraic Inequalities (Sedrakyan) several generalizations of this inequality are provided.
Statement of the inequality
For any real numbers and positive reals we have (Nairi Sedrakyan (1997), Arthur Engel (1998), Titu Andreescu (2003))
Probabilistic statement
Similarly to the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality, one can generalize Sedrakyan's inequality to random variables.
In this formulation let be a real random variable, and let be a positive random variable. X and Y need not be independent, but we assume and are both defined.
Then
Direct applications
Example 1. Nesbitt's inequality.
For positive real numbers
Example 2. International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 1995.
For positive real numbers , where we have that
Example 3.
For positive real numbers we have that
Example 4.
For positive real numbers we have that
Proofs
Example 1.
Proof: Use and to conclude:
Example 2.
We have that
Example 3.
We have so that
Example 4.
We have that
References
Inequalities
Linear algebra
Operator theory
Articles containing proofs
Mathematical analysis
Probabilistic inequalities | Titu's lemma | [
"Mathematics"
] | 384 | [
"Mathematical theorems",
"Mathematical analysis",
"Binary relations",
"Theorems in probability theory",
"Probabilistic inequalities",
"Mathematical relations",
"Inequalities (mathematics)",
"Linear algebra",
"Articles containing proofs",
"Mathematical problems",
"Algebra"
] |
58,328,003 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%206054 | NGC 6054 is a barred lenticular galaxy located about 460 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It was discovered by astronomer Lewis Swift on June 27, 1886. It was then rediscovered by astronomer Guillaume Bigourdan on June 1, 1888. PGC 57073 is often misidentified as NGC 6054. NGC 6054 is a member of the Hercules Cluster.
See also
List of NGC objects (6001–7000)
References
External links
http://ngcicproject.org/NGC/NGC_60xx/NGC_6054.htm
http://www.astronomy-mall.com/Adventures.In.Deep.Space/NGC%206000%20-%206999%20(11-30-17).htm
6054
57086
Hercules (constellation)
Hercules Cluster
Astronomical objects discovered in 1886
Barred lenticular galaxies
IC objects
10192 | NGC 6054 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 190 | [
"Hercules (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
58,328,108 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemia%20Medica | Biochemia Medica is a triannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering biochemistry, clinical chemistry, and laboratory medicine. It was established in 1991 and is published by the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine. In 2006, the existing editor-in-chief and editorial board were replaced, and the new editorial board redesigned the journal's entire format; soon afterward, the journal was indexed in both EMBASE and Scopus. The journal received its first impact factor from the Journal Citation Reports in 2010, based on articles published in 2009. The editor-in-chief is Daria Pašalić (School of Medicine, University of Zagreb). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 3.653.
References
External links
Biochemistry journals
Laboratory medicine journals
Academic journals established in 1991
Creative Commons Attribution-licensed journals
Triannual journals
English-language journals
Academic journals published by learned and professional societies
Academic journals of Croatia | Biochemia Medica | [
"Chemistry"
] | 194 | [
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Biochemistry journals",
"Biochemistry literature",
"Biochemistry journal stubs"
] |
58,331,015 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfortune%20Cookie%20%28software%20vulnerability%29 | Misfortune Cookie is a computer software vulnerability found in the firmware of certain network routers which can be leveraged by an attacker to gain access remotely. The vulnerability has been detected to have affected around 12 million unique devices spread across 189 countries, earning itself a 9.8 Tyne CVSS rating. Any device connected to an exposed network could be hijacked by an attacker who could easily monitor a person's Internet connection or steal their credentials as well as personal or business data. They could also attempt to infect the target machines with malware.
Otherwise known as CVE-2014-9222, the bug was first discovered in 2014 by Check Point researchers. It returned again in 2018, four years after its public disclosure, but this time, affecting a completely different set of targets, aka medical devices. When the vulnerability was applied to medical attacks, the DTS configurations could be tampered with, communication could be spoofed, and information could be stolen from an unsuspecting person.
Exploitation
With the combination of its severity, ease of exploiting, lack of practically any preconditions and the sheer volume of affected networks, the Misfortune Cookie could be considered truly unique. The vulnerability was so easy to exploit that all an attacker had to do to gain access over a device was to send a single packet to the device's public IP address. The exploitation could be carried out with just a modern-day web browser making it even more dangerous than most security vulnerabilities.
The attacker in this scenario sends a crafted HTTP cookie attribute to the vulnerable system's (network router) web-management portal, where the attacker's content overwrites the device memory. The contents of the cookie act as command to the router which then abides by the commands. This results in arbitrary code execution. This vulnerability was discovered in the early 2000s but did not emerge publicly until 2014, when security researchers from an Israeli security firm checkpoint made a public disclosure. The vulnerability still persists in over 1 million devices accessible over the Internet and a total of about 12 million devices. This includes around 200 different router brands.
In 2018, the vulnerability again gained traction as the vulnerable firmware was used in medical equipment that could potentially cause life-threatening attacks via IoT. Its severity was highlighted by ICS-CERT in its advisory, thereby.
References
Firmware
Computer security exploits | Misfortune Cookie (software vulnerability) | [
"Technology"
] | 489 | [
"Computer security exploits"
] |
58,332,241 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone%20XS | The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max (Roman numeral "X" pronounced as "ten") are smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the twelfth-generation flagships of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone X. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the devices alongside a lower-end model, the iPhone XR, on September 12, 2018, at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. Pre-orders began on September 14, 2018, and the devices went on sale on September 21. At WWDC 2024, it was announced the iPhone XS (along with the iPhone XR) would receive iOS 18. This makes it the oldest iPhone to support the latest version of iOS, and currently the oldest supported smartphone. The iPhone XS is the second model to receive at least 7 software updates from iOS 12 to iOS 18, following the iPhone 6s which received iOS 9 to iOS 15.
Improvements include faster computing speeds, dual-SIM support, filming with stereo audio, and better water resistance.
The XS Max was the first plus-sized iPhone to have the reduced bezel form factor, as the iPhone X did not have a larger variant.
Along with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple discontinued the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max on September 10, 2019, following the announcement of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
iPhone XS and XS Max are the final iPhone models to feature 3D Touch.
Design
The XS, which is visually near-identical to the iPhone X, has a better system-on-a-chip: the A12 Bionic chip built with a 7 nm process. It has a 5.85 inch (149 mm) OLED display (marketed as 5.8 inch) with a resolution of 2436 × 1125 pixels (2.7 megapixels) at 458 ppi, dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, and one 7-megapixel front-facing camera.
The iPhone XS Max has the same hardware and cameras, but a larger 6.46 inch (164 mm) OLED display (marketed as 6.5 inch) with a resolution of 2688 × 1242 pixels (3.3 megapixels) at 458 ppi and a larger battery (3,174mAh). The XS has a smaller battery than the X, dropping to 2,658 mAh from 2,716 mAh. The XS' battery is a new single-cell L-shaped battery, while the iPhone XS Max battery remains two cells like the iPhone X. Apple said that the iPhone XS lasts up to 30 minutes longer than iPhone X, while the iPhone XS Max lasts up to 1.5 hours longer than iPhone X.
Apple said that the devices have faster Face ID technology than the iPhone X. It was also announced in June 2019 at WWDC that Face ID on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and iPhone X would be made up to 30% faster with iOS 13, which was released on September 19, 2019.
The XS and XS Max are rated IP68 for dust and water resistance under IEC standard 60529, with Apple specifying a maximum depth of 2 meters and up to 30 minutes of submersion in water. This is an improvement over the IP67 water resistance of the iPhone 8 and X. Apple has performed tests in various liquids including chlorinated water, salt water, tea, wine, beer and juices.
The XS and XS Max support dual SIMs through a nano-SIM and an eSIM. In mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, however, the XS Max comes with a dual nano-SIM tray (and no eSIM). The XS does not have a dual nano-SIM tray, so the eSIM functionality is enabled for use in Hong Kong and Macau, but not in mainland China.
SoC
XS and XS Max use A12 Bionic SoC, which consists of 6-core CPU (2x Vortex + 4x Tempest), 4-core GPU, and 8-core Neural Engine.
Software
The iPhone XS and XS Max originally shipped with iOS 12, and support iOS 13, iOS 14, iOS 15, iOS 16, iOS 17 and iOS 18. The iPhone XS and XS Max are the longest supported iPhones alongside the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and XR, all supporting 7 versions of iOS.
Wireless charging
The wireless charging coil material was switched to copper to reduce charging time and power loss.
Rear camera upgrades
The iPhone XS, XS Max and XR are the first iPhones able to record stereo audio for videos.
Starting with the iPhone 2018 lineup (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR), these cameras were updated to a 12MP (1/2.55") sensor size with a 1.4 μm pixel size, the same sensor and pixel size as the primary cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S10, Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S7, Pixel 2, Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and the Moto X4.
Reception and issues
Reception and connectivity issues
The iPhone XS received generally positive reviews from critics after release. iPhone XS and XS Max users initially had issues with LTE, Wi-Fi reception and Bluetooth connections. Some experts claimed that a faulty antenna was to blame, and in response to many consumer complaints about iPhone XS/XS Max connectivity problems, Apple contacted users for help with their investigation. To resolve some problems with the XS/XS Max, Apple pushed the iOS 12.0.1 update on October 8, 2018, which, along with addressing the Chargegate issue, fixed a connectivity issue where Bluetooth could become temporarily unavailable on the XS/XS Max.
Chargegate
Users reported that the iPhone XS and XS Max would sometimes fail to charge by Lightning cable if it had been off for a while, and would only begin to charge if the screen was turned on. This was caused by a software bug with Apple's "Disable USB accessories when locked" setting, a feature intended to prevent unknown devices from accessing a user's content. The press dubbed the issue "Chargegate". This and a Bluetooth connectivity problem were fixed by iOS 12.0.1, released on October 8, 2018.
Camera issues (Beautygate)
Customers also reported seeing unrealistic smoothness on their skin when taking a selfie with an automatic filter, an effect associated with the XS and XS Max's new Smart HDR camera feature. This technology combines multiple photos of varying exposures to increase dynamic range on the iPhones' photos, but can also reduce facial imperfections and highlights in selfies. Some, who speculated this was the result of a hidden "beauty mode" (an actual feature in some smartphones), dubbed the issue "Beautygate". There was a general dispute in the community as to whether the camera actual "intended" to "perfect" faces or if they just appeared that way as result of a better-quality camera.
Apple said that these results were due to the Smart HDR algorithm incorrectly selecting the blurrier long exposure as its base frame instead of the sharpest short exposure. The issue was resolved with the release of iOS 12.1 on October 30, 2018.
The iPhone XS' camera was criticized for not featuring a night mode. iOS 13 did not include night mode which was kept exclusive to the then-new iPhone 11. However, third-party apps brought similar Night Mode to older iPhones.
See also
Comparison of smartphones
History of iPhone
iPhone XR
List of iPhone models
Timeline of iPhone models
Notes
References
External links
– official site
Computer-related introductions in 2018
Mobile phones introduced in 2018
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Mobile phones with pressure-sensitive touch screen
Discontinued flagship smartphones | IPhone XS | [
"Technology"
] | 1,645 | [
"Discontinued flagship smartphones",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
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