bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fitting Monte Carlo simulation results with an empirical model of megavoltage x-ray beams for rapid depth dose calculations in water
Authors: O’Brien Allison , Abergel Rebecca J
Published: May 2024

Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess a method of accelerating Monte Carlo simulations for modeling depth dose distributions from megavoltage x-ray beams by fitting them to an empirically-derived function. Approach. Using Geant4, multiple simulations of a typical medical linear accelerator beam in water and in water with an air cavity were conducted with varying numbers of initial electrons. The resulting percent depth dose curves were compared to published data from actual linear accelerator measurements. Two methods were employed to reduce computation time for this modeling process. First, an empirical function derived from measurements at a particular linear accelerator energy, source-to-surface distance, and field size was used to directly fit the simulated data. Second, a linear regression was performed to predict the empirical function’s parameters for simulations with more initial electrons. Main results. Fitting simulated depth dose curves with the empirical function yielded significant improvements in either accuracy or computation time, corresponding to the two methods described. When compared to published measurements, the maximum error for the largest simulation was 5.58%, which was reduced to 2.01% with the best fit of the function. Fitting the empirical function around the air cavity heterogeneity resulted in errors less than 2.5% at the interfaces. The linear regression prediction modestly improved the same simulation with a maximum error of 4.22%, while reducing the required computation time from 66.53 h to 43.75 h. Significance. This study demonstrates the effective use of empirical functions to expedite Monte Carlo simulations for a range of applications from radiation protection to food sterilization. These results are particularly impactful in radiation therapy treatment planning, where time and accuracy are especially valuable. Employing these methods may improve patient outcomes by ensuring that dose delivery more accurately matches the prescription or by shortening the preparation time before treatment in Monte Carlo-based treatment planning systems.
On the influence of electrode surfaces on the plasma chemistry of a capacitive chlorine discharge
Authors: Mahdavipour B , Gudmundsson J T
Published: May 2024

One-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisional simulations are performed on capacitive chlorine discharges with 2.54 cm gap rf driven by a sinusoidal with voltage amplitude of 222 V at driving frequency of 13.56 MHz. The properties of the discharge, the reaction rates for creation and loss of a few key species, the electron energy probability function, and the primary electron power absorption processes are explored as the gas pressure and the inclusion of secondary electron emission processes in the discharge model is varied. Five cases are investigated, including and neglecting electron, ion, and fast neutrals induced secondary electron emission. The negative ion Cl− is almost entirely created by dissociative attachment and lost through ion-ion recombination, and therefore the capacitive chlorine discharge is recombination dominated.
Tuning critical current density properties of YBa2Cu3O
y
thin films under longitudinal magnetic field by using heavy-ion irradiation
Authors: Sueyoshi Tetsuro , Enokihata Ryusei , Yamaguchi Hiroshi , Semboshi Satoshi , Ozaki Toshinori , Sakane Hitoshi , Nishizaki Terukazu , Ishikawa Norito
Published: May 2024

We attempted to improve the critical current density J
c under a longitudinal magnetic field (LMF) by using columnar defects (CDs) tilted toward the transport current, where the CDs were produced with 80 MeV Xe ions at an incident angle(s) up to φ
i = 87.5° relative to the c-axis of YBa2Cu3O
y
thin films. The formation of CDs extending throughout the film was confirmed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The CDs tilted at φ
i = 87.5° weakened the magnetic field dependence of J
c under the LMF, providing a J
c higher than that of the unirradiated film in a high magnetic field. This is the first study to demonstrate that CDs and/or irradiation defects contribute to flux pinning under the LMF in high-T
c superconductors. In addition, the J
c under LMF was sensitive to the tilt angle of the CDs: the J
c was reduced by CDs tilted not only at φ
i = 0°, but also at a slightly larger angle relative to the ab-plane, i.e. φ
i = 85°. The introduction of CDs rather disturbs the LMF effect because of the large volume passing through the film thickness, unless the tilt angles of the CDs are within the narrow angular region effective for the LMF effect.
Dissipation in hydrodynamics from micro- to macroscale: wisdom from Boltzmann and stochastic thermodynamics
Authors: Forastiere Danilo , Avanzini Francesco , Esposito Massimiliano
Published: May 2024

We show that macroscopic irreversible thermodynamics for viscous fluids can be derived from exact information-theoretic thermodynamic identities valid at the microscale. Entropy production, in particular, is a measure of the loss of many-particle correlations in the same way in which it measures the loss of system-reservoirs correlations in stochastic thermodynamics (ST). More specifically, we first show that boundary conditions at the macroscopic level define a natural decomposition of the entropy production rate (EPR) in terms of thermodynamic forces multiplying their conjugate currents, as well as a change in suitable nonequilibrium potential that acts as a Lyapunov function in the absence of forces. Moving to the microscale, we identify the exact identities at the origin of these dissipative contributions for isolated Hamiltonian systems. We then show that the molecular chaos hypothesis, which gives rise to the Boltzmann equation at the mesoscale, leads to a positive rate of loss of many-particle correlations, which we identify with the Boltzmann EPR. By generalizing the Boltzmann equation to account for boundaries with nonuniform temperature and nonzero velocity, and resorting to the Chapman–Enskog expansion, we recover the macroscopic theory we started from. Finally, using a linearized Boltzmann equation we derive ST for dilute particles in a weakly out-of-equilibrium fluid and its corresponding macroscopic thermodynamics. Our work unambiguously demonstrates the information-theoretical origin of thermodynamic notions of entropy and dissipation in macroscale irreversible thermodynamics.
The adsorption of CO gas on the surface of boron nitride incorporating 2D carbon allotropes: a DFT analysis
Authors: Ahmed Mohammad Tanvir , Roy Debashis , Roman Abdullah Al , Kowser Zannatul , Islam Shariful , Ahmed Farid
Published: May 2024

The adsorption properties of different Carbon allotropes (i.e., graphene, γ-graphyne, Mobius graphene, and R-graphyne) and their corresponding Boron (N) and Nitrogen (N) incorporated BCN nanostructures toward carbon monoxide (CO) gas are studied via density functional theory calculation. All the adsorbents demonstrated negative formation energies and real frequencies, i.e., can be synthesized and have dynamical stability. The adsorption energies have increased due to B and N incorporation, although still comparatively low for practical application. The highest adsorption energy with suitable recovery time is observed for the Mobius BCN structure, about −0.112 eV and 77.8 ps, respectively. Very nominal charge transfer is observed via Mulliken charge distribution and electrostatic potential map analysis. The changes in energy gap and electrical conductivity are observed due to CO adsorption.
Modelling the transmission behavior of measles disease considering contaminated environment through a fractal-fractional Mittag-Leffler kernel
Authors: Wireko Fredrick A , Adu Isaac K , Gyamfi Kwame A , Asamoah Joshua Kiddy K
Published: May 2024

This work utilises a fractal-fractional operator to examine the dynamics of transmission of measles disease. The existence and uniqueness of the measles model have been thoroughly examined in the context of the fixed point theorem, specifically utilising the Atangana-Baleanu fractal and fractional operators. The model has been demonstrated to possess both Hyers-Ulam stability and Hyers-Ulam Rassias stability. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis of the model was performed, including examination of key parameters such as the fundamental reproduction number, the measles-free and measles-present equilibria, and assessment of global stability. This research has shown that the transmission of measles disease is affected by natural phenomena, as changes in the fractal-fractional order lead to changes in the disease dynamics. Furthermore, environmental contamination has been shown to play a significant role in the transmission of the measles disease.
Modulation instability and extraction of fractional optical solitons in the presence of generalized Kudryashov’s law and dual form of non-local nonlinearity
Authors: Chahlaoui Younes , Umair Muhammad , Butt Asma Rashid , Alshahrani Alanoud A M
Published: May 2024

This research delves into the study of optical solitons governed by Kudryashov’s law of nonlinear refractive index, incorporating a conformable fractional derivative, perturbed terms, and a quadrupled-power law in optical fibers. Employing a novel approach known as the generalized exp(−

S
(
ζ
)

) expansion method, we identify novel optical soliton solutions characterized by exponential, rational, and hyperbolic functions featuring a conformable fractional derivative. These solutions manifest as unified bright-dark, singular, singular periodic, kink, anti-kink, and novel solitary waves. We employ 3D, contour, and 2D plots to analyze the behavior of these solutions across different temporal and fractional-order derivative parameters, offering an understanding of their physical interpretations. Furthermore, we perform modulation instability (MI) analysis that depends on standard linear stability analysis to derive the MI gain spectrum, demonstrating how well our methodology works for nonlinear problems in the natural sciences and engineering domains. This approach provides an effective way to investigate optical solutions in various integer and fractional Schrödinger equations.
Study of deposition temperature effect on spray-deposited copper oxide thin films and its schottky diodes
Authors: Kumar Anuj , Dalal Damini , Singh Amanpal , Kumar Dinesh , Narwal Vinay , Swami Sanjay Kumar , Chaturvedi Neha , Kumar Manoj
Published: May 2024

Due to its ideal optical and electrical properties for upcoming electronic devices, Cu2O is commonly regarded as one of the most promising p-type oxides. Copper (Cu) rapidly deposits mixed phases of its oxides. This article describes the spray deposition method for developing copper oxide thin films at temperatures between 200 and 400 °C on glass substrates coated with ITO. Through optimization of the deposition temperature, Cu2O-rich phases were attained in the copper oxide films, typically around 300 °C. A Cu-rich phase was seen at 200 °C deposition temperature, and this phase progressively diminished at higher temperatures. At 400 °C, the CuO phase began to enrich the films in the meantime. Analysis using an x-ray diffraction (XRD) verified the existence of Cu2O phases (111), (200), and (220). The crystallites were discovered to be between 17.49 and 20.32 nm in size for the films deposited between 300 and 400 °C. The x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) identifies Cu and oxygen as the main components. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the deposition temperature significantly affects the copper’s oxidation state. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) investigation showed that as the temperature increased, surface roughness decreased. As the deposition temperature increased, the energy band gap of the deposited films widened from 1.67 to 2.85 eV, as observed by the UV–vis-NIR spectrophotometer. Moreover, the fabrication of Schottky diodes with Cu metal contacts is also reported. These fabricated diodes showed a proportionate rise in barrier height with increasing deposition temperature.
Robust 1-norm Periodograms for Analysis of Noisy Non-Gaussian Time Series with Irregular Cadences: Application to VLBI Astrometry of Quasars
Authors: Makarov Valeri V. , Lambert Sébastien , Cigan Phil , DiLullo Christopher , Gordon David
Published: May 2024

Astronomical time series often have non-uniform sampling in time, or irregular cadences, with long gaps separating clusters of observations. Some of these data sets are also explicitly non-Gaussian with respect to the expected model fit, or the simple mean. The standard Lomb–Scargle periodogram is based on the least squares solution for a set of test periods and, therefore, is easily corrupted by a subset of statistical outliers or an intrinsically non-Gaussian population. It can produce completely misleading results for heavy-tailed distribution of residuals. We propose a robust 1-norm periodogram technique, which is based on the principles of robust statistical estimation. This technique can be implemented in weighted or unweighted options. The method is described in detail and compared with the classical least squares periodogram on a set of astrometric VLBI measurements of the ICRF quasar IERS B0642+449. It is uniformly applied to a collection of 259 ICRF3 quasars each with more than 200 epoch VLBI measurements, resulting in a list of 49 objects with quasi-periodic position changes above the 3σ level, which warrant further investigation.
Object condensation for track building in a backward electron tagger at the EIC
Authors: Gardner S. , Tyson R. , Glazier D. , Livingston K.
Published: May 2024

At the Electron Ion Collider, quasi-real photoproduction measurements involve tracking scattered electrons at small angles relative to the beamline. These electrons act as effective beams of tagged almost-real photons, with a high flux compared to larger Q2 interactions. However, the proximity of the detector to the electron beam results in a very high flux of electrons from the bremsstrahlung process (about 10 electrons per 12 ns electron/ion bunch crossing over an area of approximately 100 cm2). Consequently, the tracking detector systems experience high occupancy. To address this, we propose using machine learning algorithms, specifically object condensation methods, which excel at track building in the quasi-real photon tagger. These algorithms achieve track finding efficiency of 95% or higher and purity of 90% or higher, even in the presence of noise and hit detection inefficiencies.
Vacuum-Ultraviolet spectrometer system for impurity emission measurement on a Compact Torus Injection System of EAST
Authors: Shen Yongcai , Niu Yufan , Kong Defeng , Ye Yang , Zhang Shoubiao , Li Dachuang , Tan Mingsheng , Huang Yanqing , Zhao Zhihao , Zi Pengfei , Zhang Xiaohui , Wen Fei
Published: May 2024

Recently, a compact torus injection (CTI) system was
developed for central fueling on experimental advanced
superconducting tokamak (EAST). As impurity generated by the
interaction between CTI plasma and the electrode material can dilute
the fuel particle, it is important to measure impurity content in
CTI and evaluate the effect of impurity on the plasma before the
application of CTI to EAST. A vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) spectrometer
that utilizes a concave holographic grating with
1200 groove mm-1 was developed and installed on EAST-CTI for
impurity emission measurement and transport study. The mainly parts
of the spectrometer are an entrance slit, a concave holographic
grating with 1200 groove mm-1 and a charge coupled device
(CCD). The spectrometer is designed to image the spectra of
50–460 nm by turning the grating. Preliminary experimental results
were obtained from the recent EAST-CTI campaign. Impurity line
spectra from 50 to 460 nm wavelength range were measured and
identified for several impurity species, such as iron, copper,
chromium, oxygen, carbon and fluorine. For example, spectra in the
intervals of 150 nm to 300 nm contained strong Fe lines. Helium
spectra are also measured in the form of He I and He II spectral
lines as helium is the main component of the plasma. The results
show that the VUV spectrometer is capable of measuring impurity
radiations on EAST-CTI and will be a useful tool for impurity
behavior study.
Synthesis of novel silver-loaded clay AgF@Hec for the prevention of dental caries in vitro
Authors: Wang Y S , Shi Y X , Liu Q Q , Hu L Q , Ma F B , Zhang J R , Tang K M , Tang B , Dai J
Published: May 2024

Dental caries, a chronic infectious disease characterized by tooth mineral loss caused by plaque, is one of the major global public health problems. Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) has been proven to be a highly effective anti-caries drug due to its high bacterial inhibition and remineralization ability. However, the SDF solution is unstable, which immensely limits its clinical application. Therefore, new silver-load clay named AgF@Hec was designed by replacing the NH3 with hectorite in this study. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction spectroscopy were employed to confirm the structure of AgF@Hec. Dynamic light scattering analysis was used to reveal the effect of different hectorite concentrations on the stability of AgF@Hec. Moreover, AgF@Hec exhibits significant remineralization and hardness recovery of the initial carious lesions. Bacteriostatic experiments also proved that it has a significant inhibitory effect on A. Viscosus, S. mutans, S. sanguinis, S. salivarius, Lactobacillus sp. and both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. We therefore believed that AgF@Hec should be a promising biomaterial that can be applied in the prevention of dental caries.
Emphatic architecture: an approach to spatial quality concept in achieving adaptive retail resilience
Authors: Ustazah E N , Setijanti P , Hayati A
Published: May 2024

The retail atmosphere is changing fast. A physical-based retail is developed by creating an experience with user empathy. The object of this research is an art fashion retail boutique fashion with art content and experiences that represent the uniqueness of customer segmentation. This type of retail will collapse if there are no repeat visits. Consequently, the retail resilience will be declined. Therefore, it is crucial to conceptualize how the customer experience in a retail setting influences purchasing decision-making. This study focuses on designing for customers with specific needs to gain personal experiences in art fashion retail. This experience is understood effectively through an empathic process. Spatial quality is related to the atmosphere. Understanding the atmosphere and customers is related to the existence of spatial settings, activities, senses, and behavior. The relationship between this aspect becomes the basis for developing the concept of personalizing from the customer's point of view. The strategy used is qualitative research to explore customer interaction experiences with spatial settings and gain a broad understanding of related aspects. The composition of the spatial quality elements of art fashion retail represents the customers' perception, experience, and behavior. Varied experiences include being close to a product, close to space, feeling at home, getting imaginative with settings, and uniting and strengthening social relationships. Then customers gain a comfortable atmosphere, so the existence of retail can be resilient in the latest era of retail business.
The Efficacy of Horizontal Adjustable Bent Louver Shading for Enhancing Daylighting Performance in Walk-Up Apartment Buildings
Authors: Dinapradipta A , Sudarma E , Indrawan I A , Krisdianto J , Arifin M F , Hasya A H
Published: May 2024

This paper addressed the challenges posed by the limited windows and restricted areas in walk-up flats in Indonesia, resulting in improper indoor daylight performance. The study proposes using outdoor horizontally bent, adjustable louver screens as daylight reflectors to overcome this issue and improve daylighting performance in apartment buildings. The quasi-experimental technique implemented the Radiance Desktop Plug-in Version 1.02 and Ecotect 2011 lighting software. Variables, such as slat shading geometry, i.e., flat, one-bent, two-bent slats, and rotation opening angles, i.e., 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°, were examined for interior daylight performance regarding daylight intensity and distribution. The findings indicate that although shading can reduce the average lighting level in a room, shading types with bents can improve daylight performance in another important aspect, namely achieving a more even distribution. The most effective shading technique for harvesting and distributing daylight evenly in tropical walk-up apartments was a two-bent slat type, particularly with opening angles of 90°. The results also demonstrate that louvers with multiple bent slat geometry are particularly effective in reflecting high altitudes of incident light often encountered in tropical regions and scattering the incoming light evenly into the innermost area of the room.
Machinability study on abrasive waterjet drilling of YSZ-coated inconel 718 superalloy: optimization and modelling by machine learning
Authors: Siva Kumar Mahalingam , Nagarajan Lenin , Vasudevan Balaji
Published: May 2024

The purpose of this research is to ascertain the optimal abrasive waterjet drilling parameters for making holes on Inconel 718 superalloy coated with yttrium-stabilized zirconia, namely waterjet pressure (JP), standoff distance (SD), abrasive flow rate (FR), and angle of impact (AI). The study explores the predictive modeling of the entry diameter (DN) and exit diameter (DX) of the drilled holes using an amalgamation of experimental analysis, response optimization and machine learning approaches. Eight different ML techniques are used to predict DN and DX. Better values of DN = 1.31352 mm and DX = 1.00515 mm are obtained through Random Forest for the setting of JP = 175 MPa, FR = 250 g min−1, SD = 1.45455 mm, and AI = 0.909091 deg. Further, the tuning of hyperparameters of Random Forest algorithm is performed to study the improvement in measuring DN and DX. The least value of total absolute error = 0.468 is observed while finding the DN and DX using Random Forest algorithm than the traditional response optimization method with reference to the confirmation test results. The work provides important insights for enhancing the machinability of YSZ-coated Inconel 718 superalloy utilizing the AWJ drilling process by bridging the gap between manufacturing research, machine learning, and real-world applications.
Development of a mathematical model of productivity for conventional and stepped solar stills using RSM
Authors: Patel Krunalkumar B , Patel Tushar M
Published: May 2024

Solar stills play a vital role as devices for utilizing solar energy to generate drinkable water, especially in dry regions where obtaining clean water poses a considerable challenge. This research concentrates on the expansion of a comprehensive mathematical model for anticipating and enhancing the performance of both conventional and stepped solar stills, employing Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The study investigates the influence of key design parameters, for instance, water depth (mm), mass flow rate (kg/h), and glass thickness (mm), on the productivity of conventional and stepped solar stills. The experimental setup involves the systematic collection of data from both conventional and stepped solar stills under varying operational conditions. Through the application of RSM, a predictive mathematical model is established, capturing the complex interdependencies among the input variables and their impact on the distilled water output, called productivity. This model serves as a valuable tool for understanding and optimizing the performance of solar stills in diverse operating conditions.
Decoding characteristics of key physical properties in silver nanoparticles by attaining centroids for cytotoxicity prediction through data cleansing
Authors: Desai Anjana S , Bandopadhyaya Anindita , Ashok Aparna , Maneesha  , Bhagat Neeru
Published: May 2024

This research underscores the profound impact of data cleansing, ensuring dataset integrity and providing a structured foundation for unraveling convoluted connections between diverse physical properties and cytotoxicity. As the scientific community delves deeper into this interplay, it becomes clear that precise data purification is a fundamental aspect of investigating parameters within datasets. The study presents the need for data filtration in the background of machine learning (ML) that has widened its horizon into the field of biological application through the amalgamation of predictive systems and algorithms that delve into the intricate characteristics of cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. The reliability and accuracy of models in the ML landscape hinge on the quality of input data, making data cleansing a critical component of the pre-processing pipeline. The main encounter faced here is the lengthy, broad and complex datasets that have to be toned down for further studies. Through a thorough data cleansing process, this study addresses the complexities arising from diverse sources, resulting in a refined dataset. The filtration process employs K-means clustering to derive centroids, revealing the correlation between the physical properties of nanoparticles, viz, concentration, zeta potential, hydrodynamic diameter, morphology, and absorbance wavelength, and cytotoxicity outcomes measured in terms of cell viability. The cell lines considered for determining the centroid values that predicts the cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles are human and animal cell lines which were categorized as normal and carcinoma type. The objective of the study is to simplify the high-dimensional data for accurate analysis of the parameters that affect the cytotoxicity of silver NPs through centroids.
Machine learning meets Kepler: inverting Kepler’s equation for All vs All conjunction analysis
Authors: Otto Kevin , Burgis Simon , Kersting Kristian , Bertrand Reinhold , Singh Dhami Devendra
Published: May 2024

The number of satellites in orbit around Earth is increasing rapidly, with the risk of collision rising accordingly. Trends of the global population of satellites need to be analyzed to test the viability and impact of proposed rules and laws affecting the satellite population and collision avoidance strategies. This requires large scale simulations of satellites that are propagated on long timescales to compute the large amounts of actionable close encounters (called conjunctions), which could lead to collisions. Rigorously checking for conjunctions by computing future states of orbits is computationally expensive due to the large amount of objects involved and conjunction filters are thus used to remove non-conjuncting orbit pairs from the list of possible conjunctions. In this work, we explore the possibility of machine learning (ML) based conjunction filters using several algorithms such as eXtreme Gradient Boosting, TabNet and (physics-informed) neural networks and deep operator networks. To show the viability and the potential of ML based filters, these algorithms are trained to predict the future state of orbits. For the physics-informed approaches, multiple partial differential equations are set up using the Kepler equation as a basis. The empirical results demonstrate that physics-informed deep operator networks are capable of predicting the future state of orbits using these equations (RMSE: 0.136) and outperform eXtreme Gradient Boosting (RMSE: 0.568) and TabNet (RMSE: 0.459). We also propose a filter based on the trained deep operator network which is shown to outperforms the filter capability of the commonly used perigee-apogee test and the orbit path filter on a synthetic dataset, while being on average 3.2 times faster to compute than a rigorous conjunction check.
Response of the Southern Hemisphere extratropical cyclone climatology to climate intervention with stratospheric aerosol injection
Authors: Reboita Michelle Simões , Gabriel Martins Ribeiro João , Machado Crespo Natália , da Rocha Rosmeri Porfírio , Odoulami Romaric C , Sawadogo Windmanagda , Moore John
Published: May 2024

Little is known about how climate intervention through stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) may affect the climatology of the Southern Hemisphere extratropical cyclones under warming scenarios. To address this knowledge gap, we tracked extratropical cyclones from 2015 to 2099 in a set of projections of three international projects: the Assessing Responses and Impacts of Solar Climate Intervention on the Earth System with Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (ARISE), the Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Large Ensemble (GLENS), and the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP/G6sulfur). Comparisons were performed between no-SAI and SAI scenarios as well as between different timeslices and their reference period (2015–2024). Among the findings, both no-SAI and SAI project a decrease in cyclone frequency towards the end of the century although weaker under SAI scenarios. On the other hand, cyclones tend to be stronger under no-SAI scenarios while keeping their intensity more similar to the reference period under SAI scenarios. This means that under SAI scenarios the climatology of cyclones is less affected by global warming than under no-SAI. Other features of these systems, such as travelling distance, lifetime, and mean velocity show small differences between no-SAI and SAI scenarios and between reference and future periods.
Regularity of matrix coefficients of a compact symmetric pair of Lie groups
Authors: Dumas Guillaume
Published: May 2024

We consider Gelfand pairs

(
G
,
K
)

(G,K)

where

G
G

is a compact Lie group and

K
K

a subgroup of fixed points of an involutive automorphism. We study the regularity of

K
K

-bi-invariant matrix coefficients of unitary representations of

G
G

. The results rely on the analysis of the spherical functions of the Gelfand pair

(
G
,
K
)

(G,K)

. When the symmetric space

G

/

K

G/K

is of rank

1
1

or isomorphic to a Lie group, we find the optimal regularity of

K
K

-bi-invariant matrix coefficients of unitary representations. Furthermore, in rank

1
1

we also find the optimal regularity of

K
K

-bi-invariant Herz-Schur multipliers of

S
p

(

L
2

(
G
)
)

S_p(L^2(G))

. We also give a lower bound for the optimal regularity in some families of higher rank symmetric spaces. From these results, we make a conjecture in the general case involving the root system of the symmetric space. Finally, we prove that if all

K
K

-bi-invariant matrix coefficients of unitary representations of

G
G

are

α
\alpha

-Hölder continuous for some

α
>
0

\alpha >0

, then all

K
K

-finite matrix coefficients of unitary representations are also

α
\alpha

-Hölder continuous.
The myosin chaperone UNC-45 has an important role in maintaining the structure and function of muscle sarcomeres during adult aging
Authors: Matheny Courtney J. , Qadota Hiroshi , Bailey Aaron O. , Valdebenito-Silva Silvana , Oberhauser Andres F. , Benian Guy M.
Published: May 2024

C. elegans undergo age-dependent declines in muscle organization and function, similar to human sarcopenia. The chaperone UNC-45 is required to fold myosin heads after translation and is likely used for refolding after thermally- or chemically-induced unfolding. UNC-45′s TPR region binds HSP-90 and its UCS domain binds myosin heads. We observe early onset sarcopenia when UNC-45 is reduced at the beginning of adulthood. There is sequential decline of HSP-90, UNC-45, and MHC B myosin. A mutation in age-1 delays sarcopenia and loss of HSP-90, UNC-45, and myosin. UNC-45 undergoes age-dependent phosphorylation, and mass spectrometry reveals phosphorylation of six serines and two threonines, seven of which occur in the UCS domain. Additional expression of UNC-45 results in maintenance of MHC B myosin and suppression of A-band disorganization in old animals. Our results suggest that increased expression or activity of UNC-45 might be a strategy for prevention or treatment of sarcopenia.
Male Professionals in Nineteenth Century Britain
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Male Professionals in Nineteenth-Century Britain is the first statistically based social, cultural, and familial history of a fast-growing section of the Victorian propertied classes. It is built around a representative cohort of 750 men who were recorded in the 1851 census as practising a profession in eight British provincial towns with distinctive economic and social profiles. The book provides a collective account of the cohort’s lives and the lives of their families across four generations, starting with their parents and ending with their grandchildren. The book aims to throw light on the extent to which nineteenth-century professionals had a distinctive socio-cultural profile, as sociologists and some historians have claimed, or were largely indistinguishable from other members of propertied society, as most historians today assume without further investigation. In exploring this question, particular attention is paid to the cohort families’ wealth, household size, education, occupational history, geographical mobility, choice of marriage partner, kinship and friendship circles, political allegiance, and leisure activities. The book demonstrates that male professionals in the Victorian era were not a homogeneous group, but were divided in many ways, especially by wealth. These divisions largely determine how far they and their families display endogenous or exogenous characteristics. The book also demonstrates that even the most successful professional families got poorer over time, and reveals how easily in the age of industrialization branches of families and sometimes complete families could drop out of the elite.
Introduction
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Chapter 1 first details the expansion and development of the professions in the reign of Victoria looking at their size and organization. It then shows that the professions were perceived by contemporary novelists and others as a distinctive social group. Next, it looks at how the professions have been viewed by sociologists and historians, and the extent to which they have been differentiated from other sections of propertied society. Finally, the chapter introduces the methodology that the authors use to write a collective biography of a representative sample of professional men and their families across four generations in order to investigate whether or not professional men had a distinctive socio-cultural identity. It explains the rationale of the choice of towns selected for study, the occupations deemed to be a profession in the Victorian era, and the biographical variables investigated.
Family, House, and Home
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Chapter 6 turns the spotlight on the cohort families’ households. It begins by establishing the age at which the cohort and their children and grandchildren would marry and their likelihood of doing so. It next explores the married couples’ fecundity, before looking at the different household types to which the cohort and their descendants might belong in the course of their life. This is done by examining the fluctuations in the households’ size, age and gender profile, and number of live-in servants. Finally, the chapter investigates the spatial footprint, value, and location of the properties the cohort and their families inhabited. Its chief conclusions are that a high proportion of daughters and granddaughters never married, that family limitation was already widely practised in the children’s generation, and that live-in servants were to be found in only a half of the households of the cohort and their descendants.
Fathers and Sons
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Chapter 7 concentrates on the particular role of the paterfamilias in shaping the future of his male offspring. It considers the number of male children a father would be likely to have to raise, the kind of education that he would invest in, and the part he would play in choosing his sons’ career and future marriage partner. It demonstrates that too much can be made of the role of the public school and Oxbridge in educating the male offspring of the well-to-do in the long nineteenth century. Only a minority in each of the four generations attended a public school, even in the case of the cohort’s grandchildren. Some of the richest families were content to send their sons to a local grammar or proprietary school. Equally, apart from medical practitioners and clergymen, few male members of the cohort families experienced higher education of any kind, let alone attended Oxbridge.
The Domestic Circle
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Chapter 8 attempts to map the framework of the domestic life of our professional families. It begins by using domestic correspondence in particular to explore the difficult question of family relationships. While census data can demonstrate that the very large majority of husbands and wives lived together until one of them died, only family letters, which are not widely available, give any real insight into the depth of their emotional attachment. The chapter then explores the composition of the families’ wider kinship and friendship circles using the evidence to be found in wills, lists of marriage guests, and one short diary. It identifies the contours of these circles and explores how they were constituted symbolically and materially and assesses their significance for cohort members and their family’s well-being and advancement. It demonstrates that in each generation the number of close kin and friends was small but shows they could play a key role in establishing a son in a career.
The First World War and Beyond
Authors: Brockliss Laurence , Smith Harry
Published: May 2024

Chapter 10 offers an assessment of the effect of the First World War on the families under review. It identifies the grandsons of the cohort who fought in the war either as members of the regular army or as volunteers and conscripts, establishes their ranks, and determines the casualty rate. It then discusses in what sense the war could be seen as a watershed in the families’ history. The chapter concludes that the effect can be exaggerated. The war had a devastating effect on a sizeable minority of the cohort families: 20 per cent of grandsons who served were killed, but only 40 per cent of grandsons were of fighting age and a further 40 per cent of the eligible escaped call-up. There is little sign either that those who did fight and survived in good health had their lives turned upside down by the experience. Those who were already in work in 1914 went back to the same occupations.
Invited commentary: race, ethnicity, and racism in epidemiologic research—perspectives from Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP)
Authors: Ford Chandra L , Pirtle Whitney N L
Published: May 2024

In 2023, Martinez et al examined trends in the inclusion, conceptualization, operationalization, and analysis of race and ethnicity among studies published in US epidemiology journals. Based on a random sample of articles (n = 1050) published from 1995-2018, the authors describe the treatment of race, ethnicity, and ethnorace in the analytic sample (n = 414, 39% of baseline sample) over time. The review supplies stark evidence of the routine omission and variability of measures of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic research. Between 32% and 19% of studies in each time stratum lacked race data; 61%-34% lacked ethnicity data. Informed by public health critical race praxis (PHCRP), this commentary discusses the implications of 4 problems the findings suggest pervade epidemiology: (1) a general lack of clarity about what race and ethnicity are; (2) the limited use of critical race or other theory; (3) an ironic lack of rigor in measuring race and ethnicity; and (4) the ordinariness of racism and White supremacy in epidemiology. The identified practices reflect neither current publication guidelines nor the state of the knowledge on race, ethnicity and racism; therefore, we conclude by offering recommendations to move epidemiology toward more rigorous research in an increasingly diverse society.
Secular trends in adherence to healthy behaviors among US adults with diabetes, 1999-2018
Authors: Feng Chengwu , Feng Li , Shan Zhilei , Han Han , Cao Yaying , Sheng Aili , Guasch-Ferré Marta , Geng Xin , Wang Liang , Zong Geng
Published: May 2024

Adherence to a healthy lifestyle is essential for diabetes management in light of the plateaued metabolic control, diversified causes of death, and continued excess mortality among people with diabetes (PWD). In this study, the secular trend of adherence to healthy behaviors was assessed among PWD in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative survey of Americans, begun in 1999, that uses a stratified, multistage probability design in 2-year cycles. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was estimated via a scale using never smoking, moderate drinking, adequate physical activity, and healthy diet data; the scores range from 0 to 4. Among 7410 participants, adherence to healthy behaviors across time slightly increased from a score of 1.4 (95% CI, 1.3-1.5) in 1999-2002 to 1.6 (1.5-1.8) in 2015-2018 (P = .002 for trend). The overall lifestyle score of non-Hispanic Black people increased to the same score as non-Hispanic White people (1.7 vs 1.6 in 2015-2018). Large socioeconomic disparities remained in that participants with higher income and education level and who were covered by health insurance were more likely to adhere to healthy behaviors. The metabolic control plateaued and causes of death have diversified among PWD; thus, our findings suggested a potential for lifestyle modification in facilitating the long-term health of these patients.
A hypothetical intervention to reduce inequities in anxiety for Multiracial people: simulating an intervention on childhood adversity
Authors: Lam-Hine Tracy , Bradshaw Patrick , Allen Amani , Omi Michael , Riddell Corinne
Published: May 2024

Multiracial people report higher mean Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) scores and prevalence of anxiety than other racial groups. Studies using statistical interactions to test if associations between ACEs and anxiety are greater for this group than others have shown mixed results. Using data from waves 1 (1995-1997) through 4 (2008-2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we simulated a stochastic intervention over 1000 resampled datasets to estimate the race-specific cases averted per 1000 of anxiety if all racial groups had the same exposure distribution of ACEs as Whites. Simulated cases averted were greatest for the Multiracial group, (median = −4.17 cases per 1000; 95% CI; −7.42 to −1.86). The model also predicted smaller risk reductions for Black participants (−0.76; 95% CI, −1.53 to −0.19). CIs around estimates for other racial groups included the null. An intervention to reduce racial disparities in exposure to ACEs could help reduce the inequitable burden of anxiety on the Multiracial population. Stochastic methods support consequentialist approaches to racial health equity, and can encourage greater dialogue between public health researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

This article is part of a Special Collection on Mental Health.
Temperature dependence of pollen germination and tube growth in conifers relates to their distribution along an elevational gradient in Washington State, USA
Authors: Hsu Hsin-Wu , Kim Soo-Hyung
Published: May 2024

Background and Aims

Pollen germination and tube growth are essential processes for successful fertilization. They are among the most temperature-vulnerable stages and subsequently affect seed production and determine population persistence and species distribution under climate change. Our study aims to investigate intra- and interspecific variations in the temperature dependence of pollen germination and tube length growth and to explore how these variations differ for pollen from elevational gradients.

Methods

We focused on three conifer species, Pinus contorta, Picea engelmannii and Pinus ponderosa, with pollen collected from 350 to 2200 m elevation in Washington State, USA. We conducted pollen viability tests at temperatures from 5 to 40 °C in 5 °C intervals. After testing for 4 d, we took images of these samples under a microscope to monitor pollen germination percentage (GP) and tube length (TL). We applied the gamma function to describe the temperature dependence of GP and TL and estimated key parameters, including the optimal temperature for GP (Topt_GP) and TL (Topt_TL).

Key Results

Results showed that pollen from three species and different elevations within a species have different GP, TL, Topt_GP, and Topt_TL. The population with a higher Topt_GP would also have a higher Topt_TL, while Topt_TL was generally higher than Topt_GP, i.e. a positive but not one-to-one relationship. However, only Pinus contorta showed that populations from higher elevations have lower Topt_GP and Topt_TL and vice versa. The variability in GP increased at extreme temperatures, whereas the variability in TL was greatest near Topt_TL.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates the temperature dependences of three conifers across a wide range of temperatures. Pollen germination and tube growth are highly sensitive to temperature conditions and vary among species and elevations, affecting their reproduction success during warming. Our findings can provide valuable insights to advance our understanding of how conifer pollen responds to rising temperatures.
IntelliGenes: Interactive and user-friendly multimodal AI/ML application for biomarker discovery and predictive medicine
Authors: Narayanan Rishabh , DeGroat William , Mendhe Dinesh , Abdelhalim Habiba , Ahmed Zeeshan
Published: May 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have advanced in several areas and fields of life; however, its progress in the field of multi-omics is not matching the levels others have attained. Challenges include but are not limited to the handling and analysis of high volumes of complex multi-omics data, and the expertise needed to implement and execute AI/ML approaches. In this article, we present IntelliGenes, an interactive, customizable, cross-platform, and user-friendly AI/ML application for multi-omics data exploration to discover novel biomarkers and predict rare, common, and complex diseases. The implemented methodology is based on a nexus of conventional statistical techniques and cutting-edge ML algorithms, which outperforms single algorithms and result in enhanced accuracy. The interactive and cross-platform graphical user interface of IntelliGenes is divided into three main sections: (i) Data Manager, (ii) AI/ML Analysis, and (iii) Visualization. Data Manager supports the user in loading and customizing the input data and list of existing biomarkers. AI/ML Analysis allows the user to apply default combinations of statistical and ML algorithms, as well as customize and create new AI/ML pipelines. Visualization provides options to interpret a diverse set of produced results, including performance metrics, disease predictions, and various charts. The performance of IntelliGenes has been successfully tested at variable in-house and peer-reviewed studies, and was able to correctly classify individuals as patients and predict disease with high accuracy. It stands apart primarily in its simplicity in use for nontechnical users and its emphasis on generating interpretable visualizations. We have designed and implemented IntelliGenes in a way that a user with or without computational background can apply AI/ML approaches to discover novel biomarkers and predict diseases.