bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A photovoltaic power estimation model based on the improved local cloud occlusion index algorithm considering Sun block luminance
Authors: Yin Deyang , Zhai Kai , Zheng Jianfeng , Hou Qiankang , Mei Keqi
Published: November 2024

Accurate estimation of photovoltaic (PV) power generation is of great significance to the operation and optimization of the power grid. However, due to the rapid movement of clouds in a short period of time, the changes in PV power are intermittent and fluctuating. Nowadays, sky images have been widely used for PV power estimation, which can effectively extract overall or local cloud information. However, Sun halos are often mistaken for being part of clouds and lead to incorrect cloud coverage calculations. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a method to calculate the local cloud occlusion index based on an improved two-dimensional Gaussian function. In addition, a new parameter, Sun block luminance, is introduced to quantify the lighting conditions in the solar area. On the other hand, this paper constructs a novel hybrid model, which introduces asymmetric convolution and SE attention module to enhance the extraction ability of sky image features. The test results show that, under sunny and cloudy conditions, the RMSE, MAE and

R
2

values of the proposed model are 0.562, 0.462 and 0.989 on sunny days, 3.119, 2.248 and 0.774 on cloudy days, respectively, proving that the proposed model is superior to benchmark models.
Vlasov simulations of electric propulsion beam
Authors: Cui Chen , Wang Joseph
Published: November 2024

A grid-based Vlasov simulation model is developed to simulate the two-dimensional unmagnetized electric propulsion (EP) plasma beam emission process. Comparing to the standard fully kinetic Particle-in-Cell simulation, the grid-based Vlasov simulation method eliminates the interference of particle noise and is capable of resolving higher-order velocity moment, such as electron heat flux, accurately. Vlasov simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of microscopic electron kinetics on macroscopic electron thermodynamics in EP beam. We find that the electron velocity distribution function (eVDF) exhibits a near-Maxwellian shape but with a depleted negative velocity tail in the beam direction and a ‘top-hat’ shape in the transverse direction. Macroscopically, the electrons confined within the quasi-neutral beam core region has a near constant temperature along the beam direction but follow a near-adiabatic cooling process as they expand outward in the transverse direction. The electron heat flux is dominated by the x-direction tensor component. The connection between the eVDF skewness and the electron heat flux suggests a pathway to develop a microscopic physics based electron closure relation for macroscopic electron thermodynamic process in unmagnetized plasma beam expansion.
Nanoindentation mechanical studies of bulk AlN single crystals with different orientations
Authors: Zhou Hao , Chen Kebei , Gao Xiaodong , Zheng Shunan , Zeng Xionghui , Wang Chuang , Wang Yue , Pan Yangye , Xu Ke
Published: November 2024

This study utilized nanoindentation to perform nano-mechanical tests on freestanding aluminum nitride (AlN) single crystal substrates with (0002), (10–10), and (11–20) orientations prepared by the physical vapor transport (PVT) method with varying indentation depths. The results indicate that the c-plane exhibits greater hardness and smaller Young’s modulus compared to other orientations. Moreover, the mechanical properties of AlN with different orientations demonstrate consistency with the indentation size effect, showing a decrease in both hardness and Young’s modulus with increasing indentation depth. Surface morphology of the indentations was observed using SEM, revealing that at high loads, no obvious cracks were found in the c-plane indentation except for slight deformation, while the m-plane and a-plane indentations produced cracks extending along the a- and m-directions, respectively. Cathodoluminescence (CL) results demonstrated that dislocations and structural defects generated by the indentation produced the luminescence quenching. Notably, the inverted triangular dislocation slip region was clearly observed in the panchromatic CL images of c-plane indentation. The anisotropy of the phonon peaks at different crystal planes and the nature of the local stress at the indentation were further analyzed using Raman spectroscopy.
Joint impact of self-heating effect and lattice stress on the design performance of Si1−
xGex FinFET with advanced process integration
Authors: Zhao Pan , Zhou TaoYu , Liu NaiQi , He YanDong , Du Gang
Published: December 2024

In advanced FinFET process simulations, a strong correlation exists between the stress induction mechanism and the severe self-heating effect (SHE). These two factors are interrelated, and their interaction further diminishes the thermal conductivity of the device. This article employs computer-aided design for three-dimensional simulations and introduces a process-oriented simulation method. We investigate the influence of various stress sources including lattice stress, channel stress, stress relaxation buffer (SRB), and source/drain (S/D) extrapolation stress on FinFET performance in different directions under self-heating conditions, specifically analyzing silicon germanium (SiGe) and germanium-based FinFET. The results indicate that, under the influence of SHE, the y–y direction stress in the device channel increases by nearly 600 MPa. Self-heating significantly affects stress distribution within the device; in simulations of germanium-based devices, the inferior intrinsic material properties and thermal conductivity of pure germanium result in a maximum lattice temperature that is substantially higher than that of pure silicon devices. The impact of SHE and lattice stress on the performance of advanced FinFET is explored, revealing that the coupling effect of self-heating and lattice stress has a profound influence on device design performance.
Magnetostrictive shunt for vibration control and isolation: model, characteristics and similarities with piezoelectric shunt
Authors: Berardengo M , Mercato M , Manzoni S
Published: December 2024

This paper addresses the use of magnetostrictive (MS) shunt for vibration control and isolation. The mathematical treatment and the analytical formulas obtained are compared to those related to piezoelectric shunt, showing that they present the same form, implying the possibility of using the shunt optimisation formulas and control techniques developed for piezoelectric shunt in the context of MS shunt. Furthermore, the paper evidences the aspects which make the two types of shunt different when considering practical applications, also highlighting their effect on the controlled system and the main implications on the feasibility of the MS shunt. The theoretical results were validated by means of an experimental campaign in which MS shunt was employed to the aim of vibration isolation.
Multi-direction vibration isolation via transverse isotropy control of metal rubber
Authors: Ma Yanhong , Tang Xiangxin , Wang Yongfeng , Hong Jie
Published: December 2024

Metal rubber (MR) is widely used for vibration isolation due to its high damping and designable stiffness, but the isolation efficiency is relatively low in the non-molding direction due to its transverse isotropy. In this paper, the transverse isotropy of MR is controlled by design of manufacturing parameters (wire diameter, spiral diameter and compression ratio), material parameter (relative density) and geometric structure, to improve the isolation efficiency in the non-molding direction. Firstly, the helix unit was adopted to establish the relation between the transverse isotropy of MR material and manufacturing parameters, and manufacturing parameters were designed to control the transverse isotropy of MR material. Next, based on parametric modeling and genetic algorithm, material parameters and geometric structure were optimized to control the transverse isotropy of MR isolator. Finally, the transverse isotropy of the designed MR isolator was tested by quasi-static experiments, and multi-direction vibration isolation performance was verified by random vibration experiments. It is demonstrated that the transverse isotropy is controlled efficiently, and the vibration isolation efficiencies of the proposed MR isolator are all up to 85% under 15–2000 Hz broadband random vibration in X, Y and Z directions.
Z

n

symmetry broken supersolid in spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates
Authors: Guo Ze-Hong , Zhu Qizhong
Published: November 2024

Supersolid is an exotic state of matter characterized by both superfluid properties and periodic particle density modulation, due to spontaneous breaking of U(1) gauge symmetry and spatial translation symmetry, respectively. For conventional supersolids, continuous translation symmetry breaking is accompanied by one gapless Goldstone mode in the excitation spectra. An interesting question naturally arises: what is the consequence of breaking discrete translation symmetry for supersolids? In this work, we study the consequence of discrete symmetry breaking in a

Z

n

supersolid resulting from spontaneous breaking of a discrete

Z

n

symmetry, or equivalently, a discrete translation symmetry. This

Z

n

supersolid is realized in the stripe phase of spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensate under an external periodic potential with period

1

/

n

of intrinsic stripe period. For

n
⩾
2

, there are n degenerate ground states with spontaneously broken lattice translation symmetry. The low-energy excitations of

Z

n

supersolid include a pseudo-Goldstone mode, whose excitation gap at long wavelength limit is found to decrease rapidly with n. We further numerically show that, when confined in a harmonic trap, a spin-dependent perturbation can result in the transition between degenerate ground states of

Z

n

supersolid. With the integer n tunable using the experimental technique of generating subwavelength optical lattice, the

Z

n

supersolid proposed here offers a cold atom platform to simulate physics related with generic

Z

n

symmetry breaking in a highly controllable setting.
Experimental Liouvillian exceptional points in a quantum system without Hamiltonian singularities
Authors: Abo Shilan , Tulewicz Patrycja , Bartkiewicz Karol , Özdemir Şahin K , Miranowicz Adam
Published: November 2024

Hamiltonian exceptional points (HEPs) are spectral degeneracies of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians describing classical and semiclassical open systems with losses and/or gain. However, this definition overlooks the occurrence of quantum jumps in the evolution of open quantum systems. These quantum effects are properly accounted for by considering quantum Liouvillians and their exceptional points (LEPs). Specifically, an LEP corresponds to the coalescence of two or more eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenmatrices of a given Liouvillian at critical values of external parameters (Minganti et al 2019 Phys. Rev. A 100 062131). Here, we explicitly describe how standard quantum process tomography, which reveals the dynamics of a quantum system, can be readily applied to detect and characterize quantum LEPs of quantum non-Hermitian systems. We conducted experiments on an IBM quantum processor to implement a prototype model with one-, two-, and three qubits simulating the decay of a single qubit through competing channels, resulting in LEPs but not HEPs. Subsequently, we performed tomographic reconstruction of the corresponding experimental Liouvillian and its LEPs using both single- and two-qubit operations. This example underscores the efficacy of process tomography in tuning and observing LEPs even in the absence of HEPs.
Alena Tensor in unification applications
Authors: Ogonowski Piotr , Skindzier Piotr
Published: November 2024

Alena Tensor is a recently discovered class of energy-momentum tensors that provides mathematical framework in which, as demonstrated in previous publications, the description of a physical system in curved spacetime and its description in flat spacetime with fields are equivalent. The description of a system with electromagnetic field based on Alena Tensor can be used to reconcile physical descriptions. (1) In curvilinear description, Einstein Field equations were obtained with Cosmological Constant related to the invariant of the electromagnetic field tensor, which can be interpreted as negative pressure of vacuum, filled with electromagnetic field. (2) In classical description for flat spacetime, three densities of four-forces were obtained: electromagnetic, against gravity (counteraction to gravitational free-fall), and the force responsible for the Abraham-Lorentz effect (radiation reaction force). Obtained connection of Einstein tensor with gravity and radiation reaction force, after transition to curvilinear description, excludes black hole singularities. There was obtained Lagrangian density and generalized canonical four-momentum, containing electromagnetic four-potential and a term responsible for the other two forces. In this description charged particles cannot remain at complete rest and should have spin, their energy results from the existence of energy of magnetic moment and the density of this energy is part of the Poynting four-vector. The distribution of charged matter was expressed as polarization-magnetization stress-energy tensor, what may explain why gravity is invisible in QED. 3) In quantum picture, QED Lagrangian density simplification was obtained, and the Dirac, Schrödinger and Klein–Gordon equations may be considered as approximations of the obtained quantum solution. Farther use of Alena Tensor in unification applications was also discussed.
Studies on α and cluster radioactivity using the improved universal (UNIV) curve
Authors: Santhosh K P
Published: November 2024

In this article, we modified the universal (UNIV) formula of Poenaru et al [Phys. Rev. C 83, 014601 (2011)] by including the disintegration energy-dependent formula as a preformation factor. The improved universal formula (Imp UNIV) is applied to α decay of 309 heavy nuclei in the region Z = 74–93 and found that the standard deviation,

σ

of decimal logarithmic half-life decreased from 0.64312 (UNIV) to 0.56467 (Imp UNIV). It is also observed that the

σ

value decreased from 0.70502 (UNIV) to 0.68189 (Imp UNIV) in the case of cluster radioactivity showing improvement of present formalism Imp UNIV over UNIV in reproducing experimental half-lives of α and cluster radioactivity of heavy nuclei. The α decay half-lives of 80 superheavy nuclei (SHN) with

Z
≥
104

have also been investigated by UNIV and Imp UNIV formula and the

σ

value is found as 1.10681 and 0.69399 respectively, which shows that experimental α half-lives of SHN can be reproduced well by using Imp UNIV formula. The plot connecting the sum of the decimal logarithm of half-life and preformation factor,

log

10

T

1
/
2

(
s
)

+

log

10

S

versus the decimal logarithm of external penetrability,

−

log

10

P

s

for Imp UNIV is found linear for both α and cluster radioactivity with the same slope and intercept showing the universal nature of the curve. The good agreement between our predictions on α decay of Og (Z = 118) isotopes with the generalized liquid drop model (GLDM) and Royer formula reveals our formalism's reliability. The neutron shell closure at N = 184 and N ≈ 200 are evident in our study. The prediction of the unobserved α and cluster radioactivity performed in this study will be helpful for future experiments.
Revisiting spins of primordial black holes in a matter-dominated era based on peak theory
Authors: Saito Daiki , Harada Tomohiro , Koga Yasutaka , Yoo Chul-Moon
Published: November 2024

We estimate the probability distribution for the spins of the primordial black holes (PBHs) that formed during an early matter-dominated era in the Universe.
We employ the Zel'dovich approximation and focus on the linear-order effect of cosmological perturbations which causes the tidal torque.
Assuming that the fluctuations obey Gaussian statistics, we apply the peak theory of random Gaussian variables to compute the root mean square (RMS) and the probability distribution of the non-dimensional Kerr parameter a
* at their formation.
The value of a
* is evaluated through the angular momentum at the turn-around time.
We find that the RMS a̅
* with a given amplitude of the fluctuation δ
pk decreases as the amplitude increases.
This behavior allows us to set the threshold value of the amplitude of the fluctuation through the under-extremal condition a̅
* < 1.
Then we discuss the impact of spin and anisotropic collapse on the production rate of PBHs.
We find that, for σ
H ≤ 10-3 with σ
H being the square root of the variance of the fluctuation at the horizon reentry, the suppression from the spin effect is dominant, while the effect of anisotropy becomes more important for σ
H > 10-3.
Since a̅
* can be written as a function of ν := δ
pk/σ
H, we can obtain the probability distribution of a̅
*, P(a̅
*), through the probability distribution of ν characterized by a given power spectrum of the fluctuation.
P(a̅
*) depends on σ
H and the parameter γ that characterizes the width of the power spectrum.
It is shown that, in the parameter regions of our interests, substantial values of PBH spins are expected in contrast to the PBH formation in a radiation-dominated universe.
For instance, with γ = 0.6 and σ
H = 0.1, P(a̅
*) takes a maximum at aa̅
* ≃ 0.25.
Effects of Kinetic Ballooning Modes on the electron distribution function in the core of high-performance tokamak plasmas
Authors: Mazzi S. , Giruzzi G. , Camenen Y. , Dumont R. , Fontana M. , de la Luna E. , Orsitto F.P. , Senni L. , Aleynikova K. , Brunner S. , Frei B.J. , Garcia J. , Zocco A. , Frigione D. , Garzotti L. , Rimini F. , van Eester D. , Contributors JET , EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team the
Published: November 2024

This article is dedicated to study the physical causes of a long-standing issue experienced in different tokamak devices throughout the last decades: the observed discrepancies between electron cyclotron emission (ECE) and Thomson Scattering (TS) diagnostic measurements at high temperature in the core tokamak plasmas. A recently developed heuristic model (Fontana et al 2023 Phys. Plasmas
30 122503), tested on an extensive data set from multiple pulses in the frame of recent JET campaigns, showed that such ECE-TS discrepancy could be reconciled by introducing a bipolar perturbation in the electron distribution function. Such a perturbation indeed modifies the EC emission and absorption spectra. Nonetheless, the heuristic model does not provide the physical mechanisms causing such a bipolar perturbation. In this work, detailed gyrokinetic analyses unveil the unexplored wave-particle interaction between electrons and the Kinetic Ballooning Modes (KBMs) in tokamak plasmas. The numerical studies of the core of a selected high-temperature pulse of the JET device revealed that the electron-β was large enough to destabilize KBMs. Such KBMs affect the electron distribution function in momentum space with a characteristic bipolar structure. The position of the bipolar structure in the velocity space is intimately linked to the electron diamagnetic frequency. The amplitude of the perturbation, assessed through nonlinear computations, is shown to be dependent on the amplitude of the KBM-induced turbulent fluxes. Thus, this study demonstrates that KBMs, destabilized by the high-β plasma conditions achieved in the core of high-temperature scenarios, perturb the electron distribution function forming bipolar structures in momentum space and, thereby, modifying the EC spectrum. Therefore, the reported mechanism may represent an intriguing explanation of the ECE-TS measurement discrepancy in the deep core of high-temperature plasmas.
Numerical studies of sawtooth crashes with non-monotonic safety factor profiles
Authors: Wang X. , Zhang W. , Ma Z.W.
Published: December 2024

The sawtooth crashes with non-monotonic q profiles are numerically investigated by the three-dimensional, toroidal-geometry MHD code (CLT). We find that, when the initial q profiles are non-monotonic, the precursors of the sawtooth crashes are with high n rather than the m/n= 1/1 kink mode (where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers); and multiple flux tubes form just before sawtooth crashes. The dominant mode transits from higher n to n = 1 through mode-mode coupling at the nonlinear stage, and the final pressure crash is still dominated by the 1/1 mode.
Quantitative assessment system for placental gross examination with precise localization of umbilical cord insertion point
Authors: Liu Yiming , Liang Yuehua , Yu Ting , Tao Xiang , Wu Xin , Wang Yan , Li Qingli
Published: November 2024

A quantitative assessment for measuring the placenta during gross examination is a crucial step in evaluating the health status of both the mother and the fetus. However, in the current clinical practice, time-consuming and observer-variant drawbacks are caused due to manual measurement and subjective determination of placental characteristics. Therefore, we propose a quantitative assessment system for placenta gross examination to efficiently and accurately measuring placental characteristics according to Amsterdam Consensus, including weight and thickness of placenta, length and width of placental disc, length and diameter of umbilical cord, distance from umbilical cord insertion point to placental edges, etc. The proposed system consists of (1) an instrument designed for standard acquisition of image, weight and thickness of placenta and (2) an algorithm for quantitative morphological assessment based on precise segmentation of placental disc and umbilical cord and localization of umbilical cord insertion point. Considering the complexity of spatial distribution and ambiguous texture of umbilical cord insertion point, we design Umbilical Cord Insertion Point Candidate Generator to provide reliable umbilical cord insertion point location by employing prior structural knowledge of umbilical cord. Therefore, we integrate the Umbilical Cord Insertion Point Candidate Generator with a Base Detector to ensure umbilical cord insertion point is provided when the Base Detector fails to generate high-scoring candidate points. Experimental results on our self-collected placenta dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm. The measurements of placental morphological assessment are calculated based on segmentation and localization results. Our proposed quantitative assessment system, along with its associated instrument and algorithm, can automatically extract numerical measurements to boost the standardization and efficiency of placental gross examination.
The physics of quantum 2.0: challenges in understanding quantum matter
Authors: Lal Siddhartha , Shreshtha Mayank
Published: December 2024

Almost a century on from the culmination of the first revolution in quantum physics, we are poised for another. Even as we engage in the creation of impactful quantum technologies, it is imperative for us to face the challenges in understanding the phenomenology of various emergent forms of quantum matter. This will involve building on decades of progress in quantum condensed matter physics, and going beyond the well-established Ginzburg–Landau–Wilson paradigm for quantum matter. We outline and discuss several outstanding challenges, including the need to explore and identify the organisational principles that can guide the development of theories, key experimental phenomenologies that continue to confound, and the formulation of methods that enable progress. These efforts will enable the prediction of new quantum materials whose properties facilitate the creation of next generation technologies.
Rebound effects flatten differences in carbon footprints between car-free households, minimal drivers, and green car owners
Authors: Ottelin Juudit , Olson Sarah , Ballal Vedant , Árnadóttir Áróra , Heinonen Jukka
Published: December 2024

While the greenhouse gas emissions of most sectors are declining in the EU, transport emissions are increasing. Passenger cars compose a large share of the transport sector emissions, and a lot of effort has been made to reduce them. Despite the significantly improved environmental performance of passenger cars, there is a prevailing belief that they are the most environmentally harmful mode of ground transport. In the study at hand, we illustrate how rebound effects of consumption may change this view. Passenger car is a relatively expensive transport mode. Expenditure on car-ownership reduces the remaining household budget and the related carbon footprint. Here, we compare the total consumer carbon footprints per capita between fossil-fuel car owners, green car owners, and car-free households in the Nordic countries, using survey data including 7 400 respondents. When income and household type are controlled with regression analysis, respondents without a car for climate reasons and ‘minimal drivers’, meaning the least driving 10% of fossil-fuel car owners, have the lowest carbon footprints. Other car-free households have 6% higher footprints, electric- and biofuel car owners 18%–24% higher footprints, and the increasingly driving fossil-fuel car owners 30%–189% higher carbon footprints than the first two groups. However, the working middle-income green car owners, minimal drivers, and car-free households have very similar sized carbon footprints. The results show some trade-off between car ownership and flying despite that the data was collected between 2021 and 2022, when COVID-19 was still partly affecting air travel.
Strong and thermally stable nanocrystalline Cu–Al alloy via Al segregation
Authors: Zhou Kaixuan , Wang Luling , Zhao Yonghao , Jin Shenbao , Mao Qingzhong , Shi Shaojia , Ma Longlong , Zhang Ruisheng , Liu Jizi
Published: November 2024

Nanocrystalline (NC) metals and alloys are prone to mechanical and thermal instability under force and thermal fields due to their high Gibbs free energy, which limits their industrial applications. In this work, by employing rotary swaging (RS), bulk NC Cu–15 at.% Al alloys with both high strength and high thermal stability were prepared. Quasi-static tensile test results show that the yield strength is 1016 MPa. Moreover, the grain growth temperature was retarded up to 0.4 T
m, higher than the literature values. Microstructural characterizations revealed that after RS deformation, coarse-grained Cu–Al was refined into fibrous NC grains with a diameter of 45 nm and a length of 190 nm, and the contents of high-angle grain boundaries (GBs), low-angle GBs, and twin boundaries are 17%, 45%, and 38%, respectively. Moreover, there is a significant multiscale chemical fluctuation within the grains, at the GBs, and between the grains through extreme defect accumulation. The atomistic simulation suggests that the segregation behavior of Al solute is essentially driven by the atomic size and local stress state. Besides, Al segregation greatly reduces the grain boundary energy, which further improves the thermal stability of the material. The main strengthening mechanism is Hall–Petch strengthening and the strengthening brought by the chemical fluctuations. Our work provides ideas for designing strong and thermally stable bulk NC alloys.
Research on lie group dynamics modeling and trajectory-tracking optimal control of intelligent ground vehicle
Authors: Chen Te , Zhang Zikun , Xing Xu , Cai Yingfeng , Dou Guowei , Chen Long
Published: December 2024

Aiming at the multi-objective integrated coordination problem of trajectory tracking control accuracy and vehicle stability, a Lie-group-based dynamics modeling and trajectory-tracking optimal control method of intelligent ground vehicle is proposed in this paper. Based on the theory of Lie group and Lie algebra, the kinematic relationship of intelligent ground vehicle was established, and the integral variational dynamic equation expression was established using the variational method and Lagrange principle. A vehicle performance index function that balances energy optimization and efficiency optimization was established by combining the two-degree-of-freedom dynamic equation and stability constraints of intelligent ground vehicle. On this basis, an optimal control method for trajectory tracking of intelligent ground vehicle is proposed based on Legendre interpolation polynomial discretization method and Gauss pseudospectral method. The comparative results show that the proposed optimal control method can balance vehicle motion control accuracy, real-time performance, and optimization solution efficiency, thereby ensuring the lateral stability control effect of vehicle while achieving trajectory tracking accuracy.
Maven: a multimodal foundation model for supernova science
Authors: Zhang Gemma , Helfer Thomas , Gagliano Alexander T , Mishra-Sharma Siddharth , Ashley Villar V
Published: December 2024

A common setting in astronomy is the availability of a small number of high-quality observations, and larger amounts of either lower-quality observations or synthetic data from simplified models. Time-domain astrophysics is a canonical example of this imbalance, with the number of supernovae observed photometrically outpacing the number observed spectroscopically by multiple orders of magnitude. At the same time, no data-driven models exist to understand these photometric and spectroscopic observables in a common context. Contrastive learning objectives, which have grown in popularity for aligning distinct data modalities in a shared embedding space, provide a potential solution to extract information from these modalities. We present Maven, the first foundation model for supernova science. To construct Maven, we first pre-train our model to align photometry and spectroscopy from 0.5 M synthetic supernovae using a contrastive objective. We then fine-tune the model on 4702 observed supernovae from the Zwicky transient facility. Maven reaches state-of-the-art performance on both classification and redshift estimation, despite the embeddings not being explicitly optimized for these tasks. Through ablation studies, we show that pre-training with synthetic data improves overall performance. In the upcoming era of the Vera C. Rubin observatory, Maven will serve as a valuable tool for leveraging large, unlabeled and multimodal time-domain datasets.
Irresolution as Practice
Authors: Leonard-Fleckman Mahri
Published: November 2024

Chapter 1 presents irresolution as a method for historical investigations of the distant past, and it explains the book’s focus on identity in the Iron Age Shephelah or “lowlands” of the southern Levant. The Shephelah is one of the most intensely excavated regions in the world, and its social composition in the Iron Age is hotly debated. It is therefore a fruitful region for historical investigation through archaeology and text. The book will center on two contemporary archaeological sites with plausible ancient connections, Tel Batash (ancient Timnah) and Tell es-Safi (ancient Gath), and explore archaeological interpretations alongside textual representations of these sites in the Hebrew Bible, the Neo-Assyrian Royal Annals, and in Josephus’s first-century Jewish Antiquities. The chapter also makes two claims about history and composition history: history is marked by tension, and composition history is akin to a textual mosaic.
Application of mass spectrometry data for health evaluation
Authors: Takahashi Haruya
Published: November 2024

Proper diet is crucial for obesity prevention. Food health research primarily focuses on two aspects: the pathogenesis of lifestyle-related diseases caused by obesity and the identification of dietary components that can aid in the prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases. Substantial knowledge has been accumulated regarding these aspects via health function evaluations based on biological experiments. However, the intricate causal relationships and specific biological metabolites or food compounds that affect health remain unclear. To address these issues, my recent studies have incorporated mass spectrometry data, particularly metabolomic data obtained via comprehensive component analysis, to enhance health function evaluation via biological experiments. These studies have revealed various biological and healthy compounds derived from different food materials for the management of obesity-induced metabolic disorders.
Long-term efficacy and safety of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa: week 104 results from the SUNSHINE and SUNRISE extension trial
Authors: Kimball Alexa B , Bechara Falk G , Badat Aysha , Giamarellos-Bourboulis Evangelos J , Gottlieb Alice B , Jemec Gregor B E , Reguiai Ziad , Villani Axel P , Alarcon Ivette , Bansal Amita , Gasperoni Francesca , Martin Ruvie , Paguet Bertrand , Uhlmann Lorenz , Zouater Hichem , Ravichandran Shoba , Alavi Afsaneh
Published: November 2024

Background

The SUNSHINE and SUNRISE phase III trials demonstrated sustained clinical efficacy of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) through 52 weeks. Patients completing the core trials could enter a 4-year extension trial.

Objectives

To evaluate the long-term efficacy, safety/tolerability and maintenance of clinical response to secukinumab through week 104 in the extension trial.

Methods

Patients with a hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) clinical response (HiSCR) at week 52 of the core trials (extension trial baseline visit) entered a randomized withdrawal period. HiSCR responders receiving subcutaneous secukinumab 300 mg every 2 or 4 weeks (SECQ2W/SECQ4W) through week 52 in the core trials were randomized 2 : 1 to continue secukinumab (SECQ2W-R-Q2W or SECQ4W-R-Q4W) or receive placebo (SECQ2W-R-PBO or SECQ4W-R-PBO) through week 104. The primary endpoint was time to loss of response (LOR; newly defined for this trial) through week 104 in week 52 HiSCR responders (SECQ2W-R-Q2W vs. SECQ2W-R-PBO and SECQ4W-R-Q4W vs. SECQ4W-R-PBO). Time to LOR was tested at 1.25% (one-sided) for each comparison (one-sided familywise alpha of 2.5%) through week 104. If LOR was met, patients could remain in the trial on open-label secukinumab treatment. Additional endpoints included safety and HiSCR. The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04179175).

Results

Overall, 84.3% of patients who completed the core trials entered the extension trial; 55.9% were week 52 HiSCR responders. The primary endpoint was not met for either secukinumab dosing regimen. The estimated risk reduction for LOR was 13% (SECQ2W-R-Q2W vs. SECQ2W-R-PBO; one-sided P = 0.25) and 30% (SECQ4W-R-Q4W vs. SECQ4W-R-PBO; one-sided P = 0.04). The median time to LOR was numerically longer in the secukinumab arms vs. placebo {SECQ2W-R-Q2W [283 days; 95% confidence interval (CI) 176, –] vs. SECQ2W-R-PBO [239 days; 95% CI 120, –]; SECQ4W-R-Q4W [365 days 95% CI 225, –] vs. SECQ4W-R-PBO [171 days; 95% CI 113–337]}. In week 52 HiSCR responders reporting LOR, 44% (SECQ2W-R-Q2W), 58% (SECQ2W-R-PBO), 40% (SECQ4W-R-Q4W) and 34% (SECQ4W-R-PBO) were achieving HiSCR at the time of LOR. Overall, the safety of secukinumab was consistent with the core trials.

Conclusions

The primary endpoint of this trial was not met. HiSCR was maintained in many patients at the time of LOR. The safety of secukinumab was consistent with the previously characterized safety profile in the core trials.
Preparation of Ca2MnO4 films using Bayesian optimization and their black color properties owing to Ti4+-doping
Authors: Oka Ryohei , Hayakawa Tomokatsu
Published: November 2024

Ca2MnO4-based films were prepared by using a sol–gel method and Ti4+ ions were doped into the Mn4+ site to control their color properties. For non-doped Ca2MnO4 films, several preparation conditions were screened by using Bayesian optimization. In the Ca2(Mn,Ti)O4 film samples that were prepared under suitable conditions, the target phase was obtained as a main phase and the solid solutions were formed. Scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis elucidated that an intermediate layer of CaSiO3 with 1 µm was formed between the film and substrate, and hence the Ca/Mn ratio became Ca-poor closer to the intermediate layer. The film samples showed strong optical absorption in the visible-light region simultaneously with weak absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The bandgap energy of the film sample was also found to decrease by doping with Ti4+, resulting in a color change from blackish brown to black. Accordingly, the films had high NIR-reflectivity/transmittivity and the deep black coloration was controlled by the Ti4+-doping.
SUrvey of renal Biopsy registry database and Anticancer dRUg therapy in Japan (SUBARU-J study)
Authors: Kuwabara Takashige , Miyasato Yoshikazu , Kanki Tomoko , Mizumoto Teruhiko , Matsubara Takeshi , Sawa Naoki , Sugiyama Hitoshi , Maruyama Shoichi , Sato Hiroshi , Tsukamoto Tatsuo , Murata Tomohiro , Miyazaki Mariko , Imasawa Toshiyuki , Mukoyama Masashi , Murakami Naoka , Jhaveri Kenar D , Yanagita Motoko ,   the JSN Onconephrology working group, Yanagita Motoko , Kawano Haruna , Kawaguchi Takehiko , Kuwabara Takashige , Koitabashi Kenichiro , Sawa Naoki , Matsubara Takeshi , Mizuno Shinichi , Wada Takehiko
Published: November 2024

Background

Kidney complications associated with anticancer drug therapy have greatly increased recently. We aimed to investigate the real-world clinical outcomes of anticancer drug therapy–associated renal complications in Japan using the national kidney biopsy database, Japan Renal Biopsy Registry (J-RBR).

Methods

From 2018 to 2021, 449 cases from 49 facilities identified as ‘drug-induced’ histopathology in the J-RBR were screened, of which a total of 135 were confirmed as anticancer drug–related cases and included in the analysis. Overall survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by logrank test. The Cox regression model was used to evaluate the association between variables and deaths.

Results

The most common primary sites of malignancies were the lung (33.3%), followed by gastrointestinal (16.3%) and gynaecological (11.1%) cancers. Tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN; 47.4%) and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA; 35.6%) were the most frequent diagnoses. All immunoglobulin A nephropathy, minimal change disease and crescentic glomerulonephritis (CrGN) cases were immune checkpoint inhibitor related. All CrGN cases were anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody negative. Antibiotics were most frequently used concomitantly with anticancer drugs in TMA cases among subgroups (TMA versus others: 62.5 versus 27.5%; P < .001). Among TMA cases, the serum lactate dehydrogenase level tended to be higher in cytotoxic agent–associated TMA (CTx-TMA) than in other TMAs, but was not significant between groups (415.5 versus 219.0 U/l; P = .06). Overall survival was worse in CTx-TMA than in other TMAs (P = .007). The Cox model demonstrated proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use (hazard ratio 2.49, P = .001) as a significant prognostic factor, as well as the presence of metastasis and serum albumin level.

Conclusions

Our registry analysis highlighted various presentations of biopsy-proven kidney complications associated with anticancer drug therapy. Clinicians should be aware of worse outcomes associated with CTx-TMA and the prognostic role of PPI use.
Emergent surgical intervention for a neonate with premature constriction of the ductus arteriosus with ductal-dependent tricuspid atresia: a case report
Authors: Kono Taro , Sumitomo Naofumi F , Yamagishi Hiroyuki , Kimura Naritaka
Published: November 2024

Background

Premature constriction of the ductus arteriosus (PCDA) makes management difficult in neonates with congenital heart defects, particularly those with ductal-dependent pulmonary circulation. This report highlights the challenges and management of a neonate diagnosed with tricuspid atresia and severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (RVOTO), complicated by PCDA.

Case summary

A male neonate was diagnosed prenatally with tricuspid atresia and severe RVOTO. After birth, his oxygen saturation was around 60%, and no ductus arteriosus was detected. A systemic-to-pulmonary shunt was placed emergently. After surgery, antegrade blood flow from the right ventricular outflow tract was unstable depending on the right ventricular muscle contraction and relaxation, and the antegrade blood flow needed to be occluded. The postoperative course was uneventful after then.

Discussion

This case underscores the complexity of managing neonates with tricuspid atresia, severe RVOTO, and PCDA. Early surgical intervention is critical in stabilizing such patients.
The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Post-Conflict Economic Recovery and Peace-Building
Authors: Bak Daehee , Lee Hoon , Biglaiser Glen
Published: November 2024

Recently, post-conflict foreign direct investment (FDI) has garnered scholarly interest due to its potential for ending the “poverty-conflict trap” endured by many developing countries. However, few empirical studies have investigated whether FDI breaks such a vicious poverty-conflict cycle and, if so, how. Using intrastate armed conflict data from 1970 to 2019, where more than half the states experienced civil conflict recurrence, we test whether FDI curbs post-conflict onset through the mediation of economic recovery. Empirical results from two-stage generalized structural equation models appear to show that post-conflict FDI increases the magnitude of economic reconstruction and lessens grievances, indirectly decreasing the probability of conflict recurrence. Empirical findings also offer evidence in support of the mediation mechanism. We conclude that post-conflict FDI is a catalyst that could help war-torn countries escape the poverty-conflict trap.
Earthquake signal detection using a multiscale feature fusion network with hybrid attention mechanism
Authors: Cui Y , Bai M , Wu J , Chen Y
Published: November 2024

Signal and noise classification can add an extra level of constraint for earthquake phase picking by pinpointing the signal waveforms from continuous seismic data for more accurate arrival picking. However, the continuously increasing data collected by worldwide stations exceeds the ability of manual analysis. Moreover, manual earthquake data analysis depends on seismologists’ expert knowledge, resulting in inconsistent analysis results. To address this, we proposed a generalized deep learning (DL) network architecture to discriminate earthquake signal and noise waveforms. The proposed DL framework is a novel architecture comprising a feature extractor, a classifier and two hybrid attention modules. It utilizes different kernel sizes for more detailed feature extraction, and the hybrid attention mechanism module can guide the network to focus more on the waveform characteristics. To illustrate the power of the proposed DL network, we applied it to classify the earthquake signal and noise of the 3-C Texas Earthquake Dataset. The results demonstrate that the accuracy of the proposed method in the testing set reaches 99.83 per cent. We further utilize the transfer learning strategy to demonstrate the transferability of the proposed network with the Stanford earthquake data set, showing an encouraging classification accuracy of 95.03 per cent. Additionally, we conducted an additional experiment on arrival picking by integrating decoder blocks into the classification network, which achieves remarkable P- and S-wave arrival picking accuracy.
Conceptualizing maternal mental health in rural Ghana: a realist qualitative analysis
Authors: Yevoo Linda Lucy , Manzano Ana , Gyimah Leveana , Kane Sumit , Awini Elizabeth , Danso-Appiah Anthony , Agyepong Irene A , Mirzoev Tolib
Published: November 2024

In low- and middle-income countries, maternal mental health needs remain neglected, and common mental disorders during pregnancy and after birth are routinely associated with hormonal changes. The psycho-social and spiritual components of childbirth are often downplayed. A qualitative study was conducted as part of a wider realist evaluation on health systems responsiveness to examine the interrelationships between pregnant and postnatal women, their families, and their environment, and how these influence women’s interactions with healthcare providers in Ghana. Data collection methods combined six qualitative interviews (n = 6) and 18 focus group discussions (n = 121) with pregnant and postnatal women, their relatives, and healthcare providers (midwives, community mental health nurses) at the primary healthcare level. Data analysis was based on the context–mechanism–outcome heuristic of realist evaluation methodology. A programme theory was developed and iteratively refined, drawing on Crowther’s ecology of birth theory to unpack how context shapes women’s interactions with public and alternative healthcare providers. We found that context interacts dynamically with embodiment, relationality, temporality, spatiality, and mystery of childbirth experiences, which in turn influence women’s wellbeing in three primary areas. There is an intricate intersection of pregnancy with mental health impacting women’s expectations of temporality, which does not always coincide with the timings provided by formal healthcare services. Societal deficiencies in social support structures for women facing economic challenges become particularly evident during the pregnancy and postnatal period, where women need heightened assistance. Socio-cultural beliefs associated with the mystery of childbirth, the supportive role of private providers and faith healing practices offered women a feeling of protection from uncertainty. Co-production of context-specific interventions, including the integration of maternal and mental health policies, with relevant stakeholders can help formal healthcare providers accommodate women’s perspectives on spirituality and mental health, which can subsequently help to make health systems responsive to maternal mental health conditions.
HeMiTo-dynamics: a characterization of mammalian prion toxicity using non-dimensionalization, linear stability and perturbation analyses
Authors: Borgqvist Johannes G , Gretarsson Alexandersen Christoffer
Published: November 2024

Prion-like proteins play crucial parts in biological processes in organisms ranging from yeast to humans. For instance, many neurodegenerative diseases are believed to be caused by the production of prion-like proteins in neural tissue. As such, understanding the dynamics of prion-like protein production is a vital step toward treating neurodegenerative disease. Mathematical models of prion-like protein dynamics show great promise as a tool for predicting disease trajectories and devising better treatment strategies for prion-related diseases. Herein, we investigate a generic model for prion-like dynamics consisting of a class of non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), establishing constraints through a linear stability analysis that enforce the expected properties of mammalian prion-like toxicity. Furthermore, we identify that prion toxicity evolves through three distinct phases for which we provide analytical descriptions using perturbation analyses. Specifically, prion-toxicity is initially characterized by the healthy phase, where the dynamics are dominated by the healthy form of prions, thereafter the system enters the mixed phase, where both healthy and toxic prions interact, and lastly, the system enters the toxic phase, where toxic prions dominate, and we refer to these phases as HeMiTo-dynamics. These findings hold the potential to aid researchers in developing precise mathematical models for prion-like dynamics, enabling them to better understand underlying mechanisms and devise effective treatments for prion-related diseases.