bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Case report: “A healthy woman with exertional dyspnea: Indication of a pacemaker or not?”
Authors: Clasen Lukas , Schmidt Jan , Bejinariu Alexandru Gabriel , Kehmeier Eva Susanne , Kelm Malte , Makimoto Hisaki
Published: November 2022

The selection of patients with chronotropic incompetence (CI) for cardiac pacing therapy remains challenging. Here, we present a case of a 40‐year‐old woman with severe exertional dyspnea. The exercise test revealed a blunted increase in the heart rate (HR) (maximum of 110 bpm). Her exercise capacity significantly improved under atrial stimulation at 170 bpm using a temporary pacing lead. Therefore, we implanted a rate‐adaptive dual‐chamber pacemaker with a blended sensor. During follow‐up exercise capacity normalized, and she had no residual exertional dyspnea at 6 months. This case highlights the potential value for individual assessments of CI to identify clear indications for pacemaker implantation.
An Assessment of Seal Ability of Tubing Threaded Connections: A Hybrid Empirical-Numerical Method
Authors: Yu Hao , Wang Hao , Lian Zhanghua
Published: November 2022

Oil and gas development has strict requirements for the seal ability of premium threaded connections (PTCs) of tubing. Assessing the seal ability of joints can help reduce the risk of leakage after running the string. Using experimental methods to investigate thread sealing capability is time-consuming and expensive, and furthermore, the results of the finite element simulations are not accurate enough. To better address this issue, a hybrid method is utilized as an advanced solution: we establish a geometric nonlinear model and tie it to an empirical formula based on experimental data. With this method, we explore the variation of the seal ability of a PTC within the actual working load range. Our results indicate that the increase in internal pressure increases the contact pressure on the contact path to a certain extent, but reduces the seal ability of the joint. Also, an increase in the axial tensile load will significantly impair the performance of the joint to seal. Eventually, an economic appraisal is obtained by considering the seal ability of different type of joints. The described workflow may be adopted in other wells to predict the potential string leak problems induced by premium threaded connections with cheap computational costs, and to compare the seal abilities of different PTCs for optimal purposes of saving drilling costs.
Investigation of Burn Parameters and Cyclic Variations of a Spark Ignition Engine With Different Combustion Chambers
Authors: Demirci Abdurrahman , Emre Doğan Hüseyin , Akın Kutlar Osman , Cihan Ömer , Arslan Hikmet
Published: November 2022

The tightening of the exhaust emission limits and the desire to reduce fuel consumption determine the direction of research on internal combustion engines. As it is known, the leaning of the mixture in spark ignition engines generally decreases fuel consumption and NOx emission together. Due to this fact, many researchers are focusing on lean combustion. The main purpose of this study is to compare the effect of different chamber geometries on combustion parameters of a spark ignition engine operated at lean and stoichiometric mixtures. One of the most important parameters of the combustion process is cyclic variations. It defines the stability of a spark ignition engine in operating conditions. Cyclic variations are increased with the leaning of the mixture in spark ignition engines. For lean mixture, a new combustion chamber was designed and manufactured for accelerating flow motions through its sickle and bowl shape. This chamber called MAN-Ricardo (MR) type decreased burn durations in the combustion process. While the start of the ignition for MR was later, the burn duration is shorter than that of the other two geometries. Therefore, MR type reduced the cyclic variations compared to other geometries in homogenous and lean mixtures. As a result, the combustion chamber must be designed to increase the turbulence intensity for a spark ignition engine to operate stably in lean mixtures, unlike the stoichiometric mixture.
Weather Window Analysis in Operations and Maintenance Policies for Offshore Floating Multi-Purpose Platforms
Authors: Heo Taemin , Liu Ding Peng , Manuel Lance
Published: November 2022

In an emerging “blue economy,” the use of large multi-purpose floating platforms in the open ocean is being considered. Such platforms could possibly support a diversified range of commercial activities including energy generation, aquaculture, seabed mining, transport, tourism, and sea-based laboratories. A Markov decision process (MDP) framework is proposed to deal with operations and maintenance (O&M) issues that are inevitable; challenges arise from the complex stochastic weather conditions that need to be accounted for. Using data as well as contrasting synthetic simulations of relevant weather variables, we demonstrate the robustness/versatility of the MDP model. Two case studies—one involving constant and another involving time-dependent downtime costs—are conducted to demonstrate how the proposed MDP framework incorporates weather patterns from available data and can offer optimal policies for distinct metocean conditions (i.e., temporal variations in the weather). A realistic example that illustrates the implementation of the proposed framework for multiple O&M issues involving salmon net pens and wave energy converters demonstrates how our optimal policies can minimize O&M costs and maximize crew safety almost as if the true future were known for scheduling.
Evaluating the Time-Varying Mesh Stiffness of Planetary Gear Set With Gear Crack Considering the Friction Force Under Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Condition
Authors: Wang Siyu , Zhu Rupeng
Published: November 2022

The mesh stiffness calculation of the planetary gear system with gear crack is investigated, and gear crack is modeled into end-face and addendum extended crack. Furthermore, the mesh stiffnesses are calculated under the effect of friction force obtained under the mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) condition. The nonuniformly distributed gear cracks on external and internal gear pairs are comprehensively modeled and analyzed, which is rarely investigated in previous studies. Moreover, the influence of crack propagation conditions on the meshing stiffness of the planetary gear system is analyzed. The obtained results show that the mesh stiffnesses experience abrupt variation in the pitch area during meshing, the extent of change is determined by the amplitude of the friction coefficient; in addition, gear crack position and extent could cause mesh stiffness reduction at varying levels at different stages of gear meshing.
Dominant and Nondominant Leg Kinematics During Kicking in Young Soccer Players: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Frontani Francesco , Prenassi Marco , Paolini Viviana , Formicola Giovanni , Marceglia Sara , Policastro Francesca
Published: November 2022

The goal of the study is to analyze the kinematics and provide an EMG analysis of the support limb during an instep kick in adolescent players. We set a video camera, two torque transducers on the knee, and EMG sensors. A sample of 16 adolescent soccer players between 10 and 12 years old performed kicks. The kinematics shows a p = .039 on frontal plane (dominant 15.4 ± 1.8, nondominant 18.8 ± 1.7); the EMG analysis shows a p = .04 on muscular activation timing for the vastus medialis. A difference between the legs on the frontal plane emerges. Moreover, a huge difference on sagittal plane between the adolescent pattern and adult pattern exists (15° in adolescent population, 40° in adult population). The result shows a greater activation of the vastus medialis in the nondominant leg; probably, in this immature pattern, the adolescents use this muscle more than necessary.
Tin from Uluburun shipwreck shows small-scale commodity exchange fueled continental tin supply across Late Bronze Age Eurasia
Authors: Powell Wayne , Frachetti Michael , Pulak Cemal , Bankoff H. Arthur , Barjamovic Gojko , Johnson Michael , Mathur Ryan , Pigott Vincent C. , Price Michael , Yener K. Aslihan
Published: November 2022

This paper provides the first comprehensive sourcing analysis of the tin ingots carried by the well-known Late Bronze Age shipwreck found off the Turkish coast at Uluburun (ca. 1320 BCE). Using lead isotope, trace element, and tin isotope analyses, this study demonstrates that ores from Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) were used to produce one-third of the Uluburun tin ingots. The remaining two-thirds were derived from the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, namely, from stream tin and residual low-grade mineralization remaining after extensive exploitation in the Early Bronze Age. The results of our metallurgical analysis, along with archaeological and textual data, illustrate that a culturally diverse, multiregional, and multivector system underpinned Eurasian tin exchange during the Late Bronze Age. The demonstrable scale of this connectivity reveals a vast and disparate network that relied as much on the participation of small regional communities as on supposedly hegemonic institutions of large, centralized states.
Gas-liquid two-phase flow-based triboelectric nanogenerator with ultrahigh output power
Authors: Dong Yang , Xu Shiwei , Zhang Chi , Zhang Liqiang , Wang Daoai , Xie Yuanyuan , Luo Ning , Feng Yange , Wang Nannan , Feng Min , Zhang Xiaolong , Zhou Feng , Wang Zhong Lin
Published: November 2022

Solid-liquid triboelectric nanogenerators (SL-TENGs) have shown promising prospects in energy harvesting and application from water resources. However, the low contact separation speed, small contact area, and long contacting time during solid-liquid electrification severely limit their output properties and further applications. Here, by leveraging the rheological properties of gas-liquid two-phase flow and the Venturi-like design, we circumvent these limitations and develop a previously unknown gas-liquid two-phase flow-based TENG (GL-TENG) that can achieve ultrahigh voltage and volumetric charge density of 3789 volts and 859 millicoulombs per cubic meter, respectively. With a high-power output of 143.6 kilowatts per cubic meter, a 24-watt commercial lamp can be directly lighted by a continuous-flow GL-TENG device. The high performance displayed SL-TENGs in this work provides a promising strategy for the practical application of solid-liquid TENGs in energy harvesting and sensing applications.
Glucose-responsive microneedle patch for closed-loop dual-hormone delivery in mice and pigs
Authors: Yang Changwei , Sheng Tao , Hou Wenhui , Zhang Juan , Cheng Li , Wang Hao , Liu Wei , Wang Shiqi , Yu Xinmin , Zhang Yuqi , Yu Jicheng , Gu Zhen
Published: November 2022

Insulin and glucagon secreted from the pancreas with dynamic balance play a vital role in regulating blood glucose levels. Although distinct glucose-responsive insulin delivery systems have been developed, the lack of a self-regulated glucagon release module limits their clinical applications due to the potential risk of hypoglycemia. Here, we describe a transdermal polymeric microneedle patch for glucose-responsive closed-loop insulin and glucagon delivery to achieve glycemic regulation with minimized risk of hypoglycemia. The glucose-responsive phenylboronic acid units can bind to glucose to reversibly shift the net charge (from positive to negative) of the entire polymeric matrix within microneedles. Therefore, the release ratio of the negatively charged insulin and the positively charged glucagon analog from the patch can be dynamically tuned upon the fluctuation of blood glucose levels to realize glycemic homeostasis. In both chemically induced type 1 diabetic mouse and minipig models, this glucose-responsive dual-hormone microneedle patch demonstrated tight long-term regulation in blood glucose levels (>24 hours in minipigs).
Zika virus noncoding RNA cooperates with the viral protein NS5 to inhibit STAT1 phosphorylation and facilitate viral pathogenesis
Authors: Slonchak Andrii , Wang Xiaohui , Aguado Julio , Sng Julian D. J. , Chaggar Harman , Freney Morgan E. , Yan Kexin , Torres Francisco J. , Amarilla Alberto A. , Balea Rickyle , Setoh Yin Xiang , Peng Nias , Watterson Daniel , Wolvetang Ernst , Suhrbier Andreas , Khromykh Alexander A.
Published: November 2022

All flaviviruses, including Zika virus, produce noncoding subgenomic flaviviral RNA (sfRNA), which plays an important role in viral pathogenesis. However, the exact mechanism of how sfRNA enables viral evasion of antiviral response is not well defined. Here, we show that sfRNA is required for transplacental virus dissemination in pregnant mice and subsequent fetal brain infection. We also show that sfRNA promotes apoptosis of neural progenitor cells in human brain organoids, leading to their disintegration. In infected human placental cells, sfRNA inhibits multiple antiviral pathways and promotes apoptosis, with signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) identified as a key shared factor. We further show that the production of sfRNA leads to reduced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT1 via a mechanism that involves sfRNA binding to and stabilizing viral protein NS5. Our results suggest the cooperation between viral noncoding RNA and a viral protein as a novel strategy for counteracting antiviral responses.
Pixels2Pose: Super-resolution time-of-flight imaging for 3D pose estimation
Authors: Ruget Alice , Tyler Max , Mora Martín Germán , Scholes Stirling , Zhu Feng , Gyongy Istvan , Hearn Brent , McLaughlin Steve , Halimi Abderrahim , Leach Jonathan
Published: November 2022

Single-photon–sensitive depth sensors are being increasingly used in next-generation electronics for human pose and gesture recognition. However, cost-effective sensors typically have a low spatial resolution, restricting their use to basic motion identification and simple object detection. Here, we perform a temporal to spatial mapping that drastically increases the resolution of a simple time-of-flight sensor, i.e., an initial resolution of 4 × 4 pixels to depth images of resolution 32 × 32 pixels. The output depth maps can then be used for accurate three-dimensional human pose estimation of multiple people. We develop a new explainable framework that provides intuition to how our network uses its input data and provides key information about the relevant parameters. Our work greatly expands the use cases of simple single-photon avalanche detector time-of-flight sensors and opens up promising possibilities for future super-resolution techniques applied to other types of sensors with similar data types, i.e., radar and sonar.
A mechanics-based approach to realize high–force capacity electroadhesives for robots
Authors: Levine David J. , Iyer Gokulanand M. , Daelan Roosa R. , Turner Kevin T. , Pikul James H.
Published: November 2022

Materials with electroprogrammable stiffness and adhesion can enhance the performance of robotic systems, but achieving large changes in stiffness and adhesive forces in real time is an ongoing challenge. Electroadhesive clutches can rapidly adhere high stiffness elements, although their low force capacities and high activation voltages have limited their applications. A major challenge in realizing stronger electroadhesive clutches is that current parallel plate models poorly predict clutch force capacity and cannot be used to design better devices. Here, we use a fracture mechanics framework to understand the relationship between clutch design and force capacity. We demonstrate and verify a mechanics-based model that predicts clutch performance across multiple geometries and applied voltages. On the basis of this approach, we build a clutch with 63 times the force capacity per unit electrostatic force of state-of-the-art electroadhesive clutches. Last, we demonstrate the ability of our electroadhesives to increase the load capacity of a soft, pneumatic finger by a factor of 27 times compared with a finger without an electroadhesive.
Chemical induction of splice-neoantigens attenuates tumor growth in a preclinical model of colorectal cancer
Authors: Matsushima Shingo , Ajiro Masahiko , Iida Kei , Chamoto Kenji , Honjo Tasuku , Hagiwara Masatoshi
Published: November 2022

Neoantigen production is a determinant of cancer immunotherapy. However, the expansion of neoantigen abundance for cancer therapeutics is technically challenging. Here, we report that the synthetic compound RECTAS can induce the production of splice-neoantigens that could be used to boost antitumor immune responses. RECTAS suppressed tumor growth in a CD8
+
T cell– and tumor major histocompatibility complex class I–dependent manner and enhanced immune checkpoint blockade efficacy. Subsequent transcriptome analysis and validation for immunogenicity identified six splice-neoantigen candidates whose expression was induced by RECTAS treatment. Vaccination of the identified neoepitopes elicited T cell responses capable of killing cancer cells in vitro, in addition to suppression of tumor growth in vivo upon sensitization with RECTAS. Collectively, these results provide support for the further development of splice variant–inducing treatments for cancer immunotherapy.
Osteoarticular Mycoses
Authors: Gamaletsou Maria N. , Rammaert Blandine , Brause Barry , Bueno Marimelle A. , Dadwal Sanjeet S. , Henry Michael W. , Katragkou Aspasia , Kontoyiannis Dimitrios P. , McCarthy Matthew W. , Miller Andy O. , Moriyama Brad , Pana Zoi Dorothea , Petraitiene Ruta , Petraitis Vidmantas , Roilides Emmanuel , Sarkis Jean-Pierre , Simitsopoulou Maria , Sipsas Nikolaos V. , Taj-Aldeen Saad J. , Zeller Valérie , Lortholary Olivier , Walsh Thomas J.
Published: November 2022

Osteoarticular mycoses are chronic debilitating infections that require extended courses of antifungal therapy and may warrant expert surgical intervention. As there has been no comprehensive review of these diseases, the International Consortium for Osteoarticular Mycoses prepared a definitive treatise for this important class of infections.
An Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma/Anti-Sigma Factor System Regulates β-Glucanase Expression in Tannerella forsythia in Response to Fusobacterium nucleatum Sensing
Authors: Honma Kiyonobu , Sasaki Haruka , Hamada Nobushiro , Sharma Ashu
Published: November 2022

Previous studies have shown that
F. nucleatum
forms robust biofilms with
T. forsythia
utilizing glucose from the hydrolysis of β-glucans by
T. forsythia
β-glucanase, induced by
F. nucleatum
. In this study, we showed that a regulatory system comprising of an ECF sigma factor,
Tf
SigG, and a FecR-like anti-sigma factor,
Tf
FecR, is responsible for the β-glucanase induction in response to
F. nucleatum
, suggesting that this system plays roles in the mutualistic interactions of
T. forsythia
and
F. nucleatum
.
The Sia System and c-di-GMP Play a Crucial Role in Controlling Cell-Association of Psl in Planktonic P. aeruginosa
Authors: Dreifus Julia E. , O’Neal Lindsey , Jacobs Holly M. , Subramanian Adithya S. , Howell P. Lynne , Wozniak Daniel J. , Parsek Matthew R.
Published: November 2022

The biofilm matrix of the opportunistic pathogen
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is composed of exopolysaccharides (EPS), proteins, and nucleic acids. In
P. aeruginosa
, an increase in the small molecule c-di-GMP causes an increase in biofilm matrix production both transcriptionally and posttranslationally.
Supplemental Material: Phanerozoic cratonization by plume welding
Authors: Xu Xi , Chen Hanlin , al. et
Published: November 2022

Geophysical compilation and details for magnetic inversion, lithospheric structure, and seismic-based interpretation. 
Supplemental Material: Quantitative record of the Neoarchean water cycle from a 2.67 Ga magmatic-hydrothermal system, Fennoscandian Shield
Authors: Zakharov David , al. et
Published: November 2022

Sample description, methods, oxygen-isotope notations and triple oxygen-isotope fractionation, Figures S1–S5, and Tables S1–S3. 
Hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms and hepatic ischaemic injury: a rare complication of polyarteritis nodosa
Authors: Bromfield Brittany , Tellez Roberto , Novelli Paula , Duarte-Rojo Andres
Published: November 2022

A woman in her 70s presented with months of intermittent fevers, severe fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain and haematuria. She developed acute onset left-sided weakness and was found to have radiographic evidence of right frontal and left parietal intraparenchymal haemorrhages with subarachnoid haemorrhage. She also had markedly elevated liver transaminases with subsequent abdominal MRI that revealed hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms (HAP) requiring embolisation. The case required a multidisciplinary approach consisting of hepatology, interventional radiology and rheumatology. Ultimately, the aetiology was attributed to polyarteritis nodosa (PAN). Through this case report, we highlight HAP as an extremely rare complication of PAN. Although it is a challenging diagnosis to make, it has a favourable response to immunosuppression with high-dose corticosteroids.
Early physical maturation and subjective health complaints in adolescent girls: a pooled cross-sectional analysis
Authors: Lian Qiguo , Li Ruili , Elgar Frank J , Su Qiru
Published: November 2022

Background

Although adolescents are generally healthy, subjective health complaints (SHC) are common in this age group, especially in adolescent girls. We explored the association between early menarche and the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms and how this association varies between countries.

Methods

Our sample included 298 000 adolescent girls from 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 cycles of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in 41 European and North American countries. School surveys measured the frequency of eight psychosomatic symptoms in the past 6 months. Early maturation was defined as self-reported age at menarche below 11 years. Using logistic regression, we estimated adjusted ORs (aORs) and 95% CIsof experiencing each psychosomatic symptom at least more than once a week and experiencing two or more symptoms at least more than once a week.

Results

Early menarche occurred in 4.73% of the sample and was positively related to headache, stomachache, backache, feeling low, irritability or bad temper, feeling nervous, difficulties in sleeping, feeling dizzy and two or more of these symptoms, respectively (all p values<0.001). The interactions between early menarche and survey circle were non-significant. Changing the age criterion to 12 years did not affect the results. The associations between early menarche and psychosomatic symptoms were robust across the HBSC-participating counties with two age criteria.

Conclusions

Early menarche positively relates to various psychosomatic symptoms in European and North American adolescent girls. Our findings suggest that early-maturing girls may need early supportive interventions.
Existence of periodic orbits and multistability dynamics in axially accelerating beams
Authors: Yang Qiong , Li Denghui , Chu Yandong , Li Xianfeng
Published: November 2022

The axially accelerating beam systems are widely used in engineering fields, which have abundant dynamical phenomena. In this work, we studied the periodic orbits and the phenomena of multistability of the system. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of periodic orbits are derived by Schauder’s fixed point theorem and the averaging method. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the numerical analysis. Multistability is discussed in some set of parameter values. To predict the dynamical behaviors of the system in the long-term run, the effects of external excitation amplitude on the structures of basins of attraction are studied. The results reveal the influences of the physical parameters and initial values on the complex dynamical behaviors of the system, which can offer some guidance for selecting parameter values in engineering application of axially accelerating beams.
Dynamic magnetic properties and phase diagrams of Fe4N system
Authors: Jiang Fengli , Shi Xiaoling , Liu Peisheng
Published: November 2022

The dynamic magnetic properties of the nonequilibrium Fe4N system are calculated on the basis of correlated effective-field theory (EFT). The dynamic phase diagrams are plotted for different values of the oscillating magnetic field and the crystal field. The reentrant behavior, the dynamic tricritical point and the dynamic critical end point observed in certain case by using EFT are established to emerge as the generic nonequilibrium features of the Fe4N system. Moreover, we compare our results with those produced by mean-field theory (MFT), and find that the first-order phase transition and the reentrant phenomena are significantly reduced due to the consideration of spin–spin thermal fluctuations in EFT approximations. Our findings lead us to conclude that the thermal fluctuations considered in EFT are a critical factor for the dynamic magnetic properties of the nonequilibrium Fe4N system.
A Space-Efficient Universal and Multi-Operative Reversible Gate Design Based on Quantum-Dots
Authors: Seyedi Saeid , Navimipour Nima Jafari
Published: November 2022

Because of the high speed, low-power consumption, low latency and possible use at the atomic and molecular levels, Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) technology is one of the future nanoscale technologies that can replace the present transistor-based technology. For the purpose of creating QCA circuits, reversible logic can be regarded as an appropriate candidate. In this research, a new structure for multi-operative reversible designs is suggested. The Saeid Nima Gate (SNG), proposed in this research study, is a brand-new, incredibly effective, multi-operative, universal reversible gate implemented in QCA nanotechnology employing both majority and inverter gates. Reversible gates, also known as reversible logic gates, are gates that have n inputs and n outputs, which is an equal number of inputs and outputs. The amount of energy lost during computations will be reduced if the numbers of inputs and outputs are identical. The proposed gate is modified and reorganized to optimize further, employing exact QCA cell interaction. All fundamental logic gates are implemented using it to demonstrate the universality of the proposed SNG. Reversible logic has advanced, and as a result, our suggested solution has a lower quantum cost than previously reported systems. The suggested design is simulated using the QCADesigner-E tools.
Rational function semifields of tropical curves are finitely generated over the tropical semifield
Authors: JuAe Song
Published: November 2022

We prove that the rational function semifield of a tropical curve is finitely generated as a semifield over the tropical semifield [Formula: see text] by giving a specific finite generating set. Also, we show that for a finite harmonic morphism between tropical curves [Formula: see text], the rational function semifield of [Formula: see text] is finitely generated as a [Formula: see text]-algebra, where [Formula: see text] stands for the pull-back of the rational function semifield of [Formula: see text] by [Formula: see text].
Numbers of the form kf(k)
Authors: Gabdullin Mikhail R. , Iudelevich Vitalii V. , Luca Florian
Published: November 2022

For a function [Formula: see text], define [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] be the divisor function, [Formula: see text] be the prime divisor function, and [Formula: see text] be Euler’s totient function. We prove that [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text].
Inhomogeneous Diophantine approximation for generic homogeneous functions
Authors: Kleinbock Dmitry , Skenderi Mishel
Published: November 2022

This paper is a sequel to [Monatsh. Math. 194 (2021) 523–554] in which results of that paper are generalized so that they hold in the setting of inhomogeneous Diophantine approximation. Given any integers [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], any [Formula: see text], and any homogeneous function [Formula: see text] that satisfies a certain nonsingularity assumption, we obtain a biconditional criterion on the approximating function [Formula: see text] for a generic element [Formula: see text] in the [Formula: see text]-orbit of [Formula: see text] to be (respectively, not to be) [Formula: see text]-approximable at [Formula: see text]: that is, for there to exist infinitely many (respectively, only finitely many) [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] for each [Formula: see text]. In this setting, we also obtain a sufficient condition for uniform approximation. We also consider some examples of [Formula: see text] that do not satisfy our nonsingularity assumptions and prove similar results for these examples. Moreover, one can replace [Formula: see text] above by any closed subgroup of [Formula: see text] that satisfies certain integrability axioms (being of Siegel and Rogers type) introduced by the authors in the aforementioned previous paper.
On fractional sums of the divisor functions
Authors: Zhang Wei
Published: November 2022

In this paper, we consider the fractional sum of the divisor functions. We can improve previous results considered by [O. Bordellés, On certain sums of number theory, Int. J. Number Theory 18(9) (2022) 2053–2074; K. Liu, J. Wu and Z. S. Yang, On some sums involving the integral part function, preprint (2021); arXiv:2109.01382v1 [math.NT]]. Precisely, we can show that [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is an arbitrary small positive constant and [Formula: see text] is the number of representations of [Formula: see text] as product of [Formula: see text] natural numbers.
Handling Qualities Assessment and Performance Evaluation for Unmanned Aerial Systems and Pilots
Authors: Herrington Shawn M. , Zahed Muhammad Junayed Hasan , Fields Travis D.
Published: November 2022

When fly-by-wire controls first appeared, much research focused on how to evaluate control laws and bare airframes for airworthiness given the reliance on electronic augmentation. Similarly, handling qualities and methods of evaluation for novel flying vehicles have been discussed whenever novel designs are developed. In the last 20 years, with the proliferation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), much research has focused on transferring existing methods of performance evaluation and airworthiness assessment to accommodate the unique feature of many UAS. However, the changes in sensory information and pilot experience levels require examining the aircraft and pilots together in a holistic manner. In this work, the authors present the results of a broad study focused on evaluation of both pilot skill and aircraft performance in a holistic way.

In this study, the skill of the remote pilot is considered as well as the effectiveness of the electronic flight control system because the evaluation is conducted on the system at-large as opposed to considering each piece individually. An evaluation approach using mission-task-elements (MTEs), like that used within Aeronautical Design Standard-33 Handling Qualities Requirements for Military Rotorcraft (ADS-33), is developed and presented for UAS. In the study, new UAS pilots were evaluated before, during, and after an intensive training program using qualitative measures (like Cooper–Harper rating) and quantitative measurements (like elapsed time) of their performance while flying the prescribed MTEs. The techniques described can provide insight into pilot performance, airframe airworthiness, and effectiveness of stability systems in an efficient test program and the results are inherently easy to understand in the context of MTEs.
The Ordovician System of Canada: an extensive stratigraphic record of Laurentian shallow water platforms and deep marine basins
Authors: Desrochers André , Jin Jisuo , Dewing Keith
Published: November 2022

Ordovician rocks extensively border and cover Laurentia or the North American Craton in Canada. These rocks represent diverse and significant successions spread across a variety of depositional and palaeogeographic settings in the Canadian Arctic Islands, Eastern Canada, Western Canada and the Canadian Interior. During much of the Ordovician, Laurentia straddled the palaeoequator and was flooded by extensive epicontinental seas, experiencing high temperatures and high faunal diversity. The central and western parts of the Laurentian Craton remained relatively stable during the Ordovician, but there was substantial tectonic activity with the Taconic Orogeny affecting the Appalachian area and the Pearya composite terrane affecting the Franklinian Margin along its eastern and northern margins, respectively. The large Hudson Bay and Williston basins and smaller satellite basins cover the cratonic interior in Canada. These shallow intracratonic basins, dominated by marine carbonates with some evaporites, are the erosional remnant of a more extensive sea episodically connected with the adjacent platformal areas during the Ordovician. The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Ordovician System is exposed in Green Point, western Newfoundland while the Ordovician–Silurian boundary interval is well exposed on Anticosti Island, Québec but is also present in Ontario, Manitoba, Yukon and Arctic Canada.
The Ordovician record of North and West Africa: unravelling sea-level variations, Gondwana tectonics, and the glacial impact
Authors: Ghienne Jean-François , Abdallah Hussein , Deschamps Rémy , Guiraud Michel , Gutiérrez-Marco Juan Carlos , Konaté Moussa , Meinhold Guido , Moussa Abderamane , Rubino Jean-Loup
Published: November 2022

The Ordovician of North and West Africa comprises three main transgressive–regressive sequences understood as ‘second-order’ cycles of 10–15 myr duration. Tide- to wave-dominated shallow-marine clastic successions, preserving incidental bryozoan carbonates to the north, include fluvial deposits over the most proximal southern stretches of the platform. The boundary with Cambrian strata remains unclear but the latter are progressively less represented to the south in the undifferentiated ‘Cambro-Ordovician’. To the north, graptolites, brachiopods and trilobites combined with palynomorphs provide a robust biostratigraphic frame. Maximum flooding intervals occurred in the early to middle Tremadocian, middle Darriwilian and middle to late Katian. Two events interfered with an overall long-term transgressive trend. The ‘intra-Arenig’ (late Floian?) tectonic event highlighted palaeohighs coinciding with Paleoproterozoic basements. Gondwanan drainage basins were reorganized, which had an impact on sediment sourcing and distribution of detrital material (e.g. zircons) feeding the pre-Variscan Europe. The second event is the end-Ordovician glaciation. The domain supported the greatest part of the Hirnantian glaciers and may also have preserved pre-Hirnantian glacial archives. It is not until the very latest Ordovician that offshore conditions developed far inland; it is however suspected that this inundation benefited from a transient postglacial isostatic flexure.
VToonify
Authors: Yang Shuai , Jiang Liming , Liu Ziwei , Loy Chen Change
Published: November 2022

Generating high-quality artistic portrait videos is an important and desirable task in computer graphics and vision. Although a series of successful portrait image toonification models built upon the powerful StyleGAN have been proposed, these image-oriented methods have obvious limitations when applied to videos, such as the fixed frame size, the requirement of face alignment, missing non-facial details and temporal inconsistency. In this work, we investigate the challenging controllable high-resolution portrait video style transfer by introducing a novel
VToonify
framework. Specifically, VToonify leverages the mid- and high-resolution layers of StyleGAN to render high-quality artistic portraits based on the multi-scale content features extracted by an encoder to better preserve the frame details. The resulting fully convolutional architecture accepts non-aligned faces in videos of variable size as input, contributing to complete face regions with natural motions in the output. Our framework is compatible with existing StyleGAN-based image toonification models to extend them to video toonification, and inherits appealing features of these models for flexible style control on color and intensity. This work presents two instantiations of VToonify built upon Toonify and DualStyleGAN for collection-based and exemplar-based portrait video style transfer, respectively. Extensive experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed VToonify framework over existing methods in generating high-quality and temporally-coherent artistic portrait videos with flexible style controls. Code and pretrained models are available at our project page: www.mmlab-ntu.com/project/vtoonify/.
Stochastic Poisson Surface Reconstruction
Authors: Sellán Silvia , Jacobson Alec
Published: November 2022

We introduce a statistical extension of the classic Poisson Surface Reconstruction algorithm for recovering shapes from 3D point clouds. Instead of outputting an implicit function, we represent the reconstructed shape as a modified Gaussian Process, which allows us to conduct statistical queries (e.g., the likelihood of a point in space being on the surface or inside a solid). We show that this perspective: improves PSR's integration into the online scanning process, broadens its application realm, and opens the door to other lines of research such as applying task-specific priors.
RFEPS
Authors: Xu Rui , Wang Zixiong , Dou Zhiyang , Zong Chen , Xin Shiqing , Jiang Mingyan , Ju Tao , Tu Changhe
Published: November 2022

Feature lines are important geometric cues in characterizing the structure of a CAD model. Despite great progress in both explicit reconstruction and implicit reconstruction, it remains a challenging task to reconstruct a polygonal surface equipped with feature lines, especially when the input point cloud is noisy and lacks faithful normal vectors. In this paper, we develop a multistage algorithm, named
RFEPS
, to address this challenge. The key steps include (1) denoising the point cloud based on the assumption of local planarity, (2) identifying the feature-line zone by optimization of discrete optimal transport, (3) augmenting the point set so that sufficiently many additional points are generated on potential geometry edges, and (4) generating a polygonal surface that interpolates the augmented point set based on restricted power diagram. We demonstrate through extensive experiments that RFEPS, benefiting from the edge-point augmentation and the feature preserving explicit reconstruction, outperforms state of the art methods in terms of the reconstruction quality, especially in terms of the ability to reconstruct missing feature lines.
Globally Injective Flattening via a Reduced Harmonic Subspace
Authors: Fargion Guy , Weber Ofir
Published: November 2022

We present a highly efficient-and-robust method for free-boundary flattening of disk-like triangle meshes in a globally injective manner. We show that by restricting the solution to a low-dimensional subspace of harmonic maps, we can dramatically accelerate the process while obtaining a low-distortion result. The algorithm consists of two main steps. A linear subspace construction, and a nonlinear nonconvex optimization for finding a low-distortion globally injective map within that subspace. The complexity of the first step dominates the algorithm's runtime and is merely that of solving a linear system. We combine recent results for computing locally-and-globally injective maps with that of harmonic maps into a conceptually simple algorithm that guarantees global injectivity. We demonstrate the great efficiency of our method over a dataset of 100 large scale models with more than 2M triangles each. Our algorithm is 10 times faster on average compared to the state-of-the-art Efficient Bijective Parameterizations (EBP) method [Su et al. 2020], on these high-resolution meshes, and more than 20 times faster on challenging examples (Figures 1,11). The speedup over [Jiang et al. 2017; Smith and Schaefer 2015] is even more dramatic.
LuisaRender
Authors: Zheng Shaokun , Zhou Zhiqian , Chen Xin , Yan Difei , Zhang Chuyan , Geng Yuefeng , Gu Yan , Xu Kun
Published: November 2022

The advancements in hardware have drawn more attention than ever to high-quality offline rendering with modern stream processors, both in the industry and in research fields. However, the graphics APIs are fragmented and existing shading languages lack high-level constructs such as polymorphism, which adds complexity to developing and maintaining cross-platform high-performance renderers. We present LuisaRender
1
, a high-performance rendering framework for modern stream-architecture hardware. Our main contribution is an expressive C++-embedded DSL for kernel programming with JIT code generation and compilation. We also implement a unified runtime layer with resource wrappers and an optimized Monte Carlo renderer. Experiments on test scenes show that LuisaRender achieves much higher performance than existing research renderers on modern graphics hardware, e.g., 5--11× faster than PBRT-v4 and 4--16× faster than Mitsuba 3.
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Solid-Fluid Interaction
Authors: Liu Jinyuan , Wang Mengdi , Feng Fan , Tang Annie , Le Qiqin , Zhu Bo
Published: November 2022

We propose a novel solid-fluid coupling method to capture the subtle hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions between liquid, solid, and air at their multi-phase junctions. The key component of our approach is a Lagrangian model that tackles the coupling, evolution, and equilibrium of dynamic contact lines evolving on the interface between surface-tension fluid and deformable objects. This contact-line model captures an ensemble of small-scale geometric and physical processes, including dynamic waterfront tracking, local momentum transfer and force balance, and interfacial tension calculation. On top of this contact-line model, we further developed a mesh-based level set method to evolve the three-phase T-junction on a deformable solid surface. Our dynamic contact-line model, in conjunction with its monolithic coupling system, unifies the simulation of various hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid-fluid-interaction phenomena and enables a broad range of challenging small-scale elastocapillary phenomena that were previously difficult or impractical to solve, such as the elastocapillary origami and self-assembly, dynamic contact angles of drops, capillary adhesion, as well as wetting and splashing on vibrating surfaces.
Look-Ahead Training with Learned Reflectance Loss for Single-Image SVBRDF Estimation
Authors: Zhou Xilong , Kalantari Nima Khademi
Published: November 2022

In this paper, we propose a novel optimization-based method to estimate the reflectance properties of a near planar surface from a single input image. Specifically, we perform test-time optimization by directly updating the parameters of a neural network to minimize the test error. Since single image SVBRDF estimation is a highly ill-posed problem, such an optimization is prone to overfitting. Our main contribution is to address this problem by introducing a training mechanism that takes the test-time optimization into account. Specifically, we train our network by minimizing the training loss after one or more gradient updates with the test loss. By training the network in this manner, we ensure that the network does not overfit to the input image during the test-time optimization process. Additionally, we propose a learned reflectance loss to augment the typically used rendering loss during the test-time optimization. We do so by using an auxiliary network that estimates pseudo ground truth reflectance parameters and train it in combination with the main network. Our approach is able to converge with a small number of iterations of the test-time optimization and produces better results compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Declarative Specification for Unstructured Mesh Editing Algorithms
Authors: Jiang Zhongshi , Dai Jiacheng , Hu Yixin , Zhou Yunfan , Dumas Jeremie , Zhou Qingnan , Bajwa Gurkirat Singh , Zorin Denis , Panozzo Daniele , Schneider Teseo
Published: November 2022

We introduce a novel approach to describe mesh generation, mesh adaptation, and geometric modeling algorithms relying on changing mesh connectivity using a high-level abstraction. The main motivation is to enable easy customization and development of these algorithms via a declarative specification consisting of a set of per-element invariants, operation scheduling, and attribute transfer for each editing operation.

We demonstrate that widely used algorithms editing surfaces and volumes can be compactly expressed with our abstraction, and their implementation within our framework is simple, automatically parallelizable on shared-memory architectures, and with guaranteed satisfaction of the prescribed invariants. These algorithms are readable and easy to customize for specific use cases. We introduce a software library implementing this abstraction and providing automatic shared-memory parallelization.
Depth of Field Aware Differentiable Rendering
Authors: Pidhorskyi Stanislav , Bagautdinov Timur , Ma Shugao , Saragih Jason , Schwartz Gabriel , Sheikh Yaser , Simon Tomas
Published: November 2022

Cameras with a finite aperture diameter exhibit defocus for scene elements that are not at the focus distance, and have only a limited
depth of field
within which objects appear acceptably sharp. In this work we address the problem of applying inverse rendering techniques to input data that exhibits such defocus blurring. We present differentiable depth-of-field rendering techniques that are applicable to both rasterization-based methods using mesh representations, as well as ray-marching-based methods using either explicit [Yu et al. 2021] or implicit volumetric radiance fields [Mildenhall et al. 2020]. Our approach learns significantly sharper scene reconstructions on data containing blur due to depth of field, and recovers aperture and focus distance parameters that result in plausible forward-rendered images. We show applications to macro photography, where typical lens configurations result in a very narrow depth of field, and to multi-camera video capture, where maintaining sharp focus across a large capture volume for a moving subject is difficult.
Fast Octree Neighborhood Search for SPH Simulations
Authors: Fernández-Fernández José Antonio , Westhofen Lukas , Löschner Fabian , Jeske Stefan Rhys , Longva Andreas , Bender Jan
Published: November 2022

We present a new octree-based neighborhood search method for SPH simulation. A speedup of up to 1.9x is observed in comparison to state-of-the-art methods which rely on uniform grids. While our method focuses on maximizing performance in fixed-radius SPH simulations, we show that it can also be used in scenarios where the particle support radius is not constant thanks to the adaptive nature of the octree acceleration structure.

Neighborhood search methods typically consist of an acceleration structure that prunes the space of possible particle neighbor pairs, followed by direct distance comparisons between the remaining particle pairs. Previous works have focused on minimizing the number of comparisons. However, in an effort to minimize the actual computation time, we find that distance comparisons exhibit very high throughput on modern CPUs. By permitting more comparisons than strictly necessary, the time spent on preparing and searching the acceleration structure can be reduced, yielding a net positive speedup. The choice of an octree acceleration structure, instead of the uniform grid typically used in fixed-radius methods, ensures balanced computational tasks. This benefits both parallelism and provides consistently high computational intensity for the distance comparisons. We present a detailed account of high-level considerations that, together with low-level decisions, enable high throughput for performance-critical parts of the algorithm.

Finally, we demonstrate the high performance of our algorithm on a number of large-scale fixed-radius SPH benchmarks and show in experiments with a support radius ratio up to 3 that our method is also effective in multi-resolution SPH simulations.