1,681 research outputs found
Combining phosphate species and stainless steel cathode to enhance hydrogen evolution in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)
Microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) must work around neutral pH because of microbial catalysis at the anode. To develop a hydrogen evolution cathode that can work at neutral pH remains a major challenge in MEC technology. Voltammetry performed at pH 8.0 on rotating disk electrodes showed that the presence of phosphate species straightforwardly multiplied the current density of hydrogen evolution, through the so-called cathodic deprotonation reaction. The mechanism was stable on stainless steel cathodes whereas it rapidly vanished on platinum. The phosphate/stainless steel system implemented in a 25 L MEC with a marine microbial anode led to hydrogen evolution rates of up to 4.9 L/h/m2 under 0.8 V voltage, which were of the same order than the best performance values reported so far.
Keywords: Hydrogen; Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC); Stainless steel; Phosphat
Ecosystem services auctions: the last decade of research
ReviewAuctions offer potential cost-effectiveness improvements over other mechanisms for
payments for ecosystem services (PES) contract allocation. However, evidence-based guidance for
matching design to application is scarce and research priorities are unclear. To take stock of the current
state of the art, we conducted a systematic review and thematic content analysis of 56 peer-reviewed
journal articles discussing ES auctions published in the last decade. Auctions were approached from
three overlapping perspectives: mechanism design, PES, and policy analysis. Five major themes
emerged: (1) performance, including measures like cost-effectiveness and PES criteria like additionality;
(2) information dynamics like price discovery and communication effects; (3) design innovations like
risk-integrating and spatially coordinated mechanisms; (4) contextual variables like policy context and
cultural values; and (5) participation factors. Additional attention from policymakers and continued
efforts to coordinate research in this diverse and interdisciplinary subfield may be beneficialinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Fluctuations of Quantum Radiation Pressure in Dissipative Fluid
Using the generalized Langevin equations involving the stress tensor
approach, we study the dynamics of a perfectly reflecting mirror which is
exposed to the electromagnetic radiation pressure by a laser beam in a fluid at
finite temperature. Based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, the minimum
uncertainty of the mirror's position measurement from both quantum and thermal
noises effects including the photon counting error in the laser interferometer
is obtained in the small time limit as compared with the "standard quantum
limit".
The result of the large time behavior of fluctuations of the mirror's
velocity in a dissipative environment can be applied to the laser
interferometer of the ground-based gravitational wave detector.Comment: 8 pages. Version published in Physics Letters
ICAM-reg: Interpretable Classification and Regression with Feature Attribution for Mapping Neurological Phenotypes in Individual Scans
Feature attribution (FA), or the assignment of class-relevance to different locations in an image, is important for many classification and regression problems but is particularly crucial within the neuroscience domain, where accurate mechanistic models of behaviours, or disease, require knowledge of all features discriminative of a trait. At the same time, predicting class relevance from brain images is challenging as phenotypes are typically heterogeneous, and changes occur against a background of significant natural variation. Here, we present an extension of the ICAM framework for creating prediction specific FA maps through image-to-image translation
Nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts and as potential nitrogen transfer reagents
In this article, an overview of the application of selected metal nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts is presented. The potential development of some systems into nitrogen transfer reagents is also described
ICAM-reg: Interpretable Classification and Regression with Feature Attribution for Mapping Neurological Phenotypes in Individual Scans
An important goal of medical imaging is to be able to precisely detect
patterns of disease specific to individual scans; however, this is challenged
in brain imaging by the degree of heterogeneity of shape and appearance.
Traditional methods, based on image registration to a global template,
historically fail to detect variable features of disease, as they utilise
population-based analyses, suited primarily to studying group-average effects.
In this paper we therefore take advantage of recent developments in generative
deep learning to develop a method for simultaneous classification, or
regression, and feature attribution (FA). Specifically, we explore the use of a
VAE-GAN translation network called ICAM, to explicitly disentangle class
relevant features from background confounds for improved interpretability and
regression of neurological phenotypes. We validate our method on the tasks of
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) cognitive test score prediction for the
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort, as well as brain age
prediction, for both neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration, using the
developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) and UK Biobank datasets. We show
that the generated FA maps can be used to explain outlier predictions and
demonstrate that the inclusion of a regression module improves the
disentanglement of the latent space. Our code is freely available on Github
https://github.com/CherBass/ICAM
To bite or not to bite! A questionnaire-based survey assessing why some people are bitten more than others by midges
BACKGROUND: The Scottish biting midge, Culicoides impunctatus, responsible for more than 90% of biting attacks on human beings in Scotland, is known to demonstrate a preference for certain human hosts over others. METHODS: In this study we used a questionnaire-based survey to assess the association between people's perception of how badly they get bitten by midges and their demographic, lifestyle and health related characteristics. RESULTS: Most people (85.8%) reported being bitten sometimes, often or always with only 14.2% reporting never being bitten by midges when in Scotland. There was no association between level of bites received and age, smoking, diet, exercise, medication, eating strongly flavoured foods or alcohol consumption. However, there was a strong association between the probability of being bitten and increasing height (in men) and BMI (in women). A large proportion of participants (33.8%) reported experiencing a bad/severe reaction to midge bites while 53.1% reported a minor reaction and 13.1% no reaction at all. Also, women tend to react more than men to midge bites. Additionally, the results indicated that the susceptibility to being bitten by midges is hereditary. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that midges prefer to bite men that are tall and women that have a large BMI, and that the tendency for a child to be bitten or not could be inherited from their parent. The study is questionnaire-based; therefore, the interpretation of the results may be limited by the subjectivity of the answers given by the respondents. Although the results are relevant only to the Scottish biting midge, the approach used here could be useful for investigating human-insect interactions for other insects, particularly those which transmit pathogens that cause disease
Marine Monitoring Program: Annual report for inshore water quality monitoring 2014-2015
[Extract] The management of water quality remains an essential requirement to ensure the long-term protection of the coastal and inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015). The land management initiatives under the Australian and Queensland Government's Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) and the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan (Reef 2050 Plan) are key actions to improve the water quality entering the GBR. The goal of Reef Plan is “To ensure that by 2020 the quality of water entering the reef from broadscale land use has no detrimental impact on the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.”
This report summarises the results of water quality monitoring activities, carried out by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and James Cook University (JCU) as part of the Marine Monitoring Program (MMP) in 2014-15, with reference to previous data from 2005 to 2014
Impaired decisional impulsivity in pathological videogamers
Abstract
Background
Pathological gaming is an emerging and poorly understood problem. Impulsivity is commonly impaired in disorders of behavioural and substance addiction, hence we sought to systematically investigate the different subtypes of decisional and motor impulsivity in a well-defined pathological gaming cohort.
Methods
Fifty-two pathological gaming subjects and age-, gender- and IQ-matched healthy volunteers were tested on decisional impulsivity (Information Sampling Task testing reflection impulsivity and delay discounting questionnaire testing impulsive choice), and motor impulsivity (Stop Signal Task testing motor response inhibition, and the premature responding task). We used stringent diagnostic criteria highlighting functional impairment.
Results
In the Information Sampling Task, pathological gaming participants sampled less evidence prior to making a decision and scored fewer points compared with healthy volunteers. Gaming severity was also negatively correlated with evidence gathered and positively correlated with sampling error and points acquired. In the delay discounting task, pathological gamers made more impulsive choices, preferring smaller immediate over larger delayed rewards. Pathological gamers made more premature responses related to comorbid nicotine use. Greater number of hours played also correlated with a Motivational Index. Greater frequency of role playing games was associated with impaired motor response inhibition and strategy games with faster Go reaction time.
Conclusions
We show that pathological gaming is associated with impaired decisional impulsivity with negative consequences in task performance. Decisional impulsivity may be a potential target in therapeutic management
- …