664 research outputs found
Stereoelectronic effects on the binding of neutral Lewis bases to CdSe nanocrystals
Using P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we monitor the competition between tri-nbutylphosphine (Bu3P) and various amine and phosphine ligands for the surface of chloride terminated CdSe nanocrystals. Distinct P-31 NMR signals for free and bound phosphine ligands allow the surface ligand coverage to be measured in phosphine solution. Ligands with a small steric profile achieve higher surface coverages (Bu3P = 0.5 nm(-2), Me2P-n-octyl = 2.0 nm(-2), NH2Bu = >3 nm(-2)) and have greater relative binding affinity for the nanocrystal (binding affinity: Me3P > Me2P -n-octyl similar to Me2P -n-octadecyl > Et3P > Bu3P). Among phosphines, only Bu 3 P and Me2P-n-octyl support a colloidal dispersion, allowing a relative surface binding affinity (K-rel) to be estimated in that case (K-rel = 3.1). The affinity of the amine ligands is measured by the extent to which they displace Bu3P from the nanocrystals (K-rel: H2NBu similar to N-n-butylimidazole > 4-ethylpyridine > Bu3P similar to HNBu2 > Me2NBu > Bu3N). The affinity for the CdSe surface is greatest among soft, basic donors and depends on the number of each ligand that bind. Sterically unencumbered ligands such as imidazole, pyridine, and n-alkylamines can therefore outcompete stronger donors such as alkylphosphines. The influence of repulsive interactions between ligands on the binding affinity is a consequence of the high atom density of binary semiconductor surfaces. The observed behavior is distinct from the self-assembly of straight-chain surfactants on gold and silver where the ligands are commensurate with the underlying lattice and attractive interactions between aliphatic chains strengthen the binding
OSN Model For Business Growth Using Ecommerce Product Recommendation
Now A Days Online Shopping Has Achieved A Tremendous Popularity Within Very Less Amount Of Time. Recently Few Ecommerce Websites Has Been Developed Their Functionalities To A Extent Such That They Recommend The Product For Their Users Referring To The Connectivity Of The Users To The Social Media And Provide Direct Login From Such Social Media Such As Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp. Recommend The Users That Are Totally New To The Website Client Novel Solution For Cross-Site Cold-Start Product Recommendation That Aims For Recommending Products From E-Commerce Websites. In Specific Propose Learning Both Users And Products Feature Representations From Data Collected From E-Commerce Websites Using Recurrent Top-K To Transform User’s Social Networking Features Into User Embeddings. The Survey Paper Develops A Top-K Approach Which Can Manipulate The Learnt User Implanting For Cold-Start Product Recommendation
Design and Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering of Human Heart Valves
We developed a new fabrication technique for 3-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering of human heart valve tissue. A human aortic homograft was scanned with an X-ray computer tomograph. The data derived from the X-ray computed tomogram were processed by a computer-aided design program to reconstruct a human heart valve 3-dimensionally. Based on this stereolithographic model, a silicone valve model resembling a human aortic valve was generated. By taking advantage of the thermoplastic properties of polyglycolic acid as scaffold material, we molded a 3-dimensional scaffold for tissue engineering of human heart valves. The valve scaffold showed a deviation of only +/- 3-4% in height, length and inner diameter compared with the homograft. The newly developed technique allows fabricating custom-made, patient-specific polymeric cardiovascular scaffolds for tissue engineering without requiring any suture materials. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Base
Particle flux in the oceans: Challenging the steady state assumption
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are strongly controlled by the depth at which the organic matter that sinks out of the surface ocean is remineralized. This depth is generally estimated from particle flux profiles measured using sediment traps. Inherent in this analysis is a steady state assumption; that export from the surface does not significantly change in the time it takes material to reach the deepest trap. However, recent observations suggest that a significant fraction of material in the mesopelagic zone sinks slowly enough to bring this into doubt. We use data from a study in the North Atlantic during July/August 2009 to challenge the steady state assumption. An increase in biogenic silica flux with depth was observed which we interpret, based on vertical profiles of diatom taxonomy, as representing the remnants of the spring diatom bloom sinking slowly (<40 m d-1). We were able to reproduce this behaviour using a simple model using satellite-derived export rates and literature-derived remineralization rates. We further provide a simple equation to estimate ‘additional’ (or ‘excess’) POC supply to the dark ocean during non-steady state conditions, which is not captured by traditional sediment trap deployments. In seasonal systems, mesopelagic net organic carbon supply could be wrong by as much as 25% when assuming steady state. We conclude that the steady state assumption leads to misinterpretation of particle flux profiles when input fluxes from the upper ocean vary on the order of weeks, such as in temperate and polar regions with strong seasonal cycles in export
The ACPI Project, Element 1: Initializing a Coupled Climate Model from Observed Conditions
A problem for climate change studies with coupled ocean-atmosphere models has been
how to incorporate observed initial conditions into the ocean, which holds most of the ‘memory’
of anthropogenic forcing effects. The first difficulty is the lack of comprehensive three-dimensional
observations of the current ocean temperature (T) and salinity (S) fields to initialize to. The second
problem is that directly imposing observed T and S fields into the model results in rapid drift back
to the model climatology, with the corresponding loss of the observed information. Anthropogenic
forcing scenarios therefore typically initialize future runs by starting with pre-industrial conditions.
However, if the future climate depends on the details of the present climate, then initializing the
model to observations may provide more accurate forecasts. Also, this ∼130 yr spin up imposes
substantial overhead if only a few decades of predictions are desired. A new technique to address
these problems is presented. In lieu of observed T and S, assimilated ocean data were used. To
reduce model drift, an anomaly coupling scheme was devised. This consists of letting the model’s
climatological (pre-industrial) oceanic and atmospheric heat contents and transports balance each
other, while adding on the (much smaller) changes in heat content since the pre-industrial era as
anomalies. The result is model drift of no more than 0.2 K over 50 years, significantly smaller
than the forced response of 1.0 K. An ensemble of runs with these assimilated initial conditions
is then compared to a set spun up from pre-industrial conditions. No systematic differences were
found, i.e., the model simulation of the ocean temperature structure in the late 1990s is statistically
indistinguishable from the assimilated observations. However, a model with a worse representation
of the late 20th century climate might show significant differences if initialized in this way.This work was supported by the Department of Energy under grant DE-FG03– 98ER62505
Intertemporal accounting of climate change - Harmonizing economic efficiency and climate stewardship
Continuing a discussion on the intertemporal accounting of climate-change damages initiated by Nordhaus, Heal and Brown in response to the recent demonstration of Hasselmann et al. that standard exponential discounting applied uniformly to all goods and services invariably leads to a `climate catastrophe' in cost-benefit analyses, it is argued that (1) there exists no economically satisfactory alternative to cost-benefit analysis for the determination of optimal climate protection strategies, and (2) it is essential to allow for the different long-term evolution of climate damage costs relative to mitigation costs in determining the optimal cost-benefit solution. A climate catastrophe can be avoided only if it is assumed that climate damage costs increase significantly in the long term relative to mitigation costs. Cost-benefit analysis is regarded here in the generalized sense of optimizing a social welfare function that incorporates all relevant `quality-of-life' factors, including not only consumption and the value of the environment, but also the ethical values of equitable intertemporal and intrasocietal distribution. Thus, economic efficiency and climate stewardship are not regarded as conflicting goals, but as synonyms for a single encompassing economic optimization exercise. The same reasoning applies generally to the problem of sustainable development. To quantify the concept of sustainable development in cost-benefit analyses, the projected time evolution of the future values of natural resources and the environment (judged by the present generation, acting as representative agents of future generations) must be related to the time-evolution of all other relevant quality-of-life factors. Different ethical interpretations of the concept of sustainable development can be readily operationalized by incorporation in a generalized cost-benefit analysis in which the evolution paths of all relevant material and ethical values are explicitly specified
Take the aTrain. Introducing an Interface for the Accessible Transcription of Interviews
aTrain is an open-source and offline tool for transcribing audio data in
multiple languages with CPU and NVIDIA GPU support. It is specifically designed
for researchers using qualitative data generated from various forms of speech
interactions with research participants. aTrain requires no programming skills,
runs on most computers, does not require an internet connection, and was
verified not to upload data to any server. aTrain combines OpenAI's Whisper
model with speaker recognition to provide output that integrates with the
popular qualitative data analysis software tools MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti. It has an
easy-to-use graphical interface and is provided as a Windows-App through the
Microsoft Store allowing for simple installation by researchers. The source
code is freely available on GitHub. Having developed aTrain with a focus on
speed on local computers, we show that the transcription time on current mobile
CPUs is around 2 to 3 times the duration of the audio file using the
highest-accuracy transcription models. If an entry-level graphics card is
available, the transcription speed increases to 20% of the audio duration.Comment: Install via Microsoft store:
apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/atrain/9N15Q44SZNS2. Github:
github.com/BANDAS-Center/aTrai
Vertical imbalance in organic carbon budgets is indicative of a missing vertical transfer during a phytoplankton bloom near South Georgia (COMICS)
The biological carbon pump, driven principally by the surface production of sinking organic matter and its subsequent remineralization to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the deep ocean, maintains atmospheric CO2 concentrations around 200 ppm lower than they would be if the ocean were abiotic. One important driver of the magnitude of this effect is the depth to which organic matter sinks before it is remineralised, a parameter we have limited confidence in measuring given the difficulty involved in balancing sources and sinks in the ocean's interior. One solution to this imbalance might be a temporal offset in which organic carbon accumulates in the mesopelagic zone (100–1000 m depth) early in the productive season before it is consumed later. Here, we develop a novel accounting method to address non-steady state conditions by estimating fluxes of particulate organic matter into, and accumulation within, distinct vertical layers in the mesopelagic zone using high-resolution spatiotemporal vertical profiles. We apply this approach to a time series of measurements made during the declining phase of a large diatom bloom in a low-circulation region of the Southern Ocean downstream of South Georgia. Our data show that the major export event led to a significant accumulation of organic matter in the upper mesopelagic zone (100–200 m depth) which declined over the following weeks, implying that temporal offsets need to be considered when compiling budgets. However, even when accounting for this accumulation, a mismatch in the vertically resolved organic carbon budget remained, implying that there are likely widespread processes that we do not yet understand that redistribute material vertically within the mesopelagic zone
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