From Flow to Jamming: Lattice Gas Automaton Simulations in Granular Materials

We introduce the first extension of a Lattice Gas Automaton (LGA) model to accurately replicate observed emergent phenomena in granular materials with a special focus on previously unexplored jamming transitions by incorporating gravitational effects, energy dissipation in particle collisions, and wall friction. We successfully reproduce flow rate evolution, density wave formation, and jamming transition observed in experiments. We also explore the critical density at which jamming becomes probable. This research advances our understanding of granular dynamics and offers insights into the jamming behavior of granular materials

An improved moth flame optimization algorithm based on rough sets for tomato diseases detection

Plant diseases is one of the major bottlenecks in agricultural production that have bad effects on the economic of any country. Automatic detection of such disease could minimize these effects. Features selection is a usual pre-processing step used for automatic disease detection systems. It is an important process for detecting and eliminating noisy, irrelevant, and redundant data. Thus, it could lead to improve the detection performance. In this paper, an improved moth-flame approach to automatically detect tomato diseases was proposed. The moth-flame fitness function depends on the rough sets dependency degree and it takes into a consideration the number of selected features. The proposed algorithm used both of the power of exploration of the moth flame and the high performance of rough sets for the feature selection task to find the set of features maximizing the classification accuracy which was evaluated using the support vector machine (SVM). The performance of the MFORSFS algorithm was evaluated using many benchmark datasets taken from UCI machine learning data repository and then compared with feature selection approaches based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithms (GA) with rough sets. The proposed algorithm was then used in a real-life problem, detecting tomato diseases (Powdery mildew and early blight) where a real dataset of tomato disease were manually built and a tomato disease detection approach was proposed and evaluated using this dataset. The experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm was efficient in terms of Recall, Precision, Accuracy and F-Score, as long as feature size reduction and execution time

Spectroscopy of a fractional Josephson vortex molecule

In long Josephson junctions with multiple discontinuities of the Josephson phase, fractional vortex molecules are spontaneously formed. At each discontinuity point a fractional Josephson vortex carrying a magnetic flux $|\Phi|<\Phi_0$, $\Phi_0\approx 2.07\times 10^{-15}$ Wb being the magnetic flux quantum, is pinned. Each vortex has an oscillatory eigenmode with a frequency that depends on $\Phi/\Phi_0$ and lies inside the plasma gap. We experimentally investigate the dependence of the eigenfrequencies of a two-vortex molecule on the distance between the vortices, on their topological charge $\wp=2\pi\Phi/\Phi_0$ and on the bias current $\gamma$ applied to the Josephson junction. We find that with decreasing distance between vortices, a splitting of the eigenfrequencies occurs, that corresponds to the emergence of collective oscillatory modes of both vortices. We use a resonant microwave spectroscopy technique and find good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

The omnivorous Tyrolean Iceman: colon contents (meat, cereals, pollen, moss and whipworm) and stable isotope analyses

The contents of the colon of the Tyrolean Iceman who lived Ga. 5300 years ago include muscle fibres, cereal remains, a diversity of pollen, and most notably that of the hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) retaining cellular contents, as well as a moss leaf (Neckera complanata) and eggs of the parasitic whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). Based almost solely on stable isotope analyses and ignoring the work on the colon contents, two recently published papers on the Iceman's diet draw ill- founded conclusions about vegetarianism and even veganism. Neither the pollen nor the moss is likely to have been deliberately consumed as food by the Iceman. All the available evidence concerning the Iceman's broad-based diet is reviewed and the significance of the colon contents for matters other than assessment of food intake is outlined

Relation Between Oxidant/Antioxidant Status and Postpartum Anestrous Conditions

The aim of the present study was to detect the relation between oxidant/antioxidant status and postpartum anestrous (PPA) conditions in dairy cows.The postpartum period is a very critical time that influenced mainly in cattle reproduction. A little information is obtainable in literature concerning antioxidant defense mechanisms during anestrus.The purpose of the following study is detection of the relation between oxidant/antioxidant status and postpartum anestrous (PPA) condition in dairy cows. Seventy five postpartum anestrous (PPA) and twenty five normal cyclic Holstein Friesian pluriparous dairy cows were selected on the basis of their reproductive history gained from farm records. Depend on the rectal findings and ultrasonography in addition to progesterone profile the studied animals were classified into three groups (each 25 animals) as inactive ovaries group, persistent corpus luteum group and silent heat group. Blood samples from anestrous and normal cyclic animals were gathered at day 0, day 10, day 21. These samples were utilized for detection of MDA, Vitamin C, Nitric Oxide and Total antioxidant capacity. Results of the present study revealed that MDA and Nitric Oxide were be significantly (plt0.05) higher in the groups of PPA than the normal cyclic group. Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)nbsp levels were seen to be significantly (plt0.05) lower in normal cyclic animals in comparison to inactive ovaries group and persistent C.L group ,while there is no significant difference with the silent heat group . No statistically significant difference was detected in the total antioxidant capacity between the group of silent heat and the normal cyclic group, while the groups of persistent C.L and inactive ovaries were found to have statistically significant difference (plt0.05) with the normal cyclic group. It is concluded that supplementing diets with optimal levels of micronutrients with antioxidant capabilities is a good advice to farmers to avoid post-partum anestrum. Moreover, early approaches to conflict the progression of stress and to promote the antioxidant defense mechanisms of dairy cattle during times of increased metabolic demands appears to be Pertinent

Promising anti-microbial effect of apple vinegar as a natural decolonizing agent in healthcare workers

Introduction: Colonized Healthcare workers (HCWs) are an essential reservoir of nosocomial infections. This study aims to determine the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage rate among HCWs, to evaluate at Fayoum University Hospital the susceptibility of isolates to mupirocin and Chlorhexidine and to investigate the antimicrobial effect of different vinegars on MRSA as a natural decolonizing agent. Methods: Nasal and hand swabs were collected from 124 HCWs at Fayoum University Surgical Hospital. Isolates were identified using the standard microbiological methods. Susceptibilities to mupirocin and Chlorhexidine were determined by disk diffusion and broth micro-dilution. Screening antimicrobial effect of commercial vinegars was determined by agar well-diffusion method and microdilution method. Results: About one tenth 11.3% (14/124) of HCWs showed nasal carriage of MRSA. Workers were the predominant carriers (P = 0.013). The overall non-nasal carriage rate of MRSA was 6.5% (8/124). Among MRSA isolates Low-level Mupirocin resistance (LLMR) showed in (36.4%, 8/22). MICs ranged from 0.25 to 32 μg/ml. Also, (13.6 %, 3/22) showed Chlorhexidine resistance, MICs ranged from 0.039 to 5 μg/ml. Apple vinegar showed the highest susceptibility among vinegars (p &lt; 0.0001) with MIC values varied from 0.058 to 1.87 μg/ml Discussion: The emergence of mupirocin (36.4%) and Chlorhexidine (13.6%) resistant Staphylococcus aureus among HCWs should be of excessive concern. Apple vinegar has a promising antimicrobial effect against MRSA isolates and could be used as a decolonizing agent

Evaluating the In vivo Efficacy of Copper-Chitosan Nanocomposition for Treating Vascular Wilt Disease in Date Palm

Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, as one of the most important fruit crops in Egypt and many other countries, can be affected by many fungal diseases, among which the vascular wilt disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum, is considered the most deteriorating one. This study aims at evaluating the efficiency of Copper-Chitosan Nanopcomposition for treating the vascular wilt disease in date palm. The study relies mainly on beleaguering the disease via the double-role functionality of copper-chitosan nanocomposition, i.e. its potential antifungal effect on the fungal pathogen, besides its capability to enhance the immune responses of the infected plant. In this regard, chitosan nanoparticles were prepared according to the ionic gelation method, whereas copper nanoparticles were prepared according to the chemical reduction method. Physicochemical characterization of both chitosan and copper nanoparticles was performed using dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Copper-chitosan nanocomposition could significantly reduce the vascular wilt disease severity; this means that the nanocomposition can be used in the future for developing new nano-fungicides to control such pathogens

Novel Pressure Induced Structural Phase Transition in AgSbTe2_{2}

We report a novel high pressure structural sequence for the functionally graded thermoelectric, narrow band gap semiconductor AgSbTe$_{2}$, using angle dispersive x-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell with synchrotron radiation at room temperature. The compound undergoes a B1 to B2 transition; the transition proceeds through an intermediate amorphous phase found between 17-26 GPa that is quenchable down to ambient conditions. The pressure induced structural transition observed in this compound is the first of its type reported in this ternary cubic family, and it is new for the B1-B2 transition pathway reported to date. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations performed for the B1 and B2 phases are in good agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure