91 research outputs found
Coffee Culture: Design Inspiration Balancing Social Connection and Independence in Modern Workplaces
Positive interaction with others and employee themselves in the workplace can increase work engagement and satisfaction. However, the staff does not have enough flexibility to control their schedule or enough belongings to their coworkers and companies, which make them commit their time, talent, skills, and ambition to their team and companies hard. As a new modern workplace layout type, activity-based workplace (ABW) shows the trend of employee office interaction development. It allows employees to choose the most suitable workstation based on their activities, offering more flexibility to set up their own work life. However, there are some worries preventing people to recognize those potential benefits, such as easily slacking off in the concentration room and lack of icebreakers to meet with more people in the breakout area. Thus, finding a solution to keep the balance between social connection and independence is significant to enhance work engagement for both employees and their companies.
Coffee culture describes a social atmosphere or a series of related social behaviors that take coffee as a social lubricant. In modern office spaces, no matter in what kind of workplace and activities, coffee is the most must-have daily thing for the office people. Having a cup of coffee at work can bring a refreshed and clear mind and help down social barriers allowing employees to have chances to interact with each other at work. This paper describes the trend of work engagement and the positive connection within the popular coffee culture, modern workplace social connection and independence. Hope it can bring some inspiration for readers to pay more attention to the poor work engagement and create a more harmonious and efficient work environment
Tensor formalism for predicting synaptic connections with ensemble modeling or optimization
Theoretical neuroscientists often try to understand how the structure of a
neural network relates to its function by focusing on structural features that
would either follow from optimization or occur consistently across possible
implementations. Both optimization theories and ensemble modeling approaches
have repeatedly proven their worth, and it would simplify theory building
considerably if predictions from both theory types could be derived and tested
simultaneously. Here we show how tensor formalism from theoretical physics can
be used to unify and solve many optimization and ensemble modeling approaches
to predicting synaptic connectivity from neuronal responses. We specifically
focus on analyzing the solution space of synaptic weights that allow a
threshold-linear neural network to respond in a prescribed way to a limited
number of input conditions. For optimization purposes, we compute the synaptic
weight vector that minimizes an arbitrary quadratic loss function. For ensemble
modeling, we identify synaptic weight features that occur consistently across
all solutions bounded by an arbitrary quadratic function. We derive a common
solution to this suite of nonlinear problems by showing how each of them
reduces to an equivalent linear problem that can be solved analytically.
Although identifying the equivalent linear problem is nontrivial, our tensor
formalism provides an elegant geometrical perspective that allows us to solve
the problem numerically. The final algorithm is applicable to a wide range of
interesting neuroscience problems, and the associated geometric insights may
carry over to other scientific problems that require constrained optimization.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
Particle filter-based delamination shape prediction in composites subjected to fatigue loading
Modeling generic size features of delamination, such as area or length, has long been considered in the literature for damage prognosis in composites through specific models describing damage state evolution with load cycles or time. However, the delamination shape has never been considered, despite that it holds important information for damage diagnosis and prognosis, including the delamination area, its center, and perimeter, useful for structural safety evaluation. In this context, this paper develops a novel particle filter (PF)-based framework for delamination shape prediction. To this end, the delamination image is discretized by a mesh, where control points are defined as intersections between the grid lines and the perimeter of the delamination. A parametric data-driven function maps each point position as a function of the load cycles and is initially fitted on a sample test. Then, a PF is independently implemented for each node whereby to predict their future positions along the mesh lines, thus allowing delamination shape progression estimates. The new framework is demonstrated with reference to experimental tests of fatigue delamination growth in composite panels with ultrasonics C-scan monitoring
Biofilm growth kinetics and nutrient (N/P) adsorption in an urban lake using reclaimed water: A quantitative baseline for ecological health assessment
Reclaimed wastewater reuse represents an effective method for partial resolution of increasing urban water shortages; however, reclaimed water may be characterized by significant contaminant loading, potentially affecting receiving ecosystem (and potentially human) health. The current study examined biofilm growth and nutrient adsorption in Olympic Lake (Beijing), the largest artificial urban lake in the world supplied exclusively by reclaimed wastewater. Findings indicate that solid particulate, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and metal oxide (Al, Fe, Mn) constituent masses adhere to a bacterial growth curve during biofilm formation and growth. Peak values were observed after ≈30 days, arrived at dynamic stability after ≈50days and were affected by growth matrix surface roughness. These findings may be used to inform biofilm cultivation times for future biomonitoring. Increased growth matrix surface roughness (10.0μm) was associated with more rapid biofilm growth and therefore an increased sensitivity to ecological variation in reclaimed water. Reclaimed water was found to significantly inhibit biofilm nutrient adsorption when compared with a “natural water” background, with elevated levels of metal oxides (Al, Fe, and Mn) and EPS representing the key substances actively influencing biofilm nutrient adsorption in reclaimed water. Results from the current study may be used to provide a quantitative baseline for future studies seeking to assess ecosystem health via monitoring of biofilms in the presence of reclaimed water through an improved quantitative understanding of biofilm kinetics in these conditions
Biofilm microbial community structure in an urban lake utilizing reclaimed water
Analyses of biofilm community structure may potentially be employed for aquatic ecosystem health assessment, however, to date, biofilm diversity within urban lakes using reclaimed water has not been examined. Accordingly, the microbial community diversity and structure of biofilms from the surface of multiple matrices with varying roughness (0.1, 1.0 and 10.0 μm) were characterized using a suite of molecular techniques including scanning electron microscopy, genetic fingerprinting and phospholipid-derived fatty acid analyses. Samples were largely comprised of inorganic particles, algae and numerous bacterial species; 12 phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) types were identified, significantly less than typically associated with sewage. Both growth matrix surface roughness and biofilm growth phase were shown to concur with significantly different microbial quantity and community structures. Gram-negative bacteria bacillus i15:03OH and 18:0 were the dominant bacterial genera, collectively comprising ≈75 % of identified PLFA species content. Calculated species diversity (H) and species dominance (D) exhibited identical correlational patterns with measured water quality parameters; significant positive correlations were exhibited with respect to Mg2, while significant negative correlations were found for NO3, TP, BOD, COD, SP, PO4, SO4 and pH. Results indicate that analyses of biofilm formation and structure could be effectively used to undertake integrated assessments of the ecological health of lake systems using reclaimed water. Further work is required to elucidate the optimum conditions for sample collection and analytical interpretation
Observation of Hybrid-Order Topological Pump in a Kekule-Textured Graphene Lattice
Thouless charge pumping protocol provides an effective route for realizing
topological particle transport. To date, the first-order and higher-order
topological pumps, exhibiting transitions of edge-bulk-edge and
corner-bulk-corner states, respectively, are observed in a variety of
experimental platforms. Here, we propose a concept of hybrid-order topological
pump, which involves a transition of bulk, edge, and corner states
simultaneously. More specifically, we consider a Kekul\'e-textured graphene
lattice that features a tunable phase parameter. The finite sample of zigzag
boundaries, where the corner configuration is abnormal and inaccessible by
repeating unit cells, hosts topological responses at both the edges and
corners. The former is protected by a nonzero winding number, while the latter
can be explained by a nontrivial vector Chern number. Using our skillful
acoustic experiments, we verify those nontrivial boundary landmarks and
visualize the consequent hybrid-order topological pump process directly. This
work deepens our understanding to higher-order topological phases and broadens
the scope of topological pumps.Comment: 5 figure
The mechanism of word satiation in Tibetan reading: Evidence from eye movements
Two eye-tracking experiments were used to investigate the mechanism of word satiation in Tibetan reading. The results revealed that, at a low repetition level, gaze duration and total fixation duration in the semantically unrelated condition were significantly longer than in the semantically related condition; at a medium repetition level, reaction time in the semantically related condition was significantly longer than in the semantically unrelated condition; at a high repetition level, the total fixation duration and reaction time in the semantically related condition were significantly longer than in the semantically unrelated condition. However, fixation duration and reaction time showed no significant difference between the similar and dissimilar orthography at any repetition level. These findings imply that there are semantic priming effects in Tibetan reading at a low repetition level, but semantic satiation effects at greater repetition levels, which occur in the late stage of lexical processing
Reversible tricolour luminescence switching based on a piezochromic iridium(iii) complex
On the basis of rational molecular design, the tricolour luminescence switching of an Ir(III) complex is achieved for the first time. The transformation between two crystalline states and an amorphous state is responsible for the switching behaviour of this complex between blue, green and yellow states. Solvent molecules are shown to play a crucial role in the crystallization and luminescence processes
Distribution and expression of SLC45A2 in the skin of sheep with different coat colors
Introduction. To investigate whether the membrane-associated transporter protein SLC45A2 is differentially expressed in the skin of sheep with different coat colors and to determine its correlation with coat color establishment in sheep.
Material and methods. The expression of SLC45A2 in sheep skin samples with different coat colors was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by PCR amplification, RT-PCR, immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting.
Results. A 193-bp SLC45A2 CDS sequence was successfully amplified from sheep skin samples with diverse coat colors. RT-PCR analysis revealed that SLC45A2 mRNA was expressed in all sheep skin samples tested, with relative expression levels of 512.74 ± 121.51 in black skin, 143.38 ± 119.31 and 1.36 ± 0.09 in black dots and white dots of piebald skin, respectively, and 1.02 ± 0.23 in white skin (p < 0.01**). Positive SLC45A2 protein bands were also detected in all skin samples by Western blot analysis, with relative expression levels of 0.85 ± ± 0.17** in black skin, 0.60 ± 0.05** and 0.34 ± 0.07 in black dots and white dots of piebald skin, respectively, and 0.20 ± 0.05 in white skin (p < 0.01**). Immunohistochemical assays revealed that SLC45A2 was expressed in the hair follicle matrix, the inner and outer root sheath, and the dermal papilla in the skin tissues with different coat colors. These patterns were quantified by optical density (OD) analysis, which yielded relative expression levels of 0.23 ± 0.11 in black skin, 0.19 ± 0.09 and 0.10 ± 0.03 in black dots and white dots of piebald skin, respectively, and 0.08 ± 0.01 in white skin (p < 0.05*).
Conclusion. SLC45A2 is detectably expressed in sheep skin of all coat colors, though at significantly different levels. SLC45A2 may participate in the establishment of coat color by regulating the synthesis and trafficking of melanin.
Discrepant diversity patterns and function of bacterial and fungal communities on an earthquake-prone mountain gradient in Northwest Sichuan, China
Patterns of microbial diversity on elevational gradients have been extensively studied, but little is known about those patterns during the restoration of earthquake-fractured alpine ecosystems. In this study, soil properties, soil enzyme activities, abundance and diversity of soil bacterial and fungal communities at four positions along a 2.6-km elevational gradient in the Snow Treasure Summit National Nature Reserve, located in Pingwu County, Southwest China. Although there were no significant changes in the soil chemical environment, bacterial and fungal communities were significantly different at different elevations. The overall fungal community presented an N-shaped diversity pattern with increasing elevation, while bacterial diversity decreased significantly with elevation. Changes in microbial diversity were associated with soil phosphorus, plant litter, and variations in dominant microbial taxa. Differences in enzyme activities among elevations were regulated by microbial communities, with changes in catalase and acid phosphatase activities mainly controlled by Acidobacteria and Planctomycetaceae bacteria, respectively (catalase: p < 0.001; acid phosphatase: p < 0.01), and those in β-glucosidase, sucrase, and urease activities mainly controlled by fungi. The β-glucosidase and sucrase were both positively correlated with Herpotrichiellaceae, and urease was positively correlated with Sebacinaceae (p < 0.05). These findings contribute to the conservation and management of mountain ecosystems in the face of changing environmental conditions. Further research can delve into the specific interactions between microbial communities, soil properties, and vegetation to gain deeper insights into the intricate ecological dynamics within earthquake-prone mountain ecosystems
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