Non-averaged regularized formulations as an alternative to semi-analytical orbit propagation methods

This paper is concerned with the comparison of semi-analytical and non-averaged propagation methods for Earth satellite orbits. We analyse the total integration error for semi-analytical methods and propose a novel decomposition into dynamical, model truncation, short-periodic, and numerical error components. The first three are attributable to distinct approximations required by the method of averaging, which fundamentally limit the attainable accuracy. In contrast, numerical error, the only component present in non-averaged methods, can be significantly mitigated by employing adaptive numerical algorithms and regularized formulations of the equations of motion. We present a collection of non-averaged methods based on the integration of existing regularized formulations of the equations of motion through an adaptive solver. We implemented the collection in the orbit propagation code THALASSA, which we make publicly available, and we compared the non-averaged methods to the semi-analytical method implemented in the orbit propagation tool STELA through numerical tests involving long-term propagations (on the order of decades) of LEO, GTO, and high-altitude HEO orbits. For the test cases considered, regularized non-averaged methods were found to be up to two times slower than semi-analytical for the LEO orbit, to have comparable speed for the GTO, and to be ten times as fast for the HEO (for the same accuracy). We show for the first time that efficient implementations of non-averaged regularized formulations of the equations of motion, and especially of non-singular element methods, are attractive candidates for the long-term study of high-altitude and highly elliptical Earth satellite orbits.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables. Part of the CMDA Topical Collection on "50 years of Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy". Comments and feedback are encourage

Dynamic analysis of evolutive conservative systems. Discussion of eigenmode crossings

After an analysis of the close connection between the symmetries of a dynamical system and the multiplicity of its vibrational natural frequencies, it is proved by variational arguments that for a system of invariable symmetry the eigenfrequencies associated with the eigenmodes of a given symmetry type do not cross, in general, during the evolution of this system. The theory is implemented by some numerical calculations applied to the analysis of the evolution of the axisymmetric hydroelastic modes of the Ariane launch vehicle during burning of the first stage

Micro- and macroparasite species richness in birds:The role of host life history and ecology

Identifying the factors shaping variation in parasite diversity among host species is crucial to understand wildlife diseases. Although micro‐ and macroparasites may exert different selective pressures on their hosts, studies investigating the determinants of parasite species richness in animals have rarely considered this divide. Here, we investigated the role of host life history and ecology in explaining the species richness of helminths (macroparasites) and haemosporidians (microparasites) in birds world‐wide. We collated data from multiple global datasets on diverse bird traits (longevity, body mass, coloniality, migration distance/tendency, geographic range size and dietary and habitat breadths) and the species richness of their helminth and haemosporidian parasites. We tested predictors of helminth and haemosporidian parasite richness using phylogenetic generalized linear mixed models in a Bayesian framework. We found that, after controlling for research effort and host phylogeny, the richness of helminths, but not of haemosporidians, increased with host longevity, range size, migration distance and dietary breadth. Overall, these correlates were also important across different helminth groups (acanthocephalans, cestodes, nematodes and trematodes), and two additional ones (body mass, coloniality) emerged as important for cestodes and acanthocephalans. We propose that long life spans may promote the diversity of helminth parasite assemblages over evolutionary time, thus resulting in richer helminth faunas. Similarly, longer‐distance migrations, larger ranges and broader dietary breadths are likely to lead to greater encounter rates and the accumulation of trophically transmitted helminths. In contrast, vector‐borne haemosporidians may be influenced more by factors related to vector ecology than by the host traits included in the analyses. The lack of strong associations between haemosporidian species richness and host characteristics emphasizes the need to find appropriate traits to model the distribution and diversity of parasites with different environmental preferences in order to anticipate disease emergence risks associated with global change

Lack of involvement of lipocortin 1 in dexamethasone suppression of IL-1 release

The annexin lipocortin 1 is reported to mediate some anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids, but the mechanisms of this mediation are incompletely understood. The involvement of lipocortin 1 in glucocorticoid inhibition of monocyte interleukin 1β (IL-1β) release has been investigated. Treatment of peripheral blood monocytes with 2 μg/ml lipopolysaccharide potently increased IL–1β release (p = 0.001) and dexamethasone (10−7 M) significantly reduced both resting and stimulated IL-1β release (p = 0.009). A neutralizing monoclonal antibody to lipocortin 1 (0.5–50.0 μg/ml) was unable to inhibit this effect and recombinant lipocortin 1 (2 × 10−6 M) and 188aa lipocortin 1 fragment (10−8−10−6 M) had no effect. It is concluded that lipocortin 1 is not involved in the inhibition of monocyte IL-1β release by glucocorticoids

Histopathological Analysis of Nodal Disease After Chemoradiation Reveals Viable Tumor Cells as the most Important Prognostic Factor in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, DOI 10.1007/s12105-023-01557-7

Letter to the edito

Connections and dynamical trajectories in generalised Newton-Cartan gravity I. An intrinsic view

The "metric" structure of nonrelativistic spacetimes consists of a one-form (the absolute clock) whose kernel is endowed with a positive-definite metric. Contrarily to the relativistic case, the metric structure and the torsion do not determine a unique Galilean (i.e. compatible) connection. This subtlety is intimately related to the fact that the timelike part of the torsion is proportional to the exterior derivative of the absolute clock. When the latter is not closed, torsionfreeness and metric-compatibility are thus mutually exclusive. We will explore generalisations of Galilean connections along the two corresponding alternative roads in a series of papers. In the present one, we focus on compatible connections and investigate the equivalence problem (i.e. the search for the necessary data allowing to uniquely determine connections) in the torsionfree and torsional cases. More precisely, we characterise the affine structure of the spaces of such connections and display the associated model vector spaces. In contrast with the relativistic case, the metric structure does not single out a privileged origin for the space of metric-compatible connections. In our construction, the role of the Levi-Civita connection is played by a whole class of privileged origins, the so-called torsional Newton-Cartan (TNC) geometries recently investigated in the literature. Finally, we discuss a generalisation of Newtonian connections to the torsional case.Comment: 79 pages, 7 figures; v2: added material on affine structure of connection space, former Section 4 postponed to 3rd paper of the serie

Efficient Exploration of Microstructure-Property Spaces via Active Learning

In materials design, supervised learning plays an important role for optimization and inverse modeling of microstructure-property relations. To successfully apply supervised learning models, it is essential to train them on suitable data. Here, suitable means that the data covers the microstructure and property space sufficiently and, especially for optimization and inverse modeling, that the property space is explored broadly. For virtual materials design, typically data is generated by numerical simulations, which implies that data pairs can be sampled on demand at arbitrary locations in microstructure space. However, exploring the space of properties remains challenging. To tackle this problem, interactive learning techniques known as active learning can be applied. The present work is the first that investigates the applicability of the active learning strategy query-by-committee for an efficient property space exploration. Furthermore, an extension to active learning strategies is described, which prevents from exploring regions with properties out of scope (i.e., properties that are physically not meaningful or not reachable by manufacturing processes)