Tri-critical behavior in rupture induced by disorder

We discover a qualitatively new behavior for systems where the load transfer has limiting stress amplification as in real fiber composites. We find that the disorder is a relevant field leading to tri--criticality, separating a first-order regime where rupture occurs without significant precursors from a second-order regime where the macroscopic elastic coefficient exhibit power law behavior. Our results are based on analytical analysis of fiber bundle models and numerical simulations of a two-dimensional tensorial spring-block system in which stick-slip motion and fracture compete.Comment: Revtex, 10 pages, 4 figures available upon reques

Electrocardiogram Monitoring Wearable Devices and Artificial-Intelligence-Enabled Diagnostic Capabilities: A Review

Worldwide, population aging and unhealthy lifestyles have increased the incidence of high-risk health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnea, and other conditions. Recently, to facilitate early identification and diagnosis, efforts have been made in the research and development of new wearable devices to make them smaller, more comfortable, more accurate, and increasingly compatible with artificial intelligence technologies. These efforts can pave the way to the longer and continuous health monitoring of different biosignals, including the real-time detection of diseases, thus providing more timely and accurate predictions of health events that can drastically improve the healthcare management of patients. Most recent reviews focus on a specific category of disease, the use of artificial intelligence in 12-lead electrocardiograms, or on wearable technology. However, we present recent advances in the use of electrocardiogram signals acquired with wearable devices or from publicly available databases and the analysis of such signals with artificial intelligence methods to detect and predict diseases. As expected, most of the available research focuses on heart diseases, sleep apnea, and other emerging areas, such as mental stress. From a methodological point of view, although traditional statistical methods and machine learning are still widely used, we observe an increasing use of more advanced deep learning methods, specifically architectures that can handle the complexity of biosignal data. These deep learning methods typically include convolutional and recurrent neural networks. Moreover, when proposing new artificial intelligence methods, we observe that the prevalent choice is to use publicly available databases rather than collecting new data

On commensurable hyperbolic Coxeter groups

For Coxeter groups acting non-cocompactly but with finite covolume on real hyperbolic space Hn, new methods are presented to distinguish them up to (wide) commensurability. We exploit these ideas and determine the commensurability classes of all hyperbolic Coxeter groups whose fundamental polyhedra are pyramids over a product of two simplices of positive dimensions

Flow-based pipeline for systematic modulation and analysis of 3D tumor microenvironments

The cancer microenvironment, which incorporates interactions with stromal cells, extracellular matrix (ECM), and other tumor cells in a 3-dimensional (3D) context, has been implicated in every stage of cancer development, including growth of the primary tumor, metastatic spread, and response to treatment. Our understanding of the tumor microenvironment and our ability to develop new therapies would greatly benefit from tools that allow us to systematically probe microenvironmental cues within a 3D context. Here, we leveraged recent advances in microfluidic technology to develop a platform for high-throughput fabrication of tunable cellular microniches (“microtissues”) that allow us to probe tumor cell response to a range of microenvironmental cues, including ECM, soluble factors, and stromal cells, all in 3D. We further combine this tunable microniche platform with rapid, flow-based population level analysis (n > 500), which permits analysis and sorting of microtissue populations both pre- and post-culture by a range of parameters, including proliferation and homotypic or heterotypic cell density. We used this platform to demonstrate differential responses of lung adenocarcinoma cells to a selection of ECM molecules and soluble factors. The cells exhibited enhanced or reduced proliferation when encapsulated in fibronectin- or collagen-1-containing microtissues, respectively, and they showed reduced proliferation in the presence of TGF-β, an effect that we did not observe in monolayer culture. We also measured tumor cell response to a panel of drug targets and found, in contrast to monolayer culture, specific sensitivity of tumor cells to TGFβR2 inhibitors, implying that TGF-β has an anti-proliferative affect that is unique to the 3D context and that this effect is mediated by TGFβR2. These findings highlight the importance of the microenvironmental context in therapeutic development and that the platform we present here allows the high-throughput study of tumor response to drugs as well as basic tumor biology in well-defined microenvironmental niches.American Association for Cancer Research (Stand Up to Cancer Charitable Initiative)National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (National Research Service Award Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Graduate Research Fellowship Program Grant 1122374)Howard Hughes Medical Institut

Структурные и электрические свойства стеклокерамических сегнетоэлектрических композитных материалов

Introduction. Materials exhibiting high dielectric permittivity are relevant for use in modern ultrahigh-frequency electronics. Among them, ferroelectrics with high dielectric nonlinearity present particular interest. The electrical strength of ferroelectric materials can be increased using modern composite structures based on mixing ferroelectries and linear dielectrics - materials exhibiting simultaneously low dielectric permittivity and high electrical strength. This approach provides for the opportunity of creating new multicomponent materials with previously unattainable properties and adjusting their component composition, inclusion size and electrical properties across a wide range. In this work, on the basis of porous potassium-iron-silicate glass (KFS) obtained by ion exchange, glass-ceramic materials containing barium titanate were synthesized for use at ultrahigh frequencies.Aim. Production of glass composites by low-temperature sintering of pre-synthesized BaTiO3 (BTO) and potassium-iron-silicate glass, as well as characterization of their structural and electrical properties at ultrahigh frequencies (microwave).Materials and methods. The crystal structure and phase composition of the obtained films were studied by X-ray diffraction using a DRON-6 diffractometer by the emission spectral line CuKα1 (λ = 1.5406 Å). The dielectric permittivity (ε) of microwave samples was evaluated by the Nicholson-Ross method at room temperature using an Agilent E4980A LCR-meter.Results. According to X-ray diffraction analysis, the synthesized samples are a mixture of KFS glass, ferroelectric BaTiO3 and dielectric barium polytitanates; the ratio of the latter determines the electrical properties of the composites. Depending on the content of barium titanate, the studied samples demonstrate a dielectric constant from 50 to 270 at a dielectric loss level of 0.1...0.02. The samples subjected to annealing in an oxygen medium showed an increase in dielectric permittivity by 10.25 % and an increase in controllability with a decrease in dielectric losses by an average of two times.Conclusion. The composite composition of 70 wt % BTO /30 wt % KFS was found to be the most promising in terms of structural and electrical properties. This composite showed an increase in dielectric permittivity by 25 % and a significant increase in nonlinearity, at the same time as reducing losses by more than two times as a result of annealing in an oxygen medium.Введение. Материалы, обладающие высокой диэлектрической проницаемостью, актуальны для использования в современной сверхвысокочастотной электронике в составе управляемых конденсаторов высокой энергетической плотности, систем преобразования энергии, мощных передающих антенн. Наиболее перспективными материалами для применения в упомянутых устройствах являются сегнетоэлектрики, обладающие высокой диэлектрической нелинейностью. Для увеличения электрической прочности сегнетоэлектрических материалов сегодня разрабатываются композитные структуры на основе смешения сегнетоэлектриков с линейными диэлектриками - материалами, обладающими малой диэлектрической проницаемостью, но высокой электрической прочностью. Преимуществом такого подхода является возможность создания новых многокомпонентных материалов с недостижимыми ранее свойствами и возможность регулировать компонентный состав, размеры включений и электрические свойства композитов в широких пределах. На основе пористого калийжелезосиликатного стекла (KFS), полученного методом ионного обмена, синтезированы стеклокерамические материалы, содержащие титанат бария, с целью использования на сверхвысоких частотах. Показано, что отжиг стеклокерамических композитов в кислородной среде положительно влияет на их структурные и электрические характеристики. Стеклокерамические образцы демонстрируют значительное увеличение диэлектрической проницаемости и снижение потерь после высокотемпературной обработки в кислороде.Цель работы. Получение стеклокомпозитов посредством низкотемпературного спекания предварительно синтезированного BaTiO3 (BTO) и калийжелезосиликатного стекла, а также характеризация структуры и электрических свойств композитов на сверхвысоких частотах (СВЧ).Материалы и методы. Кристаллическая структура и фазовый состав полученных пленок исследовались методом рентгеновской дифракции с помощью дифрактометра ДРОН-6 на эмиссионной спектральной линии CuKα1 (λ = 1.5406 Å). Диэлектрическая проницаемость е образцов на СВЧ оценивалась методом Николсона-Росса при комнатной температуре с использованием Agilent E4980A LCR-meter.Результаты. Согласно данным рентгеноструктурного анализа, синтезированные образцы представляют собой смесь KFS, сегнетоэлектрического BaTiO3 и диэлектрических полититанатов бария; соотношение последних определяет электрические свойства композитов. В зависимости от содержания титаната бария исследуемые образцы демонстрируют диэлектрическую проницаемость от 50 до 270 при уровне диэлектрических потерь 0.1...0.02.Для исследуемых образцов, подверженных отжигу в кислородной среде, после высокотемпературной обработки наблюдается увеличение диэлектрической проницаемости на 10.25 % и рост управляемости при уменьшении диэлектрических потерь в среднем в 2 раза.Заключение. Наиболее перспективным с точки зрения структурных и электрических свойств представляется композит состава с массовой долей ВТО 70 % и массовой долей KFS 30 %. Для данного композита наблюдается увеличение диэлектрической проницаемости на 25 %, существенный рост нелинейности при одновременном снижении потерь более чем в 2 раза в результате отжига в кислородной среде

The Ontogenetic Osteohistology of Tenontosaurus tilletti

Tenontosaurus tilletti is an ornithopod dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Cloverly and Antlers formations of the Western United States. It is represented by a large number of specimens spanning a number of ontogenetic stages, and these specimens have been collected across a wide geographic range (from central Montana to southern Oklahoma). Here I describe the long bone histology of T. tilletti and discuss histological variation at the individual, ontogenetic and geographic levels. The ontogenetic pattern of bone histology in T. tilletti is similar to that of other dinosaurs, reflecting extremely rapid growth early in life, and sustained rapid growth through sub-adult ontogeny. But unlike other iguanodontians, this dinosaur shows an extended multi-year period of slow growth as skeletal maturity approached. Evidence of termination of growth (e.g., an external fundamental system) is observed in only the largest individuals, although other histological signals in only slightly smaller specimens suggest a substantial slowing of growth later in life. Histological differences in the amount of remodeling and the number of lines of arrested growth varied among elements within individuals, but bone histology was conservative across sampled individuals of the species, despite known paleoenvironmental differences between the Antlers and Cloverly formations. The bone histology of T. tilletti indicates a much slower growth trajectory than observed for other iguanodontians (e.g., hadrosaurids), suggesting that those taxa reached much larger sizes than Tenontosaurus in a shorter time

Derivation of consistent hard rock (1000<Vs<3000 m/s) GMPEs from surface and down-hole recordings: Analysis of KiK-net data

A key component in seismic hazard assessment is the estimation of ground motion for hard rock sites, either for applications to installations built on this site category, or as an input motion for site response computation. Empirical ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are the traditional basis for estimating ground motion while VS30 is the basis to account for site conditions. As current GMPEs are poorly constrained for VS30 larger than 1000 m/s, the presently used approach for estimating hazard on hard rock sites consists of “host-to-target” adjustment techniques based on VS30 and κ0 values. The present study investigates alternative methods on the basis of a KiK-net dataset corresponding to stiff and rocky sites with 500 < VS30 < 1350 m/s. The existence of sensor pairs (one at the surface and one in depth) and the availability of P- and S-wave velocity profiles allow deriving two “virtual” datasets associated to outcropping hard rock sites with VS in the range [1000, 3000] m/s with two independent corrections: 1/down-hole recordings modified from within motion to outcropping motion with a depth correction factor, 2/surface recordings deconvolved from their specific site response derived through 1D simulation. GMPEs with simple functional forms are then developed, including a VS30 site term. They lead to consistent and robust hard-rock motion estimates, which prove to be significantly lower than host-to-target adjustment predictions. The difference can reach a factor up to 3–4 beyond 5 Hz for very hard-rock, but decreases for decreasing frequency until vanishing below 2 Hz

Структура и свойства тонких пленок титаната-цирконата бария и титаната-станната бария для сверхвысокочастотных применений

Structural and radio frequency (RF) dielectric properties of thin films of ferroelectric solid solutions BaZrxTi1-xO3 and BaSnxTi1-xO3 obtained by RF magnetron sputtering of ceramic targets on Pt/ r-cut of Al2O3 sapphire substrate are investigated. A high tunability of thin layers and low values of dielectric loss acceptable for microwave application have been revealed.Исследованы структурные и высокочастотные диэлектрические свойства тонких пленок сегнетоэлектрических твердых растворов и выращенных методом высокочастотного магнетронного распыления керамических мишеней на подложке Выявлена высокая управляемость диэлектрической проницаемости тонких слоев под действием приложенного электрического поля при приемлемых для сверхвысокочастотных применений диэлектрических потерях

More than one way of being a moa: differences in leg bone robustness map divergent evolutionary trajectories in Dinornithidae and Emeidae (Dinornithiformes).

The extinct moa of New Zealand included three families (Megalapterygidae; Dinornithidae; Emeidae) of flightless palaeognath bird, ranging in mass from 200 kg. They are perceived to have evolved extremely robust leg bones, yet current estimates of body mass have very wide confidence intervals. Without reliable estimators of mass, the extent to which dinornithid and emeid hindlimbs were more robust than modern species remains unclear. Using the convex hull volumetric-based method on CT-scanned skeletons, we estimate the mass of a female Dinornis robustus (Dinornithidae) at 196 kg (range 155-245 kg) and of a female Pachyornis australis (Emeidae) as 50 kg (range 33-68 kg). Finite element analysis of CT-scanned femora and tibiotarsi of two moa and six species of modern palaeognath showed that P. australis experienced the lowest values for stress under all loading conditions, confirming it to be highly robust. In contrast, stress values in the femur of D. robustus were similar to those of modern flightless birds, whereas the tibiotarsus experienced the highest level of stress of any palaeognath. We consider that these two families of Dinornithiformes diverged in their biomechanical responses to selection for robustness and mobility, and exaggerated hindlimb strength was not the only successful evolutionary pathway