A review of the role of sensors in mobile context-aware recommendation systems

Recommendation systems are specialized in offering suggestions about specific items of different types (e.g., books, movies, restaurants, and hotels) that could be interesting for the user. They have attracted considerable research attention due to their benefits and also their commercial interest. Particularly, in recent years, the concept of context-aware recommendation system has appeared to emphasize the importance of considering the context of the situations in which the user is involved in order to provide more accurate recommendations. The detection of the context requires the use of sensors of different types, which measure different context variables. Despite the relevant role played by sensors in the development of context-aware recommendation systems, sensors and recommendation approaches are two fields usually studied independently. In this paper, we provide a survey on the use of sensors for recommendation systems. Our contribution can be seen from a double perspective. On the one hand, we overview existing techniques used to detect context factors that could be relevant for recommendation. On the other hand, we illustrate the interest of sensors by considering different recommendation use cases and scenarios

Single spin resonance driven by electric modulation of the g-factor anisotropy

We address the problem of electronic and nuclear spin resonance of an individual atom on a surface driven by a scanning tunneling microscope. Several mechanisms have been proposed so far, some of them based on the modulation of exchange and crystal field associated with a piezoelectric displacement of the adatom driven by the radio frequency (RF) tip electric field. Here we consider another mechanism, where the piezoelectric displacement modulates the g -factor anisotropy, leading both to electronic and nuclear spin flip transitions. We discuss thoroughly the cases of hydrogenated Ti ( S = 1 / 2 ) and Fe ( S = 2 ) on MgO, relevant for recent experiments. We model the system using two approaches. First, an analytical model that includes crystal field, spin orbit coupling, and hyperfine interactions. Second, we carry out density-functional-based calculations. We find that the modulation of the anisotropy of the g tensor due to the piezoelectric displacement of the atom is an additional mechanism for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)-based single spin resonance that would be effective in S = 1 / 2 adatoms with large spin orbit coupling. In the case of hydrogenated Ti on MgO, we predict a modulation spin resonance frequency driven by the DC electric field of the tip.Fil: Ferrón, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Santiago Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Sergio Santiago. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Modelado e Innovación Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Lado, Jose Luis. Aalto University; FinlandiaFil: Fernandez Rossier, Joaquín. International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory; Portugal. Universidad de Alicante; Españ

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: single-probe measurements from CMASS anisotropic galaxy clustering

With the largest spectroscopic galaxy survey volume drawn from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), we can extract cosmological constraints from the measurements of redshift and geometric distortions at quasi-linear scales (e.g. above 50 $h^{-1}$Mpc). We analyze the broad-range shape of the monopole and quadrupole correlation functions of the BOSS Data Release 12 (DR12) CMASS galaxy sample, at the effective redshift $z=0.59$, to obtain constraints on the Hubble expansion rate $H(z)$, the angular-diameter distance $D_A(z)$, the normalized growth rate $f(z)\sigma_8(z)$, and the physical matter density $\Omega_mh^2$. We obtain robust measurements by including a polynomial as the model for the systematic errors, and find it works very well against the systematic effects, e.g., ones induced by stars and seeing. We provide accurate measurements $\{D_A(0.59)r_{s,fid}/r_s$ $\rm Mpc$, $H(0.59)r_s/r_{s,fid}$ $km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}$, $f(0.59)\sigma_8(0.59)$, $\Omega_m h^2\}$ = $\{1427\pm26$, $97.3\pm3.3$, $0.488 \pm 0.060$, $0.135\pm0.016\}$, where $r_s$ is the comoving sound horizon at the drag epoch and $r_{s,fid}=147.66$ Mpc is the sound scale of the fiducial cosmology used in this study. The parameters which are not well constrained by our galaxy clustering analysis are marginalized over with wide flat priors. Since no priors from other data sets, e.g., cosmic microwave background (CMB), are adopted and no dark energy models are assumed, our results from BOSS CMASS galaxy clustering alone may be combined with other data sets, i.e., CMB, SNe, lensing or other galaxy clustering data to constrain the parameters of a given cosmological model. The uncertainty on the dark energy equation of state parameter, $w$, from CMB+CMASS is about 8 per cent. The uncertainty on the curvature fraction, $\Omega_k$, is 0.3 per cent. We do not find deviation from flat $\Lambda$CDM.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. The latest version matches and the accepted version by MNRAS. A bug in the first version has been identified and fixed in the new version. We have redone the analysis with newest data (BOSS DR12

Synthetic conversion of leaf chloroplasts into carotenoid-rich plastids reveals mechanistic basis of natural chromoplast development

[EN] Plastids, the defining organelles of plant cells, undergo physiological and morphological changes to fulfill distinct biological functions. In particular, the differentiation of chloroplasts into chromoplasts results in an enhanced storage capacity for carotenoids with industrial and nutritional value such as beta-carotene (provitamin A). Here, we show that synthetically inducing a burst in the production of phytoene, the first committed intermediate of the carotenoid pathway, elicits an artificial chloroplast-to-chromoplast differentiation in leaves. Phytoene overproduction initially interferes with photosynthesis, acting as a metabolic threshold switch mechanism that weakens chloroplast identity. In a second stage, phytoene conversion into downstream carotenoids is required for the differentiation of chromoplasts, a process that involves a concurrent reprogramming of nuclear gene expression and plastid morphology for improved carotenoid storage. We hence demonstrate that loss of photosynthetic competence and enhanced production of carotenoids are not just consequences but requirements for chloroplasts to differentiate into chromoplasts.We greatly thank Jaume F. Martinez-Garcia and Ralf Welsch for fruitful discussions on the manuscript; Ralf Welsch and Li Li for providing seeds of the Arabidopsis ccd1 ccd4 and ator atorl mutants, respectively; Juan Jose Lopez-Moya and Maria Luisa Domingo-Calap for the gift of the HcProWMV-pGWB702 vector; and M. Rosa Rodriguez-Goberna for excellent technical support. The help of Marti Bernardo, Fidel Lozano, Lidia Jimenez, and members of the CRAG core facilities is also appreciated. This work was funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion Grants BIO2017-84041-P, BIO2017-83184-R, BIO2017-90877-REDT, BES-2017-080652, and AGL2017-85563-C2-1-R; Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports Grants AP2012-3751 and FPU16/04054; and Generalitat de Catalunya Grant 2017SGR-710. We also thank the financial support of the European Union's Horizon 2020 (EU-H2020) COST Action CA15136 (EuroCaroten) and Marie S. Curie Action (MSCA) 753301 (Arcatom), the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D 2016-2019 Grant SEV-2015-0533 and the Generalitat de Catalunya CERCA Programme (to CRAG). B.L. is supported by grants from the CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform and Macquarie University. L.M. is supported by La Caixa Foundation PhD INPhINIT Fellowship LCF/BQ/IN18/11660004, which received funding from the EU-H2020 through MSCA Grant 713673. A.R.F. is supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant DFG TRR 175.Llorente, B.; Torres-Montilla, S.; Morelli, L.; Florez-Sarasa, I.; Matus, JT.; Ezquerro, M.; D'andrea, L.... (2020). Synthetic conversion of leaf chloroplasts into carotenoid-rich plastids reveals mechanistic basis of natural chromoplast development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Online). 117(35):21796-21803. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004405117S21796218031173

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: RSD measurement from the LOS-dependent power spectrum of DR12 BOSS galaxies

Citation: Gil-Marin, H., Percival, W. J., Brownstein, J. R., Chuang, C. H., Grieb, J. N., Ho, S., . . . Zhao, G. B. (2016). The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: RSD measurement from the LOS-dependent power spectrum of DR12 BOSS galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 460(4), 4188-4209. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw1096We measure and analyse the clustering of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) relative to the line of sight (LOS), for LOWZ and CMASS galaxy samples drawn from the final Data Release 12. The LOWZ sample contains 361 762 galaxies with an effective redshift of z(lowz) = 0.32, and the CMASS sample 777 202 galaxies with an effective redshift of z(cmass) = 0.57. From the power spectrum monopole and quadrupole moments around the LOS, we measure the growth of structure parameter f times the amplitude of dark matter density fluctuations sigma 8 by modelling the redshift-space distortion signal. When the geometrical Alcock-Paczynski effect is also constrained from the same data, we find joint constraints on f sigma(8), the product of the Hubble constant and the comoving sound horizon at the baryondrag epoch H(z) r(s)(z(d)), and the angular distance parameter divided by the sound horizon DA(z)/r(s)(zd). We find f(z(lowz)) sigma(8)(z(lowz)) = 0.394 +/- 0.062, D-A(zlowz)/r(s)(z(d)) = 6.35 +/- 0.19, H(z(lowz)) r(s)(z(d)) = (11.41 +/- 0.56) 103 km s(-1) for the LOWZ sample, and f( z(cmass)) sigma 8(z(cmass)) = 0.444 +/- 0.038, D-A(z(cmass))/r(s)(z(d)) = 9.42 +/- 0.15, H(z(cmass)) r(s)(z(d)) = (13.92 +/- 0.44) 103 km s-1 for the CMASS sample. We find general agreement with previous BOSS DR11 measurements. Assuming the Hubble parameter and angular distance parameter are fixed at fiducial +/- cold dark matter values, we find f( zlowz) sigma(8)( z(lowz))= 0.485 +/- 0.044 and f(z(cmass)) sigma(8)(z(cmass))= 0.436 +/- 0.022 for the LOWZ and CMASS samples, respectively

Addressing Soil Degradation in EU Agriculture: Relevant Processes, Practices and Policies - Report on the project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)'

Agriculture occupies a substantial proportion of the European land, and consequently plays an important role in maintaining natural resources and cultural landscapes, a precondition for other human activities in rural areas. Unsustainable farming practices and land use, including mismanaged intensification as well as land abandonment, have an adverse impact on natural resources. Having recognised the environmental challenges of agricultural land use, the European Parliament requested the European Commission in 2007 to carry out a pilot project on "Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation through simplified cultivation techniques" (SoCo). The project originated from a close cooperation between the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). It was implemented by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) and the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES). This report presents the findings of a stock-taking of the current situation with respect to soil degradation processes, soil-friendly farming practices and relevant policy measures within an EU-wide perspective. This overview includes the results of the survey on the national/regional implementation of EU policies and national policies, a classification of the described soil degradation processes, soil conservation practices and policy measures, and finally the outcome of the Stakeholder Workshop which took place on 22 May 2008 in Brussels.JRC.J.5-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: modelling the clustering and halo occupation distribution of BOSS CMASS galaxies in the Final Data Release

Citation: Rodriguez-Torres, S. A., Chuang, C. H., Prada, F., Guo, H., Klypin, A., Behroozi, P., . . . Thomas, D. (2016). The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: modelling the clustering and halo occupation distribution of BOSS CMASS galaxies in the Final Data Release. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 460(2), 1173-1187. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw1014We present a study of the clustering and halo occupation distribution of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) CMASS galaxies in the redshift range 0.43 cold dark matter Planck cosmology. We compare the observational data with the simulated ones on a light cone constructed from 20 subsequent outputs of the simulation. Observational effects such as incompleteness, geometry, veto masks and fibre collisions are included in the model, which reproduces within 1 sigma errors the observed monopole of the two-point correlation function at all relevant scales: from the smallest scales, 0.5 h(-1) Mpc, up to scales beyond the baryon acoustic oscillation feature. This model also agrees remarkably well with the BOSS galaxy power spectrum (up to k similar to 1 h Mpc(-1)), and the three-point correlation function. The quadrupole of the correlation function presents some tensions with observations. We discuss possible causes that can explain this disagreement, including target selection effects. Overall, the standard HAM model describes remarkably well the clustering statistics of the CMASS sample. We compare the stellar-to-halo mass relation for the CMASS sample measured using weak lensing in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey with the prediction of our clustering model, and find a good agreement within 1 sigma. The BigMD-BOSS light cone including properties of BOSS galaxies and halo properties is made publicly available

Evaluation of the optimal activation parameters for almond shell bio-char production for capacitive deionization

A study on a possible new biomass waste to be used as electrode material for capacitive deionization (CDI) processes was performed. Raw almond shells were pyrolyzed at 800, 900 and 1000 °C and then activated through CO2. Carbon activation is used to develop porosity inside the material, increasing the specific surface area and the adsorption performances. In this work, authors tried to correlate the effects of pyrolysis and activation temperature on the ion storage capacity. Results from the desalination tests indicated that the best performance in terms of ion adsorption was obtained when the bio-char was activated at the temperature of 900 °C. Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) and Barret-Joyner-Halenda (BHJ) analysis confirmed the trend of the CDI tests, reporting the highest surface area and share of micropore sites for the 900 °C samples. Salt adsorption capacity was found to be in the range of 13.7 to 19.2 mg g−1

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey : tomographic BAO analysis of DR12 combined sample in Fourier space

We perform a tomographic baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) analysis using the monopole, quadrupole and hexadecapole of the redshift-space galaxy power spectrum measured from the pre-reconstructed combined galaxy sample of the completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release12 covering the redshift range of 0.20 < z < 0.75. By allowing for overlap between neighbouring redshift slices, we successfully obtained the isotropic and anisotropic BAO distance measurements within nine redshift slices to a precision of 1.5–3.4 per cent for DV/rd, 1.8–4.2 per cent for DA/rd and 3.7–7.5 per cent for H rd, depending on effective redshifts. We provide our BAO measurement of DA/rd and H rd with the full covariance matrix, which can be used for cosmological implications. Our measurements are consistent with those presented in Alam et al., in which the BAO distances are measured at three effective redshifts. We constrain dark energy parameters using our measurements and find an improvement of the Figure-of-Merit of dark energy in general due to the temporal BAO information resolved. This paper is a part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering data set from BOSS.PostprintPeer reviewe

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological implications of the Fourier space wedges of the final sample

Citation: Grieb, J. N., Sanchez, A. G., Salazar-Albornoz, S., Scoccimarro, R., Crocce, M., Dalla Vecchia, C., . . . Zhao, G. B. (2017). The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological implications of the Fourier space wedges of the final sample. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 467(2), 2085-2112. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw3384We extract cosmological information from the anisotropic power-spectrummeasurements from the recently completed Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), extending the concept of clustering wedges to Fourier space. Making use of new fast-Fourier-transform-based estimators, we measure the power-spectrum clustering wedges of the BOSS sample by filtering out the information of Legendre multipoles l > 4. Our modelling of these measurements is based on novel approaches to describe non-linear evolution, bias and redshift-space distortions, which we test using synthetic catalogues based on large-volume N-body simulations. We are able to include smaller scales than in previous analyses, resulting in tighter cosmological constraints. Using three overlapping redshift bins, we measure the angular-diameter distance, the Hubble parameter and the cosmic growth rate, and explore the cosmological implications of our full-shape clustering measurements in combination with cosmic microwave background and Type Ia supernova data. Assuming a Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) cosmology, we constrain the matter density to Omega M = 0.311(-0.010)(+ 0.009) and the Hubble parameter to H-0 = 67.6(-0.6)(+0.7) km s(-1) Mpc(-1), at a confidence level of 68 per cent. We also allow for nonstandard dark energy models and modifications of the growth rate, finding good agreement with the Lambda CDM paradigm. For example, we constrain the equation-of-state parameter to omega =-1.019(-0.039)(+0.048) . This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy-clustering data set from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS