Middle Anisian (Bithynian to Illyrian?, Middle Triassic) Ammonoidea from Rüdersdorf (Brandenburg, Germany) with a revision of Beneckeia Mojsisovics, 1882 and notes on migratory pathways

Bithynian and Pelsonian (Anisian, Middle Triassic) Ammonoidea are generally rare in the Germanic Basin. Here, we describe ammonoids from the Jena and Rüdersdorf formations (Lower Muschelkalk) of Rüdersdorf (Brandenburg, Germany). This locality is peculiar in its isolated situation and its comparatively high diversity in ammonoids. This outcrop yielded several assemblages encompassing eight species: Balatonites ottonis (Buch, 1849), B. balatonicus (Mojsisovics, 1873), B. egregius (Arthaber, 1896), Beneckeia buchi (Alberti, 1834), Bulogites zoldianus (Mojsisovics, 1882), “Ceratites” antecedens (Beyrich, 1858), Discoptychites dux (Giebel, 1853) and Noetlingites strombecki (Griepenkerl, 1860). When the geographic distribution of these species are compared, it becomes evident that immigrants from the southeast and the southwest met in that region. Such immigrations were only possible during transgressions. Balatonites balatonicus, B. egregius and B. zoldianus are recorded from the area for the first time. Beneckeia is revised with a focus on Ben. buchi, one of the few true endemites of the Germanic Basin, using synchrotron data to describe its early ontogeny. The holotype of “Ceratites” antecedens is figured for the first time and a lectotype for Balatonites egregius is designated

Experimental investigation of tire performance on slush

An investigation of tires behaviour on winter roads was always a high importance in the context of road safety. This paper presents the experimental investigation of tire performance on slush that is identified as two mixtures: a mixture of snow and water, and a mixture of crushed ice and water. The measurements of longitudinal and lateral performance including tire traction, braking and cornering were performed. Tire traction tests were performed for both mixtures with different amount of material. A decreasing in the tire friction was observed when amount of the mixture of snow and water was increased twice. For the mixture of crushed ice and water, an opposite trend was observed. The standard deviation values for the peak force coefficient showed a good reproducibility and reliability of performed tire tests

Screening for common eye diseases in the elderly with Optos ultra-wide-field scanning laser ophthalmoscopy: a pilot study with focus on ocular toxoplasmosis

Purpose Studies on the occurrence of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) in a general population are rare. Therefore, we conducted this pilot study to assess whether a nonmydriatic ultra-wide-field (UWF) scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) is suitable for a simple, rapid screening procedure. Methods The population of this cross-sectional study was randomly recruited from a cohort of hospital-based patients in an urban geriatric hospital. Ophthalmologic evaluation was performed on 201 eyes from 101 participants through nonmydriatic UWF-SLO (Optos Daytona) and assessed for suspicious lesions and other relevant ocular findings. All images were evaluated by two independent examiners. Individuals who presented lesions with a morphological appearance suggestive of OT underwent fundoscopy and serological analysis of Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies. Results The mean age of the study group was 76 years, and 63 (62%) were female. Despite many health restrictions, the SLO examination was carried out easily in this geriatric population. Three participants presented findings by SLO suspicious for T. gondii-related injury. Further clinical examination and serological investigation confirmed the diagnosis, with funduscopic evaluation and positive T. gondii ELISA testing. In addition, a high rate of arterial hypertension and dyslipidemias within the cohort led to a high incidence of vascular changes and age-related fundus findings. Conclusion In our study, we confirm that UWF-SLO technology is helpful in the rapid detection of peripheral retinal injuries in elderly patients such as OT and may be used as a routine screening tool

Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system

Forward collision warning (FCW) systems can reduce rear-end vehicle collisions. However, if the presentation of warnings is perceived as mistimed, trust in the system is diminished and drivers become less likely to respond appropriately. In this driving simulator investigation, 45 drivers experienced two FCW systems: a non-adaptive and an adaptive FCW that adjusted the timing of its alarms according to each individual driver’s reaction time. Whilst all drivers benefited in terms of improved safety from both FCW systems, non-aggressive drivers (low sensation seeking, long followers) did not display a preference to the adaptive FCW over its non-adaptive equivalent. Furthermore, there was little evidence to suggest that the non-aggressive drivers’ performance differed with either system. Benefits of the adaptive system were demonstrated for aggressive drivers (high sensation seeking, short followers). Even though both systems reduced their likelihood of a crash to a similar extent, the aggressive drivers rated each FCW more poorly than their non-aggressive contemporaries. However, this group, with their greater risk of involvement in rear-end collisions, reported a preference for the adaptive system as they found it less irritating and stress-inducing. Achieving greater acceptance and hence likely use of a real system is fundamental to good quality FCW design

Broad and Luminous [OIII] and [NII] in Globular Cluster ULXs

We consider an accretion-disc origin for the broad and luminous forbidden-line emission observed in ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources CXOJ033831.8-352604 and XMMU 122939.7+075333 in globular clusters hosted by elliptical galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 4472, respectively. We will refer to the latter by the globular cluster name RZ2109. The first has strong [OIII] and [NII], the second only [OIII]. Both H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ are very weak or undetected in both objects. We assume that the large line widths are due to Keplerian rotation around a compact object and derive expressions for maximum line luminosities. These idealized models require central masses $\gtrsim100$ and \gtrsim30000\Msun for CXOJ033831.8-352604 and RZ2109, respectively. An independent, bootstrap argument for the total disc mass yields, for both systems, M_{\mathrm{disc}}\gtrsim10^{-4}\Msun for a purely metallic disc (and two orders of magnitude larger for solar metallicities). If Roche-lobe overflow is implicated, viscous time-scales are $\gtrsim300$ yr. Standard disc theory then offers another limit on the central masses. Lobe radii for a \sim1\Msun donor are $\gtrsim10^{13}$ cm. We therefore rule out Roche-lobe overflow of a white dwarf in both systems. Red giants could fill the necessary lobes. Whether they are too metal-poor to produce the strong forbidden lines without strong hydrogen emission is unclear.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS Letters, 5 pages, 6 figure

Can fractal dimensions objectivize gastropod shell morphometrics? A case study from Lake Lugu (SW China)

1. Morphometrics are fundamental for the analysis of size and shape in fossils, particularly because soft parts or DNA are rarely preserved and hard parts such as shells are commonly the only source of information. Geometric morphometrics, that is, landmark analysis, is well established for the description of shape but it exhibits a couple of shortcomings resulting from subjective choices during landmarking (number and position of landmarks) and from difficulties in resolving shape at the level of micro-sculpture. 2. With the aid of high-resolution 3D scanning technology and analyses of fractal dimensions, we test whether such shortcomings of linear and landmark morphometrics can be overcome. As a model group, we selected a clade of modern viviparid gastropods from Lake Lugu, with shells that show a high degree of sculptural variation. Linear and landmark analyses were applied to the same shells in order to establish the fractal dimensions. The genetic diversity of the gastropod clade was assessed. 3. The genetic results suggest that the gastropod clade represents a single species. The results of all morphometric methods applied are in line with the genetic results, which is that no specific morphotype could be delimited. Apart from this overall agreement, landmark and fractal dimension analyses do not correspond to each other but represent data sets with different information. Generally, the fractal dimension values quantify the roughness of the shell surface, the resolution of the 3D scans determining the level. In our approach, we captured the micro-sculpture but not the first-order sculptural elements, which explains that fractal dimension and landmark data are not in phase. 4. We can show that analyzing fractal dimensions of gastropod shells opens a window to more detailed information that can be considered in evolutionary and ecological contexts. We propose that using low-resolution 3D scans may successfully substitute landmark analyses because it overcomes the subjective landmarking. Analyses of 3D scans with higher resolution than used in this study will provide surface roughness information at the mineralogical level. We suggest that fractal dimension analyses of a combination of differently resolved 3D models will significantly improve the quality of shell morphometrics

Powerline Communication System-on-Chip in 180 nm Harsh Environment SOI Technology

Broadband powerline communication systems using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) can utilize existing power lines to transmit data packets alongside power distribution. Recent standards focus towards high speed multi-media in-house streaming. With improvements towards robustness and throughput new standards increase the speed and reliability of in-house powerline systems. A very different approach is the use of powerline communication systems in a deep drilling environment where temperatures of more than 150°C and pressure levels up to 30 000 psi are present. Typical applications in this environment usually do not require more than several kbit/ys per node and are more reliant on a stable and continuous connection. Here, a powerline communication system can reduce the amount of wiring needed and increase communication robustness significantly. This work provides a harsh environment suitable, reliable and standard compliant communication ASIC that is manufactured in XFAB 180 nm Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology allowing operating temperatures of up to 175°C. The die size is 5.25 mm x 5.25 mm and contains a complete Homeplug 1.0 communication stack with an environment for boot, interfacing and debugging. The data rate is as high as 6.1 Mbit/s using the fastest transmission mode and reaches the theoretical maximum of 0.55 Mbit/s in the robust OFDM (ROBO) mode which is of particular interest for harsh environment applications. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first OFDM-based powerline communication ASIC which is particularly designed for harsh environment.© 2021 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works