Aligning Manifolds of Double Pendulum Dynamics Under the Influence of Noise

This study presents the results of a series of simulation experiments that evaluate and compare four different manifold alignment methods under the influence of noise. The data was created by simulating the dynamics of two slightly different double pendulums in three-dimensional space. The method of semi-supervised feature-level manifold alignment using global distance resulted in the most convincing visualisations. However, the semi-supervised feature-level local alignment methods resulted in smaller alignment errors. These local alignment methods were also more robust to noise and faster than the other methods.Comment: The final version will appear in ICONIP 2018. A DOI identifier to the final version will be added to the preprint, as soon as it is availabl

Effects of a penthiopyrad and picoxystrobin fungicide mixtureon phoma stem canker (Leptosphaeria spp.) on UK winteroilseed rape

© Koninklijke Nederlandse Planteziektenkundige Vereniging 2016. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in European Journal of Plant Pathology following peer review. The final publication [Sewell, T.R., Moloney, S., Ashworth, M. et al., European Journal of Plant Pathology (2016) 145: 675-685, first published online April 5, 2016] is available at Springer via doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-0916-8In the UK, fungicides are often used to controlphoma stem canker on winter oilseed rape. Field trialswere established near Boxworth, Cambridgeshire for fourcropping seasons (2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and2014/15) to test the efficacy of a new fungicide mixtureRefinzar® (penthiopyrad + picoxystrobin) by comparisonto an existing fungicide Proline 275® (prothioconazole)against phoma stem canker (Leptosphaeria spp.) andthe effect on winter oilseed rape (cv. Catana) yield. Ineach season, weather data were collected from a weatherstation at Boxworth and the release of ascospores wasmonitored using a nearby Burkard spore sampler. Thepatterns of ascospore release differed between seasonsand related to weather conditions. Fungicidespenthiopyrad + picoxystrobin and prothioconazole wereapplied in October/November when 10 % of plants hadphoma leaf spotting (T1, early), 4/8 weeks after T1 (T2,late) or at both T1 and T2 (combined). When phoma leafspot symptoms were assessed in autumn/winter,penthiopyrad + picoxystrobin and prothioconazole bothdecreased numbers of phoma leaf spots caused byL. maculans; there were few leaf spots caused byL. biglobosa. Penthiopyrad + picoxystrobin andprothioconazole both reduced phoma stem canker severitybefore harvest compared to the untreated control butdid not increase yield in these seasons when epidemicswere not severe. In 2013/2014, the presence ofL. maculans and L. biglobosa in upper stem lesions orstem base cankers was determined by species-specificPCR. The proportions of stems with L. maculans DNAwere much greater than those with L. biglobosa DNA forboth upper stem lesions and basal stem cankers. Theseresults suggest that both penthiopyrad + picoxystrobinand prothioconazole can decrease phoma stem cankerseverity on winter oilseed rape in severe disease seasons.Peer reviewe

Magnetic metamaterial superlens for increased range wireless power transfer.

The ability to wirelessly power electrical devices is becoming of greater urgency as a component of energy conservation and sustainability efforts. Due to health and safety concerns, most wireless power transfer (WPT) schemes utilize very low frequency, quasi-static, magnetic fields; power transfer occurs via magneto-inductive (MI) coupling between conducting loops serving as transmitter and receiver. At the "long range" regime - referring to distances larger than the diameter of the largest loop - WPT efficiency in free space falls off as (1/d)(6); power loss quickly approaches 100% and limits practical implementations of WPT to relatively tight distances between power source and device. A "superlens", however, can concentrate the magnetic near fields of a source. Here, we demonstrate the impact of a magnetic metamaterial (MM) superlens on long-range near-field WPT, quantitatively confirming in simulation and measurement at 13-16 MHz the conditions under which the superlens can enhance power transfer efficiency compared to the lens-less free-space system

Online algorithms for covering and packing problems with convex objectives

We present online algorithms for covering and packing problems with (non-linear) convex objectives. The convex covering problem is defined as ...postprin

Quantum spin liquid states in the two dimensional kagome antiferromagnets, ZnxCu4-x(OD)6Cl2

A three-dimensional system of interacting spins typically develops static long-range order when it is cooled. If the spins are quantum (S = 1/2), however, novel quantum paramagnetic states may appear. The most highly sought state among them is the resonating valence bond (RVB) state in which every pair of neighboring quantum spins form entangled spin singlets (valence bonds) and the singlets are quantum mechanically resonating amongst all the possible highly degenerate pairing states. Here we provide experimental evidence for such quantum paramagnetic states existing in frustrated antiferromagnets, ZnxCu4-x(OD)6Cl2, where the S = 1/2 magnetic Cu2+ moments form layers of a two-dimensional kagome lattice. We find that in Cu4(OD)6Cl2, where distorted kagome planes are weakly coupled to each other, a dispersionless excitation mode appears in the magnetic excitation spectrum below ~ 20 K, whose characteristics resemble those of quantum spin singlets in a solid state, known as a valence bond solid (VBS), that breaks translational symmetry. Doping nonmagnetic Zn2+ ions reduces the distortion of the kagome lattice, and weakens the interplane coupling but also dilutes the magnetic occupancy of the kagome lattice. The VBS state is suppressed and for ZnCu3(OD)6Cl2 where the kagome planes are undistorted and 90% occupied by the Cu2+ ions, the low energy spin fluctuations in the spin liquid phase become featureless

Structural and magnetic phase diagram of CeFeAsO1-xFx and its relationship to high-temperature superconductivity

We use neutron scattering to study the structural and magnetic phase transitions in the iron pnictides CeFeAsO1-xFx as the system is tuned from a semimetal to a high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductor through Fluorine (F) doping x. In the undoped state, CeFeAsO develops a structural lattice distortion followed by a stripe like commensurate antiferromagnetic order with decreasing temperature. With increasing Fluorine doping, the structural phase transition decreases gradually while the antiferromagnetic order is suppressed before the appearance of superconductivity, resulting an electronic phase diagram remarkably similar to that of the high-Tc copper oxides. Comparison of the structural evolution of CeFeAsO1-xFx with other Fe-based superconductors reveals that the effective electronic band width decreases systematically for materials with higher Tc. The results suggest that electron correlation effects are important for the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity in these Fe pnictides.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Remote sensing of impervious surface growth: A framework for quantifying urban expansion and re-densification mechanisms

A substantial body of literature has accumulated on the topic of using remotely sensed data to map impervious surfaces which are widely recognized as an important indicator of urbanization. However, the remote sensing of impervious surface growth has not been successfully addressed. This study proposes a new framework for deriving and summarizing urban expansion and re-densification using time series of impervious surface fractions (ISFs) derived from remotely sensed imagery. This approach integrates multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA), analysis of regression residuals, spatial statistics (Getis_Ord) and urban growth theories; hence, the framework is abbreviated as MRGU. The performance of MRGU was compared with commonly used change detection techniques in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. The results suggested that the ISF regression residuals were optimal for detecting impervious surface changes while Getis_Ord was effective for mapping hot spot regions i n the regression residuals image. Moreover, the MRGU outputs agreed with the mechanisms proposed in several existing urban growth theories, but importantly the outputs enable the refinement of such models by explicitly accounting for the spatial distribution of both expansion and re - densification mechanisms. Based on Landsat data, the MRGU is somewhat restricted in its ability to measure re-densification in the urban core but this may be improved through the use of higher spatial resolution satellite imagery. The paper ends with an assessment of the present gaps in remote sensing of impervious surface growth and suggests some solutions. The application of impervious surface fractions in urban change detection is a stimulating new research idea which is driving future research with new models and algorithms

Amustaline-glutathione pathogen-reduced red blood cell concentrates for transfusion-dependent thalassaemia

Transfusion-dependent thalassaemia (TDT) requires red blood cell concentrates (RBCC) to prevent complications of anaemia, but carries risk of infection. Pathogen reduction of RBCC offers potential to reduce infectious risk. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of pathogen-reduced (PR) Amustaline-Glutathione (A-GSH) RBCC for TDT. Patients were randomized to a blinded 2-period crossover treatment sequence for six transfusions over 8–10 months with Control and A-GSH-RBCC. The efficacy outcome utilized non-inferiority analysis with 90% power to detect a 15% difference in transfused haemoglobin (Hb), and the safety outcome was the incidence of antibodies to A-GSH-PR-RBCC. By intent to treat (80 patients), 12·5 ± 1·9 RBCC were transfused in each period. Storage durations of A-GSH and C-RBCC were similar (8·9 days). Mean A-GSH-RBCC transfused Hb (g/kg/day) was not inferior to Control (0·113 ± 0·04 vs. 0·111 ± 0·04, P = 0·373, paired t-test). The upper bound of the one-sided 95% confidence interval for the treatment difference from the mixed effects model was 0·005 g/kg/day, within a non-inferiority margin of 0·017 g/kg/day. A-GSH-RBCC mean pre-transfusion Hb levels declined by 6·0 g/l. No antibodies to A-GSH-RBCC were detected, and there were no differences in adverse events. A-GSH-RBCCs offer potential to reduce infectious risk in TDT with a tolerable safety profile

Chiral Modulations in Curved Space I: Formalism

The goal of this paper is to present a formalism that allows to handle four-fermion effective theories at finite temperature and density in curved space. The formalism is based on the use of the effective action and zeta function regularization, supports the inclusion of inhomogeneous and anisotropic phases. One of the key points of the method is the use of a non-perturbative ansatz for the heat-kernel that returns the effective action in partially resummed form, providing a way to go beyond the approximations based on the Ginzburg-Landau expansion for the partition function. The effective action for the case of ultra-static Riemannian spacetimes with compact spatial section is discussed in general and a series representation, valid when the chemical potential satisfies a certain constraint, is derived. To see the formalism at work, we consider the case of static Einstein spaces at zero chemical potential. Although in this case we expect inhomogeneous phases to occur only as meta-stable states, the problem is complex enough and allows to illustrate how to implement numerical studies of inhomogeneous phases in curved space. Finally, we extend the formalism to include arbitrary chemical potentials and obtain the analytical continuation of the effective action in curved space.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; version to appear in JHE

Perceção de profissionais de enfermagem sobre a sexualidade de pacientes em idade fértil, hospitalizados

A sexualidade e a enfermagem são domínios intimamente relacionados (Santos, Ribeiro & Campos, 2007). O presente estudo, implementado num hospital público de São Luís-Maranhão-Brasil, teve como principal objetivo analisar a perceção da equipe de enfermagem sobre a sexualidade de utentes em idade fértil, hospitalizados. Procurou assim responder à questão de investigação: Quais as perceções de enfermeiros sobre a sexualidade do paciente hospitalizado? O estudo foi realizado com 31 profissionais de enfermagem, cujo processo de seleção foi do tipo não probabilístico, por conveniência. O instrumento de recolha de dados deu-se primeiramente por meio de uma entrevista estruturada e a partir desse primeiro diagnóstico planeou-se e implementou-se a intervenção educativa, que englobou 3 fases. Após a intervenção procedeu-se à aplicação de uma entrevista estruturada de avaliação. Os resultados, antes da intervenção, evidenciaram que a maioria dos participantes relacionou inicialmente a sexualidade com a preferência sexual e referiu não ter formação específica para lidar com a sexualidade do paciente. A masturbação, a ereção peniana durante o cateterismo vesical, e ereção peniana no momento do banho, foram as manifestações de sexualidade mais citadas pelos ntrevistados, e um número significativo referiu, levar o caso à chefia procurando assim ajuda para a sua resolução. Após a intervenção, as mudanças mais apontadas pelos participantes foram a melhoria da comunicação e convivência com o paciente e com os colegas de trabalho, além de conseguirem responder melhor em diversas situações que requeiram o cuidar do paciente erotizado. A definição da sexualidade após a intervenção foi vista pela equipe de enfermagem como parte inerente ao ser humano, relacionando-a comportamentos e sentimentos do outro. Em relação à saúde sexual, os profissionais de enfermagem relacionaram-na aos direitos da pessoa, sexo seguro e saudável, estar com todos os estímulos sexuais ativos e a prevenção de DST/AIDS. De acordo com os profissionais, após a intervenção educativa agem agora, mais frequentemente, com certa naturalidade, com menos constrangimentos, conseguindo também uma comunicação mais efetiv