Empirical Charge Scheme for Transition Metals and Lanthanoids: Development and Applications

Parameters for the fluctuating charge model are derived for In(III), La(III), Lu(III) and Bi(III), based on x-ray structural data and DFT single point calculations. A number of density partitioning schemes is tested

Fedosov supermanifolds: II. Normal coordinates

The study of recently introduced Fedosov supermanifolds is continued. Using normal coordinates, properties of even and odd symplectic supermanifolds endowed with a symmetric connection respecting given sympletic structure are studied.Comment: 12 pages, Late

First Blood Vessels in the Avian Neural Tube Are Formed by a Combination of Dorsal Angioblast Immigration and Ventral Sprouting of Endothelial Cells

AbstractWe studied the early pattern of neural tube (NT) vascularization in quail embryos and chick–quail chimeras. Angioblasts appeared first in the dorsal third at Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 19 as single, migrating cells. Their distribution did not correspond to a segmental pattern. After this initial dorsal immigration, endothelial sprouts invaded the NT on either side of the floor plate (HH stage 21). These cells remained continuous with their arterial vascular sources, connected to the venous perineural vascular plexus at HH-stage 22, and formed the first perfused vessels of the NT at HH-stage 23. The same pattern of angiotrophic vascularization was observed in a craniocaudal sequence starting caudal to the rhombencephalic NT. Extremely long filopodia were observed on sprouting cells, extending toward the central canal and the mantle layer. The exclusively extraneuroectodermal origin of angioblastic cells was demonstrated with chick–quail chimeras. Following replacement of quail NT by chick NT graft, angioblast and sprout distribution in chimeras was the same as in controls. We conclude that the NT receives its first blood vessels by a combination of two different processes, dorsal immigration of isolated migrating angioblastic cells and ventral sprouting of endothelial cells, which derive from perfused vessels. The dorsal invasive angioblasts contribute to the developing intraneural vascular plexus after having traversed the neural tube. The initial distribution of blood vessels within the neuroepithelium corresponds to intrinsic random motility of angioblastic cells; a more regular pattern is seen later. The floor plate apparently prohibits connections between sprouts in both NT sides, whereas in the dorsal NT, such a separating effect on the migrating angioblasts does not exist

The KINDRA project. Sharing and evaluating groundwater research and knowledge in Europe

Groundwater knowledge and research in the European Union is often scattered and non-standardised, because of different subjects involved and different approaches from Member States. The Horizon2020 project KINDRA has conducted an EU-wide assessment of existing groundwater-related practical and scientific knowledge based on a new Hydrogeological Research Classification System, identifying more than 280 keywords related to three main categories (namely Operational Actions, Research topics and Societal Challenges) to be intersected in a 3D-diagram approach. The classification is supported by a web-service, the European Inventory of Groundwater Research, which acts not only as knowledge repository but also as a tool to help identify relevant researchm topics, existing research trends and critical research challenges. The records have been uploaded during the project by 20 national experts from National Associations of Geologists, under the umbrella of the European Federation of Geologists. The total number of metadata included in the inventory at the end of the project are about 2300, and the analysis of the results is considered useful for producing synergies, implementing policies and optimising water management in Europe. By the use of additional indicators, the database content has been analysed by occurrence of keywords, type of document, level of innovation. Using the three-axes classification, more easily understandable by 2D diagrams as bubble plots, occurrence and relationship of different topics (main categories) in groundwater research have been highlighted. This article summarizes the activities realized in relation to the common classification system and to the metadata included in the EIGR, showing the distribution of thecollected information in different categories and attributes identified by the classification

Same Difference: Detecting Collusion by Finding Unusual Shared Elements

Pam Green, Peter Lane, Austen Rainer, Sven-Bodo Scholz, Steve Bennett, ‘Same Difference: Detecting Collusion by Finding Unusual Shared Elements’, paper presented at the 5th International Plagiarism Conference, Sage Gateshead, Newcastle, UK, 17-18 July, 2012.Many academic staff will recognise that unusual shared elements in student submissions trigger suspicion of inappropriate collusion. These elements may be odd phrases, strange constructs, peculiar layout, or spelling mistakes. In this paper we review twenty-nine approaches to source-code plagiarism detection, showing that the majority focus on overall file similarity, and not on unusual shared elements, and that none directly measure these elements. We describe an approach to detecting similarity between files which focuses on these unusual similarities. The approach is token-based and therefore largely language independent, and is tested on a set of student assignments, each one consisting of a mix of programming languages. We also introduce a technique for visualising one document in relation to another in the context of the group. This visualisation separates code which is unique to the document, that shared by just the two files, code shared by small groups, and uninteresting areas of the file.Peer reviewe

Circularly polarised colour of the scarab beetle Chalcothea smaragdina: light scattering by a dual photonic structure

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Helicoidal architectures comprising various polysaccharides such as chitin and cellulose have been reported in biological systems. In some cases, these architectures exhibit stunning optical properties analogous to ordered cholesteric liquid crystal phases. In this work, we characterise the circularly polarised reflectance and optical scattering from the cuticle of the beetle Chalcothea smaragdina (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) using optical experiments, simulations and structural analysis. The selective reflection of left-handed circularly polarised light is attributed to a Bouligand-type helicoidal morphology within the beetle’s exocuticle. Using electron microscopy to inform electromagnetic simulations of this anisotropic stratified medium, the inextricable connection between the colour appearance of C. smaragdina and the periodicity of its helicoidal rotation is shown. A close agreement between the model and the measured reflectance spectra is obtained. In addition, the elytral surface of C. smaragdina possesses a blazed diffraction grating-like surface structure, which affects the diffuse appearance of the beetle’s reflected colour, and therefore potentially enhances crypsis amongst the dense foliage of its rainforest habitat.This work was financially supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research BioInspired Materials and the Ambizione program of the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF (PZ00P2 168223, to BDW)