Complex Ones Research Articles

Surface Cutting and Flattening to Target Shapes

AbstractWe introduce a novel framework for surface cutting and flattening, aiming to align the boundary of planar parameterization with a target shape. Diverging from traditional methods focused on minimizing distortion, we intend to also achieve shape similarity between the parameterized mesh and a specific planar target, which is important in some applications of art design and texture mapping. However, with existing methods commonly limited to ellipsoidal surfaces, it still remains a challenge to solve this problem on general surfaces. Our framework models the general case as a joint optimization of cuts and parameterization, guided by a novel metric assessing shape similarity. To circumvent the common issue of local minima, we introduce an extra global seam updating strategy which is guided by the target shape. Experimental results show that our framework not only aligns with previous approaches on ellipsoidal surfaces but also achieves satisfactory results on more complex ones.

Investigation of AMA Synthase from <i>Pyrenophora teres</i> f. <i>teres</i> 0‐1 for the Synthesis of Aspergillomarasmine A Analogues and Non‐canonical Amino Acids

The fungal natural product aspergillomarasmine A (AMA) is an inhibitor of metallo‐β‐lactamases and a promising co‐drug candidate for reversing bacterial β‐lactam resistance. The biosynthesis of AMA from L‐Asp and O‐phospho‐L‐serine is catalyzed by AMA synthase, which possesses high synthetic potential for the biocatalytic preparation of AMA and related aminopolycarboxylic acids. Here, we identified and structurally characterized an AMA synthase from Pyrenophora teres f. teres 0‐1 (PteAMAS). Crystallographic analysis revealed a unique homotetrameric fold and a highly hydrophilic active site, which supports the PLP‐dependent β‐replacement catalytic mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrated the utility of PteAMAS for the biocatalytic synthesis of AMA and its analogues, achieving structural diversification of the APA1 moiety through a modular two‐enzyme system involving PteAMAS and a selective C‐N lyase, namely EDDS lyase or 3‐methylaspartate ammonia lyase variant MAL‐Q73A. In addition, we exhibited the usefulness of PteAMAS for convenient synthesis of various S‐alkyl, ‐aryl, and ‐arylalkyl substituted L‐cysteines, which are valuable non‐canonical amino acids with broad pharmaceutical applications. The present study has not only provided the structural basis for catalysis and substrate recognition by PteAMAS, but also paved the way for biocatalytic preparation of structurally complex AMA analogues and various non‐canonical amino acids.

QINGCHENG YANGGE DANCE OF GANSU PROVINCE IN CHINA: FEATURES OF THE REGIONAL MUSICAL TRADITION

The article is devoted to the yangge dance, which is a part of the ritual procession during the New Year celebration according to the lunar calendar. The history of its origin in antiquity and special agricultural dominants of the ritual are shown. An overview of sources that take into account the Gansu tradition is given, unexplored aspects are identi ed, including the peculiarities of Qingcheng yangge, its musical side. The close connection with the rituals and attributes of shamanism is emphasised through two comic characters, improvising in communication with the audience. The author of the article considers the features of the choreography of Qingcheng yangge, which relate it to the martial arts and dance culture of Gansu and China, the instrumental composition of the accompaniment, in which percussion and wind instruments predominate, rhythm with a polyphonic combination of even and dotted beats, a modal system built on the principle of adding small three-four note modes into complex ones. It is concluded that there are four functions of the ritual - magical, practical, educational and aesthetic ones, and that this type has great historical value, since it makes it possible to adapt to life’s di culties and high social demands.

Communication noise of product innovation promotion process

The communicative noise phenomenon as a destructive element of marketing communication aimed at promoting product innovation has been analyzed. In the process of solving the set tasks the attention has been focused on the study of communicative noise of recipient and addressee of marketing information about an innovative product, since the noises of this type are the most complex and problematic ones due to their latency and weak controllability. Their essence lies in errors/failures of coding-decoding of marketing information in the process of a company’s interaction with potential consumers of its product innovation. As the conducted research result, the following communicative noises of recipient and addressee of marketing information about an innovative product have been identified and analyzed: incorrect positioning of an innovation; semantic dissonance of the brand image and its product innovation; incorrect advertising concept of an innovation; weak or incorrect creative idea of the innovation advertising; incorrect choice of tools for promoting an innovation; differences in the perception of an innovation related to social and demographic characteristics of consumers (gender, sex, age, education, and income), consumers’ belonging to one or another culture (cultural and ethnic or religious affiliation), and individual-psychological characteristics (personality type, individual value system, degree of dependence on the social environment, and the level of resistance to psychological influence).

Extraperitoneal robotic approach to the uretero-vesical junction in children: Initial experience and a step-by-step video presentation

The use of transperitoneal robotic-assisted procedures for ureterovesical junction (UVJ) anomalies in pediatric patients is increasing. However, the extra-peritoneal approach potentially less invasive, remains underexplored with robotic approach in pediatric patients. We present our experience of robot-assisted extra-vesical laparoscopic extra-peritoneal UVJ surgery. Extraperitoneal access was made through a 1,5cm horizontal incision below the umbilicus. Digital dissection was performed under the rectus fascia to the pubic symphysis. The space was further developed under direct vision with laparoscope. The Da Vinci Xi platform was docked after the placement of 4 robotic 8mm-trocars and an 8mm assistant port. We performed extraperitoneal robot-assisted laparoscopic UVJ surgery in 3 patients: - Case 1: 9-year-old boy: left-sided ureterectomy, UV reimplantation (UVR) with psoas hitch for a symptomatic mega-ureter. - Case 2: 13-year-old girl: right-sided VUR on a duplex system treated with an extravesical Lich-Gregoir antireflux plasty. - Case 3: 8-year-old boy: left-sided bladder diverticulectomy with UVR. There is no complication above Clavien 2 and no recurrence of febrile UTI during the follow-up period (from 6 to 17 months). Extra-peritoneal robotic approach for UVJ surgery further for UVR in pediatric urology seems feasible with good short-term result even for the complex ones.

Derivational Suffixes Analysis Found in “Every Summer After” Novel by Carley Fortune

This study specifically concentrated on conducting an in-depth analysis of the various types of derivational suffixes. Derivational affixes were one of the most interesting topics to analyze, as they influence the formation of words from simple to complex ones. The data used in this analysis was sourced from the novel "Every Summer After" by the esteemed author Carley Fortune. Carley Fortune is a #1 Canadian national bestseller and has been honored with an award for her exceptional work as a journalist and author. This data was meticulously examined through the application of a qualitative analytical method. The research findings have been thoroughly explored using both formal and informal explanations. The analysis was based on Plag's theory (2003) and supported theory up by Carstairs-Mccarthy's theory (2002). This comprehensive approach helped in understand the findings in depth. This comprehensive linguistic analysis of the novel meticulously identified four distinct types of derivational suffixes: nominal, verbal, adjectival, and adverbial. The results revealed a notable prevalence of nominal suffixes, a total of 249 instances, and a smaller number of verbal suffixes, amounting to just 3 instances. Furthermore, this study found 96 instances of nominal suffixes, 86 instances of adverbial suffixes, and 64 instances of adjectival suffixes in the text. This thorough analysis provides a detailed examination of the intricate language intricacies found within Fortune's novel. Furthermore, it enhances the overall understanding of how derivational morphology is utilized in contemporary literature.

Simple or complex statistical models: Non-traditional regression models with intuitive interpretations

The evolution of statistical modelling has historically been constrained by the practical limitations of computation; early statistical modelling favoured models which could feasibly be estimated. As increased mathematical complexity often implies more intricate computation, statistical models have grown both mathematically and computationally more complex. However, paradoxically, sometimes conceptually simpler models present more computational challenges than complex ones, and these have historically been neglected. In the case of binary responses, logistic regression models are the gold standard; covariates are modelled additively on the log-odds scale. In the case of time-to-event responses, the Cox proportional hazards regression model has additivity on the log-hazard rate scale. Both of these methods are computationally convenient, and yet the scales on which covariates are modelled are far from intuitive. We demonstrate the use of alternative models which are computationally more complex, yet feasible, but in which modelling is on a more interpretable scale. In the case of binary responses, a more intuitive alternative is log-binomial regression, in which modelling is on the log-relative risk scale. In the case of time-to-event responses, distributional regression enables modelling on the time scale. While logistic regression and proportional hazards regression qualitatively both deliver the same conclusions as the alternative models, log-binomial and distributional regression provide more interpretable coefficients, which are readily estimated.

A leaf sequencing algorithm for an orthogonal dual-layer multileaf collimator.

Purpose. Dual layer MLC (DMLC) has have been adopted in several commercial products and one major challenge in DMLC usage is leaf sequencing for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). In this study we developed a leaf sequencing algorithm for IMRT with an orthogonal DMLC.Methods and Materials. This new algorithm is inspired by the algorithm proposed by Dai and Zhu for IMRT with single layer MLC (SMLC). It iterately determines a delivery segment intensity and corresponding segment shape for a given fluence matrix and leaves residual fluence matrix to following iterations. The segment intensity is determined according to complexities of residual fluence matrix when segment intensity varies from one to highest level in the matrix. The segment intensity and corresponding segment shape that result least complexity was selected. Although the algorithm framework is similar to Dai and Zhu's algorithm, this new algorithm develops complexity algorithms along with rules for determining segment leaf settings when delivered with orthogonal DMLC. This algorithm has been evaluated with 9 groups of randomly generated fluence matrices with various dimensions and intensity levels. Sixteen fluence matrices generated in Pinnacle system for two clinical IMRT examples were also used for evaluation. Statistical information of leaf sequences generated with this algorithm for both the random and clinical matrices were compared to the results of two typical algorithms for SMLC: that proposed by Dai and Zhu and that proposed by Bortfled.Results. Compared to the SMLC delivery sequences generated with Dai and Zhu's algorithm, the proposed algorithm for orthogonal DMLC delivery reduces the average number of segments by 27.7% ∼ 41.8% for 9 groups of randomly generated fluence matrices and 10.5% ∼ 41.7% for clinical ones. When comparing MU efficiency between different algorithms, it is observed that the proposed algorithm performs better than the optimal efficiency of SMLC delivery when dealing with simple fluence matrices, but slightly worse when handling complex ones.Conclusion. This new algorithm generates leaf sequences for orthogonal DMLC delivery with high delivery efficiency in terms of number of leaf segments. This algorithm has potential to work well with orthogonal DMLC for improving efficiency or quality of IMRT.

Amino polycarboxylic acids-modified abiraterone derivatives as potential injectable anti-prostate cancer agents

Abiraterone (Abi), an effective cytochrome oxidase P450 C17 (CYP17) inhibitor, inhibits androgen synthesis in testes, adrenal glands, and prostate tumors. However, their low bioavailability and dissolution rate due to their poor solubility and toxic side effects have hindered their clinical applications. In this study, water-soluble and injectable Abi derivatives were developed by introducing amino polycarboxylic acids into Abi, and their antiproliferation effects in vitro, mechanism of action, antitumor activities in vivo, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity were investigated. Compared to Abi, the water-soluble derivative Abi-DTPA exhibited excellent antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. It decreased cell migration, invasion, and mitochondrial membrane potential. A mechanistic study revealed that it still targeted the CYP17 enzyme and increased the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins, including cleaved caspase 9, cleaved PARP, and cleaved caspase 3. Abi-DTPA was the main form in the plasma and exhibited lower toxicity after intravenous administration. These findings suggest that Abi-DTPA can be used as a novel injectable anti-prostate cancer agent.

Utilizing quantum processor for the analysis of strongly correlated materials

This study introduces a systematic approach for analyzing strongly correlated systems by adapting the conventional quantum cluster method to a quantum circuit model. We have developed a more concise formula for calculating the cluster’s Green’s function, requiring only real-number computations on the quantum circuit instead of complex ones. This approach is inherently more suited to quantum circuits, which primarily yield statistical probabilities. As an illustrative example, we explored the Hubbard model on a 2D lattice. The ground state was determined utilizing Xiaohong, a superconducting quantum processor equipped with 66 qubits, supplied by QuantumCTek Co., Ltd. Subsequently, we employed the circuit model with controllable noise to compute the real-time retarded Green’s function for the cluster, which is then used to determine the lattice Green’s function. We conducted an examination of the band structure in the insulator phase of the lattice system. This preliminary investigation lays the groundwork for exploring a wealth of innovative physics within the field of condensed matter physics.

Evaluating the Contribution of Model Complexity in Predicting Robustness in Synthetic Genetic Circuits.

The design-build-test-learn workflow is pivotal in synthetic biology as it seeks to broaden access to diverse levels of expertise and enhance circuit complexity through recent advancements in automation. The design of complex circuits depends on developing precise models and parameter values for predicting the circuit performance and noise resilience. However, obtaining characterized parameters under diverse experimental conditions is a significant challenge, often requiring substantial time, funding, and expertise. This work compares five computational models of three different genetic circuit implementations of the same logic function to evaluate their relative predictive capabilities. The primary focus is on determining whether simpler models can yield conclusions similar to those of more complex ones and whether certain models offer greater analytical benefits. These models explore the influence of noise, parametrization, and model complexity on predictions of synthetic circuit performance through simulation. The findings suggest that when developing a new circuit without characterized parts or an existing design, any model can effectively predict the optimal implementation by facilitating qualitative comparison of designs' failure probabilities (e.g., higher or lower). However, when characterized parts are available and accurate quantitative differences in failure probabilities are desired, employing a more precise model with characterized parts becomes necessary, albeit requiring additional effort.

“Microbiology can be . . . ” Student Competition to Develop Resources about Infectious Diseases that Improve Health Literacy

The European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education emphasizes the importance of communication skills and teamwork for student success in clinical practice. Traditionally, many veterinary curricula lacked standardized formal training in acquiring these essential skills. Effective communication and collaborative teamwork are not only crucial for fulfilling the clinical responsibilities of the veterinary profession but also play a pivotal role in the broader societal context. Veterinarians, in their social role, serve as scientific communicators for the community. This role involves conveying scientific concepts, even complex ones, with a particular emphasis on their significance for public health, reaching a diverse audience. Currently, there is a growing public health necessity to improve health literacy, which refers to the ability to access, understand, appraise, and use information to support healthy choices by society, especially for topics like infectious diseases and vaccination. This became more evident during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This teaching tip describes the development, organization, and broad outcomes of a student competition introduced during a standard veterinary medicine course to design novel resources on microbiology and infectious disease-enhancing health literacy. Three separate events were organized during the academic years 2020–2023. The third-year veterinary medicine students attending the 3-month course on infectious diseases of small animals participated in a student competition aimed at promoting creativity and innovation. Their task was to develop novel resources that delivered informative content to the public concerning microbiology and infectious diseases. Participation was voluntary and students participated in groups of 5–6. Overall, 125 students created 22 projects on microbiology and infectious diseases that were able to enhance health literacy. This approach allowed students to engage with the content and convey foundational knowledge to others in an easily accessible way. This skill of communicating with the public using easy-to-understand language is essential for success in the veterinary medicine profession. The resources produced, such as drawings, comics, games, and videos, constitute informative sources. Thus, they were published online on a scientific journal to disseminate knowledge of infectious diseases to a broader audience.

Comparing nnU-Net and deepflash2 for Histopathological Tumor Segmentation.

Machine Learning (ML) has evolved beyond being a specialized technique exclusively used by computer scientists. Besides the general ease of use, automated pipelines allow for training sophisticated ML models with minimal knowledge of computer science. In recent years, Automated ML (AutoML) frameworks have become serious competitors for specialized ML models and have even been able to outperform the latter for specific tasks. Moreover, this success is not limited to simple tasks but also complex ones, like tumor segmentation in histopathological tissue, a very time-consuming task requiring years of expertise by medical professionals. Regarding medical image segmentation, the leading AutoML frameworks are nnU-Net and deepflash2. In this work, we begin to compare those two frameworks in the area of histopathological image segmentation. This use case proves especially challenging, as tumor and healthy tissue are often not clearly distinguishable by hard borders but rather through heterogeneous transitions. A dataset of 103 whole-slide images from 56 glioblastoma patients was used for the evaluation. Training and evaluation were run on a notebook with consumer hardware, determining the suitability of the frameworks for their application in clinical scenarios rather than high-performance scenarios in research labs.

Amino polycarboxylic acid complex agent modified Fe0 enhanced activation of H2O2 double decomposition pathways for tetracycline removal under neutral condition

The summary of this study explores the modification of Fe0 with amino polycarboxylic acid complex agents (APCAs) to enhance H2O2 catalysis for tetracycline (TC) removal under neutral conditions. The ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-modified Fe0/H2O2 system (EDTA-Fe0/H2O2) achieved a removal efficiency of 90.2 % for 50 mg/L TC, significantly higher than the 23.9 % efficiency of the traditional Fe0/H2O2 system. The removal rate of various pollutants by the EDTA- Fe0/H2O2 process is 2.9 to 8.4 times higher than that of the Fe0/H2O2 process. After four cycles of use, the removal rate of TC by the EDTA-Fe0/H2O2 system can still reach 76.3 %. Additionally, the effect of treating TC in natural freshwater can also achieve 80.1 %. Characterization revealed that EDTA-Fe0 had a larger Fe(II) proportion, better hydrophobicity, and lower corrosion potential than Fe0, indicating higher activity. Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance tests confirmed that •OH was the major reactive species. Shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy indicated the presence of *OOH species, suggesting the involvement of a dioxygen coordination reaction. Density functional theory calculations showed that both dioxygen and single oxygen coordination H2O2 decomposition pathways played significant roles, and EDTA-Fe0 exhibited high catalysis ability for H2O2 in both pathways. Analysis of the relationship between APCAs’ group structure and APCAs-Fe0 properties indicated that the number of carboxyl groups was crucial for enhancing catalytic activity, while the number of amino groups also impacted antibiotic removal efficiency. Overall, this study provides a solid theoretical foundation for further Fe0 applications and suggests a new method to improve TC removal.

Simulation-based evaluation of model-free reinforcement learning algorithms for quadcopter attitude control and trajectory tracking

General use quadcopters have been under development for over a decade but many of their potential applications are still under evaluation and have not yet been adopted in many of the areas that could benefit from their use. While the current generation of quadcopters use a mature set of control algorithms, the next steps, especially as autonomous features are developed, should involve a more complex learning capability to be able to adapt to unknown circumstances in a safe and reliable way. This paper provides baseline quadcopter control models learnt using eight general reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms in a simulated environment, with the object of establishing a reference performance, both in terms of precision and generation cost, for a simple set of trajectories. Each algorithm uses a tailored set of hyperparameters while, additionally, the influence of random seeds is also studied. While not all algorithms converge in the allocated computing budget, the more complex ones are able to provide stable and precise control models. This paper recommends the use of the TD3 algorithm as a reference for comparison with new RL algorithms. Additional guidance for future work is provided based on the weaknesses identified in the learning process, especially regarding the strong dependence of agent performance on random seeds.

Back to Basics in Measuring Lexical Diversity: Too Simple to Be True

Abstract Measuring lexical diversity in texts that have different lengths is problematic because length has a significant effect on the number of types a text contains, thus hampering any comparison. Treffers-Daller et al. (2018) recommended a simple solution, namely counting the number of types in a section of a given length that was extracted from the middle of each of the texts to be analysed. By applying this approach to second language essays, the authors observed that using the number of types was slightly more effective for differentiating amongst the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels than were the Type-Token Ratio (TTR) and the Guiraud index and that these three indices were more effective than were mathematically more complex ones. However, their conclusions regarding these two points are incorrect, and a less basic approach should be used. The last section addresses two broader issues in applied linguistics that are highlighted by these problems.

Revisiting anaphor complexity in Japanese

Various approaches have been proposed regarding the ways of analyzing anaphors that allow long-distance binding, apparently violating Binding Condition A. A question that needs to be answered by any such analysis is as follows: why do only some anaphors allow long-distance binding? This paper tries to answer this question under a recent approach to long-distance binding (Charnavel 2020a; b; Baker & Ikawa 2024), which I refer to as the null mediator approach, focusing on Japanese data. In Japanese, it is known that morphologically simplex anaphors permit long-distance binding whereas morphologically complex ones do not. I argue that the effect of morphological complexity on the availability of long-distance binding can be readily explained through the null mediator approach, once the internal structure of the anaphors and the Phase Impenetrability Condition from Chomsky (2001) are taken into account. This lends additional credence to the null mediator approach to long-distance binding. I further demonstrate that this proposal makes an accurate typological prediction with regard to the correlation between anaphor complexity and long-distance binding.

Following the guidelines for communicating commensurate magnetic structures: real case examples.

A few real case examples are presented on how to report magnetic structures, with precise step-by-step explanations, following the guidelines of the IUCr Commission on Magnetic Structures [Perez-Mato et al. (2024). Acta Cryst. B80, 219-234]. Four examples have been chosen, illustrating different types of single-k magnetic orders, from the basic case to more complex ones, including odd-harmonics, and one multi-k order. In addition to acquainting researchers with the process of communicating commensurate magnetic structures, these examples also aim to clarify important concepts, which are used throughout the guidelines, such as the transformation to a standard setting of a magnetic space group.

Comparison of four confirmatory tests for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism: Bayesian analysis in the absence of a gold standard.

Captopril challenge test (CCT), seated saline infusion test (SSIT), oral sodium loading test (OSLT) and fludrocortisone suppression test (FST) are widely used diagnostic tests for primary aldosteronism (PA). These tests differ in terms of safety and complexity. Whether the simpler tests (CCT and SSIT) are comparable in diagnostic performance to the more complex ones (FST and OSLT) is unclear. To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the four tests. This is a retrospective study of hypertensive patients who were screened for PA and completed at least one confirmatory test. The patients were divided into two cohorts: one including those who completed one to three tests was used for the estimation of sensitivity and specificity. The other including those who completed four tests was used for the comparison of accuracy. Bayesian method was used to obtain the sensitivity, specificity, and Youden index of each test. The study included 1011 hypertensive patients. Among them, 895 patients completed one to three tests (including 889 CCT, 605 FST, 611 SSIT and 69 OSLT), and 116 patients completed four tests. SSIT had the highest sensitivity of 0.82(95% CI 0.78-0.86) but the lowest specificity of 0.76(0.70-0.80). OSLT had the lowest sensitivity of 0.65(0.56-0.75) but the highest specificity of 0.91(0.82-0.96). The sensitivity and specificity were 0.78 (95% CI, 0.75-0.82), 0.82 (95% CI, 0.78-0.85), for CCT, and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.73-0.81), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.82-0.91) for FST, respectively. The Youden index was not significantly different among the four tests[0.60(0.55-0.65) for CCT; 0.58(0.51-0.64) for SSIT; (0.64(0.57-0.69) for FST; 0.56(0.43-0.67) for OSLT]. The accuracy of simpler tests is comparable to the more complex ones. Considering the safety and simplicity of CCT, it may be a reasonable first choice when confirming the diagnosis of PA.

Polyepitaxial grain matching to study the oxidation of uranium dioxide

Although the principal physical behaviour of a material is inherently connected to its fundamental crystal structure, the behaviours observed in the real-world are often driven by the microstructure, which for many polycrystalline materials, equates to the size and shape of the constituent crystal grains. Here we highlight a cutting edge synthesis route to the controlled engineering of grain structures in thin films and the simplification of associated 3-dimensional problems to less complex 2D ones. This has been applied to the actinide ceramic, uranium dioxide, to replicate structures typical in nuclear fission fuel pellets, in order to investigate the oxidation and subsequent transformation of cubic UO2 to orthorhombic U3O8. This article shows how this synthesis approach could be utilised to investigate a range of phenomena, affected by grain morphology, and highlights some unusual results in the oxidation behaviour of UO2, regarding the phase transition to U3O8.