Distinct Degrees Research Articles

Coexistence of two types of short-range order in Si–Ge–Sn medium-entropy alloys

Short-range chemical order (SRO) has been shown to play a decisive role in modulating a wide range of physical properties in medium-entropy alloys and high-entropy alloys. The enormous configurational space of these alloys implies multiple forms of SRO may exist, but such structural diversity has not been reported. Here, ab initio-based sampling reveals that Si–Ge–Sn medium-entropy alloys have two distinct forms of SRO, which carry different energies, distinct degrees of local ordering, and dissimilar electronic structures, and co-exist across a wide range of Si–Ge–Sn compositions. We rationalize the co-existence of two SROs through their virtual degeneracy of thermodynamic stability, due to a subtle balance in the change of enthalpy and configurational entropy upon transformation between the two SROs. Such co-existence of SROs suggests an inherent structural heterogeneity, a diffuse electronic structure, and a new route for band engineering in Si–Ge–Sn medium-entropy alloys. More generally, this study indicates possibility of the co-existence of multiple forms of SRO in medium- and high-entropy alloys.

IoT enabled e-learning system for higher education

In a pandemic situation, students are continuing their studies in online mode. It is difficult to achieve a clear understanding of the subject and improve educational quality in an online mode. It is difficult for teachers to monitor the students in online mode. Keeping an eye on students' attentiveness during an online lesson is crucial. Each participating student is at a distinct degree of proficiency. The ultimate objective is to raise the standard of online education. Our proposed IoT-enabled e-Learning System, assesses students' levels of engagement and focus throughout online lessons, the suggested technology combines the Internet of Things (IoT) and electroencephalography (EEG). The Internet of Things is a group of technologies that enable physical embedded objects to connect to the Internet and are extensively integrated into human activities to support various activities. IoT needs to be covered in the higher education curriculum and taught using a development learning approach. The EEG device is used to monitor the student's brain activities online classes. Our results demonstrate that the suggested method can be utilized to discriminate between a user's concentration state and the required level of teaching methods. Datasets on student attention are gathered. Effectively anticipate student re-collection long-short-term memory (BiLSTM) networks can be used to effectively predict students' preferred learning modes. The prediction accuracy of the suggested approach is 97.16%. A system for e-learning that is IoT enabled enhances academic performance.

Genetics informs meaningful intraspecific taxonomy: the black-tailed and mule deer complex

Context Meaningful intraspecific taxonomy allows for robust classification of within-species diversity and effective conservation and management. Subspecies definitions broadly agree that subspecies are groups of populations that exhibit some degree of geographic separation, phenotypic distinctiveness, and unique evolutionary potential. The most powerful assessments of within-species taxonomy are those that employ multiple lines of evidence, including phenotypic, ecological, geographic and genetic, to delineate evolutionarily definable units. Aims Here we describe how genetic data can be integrated into intraspecific taxonomy. Methods We use our experiences incorporating genetic data to assess taxonomy within black-tailed and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), a widespread and highly mobile species with significant phenotypic variation and a complex evolutionary history. Key results High-resolution sampling of individuals across the landscape and loci across the genome yielded accurate estimates of genetic variation in black-tailed and mule deer and better insight into the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain diversity. Conclusions Integrating genetic data has informed meaningful intraspecific taxonomy within O. hemionus, showing support for the following five subspecies: two black-tailed deer subspecies (Columbian O. h. columbianus and Sitka O. h. sitkensis) and three mule deer subspecies (mainland O. h. hemionus and the two island subspecies, O. h. cerrosensis on Cedros Island and O. h. sheldoni on Tiburón Island). Implications Our integrative approach provides a framework for incorporating genetic data in intraspecific taxonomy in other deer species.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in carbonaceous chondrites can be used as tracers of both pre-accretion and secondary processes

Carbonaceous chondrites contain a diverse suite of more or less soluble compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These compounds are structured around two or more fused benzene rings, and have shown to be detected in various astrophysical environments. The origin of PAHs in carbonaceous chondrites is debated: they may originate from the interstellar medium (ISM) and thus potentially carry information on accretion processes. Alternatively, they may have formed or transformed during secondary processes on parent bodies and thus carry information about aqueous alteration conditions. Here, we investigate the nature, quantity, and isotopic composition of free PAHs in three recently recovered CM chondrites having experienced substantial and distinct degrees of alteration: the CM2.2 Aguas Zarcas, the CM2.0 Mukundpura and the CM1/2 Kolang. All the CMs investigated contain PAHs, with sizes ranging from 2 (naphthalene) to 5 cycles (benzopyrene). The concentration of PAHs is not correlated to the degree of alteration and larger PAHs are also the most depleted in 13C, suggesting an interstellar origin. Yet, the abundance of alkylated PAHs appears correlated to the degree of alteration and all the extracted PAHs are D-depleted, pointing towards hydrogen exchange with water having occurred during aqueous alteration. These combined results suggest that PAHs in CCs likely carry information on both accretion and alteration processes.

Experimental study on chemical structure and wetting influence of imidazole ionic liquids on coal

Three imidazole ionic liquid solutions were selected to handle coal with distinct degrees of metamorphism to research the influences of cation and anion ions in ionic liquids on functional groups and the relationship between functional groups and coal wettability. The chemical framework of coal was researched by FTIR and the wetting peculiarity of the coal was researched by contact angle meter. FTIR analysis showed that the cation and anion ions in ionic liquids significantly altered the framework of the coal. The contact angle measurement results demonstrated that compared with coal using pure water, the coal handled with ionic liquids showed a smaller contact angle. Finally, the relationship between contact angle and functional group content was analyzed. The results showed that the anions and cations of different ionic liquids can increase the content of hydrophilic groups in coal dust with different metamorphisms, such as OH···O, CO, and CO, and destroy the hydrophobic groups in the dissolved coal structure, such as CH2, CH and the benzene ring 3 substitutions. And 2 % [Emim][BF4] can effectively reduce the coal contact angle and improve the wettability of coal dust. The content of CO and OH···O groups had the greatest correlation with the contact angle, which were 0.845 and 0.754, respectively. By studying the influence of anions and cations in ionic liquids on the content of functional groups in coal, the effect of specific anions and cations on coal structure was further discovered, which provides a theoretical basis for the development of new ionic liquids with specific functions, and provides guiding significance for ionic liquid solutions to improve the wettability of coal and reduce the dust concentration.

Classification of three-dimensional integral stimuli: Accounting for a replication and extension of Nosofsky and Palmeri (1996) with a dual discrimination invariance model.

The quest for determining the degree of learning difficulty associated with different types of categories has been instrumental in our understanding of human categorization behavior and, more broadly, human generalization. For instance, we now know that the topological nature of the dimensions (e.g., whether these are integral or separable) that define the family of categories generated with three binary dimensions yield two different learning difficulty orderings. In our study, for the first time, we replicated one such classic ordering involving integral dimensions and explored the impact that the choice of dimensional values, along with the nature of the stimulus presentation, had on learning difficulty during the learning phase of our four experiments. Two standard orderings were observed in our investigation which were consistent with the hypothesis that multilevel discrimination plays a key role in concept learning. We accounted for our empirical results by making this role explicit at three levels, the feature, object, and category structure levels, using a dual discrimination invariance model (DDIM) derived from the core invariance law of generalized invariance structure theory (GIST). The model involves a "discrimination switch" via what is referred to in GIST as the "tau discrimination threshold" where two distinct extreme degrees of discrimination yield two fundamental learning difficulty orderings able to account for results from our experiments without free parameters. We then show how the DDIM is not only a more accurate and general predictor than the best alternatives but also provides a plausible and tenable cognitive mechanism for understanding these behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Presolar Stardust in Asteroid Ryugu

We have conducted a NanoSIMS-based search for presolar material in samples recently returned from C-type asteroid Ryugu as part of JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission. We report the detection of all major presolar grain types with O- and C-anomalous isotopic compositions typically identified in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites: 1 silicate, 1 oxide, 1 O-anomalous supernova grain of ambiguous phase, 38 SiC, and 16 carbonaceous grains. At least two of the carbonaceous grains are presolar graphites, whereas several grains with moderate C isotopic anomalies are probably organics. The presolar silicate was located in a clast with a less altered lithology than the typical extensively aqueously altered Ryugu matrix. The matrix-normalized presolar grain abundances in Ryugu are ppm for O-anomalous grains, ppm for SiC grains, and ppm for carbonaceous grains. Ryugu is isotopically and petrologically similar to carbonaceous Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites. To compare the in situ presolar grain abundances of Ryugu with CI chondrites, we also mapped Ivuna and Orgueil samples and found a total of 15 SiC grains and 6 carbonaceous grains. No O-anomalous grains were detected. The matrix-normalized presolar grain abundances in the CI chondrites are similar to those in Ryugu: ppm SiC and ppm carbonaceous grains. Thus, our results provide further evidence in support of the Ryugu–CI connection. They also reveal intriguing hints of small-scale heterogeneities in the Ryugu samples, such as locally distinct degrees of alteration that allowed the preservation of delicate presolar material.

Organic matter biomarker and 13C NMR characteristics of soil and sediment standard reference materials from China.

Soil and sediment organic matter (OM) in terrestrial environments represent two critical organic carbon pools on Earth and are likely subject to distinct degrees of oxidation and modification. However, few studies have identified critical molecular-level characteristics that differentiate soil and sediment OM from various climate zones. Using biomarkers and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analyses, we studied the OM characteristics of 11 soil and 7 sediment standard reference materials (SRMs) originating from various geographical locations in China. Results showed significantly higher concentrations of lignin phenols in sediment OM than in soil OM, which may result from protection by higher contents of CaO and less microbial degradation in sediments. Nevertheless, the relative abundances of solvent-extractable lipids (alkanes, alkanols, and alkanoic acids) and ester-bound cutin and suberin biomarkers did not differ significantly between soil and sediment SRMs. The concentrations of lignin biomarkers decreased with increasing weathering degree of the soil, while cutin biomarkers increased with mean annual temperature and precipitation. This phenomenon was not observed in sediment SRMs. This study reveals the distinct OM characteristics between Chinese soil and sediment SRMs and provides fundamental data for future studies to link OM characteristics and functions.

Average scattering entropy for periodic, aperiodic and random distribution of vertices in simple quantum graphs

This work deals with the average scattering entropy of quantum graphs. We explore this concept in several distinct scenarios that involve periodic, aperiodic and random distribution of vertices of distinct degrees. In particular, we compare distinct situations to see how they behave as we change the arrangements of vertices and the topology and geometry of the proposed structures. The results show that the average scattering entropy may depend on the number of vertices, and on the topological and geometrical disposition of vertices and edges of the quantum graph. In this sense, it can be seen as another tool to be used to explore geometric and topological effects of current interest for quantum systems.

PLASMA CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS LEVELS IN Chelonia mydas JUVENILES OBTAINED FROM THREE FEEDING AREAS ON THE BRAZILIAN COAST

The contamination of the marine environment by industrial, agricultural, and domestic effluents is extremely harmful, influencing, in many cases, the abundance and diversity of food resources. In addition to changes in diet, impacted environments provide a favorable scenario for the occurrence of diseases in aquatic organisms. Little is known about the effect of anthropization on the health of Chelonia mydas populations in Brazil. This work aimed to evaluate biochemical parameters of juvenile green turtles in three feeding areas in Brazil with distinct degrees of anthropization. From October 2012 to May 2014, 123 specimens of C. mydas were captured at three feeding sites along the coast of Brazil, with obvious differences between degrees of anthropization. Of these, 21 specimens were captured at the Vitória Bay, ES, 42 specimens at the Abrolhos Marine National Park, BA, and 60 specimens at the Atol das Rocas Biological Reserve, RN. The biochemical parameters evaluated were calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and their ratio (Ca:P). Plasma concentrations of P showed a significant difference between the feeding areas, decreasing according to the distance from the coastal region. The work recommends the study of plasma phosphorus levels as an indicator of the environmental quality of feeding sites in Brazil. For this, studies that correlate the P levels of food components of green turtles with plasma levels should be carried out.

Neural distinctiveness of fatigue and low sleep quality in multiple sclerosis.

Fatigue and low sleep quality in multiple sclerosis (MS) are closely related symptoms. Here, the associations between the brain's functional connectivity (FC) and fatigue and low sleep quality were investigated to determine the degree of neural distinctiveness of these symptoms. A hundred and four patients with relapsing-remitting MS (age 38.9 ± 10.2 years, 66 females) completed the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. FC was analyzed using independent-component analysis in sensorimotor, default-mode, fronto-parietal and basal-ganglia networks. Multiple linear regression models allowed us to test the association between FC and fatigue and sleep quality whilst controlling for one another as well as for demographic, disease-related and imaging variables. Higher fatigue correlated with lower sleep quality (r=0.54, p < 0.0001). Higher fatigue was associated with lower FC of the precentral gyrus in the sensorimotor network, the precuneus in the posterior default-mode network and the superior frontal gyrus in the left fronto-parietal network, independently of sleep quality. Lower sleep quality was associated with lower FC of the left intraparietal sulcus in the left fronto-parietal network, independently of fatigue. Specific associations were found between fatigue and the sensorimotor network's global FC and between low sleep quality and the left fronto-parietal network's global FC. Despite the high correlation between fatigue and low sleep quality in the clinical picture, our findings clearly indicate that, on the neural level, fatigue and low sleep quality in MS are associated with decreased FC in distinct functional brain networks.

Study On Nutrient Levels and Entomological Indicator of Biological Integrity In Fish Culture Ponds of Bhadra Reservoir Project, Karnataka, India

The supplement levels and organic uprightness of five fish culture ponds were contemplated utilizing water insects and the water quality investigation of the fish ponds as markers from January to December 2011.A sum of 203 insects were recorded with 04 orders and 07 families. There was huge contrast in the plenitude of pond skaters, dragon/damsel fly and whirligig beetles for the five fish ponds (P=0.05). There was no critical distinction in the bounty of water insects and dytiscid beetle (P<0.05). The mean estimations of the physico-chemical parameters of the five fish ponds indicated no noteworthy degree of distinction. The least noteworthy distinction of the bounty of insects demonstrated that ponds 1, 2 and 3 were not favorable for the amphibian bugs inspected. Pond 5 indicated the pinnacle portrayal of all insects inspected. The Carl Pearson connection coefficient demonstrated a solid connection between the quantity of individual of dragon/damsel fly, dytiscid and whirligig beetles and the magnesium focus and Chemical Oxygen demand of the ponds. The pond skater and water bug were adversely associated with the nitrogen substance and temperature of the water bodies. In view of these discoveries the fish culture ponds were considered as decently contaminated biological systems whose contamination load came about predominantly from dumping of poultry/dairy animals’ compost excrement and fish food.

Hard Ferromagnetism Down to the Thinnest Limit of Iron-Intercalated Tantalum Disulfide.

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic crystals hold promise for miniaturized and ultralow power electronic devices that exploit spin manipulation. In these materials, large, controllable magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) is a prerequisite for the stabilization and manipulation of long-range magnetic order. In known 2D magnetic crystals, relatively weak MCA typically results in soft ferromagnetism. Here, we demonstrate that ferromagnetic order persists down to the thinnest limit of FexTaS2 (Fe-intercalated bilayer 2H-TaS2) with giant coercivities up to 3 T. We prepare Fe-intercalated TaS2 by chemical intercalation of van der Waals-layered 2H-TaS2 crystals and perform variable-temperature transport, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal Raman spectroscopy measurements to shed new light on the coupled effects of dimensionality, degree of intercalation, and intercalant order/disorder on the hard ferromagnetic behavior of FexTaS2. More generally, we show that chemical intercalation gives access to a rich synthetic parameter space for low-dimensional magnets, in which magnetic properties can be tailored by the choice of the host material and intercalant identity/amount, in addition to the manifold distinctive degrees of freedom available in atomically thin, van der Waals crystals.

Demoiring Images using Efficient Attention Fusion module in Wavelet Domain

When we use a capturing device to capture digital displays, we obtain a vivid rainbow pattern. It's known as "moiré" and it has an impact on image quality and subsequent processing. There are several ways to save money. Modern approaches for eliminating moiré patterns rely on down sampling pooling layers to retrieve multiscale information, which might result in data loss. To show this issue, this research provides a wavelet-based demoiréing approach. Both Inverse Discrete Wavelet Transform (IDWT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) are used in this. This technology may efficiently enhance the network related field without any data loss in place of standard down sampling and up sampling. Furthermore, this approach employs an effective attention fusion module to reconstruct additional details of moiré patterns (EAFM). Using an aggregate of green channel attention (ECA), spatial attention (SA), and neighborhood residual getting to know, this module can self-adaptively study several weights of function statistics at distinct degrees and encourage the community to cognizance extra on required statistics as moiré statistics to beautify the getting to know and demoiréing paintings performed via way of means of enhancing photograph excellent and offering the specified Accurate output. Extensive trials the usage of publicly to be had datasets have established that this approach can perpetually cast off moiré styles even as additionally being quantitatively and qualitatively sound.

Magneto-optical trapping and sub-Doppler cooling of a polyatomic molecule.

Laser cooling and trapping1,2, and magneto-optical trapping methods in particular2, have enabled groundbreaking advances in science, including Bose-Einstein condensation3-5, quantum computation with neutral atoms6,7 and high-precision optical clocks8. Recently, magneto-optical traps (MOTs) of diatomic molecules have been demonstrated9-12, providing access to research in quantum simulation13 and searches for physics beyond the standard model14. Compared with diatomic molecules, polyatomic molecules have distinct rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom that promise a variety of transformational possibilities. For example, ultracold polyatomic molecules would be uniquely suited to applications in quantum computation and simulation15-17, ultracold collisions18, quantum chemistry19 and beyond-the-standard-model searches20,21. However, the complexity of these molecules has so far precluded the realization of MOTs for polyatomic species. Here we demonstrate magneto-optical trapping of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). After trapping, the molecules are laser cooled in a blue-detuned optical molasses to a temperature of 110 μK, which is below the Doppler cooling limit. The temperatures and densities achieved here make CaOH a viable candidate for a wide variety of quantum science applications, including quantum simulation and computation using optical tweezer arrays15,17,22,23. This work also suggests that laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of many other polyatomic species24-27 will be both feasible and practical.

The multivariate t-distribution with multiple degrees of freedom

A multivariate t-distribution is introduced such that each element of a normal vector is scaled by using a chi-square that is independent of the chi-squares for the remaining elements of the vector with possibly distinct degrees of freedom. The integral and series expressions of the probability density function are given. The absolute values of the covariances/correlations and Mardia’s multivariate measure of kurtosis are shown to be smaller than those for the corresponding usual multivariate t with a common chi-square. An extended multivariate t with common and unique chi-squares is also proposed, which takes a form like factor analysis.

Clustering free-falling paper motion with complexity and entropy

Many simple natural phenomena are characterized by complex motion that appears random at first glance, but that often displays underlying patterns and behavior that can be clustered in groups. The movement of small pieces of paper falling through the air is one of these systems whose complete mathematical description seems unworkable. Understanding these types of motion thus demands automated experimentation capable of producing large datasets covering different behaviors —a task that has become feasible only recently with advances in computer vision and machine learning methods. Here we use one of these datasets related to the motion of free-falling paper with different shapes to propose an information-theoretical approach that automatically clusters different types of behavior. We evaluate the permutation entropy and statistical complexity from time series related to the observable area of free-falling paper pieces captured by a video camera. We find that chaotic and tumbling motions have a distinct average degree of entropy and complexity, allowing us to accurately discriminate between these two types of behavior with a simple unsupervised machine learning algorithm. Our method has a performance comparable to other approaches based on physical quantities but does not depend on reconstructing the three-dimensional falling trajectory.

Culture Shapes the Distinctiveness of Posed and Spontaneous Facial Expressions of Anger and Disgust

There is a growing consensus that culture influences the perception of facial expressions of emotion. However, relatively few studies have examined whether and how culture shapes the production of emotional facial expressions. Drawing on prior work on cultural differences in communication styles, we tested the prediction that people from the Netherlands (a low-context culture) produce facial expressions that are more distinct across emotions compared to people from China (a high-context culture). Furthermore, we examined whether the degree of distinctiveness varies across posed and spontaneous expressions. Dutch and Chinese participants were instructed to either pose facial expressions of anger and disgust, or to share autobiographical events that elicited spontaneous expressions of anger or disgust. Using a supervised machine learning approach to categorize expressions based on the patterns of activated facial action units, we showed that both posed and spontaneous facial expressions of anger and disgust were more distinct when produced by Dutch compared to Chinese participants. Yet, the distinctiveness of posed and spontaneous expressions differed in their sources. The difference in the distinctiveness of posed expressions appears to be due to a larger array of facial expression prototypes for each emotion in Chinese culture than in Dutch culture. The difference in the distinctiveness of spontaneous expressions, however, appears to reflect the greater similarity of expressions of anger and disgust from the same Chinese individual than from the same Dutch individual. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to cross-cultural emotion communication, including via cultural products.

Analysis of Complex Networks via Some Novel Topological Indices

Chemical graph theory is a field of mathematical chemistry that links mathematics, chemistry, and graph theory to solve chemistry-related issues quantitatively. Mathematical chemistry is an area of mathematics that employs mathematical methods to tackle chemical-related problems. A graphical representation of chemical molecules, known as the molecular graph of the chemical substance, is one of these tools. A topological index (TI) is a mathematical function that assigns a numerical value to a (molecular) graph and predicts many physical, chemical, biological, thermodynamical, and structural features of that network. In this work, we calculate a new topological index namely, the Sombor index, the Super Sombor index, and its reduced version for chemical networks. We also plot our computed results to examine how they were affected by the parameters involved. This document lists the distinct degrees and degree sums of enhanced mesh network, triangular mesh network, star of silicate network, and rhenium trioxide lattice. The edge partitions of these families of networks are tabled which depend on the sum of degrees of end vertices and the sum of the degree-based edges. These edge partitions are used to find closed formulae for numerous degree-based topological indices of the networks.

Donald Edward Moggridge (1943–2021)

Donald Edward Moggridge (1943–2021)