Spreading Direction Research Articles

Progressive Vowel Harmony in Gomoa

Previous studies on Akan ATR vowel harmony, including Berry (1957), Stewart (1967), Schachter & Fromkin (1968), Dolphyne (1988) have centered on the concepts of regressive (anticipatory) directionality. Very little empirical evidence have been provided for the existence and robustness of progressive ATR vowel harmony in Akan. This paper, therefore, discusses progressive ATR vowel harmony in Gomoa, a sub-dialect of Fante, one of the major dialects of Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo). In the previous studies of the Akan vowel harmony phenomenon, it has been established that the [+ATR] in the stem/root word moves leftward to harmonize with the [-ATR] vowel either within a morpheme or across morpheme boundary [VH= (-ATR)prefix + (+ATR]stem = [(+ATR, +ATR)] and cannot spreads to harmonize with the [-ATR] suffix morpheme [VH= (-ATR)prefix + (+ATR]stem + (-ATR)suffix= [(+ATR +ATR-ATR)]. In the present study, we demonstrate that the [+ATR] in the stem/root word triggers rightward to harmonize with the [-ATR] vowel in the suffix or a following vowel in the same domain [VH= (-ATR)prefix + (+ATR]stem + (-ATR)suffix= [(+ATR, +ATR, +ATR)]. Gomoa extensively displays progressive vowel harmony in stem words, verb suffixes, and nominal suffixes. We discuss this phenomenon within the framework of Autosegmental phonology (Goldsmith, 1976) after to show the evidence for the rightward direction of spreading.

PROJECT «UNIVERSITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE» AS PART OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF ODESA NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY

One of the effective levers in solving environmental and socio-economic problems of modern Ukraine is educational work in the field of ecology, raising the level of environmental education and the formation of environmental awareness and culture. Libraries play an important role in the system of public institutions that ensure the right of citizens to environmental information. The availability of libraries and appropriate information resources, the introduction of modern technologies as well as qualified personnel allow them to become an irreplaceable partner of society and the state in the field of environmental education. An important component of environmental education of Odesa National Scientific Library is the formation of thematic resources (traditional and electronic) and ensuring free access to them for users. The library provides information support to the educational process and research activity of students, graduates, researchers of higher educational institutions of the country. It also actively works in the direction of knowledge spreading on environmental protection; develops and improves new forms of cooperation with state and public environmental organizations; introduces innovative forms of individual and mass work on environmental education. One of the striking innovative projects, implemented by the library, is the project «University of Environmental Knowledge». During 10 years of project activity (2001‑2011) 106 meetings of the University were organized and held, as well as a number of thematic forums, scientific conferences, round tables, publishing projects, exhibitions of new literature, thematic reviews on ecology and more. The events were attended by more than 12 thousand visitors – students, graduates, professionals working in the field of ecology, members of environmental NGOs, people who are not indifferent to environmental issues. This strengthened the ability of ONSL to act as a powerful information center on environmental issues and made ONSL one of the important parts in solving environmental problems in Odesa Region and Southern Ukraine.

A multi-point aggregation trend of the outbreak of pine wilt disease in China over the past 20 years

Pine wilt disease is a worldwide forest disease, caused by an invasive species in China that is highly dangerous. It caused huge losses to the Chinese ecological environment, natural landscape and social economy. The existing studies on the spread of pine wilt disease have been limited in scope and duration and have been fragmented. This study aims to apply macroscopic analysis to reveal the spatiotemporal spread of pine wilt disease in mainland China and provide a scientific basis for the control of pine wilt disease. According to statistical pine wilt disease data from 1998 to 2017 and NDVI data for China, we showed relevant information concerning the disease graphically, mapped the distribution of the infected area in ArcGIS and performed scan statistics in SaTScan to detect spatiotemporal clusters. This study applied macroscopic analysis of the evolution of pine wilt disease over a long duration, revealing the occurrence, spatial distribution and aggregation of infections and the spatial and temporal patterns of the disease. The results show that the pine wilt disease is concentrated in southeastern China and has a strong spatial correlation. The trend of spread of the infected area was examined using 2013 as the node. Pine wilt disease spread in a pattern of “spread - stabilization – outbreak – full outbreak” throughout the country. The direction of spread was from south to north, coast to inland, developed to developing areas, and multiple areas were affected with multiple outbreaks. According to the spatiotemporal scan results, disease occurrence in the long-infested areas of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Guangdong Provinces showed high clustering, and new clusters were formed in Sichuan, Chongqing and there surrounding areas with the spread of the disease. The spread of pine wilt disease was distributed across multiple areas with multiple outbreaks and showed significant characteristics of spatiotemporal aggregation.

Geochemistry of serpentinized and multiphase altered Atlantis Massif peridotites (IODP Expedition 357): Petrogenesis and discrimination of melt-rock vs. fluid-rock processes

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 drilled 17 shallow sites distributed ~10 km in the spreading direction (from west to east) across the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N). Mantle exposed in the footwall of the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex is predominantly nearly wholly serpentinized harzburgite with subordinate dunite. Altered peridotites are subdivided into three types: (I) serpentinites, (II) melt-impregnated serpentinites, and (III) metasomatic serpentinites. Type I serpentinites show no evidence of melt-impregnation or metasomatism apart from serpentinization and local oxidation. Type II serpentinites have been intruded by gabbroic melts and are distinguishable in some cases on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic observations, e.g., mm-cm scale mafic-melt veinlets, rare plagioclase (˂0.5 modal % in one sample) or by the local presence of secondary (replacive) olivine after orthopyroxene; in other cases, ‘cryptic’ melt-impregnation is inferred on the basis of incompatible element enrichments. Type III serpentinites are characterized by silica metasomatism manifest by alteration of orthopyroxene to talc and amphibole, and by anomalously high anhydrous SiO2 concentrations (59–61 wt%) and low MgO/SiO2 values (0.48–0.52). Although many chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) and primitive mantle-normalized incompatible trace element anomalies, e.g., negative Ce-anomalies, are attributable to serpentinization, other compositional heterogeneities are due to melt-impregnation. On the basis of whole rock incompatible trace elements, a dominant mechanism of melt-impregnation is distinguished in the central and eastern serpentinites from fluid-rock alteration (mostly serpentinization) in the western serpentinites, with increasing melt-impregnation manifest as a west to east increase in enrichment in high-field strength elements and light REE. High degrees of melt extraction are evident in low whole-rock Al2O3/SiO2 values and low concentrations of Al2O3, CaO and incompatible elements. Estimates of the degree of melt extraction based on whole rock REE patterns suggest a maximum of ~20% non-modal fractional melting, with little variation between sites. As some serpentinite samples are ex situ rubble, the magmatic histories observed at each site are consistent with a local source (from the fault zone) rather than rafted rubble that would be expected to show more heterogeneity and no spatial pattern. In this case, the studied sites may provide a record of enhanced melt-rock interactions with time, consistent with proposed geological models. Alternatively, sites may signify heterogeneities in these processes at spatial scales of a few km.

Viscous Fingering as a Rapid 3D Pattering Technique for Engineering Cell-Laden Vascular-Like Constructs.

Tissues are much larger than the diffusion limit distance, so rapidly providing blood vessels to supply embedded cells inside tissues with sufficient nutrients and oxygen is regarded as a major strategy for the success of bioengineered large and thick tissue constructs. Here, a patterning technique, viscous fingering, is developed to bioengineer vascularized-like tissues within a few minutes. By controlling viscosity, flow rate, and the volume of photo-cross-linkable prepolymer, macro- and microscale vascular network structures can be precisely engineered using the Hele-Shaw cell that is designed in this study. After cross-linking, a vascular-like gel with fingering structures is formed between the bottom and top base gels, creating a sandwich-like structure. Cells can be incorporated into the fingers, bases, or both gels. The spreading and growth direction of the embedded cells are successfully controlled and guided by manipulating the physical properties of the fingering and base gels individually. Moreover, fingering is generated, connected, and surrounded prepared cell-laden microgels in base prepolymers to form prevascularized tissue-like constructs. Taken together, the 3D cell patterning technique extends the potential for modeling and fabricating large and stackable vascularized tissue-like constructs for both ex vivo and in vivo applications.

Effects of Unbalanced Lamination Parameters on the Static Aeroelasticity of a High Aspect Ratio Wing

In this paper, in order to understand the influence of the unbalanced coefficient of composite laminates on the static aeroelasticity of high aspect wings, a series of numerical simulation calculations were carried out, and this work wants to provide some reference for the structural design of aircraft. Considering the influence of geometric nonlinearity, the unidirectional fluid-solid coupling calculation method based on loose coupling is used to control the change of unbalanced coefficient of laminates on the basis of layering angle, layering thickness, and layering region, so as to observe the changes caused to the wings. The relationship between the unbalanced coefficient and the constant thickness layup and the variable thickness layup with 0° and ±45° layup angles was studied, respectively. Then, the layup angle of 90° was added to study the influence of the unbalanced coefficient on the static aeroelasticity of the wing structure with the change of the layup angle and the different choice of layup region. The results show that the deformation is the smallest when the unbalanced coefficient is 0.5, and the deformation trend is evenly distributed along both sides when the unbalanced coefficient is 0.5. When the unbalanced coefficient is changed, adding the 90° layup angle can significantly reduce the overall deformation of the wing and show different sensitivity characteristics to different layup areas. The increase of the unbalanced coefficient makes the chordal displacement gradually change from linear distribution to nonlinear distribution along the spread direction, and the displacement will gradually decrease.

Investigation of the hazardous area in a liquid hydrogen release with or without fence

Constructing a fence for potential liquid hydrogen leakage is a common protective measure to prevent the unrestricted spread, and critically evaluating the effects of a fence is essential for the safe use of hydrogen energy. Based on NASA's large-scale experiment of liquid hydrogen release, a 3D numerical model considering the existence of fence is proposed to study the dynamic spread behaviors of hydrogen flammable cloud and liquid hydrogen pool. The results show that the liquid hydrogen pool keeps a downwind radius of about 1.75 m most of the time during the release, and the hydrogen flammable cloud has a limit spread distance. Three cases are set to comparatively evaluate the effect of the fence, which are full fence, downwind half fence and no fence. Under the three cases, liquid hydrogen pools all evaporate completely within 5 s. Full fence scenario has the modest spread scale of hydrogen flammable cloud in the atmosphere but the longest duration for 86 s, and the upwind fence causes an easily overlooked hazardous region due to the vortex here, thus constructing a full fence is not an ideal strategy when the spread direction is constant. Just constructing a downwind half fence leads to the greatest spread distance of the flammable hydrogen cloud, which are 33.6 m and 68 m in vertical and downwind directions. No fence case corresponds to the smallest diffusion scale of flammable hydrogen cloud in atmosphere but the longest near-ground spread distance for 43.35 m. Four stages can be divided to summarize the entire life period of the flammable cloud for the cases with and without a fence, while three stages for the case with a downwind half fence.

Efficient Simulations of Propagating Flames and Fire Suppression Optimization Using Adaptive Mesh Refinement

Fires are complex multi-physics problems that span wide spatial scale ranges. Capturing this complexity in computationally affordable numerical simulations for process studies and “outer-loop” techniques (e.g., optimization and uncertainty quantification) is a fundamental challenge in reacting flow research. Further complications arise for propagating fires where a priori knowledge of the fire spread rate and direction is typically not available. In such cases, static mesh refinement at all possible fire locations is a computationally inefficient approach to bridging the wide range of spatial scales relevant to fire behavior. In the present study, we address this challenge by incorporating adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) in fireFoam, an OpenFOAM solver for simulations of complex fire phenomena involving pyrolyzing solid surfaces. The AMR functionality in the extended solver, called fireDyMFoam, is load balanced, models gas, solid, and liquid phases, and allows us to dynamically track regions of interest, thus avoiding inefficient over-resolution of areas far from a propagating flame. We demonstrate the AMR capability and computational efficiency for fire spread on vertical panels, showing that the AMR solver reproduces results obtained using much larger statically refined meshes, but at a substantially reduced computational cost. We then leverage AMR in an optimization framework for fire suppression based on the open-source Dakota toolkit, which is made more computationally tractable through the use of fireDyMFoam, minimizing a cost function that balances water use and solid-phase mass loss. The extension of fireFoam developed here thus enables the use of higher fidelity simulations in optimization problems for the suppression of fire spread in both built and natural environments.

Magnetic Constraints on Off‐Axis Seamount Volcanism in the Easternmost Segment of the Australian‐Antarctic Ridge

AbstractThe Australian‐Antarctic Ridge (AAR) is an intermediate‐spreading rate system located between the Southeast Indian Ridge and Macquarie Triple Junction of the Australian‐Antarctic‐Pacific plates. KR1 is the easternmost and longest AAR segment and exhibits unique axial morphology and various volcanic structures. We identified three asymmetric seamount chains positioned parallel to the seafloor spreading direction, which were indicative of prevalent off‐axis volcanism in the vicinity of segment KR1. Two‐dimensional magnetic modeling was used to predict the magnetization polarity of the seamounts, as well as to constrain their formation time and duration. The magnetic modeling revealed that the majority of the examined seamounts were formed over a period of less than ∼600 kyrs. The seamount formation primarily occurred during two distinct volcanic pulses from 0.16–1.14 to 1.58–2.69 Ma. A temporal gap of 200–650 kyrs between the formation time of the seamounts and seafloor was estimated for certain seamounts that were formed much later than their underlying seafloor and at a distance of 10–20 km from the KR1 axis. Typically, such off‐axis seamount activity is related to axial mantle convection caused by excessive magma supply near the ridge crest. Considering the scale of off‐axis volcanism and thickening lithosphere ∼20 km away from the axis with intermediate‐spreading rates, small‐scale upwelling made feasible by the fertile mantle heterogeneity is proposed as the mechanism for the seamount formations at off‐axis distances, and the geochemically enriched compositions of the seamounts support this alternative explanation.

Agent-based neutral competition in two-community networks.

Competition between alternative states is an essential process in social and biological networks. Neutral competition can be represented by an unbiased random drift process in which the states of vertices (e.g., opinions, genotypes, or species) in a network are updated by repeatedly selecting two connected vertices. One of these vertices copies the state of the selected neighbor. Such updates are repeated until all vertices are in the same "consensus" state. There is no unique rule for selecting the vertex pair to be updated. Real-world processes comprise three limiting factors that can influence the selected edge and the direction of spread: (1) the rate at which a vertex sends a state to its neighbors, (2) the rate at which a state is received by a neighbor, and (3) the rate at which a state can be exchanged through a connecting edge. We investigate how these three limitations influence neutral competition in networks with two communities generated by a stochastic block model. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we show how the community structure and update rule determine the states' success probabilities and the time until a consensus is reached. We present a heterogeneous mean-field theory that agrees well with the Monte Carlo simulations. The effectiveness of the heterogeneous mean-field theory implies that quantitative predictions about the consensus are possible even if empirical data (e.g., from ecological fieldwork or observations of social interactions) do not allow a complete reconstruction of all edges in the network.

Comprehensive Examination of the Determinants of Damage to Houses in Two Wildfires in Eastern Australia in 2013

Wildfires continue to destroy houses, but an understanding of the complex mix of risk factors remains elusive. These factors comprise six themes: preparedness actions (including defensible space), response actions (including defence), house construction, landscape fuels, topography and weather. The themes span a range of spatial scales (house to region) and responsible agents (householders through government to entirely natural forces). We conducted a statistical analysis that partitions the contribution of these six themes on wildfire impact to houses, using two fires that destroyed 200 houses in New South Wales (Australia) in October 2013 (the Linksview and Mt York fires). We analysed 85 potential predictor variables using Random Forest modelling. The best predictors of impact were whether the house was defended and distance to forest toward the direction of fire spread. However, predictors from all four of the other themes had some influence, including distance to the nearest other burnt house (indicating house-to-house transmission) and vegetation cover up to 40 m from the house. The worst-placed houses (undefended, without adequate defensible space, with burnt houses nearby and with a westerly aspect) were 10 times more likely to be impacted than the best-placed houses in our study. The results indicate that householders are the agents most able to mitigate risk in the conditions experienced in these fires through both preparation and active defence.

Micro-and-nanometer topological gradient of block copolymer fibrous scaffolds towards region-specific cell regulation

Regulating cell behavior and function by surface topography has drawn significant attention in tissue engineering. Herein, a gradient fibrous scaffold comprising anisotropic aligned fibers and isotropic annealed fibers was developed to provide a controllable direction of cell migration, adhesion, and spreading. The electrospun aligned fibers were engraved to create surface gradients with micro-and-nanometer roughness through block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly induced by selective solvent vapor annealing (SVA). The distinct manipulation of cell behavior by annealed fibrous scaffolds with tailored self-assembled nanostructure and welded fibrous microstructure has been illustrated by in situ/ex situ small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in vitro cell culture. Further insights into the effect of integrated gradient fibrous scaffold were gained at the level of protein expression. From the perspective of gradient topology, this region-specific scaffold based on BCP fibers shows the prospect of guiding cell migration, adhesion and spreading and provides a generic method for designing biomaterials for tissue-engineering.

Reconstructing Jurassic‐Cretaceous Intra‐Oceanic Subduction Evolution in the Northwestern Panthalassa Ocean Using Ocean Plate Stratigraphy From Hokkaido, Japan

AbstractPlate reconstructions of the Panthalassa Ocean typically portray a simple system of diverging plates surrounded by active margins, yet geological and seismic tomographic records demonstrate that intra‐oceanic subduction existed. Here, we reconstruct the plate tectonic evolution of the pre‐Cretaceous intra‐oceanic Oku‐Niikappu island arc, remnants of which are exposed on Hokkaido, Japan. This arc formed at a Jurassic subduction zone separating two oceanic plates: the Izanagi Plate and the here proposed ‘Izanami’ Plate. The Oku‐Niikappu arc was previously shown to have gone extinct in an intra‐oceanic setting, was subsequently (hyper)extended, and overlain by Berriasian cherts. The extinct arc remained on the Panthalassa ocean floor for ∼45 Myr until its ∼100 Ma accretion to Hokkaido, revealing an original position far from the continental margin and likely above the previously identified Telkhinia slabs. We show that arc extinction coincided with a northwestern Panthalassa plate reorganization recorded by a ∼30° change in spreading direction, and that extinction and subsequent extension of the arc is straightforwardly explained by subduction of the Izanami‐Pacific ridge followed by continued divergence between the Izanagi and Pacific plates. From our reconstruction, it follows that the outer zone of Japan, to which the accretionary complex in which the Oku‐Niikappu Complex resides belongs, was separated from the inner zone by a back‐arc basin during the Early to mid‐Cretaceous. This study illustrates the value of accretionary orogens in the development of plate reconstructions of lost oceanic plates and ancient continental margins, particularly when combined with seismic tomographic and marine geophysical data sets.

Go with the FLOW: visualizing spatiotemporal dynamics in optical widefield calcium imaging.

Widefield calcium imaging has recently emerged as a powerful experimental technique to record coordinated large-scale brain activity. These measurements present a unique opportunity to characterize spatiotemporally coherent structures that underlie neural activity across many regions of the brain. In this work, we leverage analytic techniques from fluid dynamics to develop a visualization framework that highlights features of flow across the cortex, mapping wavefronts that may be correlated with behavioural events. First, we transform the time series of widefield calcium images into time-varying vector fields using optic flow. Next, we extract concise diagrams summarizing the dynamics, which we refer to as FLOW (flow lines in optical widefield imaging) portraits. These FLOW portraits provide an intuitive map of dynamic calcium activity, including regions of initiation and termination, as well as the direction and extent of activity spread. To extract these structures, we use the finite-time Lyapunov exponent technique developed to analyse time-varying manifolds in unsteady fluids. Importantly, our approach captures coherent structures that are poorly represented by traditional modal decomposition techniques. We demonstrate the application of FLOW portraits on three simple synthetic datasets and two widefield calcium imaging datasets, including cortical waves in the developing mouse and spontaneous cortical activity in an adult mouse.

Scaling theory of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection spreading

We develop a first-principles scaling theory of the spreading of three-dimensional (3D) magnetic reconnection of finite extent in the out of plane direction. This theory addresses systems with or without an out of plane (guide) magnetic field, and with or without Hall physics. The theory reproduces known spreading speeds and directions with and without guide fields, unifying previous knowledge in a single theory. New results include the following: (1) reconnection spreads in a particular direction if an x-line is induced at the interface between reconnecting and non-reconnecting regions, which is controlled by the out of plane gradient of the electric field in the outflow direction. (2) The spreading mechanism for anti-parallel collisionless reconnection is convection, as is known, but for guide field reconnection it is magnetic field bending. We confirm the theory using 3D two-fluid and resistive-magnetohydrodynamics simulations. (3) The theory explains why anti-parallel reconnection in resistive-magnetohydrodynamics does not spread. (4) The simulation domain aspect ratio, associated with the free magnetic energy, influences whether reconnection spreads or convects with a fixed x-line length. (5) We perform a simulation initiating anti-parallel collisionless reconnection with a pressure pulse instead of a magnetic perturbation, finding spreading is unchanged rather than spreading at the magnetosonic speed as previously suggested. The results provide a theoretical framework for understanding spreading beyond systems studied here and are important for applications including two-ribbon solar flares and reconnection in Earth's magnetosphere.

Predicting potential occurrence of pine wilt disease based on environmental factors in South Korea using machine learning algorithms

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is one of the most destructive diseases affecting pine trees, and South Korea is one of the most severely damaged countries in the world. Based on the information on PWD occurrence and their environmental characteristics (i.e., geographical, meteorological, and land-use) in South Korea, we evaluated the conditions most conducive for PWD occurrence and developed projection models using machine learning algorithms; random forest (RF) and maximum entropy (Maxent). Our results showed that PWD mainly occurred in areas like highly urbanized area; low elevations, at close proximity to roads. Also, both RF and Maxent models presented high prediction performance for PWD occurrence. Geographical factors (e.g., elevation and distance to roads) were major determinants of PWD occurrence and largely contributed to explaining variability and partial dependence plots of each model. We developed an ensemble model composed of the RF and Maxent models to predict a potential risk map for PWD occurrence on a national scale. In South Korea, most territory was included potential risk of PWD occurrence, and it was predicted to be expanded in the future according to the climate change. The study results showed a high utility for use in surveillance and monitoring of PWD occurrence by inferring the spread pathway or spread direction of PWD based on the potential occurrence map.

Spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases, epidemic spread rate, spatial pattern, and its correlation with meteorological factors during the first to the second waves

Currently, many countries all over the world are facing the second wave of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases, epidemic spread rate, spatial pattern during the first to the second waves in the South Sumatra Province of Indonesia. This study used the geographical information system (GIS) software to map the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases and epidemic spread rate. The spatial autocorrelation of the COVID-19 cases was carried out using Moran’s I, while the Pearson correlation was used to examining the relationship between meteorological factors and the epidemic spread rate. Most infected areas and the direction of virus spread were predicted using wind rose analysis. The results revealed that the epidemic rapidly spread from August 1 to December 1, 2020. The highest epidemic spread rate was observed in the Palembang district and in its peripheral areas (dense urban areas), while the lowest spread rate was found in the eastern and southern parts of South Sumatra Province (remote areas). The spatial correlation characteristic of the epidemic distribution exhibited a negative correlation and random distribution. Air temperature, wind speed, and precipitation have contributed to a significant impact on the high epidemic spread rate in the second wave. In summary, this study offers new insight for arranging control and prevention strategies against the potential of second wave strike.

A deep neural network based context-aware smart epidemic surveillance in smart cities

PurposeEpidemics not only affect the public health but also are a threat to a nation's growth and economy as well. Early prediction of epidemic can be beneficial to take preventive measures and to reduce the impact of epidemic in an area.Design/methodology/approachA deep neural network (DNN) based context aware smart epidemic system has been proposed to prevent and monitor epidemic spread in a geographical area. Various neural networks (NNs) have been used: LSTM, RNN, BPNN to detect the level of disease, direction of spread of disease in a geographical area and marking the high-risk areas. Multiple DNNs collect and process various data points and these DNNs are decided based on type of data points. Output of one DNN is used by another DNN to reach to final prediction.FindingsThe experimental evaluation of the proposed framework achieved the accuracy of 87% for the synthetic dataset generated for Zika epidemic in Brazil in 2016.Originality/valueThe proposed framework is designed in a way that every data point is carefully processed and contributes to the final decision. These multiple DNNs will act as a single DNN for the end user.

The propagation speed of multiple dynamic cracks in fiber-reinforced cement-based composites measured using DIC

The primary purpose of this work is to explore the propagation speed and spreading direction of multiple dynamic cracks in steel fiber-reinforced cement-based composites using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Three-point bending beams with an off-centered notch were employed to facilitate the initiation of mixed-mode crack. Specifically, beams with different fiber contents, 0% , 0.4% and 0.8% in volume fraction, were manufactured. Tests were carried out at low loading-line displacement rates (2.2 μm/s and 22 mm/s) using a servo-hydraulic machine, under impact loading (1.77 m/s and 3.55 m/s) using a drop-weight impact device. A high-speed video camera was used to record the process of (multiple) crack propagation. Besides the shear crack started from the notch tip, the flexural cracks initiated from the central bottom surface were also formed in all beams except those with a fiber content of 60 kg/m3 (0.8% in volume ratio) impacted at 1.77 m/s. The flexural cracks propagated with a maximum speed of 1297 m/s, whereas the shear cracks reached up to 1149 m/s. Such high speeds of multiple-crack propagation, more than 50% of the Rayleigh wave speed, have been rarely measured in the lab. In addition, the evolution of simultaneous crack formation was recorded; the influence of both fiber content and loading rate is examined. Furthermore, all three types of material were previously characterized through independent tests, the flexural strength, the toughness indices as well as the residual strength factors are reported.

Anatomy of septocutaneous blood vessels of the anterior forearm.

Aim To measure a calibre of radial and ulnar septocutaneous perforators at the anterior forearm, and to count its number in proximal, middle and distal thirds. Methods The study was conducted on 50 fresh amputated forearms (trauma, tumours) in the period between January 2012 and December 2021. Forearms were collected from several hospitals in Belgrade, and analysed at the Institute of Anatomy, Medical School, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Injection of ink-gelatin and fine dissection of autopsy material was performed on 30 forearms, and corrosion method with injecting methyl methacrylate for 3D analysis on the other 20 forearms. Results A mean calibre of septocutaneous perforators on the radial artery was 0.53±0.46 mm (0.2-0.85). Averagely, there were 8.1 radial artery septocutaneous perforators - two perforators on the proximal third, 3.7 on the middle third, and 2.7 on the distal third. The mean calibre of ulnar artery perforators was 0.65±0.35 mm (0.18-1.8). The average number of septocutaneous perforators of the ulnar artery was 5.6; 1.2 on the proximal third, two on the middle third, and 2.2 on distal third. Conclusion Determination of the origin, calibre and spreading directions of the arterial septocutaneous perforators on the anterior forearm provide quantification of data about arborisation of radial and ulnar septocutaneous perforators at the anterior forearm. Clinical relevance of those anatomical data is in defining of safe locations and dimensions of forearm fasciocutaneous flaps in plastic surgery.