Diverse Angles Research Articles

Never Look Away: a captivating screenplay exploring the connection between trauma and art.

Never Look Away (German movie: Werk ohne Autor) is writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s 3-hour 2018 German screenplay likely to address topics of interest for many Australian New Zealand psychiatrists at diverse stages in their careers. It is no hindrance that it is in German with English subtitles. It is a recent historic account, borrowing from the biography of otherwise very private German contemporary abstract artist Gerhard Richter going back to Germany’s Nazi regime, his traumatic childhood, his East German and then West German personal life, and his artistic career, offering various salient aspects from the 20th century German history with its beauty and its terrors, euthanasia, genocide, politics, physical health medicine, and psychiatry (ABC News1). The themes of acute and chronic, personal and collective, trauma is visited from diverse angles. Specifically, various levels of trauma present in the lives of Barnet (Richter) family, particularly Kurt Barnet (Gerhard Richter) played by Tom Schilling (Hollander-Goldfein, Isserman, Goldenberg2). An artistic medium flows through the film as the conduit that links the defining principles around mental health. Kurt responds to these traumatic events with periods of sadness and confusion; however, he shows resilience to this trauma (Miller-Karas3). Joseph Beuys, his West German mentor, who has his own WW2 traumatic background (Beuys is famous for his art with animal fat and felt) guides Kurt to his true “self” and then breakthrough with Kurt’s own true, very distinct type of art. Never Look Away ends with Kurt finding his inspiration and freedom to look at the world through his artistic eyes and find contentment with his life and family. This film provides an interesting attraction. We were reminded of the resilience and hope that art can instil whether it is in the European or the Australian New Zealand context where art can be an expression from trauma, on recent and distant past (King4). Down under, of course, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s artistic expression of what is true and important goes back well over ten thousands of years (Bulter5).

Experimental evidence for bifurcation angles control on abandoned channel fill geometry

Abstract. The nature of abandoned channels' sedimentary fills has a significant influence on the development and evolution of floodplains and ultimately on fluvial reservoir geometry. A control of bifurcation geometry (i.e., bifurcation angle) on channel abandonment dynamics and resulting channel fills, such as sand plugs, has been intuited many times but never quantified. In this study, we present a series of experiments focusing on bedload transport designed to test the conditions for channel abandonment by modifying the bifurcation angle between channels, the flow incidence angles and the differential channel bottom slopes. We find that disconnection is possible in the case of asymmetrical bifurcations with high diversion angle (≥30∘) and quantify for the first time an inverse relationship between diversion angle and sand plug length and volume. The resulting sand plug formation is initiated in the flow separation zone at the external bank of the mouth of the diverted channel. Sedimentation in this zone induces a feedback loop leading to sand plug growth, discharge decrease and eventually to channel disconnection. Finally, the formation processes and final complex architecture of sand plugs are described, allowing for a better understanding of their geometry. Although our setup lacks some of the complexity of natural rivers, our results seem to apply at larger scales. Taken into account, these new data will improve fluvial (reservoir) models by incorporating more realistic topography and grain size description in abandoned channels.

A Theoretical Model for the Development of Mathematical Talent through Mathematical Creativity

This study was conducted from a perspective that adopts a broad vision of mathematical talent, defined as the potential that a subject manifests when confronting certain types of tasks, in a successful way, that generate creative mathematical activity. To analyse this, our study proposes a Praxeological Model of Mathematical Talent based on the Anthropological Theory of Didactics and the notion of mathematical creativity, which defines four technological functions: (1) producing new techniques; (2) optimizing those techniques (3); considering tasks from diverse angles; and (4) adapting techniques. Using this model, this study analyses the creative mathematical activity of students aged 10–12 years displayed as they sought to solve a series of infinite succession tasks proposed to encourage the construction of generalization processes. The setting is a Mathematics Club (a talent-promoting institution). The evaluation of results shows that the Praxeological Model of Mathematical Talent allows the emergence and analysis of mathematical creativity and, therefore, encourages the development of mathematical talent.

Hydraulic fracture propagation behavior and diversion characteristic in shale formation by temporary plugging fracturing

The exploitation of shale oil and gas has become commercial in the Sichuan basin, China. However, initial fracture closure will result in low production. Therefore, temporary plugging fracturing technology is proposed to create new fractures in alternate directions using a temporary plugging agent that blocks initial fractures, which will lead to a complex fracture morphology. The mechanism of temporary plugging and fracture propagation behavior remains ambiguous, even with many successful operations. Hence, five shale outcrops are used to conduct large-size true tri-axial temporary plugging fracturing simulation experiments to study the issues mentioned above. The effects of horizontal stress difference and temporary plugging agent amount on plugging effectiveness as well as fracture propagation behavior are discussed. The results reveal that the initial fractures are sealed successfully by a water soluble temporary plugging agent. Two plugging positions, fracture heel and tip, result in three main fracture diversion patterns: fracture diversion at the old fracture heel, fracture diversion inside the old fracture, and a new fracture induced at a new position. Based on the fracturing pressure curve, fracturing pressure in the second fracturing is higher than that of the first fracturing, which indicates effective plugging and fracture diversion. A large horizontal stress difference has prevented fracture diversion, and led to a small diversion angle. However, it has improved the induced fracture propagation length. Moreover, the temporary plugging agent amount determines the plugging position and fracture diversion pattern. Fracture diversion inside existing fractures is a result of a small amount sealing at the fracture tip. The other two patterns are created by a large amount of plugging at the fracture heel. Therefore, in order to achieve successful plugging effectiveness, it is necessary to conduct more experiments to optimize operation parameters according to the specific horizontal in-stress state.

Omics for the future in asthma.

Asthma is a common, complex, multifaceted disease. It comprises multiple phenotypes, which might benefit from treatment with different types of innovative targeted therapies. Refining these phenotypes and understanding their underlying biological structure would help to apply precision medicine approaches. Using different omics methods, such as (epi)genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, and exposomics, allowed to view and investigate asthma from diverse angles. Technological advancement led to a large increase in the application of omics studies in the asthma field. Although the use of omics technologies has reduced the gap between bench to bedside, several design and methodological challenges still need to be tackled before omics can be applied in asthma patient care. Collaborating under a centralized harmonized work frame (such as in consortia, under consistent methodologies) could help worldwide research teams to tackle these challenges. In this review, we discuss the transition of single biomarker research to multi-omics studies. In addition, we deliberate challenges such as the lack of standardization of sampling and analytical methodologies and validation of findings, which comes in between omics and personalized patient care. The future of omics in asthma is encouraging but not completely clear with some unanswered questions, which have not been adequately addressed before. Therefore, we highlight these questions and emphasize on the importance of fulfilling them.

גיור כדת משה ו(מדינת) ישראל: בוקה, מבוקה ומבולקה – על מקום הגיור במערכותיה האזרחיות של מדינת ישראל Conversion According To Dat Moshe (Jewish Law) and (The State of) Israel: A Big Mess, Fuss and Chaos

תקציר בעברית: הניסיון להגדיר מיהו יהודי ומהי יהדות משקף היטב את מורכבותה של סוגיית הזהות היהודית, או כפי שהיא מכונה לרוב: סוגיית מיהו יהודי. סוגיית – התהליך שבאמצעותו עשוי אדם להצטרף לעם היהודי ולהפוך ליהודי – הוא אחד מענפיה המרכזיים. כמו סוגיות הזהות היהודית, גם סוגיית הגיור היא סוגיה¬ מורכבת, רבת אנפין. פניה שונות ומגוונות: פילוסופיות, הלכתיות, משפטיות, היסטוריות, חברתיות ועוד. המאמר בוחן את השדות השונים ואת הדרכים שבהן יכולות וחייבות רשויות המדינה - הרשות המחוקקת והרשות המבצעת - לפעול בתחום הגיור, בוחן את המצוי והרצוי ועומד על היתרונות והחסרונות שבכל אחד מהם. בין השאר, המאמר מצביע על ההימנעות (המכוונת) מחקיקה ראשית של הכנסת בנושא הגיור למן קום המדינה ועד היום, מניעיה והשלכותיה המשפטיות; עומד על פיזור הטיפול בהליך הגיור וההכרה בו בין שישה משרדי ממשלה שונים ושלוש יחידות סמך ממשלתיות ולצדן רשויות ציבוריות נוספות. בהמשך, עומד המאמר בהרחבה על פעולת בתי הדין לגיור ומצביע על הכשלים הגדולים, המשפטיים והמנהליים בדרך פעולתם. English Abstract: The difficulties encountered in attempting to define “who is a Jew” and what is “Judaism” reflects the complexity of Jewish identity. The issue of “conversion” – the process through which a person may join the Jewish people and become a “Jew” – is a central component of this question. Just as the issues of Jewish identity are complex, so too the issue of conversion, and it should be approached from many and diverse angles: philosophical, halakhic, legal, historic, social, and more. The article examines the different areas and the ways in which the governmental authorities – the legislature and the executive branch – can and must act in the area of conversion, examines the existing versus the desirable situation and delves into the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action. Among other things, the article points out the Knesset’s intentional refraining, from the establishment of the State and until today, from enacting legislation dealing with the subject of conversion, its motives and the legal ramifications; discusses the dispersal of the handling of the conversion process and recognition of conversion among six different government ministries, three government agencies and additional public authorities. The article goes on to expand upon the work of the rabbinic conversion courts and points out the major failures, legal and administrative, in their course of action.

Improving the performance of one-shot face recognition by using data augmentation

For a past few years, the revolution of deep learning techniques has emerged and launched several state-of-the-art models, for instance, the breakthroughs of DeepFace and DeepID to face recognition in 2014. The face recognition in CCTV systems commonly encounters a few obstacles coming from practical conditions, such as ambient light, the diverse positions and angles of cameras, face masks, face poses, and so on. In addition, people who are monitored by the CCTV systems lack photos and typically have only one photo. These problems lead to face recognition reported with unstable performance and difficult to be successfully used in practice. To tackle these problems, this paper proposes an approach, namely ISE, to face augmentation which interpolates multiple samples from an original photo. Particularly, the samples produced by ISE contain real characteristics of cameras in the CCTV systems. By practically deploying a CCTV system at the Bach Khoa Dormitory, ISE indicates that it can boost the performance of face recognition up from 72%, 46% to 84%, 64% in daytime and day-and-nighttime, respectively.

Comparison of luminance distribution on the lighting surface of power LEDs

This work presents luminance distributions across the surface of mid- and high-power diodes. The changes in luminance on diode surfaces following changes in the observation angle were verified. On the basis of the conducted tests, non-uniform luminance distribution on LED surface for diverse observation angles (including the axial direction) was observed. Moreover, it was concluded that luminance changes is not in line with the Lambert’s law. As the result of the research it was also concluded that alterations of the power-supply conditions do not exert any significant impact on the gradient of luminance changes on the surfaces of examined LEDs. Full Text: PDF ReferencesJ. Fan, J. Cao, Ch. Yu, Ch. Qian, X. Fan, G. Zhang, A design and qualification of LED flip Chip-on-Board module with tunable color temperatures, Microelectronics reliability, ISSN 0026-2714, Nº. 84, 2018, pp. 140-148, CrossRef K. Bonislawski, I. Fryc, The study on optical properties of LEDs used for vehicle control lighting, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, 2012, ISSN 0033-2097, Vol. 88, Issue 3A, pp. 119-120 DirectLink T. Kawabata, Y. Ohno, Optical measurements of OLED panels for lighting applications, Journal of Modern Optics 60(14), 2013, pp. 1176-1186 CrossRef P. Pracki, U. Blaszczak, The issues of interior lighting on the example of an educational building adjustment to nZEB standard, IEEE Lighting Conference of the Visegrad Countries (Lumen V4), IEEE (17 November 2016) CrossRef P. Tabaka, Analysis of electrical parameters of prime set bulb equivalents suitable for dimming, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, 2015, R. 91, No. 5, pp. 100-106, ISSN 0033-2097 CrossRef D. Czyżewski, The street lighting luminaires with LEDs. Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, 86, 2009, pp. 276-279 DirectLink C. C. Miller; Y. Zong; Y. Ohno, LED photometric calibrations at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and future measurement needs of LEDs, Proc. SPIE Vol. 5530, Fourth International Conference on Solid State Lighting; (2004) CrossRef D. Mozyrska Dorota; M. Wyrwas; I. Fryc, The determination of the LEDs colorimetric parameters, in the range of their operating temperature, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, Vol. 88, Issue: 4A, 2012, pp. 232-234 CrossRef K. Baran, A. Różowicz, H. Wachta, S. Różowicz, D. Mazur, Thermal Analysis of the Factors Influencing Junction Temperature of LED Panel Sources, Energies, 12, 3941, 2019 CrossRef D. Czyżewski, Research on Luminance Distributions of Chip-On-Board Light-Emitting Diodes, Crystals 9(12), 645, 2019. CrossRef L. Zheng, Z. Guo, W. Yan, Y. Lin, Y. Lu, H.C. Kuo, Z. Chen, L. Zhu, T. Wu, Y. Gao, Research on a Camera-Based Microscopic Imaging System to Inspect the Surface Luminance of the Micro-LED Array. IEEE Access 6, 2018, 51329-51336. CrossRef S. Słomiński, Selected Problems in Modern Methods of Luminance Measurement of Multisource LED Luminaires. Light Eng. 24, 2016, pp. 45-50. DirectLink I. Fryc, P. Jakubowski, K. Kołacz, Analysis of optical radiation parameters of compact discharge HID lamps and LED COB modules used for illuminating shop windows, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, 2017, R. 93, nr 11, pp. 186-189. CrossRef I. Fryc, Measurement techniques of optical LEDs properties performed with compliance conformity with CIE 127:2007 standard, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, 2009,ISSN 0033-2097,Vol. 85,Issue:11,pp.317-319. DirectLink I. Fryc, T. Dimitrova-Grekow, An Automated System for Evaluation of the Quality of Light Sources, 2016 IEEE Lighting Conference of the Visegrad Countries (Lumen V4), IEEE (17 November 2016), CrossRef CIE 235:2019, Optical measurement of led modules and light engines, ISBN 978-3-902842-25-1, DOI: 10.25039/TR.235.2019. CrossRef D. Czyżewski, Investigation of COB LED luminance distribution, In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Lighting Conference of the Visegrad Countries (Lumen V4), IEEE (17 November 2016) CrossRef I. Rotscholl, K. Trampert; U. Krüger; F. Schmidt, Spectral near field data of LED systems for optical simulations, Proceedings SPIE Volume 11144,Phot. and Educ. in Measur. Sc. 2019, CrossRef

Investigation on the spoiler vibration suppression mechanism of discrete helical strakes of deep-sea riser undergoing vortex-induced vibration

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) is an important factor that causes fatigue damage of high aspect ratio structures under the action of the fluid. In this paper, a type of discrete helical strakes vibration suppression device was designed. The vortex-induced vibration suppression experiment of the discrete helical strakes of the deep-sea riser under uniform flow in the wave-current combined water flume was carried out. The riser model adopted a transparent flexible plexiglass tube with a length of 2.0 m, an outer diameter of 18 mm and an aspect ratio of 111.11. The helical strakes were made of a hexahedral artificial rubber material. According to varying the equidimensional discrete spacings of the discrete helical strakes, varying the hydrodynamic and structural parameters such as the outflow velocity and the number of helixes, the physical mechanism of spoiler of the vibration suppression device was revealed. The suppression efficiency of the device on the vortex-induced vibration of the riser and the influence on the dynamic response of the riser were explored. The results show that the discrete helical strake can release the vortex behind the riser to multiple directions, destroy the spatial correlation of the vortex from multiple dimensions, and change the distribution of the original pressure field. The discrete single-helical strakes have low vibration suppression efficiency in the lock-in region and the dominant frequency of the riser doesn't change significantly compared with the counterweight bare riser. The number of diversions of the discrete double- and triple-helical strakes increases, and the disturbance to the incoming flow enhances, which makes excellent vibration suppression efficiency in the whole velocity range. And the dominant frequency is reduced, the vibration intensity is significantly reduced and the fatigue life is improved. With the increase of the discrete spacings, the vortex separation release rate increases slightly, but it doesn't affect the change of the diversion angle along the longitudinal direction of the riser. It can still significantly disturb the spatial correlation of the vortex, disperse the vortex and maintain high suppression efficiency. In the equidimensional discrete spacings, the dominant frequency, vibration suppression efficiency and fatigue damage are less sensitive to discrete spacings.

Introducing a revised model for determination of rollover threshold speed of buses

Rollover is critical for intercity bus vehicles, as they often carry a large number of passengers while having a relatively high centre of gravity. Utilising the same models for determining the rollover threshold speed (RTS) of different types of vehicles may induce some errors, as most of the existing models do not consider several factors such as vehicle type and dimension, vehicle load, turning radius of the axles, and diversion angle of the curve. This study intends to propose a more accurate relationship for determining the rollover speed of the intercity bus vehicles considering the aforementioned factors. Using the revised model, it was shown that when both the radius of the horizontal curve and the diversion angle are small, the diversion angle plays an important role in determining the RTS. The results also suggest that under the assumptions of this study, the RTS for three-axle buses happens at lower speeds compared to two-axle buses.

Evolutionary characteristics of meander cut-off— A hydro-morphological study of the Jalangi River, West Bengal, India

Formation of meander cut-off focuses some distinct migratory nature of the main channel over time and through the application of quantitative indices as cut-off ratio and diversion angle, the process of formation has been explained through its evolutionary stages. Comparative study of hydrological and morphological characteristics between the cut-off lakes and the main Jalangi depict that the main channel was active than the present and it is going to decay with time. These cut-off lakes are evident as the past hydrological characteristics of the channel. There are three meander bends have been identified among the selected 61 curves which have high tendency of cut-off formation near future. The main controlling components are shear stress, radius of curvature, and tortuosity which have been considered to quantify the mechanism in positive and negative perspective. It will help to identify more possible cut-off lakes near future. This morphological dynamism is distinctly interlinked with the remarkable land transformation in the last 25 years. The changing behavior of land utilization are characterized by huge increase of cultivated lands and settlement which have mostly converted from uncultivated waste lands, agricultural wet lands (seasonaly used), and water bodies respectively.

Thinking through Style: Non-fiction Prose of the Long Nineteenth Century. Edited by Michael D. Hurley and Marcus Waithe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xiv+359.

<i>Thinking through Style: Non-fiction Prose of the Long Nineteenth Century</i>. Edited by Michael D. Hurley and Marcus Waithe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xiv+359.

Numerical study of flow pattern around lateral intake in a curved channel

This paper deals with numerical study of flow field in a channel bend in presence of a lateral intake using three-dimensional numerical model SSIIM2. The effects of bend on the structure of the flow around the intake are investigated and compared with the experimental data. The tests are carried out in a U-shaped channel bend with a lateral intake. The intake is located at the outer bank of an 180∘ bend at position 115∘ with 45∘ diversion angle and the experimental data can be used to calibrate and validate numerical models. The results show that both the center-region and outer-bank cross-stream circulations are observed in the experiments while only the former is captured by the numerical model due to the limitations of the turbulence model. In the curved channel after the intake, both experimental and numerical results show another type of bi-cellular circulations in which clockwise center-region circulations and counterclockwise circulations near the inner bank and the free surface (inner-bank circulations) are captured. The study shows that the numerical model very satisfactorily predicts streamlines, velocity field and flow pattern in the channel and in vicinity of the intake. Investigation of flow pattern around lateral intake in channel bends shows that contrary to the case of flow diversion in straight channels, the width of the dividing stream surface near water surface level is greater than that of near bed level. Finally, the effects of position and diversion angle of the lateral intake, discharge ratio and upstream Froude number on the flow pattern are investigated.

Chute cutoff-driven abandonment and sedimentation of meander bends along a fine-grained, non-vegetated, ephemeral river on the Bolivian Altiplano

The origin and development of meandering river planforms has long been a focus of research in the geosciences. Most attention has focused on perennial meandering rivers with well developed riparian vegetation assemblages, and while increasing interest is turning towards the dynamics and sedimentology of ephemeral meandering rivers with sparse to no vegetation, additional field data are required. As a contribution, this study presents a remote-sensing and field-based analysis of chute cutoff-driven abandonment and sedimentation of meander bends along the fine-grained, non-vegetated, ephemeral Río Colorado on the Bolivia Altiplano. Along the 25km long sinuous study reach, located between 25 and 50km upstream of the present-day margins of Salar de Uyuni, quasi-regular flood events (typically at least one per year) drive bend cutoffs and wider channel-floodplain dynamics, despite low specific stream power (<10W/m2) and cohesive (dominantly silt and clay) bed and bank sediments. Along the reach, twenty-two cutoffs are evident, with chute cutoff the dominant mechanism. Three chute cutoffs (CC1, CC2, CC3) occurred between 1996 and 2016; for one bend (CC3), high-resolution (<0.65m) satellite imagery and field investigations reveal the details of pre-, mid- and post-chute cutoff processes and sedimentary products. Together, the findings suggest that for any given bend, an increase in bend amplitude (mean ratio of meander bend length to chute channel length ∼4) combines with a typically high diversion angle between the channel-belt axis and the upstream limb of the meander bend (mean ∼98°) to result in declining flow efficiencies. This enhances overbank flooding and promotes deposition along the upstream limb of the bend. Overbank flooding promotes the development of chute channels, which commonly initiate as shallow (typically <1m) headward eroding channels, while sediment derived from overbank flow and headward erosion tends to be deposited in the downstream limb of the bend. By obstructing flow, such deposition reduces sediment transport capacity within the meander bend as a whole, thereby further inducing deposition within the upstream limb. During subsequent floods, deepening and widening of a dominant chute channel and sedimentation and shallowing of the meander bend continues. Along the reach, episodic La Niña-driven flood events drive phases of more rapid bend migration and clusters of chute cutoffs. Our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of meandering river dynamics across the full range of Earth’s conditions, and also may help to improve interpretations of Earth’s pre-vegetation rivers and meandering fluvial forms on other planetary bodies.

THE APPLICABILITY OF DUAL POLARIZED SENTINEL-1 SAR DATA FOR DETECTION OF FLOODED AREAS IN POL-E DOKHTAR, LORESTAN, IRAN

Abstract. The main source for acquiring enough information about the areas of flood for the purpose of quick mapping is Microwave remote sensing because of its capability of imaging even in serious conditions of weather. Sentinel-1 with HV polarization is way more practical than VV polarization for detecting the flooded area due to its sensivity to short ripples over the surface of the flood. Despite this privilege, at low incidence angles, the same difficulty is observed in HV polarization. In this research, the main focus is on extracting the flood inundation with dual polarized sentinel-1 data in high and low incidence angles. The extraction of backscatter values for flood surface in VV and also HV polarizations had been done. The backscatter from floodwater is high at low incidence angles and sometimes low at high incidence angles as is illustrated by Sentinel-1 HV polarized data. However, the alteration is marginal at those high and low incidence angles with using Sentinel-1 VV polarized data. A measurement between Sentinel-1 VV &amp;amp; HV datasets and Optical Sentinel-2 had been done. The extension of flood is higher when we use Sentinel-2 as opposed to VV &amp;amp; HV and also the flood extent from VV at low incidence angles is way lesser. Another observation is that even at diverse incidence angles, the combination of flood mapping from VV &amp;amp; HV have the ability to compare with optical data much better.

Effect of vehicle swiveling headlamps and highway geometric design on nighttime sight distance

Sight distance is a fundamental factor in the design of highways as it determines their operational and safety performance, particularly in nighttime. Vehicles are increasingly being equipped with driving assistance systems such as adaptive frontlighting systems, from which potential safety benefits can be derived. One of the main capabilities of adaptive headlights is controlling headlamp swiveling when driving on horizontal curves to light up a greater section of the roadway ahead. In this study, the vehicle headlight beam was recreated to simulate swiveling systems that adapt the headlight beam to the highway geometry. Diverse horizontal spread angle values were assumed for the headlight lighting pattern. Based on horizontal curvature, a total of 24,663 mathematical functions that control the headlight swiveling angle were simulated. Next, headlight sight distance (HSD) was estimated on a 3D virtual model of an in-service highway, under assumptions of fixed and swiveling headlamps. Two types of algorithms were proposed for the swiveling headlights, one based on the trajectory curvature and another one predictive. The sets of HSD results were then analyzed and compared, the effects of the swiveling headlights on HSD being quantified along the highway section studied. In addition, the performance of diverse swiveling headlights was analyzed under different 3D highway alignment combinations. Finally, the robustness of the proposed procedure was validated.

Numerical simulation of sediment transport in a U-shaped channel with lateral intake: Effects of intake position and diversion angle

In this work, the mechanism of sediment transport in a U-shaped channel with a lateral intake is investigated experimentally and numerically, together with the processes of sediment entry into the intake itself and formation of bed topography. Dry sediment is injected into a steady flow in a rigid channel with a bend and sediment particles are traced in time. In order to validate the numerical model, the three components of the flow velocity, as well as the sediment path in time and the diverted sediment ratios, are measured experimentally. A numerical Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is then applied to study the effect of the intake position and diversion angle on the sediment transport mechanism in the bend. The DPM has, in fact, the capability of specifying for each particle its position relative to a reference time and space and, thereby, it is used in this study to analyze the phenomenon evolution and determine the sediment particles diverted into the intake. The comparison between the experimental data and the DPM numerical results shows a good agreement. In order to investigate the mechanism of sediment transport and to evaluate the percentage of the diverted sediments, a parametric study is then conducted through the numerical model, with different positions of the outer bend of the channel, diversion angles of the lateral intake and diversion discharge ratios. The results show that the mechanism of sediment entry into the lateral intake is affected by the diversion discharge ratio. For low discharge ratios, the mechanism of sediment entry to the lateral intake only consists of continuous entrance from the upstream edge of the intake. With the increase of the discharge ratio, it consists of a continuous entrance from the downstream edge and a periodic entrance from the upstream edge of the intake. The DPM results show that, for all diversion discharge ratios, the minimum percentage of sediment entered into the lateral intake corresponds to the position of 120∘ and diversion angle equal to 50∘.

Conformational Plasticity in the HIV-1 Fusion Peptide Facilitates Recognition by Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

SummaryThe fusion peptide (FP) of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is essential for mediating viral entry. Detection of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) that interact with the FP has revealed it as a site of vulnerability. We delineate X-ray and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of bnAb ACS202, from an HIV-infected elite neutralizer, with an FP and with a soluble Env trimer (AMC011 SOSIP.v4.2) derived from the same patient. We show that ACS202 CDRH3 forms a “β strand” interaction with the exposed hydrophobic FP and recognizes a continuous region of gp120, including a conserved N-linked glycan at N88. A cryo-EM structure of another previously identified bnAb VRC34.01 with AMC011 SOSIP.v4.2 shows that it also penetrates through glycans to target the FP. We further demonstrate that the FP can twist and present different conformations for recognition by bnAbs, which enables approach to Env from diverse angles. The variable recognition of FP by bnAbs thus provides insights for vaccine design.

IVF-on-a-Chip: Recent Advances in Microfluidics Technology for In Vitro Fertilization.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has been one of the most exciting modern medical technologies. It has transformed the landscape of human infertility treatment. However, current IVF procedures still provide limited accessibility and affordability to most infertile couples because of the multiple cumbersome processes and heavy dependence on technically skilled personnel. Microfluidics technology offers unique opportunities to automate IVF procedures, reduce stress imposed upon gametes and embryos, and minimize the operator-to-operator variability. This article describes the rapidly evolving state of the application of microfluidics technology in the field of IVF, summarizes the diverse angles of how microfluidics has been complementing or transforming current IVF protocols, and discusses the challenges that motivate continued innovation in this field.

Predicting DNA Methylation States with Hybrid Information Based Deep-Learning Model.

DNA methylation plays an important role in the regulation of some biological processes. Up to now, with the development of machine learning models, there are several sequence-based deep learning models designed to predict DNA methylation states, which gain better performance than traditional methods like random forest and SVM. However, convolutional network based deep learning models that use one-hot encoding DNA sequence as input may discover limited information and cause unsatisfactory prediction performance, so more data and model structures of diverse angles should be considered. In this work, we proposed a hybrid sequence-based deep learning model with both MeDIP-seq data and Histone information to predict DNA methylated CpG states (MHCpG). We combined both MeDIP-seq data and histone modification data with sequence information and implemented convolutional network to discover sequence patterns. In addition, we used statistical data gained from previous three input data and adopted a 3-layer feedforward neuron network to extract more high-level features. We compared our method with traditional predicting methods using random forest and other previous methods like CpGenie and DeepCpG, the result showed that MHCpG exceeded the other approaches and gained more satisfactory performance.