Ideal Prototype Research Articles

Two α-SiO2-Related Deep-Ultraviolet Phase-Matchable Optical Nonlinear Beryllium Silicate Crystals Na2BeSiO4 and Li2BeSiO4 with Enhanced SHG Effect.

Deep-UV, (wavelength λ<200nm) nonlinear-optical (NLO) silicate crystals have long been troubled by weak second-harmonic-generation (SHG) effect and common non-phase-matchability, leading to the stagnation of silicate research, despite abundant reserves of silicates on the earth. Representative and simple α-SiO2 is an ideal structural prototype toward improving silicate NLO performance by exploring efficient strategies. Herein, through two-step structural modulations based on fundamental "distortion and superposition" principles of NLO response, two deep-UV NLO crystals taking α-SiO2 as a structural template, Na2BeSiO4 and Li2BeSiO4, are synthesized successively. By providing flexible coordination BeO4 tetrahedra for rigid tetrahedral SiO4 that induces distortion of SiO4, Na2BeSiO4 achieves significant enhancement of phase-matchable SHG effect of 15×α-SiO2. Further, by introducing a low coordination number of Li+ cations that stimulates uniform orientation of SiO4, Li2BeSiO4 exhibits the strongest phase-matchable SHG effect as large as 40×α-SiO2 among the universal SiO4-governed NLO silicates. Also, computational investigations support the rationality of the structural modulations well. Such efficient structural modulations can greatly promote the exploration and rational design of NLO silicates.

Slowly Rotating Peculiar Star BD00°1659 as a Benchmark for Stratification Studies in Ap/Bp Stars

We present the results of a self-consistent analysis of the magnetic silicon star BD+00°1659, based on its high-resolution spectra taken from the ESPaDOnS archive (R = 68,000). This narrow-lined star shows the typical high Si abundance and Si ii– iii anomaly, making it an ideal prototype for investigating the vertical distribution of Si and Fe in the stellar atmosphere. The derived abundances, ranging from helium to lanthanides, confirm the star’s classification as a silicon Bp spectral type. Silicon and iron are represented by lines of different ionisation stages (Fe i– iii, Si i– iii), indicating an ionisation imbalance interpreted as evidence of atmospheric stratification. Our stratification analysis reveals that there is a jump in iron and silicon abundances of 1.5 dex at atmospheric layers with an optical depth of logτ5000 = −0.85–−1.00. Non-LTE calculations for iron in this stratified atmosphere show minor non-LTE effects. Our results can be applied to studying the impact of stratification on the emergent flux in rapidly rotating Si stars with similar atmospheric parameters and abundance anomalies (for example, MX TrA), where direct stratification analysis is challenging due to line blending.

A full solid-state conceptual magnetocaloric refrigerator based on hybrid regeneration

The environmental friendliness and high efficiency of magnetocaloric refrigeration make it a promising substitute for vapor compression refrigeration. However, the common use of heat transfer fluid in conventional passive magnetic regenerators (PMRs) and active magnetic regenerators (AMRs) makes only partial materials contribute to the regeneration process, which produces large regeneration loss and greatly limits the regeneration efficiency and refrigeration performance at high frequency. Herein, we propose a new conceptual hybrid magnetic regenerator (HMR) composed of multiple solid-state high thermal conductivity materials (HTCMs) and magnetocaloric materials (MCMs), in which both HTCM and MCM elements participate in the regeneration process. This novel working mode could greatly reduce regeneration losses caused by dead volume, pressure losses, and temperature nonuniformity in heat transfer substances to markedly improve regeneration efficiency at high working frequencies. Using the experimentally obtained adiabatic temperature change and magnetic work and with the help of finite element simulation, a maximum temperature of 26 K, a dramatically large cooling power of 8.3kW/kg, and a maximum ideal exergy efficiency of 54.2% are achieved at the working frequency of 10Hz for an ideal prototype device of a rotary HMR magnetocaloric refrigerator, which shows potential for achieving an integrative, advanced performance against current AMR/PMR systems.

Bacterial community structure, adaptations and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from Antarctica: A review

Antarctica serves as an ideal prototype to study past climatic condition as the ice core records dates back to 100,000 years. Microbiological research on ice core has opened a doorway to our understanding on biodiversity and its contribution to the frozen ecosystem. In this review, the ice core bacterial diversity of East and West Antarctica has been documented. Cold-adapted bacteria hold immense potential in biotechnological applications as they possess functional advantages over mesophilic bacteria. Some of the neoteric applications of bioproducts of Antarctic bacteria have been stated in this review. The current climate change due to global warming exerts a humongous effect on the ecosystem of the polar region. The region being susceptible to any fluctuation in temperature, the exacerbated melting of Antarctic glaciated mass contributes to the rise of global sea level, with loss of ice harbouring unknown microbial entities. This review mainly focuses on the bacterial diversity of East and West Antarctic counterparts, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant genes, the adaption strategies conferred by bacteria thriving in Antarctic habitats and their potential biotechnological applications.

Incorporating diverse voices in geoconservation in Portland, Jamaica

Abstract Sites of geological relevance in East Portland are representative of the geological history of Jamaica and are important to elucidate Caribbean geotectonic evolution. Geological significance overlaps with natural and cultural heritage of international relevance, especially related to Maroon communities. In this region, the Jamaican highest peak rises steeply from sea level; the ocean is the focus of important conservation efforts. This study employs an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore place attachment as experienced by East Portland residents. We engaged in conversations with 16 diverse community members through interviews and a focus group. Two dimensions of place attachment emerged: place identity and place dependence, showing that East Portland is home to people who depend on, identify with and are committed to protecting nature. We present an approach to mapping place attachment, which resulted in an important tool of analysis when overlapping with layers of information like geoheritage. The geological significance, natural and cultural richness and the connections the locals have with nature make East Portland an ideal prototype for geoconservation. This study also reveals that attachment to a place does not necessarily correspond to attachment to geoscientific significance; for common meanings to emerge, geoscientists and locals must collaborate.

PATH-39. INTERPRETABLE IDH CLASSIFICATION FROM H&amp;E-STAINED HISTOLOGY SLIDES

Abstract BACKGROUND Infiltrating gliomas are the most common primary adult brain tumors. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation is a key driver of gliomagenesis in 25–30% of infiltrating gliomas and correlates with favorable prognosis when compared with the histologically-similar but biologically-distinct IDH-wildtype glioblastoma. We sought an interpretable computational pipeline to predict IDH status from digitized histopathology glioma sections (Whole Slide Images - WSI) and identify associated cell-level morphology. Materials and METHODS We identify 799/1122 TCGA-GBM and TCGA-LGG tumors (1534 WSIs) with available IDH status. 379 of these tumors (756 WSI) are IDH-wildtype and 420 tumors (778 WSI) are IDH-mutant. Each H&amp;E-stained WSI undergoes comprehensive curation to remove artifactual content before classification. Our interpretability mechanism is based on weakly-supervised attention-based multiple-instance-learning. IDH-associated morphology in each WSI is evaluated by a HoverNet model from the 50 highest-attention tiles. Classification performance was assessed using 10-fold cross-validation, with training (80%), validation (10%), and test (10%) sets stratified on the patient/tumor level, without controlling for grade. An additional out-of-sample hold-out test set of 82 IDH-wildtype and 32 IDH-mutant tumors from the University of Pennsylvania Health System was further used for independent evaluation. RESULTS Quantitative performance evaluation revealed AUC=0.92 and Balanced Accuracy=0.84 on the TCGA test set, and AUC=0.88 and Balanced Accuracy=0.80 on the independent hold-out UPenn set. When comparing identified IDH-wildtype with IDH-mutant tumors (and while excluding glioblastoma with lower-grade histology), the former shows significantly (p&amp;lt; 0.00005) higher distribution of neoplastic and necrotic cells and significantly (p&amp;lt; 0.00003) lower distribution of inflammatory and connective cell type tissue. CONCLUSION Histological prediction of IDH status represented an ideal prototype to interrogate WSI towards identifying clinically-relevant tumor biomarkers. Detailed interpretation of results reveals computational predictions being driven by human-identifiable features at the patch level. This study robustly identifies morpho-IDH correlates and could enable further prognostic refinement of patients.

Domain-limited growth strategy to construct Fe3C@C@CNTs heterogeneous interfaces for multi-functional high-performance lithium-ion storage and microwave absorption

Rational designed cost-effective material is significant in the field of electric energy storage and microwave absorber. In this work, carbon coated Fe3C nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated carbon nanotubes (Fe3C@C@CNTs) is delicately constructed through in-situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy. As a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the Fe3C@C@CNTs nanocomposite facilitates electron transport with intensive interfacial interaction, making it an ideal prototype to thoroughly understand the mechanisms of interatomic charge transfer mechanism. As a result, this well-designed Fe3C@C@CNTs anode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1027 mAh g−1 after 150 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 and excellent cycling stability with 71 % capacity retention at 519 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A g−1. Electrochemical kinetic results confirm that the pseudocapacitance contributions reach up to 90.1 % at 1.0 mV s−1, and the higher pseudocapacitance characteristic is ascribed to the multi-dimensional encapsulated by CNT layer and carbon layer. Meanwhile, depending on the peculiar cavity structure and heterogeneous interfaces effects constructed by multi-dimensional encapsulated structure, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of Fe3C@C@CNTs nanocomposite can reach up to −67.63 dB in effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.12 GHz with the optimal matching thickness of 2.28 mm, suggesting its extensive potential application as practical alternative absorber. This domain-limited growth strategy opens a new horizon to achieve multi-functional application and beyond for Fe-based nanomaterial.

Stable Strain State of Single‐Twinned AgPdF Nanoalloys under Formate Oxidation Reaction

Surface reconstruction as common phenomenon during catalysis complicates the prediction and modeling on catalytic activity of the nanoalloy, hence developing a stable structure to be resistant to surface restructuring would provide an ideal prototype for substantial and reliable mechanism analysis. Herein, the single‐twinned structure in inverse AgPdF catalyst is constructed to enhance the catalytic activity and stability for the formate oxidation reaction (FOR). The single‐twinned AgPdF nanoalloy (t‐AgPdF) catalyst exhibits an enhanced peak current density of 4.6 A mgPd−1, a reduced onset potential of 0.44 V, a higher activity retention of 55.7% after 600 cycles, and a longer activity retention time of 55.9 h. Additionally, the t‐AgPdF catalyst presents a higher hydrogen generation rate of 1.11 mL mgPd−1 than that of single‐crystalline AgPd nanoalloy (AgPd) catalyst, and density functional theory calculations reveal that t‐AgPdF(111) surface exhibits a reduced activation energy of 0.59 eV for formate decomposition reaction. Impressively, the t‐AgPdF maintains compressive and tensile strain state along the Σ3 twin boundaries before and after the FOR, in contrast to AgPd. This is the first time to reveal that the nanotwinned structures contribute inverse t‐AgPdF catalysts the catalytic active sites with stable strain state since starting reaction for the FOR.

Intimate partner violence disclosure in the workplace: examining frequency, workplace occurrences, and pay level

Intimate partner violence (IPV) disclosure at work is important, given that disclosure may reduce safety-related risks and allow for better management of workplace disruptions. In line with prior literature, we suggest that when there is more workplace occurrence of IPV and higher frequency of IPV, employees are more likely to disclose to their coworkers. We also theorize that the disclosure decision will depend on employees’ pay. While we expect employees with lower pay levels to be more likely to disclose in either case of increasing IPV workplace occurrences or IPV frequency, we hypothesize that highly paid employees will be especially reluctant to disclose due to the pressures associated with the ideal worker prototype and anticipatory stigma. We test our predictions using survey data from 350 workers across four organizations reporting IPV experiences. We predict and find support that highly paid workers are more likely to disclose when IPV is both high in frequency and occurring at work. Our research points to the importance of organizational hierarchies and individual pay in understanding workplace IPV disclosure decisions.

Meta-hallucinating prototype for few-shot learning promotion

An effective way for few-shot learning (FSL) is to establish a metric space where the distance between a query and the prototype of each class is computed for classification, and the key lies on hallucinating the appropriate prototypes for each class of the given FSL task. Most existing prototypical approaches hallucinate the class-wise prototype based on the given support samples with an equal contribution assumption, i.e., each support sample contributes equally to the corresponding prototype. However, due to the limited-data regime as well as the strict assumption, the hallucinated prototypes often deviate from the ideal ones that are determined by the sample distribution of each unseen class, and thus causing poor generalization performance. To mitigate this problem, we present a prototype meta-hallucination approach which shows two aspects of advantages. On one hand, instead of directly inferring the complicated sample distribution, it meta-learns to establish a difference distribution based generative model that infers the distribution of inter-sample difference and synthesizes new labeled samples through fusing the sampled inter-sample difference and each given support sample. This empowers us to augment the support set with more content-diverse samples and is beneficial to reduce the bias in prototype hallucination. On the other hand, we argue that each support sample may contribute no-equally to the ideal prototype that it belongs to and their relations vary with class characteristics. Following this, our approach meta-learns to dynamically re-weight all support samples in prototype hallucination, which makes it flexible to locate the ideal prototype for each unseen class based on its characteristics. Experiments on four FSL benchmark datasets show that our approach can effectively improve the performance of the prototypical baseline and outperform several state-of-the-art competitors with a clear margin.

Anti-impact performance of bionic tortoiseshell-like composites

Biological stiff-soft phase composite structures, such as tortoise shells and conch shells, have excellent anti-impact performance to withstand various types of high-stress events encountered in nature. A remarkable 3D interdigitating zigzag architecture in the tortoise shell, named occlusal suture structure, makes the tortoise shell simultaneously possess high mechanical strength and toughness, which is also an ideal stiff-soft phase composite prototype to mimic. In this study, four types of bionic anti-impact composite plates that feature the hard-soft phase architecture of tortoiseshell (Bio-T), mollusk shell (Bio-M), beetle exoskeleton (Bio-B) and nacre (Bio-N) and a homogeneous structure plate (HSP) are designed, to systematically examine and compare their roles in impact energy dissipation. Through an integrated approach combining additive manufacturing and drop tower testing, the peak force, residual velocity, and energy absorption of these bionic composite plates are studied and compared. Experimental results indicate that the Bio-T composite plate has the best impact resistance, compared with the other three bionic composites. Furthermore, the influence of the ply angle and the dimension of suture structure on the impact resistance of the Bio-T composite plate is identified. The [0°/30°/0°] arrangement is able to resist higher loads before failure. The 3D Bio-T composite plate provides a significant enhancement of anti-impact performance than the 2D Bio-T composite plate. Finally, the crack propagation mode in the suture structure of the Bio-T composite plates is examined, enhancing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms during impact. Such findings may prove useful for the design of future protective apparatus for soldiers and aircrafts, with improved anti-impact performance.

Rudolf Steiner: From Theosophy to Anthroposophy (1902-1913)

The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, was, at the turn of the Twentieth Century, a global phenomenon with 100,000 members. New Age philosopher Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was appointed as the first Secretary General of the German Section of the Theosophical Society on 19 October 1902. The Theosophical Society offered Rudolf Steiner a platform, a ready-made audience, infrastructure, and the insider experience of the world’s leading New Age spiritual society. The success of the Theosophical Society demonstrated that there was a public appetite to hear about reincarnation, karma, maya, kamaloca, and other Eastern and alternative spiritual ideas. The Theosophical Society provided Rudolf Steiner a capable, multilingual, and determined personal assistant, Marie von Sivers (1867-1948). For Rudolf Steiner the Theosophical Society offered the perfect training ground for what would be, a decade later, his life’s work, the Anthroposophical Society. Rudolf Steiner grew the membership of the German Section of the Theosophical Society from 377 in 1905 to 3,702 in 1913. He earned cash from ticketing of his lectures and his Mystery plays, and from book sales of his personal publishing house, ‘Philosophisch-Theosophischer Verlag’. Another enterprise, the ‘Johannes-Bau-Verein’ (Johannes Building Association) was founded in 1911, independent of the Theosophical Society, to build a theatre in Munich to present Rudolf Steiner's plays. The building application was rejected by the Munich municipal authorities in 1912. The resistance to a build in Munich, provided impetus for the move to build in Dornach, Switzerland. The Anthroposophical Society was founded 28 December 1912 in Cologne, Germany. Most of the members of the German Section of the Theosophical Society members followed Rudolf Steiner into the Anthroposophical Society. The Theosophical Society expelled Rudolf Steiner from the Theosophical Society on 7 March 1913. The foundation stone for the Goetheanum (then still called the ‘Johannesbau’) was laid 20 September 1913. The Theosophical Society had served as the ideal prototype and springboard for founding and growing the Anthroposophical Society.

AN EMIC RESEARCH ON THE IDEAL LEADERSHIP STYLE OF TURKIC PEOPLE

The aim of this emic research was to identify the ideal leadership prototype of Turkic people. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 224 participants from Turkic countries. Of the participants, 40 were from Azerbaijan, 38 were from Kazakhstan, 33 were from Kyrgyzstan, 40 were from Turkey, 34 were from Turkmenistan, and 39 were from Uzbekistan. The data were analyzed through the content analysis technique. Findings indicated that the ideal leadership prototype of Turkic people consisted of two main components: charismatic and paternalistic. The charismatic component comprised five themes or dimensions: visionary, stimulating, smart, brave, and charming. The paternalistic component comprised three themes or dimensions: virtuous, caring, and authoritative. Each theme or dimension consisted of several leadership qualities/codes. In this way, as far as is known, for the first time, the common ideal leadership style of Turkic people has been identified.

Numerical study on TPB density and percolation properties of microstructure reconstruction of nickel/yttria stabilized zirconia cermet anode based on discrete element method

Microstructure is essential for electrochemistry and transport in Ni/YSZ cermet anodes. Targeting the complexity and irregularity of porous networks, the percolation theory is widely used to model electrode microstructures in representative element (RE) scale based on an ideal prototype of particle units. With the pros of simplicity and generality, however, the idealized particle model deviates somehow the true state of particle clusters. Modeling connections between a lot of particles, the discrete element method (DEM) provides a more realistic state, meanwhile brings high computation cost. This paper provides a combined approach which starts from a DEM-based model for compaction and evolution between particle arrays, then analyzes the statistical properties, e.g. density of triple phase boundary (TPB) and percolations of particles. With consideration of multiple-particle overlaps, the DEM-fitted relationship of percolation probability vs. coordination number presents a smaller percolation threshold and a slower growing rate before reaching a full percolation, compared with some published formulae based on the percolation theory. Simulations at different temperatures are employed to study the effects of sintering. This work has significance of understanding the evolution and optimization of the electrode microstructure, not limited to Ni/YSZ system, and is helpful for more accurate solid oxide fuel cell modeling.

Two-Dimensional Quaternary Transition Metal Sulfide CrMoA2S6 (A = C, Si, or Ge): A Bipolar Antiferromagnetic Semiconductor with a High Néel Temperature.

Bipolar antiferromagnetic semiconductors (BAFSs) make up a class of spintronic materials, holding great promise for the manipulation of spin-polarized currents simply upon application of a voltage gate, but only a few two-dimensional (2D) BAFSs with a high Néel temperature (TN) have been reported. Here, we report a family of magnetic quaternary MM'A2S6 (M = V, Cr, Mn, or Fe; M' = Nb, Mo, Tc, or Ru; A = C, Si, Ge, or Sn) nanosheets by isovalent alloying layered transitional metal trisulfides (MAS3) based on first-principles calculations. Our results show that 2D CrMoA2S6 (A = C, Si, or Ge) nanosheets are BAFSs with band gaps ranging from 1.89 to 2.23 eV. Among them, 2D CrMoC2S6 has the highest TN of 556 K with robust magnetism against carrier doping and external in-plane strain due to a strong delocalization superexchange interaction between the Cr3+ and Mo3+ cations. This study establishes that CrMoC2S6 is an ideal prototype platform for realizing electric control of spin polarization in 2D materials.

Insights into the operation mode of ABCE1 via Markov models

ABCE1 is a remarkable structural exception of the ubiquitous ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) superfamily. Unlike almost all other members, ABCE1 lacks transmembrane domains and comprises only the ‘core engine’ of all ABC proteins, and therefore is an ideal prototype for studying the mechanism of ABC proteins in general. Each of its two homologous nucleotide binding domains (NBD) contains one nucleotide binding site, which can be in an open and a closed state. Despite this near symmetry, and quite unexpectedly, the kinetics has been found quite asymmetric: Whereas a E238Q point mutant that impairs ATP hydrolysis in one of the two binding sites reduced the overall turnover rate of the enzyme by a factor of two, as one might expect, a E485Q point mutant that impairs the other site, staggeringly, shows a so far unexplained ten-fold increase.

Effects of Externally Applied Electric Fields on the Manipulation of Solvated-Chignolin Folding: Static- versus Alternating-Field Dichotomy at Play.

The interaction between a protein and external electric field (EF) can alter its structure and dynamical behavior, which has a potential impact on the biological function of proteins and cause uncertain health consequences. Conversely, the application of EFs of judiciously selected intensity and frequency can help to treat disease, and optimization of this requires a greater understanding of EF-induced effects underpinning basic protein biophysics. In the present study, chignolin—an artificial protein sufficiently small to undergo fast-folding events and transitions—was selected as an ideal prototype to investigate how, and to what extent, externally applied electric fields may manipulate or influence protein-folding phenomena. Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations have been performed of solvated chignolin to determine the distribution of folding states and their underlying transition dynamics, in the absence and presence of externally applied electric fields (both static and alternating); a key focus has been to ascertain how folding pathways are altered in an athermal sense by external fields. Compared to zero-field conditions, a dramatically different—indeed, bifurcated—behavior of chignolin-folding processes emerges between static- and alternating-field scenarios, especially vis-à-vis incipient stages of hydrophobic-core formation: in alternating fields, fold-state populations diversified, with an attendant acceleration of state-hopping folding kinetics, featuring the concomitant emergence of a new, quasi-stable structure compared to the native structure, in field-shifted energy landscapes.

Góry i wspinaczka w „Boskiej komedii” Dantego

The study uses a variant of the geocritical methodology combined with humanistic mining studies. It was pointed out that in Dante’s poem there were numerous references to the realities of real space (the Alps and the Apennines, which, appearing as a separate part of the mountain world, in the poem at the same time constitute a kind of props room of mountain motifs, used in the construction of Purgatory Mountain). Also, the journeys of the heroes, Dante and his guide Virgil, can be perceived realistically as an actual journey, made in a difficult mountain terrain. It was specified in the realities of Hell, Purgatory Mountain, and Paradise. In this way, using specific Earth realities, Dante created a powerful vision largely made of mountain realities. Mount Purgatory, the target of Dante’s ascent, created when Lucifer, thrown from the heavens, struck the depths of the Earth deep into its center, which changed the hemisphere and pushed up the land masses, throwing them over the surface of the ocean covering the southern hemisphere. Locating the Mount of Purgatory in the center of the southern hemisphere, and at the antipodes of Jerusalem, as a mountain rising on a small island from the vastness of the seas covering this part of the world, Dante used elements of the Muslim tradition (perhaps known to him) with its notions of a lofty, pyramidal shape, which is considered to be the holy Mount of Adam (2243 m) in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The poet, however, never once described the Purgatory Mountain as a whole, creating a vision of its enormity seen from under its steep walls, but he introduced into the poem numerous details about the surface of this mountain and how to climb it. He filled his abstract vision with real details. From the very first songs of Purgatory, the narrative runs in the order of the characters’ ascent towards the summit Paradise. The work hypothesized that the famous poet Bismantova became the prototype of the Dante Mountain of Purgatory, such a judgment is almost universally approved. That Dante saw this mountain is certain: he was in Lunigiano and Casentino (Bismantova rises right next to it) in 1306, and certainly before 1315, at the time when Divine Comedy was being written. For the accuracy of this hypothesis, the shape of this vast rock mass (culmination in 1047), rising above the level of the surrounding valleys by about 400 m in height with almost vertical rock walls, is of great importance for the accuracy of this hypothesis. The peak landscape largely corresponds to the ideas of an ancient idyllic grove. These realities of the mountain landscape meant that the thought about them found literary expression in the pages of Dante’s poem, which prompts me to share my opinion that the sight of the boatswain and his presence in it gave Dante a vision of the Purgatory Mountain as a “hybrid” creation, partially a description of a real landscape and in part a fantastic, syncretic vision based on elements of ancient literary tradition. The description of climbing this mountain leads us through a narrow chimney, overhang, and other rock formations, forming terraces in the structure of the mountain. The conclusion of the work are the words of Italian literary researcher Filippo Zolezzi, who wrote that “Mount Purgatory appears as an absolute ideal of a mountain, because on its top there is an earthly Paradise — a space of direct contact with the divine, hence even the most beautiful earthly mountains are merely a copy of them. However, the very fact that a poet — a man — to reach this summit, has to climb, climb, makes it an ideal prototype for mountain climbing”.

RACP: A network with attention corrected prototype for few-shot speaker recognition using indefinite distance metric

Few-shot speaker recognition task is to identify speakers from limited support samples. We argue that query samples and support samples are both informative for classification. To help Prototypical Networks capture information from query samples, this paper proposes the relation-based indefinite distance metric attentive correction prototype network (RACP). Since the mean prototype deviates from the ideal prototype, we calculate attention scores for each query sample to customize the attention prototype. Then, to compensate for the missed query samples information, the prototype is further refined by correction data that is constructed by combining query samples with the global class attention score. Later, the indefinite distance metric of Relation Networks is introduced on Prototypical Networks, and the relation scores between the sample prototypes and the query samples are calculated for final prediction. Compare with existing methods, RACP can consider both query samples and support samples instead of ignoring the query ones. We compare RACP with strong baselines (e.g. GMM-SVM, MAML, Prototypical Networks, Res32, and VGG11). Ablation study and generalizability study of different scenarios are also conducted on different datasets. Results show that RACP achieves better performance and generalization ability.

In situ electrochemical synthesis of graphene-poly(arginine) composite for p-nitrophenol monitoring

Para-Nitrophenol (p-nitrophenol) is a common industrial pollutant occurring widely in water bodies, yet actual monitoring methods are limited. Herein we proposed a fully electrochemically in situ synthesized graphene-polyarginine composite functionalized screen printed electrode, as a novel p-nitrophenol sensing platform. The electrode was characterized by morphologic, spectrometric and electrochemical techniques. p-nitrophenol in both pure aqueous solution and real water samples was tested. Results show a detection limit as low as the nanomolar level, and display a linear response and high selectivity in the range of 0.5–1250 μM. Molecular simulation reveals a detailed synergy between graphene and poly-arginine. The preferable orientation of nitrophenol molecules on the graphene interface in the presence of poly-arginine induces H- and ionic binding. This sensor is an ideal prototype for p-nitrophenol quantification in real waters.