Large Inventory Research Articles

DNA barcode reference library of the fish larvae and eggs of the South China Sea: taxonomic effectiveness and geographic structure

Fish early-stages constitute useful indicators of the states of marine ecosystems, as well as important fishery resources. Given the spectacular phenotypic changes during ontogeny, and the paucity of diagnostic morphological characters at the species level, the identification of fish early-stages is a challenging task. DNA barcoding, the use of the mitochondrial gene of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) as an internal species tag, opened new perspectives for the identifications of both larval fish and fish eggs. However, the accuracy of the identifications assisted by DNA barcoding are dependent of the completeness of the DNA barcode reference libraries used to assigned unknown sequences to known species. Here, we built a DNA barcode reference library for 113 species of larval fish and 85 species of fish eggs involving the production of 741 newly generated DNA barcodes from South China Sea (63 localities). Together with 514 DNA barcodes mined from Genbank for 116 species from the South China Sea regions, a reference library including 1255 DNA barcodes for 308 species (248 locations) was assembled. The present study emphasizes the importance of integrating DNA barcoding to large scale inventories of early stages, as DNA-based species delimitation analyses delimited 305 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) and multiple cases of discordance with morphological identifications were detected. Cryptic diversity is detected with 14 species displaying two MOTUs and a total of 23 species were lumped into 11 MOTUs due to low interspecific divergence and/or mixed lineages.

Choosing between additive and conventional manufacturing of spare parts: On the impact of failure rate uncertainties and the tools to reduce them

Recently, there has been great interest in using additive manufacturing (AM) to produce spare parts: allowing to produce spare parts with short lead times and close to the point of use, AM reduces the need for large inventories otherwise required by conventional manufacturing (CM) techniques to deal with intermittent spare parts demand. However, using AM to produce spare parts is limited by two main drawbacks: high production costs and uncertain failure rates arising from AM still being a relatively new production technique. While the former can be counterbalanced by inventory cost reductions, it is unclear how the latter impacts the sourcing option decision (i.e. AM or CM). We aim to fill this gap by studying a periodic review model in which spare parts demands follow a Poisson process. To make our analysis accurate and reliable, we leverage a material science approach to obtain realistic values for the failure rate uncertainties. From the results, it emerges that AM is heavily penalized by failure rate uncertainties much higher than those of CM. Consequently, we then focus on some recent tools developed to reduce AM failure rate uncertainties: porosity assessment and in-situ monitoring. We find that the failure rate uncertainty should be reduced by five and six percentage points to make it worthwhile to invest in porosity assessment and in-situ monitoring, respectively. Finally, we determine under which circumstances each tool is preferred over the other and found that porosity assessment is typically the most competitive uncertainty reduction tool.

Combining satellite and field data reveals Congo's forest types structure, functioning and composition

AbstractTropical moist forests are not the homogeneous green carpet often illustrated in maps or considered by global models. They harbour a complex mixture of forest types organized at different spatial scales that can now be more accurately mapped thanks to remote sensing products and artificial intelligence. In this study, we built a large‐scale vegetation map of the North of Congo and assessed the environmental drivers of the main forest types, their forest structure, their floristic and functional compositions and their faunistic composition. To build the map, we used Sentinel‐2 satellite images and recent deep learning architectures. We tested the effect of topographically determined water availability on vegetation type distribution by linking the map with a water drainage depth proxy (HAND, height above the nearest drainage index). We also described vegetation type structure and composition (floristic, functional and associated fauna) by linking the map with data from large inventories and derived from satellite images. We found that water drainage depth is a major driver of forest type distribution and that the different forest types are characterized by different structure, composition and functions, bringing new insights about their origins and successional dynamics. We discuss not only the crucial role of soil–water depth, but also the importance of consistently reproducing such maps through time to develop an accurate monitoring of tropical forest types and functions, and we provide insights on peculiar forest types (Marantaceae forests and monodominant Gilbertiodendron forests) on which future studies should focus more. Under the current context of global change, expected to trigger major forest structural and compositional changes in the tropics, an appropriate monitoring strategy of the spatio‐temporal dynamics of forest types and their associated floristic and faunistic composition would considerably help anticipate detrimental shifts.

Automated Optimization of a Multistep, Multiphase Continuous Flow Process for Pharmaceutical Synthesis.

Flow synthesis is becoming increasingly relevant as a sustainable and safe alternative to traditional batch processes, as reaction conditions that are not usually achievable in batch chemistry can be exploited (for example, higher temperatures and pressures). Telescoped continuous reactions have the potential to reduce waste by decreasing the number of separate unit operations (e.g., crystallization, filtration, washing, and drying), increase safety due to limiting operator interaction with potentially harmful materials that can be reacted in subsequent steps, minimize supply chain disruption, and reduce the need to store large inventories of intermediates as they can be synthesized on demand. Optimization of these flow processes leads to further efficiency when exploring new reactions, as with a higher yield comes higher purity, reduced waste, and a greener synthesis. This project explored a two-step process consisting of a three-phase heterogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation followed by a homogeneous amidation reaction. The steps were optimized individually and as a multistep telescoped process for yield using remote automated control via a Bayesian optimization algorithm and HPLC analysis to assess the performance of a reaction for a given set of experimental conditions. 2-MeTHF was selected as a green solvent throughout the process, and the heterogeneous step provided good atom economy due to the use of pure hydrogen gas as a reagent. This research highlights the benefits of using multistage automated optimization in the development of pharmaceutical syntheses. The combination of telescoping and optimization with automation allows for swift investigation of synthetic processes in a minimum number of experiments, leading to a reduction in the number of experiments performed and a large reduction in process mass intensity values.

The relationship between heterogeneous institutional investors and operational performance: Evidence from mergers and acquisitions

This study investigates the relationship between institutional investors and the inventory performance of companies engaged in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Specifically, we examine the role of institutional ownership in the selection of target firms and their post-M&A performance. Additionally, we analyze how the effects of institutional investors vary based on their investment horizons and strategies. Our regression analysis reveals that acquiring firms with a large proportion of short-term institutional investors are more inclined to target firms with low inventory levels. This tendency stems from the preference of short-term institutional investors for better current operational performance, which drives decision-makers to merge with leaner firms. In contrast, acquiring firms with long-term institutional investors are more focused on performance improvement, even if the target firms have large inventories at the time of the M&A.

The erosion of large primary atmospheres typically leaves behind substantial secondary atmospheres on temperate rocky planets

Exoplanet exploration has revealed that many—perhaps most—terrestrial exoplanets formed with substantial H2-rich envelopes, seemingly in contrast to solar system terrestrials, for which there is scant evidence of long-lived primary atmospheres. It is not known how a long-lived primary atmosphere might affect the subsequent habitability prospects of terrestrial exoplanets. Here, we present a new, self-consistent evolutionary model of the transition from primary to secondary atmospheres. The model incorporates all Fe-C-O-H-bearing species and simulates magma ocean solidification, radiative-convective climate, thermal escape, and mantle redox evolution. For our illustrative example TRAPPIST-1, our model strongly favors atmosphere retention for the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1e. In contrast, the same model predicts a comparatively thin atmosphere for the Venus-analog TRAPPIST-1b, which would be vulnerable to complete erosion via non-thermal escape and is consistent with JWST observations. More broadly, we conclude that the erosion of primary atmospheres typically does not preclude surface habitability, and frequently results in large surface water inventories due to the reduction of FeO by H2.

Pressure Distributions in Glottal Geometries With Multichannel Airflows

Computer simulation of self-sustained oscillation of the vocal folds has been successful with application of simple Bernoulli-like driving pressures. As voice simulation is now applied to asymmetric vibration with complex mode structures that yield partial vocal fold contact, the driving pressures need refinement. Two independent approaches were used to obtain pressure distributions. The first was a high-fidelity immersed-boundary method computation and the second was a series of pressure tap measurements on scaled-up physical models. Glottal geometries were based on normal surface modes of vibration. Samples are chosen from a large inventory of measured and calculated profiles. Pressure distributions show the complexity that can exist in the driving forces on vocal fold surfaces. Qualitative similarity between computation and measurement was established for a variety of contact patterns, showing diverse pressure gradients in multiple directions. Simplified Bernoulli approaches to glottal pressure distributions are defensible when a single flow channel is preserved in vocal fold oscillation. However, when there are contact islands that produce confluence or difluence of multiple airflow channels, the pressure gradients vary profoundly. Small quantitative differences were observed between measurement and calculation, primarily due to spatial sampling.

Dynamic simulation of ITER cryo-distribution system using Aspen HYSYS

The ITER cryogenic system consists of the Liquid Helium (LHe) plant, the Cryo-Distribution (CD) system, and the cryo-lines. The Auxiliary Cold Boxes (ACBs) dedicated to cooling the superconducting (SC) magnet system and the Cryoplant Termination Cold Box (CTCB) of the ITER CD system are in the factory acceptance phase. The internal components of ACBs, e.g., cryogenic valves, a cold compressor (CCp), heat exchangers, and a cold circulator (CCr), have been sized and assembled, ensuring their functionality. The interdependency of the functional parameters of one component over the others needs to be assessed, as their integrated performance under the dynamic heat load deposition from the SC magnets may impact the overall operation of the ITER cryogenic system. The ACBs are equipped with two helium baths having ∼ 1200 kg of He inventory and situated inside the Tokamak building. These baths act as a thermal buffer for the LHe plant, situated in the cryoplant building, allowing it to operate at a quasi-steady state despite heat load variation from the applications. Such a large helium inventory can challenge the secondary confinement system of ITER due to helium ingress accidental events and thus needs to be optimized. The integrated system-level simulation is therefore necessary for the safe and reliable operation of the cryogenic system under such demanding requirements. The present study summarizes the results obtained for ACBs dedicated to the magnet system, including CTCB for the enhanced ITER operation modes, and confirms the integrated performance of the system. The results show that the LHe baths inside the ACBs can be used as a thermal buffer with the proposed limit of initial filling and by keeping a constant opening of the respective J-T valves upstream of the LHe baths. The study outcome and the proposed recommendations would be beneficial to mitigate the pulsed heat load to the LHe plant while minimizing the helium inventory.

Integrating vision and lidar based hyperlocal metadata for optimal capacity expansion planning in hillside road networks

The rapidly expanding population and scarcity of affordable housing in many urban areas, such as Los Angeles, have resulted in large inventories of structures in hilly landscapes. Such urbanization has also rendered road capacities inadequate in many instances, with hazards such as floods, fires, and earthquakes posing additional risks to such inventory. Planning construction activities such as widening, structural, and geotechnical retrofits to increase capacity and resiliency by cutting through slopes and incorporating landslide protection measures requires hyperlocal information for road segments in hillside areas. Performing traditional surveys for large areas of such road networks can be both time-consuming and cost prohibitive. At the same time, data acquired from satellites may not provide the required spatial resolution for planning, especially regarding road-adjacent features such as slopes. This paper proposes a novel framework to fuse hyperlocal data regarding road and adjacent slopes gathered from the street-level mobile mapper equipped with cameras and lidar into the network design problem (NDP) to develop an optimal road width expansion plan. The hyperlocal features are derived from a colorized point cloud map and deep learning techniques to estimate the relevant features in hillside landscapes. Specifically, a deep learning-based segmentation and detection algorithms combined with novel point cloud processing techniques are used to obtain a spatially dense profile of the road and the adjacent slope. By leveraging such hyperlocal information, we explore all the potential road capacity and improvement options for road capacity expansion. Furthermore, we demonstrate the advantages of our proposed method over conventional techniques, particularly working with budget constraints. In terms of novel contributions, incorporating hyperlocal information into NDP for hillside road capacity expansion is novel, as well as algorithms to automatically detect and characterize relevant roadside features from remotely sensed lidar point clouds.

Lhowa Phonology: A Typological Perspective

Lhowa exhibits a large inventory of forty-one consonant phonemes. In terms of points of articulation, it contains seven types of consonants, viz., labial, dental, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar and glottal. In terms of manner of articulation, it presents seven types of consonants, viz., stops, nasals, affricates, fricatives, trills, laterals and approximants. In terms of voicing, there are two types of consonant phonemes, viz., voiceless and voiced. Lhowa has voiceless unaspirated, voiceless aspirated, voiced murmured and voiceless murmured sounds. It exhibits a distinct consonant distribution. Lhowa has eight basic and two fronted vowels. There are four diphthongs. Lhowa displays a moderately complex syllable structure. It presents a canonical structure of the syllable in which V is obligatory and other constituents, (Ci, initial consonant), (X, voiced palatal approximant), and (Cf, final consonant) are optional. Lhowa permits only five types of syllable patterns. Each syllable is intrinsically high or low. It exhibits simple tone system. The high vs. low tone is distinguished only on the first syllable of a word. In Lhowa, like in Lhasa Tibetan, compound words demonstrate four types of tone melodies, viz., HH, LH, LL and HL.

El léxico navarro y su pervivencia más allá de la Edad Media

This article presents a lexical-semantic study of some voices registered in a large inventory of goods written in the 18th century in Tafalla, Navarre (1768). This document offers a list of the goods owned by the married couple of Juan Bautista Alzueta and Estanislada de Echauri, in both their drugstore and their house. The presence of voices with roots in Navarre and Aragon in this inventory shows how dialectal vocabulary surpassed the Middle Age. This way, through the lexical-semantic studies presented, we can define lexicon in a more proper way from different points of view: chronological, dialectal and diastratic.

Technical Note—Near-Optimal Bayesian Online Assortment of Reusable Resources

Near-Optimal Bayesian Online Assortment of Reusable Resources Motivated by rental services in e-commerce, we consider revenue maximization in the online assortment of reusable resources for different types of arriving consumers. We design competitive online algorithms compared with the optimal online policy in the Bayesian setting, where consumer types are drawn independently from known heterogeneous distributions over time. In scenarios with large initial inventories, our main result is a near-optimal competitive algorithm for reusable resources. Our algorithm relies on an expected linear programming (LP) benchmark, solves this LP, and simulates the solution through independent randomized rounding. The main challenge is achieving inventory feasibility efficiently using these simulation-based algorithms. To address this, we design discarding policies for each resource, balancing inventory feasibility and revenue loss. Discarding a unit of a resource impacts future consumption of other resources, so we introduce postprocessing assortment procedures to design and analyze our discarding policies. Additionally, we present an improved competitive algorithm for nonreusable resources and evaluate our algorithms using numerical simulations on synthetic data.

Questionable suitability of pure geological publications to distant inventory of world-class palaeogeographical geosites

Present acceleration of interest in geoheritage makes urgent a very large inventory of geosites in all parts of the world, which task cannot be achieved by only geoconservationists. Pure geological publications seem to be promising to deal with geosites without visiting them. To realize the existence of such an opportunity, ten fresh examples of research articles reporting exceptional palaeogeographical localities from the different geographical domains and geological time slices were considered. A semi-quantitative, score-based assessment of suitability (quality) of the published information was undertaken. This procedure should be distinguished from geosite evaluation, which is not the aim of this study. It was found that the outcomes of pure geological research published in journal articles can really help to identify world-class geosites, although the information from these articles is not enough to characterize geosites (especially regarding such properties as accessibility and vulnerability). Finding additional literature and realizing conservation status are the other challenges of geosite inventories based on only journal articles. Some recommendations for writing geoheritage-unrelated articles so to satisfy the needs of geoconservation were given.

Testing Mantle Convection Simulations With Paleobiology and Other Stratigraphic Observations: Examples From Western North America

AbstractMantle convection plays a fundamental role in driving evolution of oceanic and continental lithosphere. In turn it impacts a broad suite of processes operating at or close to Earth's surface including landscape evolution, glacio‐eustasy, magmatism, and climate. A variety of theoretical approaches now exist to simulate mantle convection. Outputs from such simulations are being used to parameterize models of landscape evolution and basin formation. However, the substantial body of existing simulations has generated a variety of conflicting views on the history of dynamic topography, its evolution and key parameters for modeling mantle flow. The focus of this study is on developing strategies to use large‐scale quantitative stratigraphic observations to assess model predictions and identify simulation parameters that generate realistic predictions of Earth surface evolution. Spot measurements of uplift or subsidence provide useful target observations for models of dynamic topography, but finding areas where tectonics have not also influenced vertical motions is challenging. To address this issue, we use large inventories of stratigraphic data from across North America with contextual geophysical and geodetic data to constrain the regional uplift and subsidence history. We demonstrate that a suite of typical geodynamic simulations struggle to match the amplitude, polarity and timing of observed vertical motions. Building on recent seismological advances, we then explore strategies for understanding patterns of continental uplift and subsidence that incorporate (and test) predicted evolution of the lithosphere, asthenosphere and deep mantle. Our results demonstrate the importance of contributions from the uppermost mantle in driving vertical motions of continental interiors.

Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale vocalisations

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are highly social mammals that communicate using sequences of clicks called codas. While a subset of codas have been shown to encode information about caller identity, almost everything else about the sperm whale communication system, including its structure and information-carrying capacity, remains unknown. We show that codas exhibit contextual and combinatorial structure. First, we report previously undescribed features of codas that are sensitive to the conversational context in which they occur, and systematically controlled and imitated across whales. We call these rubato and ornamentation. Second, we show that codas form a combinatorial coding system in which rubato and ornamentation combine with two context-independent features we call rhythm and tempo to produce a large inventory of distinguishable codas. Sperm whale vocalisations are more expressive and structured than previously believed, and built from a repertoire comprising nearly an order of magnitude more distinguishable codas. These results show context-sensitive and combinatorial vocalisation can appear in organisms with divergent evolutionary lineage and vocal apparatus.

Assessment of Tree Density, Tree Cover, Species Diversity and Biomass in Semi-arid Human Dominated Landscape Using Large Area Inventory and Remote Sensing Data

Assessment of Tree Density, Tree Cover, Species Diversity and Biomass in Semi-arid Human Dominated Landscape Using Large Area Inventory and Remote Sensing Data

‘Reflexemes’ – a first cross-linguistic insight into how and why reflexive constructions encode emotions

Abstract This article presents the first study on reflexive expressions having lexicalized an emotional meaning, as in the English example enjoy oneself. Such lexicalized forms, which we call ‘reflexemes’, occur in a number of genetically unrelated languages worldwide. Here we interrogate the cross-linguistic distribution and semantics of reflexemes, based on a sample of 58 languages from 6 genetic groups throughout Europe, Australia, and Asia. Reflexemes exhibit uneven distribution in this sample. Despite the presence of reflexemes across all three continents, European languages generally display much larger inventories. Based on our language sample’s contrasts, we hypothesize that these disparities could be driven by: the form of reflexive markers; their semantic range, including colexifications with anticausative constructions; and their longevity, with ancient, cognate European markers fostering accumulation of reflexemes via inheritance and borrowing. As for semantics, reflexemes target comparable emotions across languages. Specifically, categories labelled ‘Good feelings’, ‘Anger’, ‘Worry’, ‘Bad feelings’ and ‘Fear’ are consistently most prevalent. These tendencies apply across our sample, with no sign of family- or continent-specific semantic tendency. The observed semantic distribution may reflect universal lexicalization tendencies not specific to reflexemes, perhaps combined with an emphasis on self-evaluation and other social emotions imparted by reflexive semantics.

Futuristic Questions in our Thinking: The Case of Apprehensionals in Korean

Korean has a large inventory of apprehen- sionals, the grammatical markers of fear. This study analyzes six apprehensionals that developed from Future and Question, i.e., -lkka, -lkkapwa(se), -lkkamwusewe(se), -lkkatwulyewe(se), -lkkamolla(se), and -lkkasiphe(se), all involving the future marker -l and the question marker -kka. Lexical forms serving the grammaticalization source constructions are the verbs of perception, cognition and emotion, e.g. po- ‘see’, mwusep- ‘be afraid’, twulyep- 'be afraid', molu- ‘not know’, and siph- ‘think’. It is particularly intriguing that there is no logical necessity that the notions such as ‘future’, ‘question’, ‘thinking’, ‘not knowing’, etc. should engender the notion of fear. This strongly suggests that the emergence of the 'fear'-meaning is the result of interaction among the source components, i.e., indeterminacy from the future, lack of confidence from the question, and self-oriented contemplation from the cogitation, among others. In this respect the development exhibits ‘subjectification’ of meaning.

An integrated risk assessment method for urban areas due to chemical leakage accidents

Chemical parks which hold large inventories of hazardous materials have become one important type of urban critical infrastructure. The hazardous chemical leakage such as toxic gas leakage has emerged in recent years, resulting in not only serious environmental pollution but also catastrophic consequences to certain urban areas. It is critical to make scientific risk assessment for such events to reduce negative effects. To address this issue, an integrated urban risk assessment (IURA) method coupling consequences of chemical leakage accidents and the vulnerability of local population is proposed in this work. The threat zones and hazard maps of toxic gas dispersion are present by using the ALOHA software. The population vulnerability is decided by three indicators including exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of residents in affected areas, the Grey Correlation-TOPSIS (GC-TOPSIS) method is used to rank the vulnerability of different regions. The ArcGIS software is applied to generate an integrated risk map through superimposing the hazard map and the population vulnerability map. The original risk matrix evaluation results were subdivided using the Borda count method. A case about an industrial city in Hubei, China is analyzed to test the method. Result shows the new integrated risk assessment method is more accurate and effective, which is beneficial for the government to develop emergency plans and enhance the safety of people.

Development and application of consensus in silico models for advancing high-throughput toxicological predictions

Computational toxicology models have been successfully implemented to prioritize and screen chemicals. There are numerous in silico (quantitative) structure–activity relationship ([Q]SAR) models for the prediction of a range of human-relevant toxicological endpoints, but for a given endpoint and chemical, not all predictions are identical due to differences in their training sets, algorithms, and methodology. This poses an issue for high-throughput screening of a large chemical inventory as it necessitates several models to cover diverse chemistries but will then generate data conflicts. To address this challenge, we developed a consensus modeling strategy to combine predictions obtained from different existing in silico (Q)SAR models into a single predictive value while also expanding chemical space coverage. This study developed consensus models for nine toxicological endpoints relating to estrogen receptor (ER) and androgen receptor (AR) interactions (i.e., binding, agonism, and antagonism) and genotoxicity (i.e., bacterial mutation, in vitro chromosomal aberration, and in vivo micronucleus). Consensus models were created by combining different (Q)SAR models using various weighting schemes. As a multi-objective optimization problem, there is no single best consensus model, and therefore, Pareto fronts were determined for each endpoint to identify the consensus models that optimize the multiple-criterion decisions simultaneously. Accordingly, this work presents sets of solutions for each endpoint that contain the optimal combination, regardless of the trade-off, with the results demonstrating that the consensus models improved both the predictive power and chemical space coverage. These solutions were further analyzed to find trends between the best consensus models and their components. Here, we demonstrate the development of a flexible and adaptable approach for in silico consensus modeling and its application across nine toxicological endpoints related to ER activity, AR activity, and genotoxicity. These consensus models are developed to be integrated into a larger multi-tier NAM-based framework to prioritize chemicals for further investigation and support the transition to a non-animal approach to risk assessment in Canada.