Selection Of Pairs Research Articles

Genetic management on the brink of extinction: sequencing microsatellites does not improve estimates of inbreeding in wild and captive Vancouver Island marmots (Marmota vancouverensis)

Captive breeding is often a last resort management option in the conservation of endangered species which can in turn lead to increased risk of inbreeding depression and loss of genetic diversity. Thus, recording breeding events via studbook for the purpose of estimating relatedness, and facilitating mating pair selection to minimize inbreeding, is common practice. However, as founder relatedness is often unknown, loss of genetic variation and inbreeding cannot be entirely avoided. Molecular genotyping is slowly being adopted in captive breeding programs, however achieving sufficient resolution can be challenging in small, low diversity, populations. Here, we evaluate the success of the Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis; VIM; among the worlds most endangered mammals) captive breeding program in preventing inbreeding and maintaining genetic diversity. We explored the use of high-throughput amplicon sequencing of microsatellite regions to assay greater genetic variation in both captive and wild populations than traditional length-based fragment analysis. Contrary to other studies, this method did not considerably increase diversity estimates, suggesting: (1) that the technique does not universally improve resolution, and (2) VIM have exceedingly low diversity. Studbook estimates of pairwise relatedness and inbreeding in the current population were weakly, but positively, correlated to molecular estimates. Thus, current studbooks are moderately effective at predicting genetic similarity when founder relatedness is known. Finally, we found that captive and wild populations did not differ in allelic frequencies, and conservation efforts to maintain diversity have been successful with no significant decrease in diversity over the last three generations.

Effect of osmotic ballast properties on the performance of a concentration gradient battery

A concentration gradient battery (CGB) is an energy storage system comprised of a series of concentrated and dilute salt solution compartments, separated by ion exchange membranes (IEMs). The battery is charged by electrodialysis (ED), which increases the concentration gradient between these solutions, and discharged by reverse electrodialysis (RED), which allows these solutions to mix. In both ED and RED, water moves by osmosis from dilute to concentrated compartments, reducing the CGB faradaic and energy efficiency. A promising approach to mitigate osmosis is to use an osmotic ballast in the dilute solution to balance the osmotic pressure and reduce faradaic energy losses. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of ballast properties (i.e., size, structure, end-group) on the faradaic and round-trip efficiency of the CGB. To accomplish this objective, we tested seven sugar and five glycol compounds as osmotic ballasts in a closed-loop cell. Results show that ballasts with high molecular weight generally resulted in higher faradaic efficiency and lower water transport compared with low molecular weight ballasts. Data also indicates that ballast with a cyclic structure (instead of linear), non-planar structure (instead of planar), and lower number of methyl end-groups led to lower water transport. Of all ballasts tested, sucrose performed best in terms of reducing non-ideal water transport (by 109%) and enhancing both faradaic and round-trip efficiencies (from 47.4% to 77.7% and 25.5% to 38.1%, respectively) compared with the non-ballasted CGB. Our results contribute to fundamental understanding of the impact of solute properties on water and small organic molecule transport in ion exchange membranes and indicate that ballasted CGBs can be further improved through development of optimized ballasts and selection of optimum membrane-ballast pairs. The improved understanding of ballast impact on CGB performance could be used for evaluation of potential ballast benefits in other membrane-based systems that may be impacted by osmosis such as the acid-base flow battery, waste heat recovery using RED, ED purification processes, osmotically assisted processes, and redox flow batteries.

EXPERIENCE IN THE ELECTROSPARK LAYERING TECHNOLOGIES FOR MACHINE PARTS

When the cost of new spare parts has sharply increased, the problems of restoring worn parts are relevant. (Research purpose) The research purpose is to present the most promising technological processes for the restoration of parts of internal combustion engines by the electric spark processing. (Materials and methods) The article presents a description of new generation installations for electric spark processing BIG-5 and their technical characteristics. Tool alloys 65G, SHX15, P6M5, as well as hard alloys and bronzes were used as alloying materials. Conductive materials with high electrical and thermal conductivity, erosion resistance were used to perform the operation of melting the deposited alloying layer. These primarily include copper, tungsten and graphite. (Results and discussion) The article presents developed technological processes and provides a list of details where electric spark processing is successfully used and a detailed description of the technological process of restoring several basic parts, recommends application modes and materials. The main principle of restoring operability is to increase the hardness and bearing capacity of the working surface, as well as the selection of optimal friction pairs. The production tests of technologies confirm 100 percent of the life of the restored parts. The cost of restoration using electric spark processing does not exceed 30-40 percent of the cost of the part. (Conclusions) The examples of restored parts show the effectiveness of the electric spark processing technology, as well as the reduction of labor intensity and cost of work related to the repair and restoration of machines. Electric spark coating is in many ways superior to known technologies in terms of the quality of the resulting surface and labor costs, it is characterized by low energy consumption, simplicity, high utilization of electrode material and environmental friendliness of the process.

In Vivo Screening Method for the Identification and Characterization of Prokaryotic, Metabolite-Responsive Transcription Factors.

In prokaryotes, transcription factors (TFs) are of uttermost importance for the regulation of gene expression. However, the majority of TFs are not characterized today, which hampers both the understanding of fundamental processes and the development of TF-based applications, such as biosensors, used in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, diagnostics, etc. One way of analyzing TFs is through in vivo screening, enabling the study of TF-promoter interactions, ligand inducibility, and ligand specificity in a high-throughput fashion. Here, an approach is described for the selection and cloning of TF-promoter pairs, the development of a reporter system, and the measurement and analysis of fluorescent reporter assays. Furthermore, the importance of a suitable inducible plasmid system is illustrated together with prospective adaptations to modify a reporter system's output signal. The given approach can be used for the investigation of native, heterologous, or even artificially created TFs in Escherichia coli, and can be extended toward use in other microorganisms.

Comparative analysis of the results of BLUP-evaluation of sires of diffirent countries origin by the conformation of their daughters

In breeding work one of the priority areas is the improvement of the genetic potential of animals, the effectiveness of which depends on the accuracy of determination and prediction. The method of constructing, optimizing and solving the equations of mixed models for predicting the breeding value of animals is becoming increasingly important, which is based on the principle of maximizing the relationship between sires evaluations based on the characteristics under consideration (BLUP method). One of the important economic indicators in cattle breeding concerning the increase in productivity and the term of their economic use of animals, is the evaluation of sires by the type of conformation of daughters, based on the calculation of breeding value indices. The researches on monitoring and comparative analysis of changes in the genetic value of breeding bulls by the conformation features of off spring at the population level of Black-and-White cattle in the Moscow region have been presented in the article. Groups were formed in the context of the sires’ origin according to countries. The formation of a database on the indicators of the conformation of first-calf heifers has been carried out on the basis of the analysis of materials from the regional information and breeding center of breeding livestock in the Moscow region Mospleminform. In a comparative aspect, evaluations of the breeding value of sires of Russian origin were taken with sires were born in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Canada and the USA. The results of the research have shown that the main emphasis of the breeding of bulls of Russian origin was aimed at strengthening the body traits. The data of the comparative analysis of the variability of the genetic value of sires by the type of conformation of daughters carried out according to the BLUP procedure provide an opportunity to monitor and analyze the direction of breeding work when organizing the selection of parental pairs.

Degree and nature of heterosis effects in corn lines by grain quality parameters

Aim. Widespread use of corn hybrids, which are of key importance for the food security in Ukraine, is one of the most successful examples of the heterosis phenomenon use. In order to recommend new and high-quality corn hybrids for production, it is necessary to assess the inheritance degree and heterosis effects for protein, starch and oil contents as well as for yield. Results and Discussion. To achieve the goal, we used the classic field techniques and methods of qualification examination of plant varieties for suitability for distribution in Ukraine. The protein, starch and oil contents in grain were determined on a InfratecTM 1241 Grain Analyzer (FOSS); the heterosis effects were calculated by D. S. Omarov’s methods. As a result of tester crosses, 65 experimental corn hybrids were obtained. Inbred lines VK13, VK69, AE801 and AE392 (carriers of the wx and ae mutations of endosperm structure, respectively) were the female forms. Inbred lines СО255, АК159, АК157, G255, FV243 and KhLG1203 were used as male components for the first time to obtain hybrids with high grain quality parameters. From the 2020−2021 studies, we found that, in terms of grain quality, the grain starch content-driven selection of parental pairs was the most rational approach, as the influence of parental forms on this trait consistently exceeded 50% across the study years. Conclusion. Hybrids VK13×UKhK678 and VK13×UKhK686 were noticeable for consistently high manifestation the heterosis effects for several parameters. As to the starch content in grain, superdominance of a parental form with stronger expression of the trait was recorded in hybrids VK13×UKhK678, VK13×UKhK686, VK19×FV243, and AE801×VK32; as to the oil content in grain, VК13×UKhК678, VК13×UKhК686, VК13×VК37, АЕ392×СО255, АЕ392×KhLG1203, and АЕ392×АК157 were distinguished. Inbred corn lines that should be used as parents of heterotic corn hybrids (KhLG1203, CO255, AK159 and AK157) were singled out.

Selection of parent pairs for the breeding process based on adaptive ability and environmental sustainability of spring barley varieties

Varietal diversity and study of the source material for the breeding process is an important condition when creating a new variety with the necessary economically valuable characteristics, considering the requirements of agricultural producers and the processing industry. The task of breeders at the first stage of cultivar creation is to select from a collection nursery set high-yielding varieties resistant to pests and diseases, able to withstand various climatic stresses, to determine the adaptive ability to identify the positive and negative sides of genotypes, and creatively apply them in the breeding process. During 2018-2021, 94 varieties of spring barley of various ecological and geographical origin were studied. As a result of scientific research and mathematical calculations of the adaptability indicators of varieties, genotypes with a positive combination of high yield and their resistance to biotic and abiotic environmental factors were selected. Depending on the tasks set before breeding, varieties with positive adaptive abilities should be used in crosses: Azov (Russia), Lun (Russia), Medicum 336 (Russia), Corona (Ukraine), Effect (Ukraine), Grace (Germany), Delphine (France), Leon (Germany), Desnina (Germany), Collil (UK).

ADCF Loss Function for Deep Metric Learning in End-to-End Text-Dependent Speaker Verification Systems

Metric learning approaches have widely expanded to the training of Speaker Verification (SV) systems based on Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), by using a loss function more consistent with the evaluation process than the traditional identification losses. However, these methods do not consider the performance measure and can involve high computational cost, for example, the need for a careful pair or triplet data selection. This paper proposes the approximated Detection Cost Function (aDCF) loss, which is a loss function based on the measure of the decision errors in SV systems, namely the False Rejection Rate (FRR) and the False Acceptance Rate (FAR). With aDCF loss as the training objective function, the end-to-end system learns how to minimize decision errors. Furthermore, we replace the typical linear layer as the last layer of DNN by a cosine distance layer, which reduces the difference between the metric in the training process and the metric during evaluation. aDCF loss function was evaluated in RSR2015-Part I and RSR2015-Part II datasets for text-dependent speaker verification. The system trained with aDCF loss outperforms all the state-of-the-art functions employed in this paper in both parts of the database.

АНАЛИЗ КОМБИНАЦИОННОЙ СПОСОБНОСТИ СОРТОВ ЯРОВОГО ЯЧМЕНЯ ПО ПРИЗНАКУ «ИНДЕКС УРОЖАЯ»

Under the contrasting hydrothermal conditions of the Middle Volga forest-steppe in the system of diallel crosses (6×6) the combinative ability of three indices of barley yield index was studied: the ratio of the mass of grain per plant to plant weight, the ratio of the mass of grain from the main shoot to the mass of the shoot, the ratio of the mass of grain from the ear to the mass of the main spice. It was found that the manifestation of all the studied indicators was influenced by the conditions of the year of research and genotype. Hybrid populations on average had higher values of yield index compared to parental forms. All indices of the yield index were inherited mainly by the type of heterosis and positive dominance, while the ratio of the weight of grains per ear to the weight of the main ear, also by the type of intermediate inheritance. Effect indices and variants of general and specific combinational ability were calculated. It was found that both additive and non-additive effects were manifested in trait control, while the role of non-additive effects increased for the ratio of grain mass per plant to plant mass and the ratio of grain mass from the main ear to the ear mass in dry year, and for the ratio of grain mass per ear to the mass of the main ear - additive effects. Coefficient of heritability of plant grain weight to plant weight in broad sense (H2) was 0,70...0,82, in narrow sense (h2) - 0,47...0,51, ), ratio of grain weight of main spike to shoot weight - 0,79...0,88 and 0,44...0,57, ratio of grain weight of main spike to main spike weight - 0,88...0,95 and 0,51...0,66, respectively. It is concluded that these traits are characterized by an average degree of heritability, the selection for increasing the yield index can be successful, but the selection should begin in later generations, in any year under the conditions of moisture. The effects of the Ox correlated significantly with the expression of traits in the original parents (r = 0,75...0,89 for the parental varieties, 0,90...0,95 for the parental varieties and 0,92...0,98 for the parental varieties); therefore, selection of pairs for increasing all indicators can be conducted on the basis of their values in the parental varieties. On the basis of high values of the general combinative ability were identified valuable donors: Nutans 553 and Anna (all indexes of yield index), Margret (ratio of grain mass per plant to the mass of the plant in favorable conditions, the ratio of grain mass from the main shoot to the mass of the shoot). Also identified a number of hybrid combinations with high values of special combinative ability, from which it is possible to select promising breeding lines: Nutans 553/Margret (by all indices of yield index), Condor/Margret (ratio of grain mass per plant to plant weight and ratio of grain mass per ear to the mass of the main ear), Omskiyholozerny 1/Lun (ratio of grain mass per main shoot to the mass of shoot and ratio of grain mass per ear to the mass of the main ear), and their reciprocities. The selected varieties and hybrids are recommended for use in barley breeding programs for yield.

Evaluation of Productive Qualities of Sheep of Askani Fine-Wool Breed

An important problem of modern breeding is the selection process, the basis of which is based on a comprehensive assessment of the breeding gene pool, which will make it possible to increase the genetic potential of the sheep of the Askanian fine-wool breed. The development of the sheep breeding industry in Ukraine largely depends on the genetic potential of breeding resources, which are used in the selection of pairs for mating. Thanks to such approaches, it is possible to quickly achieve higher breeding rates of progress on the main traits of productivity. Therefore, the intensification of sheep breeding not only increases the role of breeding, but also requires the improvement of breeding methods, while the traditional practice of sheep breeding should accumulate breeding methods based on a comprehensive assessment of the genetic potential. The hereditary potential significantly affects the productive performance of sheep only after 4-5 generations with the targeted use of the best rams descended from highly productive queens. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the productive qualities of Askanian fine-wool sheep and identify the best sires, the use of which will ensure an increase in wool productivity by increasing the genetic potential, which will make it possible to obtain the next generation of animals more productive than the previous one.The results of the research give grounds to assert that the main indicators of wool productivity, as well as indicators of the live weight of sheep of different sex and age groups of the Askanian fine-fleeced breed, depend on the origin, that is, the ram-producer and indicate sufficient opportunities regarding the hereditary potential of this herd, which will make it possible to maintain compliance with the breed type and realize their genetic features. At the same time, the analysis of the obtained research results allows for a comprehensive assessment and identification of the best rams, providing an opportunity to increase productivity, improve the quality of wool and reduce the cost of sheep products

Investigation on the effects of air gap distance on the formation of cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane for CO2 and CH4 gases permeation

CO2 removal is essential for the sweetening process of sour natural gas in order to meet the desired specifications for natural gas to be utilized and transported. CO2 separation from natural gas stream can be achieved through the application of membrane technology which will enable natural gas to be suitable for commercial use. Cellulose triacetate (CTA) is a well-known polymer material for CO2 removal due to its high affinity towards CO2. As compared to flat sheet membranes, hollow fiber configuration is preferable due to its large surface to unit volume ratio and self-supporting characteristics, therefore making it a superior choice compared to other configurations. In this work, fabrication of hollow fiber membranes by employing CTA as a polymer for the separation of CO2 and CH4 gases is focused. During fabrication, the air gap distance was varied from 1 cm to 7 cm. Following that, the morphology of the resulting fibers was investigated by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Next, the CO2 and CH4 gas permeation, and CO2/CH4 gas pair selectivity of the resultant HFMs were assessed using a custom-built gas permeation test rig. In addition, post-treatment of HFM with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was also carried out. Then, the gas permeation and gas pair selectivity of the resultant hollow fiber membranes before and after the PDMS coating were compared. The optimum gas permeation performance of CTA HFM was obtained at an air gap distance of 3 cm and a feed pressure of 3 bar as it yielded the highest CO2 permeance of 78.77 GPU and CO2/CH4 gas pair selectivity of 2.80. Whereas for PDMS coated CTA HFM, fibers spun at air gap distance of 1 cm demonstrated the highest CO2 permeance of 14.85 GPU and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 2.54 at feed pressure of 9 bar.

Optimal Absorption Lines Selection for Gas Temperature Measurement by Using Two-Color Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) is widely used in gas temperature measurement. Two-color method is typically utilized to extract the gaseous temperature in TDLAS. The accuracy of two-color method is greatly determined by the selection of two absorption lines. An selection method of optimal absorption lines for two-color temperature measurement was proposed. All available spectral lines are classified and grouped to speed up the selection on the cloud supercomputer. A temperature error model was established to evaluate the performances of different line pairs. Candidate line pair was selected and randomly verified among the representative line pairs from all line groups, until the optimal line pair is determined. Typical line pair selections in the literatures are used to compare the temperature errors with the optimally selected line pairs in this work. Spectral lines of H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O, CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> , and CO were involved in the temperature ranging from room temperature to 2000K. The error of optimal spectral line selected by using proposed method is usually 10 K smaller than the spectral lines reported in the literature. Also, verification experiments were performed to measure a stable and uniform gas temperature. The experimental results verified that the optimal lines by using the proposed method in this work yield better performance than the typical lines, as the temperature errors in average were reduced to almost one half of the typical lines.

Performance modeling of file system pairs in hypervisor-based virtual environment applied on KVM hypervisor case study

This paper proposed an approach to mathematical modeling of the file system performance in a hypervisor-based virtual environment, with special focus on the file system pair interactions. The main goal of this research is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the filesystem pair behavior with respect to the performance costs originating from the employed technologies, such as H-Trees, B-Trees and Copy-on-Write/Overwrite update method, and different application workload types. The modeling provides a collection of hypotheses about the expected behavior. The modeling and the hypotheses are validated based on the results obtained for a specific case study. Our study reports on a file system performance comparison in the context of KVM hypervisor-based full hardware virtualization, application-level benchmarking, and 64-bit Linux filesystems Ext4, XFS, and Btrfs. The Filebench benchmark tool is applied for comprehensive testing of the filesystem performance under fair-play conditions. According to the obtained results, we provide a set of recommendations (i.e., a Knowledge Data Base) for optimal filesystem pair selection for the KVM hypervisor. Finally, it is important to note that the proposed modeling is also applicable to other hypervisor-based virtualizations.

Evaluation of atmospheric NO2 levels in public transport corridors

The objective of this work is to evaluate the operational plan for public transport in NO2 concentration levels. Poor air quality affects the environment, the health of the population and the economy, which requires special attention to the issue. The transport sector is the one that most impacts on air quality in urban centres, with emphasis on heavy vehicles, which represent the majority of the public transport fleet. There are several alternatives used to improve this system, such as exclusive bus lanes, often seeking gains in operational aspects, without considering the environmental impact of the system. Thus, in this study, transport corridors were evaluated in the city of Fortaleza-CE, through the association of passive NO2 sampling and the selection of road pairs with similar physical and operational characteristics, in order to enable comparative analysis. Sampling was carried out over a year of observations, seeking to verify the influence of traffic conditions, as well as meteorological conditions. The results obtained show that on roads with an exclusive lane for public transport, there is a positive influence on NO2 concentration.

ВЫЯВЛЕНИЕ ДОНОРОВ КОРОТКОСТЕБЕЛЬНОСТИ У ОБРАЗЦОВ ОЗИМОЙ ПШЕНИЦЫ С ПОМОЩЬЮ ДНК МАРКЕРОВ И ДИАЛЛЕЛЬНОГО АНАЛИЗА

Knowledge of genetic nature of plant height parameter is important in order to detect short-stemming donors that shorten the length of the stem without deteriorating grain productivity. Identification of short-stemming genes and study of their selection significance in the genotype are used in selection of pairs of wheat varieties for crosses as short-stemming donors in new variety development. The aim of this work is to determine the variability and inheritance of stem length of soft winter wheat and to find a system of genetic control in specification of this parameter, using classical methods of assessment and DNA markers. The research was carried out at Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Omsk Agrarian Scientific Center" in 2017 - 2020. The experiment had three-fold repetition. The object of the research is 3 varieties and 3 lines (LG2, LG3, LG4, Severnaya Zarya, Novosibirskaya 32, Omsk ozimaya), as well as 30 hybrids of the first generation (obtained according to full diallelic scheme) of domestic and foreign selection. Plant nutrition area was 10 x 20 (cm2). The forecrop was black fallow. Samples were screened with application of SSR marker of Rht8 gene. The experiment showed that demonstration of the trait in soft winter wheat descendants depends both on variety specificities and nuclear-plasma relationships. The donors of the "short-stemming" trait were identified: LG2 and Severnaya Zarya. Based on the statistical and molecular genetic analyzes (analysis of F1 hybrids, TCA (total combining ability) effects, as well as identifying the alleles of genes responsible for short-stemming), associations “DNA marker - TCA effect) were determined for the stem length parameter: LG2 (TCA = -1.23) ; Rht 8s (192 bp); Severnaya Zarya - (TCA = -1.21) = Rht 8s (192 bp). Lines of winter soft wheat carrying Rht 8s allele (192 bp) in their genotype, have a reduced stem height and can be recommended as sources of short stemming for usage in selection programs aimed at reducing plant height.

Correlation between quantitative traits that affect grain yield of maize hybrids

The selection of pairs for hybridization requires knowledge about the correlation of the most important quantitative traits that affect grain yield of maize hybrids. The current study was carried out in the Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy” located in the south of the Rostov region with unstable moisture. The years of study (2018–2020) were arid (HThC 0.32–0.89). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the correlation between quantitative traits and their influence on grain yield of maize hybrids under arid conditions. The objects of research were 96 interline maize hybrids. The analysis has identified the correlation between grain yield and such quantitative traits as ‘one maize ear weight’ (r = 0.64...0.87), ‘number of grains per one maize ear row’ (r = 0.37...0.75), ‘number of grains per maize ear’ (r = 0.32...0.51), ‘number of maize ears per plant’ (r = 0.41...0.53), ‘grain yield’ (r = 0.45...0.64). The traits ‘1000-grain weight’ and ‘number of grain rows’ had either no or slight effect on the formation of grain yield of maize hybrids (r = -0.12...0.28). There have been established the traits, the high values of which were well-combining in one genotype. The values of the trait ‘one maize ear weight’ raised due to an increase of the trait ‘number of grains per one maize ear row’ (r = 0.27...0.74), ‘number of grains per maize ear’ (r = 0.26...0.55), ‘grain yield’ (r = 0.21...0.52). The trait ‘number of grains per maize ear’ raised with an increase in the values of such constituent components as ‘number of grains per one maize ear row’ (r = 0.70...0.76), ‘number of grain rows per maize ear’ (r = 0.59...0.66), and also with an increase of ‘number of maize ears per plant’ (r = 0.32...0.51) and ‘grain yield’ (r = 0.36...0.38). There have been identified difficulty-combining quantitative traits, when the value of the trait ‘1000-grain weight’ decreased with the increase of the ‘number of grain rows per maize ear’ (r = – 0.18...-0.56), ‘number of grains per a maize ear row’ (r = -0.15...-0.31) and ‘grain yield’ (r = -0.01...-0.36).

Comparison of variants of the valence × arousal circumplex-inspired emotion word questionnaire

Product-focused emotion research has been in ascendency for more than a decade, but methodological research into questionnaires, the most popular tool for measuring emotional associations is still needed. The present research was situated in this context and pertained to the valence × arousal circumplex-inspired emotion questionnaire (CEQ) which includes 12 pairs of emotion words. Variants of the CEQ that pertained to response options (single vs. multiple) and layout (circular vs. list) were compared in four consumer studies with a total of 1857 participants. In Studies 1 to 3, the CEQ variant that featured a circular layout and single response format (C&S) was compared to a list variant with multiple response format (L&M) (i.e., a check-all-that-apply question). Selection of CEQ emotion word pairs and degree of sample discrimination was contingent on CEQ variant, meaning that conclusions about sample similarities and differences depended on the CEQ variant that was used. This was also the result in Study 4 where two circular CEQ variants were compared, with single and multiple response formats, respectively. A further important finding was that stimuli format – tasted samples in Studies 1–2 and written stimuli in Studies 3–4 – as well as degree of sample differences influenced the extent to which the results from the CEQ variants differed. Our recommendations at this stage are to be aware that conclusions about sample profiles and discrimination is CEQ variant dependent and avoid directly comparing results from studies that use different CEQ variants. Implementing the CEQ as a multi-response variant is supported since it improves sample discrimination relative to single response data, particularly for pairs of emotion words that primarily relate to the dimension of arousal.

Changepoint detection in seismic double-difference data: application of a trans-dimensional algorithm to data-space exploration

Abstract. Double-difference (DD) seismic data are widely used to define elasticity distribution in the Earth's interior and its variation in time. DD data are often pre-processed from earthquake recordings through expert opinion, whereby pairs of earthquakes are selected based on some user-defined criteria and DD data are computed from the selected pairs. We develop a novel methodology for preparing DD seismic data based on a trans-dimensional algorithm, without imposing pre-defined criteria on the selection of event pairs. We apply it to a seismic database recorded on the flank of Katla volcano (Iceland), where elasticity variations in time have been indicated. Our approach quantitatively defines the presence of changepoints that separate the seismic events in time windows. Within each time window, the DD data are consistent with the hypothesis of time-invariant elasticity in the subsurface, and DD data can be safely used in subsequent analysis. Due to the parsimonious behaviour of the trans-dimensional algorithm, only changepoints supported by the data are retrieved. Our results indicate the following: (a) retrieved changepoints are consistent with first-order variations in the data (i.e. most striking changes in the amplitude of DD data are correctly reproduced in the changepoint distribution in time); (b) changepoint locations in time correlate neither with changes in seismicity rate nor with changes in waveform similarity (measured through the cross-correlation coefficients); and (c) the changepoint distribution in time seems to be insensitive to variations in the seismic network geometry during the experiment. Our results demonstrate that trans-dimensional algorithms can be effectively applied to pre-processing of geophysical data before the application of standard routines (e.g. before using them to solve standard geophysical inverse problems).

Hydrogen Recovery by Mixed Matrix Membranes Made from 6FCl-APAF HPA with Different Contents of a Porous Polymer Network and Their Thermal Rearrangement.

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) consisting of a blend of a hydroxypolyamide (HPA) matrix and variable loads of a porous polymer network (PPN) were thermally treated to induce the transformation of HPA to polybenzoxazole (β-TR-PBO). Here, the HPA matrix was a hydroxypolyamide having two hexafluoropropyilidene moieties, 6FCl-APAF, while the PPN was prepared by reacting triptycene (TRP) and trifluoroacetophenone (TFAP) in a superacid solution. The most probable size of the PPN particles was 75 nm with quite large distributions. The resulting membranes were analyzed by SEM and AFM. Up to 30% PPN loads, both SEM and AFM images confirmed quite planar surfaces, at low scale, with limited roughness. Membranes with high hydrogen permeability and good selectivity for the gas pairs H2/CH4 and H2/N2 were obtained. For H2/CO2, selectivity almost vanished after thermal rearrangement. In all cases, their hydrogen permeability increased with increasing loads of PPN until around 30% PPN with ulterior fairly abrupt decreasing of permeability for all gases studied. Thermal rearrangement of the MMMs resulted in higher permeabilities but lower selectivities. For all the membranes and gas pairs studied, the balance of permeability vs. selectivity surpassed the 1991 Robeson’s upper bound, and approached or even exceeded the 2008 line, for MMMs having 30% PPN loads. In all cases, the HPA-MMMs before thermal rearrangement provided good selectivity versus permeability compromise, similar to their thermally rearranged counterparts but in the zone of high selectivity. For H2/CH4, H2/N2, these nonthermally rearranged MMMs approach the 2008 Robeson’s upper bound while H2/CO2 gives selective transport favoring H2 on the 1991 Robeson’s bound. Thus, attending to the energy cost of thermal rearrangement, it could be avoided in some cases especially when high selectivity is the target rather than high permeability.

Electromagnetic uncoordinated control of a ChipSats swarm using magnetorquers

A swarm of ChipSats equipped with miniature magnetorquers is considered, the electromagnetic interaction force is used for relative motion control at extremely short relative distances up to several centimetres. A ChipSat is a satellite printed on 3.5 × 3.5 cm circuit board with a set of sensors, solar panels, onboard computer, and communication system. Assuming the relative motion between each satellite is known, a Lyapunov-based control algorithm is proposed to achieve bounded relative trajectories. A centralized and a decentralized control approaches are implemented. For the centralized approach, a CubeSat is considered as the main satellite after swarm deployment, producing a high value magnetic dipole moment which interacts with the magnetic dipole of the surrounding ChipSats in order to stop relative drift. For the decentralized approach, the ChipSats are linked in interchangeable pairs in order to apply the electromagnetic control force and reduce the relative drift between the satellites to the vicinity of zero. Two different pairing selection methods are proposed in the paper, based on the closest satellite and on the satellite with highest relative drift. Both translational and rotational motion of satellites are considered. The magnetic dipole moments are used for angular velocity damping when orbit control is not required, and a repulsive collision avoidance electromagnetic control is applied when two ChipSats are within dangerously close proximity to each other. The proposed control schemes performance is studied numerically with different algorithm and ChipSats parameters. The influence of these parameters on the swarm separation is obtained using Monte-Carlo simulations.