Peak Patterns Research Articles

Understanding the Association between Cattle Tick-borne Diseases and Climate variability in Mbarara District, Western Uganda

A study to examine the association between tick-borne diseases and climate variability in cattle keeping communities in Mbarara district in South in Western Uganda was undertaken aiming at inputting into the tactical and strategic control of the diseases in the largely livestock dependant region in the country. In a multi-sectoral priority setting exercise, tick borne diseases was top on the list of constraints responsible for cattle mortality and reduced productivity. A clinical tick- borne disease data analyzed basing on standard microscopic procedures, including capillary agglutination test and giemsa stain, was obtained from Mbarara veterinary clinic. 
 The disease data was matched with rainfall data from 27 rain gauge stations obtained from National meteorological stations and recording centers scattered within the district covering a period of 56 years since 1950. The number of wet spells and disease cases showed that disease cases were positively correlated with rainfall at a 95% confidence level (R2= 0.56). Disease cases exhibited peak cyclical patterns related to rainfall during the transmission season during October, November and December with extreme peaks occurring every other year while Significant (r2=0.536) variability was observed for the positive trend in March - April -May seasonal rainfall for one of the three zones. Additionally, the results in this study indicate that rainfall is a substantial determinant of seasonal activity of the transmitting vectors from season to season and from year to year.

Metal organic framework supported surface modification of synthesized nickel/nickel oxide nanoparticles via controlled PEGylation for cytotoxicity profile against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines via docking analysis

Metal organic framework, (MOFs) supported nanoparticles have proven a path for the treatment of various carcinomas to be effective against MCF-7 Breast cancer cell lines. Despite the globally widespread applications of nickel/nickel oxide nanoparticles, Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs with surfactant Polyethylene glycol, (PEG) and l-Acsorbic acid, (LAA) as reducing agents in industrial, commercial, and biomedical fields, their response to human cells has not been elucidated. Hence in the reported article Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs with an average size range of 75–80 nm was used to study their interaction with MCF-7 Breast cancer cell lines. So the best of our understanding this is the study related to MCF-7 Human Breast cancer cell lines to show cyto-genotoxicity of Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs which seems mediated through MTT analysis with rising effect surface enhancement and indexed porosiveness for the interfacial advancement than standard drug Doxorubicin for their comparison to show their best effectivity to prepared Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs.The theoretical performance was simulated using Gaussian-09@Autodock 4.2 with crystal preparation and docked with MCF-7 Human Breast cancer cell lines PDBs to show their correlation with wet method of preparation. The synthesized Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs was characterized against UV/Vis spectroscopy for determination of peak pattern of 395 nm, the functional group analysis for the best binding of stretching with framed metal network of nanoparticles was to shown out their scissoring, wagging, and CH stretching, etc. at 661, 834 and 3425 cm−1respectively by FTIR analysis and an energy band gap of 2.2 eV for Ni/NiO@LAA_PEG NPs by optical studies. The mesopore range and surface area measurement was calculated with BET adsorption and BJH plot to find their coercivity and retentivity via adsorption-desorption curve for their best catalytic performance. The current interpretation of Ni 2p spectra of oxides and other compounds is based on charge transfer assignment of the main peak at 856.4 eV and broad satellite cantered at about 861 eV to the cd9 L and unscreened cd8 final state configurations.

Rice Husks as Green Adsorbents for Removal of Anionic Dyes: Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Adsorption Studies

Rice husk, a green adsorbent, was used for procion red adsorption. Analysis with BET, XRD, FTIR, and SEM confirmed the formation of rice husk. The results indicate that rice husk is more porous and has a rougher surface. The surface of the rice husk has a non-uniform shape and uneven morphology. The pore of rice husk is critical to the adsorption process of procion red. The procion red will enter the pore of the rice husk to make an interaction. The rice husk has a surface area, pore volume, and pore diameter of 7.08 m2/g, 0.011 cc/g, and 3.14 nm, respectively. The vibrational peak at 3448 1620, 1103, and 794 cm−1. the XRD powder patterns of rice husk characterization diffraction peak at 2θ 23°. Rice husk’s adsorption system for procion red removal follows PSO kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models with a maximal removal capacity of 158.730 mg/g. This study sheds light on the effectiveness of rice husk as an adsorbent for procion red contaminants.

Geometry of fitness landscapes: peaks, shapes and universal positive epistasis

Darwinian evolution is driven by random mutations, genetic recombination (gene shuffling) and selection that favors genotypes with high fitness. For systems where each genotype can be represented as a bitstring of length L, an overview of possible evolutionary trajectories is provided by the L-cube graph with nodes labeled by genotypes and edges directed toward the genotype with higher fitness. Peaks (sinks in the graphs) are important since a population can get stranded at a suboptimal peak. The fitness landscape is defined by the fitness values of all genotypes in the system. Some notion of curvature is necessary for a more complete analysis of the landscapes, including the effect of recombination. The shape approach uses triangulations (shapes) induced by fitness landscapes. The main topic for this work is the interplay between peak patterns and shapes. Because of constraints on the shapes for [Formula: see text] imposed by peaks, there are in total 25 possible combinations of peak patterns and shapes. Similar constraints exist for higher L. Specifically, we show that the constraints induced by the staircase triangulation can be formulated as a condition of universal positive epistasis, an order relation on the fitness effects of arbitrary sets of mutations that respects the inclusion relation between the corresponding genetic backgrounds. We apply the concept to a large protein fitness landscape for an immunoglobulin-binding protein expressed in Streptococcal bacteria.

Mass-production of water-based ferrofluids capable of developing spike-like structures

Ferrofluids are among the most popular and engaging materials related to the nanotechnology field, with applications ranging from studies of basic science phenomena to educational and outreach activities. Therefore, there is a continuous interest in the synthesis strategies used to fabricate these systems, especially those that can lead to simple procedures able to be reproduced under a wide spectrum of laboratory conditions.The ferrofluids described in this work are systems composed of iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by the coprecipitation method and functionalized with citrate molecules to ensure the dispersion in an aqueous medium. During the experimental work we evaluated different operations and synthesis conditions, in order to arrive to a unique procedure that optimizes the functionalization results and the scaling potential. The optimized synthesis route has two main features that are worth to highlight. The first is the possibility of using readily available commercial products as chemical precursors; the second is the overall reduction of the procedure difficulties, as we show that several operations that are usually used in similar reports can be avoided, such as sonication, centrifugation, dialysis, inert atmospheres of Ar/N2 or heating of large volumes of liquid. Both features can be included in the synthesis route without compromising the ferrofluid quality. The procedure can be used to successfully prepare nearly 30 g of functionalized nanoparticles per synthesis batch. Furthermore, this production has the potential to increase due to the absence of significant limitations in the scaling process.We show that the synthesized nanoparticles can produce a stable colloid even at extremely high concentrations (above 50% wt), leading to the formation of ferrofluids that can develop static peak patterns, known as Rosensweig instabilities, when exposed to an external magnetic field. In turn, we show that the extent of these disturbances can be modified both with the concentration of nanoparticles and with the surface tension of the ferrofluid, as expected for this type of system.

Mechanistic-mathematical modeling of intracranial pressure (ICP) profiles over a single heart cycle. The fundament of the ICP curve form

The intracranial pressure (ICP) curve with its different peaks has been comprehensively studied, but the exact physiological mechanisms behind its morphology has not been revealed. If the pathophysiology behind deviations from the normal ICP curve form could be identified, it could be vital information to diagnose and treat each single patient. A mathematical model of the hydrodynamics in the intracranial cavity over single heart cycles was developed. A Windkessel model approach was generalized but the unsteady Bernoulli equation was utilized for blood flow and CSF flow. This is a modification of earlier models using the extended and simplified classical Windkessel analogies to a model that is based on mechanisms rooted in the laws of physics. The improved model was calibrated with patient data for cerebral arterial inflow, venous outflow, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and ICP over one heart cycle from 10 neuro-intensive care unit patients. A priori model parameter values were obtained by considering patient data and values taken from earlier studies. These values were used as an initial guess for an iterated constrained-ODE (ordinary differential equation) optimization problem with cerebral arterial inflow data as input into the system of ODEs. The optimization routine found patient-specific model parameter values that produced model ICP curves that showed excellent agreement with clinical measurements while model venous and CSF flow were within a physiologically acceptable range. The improved model and the automated optimization routine gave better model calibration results compared to previous studies. Moreover, patient-specific values of physiologically important parameters like intracranial compliance, arterial and venous elastance, and venous outflow resistance were determined. The model was used to simulate intracranial hydrodynamics and to explain the underlying mechanisms of the ICP curve morphology. Sensitivity analysis showed that the order of the three main peaks of the ICP curve was affected by a decrease in arterial elastance, a large increase in resistance to arteriovenous flow, an increase in venous elastance, or a decrease in resistance to CSF flow in the foramen magnum; and the frequency of oscillations were notably affected by intracranial elastance. In particular, certain pathological peak patterns were caused by these changes in physiological parameters. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other mechanism-based models associating the pathological peak patterns to variation of the physiological parameters.

Membrane inlet-ion mobility spectrometry with automatic spectra evaluation as online monitoring tool for the process control of microalgae cultivation.

The cultivation of algae either in open raceway ponds or in closed bioreactors could allow the renewable production of biomass for food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, or chemical industries. Optimal cultivation conditions are however required to ensure that the production of these compounds is both efficient and economical. Therefore, high-frequency analytical measurements are required to allow timely process control and to detect possible disturbances during algae growth. Such analytical methods are only available to a limited extent. Therefore, we introduced a method for monitoring algae release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace above a bioreactor in real time. This method is based on ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) in combination with a membrane inlet (MI). The unique feature of IMS is that complete spectra are detected in real time instead of sum signals. These spectral patterns produced in the ion mobility spectrum were evaluated automatically via principal component analysis (PCA). The detected peak patterns are characteristic for the respective algae culture; allow the assignment of the individual growth phases and reflect the influence of experimental parameters. These results allow for the first time a continuous monitoring of the algae cultivation and thus an early detection of possible disturbances in the biotechnological process.

Final Amalgamation Processes of the Southern Altaids: Insights from the Triassic Houhongquan Ophiolitic Mélange in the Beishan Orogen (NW China)

AbstractThe Permian–Triassic tectonic setting is still controversial in the southern Altaids. The Beishan orogen is an ideal region to address the final tectonic of the Altaids. These systematic mapping, geochemistry, and geochronology studies on the Houhongquan ophiolitic mélange in the south Beishan are conducted to address this issue. New mapping reveals that the Houhongquan ophiolitic mélange consists of blocks of gabbro, basalt, chert, granite, and strongly deformed and cleaved sandstone in the southern Beishan. The studies reveal that the mafic fragments are relics of normal-mid-ocean ridge (N-MOR) and suprasubduction zone (SSZ) types of oceanic lithosphere. The four sandstone matrix samples yield the maximum depositional ages of 222±5 Ma, 233.8±2.3 Ma, 263.4±2.5 Ma, and 263.5±2.8 Ma, respectively, indicating that the youngest sandstones were tectonic emplaced in the Houhongquan ophiolitic mélange after ca. 222 Ma. The sandstone matrices display two types of age spectra. Early Permian sandstones have a single Devonian to Early Permian peak age patterns, indicating the existence of an independent Permian intraoceanic arc. In contrast, Late Triassic sandstones have multiple peaks with some Precambrian zircons, suggesting that they were sourced from a continental arc. Accordingly, we consider that the Houhongquan ophiolitic mélange tectonic was emplaced in the intraoceanic island arc during the Middle Permian and docked to a continental margin arc during the Late Triassic. Thus, we argue that the terminal amalgamation timing of the southern Altaids was probably during ca. 222-217 Ma.

Ultra-Violet-Assisted Scalable Method to Fabricate Oxygen-Vacancy-Rich Titanium-Dioxide Semiconductor Film for Water Decontamination under Natural Sunlight Irradiation

This work reports the fabrication of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle (NPs) films using a scalable drop-casting method followed by ultra-violet (UV) irradiation for creating defective oxygen vacancies on the surface of a fabricated TiO2 semiconductor film using an UV lamp with a wavelength oof 255 nm for 3 h. The success of the use of the proposed scalable strategy to fabricate oxygen-vacancy-rich TiO2 films was assessed through UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Ti 2p XPS spectra acquired from the UV-treated sample showed the presence of additional Ti3+ ions compared with the untreated sample, which contained only Ti4+ ions. The band gap of the untreated TiO2 film was reduced from 3.2 to 2.95 eV after UV exposure due to the created oxygen vacancies, as evident from the presence of Ti3+ ions. Radiation exposure has no significant influence on sample morphology and peak pattern, as revealed by the SEM and XRD analyses, respectively. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the fabricated TiO2 films for methylene-blue-dye removal was found to be 99% for the UV-treated TiO2 films and compared with untreated TiO2 film, which demonstrated only 77% at the same operating conditions under natural-sunlight irradiation. The proposed UV-radiation method of oxygen vacancy has the potential to promote the wider application of photo-catalytic TiO2 semiconductor films under visible-light irradiation for solving many environmental and energy-crisis challenges for many industrial and technological applications.

Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound with time-intensity curve analysis for differentiating hypovascular solid pancreatic lesions.

To evaluate the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with time-intensity curve (TIC) in distinguishing different types of hypovascular solid pancreatic lesions. A total of 89 patients with 90 pancreatic lesions (all confirmed by surgery or biopsy pathology) that manifested hypoenhancement on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) were included in this study. Six peak enhancement patterns were proposed for differentiating hypovascular pancreatic lesions. CEUS qualitative and TIC-based quantitative parameters were analyzed, and each lesion was scored based on the statistically significant qualitative parameters to evaluate the diagnostic ability of CEUS for hypovascular solid pancreatic lesions. Qualitative parameters such as peak enhancement pattern II/III/IV, penetrating vessels, centripetal enhancement, and early washout were reliable indicators of malignant lesions, and lesions scored based on these qualitative parameters, with a score ≥ 2, were highly suspected to be malignant lesions. Pattern I had an accuracy of 83.33% for predicting mass-forming pancreatitis (MFP), pattern V had an accuracy of 96.67% for predicting solid pseudopapillary tumors of the pancreas (SPTP), and pattern VI had an accuracy of 81.11% for predicting neuroendocrine tumors/carcinomas (NETs/NECs). For quantitative analysis, nodule/pancreatic parenchyma echo intensity reduction ratio was significantly greater in malignant lesions. CEUS qualitative and TIC-based quantitative parameters have clinical value in distinguishing malignant from benign hypovascular pancreatic lesions. • Contrast-enhanced ultrasound helps clinicians assess patients with pancreatic lesions. • Six peak enhancement patterns are proposed for differentiating pancreatic hypovascular lesions. • Qualitative parameters such as peak enhancement pattern II/III/IV, penetrating vessels, centripetal enhancement, early washout, and quantitative parameter nodule/pancreatic parenchyma echo intensity reduction ratio were important characteristics to discriminate malignant from hypovascular benign lesions.

Information-Rich, Dual-Function 13C/2H-Isotopic Crosstalk NMR Assay for Human Serine Racemase (hSR) Provides a PLP-Enzyme "Partitioning Fingerprint" and Reveals Disparate Chemotypes for hSR Inhibition.

The first dual-function assay for human serine racemase (hSR), the only bona fide racemase in human biology, is reported. The hSR racemization function is essential for neuronal signaling, as the product, d-serine (d-Ser), is a potent N-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) coagonist, important for learning and memory, with dysfunctional d-Ser-signaling being observed in some neuronal disorders. The second hSR function is β-elimination and gives pyruvate; this activity is elevated in colorectal cancer. This new NMR-based assay allows one to monitor both α-proton-exchange chemistry and β-elimination using only the native l-Ser substrate and hSR and is the most sensitive such assay. The assay judiciously employs segregated dual 13C-labeling and 13C/2H crosstalk, exploiting both the splitting and shielding effects of deuterium. The assay is deployed to screen a 1020-compound library and identifies an indolo-chroman-2,4-dione inhibitor family that displays allosteric site binding behavior (noncompetitive inhibition vs l-Ser substrate; competitive inhibition vs adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)). This assay also reveals important mechanistic information for hSR; namely, that H/D exchange is ∼13-fold faster than racemization, implying that K56 protonates the carbanionic intermediate on the si-face much faster than does S84 on the re-face. Moreover, the 13C NMR peak pattern seen is suggestive of internal return, pointing to K56 as the likely enamine-protonating residue for β-elimination. The 13C/2H-isotopic crosstalk assay has also been applied to the enzyme tryptophan synthase and reveals a dramatically different partition ratio in this active site (β-replacement: si-face protonation ∼6:1 vs β-elimination: si-face protonation ∼1:3.6 for hSR), highlighting the value of this approach for fingerprinting the pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) enzyme mechanism.

Putative cause of seizure-induced cognitive alterations: The oscillatory reconfiguration of seizure network.

The dynamic reconfiguration of network oscillations is connected with cognitive processes. Changes in how neural networks and signaling pathways work are crucial to how epilepsy and related conditions develop. Specifically, there is evidence that prolonged or recurrent seizures may induce or exacerbate cognitive impairment. However, it still needs to be determined how the seizure brain configures its functional structure to shape the battle of strong local oscillations vs. slow global oscillations in the network to impair cognitive function. In this paper, we aim to deduce the network mechanisms underlying seizure-induced cognitive impairment by comparing the evolution of strong local oscillations with slow global oscillations and their link to the resting state of healthy controls. Here, we construct a dynamically efficient network of pathological seizures by calculating the synchrony and directionality of information flow between nine patients' SEEG signals. Then, using a pattern-based method, we found hierarchical modules in the brain's functional network and measured the functional balance between the network's local strong and slow global oscillations. According to the findings, a tremendous rise in strong local oscillations during seizures and an increase in slow global oscillations after seizures corresponded to the initiation and recovery of cognitive impairment. Specifically, during the interictal period, local strong and slow global oscillations are in metastable balance, which is the same as a normal cognitive process and can be switched easily. During the pre-ictal period, the two show a bimodal pattern of separate peaks that cannot be easily switched, and some flexibility is lost. During the seizure period, a single-peak pattern with negative peaks is showcased, and the network eventually transitions to a very intense strong local oscillation state. These results shed light on the mechanism behind network oscillations in epilepsy-induced cognitive impairment. On the other hand, the differential (similarity) of oscillatory reorganization between the local (non) epileptogenic network and the global network may be an emergency protective mechanism of the brain, preventing the spread of pathological information flow to more healthy brain regions.

Romantic Duration, Relationship Quality, and Attachment Insecurity among Dating Couples

For many young adults today dating is not taken as a path to marriage, but as a relationship to be considered on its own terms with a beginning, middle, and end. Yet, research has not kept pace as most studies that look at relationships over time focus on marriages. In the present study, we look at individual differences and normative patterns of dating relationship quality over time. We tested a path model of associations between relationship duration, attachment insecurity, and four relationship quality domains (sexual frequency, commitment, satisfaction, and companionship) among a large sample of dating young adults (N = 1345). Based on a conceptual model of romantic relationship development, results supported expectations that dating trajectories are curvilinear, with unique patterns of accent, peak, and decent for each relationship domain. Dating duration also moderated the relationship between dating quality and attachment insecurity with anxious attachment becoming a more salient predictor of lower satisfaction and lower commitment in long-term versus short-term relationships. A quadratic interaction with sexual frequency indicated that insecurity predicted less sexual activity in new relationships, more activity among relationships between two and four years, but then less again in longer-term relationships. Findings suggest patterns of stability and change in dating relationships during emerging adulthood that complement those observed from the marriage literature.

Unfolding unique features of precipitation-temperature scaling across India

Warming of the climate is now unequivocal. However, probable dynamics of changes in the precipitation regimes remains disputable under potential future warming. Theoretically, increasing atmospheric heat translates to increase the atmospheric moisture holding capacity at the Clausius-Clapeyron (C-C) scaling rate in the absence of moisture limitation, which in turn raises the possibilities of more intense precipitation events. Here we investigated the scaling relationship between observed and reanalysis precipitation with surface air temperature and dew point temperature at daily and sub-daily time scales on annual and season-wise basis. To reach a robust conclusion, entire Indian mainland is considered as the study area that spans across a vast climatic characteristics. More influential temperature dependence is found for heavier precipitation events than the lighter ones on annual basis as well as for different seasons. Negative and peak type scaling patterns between the daily surface air temperature (SAT) and precipitation is noticed across the different climatic regimes of the study region. In contrast, positive dependence between dew point temperature (DPT) and precipitation is obtained to be dominant across the study region. Negative sensitivity noticed for the daily surface temperature is mainly the consequence of the local cooling effect due to the occurrence of precipitation and the moisture limitation at higher end of the local temperature. In general, the scaling relation varies from season to season, which tend towards a negative scaling in hotter seasons, but a positive scaling in colder seasons. Extreme precipitation can be better portrayed by sub-daily temperature conditions prior to the start of the storm events. Scaling relationship obtained between the sub-daily precipitation and surface air and dew point temperature exhibits greater consistency in the relationship across the regions. The Western Ghats region is consistently noticed to exhibit a positive scaling relation, whereas rest of the country exhibits mostly a peak type relation. The SAT considered up to 6-h prior to the precipitation might not reflect the actual response of precipitation towards the temperature increase, possibly due to the prevailing cloudy conditions preceding the precipitation event. Findings of this study provides a better understanding related to the anticipated changes in precipitation regimes under future climate with a warming condition across different climatic regimes.

The quality of acid soils treated with seaweed (Kappapychus alvarezii) sap enriched biochar from Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Biochar enriched with fertilizers has the potential to improve the quality of acid soils. In the agricultural sector, it was reported that the sap of <em>Kappapychus</em><em> alvarezii</em> (K-sap) is often used as a biofertilizer. Therefore, this study aimed to (i) examine the character of biochar enriched with the K-sap and (ii) analyze the soil quality after incubation. This study was carried out using two treatment factors arranged in a randomized block design, namely the biochar dose at 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, and 7.5% in weight and K-sap at concentrations of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Ten kilograms of acid soil were incubated with K-sap enriched biochar for up to 2 weeks in each experimental pot. The results showed that the absorption band increased with the K-sap concentration for the functional group associated with the OH-stretching of the biochar enriched with K-sap was stronger and wider than the unenriched. The peak elevation pattern detected by X-ray diffraction for all biochars was similar. The dosage of 7.5% biochar enriched with 5%-10% K-sap concentrations increased pH, EC, organic C, total N, C:N ratio, available P, and exchangeable K, Ca, Mg, and Si than those without treatment. Furthermore, ammonium and total spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi decreased, flagellates increased with and without the biochar, while the nitrate, total bacteria, and fungi of all treatments were similar. Based on these results, it was concluded that biochar enriched with K-sap could improve the quality of acid soil.

High power balanced TEM horn antenna for ultra wide band radiator

AbstractA balanced transverse electromagnetic (TEM) horn type antenna is designed and developed for a 120 kV, 66 Ω high power ultra wideband (UWB) radiator. This antenna consists of a coaxial to parallel plate unzipper BALUN followed by an exponentially tapered TEM horn structure. Analysis of this antenna in time and frequency domain is performed using CST Microwave Studio. This antenna is having a power handling capacity of 1000 MW, with percentage bandwidth of 167%. This antenna has a gain of ~10 dB at 1 GHz frequency. Return loss performance of better than −10 dB is observed in 150 MHz to 1 GHz frequency range. Effective radiation of short pulses (<5 ns) with very fast rise time (300–500 ps) has been demonstrated using this high‐power antenna. Practical results at 220 MW power are presented in this article. Directional performance of this antenna is practically established through peak power patterns in horizontal and vertical plane.

Feature Space of XRD Patterns Constructed by an Autoencoder

AbstractX‐ray diffraction (XRD) is commonly used to analyze systematic variations occurring in compounds to tune their material properties. Machine learning can be used to extract such significant systematics among a series of observed peak patterns. The feature space concept, in the context of autoencoders, can be the platform for performing such extractions, where each peak pattern is projected into a space to extract the systematics. Herein, an autoencoder is trained to learn to detect the systematics driven by atomic substitutions within a single phase without structural transitions. The feature space constructed by the trained autoencoder classifies the substitution compositions of XRD patterns satisfactorily. The compositions interpolated in the feature space are in good agreement with those of an XRD pattern projected to a point. Subsequently, the autoencoder generates a virtual XRD pattern from an interpolated point in the feature space. When the feature space is effectively optimized by enough training data, the autoencoder predicts an XRD pattern with a concentration, which is difficult to be described using the possible resolution of the supercell method of ab initio calculations.

Metagenomics reveals that temperature predicts a small proportion of antibiotic resistomes and mobile genetic elements in polluted water

Climate warming multiplies the threat of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to public health, but whether temperature may predict antibiotic resistomes in water environment remain unknown. Here, by metagenomic sequencing, we investigated the changes of resistome at five different temperature gradients (23, 26, 29, 32, and 35 °C) in polluted water by animal cadaver. Thirty ARG types including 668 subtypes were observed in our samples. Temperature significantly influenced ARG profiles and showed a negative correlation with ARG diversity. The ARG assembly process was dominated by a deterministic process (63.32%–95.08%) but showed a peak pattern with temperature. Notably, temperature may predict approximately 21% of ARGs and 36% of mobile genetic elements (MGEs), while most other ARGs or MGEs were insensitive to temperature. Three types (carbapenem, dicyclomycin, and diaminopyrimidine antibiotic) and 63 subtypes of ARGs that positively correlated with temperature were identified in the polluted water. Notably, we screened 21 subtypes of high-risk ARGs (bacA, mdtA, tetM, etc.) and 22 opportunistic pathogens (Aeromonas, Clostridium, Bacteroides, etc.) and found their positive co-occurrence with temperature, implying these potential biological or genetic pollutants may probably go up under global warming. Our study reveals the predictability of temperature on antibiotic resistance genes, providing a suitable approach to track the fate and spread of ARGs in water environment under climate warming.

Quantum-Mechanical Driven 1H Iterative Full Spin Analysis Addresses Complex Peak Patterns of Choline Sulfate.

Choline and choline esters are essential nutrients in biological systems for carrying out normal functions, such as the modulation of neurotransmission and the formation and maintenance of cell membranes. Choline sulfate is reportedly involved in the defense mechanism of accumulating sulfur resources against sulfur deficiency. Contrary to expectations, a full assignment of the 1H NMR spectrum of choline sulfate has not been reported. The present study pioneered a full assignment by quantum-mechanical driven 1H iterative full spin analysis. The complex peak patterns were analyzed in terms of heteronuclear and non-first-order coupling. The 1H-14N coupling constants, including two-bond coupling, which can be neglected, were accurately determined by iterative optimization. Non-first-order splitting has been described to be due to the presence of magnetically non-equivalent geminal protons. Moreover, in the comparison of the methylene proton resonance patterns of choline sulfate with choline and choline phosphate, the differences in the geminal and vicinal coupling constants were further examined through spectral simulation excluding the heteronuclear coupling. The precise spectral interpretation provided in this study is expected to contribute to future 1H NMR-based qualitative or quantitative studies of choline sulfate-containing sources.

Solubility of Bi in Li–Pb Eutectic Alloy Between 508 and 623 K

Liquid lithium–lead (Li–Pb) eutectic alloy is one of the candidate liquid tritium breeding materials of fusion blanket and it contains bismuth (Bi) as an initial impurity or transmutation product from lead. The saturated solubility of Bi, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$S$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (wt.ppm), in Li–Pb was measured in the temperature range from 508 to 623 K. The measured results were plotted on the graph with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$S$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (wt.ppm) versus 1/ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$T$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . From these plots, a positive temperature dependence, where the solubility decreases as the temperature is lowered, is confirmed. The equation of the solubility of Bi in Li–Pb was obtained, too. In addition, the dissolution enthalpy of Bi in Li–Pb, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta H_{\mathrm {sol}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , was quantified from this equation. The precipitation morphology of Bi in Li–Pb was also investigated. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the precipitates collected from the surface of the liquid phase. As a result, the peak pattern of Li3Bi was found from the precipitate. Moreover, the amount of polonium produced when the cold trap is introduced to a Li–Pb loop of a fusion reactor was predicted from the solubility obtained in this study.