Prominent Field Research Articles

Inflation with mixed helicities and its observational imprint on CMB

In the framework of effective field theories with prominent helicity-0 and helicity-1 fields coupled to each other via a dimension-3 operator, we study the dynamics of inflation driven by the helicity-0 mode, with a given potential energy, as well as the evolution of cosmological perturbations, influenced by the presence of a mixing term between both helicities. In this scenario, the temporal component of the helicity-1 mode is an auxiliary field and can be integrated out in terms of the time derivative of the helicity-0 mode, so that the background dynamics effectively reduces to that in single-field inflation modulated by a parameter $\beta$ associated to the coupling between helicity-0 and helicity-1 modes. We discuss the evolution of a longitudinal scalar perturbation $\psi$ and an inflaton fluctuation $\delta \phi$, and explicitly show that a particular combination of these two, which corresponds to an isocurvature mode, is subject to exponential suppression by the vector mass comparable to the Hubble expansion rate during inflation. Furthermore, we find that the effective single-field description corrected by $\beta$ also holds for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations generated during inflation. We compute the standard inflationary observables such as the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and confront several inflaton potentials with the recent observational data provided by Planck 2018. Our results show that the coupling between helicity-0 and helicity-1 modes can lead to a smaller value of the tensor-to-scalar ratio especially for small-field inflationary models, so our scenario exhibits even better compatibility with the current observational data.

Mining Big data streams using Business analytics tools: A bird

Big data evolves as the prominent field in modern computing era. Big data analytics and its impact on extracting business intelligence is becoming indispensable for plethora of applications. The non-proprietary software revolution paved the way for illustrious evolution of tools like Weka, rapid miner, orange and R. Traditional data mining techniques hardly adapts to the requirements of rapid data analysis. The data stream processing algorithms that handle multitude of data endow with greater challenge in real time. Big data mining requires further improvisation in traditional tools to address the challenges of massive data processing. This paper highlights the importance of data stream mining and explores two important open source frameworks, namely massive online analysis (MOA) and scalable advanced massive online analysis (SAMOA). The implications of both the tools augurs well for further deliberations in big data research community. Business information system (BIS) models can reach unprecedented heights with the proliferation of these business analytics tools.

Data science education in the iSchool context

ABSTRACTThe Data Science (DS) has grown in depth, breadth, and relevance in recent years as a prominent multidisciplinary field. iSchools have been among many contributing units in DS education; however, the question remains as to what unique characteristics and core curricula iSchools can best fit in and provide in the DS education landscape. This panel presents the iSchool Data Science Curriculum Committee (iDSCC)’s initiatives to address this question and report on related progress. It will also engage discussion with and seek input from the conference audience in an effort to uncover additional input on the unique characteristics of DS education in the iSchool context and core DS curriculum for iSchools.

The Polarimetry of Нα-prominences

A brief comparative analysis determining the magnetic field in optical and radio range prominences is presented; a tendency to increase averaged magnetic fields two to four times in quiescent and active prominences, compared to previously accepted values, is noted. The possibility of indirect data on electric currents in the Hα-prominence from measurements of linear polarization during the total solar eclipse of 29 March 2006 was shown. The 2D sign distributions of a linear polarization angle, interpreted within the Thomson scattering by the free moving electrons of prominences, indirectly indicate the presence of oppositely directed electric currents in the prominence and surrounding corona.

Race and America's Long War

The title of Race and America's Long War conceals as much as it reveals. While it initially suggests a study of military history, the book instead presents readers with a sprawling work on America's race problem, which the author likens to a continuing centuries-long global civil war. Nikhil Pal Singh brings to this issue the concepts and sensibility of the currently prominent field of whiteness studies. He asks: “How far [have we] progressed from the modes of racial dominance out of which the wealth of modern nations grew” (p. xi)? Singh's answer to that question is uniformly unfavorable and pessimistic. He sees the United States since its foundation as a nation caught up at home and abroad in an ongoing conflict to suppress and dominate people unlucky enough to not be born white. This struggle began against Native Americans on the frontier and African slaves imported against their will to work on America's plantations. The struggle for white dominance, Singh believes, continues presently, with a temporary moderation in the second half of the twentieth century necessitated to serve the public image needs of the Cold War, giving way to a renewed war on nonwhite people exemplified by the disproportionate imprisonment of African Americans in U.S. prisons, anti-immigrant hysteria, and the war on terror.

Spatial resonant periodic orbits in the restricted three-body problem

The quest of exo-Earths has become a prominent field. In this work, we study the stability of non-coplanar planetary configurations consisting of an inclined inner terrestrial planet in mean-motion resonance with an outer giant planet. We examine the families of circular and elliptic symmetric periodic orbits with respect to the vertical stability, and identify the vertical critical orbits from which the spatial families emanate. We showcase that stable spatial periodic orbits can exist for both prograde and retrograde motion in 3/2, 2/1, 5/2, 3/1, 4/1 and 5/1 resonances for broad ranges of inclinations, when the giant evolves on a circular orbit. When the orbit of the giant is elliptic, only the 2/1 resonance has stable periodic orbits up to high inclinations, while the 3/1, 4/1 and 5/1 resonances possess segments of stability for low inclinations. Furthermore, we show that regular motion can also take place in the vicinity of both horizontally and vertically stable planar periodic orbits, even for very high inclinations. Finally, the results are discussed in the context of asteroid dynamics.

Stimulus-induced gamma power predicts the amplitude of the subsequent visual evoked response

The efficiency of neuronal information transfer in activated brain networks may affect behavioral performance. Gamma-band synchronization has been proposed to be a mechanism that facilitates neuronal processing of behaviorally relevant stimuli. In line with this, it has been shown that strong gamma-band activity in visual cortical areas leads to faster responses to a visual go cue. We investigated whether there are directly observable consequences of trial-by-trial fluctuations in non-invasively observed gamma-band activity on the neuronal response. Specifically, we hypothesized that the amplitude of the visual evoked response to a go cue can be predicted by gamma power in the visual system, in the window preceding the evoked response. Thirty-three human subjects (22 female) performed a visual speeded response task while their magnetoencephalogram (MEG) was recorded. The participants had to respond to a pattern reversal of a concentric moving grating. We estimated single trial stimulus-induced visual cortical gamma power, and correlated this with the estimated single trial amplitude of the most prominent event-related field (ERF) peak within the first 100 ms after the pattern reversal. In parieto-occipital cortical areas, the amplitude of the ERF correlated positively with gamma power, and correlated negatively with reaction times. No effects were observed for the alpha and beta frequency bands, despite clear stimulus onset induced modulation at those frequencies. These results support a mechanistic model, in which gamma-band synchronization enhances the neuronal gain to relevant visual input, thus leading to more efficient downstream processing and to faster responses.

B-positive: a randomized controlled trial of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention for euthymic patients with bipolar disorder - study protocol and intervention development

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by recurrent (hypo)manic and depressive episodes, alternating with euthymic states in which patients are relatively symptom free. Besides clinical recovery, it is important to also strive for improvement of mental well-being and personal recovery. One prominent field focussing on the improvement of well-being is positive psychology. However, studies assessing the effects of positive psychology or personal recovery interventions for people with BD are scarce and have used weak methodological designs. The study described in this protocol article aims to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention (“Living well with bipolar disorder”) adjusted for people with BD in the euthymic phase to improve well-being and personal recovery.MethodThe study concerns a pragmatic randomized multicenter trial. The principle objective of the study is to assess whether the positive psychology intervention offered to BD patients in remission in addition to usual care (CAU) is more effective than CAU. The study will include 112 participants randomized to either the experimental condition receiving the intervention in addition to CAU or the control condition receiving CAU. The study population are patients with BD I or II in the euthymic phase.The inclusion criteria are 1) diagnosis of BD I or BD II, 2) between the ages of 18–65, 3) four or more supportive sessions in the last year, and 4) only residual depressive or manic symptoms. Patients are excluded if they are in a depressive or manic episode, have current addiction problems or have optimal levels of well-being. Measurements take place at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up 6 and 12 months from baseline. Outcomes of measures include positive well-being, personal recovery, psychopathology, self-compassion, positive relationships, dampening of positive affect and relapse.DiscussionThe outlined study will be the first RCT examining the effects of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention for patients with bipolar disorder. Several limitations, including generalizability of the results and possible attrition issues, are discussed in advance.Trial registrationThis study has been registered in the Netherlands Trial Register (NTR6729) on 12 October 2017.

Future Direction of Identity Research in a Context of Political Struggle: A Critical Appraisal of Erikson

ABSTRACT Identity research has become a prominent field of study in the social sciences, but the conceptualization and measurement of the construct of identity remains contested. Although Erikson’s theoretical work has been extremely influential in directing theory and research over the past 50 years, the theory has elicited a variety of criticisms. In this article, we critically reflect on the application of Erikson’s theory in contexts of social and political struggle. We engage with Eriksonian theory in terms of the debate regarding the relationship between society and the individual. We develop a view of identities as historically contingent contextual discursive performances. Empirical material from two South African studies is presented to illustrate our argument about how the sociopolitical context of struggle and threat shapes and structures the identity aspirations and decisions of young people.

ENRICHMENT AND POPULATION OF A GEOSPATIAL ONTOLOGY FOR SEMANTIC INFORMATION EXTRACTION

Abstract. The massive amount of user-generated content available today presents a new challenge for the geospatial domain and a great opportunity to delve into linguistic, semantic, and cognitive aspects of geographic information. Ontology-based information extraction is a new, prominent field in which a domain ontology guides the extraction process and the identification of pre-defined concepts, properties, and instances from natural language texts. The paper describes an approach for enriching and populating a geospatial ontology using both a top-down and a bottom-up approach in order to enable semantic information extraction. The top-down approach is applied in order to incorporate knowledge from existing ontologies. The bottom-up approach is applied in order to enrich and populate the geospatial ontology with semantic information (concepts, relations, and instances) extracted from domain-specific web content.

Assessment of geothermal water quality for industrial and irrigation purposes in the Unai geothermal field, Gujarat, India

Nowadays, a spotlight on the direct manipulation of water from the geothermal fields is laid for manifold applications. This manuscript discusses the utilization of water produced from geothermal wells for irrigation and industrial purposes. In order to identify the suitability of the water for the above mentioned uses, various hydrochemical parameters were evaluated. Samples were collected from three geothermal well sites from Unai village, a prominent geothermal field situated in Navsari district, Gujarat, India. The hydrochemistry of the samples collected from hot spring (depth 30–45 m) was studied and samples were examined by calculating different parameters. The complete study was done individually for both industrial and irrigational uses of geothermal water. The mean surface temperature of the water is 55 °C and average pH of the sample studied is 8.12. The key Water Quality Indices (WQI) such as Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), Ryznar Stability Index (RSI), Puckorius Scaling Index (PSI) and Larson-Skold Index (LS) were examined for industrial utilization and the key indices like Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR), Sodium Percentage (SP), Kelly Ratio (KR) Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) and Permeability Index (PI) were examined for irrigational utilization of geothermal water. LSI and RSI values show that carbonate and bicarbonate concentration is in the desirable range, however, LS (15.09, 13.54) is very high which indicates higher Cl- content. High value of indices such as SAR, KR, and SP points out the increased concentration of Na+ in the water sample. The results of this study would help the end users to identify the necessary water-treatments before utilizing the water for industrial and irrigation purposes in the study area.

Non‐enzymatic continuous glucose monitoring system

A prominent field of study in biosensor development is the study of electric properties which provide valuable insight into the fluids contents. In this research, a non-enzymatic glucose sensor is fabricated, characterised, and employed. The developed device determines the effects of electrode surface area on sensing efficacy, the effects of glucose concentration on impedimetric response, and a real-time measurement of glucose concentration. Deviations throughout the entire glucose range are detected as an inverse of the impedance in the cell due to the inverse relationship of glucose concentration and charge transfer resistance. The continuous monitoring of glucose is demonstrated by a rapid device response over two iterations of glucose concentration in ascending order: 50 μM, 400 μM, and 3.2 mM. At a sustained frequency of 10 kHz, the result shows a stable impedimetric response of 1038, 752, and 688 kΩ, respectively. The validity of the device as a continuous glucose monitoring method is carried out by repeating the cycle and observing the response.

Generalization of the optical theorem: experimental proof for radially polarized beams

The optical theorem, which is a consequence of the energy conservation in scattering processes, directly relates the forward scattering amplitude to the extinction cross-section of the object. Originally derived for planar scalar waves, it neglects the complex structure of the focused beams and the vectorial nature of the electromagnetic field. On the other hand, radially or azimuthally polarized fields and various vortex beams, essential in modern photonic technologies, possess a prominent vectorial field structure. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a complete violation of the commonly used form of the optical theorem for radially polarized beams at both visible and microwave frequencies. We show that a plasmonic particle illuminated by such a beam exhibits strong extinction, while the scattering in the forward direction is zero. The generalized formulation of the optical theorem provides agreement with the observed results. The reported effect is vital for the understanding and design of the interaction of complex vector beams carrying longitudinal field components with subwavelength objects important in imaging, communications, nanoparticle manipulation, and detection, as well as metrology.

SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES AND THEIR LEGAL RULINGS

The study concluded that social media in particular has taken a large and important space in the most prominent fields of contemporary life, especially open-source social media, and as long as most aspects of human, natural and cosmic activity; It was worth studying all their aspects to clarify the position of Sharia and the law on them and their rulings on them. There is no doubt about the necessity and necessity of submitting them to their controls to ensure optimal benefit from them, as they are among the services that are indispensable in our contemporary time. Accordingly, this study dealt with the issue of social media through the following images:
 - Social media images in the call and Ifta
 - Social media images in business transactions
 Topics related to the media today are among the topics worthy of study and care, as the media occupies a large and influential space in various fields of life. Perhaps social media is one of the most prominent types of media in terms of influence and importance, as it is based on transmitting news and information from the community to the community itself, to achieve one of the purposes of news, guidance or guidance through its various means such as clubs, forums, places of worship, social networks, newspapers and books. The media directed to a particular place, group, or segment of society is considered its social media, such as the media directed to the community of a particular city or a segment such as women, or a group such as the disabled. Whereas social media is of such vitality and importance; That I studied this subject as required by the requirements of the study. Then this study was based on the extrapolation of the issues in which the opinions of scholars varied according to the multiplicity of factors related to the edge, according to an applied analytical methodology.

Enhanced room temperature gas sensing of aligned Mn3O4 nanorod assemblies functionalized by aluminum anodic membranes

The study includes a conductometric chemical sensor design using aligned Mn3O4 nanorods. Nanostructuring is an emerging field of prominence due to its capacity to introduce unprecedented properties in materials with potential applications. A hydrothermally prepared in situ Mn3O4 sample appears with an urchin rod-like morphology, which changes to a spherical shape upon annealing. An aluminum anodic membrane/template (AAO) is used for the growth of the nanorods and also as a medium to support the sensor. The aligned Mn3O4 nanorods are formed in the pores of the AAO by vacuum infiltration approach, which is later on annealed. The gold electrical contacts are deposited on the top or bottom ends of the Mn3O4-embedded AAO to ensure conductometric sensing along the length of the Mn3O4 nanorods. In comparison to the Mn3O4 film-based sensor, the Mn3O4 nanorods in the AAO template have enhanced sensitivity for detecting ethanol and acetone vapor at room temperature. The novel property observed is a result of the large surface area and number of oxygen vacancies of the uniformly aligned and parallel assemblies of the nanorods. The sensor exhibits the lowest response time at 4 s for ethanol and 2 s for acetone at room temperature with a concentration of 50 ppm. The response time is 7 and 5 s, respectively, for 25 ppm. The maximum sensitivities of the sensor at room temperature for ethanol and acetone gases are 67% and 68%, respectively, for 50 ppm concentration. The growth mechanism of the aligned nanorods formed in the AAO template is well established through FESEM analysis. The XPS and HRTEM study give additional evidence for the presence of oxidation states and structure of the prepared nanostructures, respectively.

The marketing analytics orientation (MAO) of firms: identifying factors that create highly analytical marketing practices

Marketing analytics (MA) is a relatively new but increasingly prominent field in which data tools are applied to quantify and monitor marketing performance and customer information to optimize investments in marketing programs and maximize customer interaction. MA is a sub-discipline of broader analytics and includes the people, processes, and technology to generate insights that improve marketing performance. In this B2B study, the authors established an initial set of factors, with the help of deep subject matter experts in the field, which help determine the degree to which a firm’s marketing function is analytically driven. The research builds on extant theories of market orientation and lays the foundation for the development of a new construct known as marketing analytics orientation through qualitative research methods.

Removal of synthetic sex hormones by hydrothermal carbonization.

One of the most prominent fields of environmental chemistry is the study and the removal of micro-pollutants from aqueous matrices. Analytical techniques for their identification and quantification are becoming more sensitive and comprehensive and, as a result, an increasing number of drugs have been detected in environmental samples. However, the literature shows that conventional treatments for drinking water and wastewater are not sufficient for remove these compounds. This study aims to check whether the process of hydrothermal carbonization (CHT) is effective in removing the synthetic sex hormones: ethinyl estradiol, gestodene and cyproterone acetate from aqueous samples. The system used in CHT basically consists of a pressurized reactor made of stainless steel and solutions of compounds of interest, both individual and mixed, with a concentration of 1.0 μg.L-1 and a pH range of 2.0 to 3.0. The maximum surface temperature in the reactor was about 180 °C, the internal pressure was 20 bar with 90 minutes for the reaction. Four experiments were conducted, one for each hormone and one with the three hormones together. In individual tests removal of the compounds was found to be 99.8% for ethinyl estradiol, 99.3% for gestodene and 100% for cyproterone acetate. For a mixture of the hormones treated under the same conditions, the mean values of CHT-removal of Ethinylestradiol, Gestodene and Cyproterone Acetate were 99.60%, 96.80% and 68.90%, respectively. The impact of the matrix effect may have affected the efficiency of the hormone removal process by CHT.

PIC simulations of post-pulse field reversal and secondary ionization in nanosecond argon discharges

Post-pulse electric field reversal and secondary ionization are investigated with a full kinetic treatment in argon discharges between planar electrodes on nanosecond time scales. The secondary ionization, which occurs at the falling edge of the voltage pulse, is induced by charge separation in the bulk plasma region. This process is driven by a reverse in the electric field from the cathode sheath to the formerly driven anode. Under the influence of the reverse electric field, electrons in the bulk plasma and sheath regions are accelerated toward the cathode. The electron movement manifests itself as a strong electron current generating high electron energies with significant electron dissipated power. Accelerated electrons collide with Ar molecules and an increased ionization rate is achieved even though the driving voltage is no longer applied. With this secondary ionization, in a single pulse (SP), the maximum electron density achieved is 1.5 times higher and takes a shorter time to reach using 1 kV 2 ns pulse as compared to a 1 kV direct current voltage at 1 Torr. A bipolar dual pulse excitation can increase maximum density another 50%–70% above a SP excitation and in half the time of RF sinusoidal excitation of the same period. The first field reversal is most prominent but subsequent field reversals also occur and correspond to electron temperature increases. Targeted pulse designs can be used to condition plasma density as required for fast discharge applications.

Asimetrik Gezgin Satıcı Problemine Bulanık Karınca Kolonisi Optimizasyon Algoritmasi İle Çözüm Yaklaşımı

Logistics sector is one of the most prominent field in economic development of a country. Travelling Salesman Problem which is studied commonly in logistic sector is also based a number of other problems. Shortly, it is aimed to travel along to n locations with limitation of only visiting each location once. Due to NP-hard nature of problem, it is becoming impossible to find exact solution when the number of locations are above a certain level. Due to this reason, heuristic methods are mainly used for solving Travelling Salesman Problem. Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm which is a heuristic method that uses swarm intelligence gives good solutions in solving combinatorial optimization problems. In this study, Ant System and Ant Colony System are tested according to proposed principal of well distributed initial locations and different values of parameters for solving asymmetric Travelling Salesman Problem. Test problem which is in literature is solved by program that is coded in MATLAB programming language. Statistical analysis which is conducted on results indicate that proposed approach provides significant contribution on solutions.

Biological Applications of Bacterial Nano-Surface Layers : A Brief Overview

Surface layer as the outer protective coverage of bacteria and archaea are two-dimensional crystalline and symmetrical arrays of proteins that recently attract a lot of attention for biologist scientists. The surface layers of bacteria are usually 5 to 10 nm in diameter and represent highly porous protein lattices with uniform size and morphology with the pore sizes of 2 to 8 nm. The crucial and most prominent property of this protein-based layer is the regular morphology and suitable chemical composition for different biological applications. Although the formation mechanism of surface layers is different from one type of cell to another once, the surface layer protein molecular compositions almost are same for all types. Recently, the biological application of surface layers opens a prominent research fields in surface biological science such as nano-biotechnology adhesion, vaccination, pharmaceutical, biosensors, bioremediation and mineralization application. In this mini review, we discussed about the main application of this nano-layer in biological systems.