Finding the magnetopause location using soft X-ray observations and a statistical inverse method

Variability in the location and shape of the dayside magnetopause is attributed to magnetic reconnection,a fundamental process that enables the transfer of mass,energy,and momentum from the solar wind into the magnetosphere.The spatial and temporal properties of the magnetopause,under varying solar and magnetospheric conditions,remain largely unknown because empirical studies using in-situ observations are challenging to interpret.Global wide field-of-view(FOV)imaging is the only means to simultaneously observe the spatial distribution of the plasma properties over the vast dayside magnetospheric region and,subsequently,quantify the energy transport from the interplanetary medium into the terrestrial magnetosphere.Two upcoming missions,ESA/CAS SMILE and NASA’s LEXI will provide wide-field imagery of the dayside magnetosheath in soft X-rays,an emission generated by charge exchange interactions between high charge-state heavy ions of solar wind origin and exospheric neutral atoms.High-cadence two-dimensional observations of the magnetosheath will allow the estimation of dynamic properties of its inner boundary,the magnetopause,and enable studies of its response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation.This work introduces a statistically-based estimation approach based on inverse theory to estimate the spatial distribution of magnetosheath soft X-ray emissivities and,with this,identify the location of the magnetopause over the Sun−Earth line.To do so,we simulate the magnetosheath structure using the MHD-based OpenGGCM model and generate synthetic soft X-ray images using LEXI’s orbit and attitude information.Our results show that 3-D estimations using the described statistically-based technique are robust against Poisson-distributed shot noise inherent to soft X-ray images.Also,our proposed methodology shows that the accuracy of both three-dimensional(3-D)estimation and the magnetopause standoff distance calculation highly depends on the observational point.

Effects of Chlorine and Chlorine Monoxide on Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

This paper presents a system approach of mass balance calculations of ozone and other species under diffusion-convection-reaction processes to study the impacts of major ozone-depleting chemicals, chlorine (Cl) and chlorine monoxide (ClO), and the effect of photolysis on ozone concentrations, ozone depletion, total ozone abundance, and ozone layer along the altitude in the stratosphere. The calculated ozone concentrations and profile of the layer followed a similar trend and were generally in good agreement with the measurements above the tropical area. The calculated peak of the layer was at the same mid-stratosphere at Z = 30 km with a peak concentration and total ozone abundance about 20% higher than the measured peak concentration of 8.0 ppm and total abundance of 399 DU. In the presence of Cl and ClO, the calculated ozone concentrations and total abundance were substantially reduced. Cl generally depleted more uniformly of ozone across the altitude, while ClO reduced substantially the ozone in the upper stratosphere and thus shifted the peak of the layer to a much lower elevation at Z = 14 km. Although both ClO and Cl are active ozone-depleting chemicals, ClO was found to have a more pronounced impact on ozone depletion and distribution than Cl. The possible explanations of these interesting phenomena were discussed and elaborated. The approach and calculations in this paper were shown to be useful in providing an initial insight into the structure and behavior of the complex ozone layer.

2-D Modeling and Calculations of Stratospheric Ozone and Influences of Convection, Diffusion, and Time

An engineering system approach of 2-D cylindrical model of transient mass balance calculations of ozone and other concerned chemicals along with fourteen photolysis, ozone-generating and ozone-depleting chemical reaction equations was developed, validated, and used for studying the ozone concentrations, distribution and peak of the layer, ozone depletion and total ozone abundance in the stratosphere. The calculated ozone concentrations and profile at both the Equator and a 60˚N location were found to follow closely with the measured data. The calculated average ozone concentration was within 1% of the measured average, and the deviation of ozone profiles was within 14%. The monthly evolution of stratospheric ozone concentrations and distribution above the Equator was studied with results discussed in details. The influences of slow air movement in both altitudinal and radial directions on ozone concentrations and profile in the stratosphere were explored and discussed. Parametric studies of the influences of gas diffusivities of ozone DO3 and active atomic oxygen DO on ozone concentrations and distributions were also studied and delineated. Having both influences through physical diffusion and chemical reactions, the diffusivity (and diffusion) of atomic oxygen DO was found to be more sensitive and important than that of ozone DO3 on ozone concentrations and distribution. The 2-D ozone model present in this paper for stratospheric ozone and its layer and depletion is shown to be robust, convenient, efficient, and executable for analyzing the complex ozone phenomena in the stratosphere. .

Alcohol-induced alterations of the hepatocyte cytoskeleton

The hepatocyte cytoskeleton consists of three fi lamentous networks: microtubules, actin microfi laments and keratin intermediate filaments. Because of the abundance of the proteins that comprise each system and the central role each network plays in a variety of cellular processes, the three fi lament systems have been the focus of a host of studies aimed at understanding the progression of alcohol-induced liver injury. In this review, we will briefly discuss the hepatic organization of each cytoskeletal network and highlight some components of each system. We will also describe what is known about ethanol-induced changes in the dynamics and distributions of each cytoskeletal system and discuss what is known about changes in protein expression levels and post-translational modifi cations. Finally, we will describe the possible consequences of these cytoskeletal alterations on hepatocyte function and how they might contribute to the progression of liver disease.

An overview of a unified theory of dynamics of vehicle–pavement interaction under moving and stochastic load

This article lays out a unified theory for dynamics of vehicle-pavement interaction under moving and stochastic loads. It covers three major aspects of the subject： pavement surface, tire-pavement contact forces, and response of continuum media under moving and stochastic vehicular loads. Under the subject of pavement surface, the spectrum of thermal joints is analyzed using Fourier analysis of periodic function. One-dimensional and two-dimensional random field models of pavement surface are discussed given three different assumptions. Under the subject of tire-pavement contact forces, a vehicle is modeled as a linear system. At a constant speed of travel, random field of pavement surface serves as a stationary stochastic process exciting vehicle vibration, which, in turn, generates contact force at the interface of tire and pavement. The contact forces are analyzed in the time domain and the frequency domains using random vibration theory. It is shown that the contact force can be treated as a nonzero mean stationary process with a normal distribution. Power spectral density of the contact force of a vehicle with walking-beam suspension is simulated as an illustration. Under the subject of response of continuum media under moving and stochastic vehicular loads, both time-domain and frequency-domain analyses are presented for analytic treatment of moving load problem. It is shown that stochastic response of linear continuum media subject to a moving stationary load is a nonstationary process. Such a nonstationary stochastic process can be converted to a stationary stochastic process in a follow-up moving coordinate.

Exact Statistical Distribution of the Body Mass Index (BMI): Analysis and Experimental Confirmation

Body Mass Index (BMI), defined as the ratio of individual mass (in kilograms) to the square of the associated height (in meters), is one of the most widely discussed and utilized risk factors in medicine and public health, given the increasing obesity worldwide and its relation to metabolic disease. Statistically, BMI is a composite random variable, since human weight (converted to mass) and height are themselves random variables. Much effort over the years has gone into attempts to model or approximate the BMI distribution function. This paper derives the mathematically exact BMI probability density function (PDF), as well as the exact bivariate PDF for human weight and height. Taken together, weight and height are shown to be correlated bivariate lognormal variables whose marginal distributions are each lognormal in form. The mean and variance of each marginal distribution, together with the linear correlation coefficient of the two distributions, provide 5 nonadjustable parameters for a given population that uniquely determine the corresponding BMI distribution, which is also shown to be lognormal in form. The theoretical analysis is tested experimentally by gender against a large anthropometric data base, and found to predict with near perfection the profile of the empirical BMI distribution and, to great accuracy, individual statistics including mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis, and correlation. Beyond solving a longstanding statistical problem, the significance of these findings is that, with knowledge of the exact BMI distribution functions for diverse populations, medical and public health professionals can then make better informed statistical inferences regarding BMI and public health policies to reduce obesity.

Validation of Novel Model for Identification of Thermal Conditions in the Low Corona

The electron density and temperature key properties of the neutral-magnetized plasma in the solar corona, which are predicted with a novel model, provide an interesting window along the whole solar cycle. In this work, we test the quantitative validity of the model and prove that the Coronal Density and Temperature (CODET) is reliable. Furthermore, this work contrasts the CODET model results with alternative observational remote and in-situ datasets during the simplest conditions of the quiescent corona near the solar minimum. This successful outcome/validation of the CODET model allowed a good qualitative density and temperature retrieval in the solar corona covering a large portion of time interval from solar cycles 23 and 24.

Thermodynamic Interpretation of Electron Density and Temperature Description in the Solar Corona

We reach a thermodynamic interpretation of the CODET model and its accurate electron density and temperature prediction, grounded on the physics of hydro magnetism in global equilibrium. The thermodynamic interpretation finds consistency with the model of a magneto-matter medium possessing a 3-D Langmuir structure. That medium is diamagnetic in the context of ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD). It is shown that this magneto-matter has unusual characteristics consistent with assuming that the low quiescent solar corona possesses a nature-state, non yet studied. It is further noticed that this is wholly consistent with the CODET model prediction of a polytropic anomalous index for the electron gas of the Sun’s corona. Constitutive properties are derived from this novel state of nature, like magnetic permeability properties and non-dispersive acoustic speed. This non-dispersive acoustic speed is also expected to predict the observed equilibration time for the 1.1 to 1.3R⊙ quiescent corona during the solar minimum from 2008 to 2009.

Calculations of Stratospheric Ozone and Effects of Diffusivity

This paper presents a system approach of mass balance of ozone and other species under diffusion-convection-reaction processes to study the ozone layer along the altitude in the stratosphere. The ozone abundance and general distribution above the tropical area were calculated and compared to the published measured data. The peak ozone layer was found to be 21 mPa at 22 km or 9.7 ppm at 30 km, and the involved competing processes depicting the ozone layer were explained in details. In the entire stratosphere from 10 km to 50 km, the calculated ozone distribution displayed a similar profile and trend to the observational data, with the calculation in ppm slightly above the measurement by 12%. The standard deviation of the differences between calculated and measured data was close to 0.25. A sensitivity study of gas diffusivities of molecular ozone D3 and atomic oxygen D1 on changing the ozone abundance and profile in the stratosphere showed that in the upper two-third of the stratosphere, D1 evidently exhibited a pronounced impact on ozone, as much as 24-fold larger than D3. The mechanism leading to this finding was also elaborated. The approach and calculations in this paper are shown to be useful for providing an initial insight into the structure and behavior of the complex ozone layer.

Modelling,Validation,and Calculations of Stratospheric Ozone Dynamics and Latitudinal Changes

This paper presents an engineering system approach of 2-D cylindrical model of mass balance calculations with convection,diffusion,and all potential photolysis,ozone generating and depleting chemical reactions considered.This model was developed,validated,and tested under different conditions for the stratospheric ozone.The calculated ozone concentrations and profile in the stratosphere at both the Equator and mid-latitudinal location of 40°S were found to exhibit a similar and close profile and peak value of the published measured data.The discrepancy between the calculations and measurements for the average ozone concentration was shown to be less than 1%and the variation of distributions to be less than 19%.The latitudinal changes of ozone concentrations,distribution,and peak of the layer were found to shift from 9.41 ppm at mid-altitude of z=30 km at the Equator,to 7.81 ppm at z=34.5 km at 40°S,to 5.78 ppm at higher altitude z=39 km at the South Pole.The total ozone abundances at strategic latitudes at 0°S,20°S,40°S,60°S,and 90°S,were found to remain stable and not much changed,from 305 DU to 335 DU,except a smaller value of 288 DU at the South Pole.The possible explanations of ozone profile change and peak shifting as affected by solar/UV radiation,latitudinal locations,and ozone-depleting reactions were discussed and elaborated.The 2-D ozone Model presented in this paper is a robust,efficient,executable,and validated model for studying the complex ozone phenomena in the stratosphere.

Relationship between oxidative stress and hepatic glutathione levels in ethanol-mediated apoptosis of polarized hepatic cells

AIM:To investigate the role of reactive oxygen species(ROS) in ethanol-mediated cell death of polarized hepatic(WIF-B) cells.METHODS:In this work,WIF-B cultures were treated with pyrazole(inducer of cytochrome P4502E1,CYP2E1) and/or L-buthionine sulfoximine(BSO),a known inhibitor of hepatic glutathione(GSH),followed by evaluation of ROS production,antioxidant levels,and measures of cell injury(apoptosis and necrosis).RESULTS:The results revealed that ethanol treatment alone caused a significant two-fold increase in the activation of caspase-3 as well as a similar doubling in ROS.When the activity of the CYP2E1 was increased by pyrazole pretreatment,an additional two-fold elevation in ROS was detected.However,the CYP2E1-related ROS elevation was not accompanied with a correlative increase in apoptotic cell injury,but rather was found to be associated with an increase in necrotic cell death.Interestingly,when the thiol status of the cells was manipulated using BSO,the ethanol-induced activation of caspase-3 was abrogated.Additionally,ethanol-treated cells displayed enhanced susceptibility to Fas-mediated apoptosis that was blocked by GSH depletion as a result of diminished caspase-8 activity.CONCLUSION:Apoptotic cell death induced as a consequence of ethanol metabolism is not completely dependent upon ROS status but is dependent on sustained GSH levels.

A comparative study of name resolution and routing mechanisms in 网 information-centric networks

Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is an innovative paradigm for the future internet architecture, which addresses IP network limitations in supporting content distribution and information access by decoupling content from hosts and providing the ability to retrieve a content object by its name (identifier), rather than its storage location (IP address). Name resolution and routing is critical for content retrieval in ICN networks. In this research, we perform a comparative study of two widely used classes of ICN name resolution and routing schemes, namely flooding and Distributed Hash Table (DHT). We consider the flooding-based routing in Content-Centric Networks due to its wide acceptance. For the DHT scheme, we design a multi-level DHT that takes into account the underlying network topology and uses name aggregation to further reduce control overhead and improve network efficiency. Then, we compare the characteristics and performance of these two classes of name resolution and routing through extensive simulations. The evaluation results show that the performances of these two approaches are reliant on several factors, including network size, content location dynamics, and content popularity. Our study reveals insights into the design tradeoffs and offers guidelines for design strategies.

Effects of ORC Working Fluids on Combined Cycle Integrated with SOFC and ORC for Stationary Power Generation

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of working fluid on conventional combined cycle integrated with pressurized solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and waste heat recovery organic Rankine cycle (ORC) for stationary utility power generation. The mathematical model of a natural gas fueled design configuration is developed in Matlab and Simulink and simulated with 14 working fluids. The effluent gases of SOFC undergo combustion in the combustion chamber and it is utilized in the gas turbine, steam turbine cycle and ORC. The model is compared with those found in literature and the parametric studies of temperature, flow rate, fuel utilization factor and exhaust gas on the system efficiency are examined. Results revealed that working fluids show a closely related behavior in efficiency at low pressure ratio and high flow fraction, fuel utilization, and temperature. R-123 was found to perform the best among 14 working fluids studied, yielding a system energy efficiency of 70% in the combined cycle integrated with SOFC and ORC.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF GAS—SOLID SUSPENSION FLOWS IN VORTEXING FLUIDIZED BED CHAMBER FREEBOARD

Gas flows and particle mass flux were measured and clutriation experimentswere conducted in two cold test models of vortexing fluidized bed(VFB).The experimen-tal results show that the secondary air injected tangentially creates strong vortexes,estab-lishes particle suspension layers and internal circulation,and suppresses the elutriation offine particles greatly.The vortexing fluidized bed combustion has bright prospect bccauseof its much higher combustion efficiency and desulphidation efficiency than bubblingfluidized bed combustion due to long particle residence time and high slip velocity betweengas and solid,and its simpler configuration and lower cost than circulating fluidized bedcombustion.

CaCo_1-xRu_xO_y: Role of Ru/Co Ratio on Its Transport Properties

Calcium cobaltites, especially Ca3Co4O9 with a misfit layered structure, are promising thermoelectric materials due to their suitability for high temperature applications and low densities. The existence of low spin-state electronic configurations for both and species is one of the key parameter to explain the large thermopower values. Ruthenium oxide, with a layered structure, exhibits strong electron-electron correlation and the extended nature of their 4d electrons enhances orbital overlapping which is expected to influence the transport characteristics of CaCo1-xRuxOy (CCR) samples, by affecting the spin state of the 3d Co ions. The effect on thermopower and electrical resistivity due to partial substitution of Co by Ru ions, up to 0.33 moles, from 300 to 600 K was investigated. A sharp decline in resistivity and in thermopower was observed until a transition ion ratio (TIR), (Ru/(Ru + Co)), of 0.5 is reached, beyond which both the properties became less sensitive to TIR. These variations in the transport properties are explained by the presence of 4d Ru in close proximity to the Co, which could influence the spin and oxidation state of Co ions. The Co rich and Ru rich samples exhibit very distinct microstructures and phase assemblages.

Prediction of Wine Quality Using Machine Learning Algorithms

As a subfield of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) aims to understand the structure of the data and fit it into models, which later can be used in unseen data to achieve the desired task. ML has been widely used in various sectors such as in Businesses, Medicine, Astrophysics, and many other scientific problems. Inspired by the success of ML in different sectors, here, we use it to predict the wine quality based on the various parameters. Among various ML models, we compare the performance of Ridge Regression (RR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), and multi-layer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to predict the wine quality. Multiple parameters that determine the wine quality are analyzed. Our analysis shows that GBR surpasses all other models’ performance with MSE, R, and MAPE of 0.3741, 0.6057, and 0.0873 respectively. This work demonstrates, how statistical analysis can be used to identify the components that mainly control the wine quality prior to the production. This will help wine manufacturer to control the quality prior to the wine production.

Human Ways of Life and Environmental Sustainability:Congo Basin Case Study

The impact of human ways of life on environment is undisputed.Examples include roads and railroads constructions,industrial farming and mining,urban and industrial centers expansions,modification of rivers and lakes to build dams,etc.All these affect natural habitats,environment and the ecosystem.Human ways of life have impacted the physical environment in many ways,such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation that result in soil,water and air pollution.The Congo Basin rainforest depletion due to human ways of life has triggered soil and water degradation,caused greenhouse effect by releasing tons of carbon in the atmosphere,and is believed to accelerate climate change.This paper suggests that people’s mindset can be transformed to transform human ways of life into best sustainability means that both improve living conditions and protect living environment.The case study is to illustrate that mindset transformation would enable the populations of the Congo Basin to go from complicity for deforestation to stewardship that uses local resources to improve living conditions while protecting living environment,and thus contributing to planet sustainability.

An Earth-mass planet in a time of COVID-19:KMT-2020-BLG-0414Lb

We report the discovery of KMT-2020-BLG-0414 Lb,with a planet-to-host mass ratio q2=0.9-1.2×10-5=3-4 q⊕at 1σ,which is the lowest mass-ratio microlensing planet to date.Together with two other recent discoveries(4?q/q⊕?6),it fills out the previous empty sector at the bottom of the triangular(log s,log q)diagram,where s is the planet-host separation in units of the angular Einstein radiusθE.Hence,these discoveries call into question the existence,or at least the strength,of the break in the mass-ratio function that was previously suggested to account for the paucity of very low-q planets.Due to the extreme magnification of the event,Amax~1450 for the underlying single-lens event,its light curve revealed a second companion with q3~0.05 and|log s3|~1,i.e.,a factor~10 closer to or farther from the host in projection.The measurements of the microlens parallaxπE and the angular Einstein radiusθE allow estimates of the host,planet and second companion masses,(M1,M2,M3)~(0.3 M⊙,1.0 M⊕,17 MJ),the planet and second companion projected separations,(a⊥,2,a⊥,3)~(1.5,0.15 or 15)au,and system distance DL~1 kpc.The lens could account for most or all of the blended light(I~19.3)and so can be studied immediately with high-resolution photometric and spectroscopic observations that can further clarify the nature of the system.The planet was found as part of a new program of high-cadence follow-up observations of high-magnification events.The detection of this planet,despite the considerable difficulties imposed by COVID-19(two KMT sites and OGLE were shut down),illustrates the potential utility of this program.

An overview of research efforts to understand the effects of underwater sound on cetaceans

Cetaceans are aquatic mammals living in an environment that is more suited for hearing than vision.As such,their sensory systems largely utilize acoustic cues for navigation,communication,foraging,and predator avoidance.However,the elevation of underwater sound levels from increased human activities has adversely affected cetaceans’use of sound to perform vital life functions.To address those impacts,scientific studies have been conducted to understand the behavioral,psychoacoustical,physiological,and physical responses by cetaceans that have been exposed to anthropogenic sound.These studies range from captive experiments involving auditory thresholds and noise-induced threshold shifts,to field observations of behavioral disturbance from sound exposure,to post-mortem examinations of physical manifestations in stranded animals.Over the years,results from these studies have assisted regulatory agencies in developing a series of criteria and thresholds for cetacean conservation and management around the world.This paper provides a high-level overview of worldwide research efforts that have been dedicated to understanding the effects of underwater sound on cetaceans.The review is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to capture major efforts and significant findings in this field.In addition,the review excludes synthesis studies and modeling exercises that do not involve direct research on target species.