Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Complex differentiation method"

The monograph presents a methodology for assessing the vulnerability of landscapes to external influences. A comparative analysis of the concepts of "stability", "sensitivity", "vulnerability" in relation to natural complexes. An overview of existing methods for assessing the vulnerability of natural complexes is presented. The author's method of assessing the vulnerability of landscapes to anthropogenic impacts is described. The methodology is based on: selection and justification of criteria for assessing the vulnerability of landscapes; preparation of a parametric matrix and gradation of as

Blood is a dynamic fluid consisting of cellular and plasma components undergoing constant regeneration and recycling. Like most physiological systems, the concentrations of these components are tightly regulated within narrow limits under normal conditions. In the critically-ill population, however, haematological abnormalities frequently occur and are largely due to non-haematological single- or multiple-organ pathology. Haematopoiesis originates from the pluripotent stem cell, which undergoes replication, proliferation, and differentiation, giving rise to cells of the erythroid, myeloid, and

This chapter illustrates the historical progression, methodological approaches, and current neurobiological understanding of depression, the first leading cause of mental and behavioral disorder disability in the United States. We describe and position, in relation to depressive symptoms, the complex abnormalities that depressed adults and youth show concerning neural function during tasks and at rest, structural abnormalities, as well as key neurotransmitter, neuroreceptor, and metabolic abnormalities that have been examined in the literature. We also describe newer findings and methods such

This article discusses the impact of eugenics in Britain. It discusses eugenics as a biological way of thinking about social, economic, political, and cultural change. It gives scientific credibility to prejudices, anxieties, and fears that are prevalent primarily among the middle and upper classes. It delineates the tensions between “classic” and “reform”, although this is only one modality along which to align the complex factors that polarized the society—some of them ideological, some of them about tactics, and some based on personalities. It gives a detailed description of the differentia

Burn injury represents a complex clinical entity with significant associated morbidity and remains the second leading cause of trauma-related death. An understanding of the local and systemic pathophysiology of burns has led to significant improvements in mortality. Thermal insult results in coagulative necrosis of the skin and the depth or degree of injury is classified according to the skin layers involved. First-degree burns involve only epidermis and heal quickly with no scar. Second-degree burns are further classified into superficial partial thickness or deep partial thickness depending

AbstractMitochondria are highly dynamic organelles which form intricate networks with complex dynamics. Mitochondrial transport and distribution are essential to ensure proper cell function, especially in cells with an extremely polarised morphology such as neurons. A layer of complexity is added when considering mitochondria have their own genome, packaged into nucleoids. Major mitochondrial morphological transitions, for example mitochondrial division, often occur in conjunction with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and changes in the dynamic behaviour of the nucleoids. However, the relationship between mtDNA dynamics and mitochondrial motility in the processes of neurons has been largely overlooked. In this chapter, we describe a method for live imaging of mitochondria and nucleoids in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells by instant structured illumination microscopy (iSIM). We also include a detailed protocol for the differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells into cells with a pronounced neuronal-like morphology and show examples of coordinated mitochondrial and nucleoid motility in the long processes of these cells.

Abstract The difference between engineering and science, and all other human activity, is the fact that engineers and scientists make quantitative predictions about measurable outcomes and can specify their uncertainty in such predictions. Because those predictions are quantitative, they must employ mathematics. This chapter is intended as review of some of the more useful mathematical concepts, strategies, and techniques that are employed in the description of vibrational and acoustical systems and in the calculation of their behavior. Topics in this review include techniques such as Taylor series expansions, integration by parts, and logarithmic differentiation. Equilibrium and stability considerations lead to relations between potential energies and forces. The concept of linearity leads to superposition and Fourier analysis. Complex numbers and phasors are introduced along with the techniques for their algebraic manipulation. The discussion of physical units is extended to include their use for predicting functional dependencies of resonance frequencies, quality factors, propagation speeds, flow noise, and other system behaviors using similitude and the Buckingham Π-theorem to form dimensionless variables. Linearized least-squares fitting is introduced as a method for extraction of experimental parameters and their uncertainties and error propagation is presented to allow those uncertainties to be combined.

AbstractOrbital imaging with CT or MRI can be essential in the evaluation of many orbital conditions. Because of its superior bony characterization and fast acquisition, CT is imaging method of first choice in urgent situations like trauma, infection, and evaluation of lesions arising from the orbital wall. Through recent years, CT has also gained a prominent role in (pre)operative planning and navigation, especially through the development of postprocessing software. For the evaluation of more complex orbital disease, MRI is the preferred modality. With its superior soft-tissue differentiation, MRI is useful for determining the extent of orbital lesions, like inflammatory disease, vascular malformations, and orbital tumors. By adding functional MRI techniques, like diffusion and perfusion-weighted imaging, and by combining parameters of different imaging techniques in multiparametric imaging, it is possible to further improve characterization of orbital lesions. In this chapter, the optimal approach to orbital imaging is described, combining knowledge of orbital imaging techniques and imaging indications, together with a structured way of reviewing the orbital images, knowledge of radiological features of common, and more uncommon orbital pathology, and integrating this with the clinical features of the patient.

AbstractA vast number of experiments have now shown that helium nanodroplets are an exemplary cryogenic matrix for spectroscopic investigations. The experimental techniques are well established and involve in most cases the pickup of evaporated neutral species by helium droplets. These techniques have been extended within our research group to enable nanodroplet pickup of anions or cations stored in an ion trap. By using electrospray ionization (ESI) in combination with modern mass spectrometric methods to supply ions to the trap, an immense variety of mass-to-charge selected species can be doped into the droplets and spectroscopically investigated. We have combined this droplet doping methodology with IR action spectroscopy to investigate anions and cations ranging in size from a few atoms to proteins that consist of thousands of atoms. Herein, we show examples of small complexes of fluoride anions (F−) with CO2 and H2O and carbohydrate molecules. In the case of the small complexes, novel compounds could be identified, and quantum chemistry can in some instances quantitatively explain the results. For biologically relevant complex carbohydrate molecules, the IR spectra are highly diagnostic and allow the differentiation of species that would be difficult or impossible to identify by more conventional methods.

AbstractPurpose: the purpose of this study is to find out a cutting-edge innovative solution for enhancing ICT products delivery and proposing an implementation plan with transformation recommendations aiming higher success rate.Methodology: This qualitative study is done through intensive literature review followed by qualitative analysis and selection of best product delivery method using cost benefit analysis and previous successful implementations benchmark. A proposed delivery operating model was also recommended accordingly.Findings: Based on the problem analysis and subsequent literature review, the existing delivery methodologies of ICT services providers are not fully sufficient to cater for high complex products delivery which require high integration and customer centricity. Hence, a hybrid delivery method is recommended based on previous success stories of 5 major companies with a proposed transformative operating model (framework) including a transformation plan and implementation recommendations.Implications: Information Communication Technologies services providers can benefit from the proposed hybrid product development approach and the suggested operating model as key differentiator for agility, customer centricity, and improved time to market. It enhances collaboration, innovation, culture, and Employee Engagement.Originality/value: Previous literature has extensively explored projects delivery models in various industries where there was minimum focus on ICT industry. This paper uncovers and contribute positively in proposing a successful hybrid agile delivery method with a transformative operating model to support higher success rate in ICT Industry to assure high-value creation, maximize return on investments with high net present value.

AbstractSignature and anomaly-based techniques are the fundamental methods to detect malware. However, in recent years this type of threat has advanced to become more complex and sophisticated, making these techniques less effective. For this reason, researchers have resorted to state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to combat the threat of information security. Nevertheless, despite the integration of the machine learning models, there is still a shortage of data in training that prevents these models from performing at their peak. In the past, generative models have been found to be highly effective at generating image-like data that are similar to the actual data distribution. In this paper, we leverage the knowledge of generative modeling on opcode sequences and aim to generate malware samples by taking advantage of the contextualized embeddings from BERT. We obtained promising results when differentiating between real and generated samples. We observe that generated malware has such similar characteristics to actual malware that the classifiers are having difficulty in distinguishing between the two, in which the classifiers falsely identify the generated malware as actual malware almost $$90\%$$ of the time.

AbstractBuilding on the two rounds of exposure studies with human milk coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the mid-1980s and 1990s on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), five expanded studies on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were performed between 2000 and 2019. After the adoption of the Stockholm Convention on POPs (the Convention) in 2001, WHO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated in joint studies starting in 2004. The collaboration aimed at provision of POPs data for human milk as a core matrix under the Global Monitoring Plan (GMP) to assess the effectiveness of the Convention as required under Article 16. Over time, the number of analytes in the studies expanded from the initial 12 POPs targeted by the Convention for elimination or reduction to the 30 POPs covered under the Stockholm Convention and two other POPs proposed for listing as of 2019. Many of these chemicals have numerous congeners, homologous groups, isomeric forms, and transformation products, which significantly extends the number of recommended analytes.In the studies between 2000 and 2019, 82 countries from all five United Nations regions participated, of which 50 countries participated in more than one study. For the human milk samples of the 2016–2019 period, results are available for the full set of 32 POPs of interest for the Convention until 2019: (i) the 26 POPs listed by the start of the study in 2016; (ii) decabromodiphenyl ether [BDE-209] and short-chain chlorinated paraffins [SCCP] as listed in 2017; (3) dicofol and perfluorooctanoic acid [PFOA] as listed in 2019; (4) medium-chain chlorinated paraffins [MCCP] and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid [PFHxS] as proposed for listing. This is a unique characteristic among the core matrices under the GMP.Four key messages can be derived: These studies are an efficient and effective tool with global coverage as key contributor to the GMP. After collection of a large number of individual samples (usually 50) fulfilling protocol criteria, pooled samples are prepared using equal aliquots of individual samples (physical averaging) and are considered to be representative for a country, subregion or subpopulation at the time of the sampling. The analysis of pooled representative human milk samples by dedicated Reference Laboratories meeting rigorous quality criteria contributes to reliability and comparability and reduces uncertainty of the analytical results. Additionally, this concept is very cost-effective. These studies can be used for regional differentiation based on concentrations of individual POPs between and within the five UN Regional Groups (African Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eastern European Group, Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries; Western European and Others Group). For some POPs, a wide range of concentrations with up to three orders of magnitude between lower and upper concentrations was found, even for countries in the same UN region. Some countries had levels within the usual range for most POPs, but high concentrations for certain POPs. Findings of concentrations in the upper third of the frequency distribution may motivate targeted follow-up studies rather than if the observed level of a POP is found in the lower third of frequency distribution. However, the concentration of a POP has also to be seen in context of the sampling period and the history and pattern of use of the POPs in each country. Therefore, results are not intended for ranking of individual countries but rather to distinguish broader patterns. These studies can provide an assessment of time trends, as possible sources of variation were minimized by the survey concepts building on two factors (sampling design; analysis of the pooled samples by dedicated Reference Laboratories). The estimation of time trends based on comparison of median or mean concentrations in UN Regional Groups over the five surveys in five equal four-year periods between 2000 and 2019 provides a first orientation. However, the variation of the number of countries participating in a UN Regional Group in a certain period can influence the median or mean concentrations. Thus, it is more prudent to only use results of countries with repeated participation in these studies for drawing conclusions on temporal trends. The reduction rates in countries should be seen in context with the concentration range: A differentiation of high levels and those in the range of the background contamination is meaningful. If high levels are found, sources might be detected which could be eliminated. This can lead to significant decrease rates over the following years. However, if low background levels are reported, no specific sources can be detected. Other factors for exposure, e.g. the contamination of feed and food by air via long-range transport and subsequent bioaccumulation, cannot be influenced locally. However, only very few time points from most individual countries for most POPs of interest are available, which prevents the derivation of statistically significant temporal trends in these cases. Yet, the existing data can indicate decreasing or increasing tendencies in POP concentrations in these countries. Furthermore, pooling of data in regions allows to derive statistically significant time trends in the UN Regional Groups and globally. Global overall time trends using the data from countries with repeated participation were calculated by the Theil–Sen method. Regarding the median levels of the five UN Regional Groups, a decrease per 10 years by 58% was found for DDT, by 84% for beta-HCH, by 57% for HCB, by 32% for PBDE, by 48% for PFOS, by 70% for PCB, and by 48% for PCDD and PCDF (expressed as toxic equivalents). In contrast, the concentrations of chlorinated paraffins (CP) as “emerging POPs” showed increasing tendencies in some UN Regional Groups. On a global level, a statistically significant increase of total CP (total CP content including SCCP [listed in the Convention in 2017] and MCCP [proposed to be listed]) concentrations in human milk of 30% over 10 years was found. The studies can provide the basis for discussion of the relative importance (“ranking”) of the quantitative occurrence of POPs. This, however, requires a differentiation between two subgroups of lipophilic substances ([i] dioxin-like compounds, to be determined in the pg/g [=ng/kg] range, and [ii] non-dioxin-like chlorinated and brominated POPs, to be determined in the ng/g [=μg/kg] range; both groups reported on lipid base) and the more polar perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS); reported on product base [as pg/g fresh weight] or on volume base [ng/L]. For this purpose, results for the complete set of the 32 POPs of interest for the 2016–2019 period were considered. By far, the highest concentrations of lipophilic substances were found for DDT (expressed as “DDT complex”: sum of all detected analytes, calculated as DDT; maximum: 7100 ng/g lipid; median: 125 ng/g lipid) and for chlorinated paraffins (total CP content; maximum: 700 total CP/g lipid; median: 116 ng total CP/g lipid). PCB was next in the ranking and had on average an order of magnitude lower concentrations than the average of the total CP concentrations. The high CP concentrations were caused predominantly by MCCP. If the pooled samples from mothers without any known major contamination source nearby showed a high level of CP, some individual samples (e.g. from local population close to emission sources, as a result of exposure to consumer products or from the domestic environment) might even have significantly higher levels. The lactational intake of SCCP and MCCP of the breastfed infant in the microgram scale resulting from the mothers’ dietary and environmental background exposure should therefore motivate targeted follow-up studies and further measures to reduce exposure (including in the case of MCCP, regulatory efforts, e.g. restriction in products). Further, due to observed levels, targeted research should look at the balance among potential adverse effects against positive health aspects for the breastfed infants for three groups of POPs (dioxin-like compounds; non-dioxin-like chlorinated and brominated POPs; PFAS) regarding potentially needed updates of the WHO guidance. As an overall conclusion, the seven rounds of WHO/UNEP human milk exposure studies are the largest global survey on human tissues with a harmonized protocol spanning over the longest time period and carried out in a uniform format. Thus, these rounds are an effective tool to obtain reliable and comparable data sets on this core matrix and a key contributor to the GMP. A comprehensive set of global data covering all POPs targeted by the Stockholm Convention, in all UN Regional Groups, and timelines covering a span of up to three decades allows to evaluate data from various perspectives. A widened three-dimensional view is necessary to discuss results and can be performed using the three pillars for assessments of the comprehensive data set, namely: analytes of interest; regional aspects; time trends. This can identify possible problems for future targeted studies and interventions at the country, regional, or global level. Long-term trends give an indication of the effectiveness of measures to eliminate or reduce specific POPs. The consideration of countries with repeated participation in these studies provides the best possible database for the evaluation of temporal trends. The continuation of these exposure studies is important for securing sufficient data for reliable time trend assessments in the future. Therefore, it is highly recommended to continue this monitoring effort, particularly for POPs that are of public health concern.

Almost fourty-five years ago, Joseph Kerman proposed the notion of getting out of analysis, in fact a strategy through criticism to broaden its formalist parameters (Kerman, 1980). Kerman’s argument was flawed in many respects as Agawu pointed out; analysis was necessary in his view to teach “undergraduate music theory” and “basic musical literacy,” (Agawu, 2004: 269) something Kerman would not have denied. Yet these debates, and their continuation (Horton 2020; Cavett et al. 2023) have missed something more fundamental, especially as ideological ivory towers and territories needed protection. Over the last fourty years the rise of theory courses, has led to a schism between theory as a discipline and theory as a necessary precursor to practice (for learning repertoire, improvisation and composition); this is till prevalent in Universities and conservatoires today. This issue has not been helped by the interdisciplinarity of musicology, by the concomitant continual expansion of the curriculum, and the move away in many university departments from study of ‘the dots’ to other equally-valid forms of engagement with music. Part of this separation results from an educational ideal that differentiation is necessary before integration, something that the somatic thinker Mosche Feldenkrais advocated, but the ‘integration’ element, has more often been left to chance. This study seeks to make a pedagogical synthesis between theory improvisation and composition, allowing the teacher and student to move freely between these areas, and the student to develop their own sense of autonomy. Artistic research is premised on knowing something, on having some ‘petrol in the tank’, and especially on the ability to make aesthetic choices. This paper develops a critical and reflexive method to do begin this task. It begins by presenting a creative rethinking of species counterpoint, a foundation for thinking in Schenkerian analysis (Forte and Gilbert, 1983, also played out through Kennan 1987, Schubert 2003, Davidian 2015, and Denisch 2017) through Bach’s Goldberg Variations (1741). This develops a resource for pedagogy and practice through teaching musical techniques of composition. I present a layered-cake of musical lines against the figured bass of the theme (moving from semibreves to quavers) as an exercise that inculcates various aspects of var. 1 of the ‘Goldbergs’, and then I explore the codes and ramifications of this that allow both historical sensitivity and creative development. This contextualized exercise provides a stepping-stone to a discussion of Variation 1 (prefigured in my species example), and the development of complete variations beginning with a given “invention” (Dreyfus 1997), and then moving to the composition of new ideas. I suggest how these exercises can be used for teaching improvisation and show how this invaluable connection can be developed through other models (‘la folia’ for example). This model of thinking is historically connected to partimenti (Gjerdingen 2010, 2020), and, following Feldenkrais’s thinking (Sholl 2019, 2021), I provide different solutions to the same exercises. This strategy attempts to promote an “adaptive flexibility” (Thelen and Smith 2004) in which students can enactively and organically learn musical and technical fluency, while also developing their creativity and autonomy.

The functional integral representation of the density matrix at thermal equilibrium in non-relativistic quantum mechanics (QM) with many degrees of freedom, in the grand canonical formulation is introduced. In QM, Hamiltonians H(p,q) can be also expressed in terms of creation and annihilation operators, a method adapted to the study of perturbed harmonic oscillators. In the holomorphic formalism, quantum operators act by multiplication and differentiation on a vector space of analytic functions. Alternatively, they can also be represented by kernels, functions of complex variables that correspond in the classical limit to a complex parametrization of phase space. The formalism is adapted to the description of many-body boson systems. To this formalism corresponds a path integral representation of the density matrix at thermal equilibrium, where paths belong to complex spaces, instead of the more usual position–momentum phase space. A parallel formalism can be set up to describe systems with many fermion degrees of freedom, with Grassmann variables replacing complex variables. Both formalisms can be generalized to quantum gases of Bose and Fermi particles in the grand canonical formulation. Field integral representations of the corresponding quantum partition functions are derived.

Medical imaging is an essential data source that has been leveraged worldwide in health- care systems. In pathology, histopathology images are used for cancer diagnosis, whereas these images are very complex and their analyses by pathologists require large amounts of time and effort. On the other hand, although convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have produced near-human results in image processing tasks, their processing time is becoming longer and they need higher computational power. In this paper, we implement a quantized ResNet model on two histopathology image datasets to optimize the i

Designing mechanical systems in a robust way requires computational tools that not only conduct the direct analysis (aerodynamic, structural, etc.), but can also carry out a robust sensitivity analysis of the outputs with respect to the design parameters. This is especially the case for highly nonlinear, multidisciplinary systems such as helicopter rotors. The structural analysis aspect of rotor blade design has been comprehensively studied in the literature, as shown by the multiple software packages available. On the other hand, very few instances of general-purpose sensitivity analysis tool

Automatic differentiation is a technique that allows one to easily calculate exact partial derivatives of complex, composite mathematical functions. This technique is described in a book by Rall1 of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Independently, S. Marshall of Xerox Corp. developed an algorithm that is effectively automatic differentiation, and extends the technique to arbitrary order partial derivatives of functions of arbitrary number of independent variables. Since aberration coefficients are merely partial derivatives of final ray coordinates with respect to initial ray coordinates

The dynamics of large scale and complex multibody systems (MBS) that include flexible bodies and contact/impact pairs is governed by stiff equations. Because explicit integration methods can be very inefficient and often fail in the case of stiff problems, the use of implicit numerical integration methods is recommended in this case. This paper presents a new and efficient implementation of the two-loop implicit sparse matrix numerical integration (TLISMNI) method proposed for the solution of constrained rigid and flexible MBS differential and algebraic equations. The TLISMNI method has desira

Abstract Multibody dynamics optimization requires the computation of sensitivities of the objective function and the constraints. This calculation can be done by two methods, direct differentiation and adjoint variable method, that are reviewed in this paper. In either cases, the complexity of the terms that appear in the formulation makes almost a need the use of symbolic computation for the derivation of sensitivities. An existing symbolic manipulator designed for multibody optimization has been enhanced with new and more powerful capabilities. The use of arbitrary functions as design variab

The design optimization of rotorcraft through multidisciplinary aeroelastic models with hundreds of thousands of degrees of freedom requires a computationally efficient sensitivity analysis to obtain the objective function gradient. A fundamental part of rotorcraft analysis is the flexible multibody dynamics solver, which in the current work relies on an accurate three-dimensional representation of the beams. This paper presents the theoretical adjoint sensitivity analysis of the first structural analysis step, namely the computation of cross-sectional properties of the beams in the form of si

Abstract Sensitivity analysis plays an important role in modern engineering applications where design optimization is desired. A computationally efficient sensitivity analysis scheme is presented in this paper in an effort to facilitate design optimization as it pertains to general, complex multi-rigid-body dynamic systems. Based on the underlying velocity space projection, state space formulation, and direct differentiation approach, the first-order sensitivity information can be efficiently determined in a fully recursive manner for general multi-rigid-body dynamic systems involving an arbit

Abstract Nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) is a strategy suitable for dealing with highly complex, nonlinear, uncertain, and constrained dynamics involved in aircraft engine control problems. Because of the complexity of the algorithm and the real-time performance of the predictive model, it has thus far been infeasible to implement model predictive control in the realtime control system of aircraft engine. In most nonlinear model predictive control, nonlinear interior point methods (IPM) are used to calculate the optimal solution, which iterate to the optimal solution based on the Jac

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a complex legal-institutional system that, on the one hand, offers industrialized countries options for cost-effective emission reductions and, on the other, provides developing countries with opportunities for sustainable development. Investors face the difficulty of identifying suitable CDM projects from approximately 130 possible host countries and nearly 60 possible project activities. In order to develop points of reference for strategic investments, this paper identifies and categorizes the risks arising in the value creation process of bilateral

Rapid detection of pathogens and hazardous elements in fresh fruits and vegetables after harvest requires the use of advanced sensor technology at each step in the farm-to-consumer or farm-to-processing sequence. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the complementary Raman spectroscopy, an advanced optical technique based on light scattering will be investigated for rapid and on-site assessment of produce safety. Paving the way toward the development of this innovative methodology, specific original objectives were to (1) identify and distinguish different serotypes of Escherichi

With the industry foundation classes (IFC) building information modeling (BIM) standard (ISO 16739) being adopted by AASHTO as the national standard for modeling bridge and road infrastructure projects, there comes a great opportunity to upgrade the INDOT model development standard of roads and related assets to 2D+3D BIM. This upgrade complies with the national standard and creates a solid foundation for preserving accurate asset information for lifecycle data needs. This study reviewed the current modeling standards for drainage and pavement at different state DOTs and investigated the inter

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act (England) aims to develop a science-based process for the regulation and authorisation of precision bred organisms (PBOs). PBOs are created by genetic technologies but exhibit changes which could have occurred through traditional processes. This current review, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), aims to clarify existing terminologies, explore viable methods for the detection, identification, and quantification of products of precision breeding techniques, address and identify potential solutions to the analytical challenges presente