Interface Width and Bulk Stability: requirements for the simulation of Deeply Quenched Liquid-Gas Systems

Simulations of liquid-gas systems with extended interfaces are observed to fail to give accurate results for two reasons: the interface can get ``stuck'' on the lattice or a density overshoot develops around the interface. In the first case the bulk densities can take a range of values, dependent on the initial conditions. In the second case inaccurate bulk densities are found. In this communication we derive the minimum interface width required for the accurate simulation of liquid gas systems with a diffuse interface. We demonstrate this criterion for lattice Boltzmann simulations of a van der Waals gas. When combining this criterion with predictions for the bulk stability we can predict the parameter range that leads to stable and accurate simulation results. This allows us to identify parameter ranges leading to high density ratios of over 1000. This is despite the fact that lattice Boltzmann simulations of liquid-gas systems were believed to be restricted to modest density ratios of less than 20.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Changing the spatial location of electricity generation to increase water availability in areas with drought: a feasibility study and quantification of air quality impacts in Texas

The feasibility, cost, and air quality impacts of using electrical grids to shift water use from drought-stricken regions to areas with more water availability were examined. Power plant cooling represents a large portion of freshwater withdrawals in the United States, and shifting where electricity generation occurs can allow the grid to act as a virtual water pipeline, increasing water availability in regions with drought by reducing water consumption and withdrawals for power generation. During a 2006 drought, shifting electricity generation out of the most impacted areas of South Texas (~10% of base case generation) to other parts of the grid would have been feasible using transmission and power generation available at the time, and some areas would experience changes in air quality. Although expensive, drought-based electricity dispatch is a potential parallel strategy that can be faster to implement than other infrastructure changes, such as air cooling or water pipelines.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (Grant 0835414)United States. Dept. of Energ

Detection of regulator genes and eQTLs in gene networks

Genetic differences between individuals associated to quantitative phenotypic traits, including disease states, are usually found in non-coding genomic regions. These genetic variants are often also associated to differences in expression levels of nearby genes (they are "expression quantitative trait loci" or eQTLs for short) and presumably play a gene regulatory role, affecting the status of molecular networks of interacting genes, proteins and metabolites. Computational systems biology approaches to reconstruct causal gene networks from large-scale omics data have therefore become essential to understand the structure of networks controlled by eQTLs together with other regulatory genes, and to generate detailed hypotheses about the molecular mechanisms that lead from genotype to phenotype. Here we review the main analytical methods and softwares to identify eQTLs and their associated genes, to reconstruct co-expression networks and modules, to reconstruct causal Bayesian gene and module networks, and to validate predicted networks in silico.Comment: minor revision with typos corrected; review article; 24 pages, 2 figure

Breaking the Screen: Interaction Across Touchscreen Boundaries in Virtual Reality for Mobile Knowledge Workers.

Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to transform knowledge work. One advantage of VR knowledge work is that it allows extending 2D displays into the third dimension, enabling new operations, such as selecting overlapping objects or displaying additional layers of information. On the other hand, mobile knowledge workers often work on established mobile devices, such as tablets, limiting interaction with those devices to a small input space. This challenge of a constrained input space is intensified in situations when VR knowledge work is situated in cramped environments, such as airplanes and touchdown spaces. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of interacting jointly between an immersive VR head-mounted display and a tablet within the context of knowledge work. Specifically, we 1) design, implement and study how to interact with information that reaches beyond a single physical touchscreen in VR; 2) design and evaluate a set of interaction concepts; and 3) build example applications and gather user feedback on those applications.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, ISMAR 202

Recommendations from the European Working Group for Value Assessment and Funding Processes in Rare Diseases (ORPH-VAL)

International audienceAbstractRare diseases are an important public health issue with high unmet need. The introduction of the EU Regulation on orphan medicinal products (OMP) has been successful in stimulating investment in the research and development of OMPs. Despite this advancement, patients do not have universal access to these new medicines. There are many factors that affect OMP uptake, but one of the most important is the difficulty of making pricing and reimbursement (P&R) decisions in rare diseases. Until now, there has been little consensus on the most appropriate assessment criteria, perspective or appraisal process. This paper proposes nine principles to help improve the consistency of OMP P&R assessment in Europe and ensure that value assessment, pricing and funding processes reflect the specificities of rare diseases and contribute to both the sustainability of healthcare systems and the sustainability of innovation in this field. These recommendations are the output of the European Working Group for Value Assessment and Funding Processes in Rare Diseases (ORPH-VAL), a collaboration between rare disease experts, patient representatives, academics, health technology assessment (HTA) practitioners, politicians and industry representatives. ORPH-VAL reached its recommendations through careful consideration of existing OMP P&R literature and through a wide consultation with expert stakeholders, including payers, regulators and patients. The principles cover four areas: OMP decision criteria, OMP decision process, OMP sustainable funding systems and European co-ordination. This paper also presents a guide to the core elements of value relevant to OMPs that should be consistently considered in all OMP appraisals. The principles outlined in this paper may be helpful in drawing together an emerging consensus on this topic and identifying areas where consistency in payer approach could be achievable and beneficial. All stakeholders have an obligation to work together to ensure that the promise of OMP’s is realised

Consorciação de cana-de-açúcar e canola em clima tropical.

Resumo: A consorciação de culturas agrícolas apresenta potencialidade frente ao cenário futuro de escassez de terras agricultáveis e aumento da demanda mundial por alimentos. O desempenho da consorciação de cana-de-açúcar e canola foi avaliado durante três anos em Piracicaba (SP). O experimento foi delineado em blocos casualizados com 4 repetições e 5 tratamentos: cana-de-açúcar + canola Hyola 61; cana-de-açúcar + canola Hyola 401 ou Hyola 571; cana-de-açúcar em monocultivo; canola Hyola 61 monocultivo; canola Hyola 401 ou Hyola 571 monocultivo. A cana-de-açúcar em consórcio com a canola apresentou resultado similar ao seu monocultivo, com produtividade de colmos de 51,0 a 117,0 ton ha-1. A canola consorciada com cana-de-açúcar também apresentou produtividade de grãos similar ao seu monocultivo, de 1.026 a 1.567 kg ha-1. O sistema consorciado resultou em eficiência de uso da terra de 1,74 a 1,87 vezes superior ao monocultivo

ReconViguRation: Reconfiguring Physical Keyboards in Virtual Reality.

Physical keyboards are common peripherals for personal computers and are efficient standard text entry devices. Recent research has investigated how physical keyboards can be used in immersive head-mounted display-based Virtual Reality (VR). So far, the physical layout of keyboards has typically been transplanted into VR for replicating typing experiences in a standard desktop environment. In this paper, we explore how to fully leverage the immersiveness of VR to change the input and output characteristics of physical keyboard interaction within a VR environment. This allows individual physical keys to be reconfigured to the same or different actions and visual output to be distributed in various ways across the VR representation of the keyboard. We explore a set of input and output mappings for reconfiguring the virtual presentation of physical keyboards and probe the resulting design space by specifically designing, implementing and evaluating nine VR-relevant applications: emojis, languages and special characters, application shortcuts, virtual text processing macros, a window manager, a photo browser, a whack-a-mole game, secure password entry and a virtual touch bar. We investigate the feasibility of the applications in a user study with 20 participants and find that, among other things, they are usable in VR. We discuss the limitations and possibilities of remapping the input and output characteristics of physical keyboards in VR based on empirical findings and analysis and suggest future research directions in this area

Impact of ENSO-related rainfall variability on soybean yield in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Abstract: Rio Grande do Sul (RS) presents a known year-on-year unevenness for soybean production, mainly due to water availability. This study aimed to assess the climate effects, with special focus on rainfall during 25 soybean-growing seasons. Eleven sites were clustered according to soybean yield. The effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was considered in association with soil water balance. Neutral ENSO phases occurred in 32% of the years, while El Niño and La Ninã in 36% and 32%, respectively. No season presented difference of rainfall among Clusters under Neutral conditions. The limit of 800 mm rainfall for significant yield increments were only achieved in El Niño seasons. The combined effect of rainfall and soil type on soybean yield, represented by the actual soybean yields-water deficit relationship, led to a water cost from -3.7 to -15.2 kg mm-1 ha-1

Enabling an Equitable Energy Transition Through Inclusive Research

Comprehensive and meaningful inclusion of marginalized communities within the research enterprise will be critical to ensuring an equitable, technology-informed, clean energy transition. We provide five key action items for government agencies and philanthropic institutions to operationalize the commitment to an equitable energy transition