Designing Animated Transitions to Convey Aggregate Operations

Data can be aggregated in many ways before being visualized in charts, profoundly affecting what a chart conveys. Despite this importance, the type of aggregation is often communicated only via axis titles. In this paper, we investigate the use of animation to disambiguate different types of aggregation and communicate the meaning of aggregate operations. We present design rationales for animated transitions depicting aggregate operations and present the results of an experiment assessing the impact of these different transitions on identification tasks. We find that judiciously staged animated transitions can improve subjects' accuracy at identifying the aggregation performed, though sometimes with longer response times than with static transitions. Through an analysis of participants' rankings and qualitative responses, we find a consistent preference for animation over static transitions and highlight visual features subjects report relying on to make their judgments. We conclude by extending our animation designs to more complex charts of aggregated data such as box plots and bootstrapped confidence intervals.     

Low Activation Energy Pathway for the Catalyzed Reduction of Nitrogen Oxides to N<Subscript>2</Subscript> by Ammonia

A low activation energy pathway for the catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides to N₂, with reductants other than ammonia, consists of two sets of reaction steps. In the first set, part of the NO _x is reduced to NH₃; in the second set ammonium nitrite, NH₄NO₂ is formed from this NH₃ and NO + NO₂. The NH₄NO₂ thus formed decomposes at ~100 °C to N₂ + H₂O, even on an inert support, whereas ammonium nitrate, NH₄NO₃, which is also formed from NH₃ and NO₂ + O₂, (or HNO₃), decomposes only at 312 °C yielding mainly N₂O. Upon applying Redhead's equations for a first order desorption to the decomposition of ammonium nitrite, an activation energiy of 22.4 is calculated which is consistent with literature data. For the reaction path via ammonium nitrite a consumption ratio of 1/1 for NO and NO₂ is predicted and confirmed experimentally by injecting NO into a mixture of NH₃ + NO₂ flowing over a BaNa/Y catalyst. This leads to a yield increase of one N₂ molecule per added molecule of NO. Little N₂ is produced from NH₃ + NO in the absence of NO₂.     

Germplasm Screening Using DNA Markers and Genome-Wide Association Study for the Identification of Powdery Mildew Resistance Loci in Tomato

Powdery mildew (PM), caused by Oidium spp. in tomato, is a global concern that leads to diminished yield. We aimed to evaluate previously reported DNA markers linked to powdery mildew resistance (PMR) and identify novel quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for PMR through a genome-wide association study in tomato. Sequencing analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of a PM strain (PNU_PM) isolated from Miryang, Gyeongnam, led to its identification as Oidium neolycopersici. Thereafter, a PM bioassay was conducted for a total of 295 tomato accessions, among which 24 accessions (4 S. lycopersicum accessions and 20 accessions of seven wild species) showed high levels of resistance to PNU_PM. Subsequently, we genotyped 11 markers previously linked to PMR in 56 accessions. PMR-specific banding patterns were detected in 15/22 PMR accessions, while no such bands were observed in the powdery mildew-susceptible accessions. The genome-wide association study was performed using TASSEL and GAPIT, based on the phenotypic data of 290 accessions and 11,912 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from the Axiom^® Tomato SNP Chip Array. Nine significant SNPs in chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12, were selected and five novel QTL regions distinct from previously known PMR-QTL regions were identified. Of these QTL regions, three putative candidate genes for PMR were selected from chromosomes 4 and 8, including two nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat class genes and a receptor-like kinase gene, all of which have been identified previously as causative genes for PMR in several crop species. The SNPs discovered in these genes provide useful information for understanding the molecular basis of PMR and developing DNA markers for marker-assisted selection of PMR in tomato.     

An acid catalyzed step in the catalytic reduction of NO x to N2

Contact of adsorbed ammonium nitrite, NH₄NO₂, with HCl vapor or a solid acid such as the zeolite HY, significantly lowers the temperature of its decomposition to N₂ + H₂O. Protonated NH₄NO₂ decomposes at room temperature. The decomposition of ammonium nitrite is one of the steps in the catalytic reduction of NO _x with ammonia or other reductants.     

Extraction of Product Evaluation Factors with a Convolutional Neural Network and Transfer Learning

Earlier studies have indicated that decision-making by a project development team can be improved throughout the design and development process by understanding the key factors that affect customers evaluations of a new product. Aspect extraction could thus be a useful tool for identifying important attributes when evaluating products or services. Aspect extraction based on deep convolutional neural networks has recently been suggested, demonstrating state-of-the-art performance when applied to a customer review of electronic devices. However, this approach is unsuited to the rapidly evolving smartphone industry, which involves a wide range of product lines. Whereas the previous approach required significant amounts of data labeling for each product, we propose a variant of that approach that includes transfer learning. We also propose a novel approach for transferring the architecture sequentially within the product group. The results indicate that the principal key feature of each product is extracted effectively by the proposed method without having to re-train the entire convolutional neural network model. Furthermore, the proposed method performs better than the previous method for each product line.     

The effect of Nafion sulfonate surface concentration on cationic polyacrylamide adsorption

Perfluorosulfonate ionomer membranes (PFSIs) were cast from Nafion^® propanol-water solutions of varying equivalent weights (950, 1100, and 1200 Da) and all annealed at 100 °C under vacuum. Sulfonate group surface concentration on the various membranes and its effect on the adsorption of a cationic polyacrylamide were investigated utilizing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The cationic polyacrylamide is employed in the microelectronics industry for electroless printed circuit fabrication and may be used to pattern electrodes directly onto the PFSI surfaces for fuel cell miniaturization. Sulfonate surface concentration was found to be well correlated to the sulfonate bulk concentration obtained from the known equivalent weights of the Nafion^® solutions. Adsorbed cationic polyacrylamide surface coverage was found to be independent of the immersion time in the adsorbate solution. A wide variation in adsorbate coverage (from 0 to 60% of the surface) occurred over a comparatively small variation in the sulfonate repeat unit surface concentration (from 0 to 20% of the total Nafion^® repeat units). Adsorbate coverage goes through a maximum as the sulfonate concentration increases and is consistent with a random, enthalpy-driven adsorption process. Greater sulfonate concentration and lower associated adsorbate coverage was detected on cast membranes than previously found with commercially prepared membranes.     

Development of porous fabric-hydrogel composite membranes with enhanced ion permeability for microalgal cultivation in the ocean

This article presents a strategy to develop the porous fabric-hydrogel composite membranes (PFHCMs) with high nitrate ion (NO₃⁻, a source of a main nutrient, nitrogen) permeability and sufficient mechanical strength required for microalgal cultivation in the ocean. The porous structure in the PFHCMs is generated by using three different types of porogens: water-soluble macromolecules, surfactant micelles, and CaCO₃ microparticles. Various PFHCMs, composed mainly of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels and cotton fabric, are prepared with varying the content of monomer, initiator, and crosslinker and the type and content of porogen. Their morphological, physical, and mechanical properties are characterized for variables. Among three porogens, the surfactant micelles with a large enough amount produce the optimal PFHCMs with NO₃⁻ ion permeability coefficient (5.49 × 10⁻⁸ m² min⁻¹, approximately 5 and 20 times higher than those of the fabric-hydrogel composite membranes, synthesized without any porogen in a previous work, and the commercial cellulose acetate membranes, respectively). Their mechanical strength (i.e., the ultimate stress is 9.37 MPa) is high enough for practical uses. Therefore, these PFHCMs are good candidate membranes in microalgal cultivation for biorefinery and other biomedical applications, including wound dressings. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48324.     

Novel and Potent Small Molecules against Melanoma Harboring BRAF Class I/II/III Mutants for Overcoming Drug Resistance

Melanoma accounts for the majority of skin cancer deaths. About 50% of all melanomas are associated with BRAF mutations. BRAF mutations are classified into three classes with regard to dependency on RAF dimerization and RAS signaling. The most frequently occurring class I BRAF V600 mutations are sensitive to vemurafenib whereas class II and class III mutants, non-V600 BRAF mutants are resistant to vemurafenib. Herein we report six pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidin-2-one derivatives possessing highly potent anti-proliferative activities on melanoma cells harboring BRAF class I/II/III mutants. Novel and most potent derivative, SIJ1777, possesses not only two-digit nanomolar potency but also 2 to 14-fold enhanced anti-proliferative activities compared with reference compound, GNF-7 against melanoma cells (SK-MEL-2, SK-MEL-28, A375, WM3670, WM3629). Moreover, SIJ1777 substantially inhibits the activation of MEK, ERK, and AKT and remarkably induces apoptosis and significantly blocks migration, invasion, and anchorage-independent growth of melanoma cells harboring BRAF class I/II/II mutations while both vemurafenib and PLX8394 have little to no effects on melanoma cells expressing BRAF class II/III mutations. Taken together, our six GNF-7 derivatives exhibit highly potent activities against melanoma cells harboring class I/II/III BRAF mutations compared with vemurafenib as well as PLX8394.     

Crosstalk cancelling voltage‐mode driver for multi‐Gbps parallel DRAM interface

For multi‐Gb/s/pin parallel dynamic random access memory (DRAM) interface, a crosstalk cancelling voltage‐mode driver is proposed. The voltage‐mode driver is composed of a main driver and sub‐drivers where the cancellation signal is generated by the sub‐drivers. The outputs of the main driver and sub‐drivers are combined by a capacitive coupling so the direct current (DC) output swing is not affected by the crosstalk cancellation and the sub‐drivers may not consume DC power. The proposed crosstalk cancelling voltage‐mode driver implemented in a 0.11‐µm complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology improves the horizontal eye openings by 22.6 ps at 4‐Gbps/pin. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Amide‐Catalyzed Phase‐Selective Crystallization Reduces Defect Density in Wide‐Bandgap Perovskites

Wide‐bandgap (WBG) formamidinium–cesium (FA‐Cs) lead iodide–bromide mixed perovskites are promising materials for front cells well‐matched with crystalline silicon to form tandem solar cells. They offer avenues to augment the performance of widely deployed commercial solar cells. However, phase instability, high open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) deficit, and large hysteresis limit this otherwise promising technology. Here, by controlling the crystallization of FA‐Cs WBG perovskite with the aid of a formamide cosolvent, light‐induced phase segregation and hysteresis in perovskite solar cells are suppressed. The highly polar solvent additive formamide induces direct formation of the black perovskite phase, bypassing the yellow phases, thereby reducing the density of defects in films. As a result, the optimized WBG perovskite solar cells (PSCs) (E_g ≈ 1.75 eV) exhibit a high V_oc of 1.23 V, reduced hysteresis, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.8%. A PCE of 15.2% on 1.1 cm² solar cells, the highest among the reported efficiencies for large‐area PSCs having this bandgap is also demonstrated. These perovskites show excellent phase stability and thermal stability, as well as long‐term air stability. They maintain ≈95% of their initial PCE after 1300 h of storage in dry air without encapsulation.