The Complexity of Universal Text-Learners

The present work deals with language learning from text. It considers universal learners for classes of languages in models of additional information and analyzes their complexity in terms of Turing degrees. The following is shown: If the additional information is given by a set containing at least one index for each language from the class to be learned but no index for any language outside the class, then there is a universal learner having the same Turing degree as the inclusion problem for recursively enumerable sets. This result is optimal in the sense that any other successful learner has the same or higher Turing degree. If the additional information is given by the index set of the class of languages to be learned then there is a computable universal learner. Furthermore, if the additional information is presented as an upper bound on the size of some grammar that generates the language, then a high oracle is necessary and sufficient. Finally, it is shown that for the concepts of finite learning and learning from good examples, the index set of the class to be learned gives insufficient information due to the restrictive convergence constraints, these criteria need the jump of the index set instead of the index set itself. So, they have infinite access to the information of the index set in finite time.     

Concurrent bandgap narrowing and polarization enhancement in epitaxial ferroelectric nanofilms

Perovskite-type ferroelectric (FE) crystals are wide bandgap materials with technologically valuable optical and photoelectric properties. Here, versatile engineering of electronic transitions is demonstrated in FE nanofilms of KTaO₃, KNbO₃ (KNO), and NaNbO₃ (NNO) with a thickness of 10–30 unit cells. Control of the bandgap is achieved using heteroepitaxial growth of new structural phases on SrTiO₃ (001) substrates. Compared to bulk crystals, anomalous bandgap narrowing is obtained in the FE state of KNO and NNO films. This effect opposes polarization-induced bandgap widening, which is typically found for FE materials. Transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements indicate that the formation of higher-symmetry structural phases of KNO and NNO produces the desirable red shift of the absorption spectrum towards visible light, while simultaneously stabilizing robust FE order. Tuning of optical properties in FE films is of interest for nanoscale photonic and optoelectronic devices.     

A review of nanoparticle-enhanced membrane distillation membranes: membrane synthesis and applications in water treatment

Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven process that uses low-grade energy to operate and has been extensively explored as an alternative cost-effective and efficient water treatment process compared to conventional membrane processes. MD membranes are synthesized from hydrophobic polymers, e.g. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or polypropylene (PP), using various methods including phase inversion and electrospinning techniques. Recent literature on MD membranes clearly shows their important role in surface water/wastewater treatment and seawater desalination. Modification of MD membranes with nanoscale materials significantly improves their performance, preventing wetting and fouling. This review presents a critical assessment of the progress on the use of nanomaterials for the modification of MD membranes. The techniques commonly used to synthesize MD membranes, the modifications that have been adopted for the incorporation of nanomaterials onto membranes, and the unique properties these nanomaterials impart on the membranes are discussed. The use of modified membranes in different MD configurations and their application in groundwater, surface water, wastewater, brackish water and seawater treatment is reviewed. Finally, cost implications, commercial viability, environmental sustainability, and future prospects of MD are also discussed to elucidate promising approaches for a future and successful implementation of MD at an industrial scale. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Long-term cognitive deficits following posterior fossa tumor resection: A neuropsychological and functional neuroimaging follow-up study.

The posterior fossa syndrome (PFS) consists of transient cerebellar mutism, cognitive symptoms, and neurobehavioral abnormalities that typically develop in children following posterior fossa (PF) tumor resection. The pathophysiological substrate of the syndrome remains unclear. We investigated eight children of whom five presented with a variety of clinically relevant non-motor language symptoms associated with cognitive and behavioral disturbances after PF tumor resection. Four children developed transient cerebellar mutism followed by dysarthric speech. Non-motor language symptoms consisted of agrammatism, anomia, impaired verbal fluency, comprehension deficits, and aspontaneous speech. Neurocognitive deficits included executive dysfunctions, concentration deficits, and visuo-spatial disorders. In addition, all children presented with behavioral and affective disturbances. Functional neuroimaging studies during the phase of mutism by means of SPECT showed perfusional deficits in the anatomo-clinically suspected supratentorial areas subserving language dynamics, syntax, naming, executive functioning, affective regulation, and behavior. A significant improvement of frontal perfusional deficits paralleled the clinical remission of mutism. These results add to the view that the PFS might represent a cerebello-cerebral diaschisis phenomenon, reflecting the metabolic impact of the cerebellar lesion on supratentorial cognitive and affective functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of High Cell Density Fermentations with Different Lager Yeast Strains

To improve the productivity of the beer fermentation process, several strategies can be adopted. One of these promising strategies could be the increase of suspended yeast cells in the reactor. Therefore, the fermentation characteristics of 11 lager yeast strains were studied in normal pitched worts (20 × 10⁶ cells/ mL) (LD) and in worts with a four‐fold higher pitching rate (HD). The fermentation rate was 2–4 times increased when high initial cell levels were used. The net yeast growth was somewhat similar between the LD and the HD fermentations, although the FAN uptake level was about 35% higher in the HD fermentations compared with LD. High viabilities were observed throughout the fermentations with high cell loadings. HD fermentations resulted in higher concentrations of all the measured fusel alcohols and higher maxima and residual concentrations of total diacetyl were observed. In contrast, higher levels of most of the esters were found at the normal pitching rate, although the results of isoamyl acetate were not significant. With the help of “Principal Component Analysis”, it became clear that the cell density had an important influence on the flavour profile, but that yeast specific preferences could not be overlooked as they determined the sensitivity of the yeast to the application of higher cell densities.     

Epitaxial Ferroelectric Heterostructures with Nanocolumn‐Enhanced Dynamic Properties

The possibility to tailor ferroelectricity by controlling epitaxial strain in thin films and heterostructures of complex metal oxides is well established. Here it is demonstrated that apart from this mechanism, 3D film growth during heteroepitaxy can be used to favor specific domain configurations that lead to step‐like polarization switching and a giant nonlinear dielectric response in sub‐switching ac electric fields. A combination of cube‐on‐cube epitaxial growth and the formation of columnar structures during pulsed laser deposition of Pb_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ films on La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ bottom electrode layers and MgO (001) substrates stabilizes ferroelectric nanodomains with enhanced dynamic properties. In the Pb_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ films, a‐ and c‐oriented epitaxial columns grow from the bottom to the top of the film leading to random polydomain architectures with strong associations between the ferroelectric domains and the nanocolumns. Polarization switching in the two domain populations is initiated at distinctive fields due to domain wall pinning on column boundaries. Moreover, piezoelectric coupling between ferroelectric domains leads to strong interdomain elastic interactions, which result in an enhanced Rayleigh‐type dielectric nonlinearity. The growth of epitaxial films with 3D columnar structures opens up new routes towards the engineering of enhanced ferroelectric and electromechanical functions in a broad class of complex oxide materials.     

Notes on Sum-Tests and Independence Tests

We study statistical sum-tests and independence tests, in particular for computably enumerable semimeasures on a discrete domain. Among other things, we prove that for universal semimeasures every S⁰₁\Sigma ^{0}_{1} -sum-test is bounded, but unbounded P⁰₁\Pi ^{0}_{1} -sum-tests exist, and we study to what extent the latter can be universal. For universal semimeasures, in the unary case of sum-test we leave open whether universal P⁰₁\Pi ^{0}_{1} -sum-tests exist, whereas in the binary case of independence tests we prove that they do not exist.