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In this study, a novel concept of multipoint anionic bridge (MAB) is proposed and proved, which utilizes anions with different sites to connect with the asymmetric solvation structure (ASS). Compared to usual solvation structures, this study utilizes the multifunctional groups of difluoro(oxalate)borate anion (ODFB−), which can connect with Li+. By tailoring the concentration, the anion serves as a bridge between different solvated structures. The electrolyte is investigated through in situ techniques and simulations to draw correlations between different solvation structures and reaction pathways. The proposed design demonstrates remarkable high‐temperature performance on both the anode and cathode sides, enabling stable cycling of LCO||graphite (0.5 Ah, 1.0 C) pouch cell for over 200 cycles at 80 °C and facilitating Li||MCMB and Li||LFP cells to deliver stable performance for 200 cycles at 100 °C. This work paves the way for the development of high‐performance electrolyte systems by designing and using new multipoint anions to construct ASSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of soft electronics and soft fiber devices has significantly advanced flexible and wearable technology. However, they still face the risk of damage when exposed to sharp objects in real‐life applications. Taking inspiration from nature, self‐healable materials that can restore their physical properties after external damage offer a solution to this problem. Nevertheless, large‐scale production of self‐healable fibers is currently constrained. To address this limitation, this study leverages the thermal drawing technique to create elastic and stretchable self‐healable thermoplastic polyurethane (STPU) fibers, enabling cost‐effective mass production of such functional fibers. Furthermore, despite substantial research into the mechanisms of self‐healable materials, quantifying their healing speed and time poses a persistent challenge. Thus, transmission spectra are employed as a monitoring tool to observe the real‐time self‐healing process, facilitating an in‐depth investigation into the healing kinetics and efficiency. The versatility of the fabricated self‐healable fiber extends to its ability to be doped with a wide range of functional materials, including dye molecules and magnetic microparticles, which enables modular assembly to develop distributed strain sensors and soft actuators. These achievements highlight the potential applications of self‐healable fibers that seamlessly integrate with daily lives and open up new possibilities in various industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal trees are trees that evolve over a discrete set of time steps. Each time step is associated with a node‐weighted rooted tree and consecutive trees change by adding new nodes, removing nodes, splitting nodes, merging nodes, and changing node weights. Recently, two‐dimensional visualizations of temporal trees called temporal treemaps have been proposed, representing the temporal dimension on the x‐axis, and visualizing the tree modifications over time as temporal edges of varying thickness. The tree hierarchy at each time step is depicted as a vertical, one‐dimensional nesting relationships, similarly to standard, non‐temporal treemaps. Naturally, temporal edges can cross in the visualization, decreasing readability. Heuristics were proposed to minimize such crossings in the literature, but a formal characterization and minimization of crossings in temporal treemaps was left open. In this paper, we propose two variants of defining crossings in temporal treemaps that can be combinatorially characterized. For each variant, we propose an exact optimization algorithm based on integer linear programming and heuristics based on graph drawing techniques. In an extensive experimental evaluation, we show that on the one hand the exact algorithms reduce the number of crossings by a factor of 20 on average compared to the previous algorithms. On the other hand, our new heuristics are faster by a factor of more than 100 and still reduce the number of crossings by a factor of almost three. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid graph representations combine two or more network visualization techniques in a unique drawing, simultaneously leveraging their strong traits. Since their introduction in the early 2000s, hybrid representations have gained significant research interest, with the introduction of new techniques and comparative user studies. However, all this research has not considered dynamic graphs. In this paper, we investigate hybrid graph representations in a dynamic network context and present DynTrix. Our system uses the NodeTrix representation as a basis, but the research extends this representation to the dynamic network domain. DynTrix supports automatic or manually created clusters/matrices across time. Drawing stability is implemented through aggregation and users can rearrange the nodes/matrix positions and pin them. DynTrix visualizes the temporal dynamics of the network through a combination of movement and element highlighting. We also introduce the concept of volatility, that allows the identification of actors in the network that are the most volatile. Matrices can be ordered such that stable cores gravitate towards the centre of the matrix. We integrate this technique in a visual analytics application for the exploration of offline dynamic networks and evaluate our system through case studies and qualitative expert interviews. Experts agree on the capabilities of the system, noting its potential for the analysis of dynamic networks through hybrid representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead Halide Perovskites (LHPs) have garnered great attention in recent times due to their astonishing properties that range from direct tunable bandgaps, strong light absorption, defect resistance and the easily accessible synthesis of high‐quality crystals and films. These materials find application in multitudinous fields including photovoltaics, optoelectronics, lasers, catalysis and in the emerging field of spintronics. Though they show exceptional optoelectronic properties with enhanced applications, the instability of LHPs act as a main downside when it comes to real world applications. Integrating complementary materials to LHPs that form composites with better stability along with improved performance have started to gain traction. These composites and heterostructures incorporating functional materials with LHPs have made the utilization of perovskites in everyday life more feasible. The existing synthetic strategies for heterostructure and composites heavily draw from the techniques used for halide perovskite synthesis. These methods often under‐utilize the potential of exploring the synergy of materials interaction. This review explores the synthesis methods followed to produce these hybrid materials focusing on the improvements required in terms of fundamental studies and their applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between real and fictional letters in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries has been the source of much critical debate. Disagreement surrounds the extent to which the increasingly popular genre of the epistolary novel drew on the practices and techniques of actual correspondence. On the one hand are those who see epistolary fiction as developing out of real‐life letters, with some literary‐stylistic additions. On the other hand are those who reject this teleological approach in favour of one that emphasizes the functional versatility of the letter in the period, and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of drawing a distinction between its real and fictional incarnations. This relationship between real correspondence and epistolary fiction is brought into sharp focus by the genre of the letter‐writing manual, which rose sharply in popularity from the last two decades of the seventeenth century onwards. Concentrating on John Hill's The Young Secretary's Guide (1689), Thomas Goodman's The Experience's Secretary (1699), and G. F.'s The Secretary's Guide (1705), in particular, in this article, I suggest that the style of the letter‐writing manual from this period can, with caution, be compared with that of the epistolary novel. I pay particular attention to the ways in which letters in these manuals respond to and quote from each other and the often subtle ways in which they thus incorporate different voices. This polyvocality is taken further in Samuel Richardson's manual Familiar Letters (1741), which, as is well known, provided the raw material for his first novel Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (1741). I demonstrate that some of the stylistic techniques which would prove crucial to the great epistolary novels of the later eighteenth century, including Richardson's, can be found, at least in embryonic form, in the letter‐writing manuals of the Restoration period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common challenge in regression is that for many problems, the degrees of freedom required for a high‐quality solution also allows for overfitting. Regularization is a class of strategies that seek to restrict the range of possible solutions so as to discourage overfitting while still enabling good solutions, and different regularization strategies impose different types of restrictions. In this paper, we present a multilevel regularization strategy that constructs and trains a hierarchy of neural networks, each of which has layers that are wider versions of the previous network's layers. We draw intuition and techniques from the field of Algebraic Multigrid (AMG), traditionally used for solving linear and nonlinear systems of equations, and specifically adapt the Full Approximation Scheme (FAS) for nonlinear systems of equations to the problem of deep learning. Training through V‐cycles then encourage the neural networks to build a hierarchical understanding of the problem. We refer to this approach as multilevel‐in‐width to distinguish from prior multilevel works which hierarchically alter the depth of neural networks. The resulting approach is a highly flexible framework that can be applied to a variety of layer types, which we demonstrate with both fully connected and convolutional layers. We experimentally show with PDE regression problems that our multilevel training approach is an effective regularizer, improving the generalize performance of the neural networks studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke‐based rendering is a rendering method that mimics the actual painting technique by drawing a stroke by stroke on a blank canvas image. In this paper, we propose a watercolor image generation method using stroke‐based rendering. The proposed method generates an image that is a good approximation of the input image as well as having the characteristics of a watercolor painting by repeatedly painting strokes while referring to the input image. To generate a high‐quality image, that is, an image that closely resembles an actual watercolor painting, various techniques are employed: modeling of watercolor paper, detailed physical simulation of the movement of water and pigment, strokes using a brush model, among others. The proposed method generates a large number of strokes and performs computationally intensive watercolor simulations for each stroke. Therefore, this paper also presents its parallel algorithm using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). We implemented this parallel algorithm on an NVIDIA A100 GPU. The experimental results show that the CPU implementations with sequential and parallel executions take 34,651 and 867 s to generate a 4K‐watercolor image of size 3840×2144$$ 3840\times 2144 $$, respectively. In contrast, the GPU implementation with parallel execution succeeded in reducing the time to 44 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Healthcare systems are actively working to innovate their care delivery models, seeking to improve service quality, improve patient and provider satisfaction, and reduce cost. Methods: By critically evaluating our experiences to date, this article highlights challenges systems may face in the process of trying to redesign healthcare and offers insights on how to navigate hurdles. We identify barriers to—and ultimately approaches to promote—rapid, scalable, sustainable, and transformative care redesign. Results: Dedicated electronic health record IT and analytic support, and ongoing leadership engagement and communication, play a valuable role in enabling redesign efforts. Flexible, but guided, innovation support helps teams stay accountable and motivated, while accommodating new project needs and directions. Understanding the change ecosystem and evaluating and sharing outcomes on an ongoing basis, enables teams to adapt as needed. Facilitation and support help realize the value of diverse, engaged teams; novel approaches and techniques draw out innovative perspectives and promote creative thinking. Conclusions: Although not an exhaustive list of challenges or strategies to overcome them, we hope these insights will contribute to a culture of innovation and support other institutions in their healthcare redesign initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyetherimides (PEI) are high‐performance thermoplastic polymers featuring a high dielectric constant and excellent thermal stability. In particular, PEI thin films are of increasing interest for use in solid‐state capacitors and membranes, yet the cost and thickness are limited by conventional synthesis and thermal drawing techniques. Here, a method of synthesizing ultrathin PEI films and coatings is introduced based on interfacial polymerization (IP) of poly(amic acid), followed by thermal imidization. Control of transport, reaction, and precipitation kinetics enables tailoring of PEI film morphology from a nanometer‐scale smooth film to a porous micrometer‐scale layer of polymer microparticles. At short reaction times (≈1 min) freestanding films are formed with ≈1 µm thickness, which to our knowledge surpass commercial state‐of‐the‐art films (3–5 µm minimum thickness) made by thermal drawing. PEI films synthesized via the IP route have thermal and optical properties on par with conventional PEI. The use of the final PEI is demonstrated in structurally colored films, dielectric layers in capacitors, and show that the IP route can form nanometer‐scale coatings on carbon nanotubes. The rapid film formation rate and fine property control are attractive for scale‐up, and established methods for roll‐to‐roll processing can be applied in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Contouring clinical target volume (CTV) from medical images is an essential step for radiotherapy (RT) planning. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used as a standard imaging modality for CTV segmentation in cervical cancer due to its superior soft‐tissue contrast. However, the delineation of CTV is challenging as CTV contains microscopic extensions that are not clearly visible even in MR images, resulting in significant contour variability among radiation oncologists depending on their knowledge and experience. In this study, we propose a fully automated deep learning–based method to segment CTV from MR images. Methods: Our method begins with the bladder segmentation, from which the CTV position is estimated in the axial view. The superior–inferior CTV span is then detected using an Attention U‐Net. A CTV‐specific region of interest (ROI) is determined, and three‐dimensional (3‐D) blocks are extracted from the ROI volume. Finally, a CTV segmentation map is computed using a 3‐D U‐Net from the extracted 3‐D blocks. Results: We developed and evaluated our method using 213 MRI scans obtained from 125 patients (183 for training, 30 for test). Our method achieved (mean ± SD) Dice similarity coefficient of 0.85 ± 0.03 and the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance of 3.70 ± 0.35 mm on test cases, outperforming other state‐of‐the‐art methods significantly (p‐value < 0.05). Our method also produces an uncertainty map along with the CTV segmentation by employing the Monte Carlo dropout technique to draw physician's attention to the regions with high uncertainty, where careful review and manual correction may be needed. Conclusions: Experimental results show that the developed method is accurate, fast, and reproducible for contouring CTV from MRI, demonstrating its potential to assist radiation oncologists in alleviating the burden of tedious contouring for RT planning in cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi‐state models are frequently applied to represent processes evolving through a discrete set of states. Important classes of multi‐state models arise when transitions between states may depend on the time passed since entry into the current state or on the time elapsed from the start of the process. The former models are called semi‐Markov while the latter are known as inhomogeneous Markov models. Inference for both the models presents computational difficulties when the process is only observed at discrete time points with no additional information about the state transitions. In fact, in both the cases, the likelihood function is not available in closed form. To obtain Bayesian inference under these two classes of models, we reconstruct the entire unobserved trajectories conditioned on the observed points via a Metropolis‐Hastings algorithm. As proposal density we use that given by the nested Markov models whose conditioned trajectories can easily be drawn with the uniformization technique. The resulting inference is illustrated via simulation studies and the analysis of two benchmark datasets for multi‐state models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide evidence for previously proposed assumptions concerning starch gelatinization sub‐mechanisms, a more detailed investigation was carried out using multiscale analysis of a starch type selected for its marked difference. Tapioca starch was chosen due to its cohesive/springy properties and its growing use in the food industry. Time‐domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD‐NMR) was used to investigate the leaching of material, water absorption and crystallite melting in hydrated tapioca starch (45%). The interpretation of T2 mass intensity evolutions, especially those of the (intra‐ and extra‐granular) aqueous phases, was discussed drawing on complementary techniques such as microscopy, Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and swelling factor (SF) and solubility index (SI) measurements. Results show that the T2 assignments usually proposed in the literature are dependent on starch origin. The differences in T2 evolutions (value and mass intensity) observed between wheat and tapioca starches at intermediate hydration levels could be linked to the different gelatinization behaviour of tapioca starch involving the latter's higher granule rupture level, higher gelatinization temperature and greater swelling power above its gelatinization temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine key developments in trade‐related activity on global derivatives markets during the Covid‐19 pandemic. We first document significant increases in volumes and open interest. Drawing upon techniques from network theory, we next find greater market interconnectedness and notable changes in market centrality. For US exchanges, we examine their response to the increased market uncertainty and find large and more frequent changes to margin requirements. We also find a considerable drop in trader participation driven mainly by noncommercial traders along with an increase in the percent of open interest held by commercial shorts and noncommercial longs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weighted aggregation of expert judgments based on their performance on calibration questions may improve mathematically aggregated judgments relative to equal weights. However, obtaining validated, relevant calibration questions can be difficult. If so, should analysts settle for equal weights? Or should they use calibration questions that are easier to obtain but less relevant? In this article, we examine what happens to the out‐of‐sample performance of weighted aggregations of the classical model (CM) compared to equal weighted aggregations when the set of calibration questions includes many so‐called "irrelevant" questions, those that might ordinarily be considered to be outside the domain of the questions of interest. We find that performance weighted aggregations outperform equal weights on the combined CM score, but not on statistical accuracy (i.e., calibration). Importantly, there was no appreciable difference in performance when weights were developed on relevant versus irrelevant questions. Experts were unable to adapt their knowledge across vastly different domains, and in‐sample validation did not accurately predict out‐of‐sample performance on irrelevant questions. We suggest that if relevant calibration questions cannot be found, then analysts should use equal weights, and draw on alternative techniques to improve judgments. Our study also indicates limits to the predictive accuracy of performance weighted aggregation, and the degree to which expertise can be adapted across domains. We note limitations in our study and urge further research into the effect of question type on the reliability of performance weighted aggregations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of free‐roaming donkey (Equus asinus) populations globally has brought novel challenges for conservationists, land managers, and those concerned about animal welfare. We provide a review of the scientific literature pertaining to the place and role of free‐roaming donkeys from 1950 until 2020. Using quantitative and qualitative techniques, namely categorical and thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis, to review >100 articles, we critically examine the logics and rationales that are used to either support or denounce donkey presence in particular landscapes and discuss their place and role in different ecological contexts. Free‐roaming donkeys are largely understudied and clouded by dichotomous points of view, different conservation agendas, and the presence of other species in donkey habitat. There is an important need for more in‐depth, site‐specific studies on free‐roaming donkeys that draw on tools and techniques from across the social and natural sciences. Such efforts would offer a richer, more holistic, and comprehensive picture of free‐roaming donkeys that consider both human and animal perspectives and the wider environment. This has important implications for generating long‐term sustainable management solutions for free‐roaming donkeys. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society. Free‐roaming donkeys are largely understudied, misunderstood, and clouded by dichotomous points of view, different conservation agendas, and the presence of other species in the same areas. This has important implications for the way we view, understand, and manage free‐roaming donkeys in different sites around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Minireview highlights the application of crystallization as a very powerful in situ product removal (ISPR) technique in biocatalytic process design. Special emphasis is placed on its use for in situ product crystallization (ISPC) to overcome unfavorable thermodynamic reaction equilibria, inhibition, and undesired reactions. The combination of these unit operations requires an interdisciplinary perspective to find a holistic solution for the underlying bioprocess intensification approach. Representative examples of successful integrated process options are selected, presented, and assessed regarding their overall productivity and applicability. In addition, parallels to the use of adsorption as a very similar technique are drawn and similarities discussed. Crystallization and biocatalysis: In situ product crystallization is a powerful technique to overcome fundamental limitations in biocatalytic reactions, for example, unfavorable reaction equilibria or product inhibitions (see figure). This Minireview presents basic process considerations within (early) process development and illustrates the high potential of crystallization with selected examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracing the development of conceptual tools and experimental practice in the domain of chemistry from 1700 to 1900, Manuel DeLanda's I Philosophical Chemistry: Genealogy of a Scientific Field i makes a significant contribution to the history and philosophy of chemistry most directly, while drawing important conclusions for the production of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. DeLanda's specific methodology involves the analysis of chemistry textbooks, understood as representatives of scholarly consensus of a particular time. DeLanda then explains how by tracking the development of cognitive content in individual and generalized forms through the field of chemistry, and it becomes possible to understand how the field itself is produced, structured, and pluralized into subspecialities. [Extracted from the article]

To examine the evolutional origin of representational drawing, two experiments directly compared the drawing behavior of human children and chimpanzees. The first experiment observed free drawing after model presentation, using imitation task. From longitudinal observation of humans ( N = 32, 11-31 months), the developmental process of drawing until the emergence of shape imitation was clarified. Adult chimpanzees showed the ability to trace a model, which was difficult for humans who had just started imitation. The second experiment, free drawing on incomplete facial stimuli, revealed the remarkable difference between two species. Humans ( N = 57, 6-38 months) tend to complete the missing parts even with immature motor control, whereas chimpanzees never completed the missing parts and instead marked the existing parts or traced the outlines. Cognitive characteristics may affect the emergence of representational drawings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insight on the drawing narratives of his project London Short Stories, which uses real and imaginary sites. Topics include the association of narrative form to modern architecture, the reintroduction of conjecture to architectural representation that demonstrates the direct influence of drawings and models, and the use of text as a design tool.

The article offers the author's insights on the use of visualisation techniques and design methods in an architectural drawing project. Topics include the important role of the visualising thought in different kinds of work, the application of different drawing types in project phases, and the relational synthesis of the architectural drawing in terms of stability and vulnerability.

An essay is presented on architectural drawing techniques and digital tools. It explores the use of time-based techniques to engage spatial and architectural practices with expanded fields of designs, digital imaging and computer-aided design (CAD), and the function of chronogram drawing. It also mentions the digital technique used in the film "Panic Room," directed by David Fincher.

The article offers author's insights regarding the aspects of drawing. Topics discussed include the author's membership at Cook Robotham Architecture Bureau (CRAB) with various art and drawing aspects, the aspect of the geometry of drift applied in his pre-drew in pencil, and the application of watercolour. Also mentions various CRAB architectural drawings including Swiss Cottage Tower, Taiwan Tower No. 1, and Soak City project.

The article discusses the architectural drawings by architecture Bryan Cantley which introduced the possiblities of technology to render transformations, revolution, shifting and entropy and prsesents the relationship between antifact and artefact. It defined artefact as handmade drawing while antifact the documentation of impossible object.

The article offers information on the development of expressive drawings abilities during childhood and into adolescence. It mentions that during 5-10 year age, expressive drawings techniques that was mostly utilized by children was literal expression while the older children more engage themselves in metaphorical expression. It also discusses the effect of sex, topics and depicted emotions on the use of expressive techniques.

In this paper, we propose a fast and stable method for 2D shape deformation based on rigid square matching. Our method utilizes uniform quadrangular control meshes for 2D shapes and tries to maintain the rigidity of each square in the control mesh during user manipulation. A rigid shape matching method is performed to find an optimal pure rotational transformation for each square in the control mesh. An iterative solver is proposed to compute the final deformation result for the entire control mesh by minimizing the difference between the deformed vertices and their counterparts in the neighboring rigid square. The deformation result on the 2D shape is as rigid as possible and the details of the shape are preserved well. As extensions, we present a shape-aware splitting method to improve the deformation effect for coarse meshes and a simple sketch-based clustering method for skeletal deformation. Experiments with various 2D shapes show that our method is efficient and easy to use, and can provide physically plausible result for shapes of objects in real world. Therefore, our shape deformation method is especially suitable for applications in cartoon character animation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the scatological drawings using the basic format of a computer-aided design (CAD) layout by Nic Clear in the U.S. These drawings are constructed through the juxtaposition of various cultural references taken from the text which are graphically constructed by adapting formal organizing principles based on perspectival and orthographic projections. CAD is preferred by most designers because of various advantages which include the fact that it is abstract and unique.

This article discusses the role of the H-T-P in the prognostic battery. One advantage of drawing techniques for prognostic problems lies in the tool's capacity for simultaneous tapping of body-images on different personality levels. It has been felt, for example, that whereas the drawing of a Person taps the patient's degree of adjustment on a psycho-social level, the drawing of the Tree appears to tap basic, more enduring and deeper intrapsychic feelings and self-attitudes. Therefore, the drawing of the Tree has held up as being less susceptible to change on re-testing than the drawing of the Person.

The article focuses on a simple quantitative measure of pressure for use in the projective techniques. It presents a brief description on the use of a measuring technique and some implications of the scores obtained by the use of it for quantifying the variable of pressure exerted by the subject in the various projective paper-and-pencil techniques. It is applicable to such tests as HTP, Bender Gestalt group administered TAT and Rorschach, and it is particularly useful in the draw-a-person technique. In essence, the method involves the multiple reproduction of the original drawing by means of carbon paper while the subject is drawing. The amount of pressure exerted by the subject will be reflected in the number and extent of reproductions that is made under standard conditions.