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The thermal conductivities of single-/bi-layer graphene and bulk-graphite are obtained using the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) framework by accounting for three-phonon and four-phonon scatterings. For single-layer graphene, the thermal conductivity and interatomic force constants obtained using temperature-independent finite-difference, and temperature-dependent molecular dynamics-based approaches agree with each other. The use of the thermal snapshot approach to get temperature-dependent force constants results in a non-physical description of interatomic distances for single-layer graphene. The predicted thermal conductivity at room temperature using finite-difference based force constants is 800 W/m K, which is a severe under-prediction of experimentally measured values. For bi-layer graphene and bulk graphite, the thermal snapshot methodology is applicable and thermal conductivity changes by 25% and 5% with temperature-dependent force constants. The effect of four-phonon scattering is less than 10% on the predicted thermal conductivity of bi-layer graphene and graphite, and the obtained thermal conductivities using thermal snapshot methodology are in agreement with the literature. The limitation in the prediction of thermal conductivity of single-layer graphene via the BTE approach stems from non-accountability of temperature-dependence in finite-difference based force constants and non-physical description of interatomic bonds in thermal snapshot based force constants extraction for planar 2-atoms unitcell of single layer graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Together with larger spectroscopic surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), the precision of large-scale structure studies and thus the constraints on the cosmological parameters are rapidly improving. Therefore, one must build realistic simulations and robust covariance matrices. We build galaxy catalogues by applying a halo occupation distribution (HOD) model upon the FastPM simulations, such that the resulting galaxy clustering reproduces high-resolution N -body simulations. While the resolution and halo finder are different from the reference simulations, we reproduce the reference galaxy two-point clustering measurements – monopole and quadrupole – to a precision required by the DESI Year 1 emission line galaxy sample down to non-linear scales, i.e. |$k\lt 0.5\, h\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$| or |$s\gt 10\, \mathrm{Mpc}\, h^{-1}$|⁠. Furthermore, we compute covariance matrices based on the resulting FastPM galaxy clustering – monopole and quadrupole. We study for the first time the effect of fitting on Fourier conjugate (e.g. power spectrum) on the covariance matrix of the Fourier counterpart (e.g. correlation function). We estimate the uncertainties of the two parameters of a simple clustering model and observe a maximum variation of 20 per cent for the different covariance matrices. Nevertheless, for most studied scales the scatter is between 2 and 10  per cent. Consequently, using the current pipeline we can precisely reproduce the clustering of N -body simulations and the resulting covariance matrices provide robust uncertainty estimations against HOD fitting scenarios. We expect our methodology will be useful for the coming DESI data analyses and their extension for other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demand is increasing rapidly due to rapid growth and industrialization. It is becoming more and more complex to manage generation and distribution due to the diversification of energy sources to minimize carbon emissions. Smart grids manage reliable power generation and distribution efficiently and cater to a large geographical area and population, but their centralized structure makes them vulnerable. Cybersecurity threats have become a significant concern with these systems' increasing complexity and connectivity. Further transmission losses and its vulnerability to the single point of failure (SPOF) are also major concerns. Microgrids are becoming an alternative to large, centralized smart grids that can be managed locally with fewer user bases and are safe from SPOF. Microgrids cater to small geographical areas and populations that can be easily managed at the local level and utilized for different sources of energy, like renewable energy. A small group of consumers and producers are involved, but microgrids can also be connected with smart grids if required to exchange the excess energy. Still, these are also vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, as in the case of smart grids, and lack trust due to their decentralized nature without any trusted third party. Blockchain (BC) technology can address the trust and cybersecurity challenges in the energy sector. This article proposes a framework for implementing a BC-based microgrid system for managing all the aspects of a microgrid system, including peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, Renewable Energy Certificate (REC), and decentralized energy trading, that can be utilized in the case of Saudi Arabia. It can integrate cybersecurity standards and protocols, as well as the utilization of smart contracts, for more secure and reliable energy generation and distribution with transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A greener, self‐sustainable and integrated process has been proposed in this paper to produce syngas through chemical looping combustion (CLC) coupled bi‐reforming of methane (BRM) with CO2 for the first time. The proposed process scheme is advantageous in several folds, that is, it consumes two major greenhouse gases, overcomes the drawback of catalyst deactivation caused by coke formation and it can produce syngas gas with an H2/CO molar ratio of 2 as required for methanol synthesis processes. Further, integration of BRM with CLC, helps to fulfil the endothermic heat demand and CO2 feed requirement of BRM. Further, the process is made self‐sustainable with the incorporation of heat recovery and steam generation and power generation sections. Steady‐state plant‐wide models have been developed for the proposed integrated CLC‐BRM process using ASPEN Plus software and detailed thermodynamic analysis has been performed. Rigorous sensitivity analysis has resulted in 98.2% CH4 conversion, H2 and CO yields of 93.6%, 93.9% respectively with a syngas ratio of ≈ 2 at the bi‐reformer conditions of 850°C and 1 atm. The optimal steam and CO2 input flowrates for bi‐reforming of 1 kmol/hour CH4 are found to be 0.8 and 0.4 kmol/h respectively, which are fulfilled by CLC integration. The performance of the proposed scheme is further compared with a conventional bi‐reforming process that uses a combustor for energy supply. The results demonstrate the feasibility and potential pay‐offs of the CLC‐BRM scheme in terms of increased energy efficacy and eco‐friendliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imprints of large-scale structures on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) can be studied via the CMB lensing and Integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) signals. In particular, the stacked ISW signal around supervoids has been claimed in several works to be anomalously high. In this study, we find cluster and void superstructures using four tomographic redshift bins with 0 < z < 0.8 from the DESI Legacy Survey and measure the stacked CMB lensing and ISW signals around them. To compare our measurements with ΛCDM model predictions, we construct a mock catalogue with matched galaxy number density and bias and apply the same photo- z uncertainty as the data. The consistency between the mock and the data is verified via the stacked galaxy density profiles around the superstructures and their quantity. The corresponding lensing convergence and ISW maps are then constructed and compared. The stacked lensing signal agrees with data well except at the highest redshift bin in density peaks, where the mock prediction is significantly higher, by approximately a factor of 1.3. The stacked ISW signal is generally consistent with the mock prediction. We do not obtain a significant signal from voids, A ISW = −0.10 ± 0.69, and the signal from clusters, A ISW = 1.52 ± 0.72, is at best weakly detected. However, these results are strongly inconsistent with previous claims of ISW signals at many times the level of the ΛCDM prediction. We discuss the comparison of our results with past work in this area and investigate possible explanations for this discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has brought the issues of technological deficiencies and challenges of security and privacy, validating and maintaining anonymity, user control over records while fully utilizing the available records etc., that can be encountered in an emergency or pandemic condition. Blockchain technology has evolved as a promising solution in conditions that necessitate immutability, record integrity, and proper records authentication. Blockchain can effectively resolve the technical barriers and effectively utilize the available resources and infrastructure in pandemic situations like the current COVID-19. This paper provides an extensive review of various possible use cases of blockchain and available solutions for protection against the COVID-19 like situation. It gives an insight into the benefits and shortcomings of available solutions. It further provides the issues and challenges of adopting blockchain in a situation like COVID-19 and suggest future directions that can offer a platform for further improved and better solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmological growth can be measured in the redshift space clustering of galaxies targeted by spectroscopic surveys. Accurate prediction of clustering of galaxies will require understanding galaxy physics, which is a very hard and highly non-linear problem. Approximate models of redshift space distortion (RSD) take a perturbative approach to solve the evolution of dark matter and galaxies in the universe. In this paper, we focus on extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic (eBOSS) emission line galaxies (ELGs) that live in intermediate mass haloes. We create a series of mock catalogues using haloes from the Multidark and outer rim dark matter only N-body simulations. Our mock catalogues include various effects inspired by baryonic physics such as assembly bias and the characteristics of satellite galaxies kinematics, dynamics, and statistics deviating from dark matter particles. We analyse these mocks using the TNS RSD model in Fourier space and the convolution Lagrangian perturbation theory (CLPT) in configuration space. We conclude that these two RSD models provide an unbiased measurement of RSD within the statistical error of our mocks. We obtain the conservative theoretical systematic uncertainty of |$3.3{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠ , |$1.8{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠ , and |$1.5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| in f σ8, α∥, and α⊥, respectively, for the TNS and CLPT models. We note that the estimated theoretical systematic error is an order of magnitude smaller than the statistical error of the eBOSS ELG sample and hence are negligible for the purpose of the current eBOSS ELG analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present improved modelling of the redshift-space distortions (RSDs) of galaxy clustering that arise from peculiar velocities. We create mock galaxy catalogues in the framework of the halo model, using data from the Bolshoi project. These mock galaxy populations are inserted into the haloes with additional degrees of freedom that govern spatial and kinematical biases of the galaxy populations relative to the dark matter. We explore this generalized halo model with an Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm, comparing the predictions to data from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey, and thus derive one of the first constraints on the detailed kinematic degrees of freedom for satellite galaxies within haloes. With this approach, the distortions of the redshift-space galaxy autocorrelations can be accounted for down to spatial separations close to 10 kpc, opening the prospect of improved RSD measurements of the perturbation growth rate by the inclusion of data from nonlinear scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use data from the DESI Legacy Survey imaging to probe the galaxy density field in tomographic slices covering the redshift range 0 < z < 0.8. After careful consideration of completeness corrections and galactic cuts, we obtain a sample of 4.9 × 107 galaxies covering 17 739 deg2. We derive photometric redshifts with precision σ z /(1 + z) = 0.012−0.015, and compare with alternative estimates. 1 Cross-correlation of the tomographic galaxy maps with Planck maps of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and lensing convergence probe the growth of structure since z = 0.8. The signals are compared with a fiducial Planck ΛCDM model, and require an overall scaling in amplitude of A κ = 0.901 ± 0.026 for the lensing cross-correlation and A ISW = 0.984 ± 0.349 for the temperature cross-correlation, interpreted as the integrated Sachs–Wolfe effect. The ISW amplitude is consistent with the fiducial Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) prediction, but lies significantly below the prediction of the AvERA model of Rácz et al. which has been proposed as an alternative explanation for cosmic acceleration. Within ΛCDM, our low amplitude for the lensing cross-correlation requires a reduction either in fluctuation normalization or in matter density compared to the Planck results, so that |$\Omega _\mathrm{ m}^{0.78}\sigma _8=0.297\pm 0.009$|⁠. In combination with the total amplitude of CMB lensing, this favours a shift mainly in density: Ωm = 0.274 ± 0.024. We discuss the consistency of this figure with alternative evidence. A conservative compromise between lensing and primary CMB constraints would require Ωm = 0.296 ± 0.006, where the 95 per cent confidence regions of both probes overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a new Multitracer Halo Occupation Distribution (MTHOD) framework for the galaxy distribution and apply it to the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) final data between z  = 0.7 − 1.1. We obtain a best fitting MTHOD  for each tracer and describe the host halo properties of these galaxies. The mean halo masses for LRGs, ELGs, and QSOs are found to be |$1.9 \times 10^{13} \, h^{-1}M_\odot$|⁠ , |$1.1 \times 10^{12} \, h^{-1}M_\odot$|⁠ , and |$5 \times 10^{12} \, h^{-1}M_\odot$| respectively in the eBOSS data. We use the MTHOD   framework to create mock galaxy catalogues and predict auto- and cross-correlation functions for all the tracers. Comparing these results with data, we investigate galactic conformity, the phenomenon whereby the properties of neighbouring galaxies are mutually correlated in a manner that is not captured by the basic halo model. We detect 1-halo conformity at more than 3σ statistical significance, while obtaining upper limits on 2-halo conformity. We also look at the environmental dependence of the galaxy quenching efficiency and find that halo mass driven quenching successfully explains the behaviour in high density regions, but it fails to describe the quenching efficiency in low density regions. In particular, we show that the quenching efficiency in low density filaments is higher in the observed data, as compared to the prediction of the MTHOD with halo mass driven quenching. The mock galaxy catalogue constructed in this paper is publicly available on this website 1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hydrodynamic turbulence, the kinetic energy injected at large scales cascades to the inertial range, leading to a constant kinetic energy flux. In contrast, in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, a fraction of kinetic energy is transferred to the magnetic energy. Consequently, for the same kinetic energy injection rate, the kinetic energy flux in MHD turbulence is reduced compared to its hydrodynamic counterpart. This leads to relative weakening of the nonlinear term ⟨ | (u · ∇) u | ⟩ , (where u is the velocity field) and turbulent drag, but strengthening of the velocity field in MHD turbulence. We verify the above using shell model simulations of hydrodynamic and MHD turbulence. Quasi-static MHD turbulence too exhibits turbulent drag reduction similar to MHD turbulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxies exhibit different clustering and quenching properties in clusters, filaments, and the field, but it is still uncertain whether such differences are imprints of the tidal environment on galaxy formation, or if they reflect the variation of the underlying halo mass function across the cosmic web. We measure the dependence of galaxy clustering and quenching on the cosmic web in the SDSS, characterized by the combination of overdensity δ8 and tidal anisotropy α5 centred on each galaxy. We find that galaxy clustering is a strong function of either δ8 or α5, and the large-scale galaxy bias shows complex and rich behaviour on the δ8 versus α5 plane. Using the mean galaxy colour as a proxy for the average quenched level of galaxies, we find that galaxy quenching is primarily a function of δ8, with some subtle yet non-trivial dependence on α5 at fixed δ8. We compare these observed cosmic web dependences of galaxy clustering and quenching with a mock galaxy catalogue constructed from the iHOD model, which places quenched and star-forming galaxies inside dark matter haloes based on the stellar-to-halo mass relation and the halo quenching model – the δ8 and α5 dependences of iHOD galaxies are thus solely derived from the cosmic web modulation of the halo mass function. The main observed trends are accounted for extremely well by the iHOD model. Thus, any additional direct effect of the large-scale (⁠|${\gt }5\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$|⁠) tidal field on galaxy formation must be extremely weak in comparison with the dominant indirect effects that arise from the environmental modulation of the halo mass function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sorption enhanced steam methane reforming (SESMR) integrated with chemical looping combustion (CLC) is one of the most capable greener technologies that allows co-generation of H 2 from natural gas together with CO 2 capture. The performance of CLC mainly depends on the sustained reactivity, strength and durability of oxygen carriers (OCs). A suitable combination of active OCs with optimal inert composition is essential to meet the overall thermal demand of integrated CLC-SESMR process. In this work, the effect of inert OC supports on the performance of CLC-SESMR has been studied through thermodynamic analysis based on steady-state plant wide models developed using ASPEN plus. Ni-based OCs are considered with two different support materials, SiC/Al 2 O 3 and MgAl 2 O 4 at different inert compositions ranging from 0 to 70% by weight. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that H 2 purity and CO 2 captured are directly proportional to the inert composition while H 2 yield is inversely proportional. The optimal inert compositions are found to be 30% and 40% by weight for the respective cases of SiC/Al 2 O 3 and MgAl 2 O 4. In both the cases, the overall performance of CLC-SESMR is found to be nearly same, i.e., with 97% overall methane conversion, 96% CO 2 captured, 98.3% H 2 purity, 2.24 H 2 yield, and 71.4% net plant efficiency. Highlights • Thermodynamic analysis of CLC-SESMR with different inert supports. • Role of inerts on the performance of CLC-SESMR is studied with NiO as OC. • Maximum ɳ of 71.46% was obtained with 30% SiC/Al 2 O 3 inerts. • Maximum ɳ of 71.45% was obtained with 40% MgAl 2 O 4 inerts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key driver of the secular evolution of disc galaxies, bar formation is potentially linked to the surrounding tidal field. We systematically investigate the dependence of bars on both the small (⁠|${\lt }2\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$|⁠) and large (⁠|${\gt }5\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$|⁠) scale tidal fields using galaxies observed in the range 0.01 < z < 0.11 by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We characterize bar strength using the ellipticity of the isophote that corresponds to each bar, e bar, derived from its galaxy image after subtracting the 2D disc component. We demonstrate the efficacy of our bar detection method by performing an extensive comparison with the visual identifications from SDSS and the DESI Legacy Surveys. Using the Yang et al. SDSS group catalogue, we confirm the results from a recent study that the average e bar of galaxies within interacting clusters is higher than that within isolated ones at 0.01 < z < 0.06, but this small-scale tidal enhancement of bars disappears after we increase the cluster sample by a factor of 5 to z  = 0.11. On large scales, we explore the dependence of e bar on α5, the tidal anisotropy of the density field defined over |$5\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$|⁠. We do not detect any such dependence for 98  per cent of the galaxies with α5 < 10. Intriguingly, among the 2  per cent with α5 ≥ 10, we detect some hint of a boost in bar strength in the underdense regions and a suppression in the overdense regions. Combining our results on both scales, we conclude that there is little evidence for the tidal dependence of bar formation in the local Universe, except for the extremely anisotropic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large redshift surveys of galaxies and clusters are providing the first opportunities to search for distortions in the observed pattern of large-scale structure due to such effects as gravitational redshift. We focus on non-linear scales and apply a quasi-Newtonian approach using N-body simulations to predict the small asymmetries in the cross-correlation function of two galaxy different populations. Following recent work by Bonvin et al., Zhao and Peacock and Kaiser on galaxy clusters, we include effects which enter at the same order as gravitational redshift: the transverse Doppler effect, light-cone effects, relativistic beaming, luminosity distance perturbation and wide-angle effects. We find that all these effects cause asymmetries in the cross-correlation functions. Quantifying these asymmetries, we find that the total effect is dominated by the gravitational redshift and luminosity distance perturbation at small and large scales, respectively. By adding additional subresolution modelling of galaxy structure to the large-scale structure information, we find that the signal is significantly increased, indicating that structure on the smallest scales is important and should be included. We report on comparison of our simulation results with measurements from the SDSS/BOSS galaxy redshift survey in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a galaxy redshift survey, the objects to be targeted for spectra are selected from a photometrically observed sample. The observed magnitudes and colours of galaxies in this parent sample will be affected by their peculiar velocities, through relativistic Doppler and relativistic beaming effects. In this paper, we compute the resulting expected changes in galaxy photometry. The magnitudes of the relativistic effects are a function of redshift, stellar mass, galaxy velocity and velocity direction. We focus on the CMASS sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is selected on the basis of colour and magnitude. We find that 0.10 per cent of the sample (~585 galaxies) has been scattered into the targeted region of colour-magnitude space by relativistic effects, and conversely 0.09 per cent of the sample (~532 galaxies) has been scattered out. Observational consequences of these effects include an asymmetry in clustering statistics, which we explore in a companion paper. Here, we compute a set of weights that can be used to remove the effect of modulations introduced into the density field inferred from a galaxy sample. We conclude by investigating the possible effects of these relativistic modulation on large-scale clustering of the galaxy sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical looping processes with their inherent feature of CO 2 sequestration are found to be promising in developing alternative combustion and reforming technologies that are cleaner and safer. In the present work, a novel, self-sustained, efficient process scheme has been proposed for the production of high purity hydrogen by integrating sorption enhanced steam methane reforming (SESMR) with chemical looping combustion (CLC) and by incorporating heat recovery steam generation (HRSG) as well as power generation sections. The integration between SESMR and CLC is proposed with the objectives of increasing H 2 productivity, reducing CO 2 emission while effectively conserving the process heat, which is achieved by coupling fuel reactor flue gases with reformer and air reactor outlet gases with regenerator. Thermodynamic investigation of the proposed process is carried out based on a steady state plant wide model developed using ASPEN Plus. Further, sensitivity analysis is carried out to analyse the process performance and to evaluate the optimum operating parameters. The results demonstrate the improved performance of proposed scheme over existing processes in terms of exhibiting 98.05% H 2 purity, 95.1% CO 2 capture efficiency along with 70.3% energy and 68.24% exergy efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General relativistic effects have long been predicted to subtly influence the observed large-scale structure of the universe. The current generation of galaxy redshift surveys has reached a size where detection of such effects is becoming feasible. In this paper, we report the first detection of the redshift asymmetry from the cross-correlation function of two galaxy populations that is consistent with relativistic effects. The data set is taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 CMASS galaxy sample, and we detect the asymmetry at the 2.7σ level by applying a shell-averaged estimator to the cross-correlation function. Our measurement dominates at scales around 10 h-1 Mpc, larger than those over which the gravitational redshift profile has been recently measured in galaxy clusters, but smaller than scales for which linear perturbation theory is likely to be accurate. The detection significance varies by 0.5σ with the details of our measurement and tests for systematic effects. We have also devised two null tests to check for various survey systematics and show that both results are consistent with the null hypothesis. We measure the dipole moment of the cross-correlation function and from this the asymmetry is also detected, at the 2.8σ level. The amplitude and scale dependence of the clustering asymmetries are approximately consistent with the expectations of general relativity and a biased galaxy population, within large uncertainties. We explore theoretical predictions using numerical simulations in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present cosmological results from the final galaxy clustering data set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. Our combined galaxy sample comprises 1.2 million massive galaxies over an effective area of 9329 deg2 and volume of 18.7 Gpc3, divided into three partially overlapping redshift slices centred at effective redshifts 0.38, 0.51 and 0.61. We measure the angular diameter distance DM and Hubble parameterHfrom the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) method, in combinationwith a cosmic microwave background prior on the sound horizon scale, after applying reconstruction to reduce non-linear effects on the BAO feature. Using the anisotropic clustering of the pre-reconstruction density field, we measure the product DMH from the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect and the growth of structure, quantified by fΟ8(z), from redshift-space distortions (RSD). We combine individual measurements presented in seven companion papers into a set of consensus values and likelihoods, obtaining constraints that are tighter and more robust than those from any one method; in particular, the AP measurement from sub-BAO scales sharpens constraints from post-reconstruction BAOs by breaking degeneracy between DM and H. Combined with Planck 2016 cosmic microwave background measurements, our distance scale measurements simultaneously imply curvature ΩK = 0.0003 ± 0.0026 and a dark energy equation-of-state parameter w =-1.01 ± 0.06, in strong affirmation of the spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM) model with a cosmological constant (ΔCDM). Our RSD measurements of fs8, at 6 per cent precision, are similarly consistent with this model. When combined with supernova Ia data, we find H0 = 67.3 ± 1.0 kms-1 Mpc-1 even for our most general dark energy model, in tension with some direct measurements. Adding extra relativistic species as a degree of freedom loosens the constraint only slightly, to H0 = 67.8 ± 1.2 kms-1 Mpc-1. Assuming flat ΔCDM, we find Ωm = 0.310 ± 0.005 and H0 = 67.6 ± 0.5 kms-1 Mpc-1 and we find a 95 per cent upper limit of 0.16 eV c-2 on the neutrino mass sum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a measurement of the linear growth rate of structure, f, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12 (DR12) using convolution Lagrangian perturbation theory (CLPT) with Gaussian streaming redshift space distortions (GSRSD) to model the two-point statistics of BOSS galaxies in DR12. The BOSS-DR12 data set includes 1198 006 massive galaxies spread over the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.75. These galaxy samples are categorized in three redshift bins. Using CLPT-GSRSD in our analysis of the combined sample of the three redshift bins, we report measurements of fσ8 for the three redshift bins. We find fσ8 = 0.430 ± 0.054 at zeff = 0.38, fσ8 = 0.452 ± 0.057 at zeff = 0.51 and fσ8 = 0.457 ± 0.052 at zeff = 0.61. Our results are consistent with the predictions of Planck Ʌ cold dark matter-general relativity. Our constraints on the growth rates of structure in the Universe at different redshifts serve as a useful probe, which can help distinguish between a model of the Universe based on dark energy and models based on modified theories of gravity. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering data set from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al., to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida albicans, along with some other non-albicans Candida species, is a group of yeast, which causes serious infections in humans that can be both systemic and superficial. Despite the fact that extensive efforts have been put into the discovery of novel antifungal agents, the frequency of these fungal infections has increased drastically worldwide. In our quest for the discovery of novel antifungal compounds, we had previously synthesized and screened quinoline containing 1,2,3-triazole (3a) as a potent Candida spp inhibitor. In the present study, two structural analogues of 3a (3b and 3c) have been synthesized to determine the role of quinoline and their anti-Candida activities have been evaluated. Preliminary results helped us to determine 3a and 3b as lead inhibitors. The IC50 values of compound 3a for C. albicans ATCC 90028 (standard) and C. albicans (fluconazole resistant) strains were 0.044 and 2.3 μg/ml, respectively while compound 3b gave 25.4 and 32.8 μg/ml values for the same strains. Disk diffusion, growth and time kill curve assays showed significant inhibition of C. albicans in the presence of compounds 3a and 3b. Moreover, 3a showed fungicidal nature while 3b was fungistatic. Both the test compounds significantly lower the secretion of proteinases and phospholipases. While, 3a inhibited proteinase secretion in C. albicans (resistant strain) by 45%, 3b reduced phospholipase secretion by 68% in C. albicans ATCC90028 at their respective MIC values. Proton extrusion and intracellular pH measurement studies suggested that both compounds potentially inhibit the activity of H+ ATPase, a membrane protein that is crucial for various cell functions. Similarly, 95–97% reduction in ergosterol content was measured in the presence of the test compounds at MIC and MIC/2. The study led to identification of two quinoline based potent inhibitors of C. albicans for further structural optimization and pharmacological investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measure a combination of gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering and redshift-space distortions (RSDs) called EG. The quantity EG probes both parts of metric potential and is insensitive to galaxy bias and σ8. These properties make it an attractive statistic to test lambda cold dark matter, general relativity and its alternate theories. We have combined CMASS Data Release 11 with CFHTLenS and recent measurements of β from RSD analysis, and find EG(z = 0.57) = 0.42 ± 0.056, a 13 per cent measurement in agreement with the prediction of general relativity EG(z = 0.57) = 0.396 ± 0.011 using the Planck 2015 cosmological parameters. We have corrected our measurement for various observational and theoretical systematics. Our measurement is consistent with the first measurement of EG using cosmic microwave background lensing in place of galaxy lensing at small scales, but shows 2.8σ tension when compared with their final results including large scales. This analysis with future surveys will provide improved statistical error and better control over systematics to test general relativity and its alternate theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a new method to constrain gravity on the largest cosmological scales by combining measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing and the galaxy velocity field. EG is a statistic, constructed from a gravitational lensing tracer and a measure of velocities such as redshift-space distortions (RSD), that can discriminate between gravity models while being independent of clustering bias and σ8. While traditionally, the lensing field for EG has been probed through galaxy lensing, CMB lensing has been proposed as a more robust tracer of the lensing field for EG at higher redshifts while avoiding intrinsic alignments. We perform the largest-scale measurement of EG ever, up to 150 Mpc h-1, by cross-correlating the PlanckCMBlensing map with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) CMASS galaxy sample and combining this with our measurement of the CMASS auto-power spectrum and the RSD parameter β. We report EG(z = 0.57) = 0.243 ± 0.060 (stat) ± 0.013 (sys), a measurement in tension with the general relativity (GR) prediction at a level of 2.6σ. Note that our EG measurement deviates from GR only at scales greater than 80 Mpc h-1, scales which have not been probed by previous EG tests. Upcoming surveys, which will provide an order-of-magnitude reduction in statistical errors, can significantly constrain alternative gravity models when combined with better control of systematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Curcumin (Ccm) has shown immense potential as an antimalarial agent; however its low solubility and less bioavailability attenuate the in vivo efficacy of this potent compound. In order to increase Ccm's bioavailability, a number of organic/inorganic polymer based nanoparticles have been investigated. However, most of the present day nano based delivery systems pose a conundrum with respect to their complex synthesis procedures, poor in vivo stability and toxicity issues. Peptides due to their high biocompatibility could act as excellent materials for the synthesis of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems. Here, we have investigated dehydrophenylalanine (ΔPhe) di-peptide based self-assembled nanoparticles for the efficient delivery of Ccm as an antimalarial agent. The self-assembly and curcumin loading capacity of different ΔPhe dipeptides, phenylalanine–α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (FΔF), arginine-α,β- dehydrophenylalanine (RΔF), valine-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (VΔF) and methonine-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (MΔF) were investigated for achieving enhanced and effective delivery of the compound for potential anti-malarial therapy. Results: FΔF, RΔF, VΔF and MΔF peptides formed different types of nanoparticles like nanotubes and nanovesicles under similar assembling conditions. Out of these, FΔF nanotubes showed maximum curcumin loading capacity of almost 68 % W/W. Ccm loaded FΔF nanotubes (Ccm-FΔF) showed comparatively higher (IC50, 3.0 μM) inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum (Indo strain) as compared to free Ccm (IC50, 13 μM). Ccm-FΔF nano formulation further demonstrated higher inhibition of parasite growth in malaria infected mice as compared to free Ccm. The dipeptide nanoparticles were highly biocompatible and didn't show any toxic effect on mammalian cell lines and normal blood cells. Conclusion: This work provides a proof of principle of using highly biocompatible short peptide based nanoparticles for entrapment and in vivo delivery of Ccm leading to an enhancement in its efficacy as an antimalarial agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monocyclic β-lactams commonly referred to as azetidin-2-ones and their derivatives have been extensively explored for their wide biological applications. The present study demonstrates a simple and efficient synthesis of monocyclic β-lactam derivatives via Staudinger reaction, well characterized by FT-IR, 1H, 13C-NMR, mass spectral data and elemental analysis. We also confirmed the formation of highly substituted 1,3-oxazin-4-ones under the same reaction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use measurements from the Planck satellite mission and galaxy redshift surveys over the last decade to test three of the basic assumptions of the standard model of cosmology, Λ CDM (Λ cold dark matter): the spatial curvature of the universe, the nature of dark energy and the laws of gravity on large scales. We obtain improved constraints on several scenarios that violate one or more of these assumptions. We measure w0 =-0.94 ± 0.17 (18 per cent measurement) and 1 + wa = 1.16 ± 0.36 (31 per cent measurement) for models with a time-dependent equation of state, which is an improvement over current best constraints. In the context of modified gravity, we consider popular scalar-tensor models as well as a parametrization of the growth factor. In the case of one-parameter f(R) gravity models with a ΛCDM background, we constrain B0 < 1.36 10-5 (1s C.L.), which is an improvement by a factor of 4 on the current best. We provide the very first constraint on the coupling parameters of general scalar-tensor theory and stringent constraint on the only free coupling parameter of Chameleon models. We also derive constraints on extended Chameleon models, improving the constraint on the coupling by a factor of 6 on the current best. The constraints on coupling parameter for Chameleon model rule out the value of β1 = 4/3 required for f(R) gravity. We also measure = 0.612 ± 0.072 (11.7 per cent measurement) for growth index parametrization. We improve all the current constraints by combining results from various galaxy redshift surveys in a coherent way, which includes a careful treatment of scale dependence introduced by modified gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measured redshift (z) of an astronomical object is a combination of Hubble recession, gravitational redshift and peculiar velocity. The line-of-sight distance to a galaxy inferred from redshift is affected by the peculiar velocity component of galaxy redshift, which is observed as an anisotropy in the correlation function. This anisotropy allows us to measure the linear growth rate of matter (fs8). We measure the fs8 at z = 0.57 using the CMASS sample from Data Release 11 of Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS III) Baryon Oscillations Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). The galaxy sample consists of 690 826 massive galaxies in the redshift range 0.43-0.7 covering 8498 deg². Here, we report the first simultaneous measurement of fs8 and background cosmological parameters using Convolution Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (CLPT) with Gaussian streaming model (Gaussian Streaming Redshift Space Distortions - GSRSD).We arrive at a constraint of fs8 = 0.462 ± 0.041 (9 per cent accuracy) at effective redshift (z = 0.57) when we include Planck cosmic microwave background likelihood while marginalizing over all other cosmological parameters. We also measure bs8 =1.19±0.03,H(z=0.57)=89.2±3.6 kms-1 Mpc-1 andDA(z=0.57)=1401 ± 23 Mpc. Our analysis also improves the constraint on Ωc h² = 0.1196 ± 0.0009 by a factor of 3 when compared to the Planck only measurement(Ωc h² = 0.1196 ± 0.0031). Our results are consistent with Planck Λ cold dark matter (CDM)-general relativity (GR) prediction and all other CMASS measurements, even though our theoretical models are fairly different. This consistency suggests that measurement of fs8 from redshift space distortions at multiple redshifts will be a sensitive probe of the theory of gravity that is largely model independent, allowing us to place model-independent constraints on alternative models of gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pure H 2 production from undistiled bioethanol with in-situ CO 2 capture in reformer. • Sorption enhanced bioethanol reforming is coupled with chemical looping combustion. • Proposed intensified schemes offer low temperature (500–550 °C) bioethanol reforming. This work presents the design and optimization of two intensified and eco-friendly schemes for high purity H 2 production from non-fuel grade/undistiled bioethanol through detailed thermodynamic investigation using Aspen plus models. Both of them are chemical looping combustion (CLC) integrated processes; namely, sorption enhanced steam reforming (CLC-SESR) and sorption enhanced chemical looping reforming (CLC-SECLR). Further, the heat and power demand of these processes are met by integrating with heat recovery and steam generation, and power generation sections, thus making them energy-wise self-sustainable. Steady-state Aspen Plus models have been developed for both the schemes, and the processes are investigated thermodynamically to determine the optimal operating parameters through sequential parametric sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed CLC-SESR and CLC-SECLR schemes in facilitating low temperature reforming of partially distilled bioethanol of 14 mole % (34.5% by vol.) concentration at 550 °C and 500 °C, respectively resulting in optimal H 2 yield (H 2 Y i e l d) of 97.38% and 82.45%, H 2 purity (y H 2) of 99.15% and 99.71 %, energy efficiency (η) of 39.47% and 37.30% along with CO 2 capture efficiency (C O 2 C a p t u r e ) of 99.13% and 99.58%, respectively. Further, reforming of undistilled bioethanol 5 mol% (14.6% by vol.) obtained directly from fermentation step, resulted in improved H 2 Y i e l d , y H 2 and C O 2 C a p t u r e of 99.92%, 99.63%, and 99.48% respectively for CLC-SESR and 83.31%, 99.91% and 99.71% respectively for CLC-SECLR, at the expense of slight decrease in η by ≈ 3% in both schemes. These results on comparison with the results of conventional steam reforming and chemical looping reforming with carbon capture demonstrate the outperformance of proposed schemes in terms of achieving more than 99% H 2 Y i e l d , y H 2 and C O 2 C a p t u r e at almost the same efficiency as of the conventional reforming schemes. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the galaxy-group cross-correlations in redshift space for the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) Survey. We use a set of mock GAMA galaxy and group catalogues to develop and test a novel 'halo streaming' model for redshift-space distortions. This treats 2-halo correlations via the streaming model, plus an empirical 1-halo term derived from the mocks, allowing accurate modelling into the non-linear regime. In order to probe the robustness of the growth rate inferred from redshift-space distortions, we divide galaxies by colour, and divide groups according to their total stellar mass, calibrated to total mass via gravitational lensing. We fit our model to correlation data, to obtain estimates of the perturbation growth rate, f σ8, validating parameter errors via the dispersion between different mock realizations. In both mocks and real data, we demonstrate that the results are closely consistent between different subsets of the group and galaxy populations, considering the use of correlation data down to some minimum projected radius, r min. For the mock data, we can use the halo streaming model to below |$r_{\rm min} = 5{\, h^{-1}\, \rm Mpc}$|⁠ , finding that all subsets yield growth rates within about 3 per cent of each other, and consistent with the true value. For the actual GAMA data, the results are limited by cosmic variance: f σ8 = 0.29 ± 0.10 at an effective redshift of 0.20; but there is every reason to expect that this method will yield precise constraints from larger data sets of the same type, such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) bright galaxy survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud data centers present a challenge to environmental sustainability because of their significant energy consumption. Additionally, performance degradation resulting from energy management solutions, such as virtual machine (VM) consolidation, impacts service level agreements (SLAs) between cloud service providers and users. Thus, to achieve a balance between efficient energy consumption and avoiding SLA violations, we propose a novel VM consolidation algorithm. Conventional algorithms result in unnecessary migrations when improperly selecting VMs. Therefore, our proposed E2SVM algorithm addresses this issue by selecting VMs with high load fluctuations and minimal resource usage from overloaded servers. These selected VMs are then placed on normally loaded servers, considering their stability index. Moreover, our approach prevents server underutilization by either applying all or no VM migrations. Simulation results demonstrate a 12.9% decrease in maximum energy consumption compared with the minimum migration time VM selection policy. In addition, a 47% reduction in SLA violations was observed when using the medium absolute deviation as the overload detection policy. Therefore, this approach holds promise for real-world data centers because it minimizes energy waste and maintains low SLA violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first comprehensive halo occupation distribution (HOD) analysis of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) One-Percent Survey luminous red galaxy (LRG) and Quasi Stellar Object (QSO) samples. We constrain the HOD of each sample and test possible HOD extensions by fitting the redshift-space galaxy 2-point correlation functions in 0.15 < r < 32  h −1 Mpc in a set of fiducial redshift bins. We use AbacusSummit cubic boxes at Planck 2018 cosmology as model templates and forward model galaxy clustering with the AbacusHOD package. We achieve good fits with a standard HOD model with velocity bias, and we find no evidence for galaxy assembly bias or satellite profile modulation at the current level of statistical uncertainty. For LRGs in 0.4 < z < 0.6, we infer a satellite fraction of |$f_\mathrm{sat} = 11\pm 1~{y{\ \mathrm{per\,cent}}}$|⁠ , a mean halo mass of |$\log _{10}\overline{M}_h/M_\odot =13.40^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$|⁠ , and a linear bias of |$b_\mathrm{lin} = 1.93_{-0.04}^{+0.06}$|⁠. For LRGs in 0.6 < z < 0.8, we find |$f_\mathrm{sat}=14\pm 1~{{\ \mathrm{per\,cent}}}$|⁠ , |$\log _{10}\overline{M}_h/M_\odot =13.24^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$|⁠ , and |$b_\mathrm{lin}=2.08_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$|⁠. For QSOs, we infer |$f_\mathrm{sat}=3^{+8}_{-2}\mathrm{per\,cent}$|⁠ , |$\log _{10}\overline{M}_h/M_\odot = 12.65^{+0.09}_{-0.04}$|⁠ , and |$b_\mathrm{lin} = 2.63_{-0.26}^{+0.37}$| in redshift range 0.8 < z < 2.1. Using these fits, we generate a large suite of high fidelity galaxy mocks, forming the basis of systematic tests for DESI Y1 cosmological analyses. We also study the redshift-evolution of the DESI LRG sample from z  = 0.4 up to z  = 1.1, revealling significant and interesting trends in mean halo mass, linear bias, and satellite fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet of medical things (IoMT) is a smart medical device structure that includes apps, health services, and systems. These medical equipment and applications are linked to healthcare systems via the internet. Because IoT devices lack computational power, the collected data can be processed and analyzed in the cloud by more computationally intensive tools. Cloud computing in IoMT is also used to store IoT data as part of a collaborative effort. Cloud computing has provided new avenues for providing services to users with better user experience, scalability, and proper resource utilization compared to traditional platforms. However, these cloud platforms are susceptible to several security breaches evident from recent and past incidents. Trust management is a crucial feature required for providing secure and reliable service to users. The traditional trust management protocols in the cloud computing situation are centralized and result in single-point failure. Blockchain has emerged as the possible use case for the domain that requires trust and reliability in several aspects. Different researchers have presented various blockchain-based trust management approaches. This study reviews the trust challenges in cloud computing and analyzes how blockchain technology addresses these challenges using blockchain-based trust management frameworks. There are ten (10) solutions under two broad categories of decentralization and security. These challenges are centralization, huge overhead, trust evidence, less adaptive, and inaccuracy. This systematic review has been performed in six stages: identifying the research question, research methods, screening the related articles, abstract and keyword examination, data retrieval, and mapping processing. Atlas.ti software is used to analyze the relevant articles based on keywords. A total of 70 codes and 262 quotations are compiled, and furthermore, these quotations are categorized using manual coding. Finally, 20 solutions under two main categories of decentralization and security were retrieved. Out of these ten (10) solutions, three (03) fell in the security category, and the rest seven (07) came under the decentralization category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is focused towards investigating the roles of different oxygen carriers (OCs) in a self-sustained integrated process of chemical looping combustion (CLC) with sorption enhanced steam methane reforming (SESMR) through detailed thermodynamic analysis. This study reports individual steady state plant wide models that are developed and optimized for four different oxygen carriers (Co-, Cu-, Mn- and Fe-based) for the first time. Further, the optimal performances of these schemes with different OCs are compared with that of previously reported Ni based OCs. Simulation results revealed that all these OCs exhibited nearly same energy efficiency (ɳ) of ∼60%, except Cu-based OCs that resulted in reduced ɳ of 52.74%. From the overall comparative assessment in terms of methane conversion, H 2 purity and yield, CO 2 captured, energy efficiency, cost, availability and eco-friendliness, Fe-based OCs are found to be the most suitable ones for CLC-SESMR scheme. Further, exergy analysis has been performed for the optimum Fe-based scheme that resulted in an overall exergetic efficiency of 58.88%. • Studied the role of metal oxides on CLC coupled Sorption Enhanced Reforming process. • Developed and optimized self-sustained schemes with five oxygen carrier (OCs). • Ni-based OCs resulted in highest energy efficiency of 61.54% with 96.44% CO 2 capture. • Fe- and Mn- based OCs resulted in highest H 2 purity of 99% with CO 2 capture > 97%. • Best performance achieved with Fe-based OC including cost and toxicity parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoxazole-triazole conjugates (8a-q) were synthesized using click chemistry approach and their biological activities were explored to develop novel antibacterial agents. In vitro antibacterial screening against Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacterial strains identified compounds 8b and 8m with potent inhibitory potential against selective bacterial cells. 8b showed IC 50 value of 67.6 μg/mL against P. aeruginosa while 8m exhibited better activity against Gram-positive bacteria S. pneumoniae and E. faecalis having IC 50 values 74.13 and 44.7 μg/mL, respectively. Effect on growth kinetics of the bacterial cells as well as cytotoxicity studies on human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293) further supports their biological potential. Compound 8m significantly inhibited biofilm formation of E. coli cells visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The interaction of these compounds with ctDNA, as their possible mode of action, was studied using multi-spectroscopic techniques and molecular docking. The data suggested that compound 8m intercalate in the minor groove of DNA. Image 1 • Novel isoxazole-1,2,3-triazole conjugates (8a-q) were synthesized and confirmed by multi spectroscopic analysis. • In vitro antibacterial screening against various bacterial strains showed compound 8m as potential lead inhibitor. • Cytotoxicity assay on HEK293 cells showed non-toxic nature of the lead compound. • XTT assay and SEM analysis confirmed that compound 8m significantly inhibited biofilm formation. • DNA binding studies of 8m showed intercalating mode of binding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research addresses the pressing challenge of intrusion detection and prevention in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), offering an innovative and comprehensive approach. The research leverages Support Vector Regression (SVR) models to predict the number of barriers necessary for effective intrusion detection and prevention while optimising their strategic placement. The paper employs the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm to enhance the precision of barrier placement and resource allocation. The integrated approach combines SVR predictive modelling with ACO-based optimisation, contributing to advancing adaptive security solutions for WSNs. Feature ranking highlights the critical influence of barrier count attributes, and regularisation techniques are applied to enhance model robustness. Importantly, the results reveal substantial percentage improvements in model accuracy metrics: a 4835.71% reduction in Mean Squared Error (MSE) for ACO-SVR1, an 862.08% improvement in Mean Absolute Error (MAE) for ACO-SVR1, and an 86.29% enhancement in R-squared (R2) for ACO-SVR1. ACO-SVR2 has a 2202.85% reduction in MSE, a 733.98% improvement in MAE, and a 54.03% enhancement in R-squared. These considerable improvements verify the method's effectiveness in enhancing WSNs, ensuring reliability and resilience in critical infrastructure. The paper concludes with a performance comparison and emphasises the remarkable efficacy of regularisation. It also underscores the practicality of precise barrier count estimation and optimised barrier placement, enhancing the security and resilience of WSNs against potential threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic classification of historical data of myriad diverse meteorological sequences in the annual period can help to find the climate differences through key phenology of rice. In this paper, a hybrid gradients-shape dynamic time warping (HGSDTW) algorithm is proposed to measure the similarity of meteorological data during the diverse rice growth period at various locations. The weighting calculation of Euclidean distance uses the form factor in the rice jointing and heading stage. The distance matrix constructs first & second-level gradient single-factor transformation sequences during the period. The dynamic programming method obtains the similarity distances of single and multiple meteorological factors. The results show that the classification accuracy rate from HGSDTW of the heading & jointing stage is higher than that of other similar algorithms. Furthermore, it can observe that the clustering number increases the classification accuracy, and the HGSDTW algorithm maintains the accuracy of 14% for varieties of rice at diverse locations to multiple years of jointing. Besides, the automatic classification experiment of sequence period shows that the classification accuracy of this method is higher than that of another similarity measure. The classification accuracy rate of the heading stage sequence is 10%~14% higher than that of a similar previous standard measurement algorithm, and the jointing period is 1%~9% higher. In this case, the cluster number increasing the classification accuracy, and the HGSDTW maintain the overall accuracy of 14%. Thus, this method can be effectively combined with the classification algorithm to improve the efficiency of the automatic classification of multi-weather sequence data in key phenological periods of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test general relativity (GR) at the effective redshift |$\bar{z} \sim 1.5$| by estimating the statistic EG , a probe of gravity, on cosmological scales |$19 - 190\, h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$|⁠. This is the highest redshift and largest scale estimation of EG so far. We use the quasar sample with redshifts 0.8 < z < 2.2 from Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 16 as the large-scale structure (LSS) tracer, for which the angular power spectrum |$C_\ell ^{qq}$| and the redshift-space distortion parameter β are estimated. By cross-correlating with the Planck 2018 cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing map, we detect the angular cross-power spectrum |$C_\ell ^{\kappa q}$| signal at |$12\, \sigma$| significance. Both jackknife resampling and simulations are used to estimate the covariance matrix (CM) of EG at five bins covering different scales, with the later preferred for its better constraints on the covariances. We find EG estimates agree with the GR prediction at |$1\, \sigma$| level over all these scales. With the CM estimated with 300 simulations, we report a best-fitting scale-averaged estimate of |$E_G(\bar{z})=0.30\pm 0.05$|⁠ , which is in line with the GR prediction |$E_G^{\rm GR}(\bar{z})=0.33$| with Planck 2018 CMB + BAO matter density fraction Ωm = 0.31. The statistical errors of EG with future LSS surveys at similar redshifts will be reduced by an order of magnitude, which makes it possible to constrain modified gravity models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first detection of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) signal obtained using unblinded data collected during the initial 2 months of operations of the Stage-IV ground-based Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). From a selected sample of 261 291 luminous red galaxies spanning the redshift interval 0.4 < z < 1.1 and covering 1651 square degrees with a 57.9  per cent completeness level, we report a ∼5σ level BAO detection and the measurement of the BAO location at a precision of 1.7  per cent. Using a bright galaxy sample of 109 523 galaxies in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.5, over 3677 square degrees with a 50.0  per cent completeness, we also detect the BAO feature at ∼3σ significance with a 2.6  per cent precision. These first BAO measurements represent an important milestone, acting as a quality control on the optimal performance of the complex robotically actuated, fibre-fed DESI spectrograph, as well as an early validation of the DESI spectroscopic pipeline and data management system. Based on these first promising results, we forecast that DESI is on target to achieve a high-significance BAO detection at sub-per cent precision with the completed 5-yr survey data, meeting the top-level science requirements on BAO measurements. This exquisite level of precision will set new standards in cosmology and confirm DESI as the most competitive BAO experiment for the remainder of this decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design and development of peptide deformylase (PDF) inhibitors has gained attention as it is a highly conserved and specific enzyme for bacterial protein synthesis. This makes it a specific and attractive drug target. Therefore, based on the targeted drug‐discovery approach, a series of ferulic acid‐based nonpeptidic hydroxamic acid‐triazole hybrids was synthesized. All the semi‐synthetic compounds (8 a–p) were evaluated against a panel of Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacterial strains. Most of the compounds showed antibacterial activities against S. pneumoniae while few were active against E. coli. Among all, the compound 8 j showed strong potency against S. pneumoniae with IC50 value 34.57 μg/mL whereas for E. coli the observed IC50 was 66.20 μg/mL. Growth kinetics study showed the bacteriostatic nature of compound 8 j against S. pneumoniae. Interestingly, in the studied concentration range, no significant hemolysis or cytotoxicity was observed towards human cells, suggesting the non‐toxic nature of compound 8 j. Molecular docking studies showed that compound 8 j occupies the same active site where actinonin (a known inhibitor of PDF) binds and it also mimics the mode of interactions by offering significant interactions with the corresponding amino acid residues of PDF. The outcome of this study suggested the potential implications of the present scaffold for the development of antibacterial molecules targeting PDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land registry system is one of the very important department in any governance system that stores the records of land ownership. There are various issues and loopholes in the existing system that give rise to corruption and disputes. This requires a significant chunk of valuable government resources from judiciary and law enforcement agencies in settling these issues. Blockchain technology has the potential to counter these loopholes and sort out the issues related with land registry system like tempering of records, trading of the same piece of land to more than one buyer. In this paper, a secure and reliable framework for land registry system using Blockchain has been proposed. The proposed framework uses the concept of smart contract at various stages of the land registry and gives an algorithm for pre-agreement. First, we describe the conventional land registry system and reviews the issues in it. Then, we outline the potential benefits of employing Blockchain technology in the land registry system and presented a framework. Finally, a number of case studies are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and its subsequent evolution into the Internet of Everything (IoE) is a result of the rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT). However, implementing these technologies comes with certain obstacles, such as the limited availability of energy resources and processing power. Consequently, there is a need for energy-efficient and intelligent load-balancing models, particularly in healthcare, where real-time applications generate large volumes of data. This paper proposes a novel, energy-aware artificial intelligence (AI)-based load balancing model that employs the Chaotic Horse Ride Optimization Algorithm (CHROA) and big data analytics (BDA) for cloud-enabled IoT environments. The CHROA technique enhances the optimization capacity of the Horse Ride Optimization Algorithm (HROA) using chaotic principles. The proposed CHROA model balances the load, optimizes available energy resources using AI techniques, and is evaluated using various metrics. Experimental results show that the CHROA model outperforms existing models. For instance, while the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), and Whale Defense Algorithm with Firefly Algorithm (WD-FA) techniques attain average throughputs of 58.247 Kbps, 59.957 Kbps, and 60.819 Kbps, respectively, the CHROA model achieves an average throughput of 70.122 Kbps. The proposed CHROA-based model presents an innovative approach to intelligent load balancing and energy optimization in cloud-enabled IoT environments. The results highlight its potential to address critical challenges and contribute to developing efficient and sustainable IoT/IoE solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmological N -body simulations provide numerical predictions of the structure of the Universe against which to compare data from ongoing and future surveys, but the growing volume of the Universe mapped by surveys requires correspondingly lower statistical uncertainties in simulations, usually achieved by increasing simulation sizes at the expense of computational power. It was recently proposed to reduce simulation variance without incurring additional computational costs by adopting fixed-amplitude initial conditions. This method has been demonstrated not to introduce bias in various statistics, including the two-point statistics of galaxy samples typically used for extracting cosmological parameters from galaxy redshift survey data, but requires us to revisit current methods for estimating covariance matrices of clustering statistics for simulations. In this work, we find that it is not trivial to construct covariance matrices analytically for fixed-amplitude simulations, but we demonstrate that ezmock (Effective Zel'dovich approximation mock catalogue), the most efficient method for constructing mock catalogues with accurate two- and three-point statistics, provides reasonable covariance matrix estimates for such simulations. We further examine how the variance suppression obtained by amplitude-fixing depends on three-point clustering, small-scale clustering, and galaxy bias, and propose intuitive explanations for the effects we observe based on the ezmock bias model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of large galaxy surveys requires confidence in the robustness of numerical simulation methods. The simulations are used to construct mock galaxy catalogues to validate data analysis pipelines and identify potential systematics. We compare three N -body simulation codes, abacus , gadget-2 , and swift , to investigate the regimes in which their results agree. We run N -body simulations at three different mass resolutions, 6.25 × 108, 2.11 × 109, and 5.00 × 109  h −1 M⊙, matching phases to reduce the noise within the comparisons. We find systematic errors in the halo clustering between different codes are smaller than the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) statistical error for |$s\ \gt\ 20\ h^{-1}$|  Mpc in the correlation function in redshift space. Through the resolution comparison we find that simulations run with a mass resolution of 2.1 × 109  h −1 M⊙ are sufficiently converged for systematic effects in the halo clustering to be smaller than the DESI statistical error at scales larger than |$20\ h^{-1}$|  Mpc. These findings show that the simulations are robust for extracting cosmological information from large scales which is the key goal of the DESI survey. Comparing matter power spectra, we find the codes agree to within 1 per cent for k ≤ 10  h  Mpc−1. We also run a comparison of three initial condition generation codes and find good agreement. In addition, we include a quasi- N -body code, FastPM, since we plan use it for certain DESI analyses. The impact of the halo definition and galaxy–halo relation will be presented in a follow-up study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a void clustering analysis in configuration-space using the completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) DR16 samples. These samples consist of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) combined with the high-redshift tail of the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) DR12 CMASS galaxies (called as LRG+CMASS sample), Emission Line Galaxies (ELGs), and quasars (QSOs). We build void catalogues from the three eBOSS DR16 samples using a ZOBOV-based algorithm, providing 2814 voids, 1801 voids, and 4347 voids in the LRG+CMASS, ELG, and QSO samples, respectively, spanning the redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2. We measure the redshift space distortions around voids using the anisotropic void-galaxy cross-correlation function and we extract the distortion parameter β. We test the methodology on realistic simulations before applying it to the data, and we investigate all our systematic errors on these mocks. We find βLRG(z = 0.74) = 0.415 ± 0.087, βELG(z = 0.85) = 0.665 ± 0.125 and βQSO(z = 1.48) = 0.313 ± 0.134, for the LRG+CMASS, ELG, and QSO sample, respectively. The quoted errors include systematic and statistical contributions. In order to convert our measurements in terms of the growth rate f σ8, we use consensus values of linear bias from the eBOSS DR16 companion papers, resulting in the following constraints: f σ8(z = 0.74) = 0.50 ± 0.11, f σ8(z = 0.85) = 0.52 ± 0.10, and f σ8(z = 1.48) = 0.30 ± 0.13. Our measurements are consistent with other measurements from eBOSS DR16 using conventional clustering techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the 3D spin alignment of galaxies with respect to the large-scale filaments using the MaNGA survey. The cosmic web is reconstructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using disperse and the 3D spins of MaNGA galaxies are estimated using the thin disc approximation with integral field spectroscopy kinematics. Late-type spiral galaxies are found to have their spins parallel to the closest filament's axis. The alignment signal is found to be dominated by low-mass spirals. Spins of S0-type galaxies tend to be oriented preferentially in perpendicular direction with respect to the filament's axis. This orthogonal orientation is found to be dominated by S0s that show a notable misalignment between their kinematic components of stellar and ionized gas velocity fields and/or by low-mass S0s with lower rotation support compared to their high-mass counterparts. Qualitatively similar results are obtained when splitting galaxies based on the degree of ordered stellar rotation, such that galaxies with high spin magnitude have their spin aligned, and those with low spin magnitude in perpendicular direction to the filaments. In the context of conditional tidal torque theory, these findings suggest that galaxies' spins retain memory of their larger scale environment. In agreement with measurements from hydrodynamical cosmological simulations, the measured signal at low redshift is weak, yet statistically significant. The dependence of the spin-filament orientation of galaxies on their stellar mass, morphology, and kinematics highlights the importance of sample selection to detect the signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform a joint BAO and RSD analysis using the eBOSS DR16 LRG and ELG samples in the redshift range of z ∈ [0.6, 1.1], and detect an RSD signal from the cross-power spectrum at a ∼4σ confidence level, i.e. f σ8 = 0.317 ± 0.080 at z eff = 0.77. Based on the chained power spectrum, which is a new development in this work to mitigate the angular systematics, we measure the BAO distances and growth rate simultaneously at two effective redshifts, namely, D M/ r d (z = 0.70) = 17.96 ± 0.51,  D H/ r d (z = 0.70) = 21.22 ± 1.20,  f σ8 (z = 0.70) = 0.43 ± 0.05, and D M/ r d (z = 0.845) = 18.90 ± 0.78,  D H/ r d (z = 0.845) = 20.91 ± 2.86,  f σ8 (z = 0.845) = 0.30 ± 0.08. Combined with BAO measurements including those from the eBOSS DR16 QSO and Lyman-α sample, our measurement has raised the significance level of a non-zero ΩΛ to ∼11σ. The data product of this work is publicly available at https://github.com/icosmology/eBOSS%5fDR16%5fLRGxELG and https://www.sdss.org/science/final-bao-and-rsd-measurements/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We search for the baryon acoustic oscillations in the projected cross-correlation function binned into transverse comoving radius between the SDSS-IV DR16 eBOSS quasars and a dense photometric sample of galaxies selected from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. We estimate the density of the photometric sample of galaxies in this redshift range to be about 2900 deg−2, which is deeper than the official DESI emission line galaxy selection, and the density of the spectroscopic sample is about 20 deg−2. In order to mitigate the systematics related to the use of different imaging surveys close to the detection limit, we use a neural network approach that accounts for complex dependences between the imaging attributes and the observed galaxy density. We find that we are limited by the depth of the imaging surveys that affects the density and purity of the photometric sample and its overlap in redshift with the quasar sample, which thus affects the performance of the method. When cross-correlating the photometric galaxies with quasars in the range 0.6 ≤ z ≤ 1.2, the cross-correlation function can provide better constraints on the comoving angular distance D M (6 per cent precision) compared to the constraint on the spherically averaged distance D V (9 per cent precision) obtained from the autocorrelation. Although not yet competitive, this technique will benefit from the arrival of deeper photometric data from upcoming surveys that will enable it to go beyond the current limitations we have identified in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We produce 1000 realizations of synthetic clustering catalogues for each type of the tracers used for the baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift space distortion analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys- iv extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey final data release (eBOSS DR16), covering the redshift range from 0.6 to 2.2, to provide reliable estimates of covariance matrices and test the robustness of the analysis pipeline with respect to observational systematics. By extending the Zel'dovich approximation density field with an effective tracer bias model calibrated with the clustering measurements from the observational data, we accurately reproduce the two- and three-point clustering statistics of the eBOSS DR16 tracers, including their cross-correlations in redshift space with very low computational costs. In addition, we include the gravitational evolution of structures and sample selection biases at different redshifts, as well as various photometric and spectroscopic systematic effects. The agreements on the auto-clustering statistics between the data and mocks are generally within |$1\, \sigma$| variances inferred from the mocks, for scales down to a few |$h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$| in configuration space, and up to |$0.3\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$| in Fourier space. For the cross correlations between different tracers, the same level of consistency presents in configuration space, while there are only discrepancies in Fourier space for scales above |$0.15\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$|⁠. The accurate reproduction of the data clustering statistics permits reliable covariances for multi-tracer analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]