tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:/all?page=6Journal of Brief Ideas: Ideas from the last week2022-11-04T06:59:08Ztag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10182022-11-04T06:59:08Z2023-02-07T09:18:26ZA Game-Changing Cross-Disciplinary Horticultural Experiment Designhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7370003Linguistic works [Human_Enha](/ideas/5bf081466bfc36efe4ede2acf7e208b3) revealed how scientific terms can be lost, mis-understood or manipulated during translation. So does the naming of plant cultivars for important edible horticultural research(H Wilde et al 2015). E.g. linguistic and anthropological tools demystified the history of tea(Sarah Rose 2011), empowering correct naming and analysis of its cultivars.
Fig (Ficus carica L.) is known for its ease to propagate(Allen Owings 2015) and the diversity of edible fruits (Encyclopedia Britannica "Fig" 2021). Fig phenotype depends heavily on environment, maintenance [Using_Fig ](/ideas/219d1ff87d596119734038cfa140f4b0) and specific cultivars; yet the value of fig researches has been undermined by confusion and misidentification among cultivars of hardly true-to-type(Allen Owings 2015) origins even from reputable donors(UDA Germplasm Resources Information Network Online Database 2022) or depositories(M Aradhya et al. 2010),not to mention lost (Figaholics.com 2022) or confused or mislabeled (FigVarieties.com 2022) origins.
Prior to an RAPD/SSR analysis, the specimen should be vetted for genuinity, e.g. with linguistic grouping to check
for synonyms caused by transliteration or translation. It provides critical evidence to whether a specific cultivar is what its name claims to be. Then genetic grouping reveals if these specific cultivars are scientifically different from each other. Then anthropology field study discloses one cultivar spread in which direction with what cultural exchange events. From there can further accurate recommendation of utilizing a specific cultivar of fig be drawn. Wu, Ditag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10172022-10-29T19:16:33Z2022-11-28T06:00:14ZCLSLabs-Liquid extends the minimal working example of self-driving laboratories to liquid handling and optical spectroscopyhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7369997Materials acceleration platforms have the potential to reduce the cost- and time-to-market of new materials from 20 million USD and 20 years to as little as 1 million USD and 1 year; however, the capital and expertise are often significant. Previously, we introduced the idea of a minimal working example for a self-driving laboratory that uses RGB light-emitting diodes and a discrete-channel spectrophotometer in conjunction with optimization algorithms to match target spectra. We extend this idea to a color-matching materials optimization problem using dilute colored dyes. This optimization task costs less than 300 USD, requires less than three square feet of desk space, and less than three hours of total setup time from the shopping cart to the first “autonomous drive.” The demo is modular and extensible; additional peristaltic pump channels can be added, and the dye reservoirs can be increased. The demo was also designed so inexpensive, chemically-susceptible parts can be replaced with more expensive, chemically-resistant equivalents, and the food dye can be replaced with application-specific chemicals. This demo is a stepping stone towards more extensive, high-impact studies; for example, formulations of dozens of battery or fuel cell liquid electrolytes optimized for ionic conductivity properties.Baird, Sterling G.tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10162022-10-20T10:16:18Z2022-10-21T06:00:46ZHypothesis: systemic low-grade tissue hypoxia as contributing causative mechanism for Long COVIDhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232628Silent hypoxia is one of the key clinical features of COVID-19 infection. Some of the hypothesized underlying causes of silent hypoxia, such as endothelial and micro-vascular dysfunction, and micro-clots inhibiting perfusion, would exert a two-fold effect, inhibiting not just the oxygenation of the blood but also the delivery of oxygen from the blood into tissues. These phenomena have been found to persist after acute infection, which would be expected to result in inhibited oxygen delivery even if arterial oxygen saturation has returned to normoxic conditions. As a consequence, it can be inferred as likely that some degree of systemic tissue hypoxia could also persist. A systemic hypoxic state would result not just generally disrupted function in various tissues, organs and systems, but also in disrupted immuno-modulatory and inflammatory processes, as hypoxia-inducible factors strongly influence both. This persistent inflammatory state would contribute to continuing vascular inflammation, making it a self-perpetuating condition, and could also result in presentation of anaemia of chronic illness, exacerbating symptoms. Hence, the expected effects of a persistent state of systemic tissue hypoxia closely match many of the observed presentations of Long COVID, suggesting it as a possible contributing causative mechanism.Stacey, Neil Thomastag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10122022-10-05T14:56:15Z2023-02-07T02:37:57ZUsing Fig in China to Explore New Criteria to Grade Edible Landscape Plants https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232626Conventional wisdom accepts that selecting a fruit tree for landscape involves very different priorities than for commercial farming, e.g. extended season instead of concentrated, lower sugar concentration in fruit instead of higher. However, landscaping practices can cause plant to vary so significantly from its farm counterparts of the same exact variety in terms of hardiness, fertility, crop, vigor and yield that almost render its morphological information invalid.
Fig (Ficus carica L.) is a fruiting shrub widely used in landscape. While reputable nurseries have graded “Qingpi” fig to be a cold-hardy, easy-bearing, biferous, vigorous and bountiful variety in a given region of China, landscape architects reported disappointment. Random controlled trials disclosed that the unique pruning practice in landscape is relevant and causational; past studies on the genetics of amino acid uptake for fruit flavor hinted a different composting strategy for better shape formation. Nurseries may consider adding criteria “hardiness when heavily pruned” “fertility when heavily pruned” etc. when grading fig seedlings for sale.
This could be a groundwork for future research of and with traditional nurseries, for eventually constructing a new grading system for a new market, and for fruit trees becoming viable, sustainable and aesthetically-manageable for landscape architects. Wu, Ditag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10112022-10-03T21:50:55Z2023-01-31T13:25:54ZIndex of the Value of Labor over Capital (LoCI)https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232624I present a simple index to gauge the relative valuation of labor over capital in a country (LoCI). This index should correlate positively with the wealth and HDI of the country, and negatively with the precariousness of life of basic service providers at the bottom of the pyramid in that country. Because of that, it should also correlate strongly with labor migration from countries with low LoCI to higher LoCI.
The formula is:
LoCI_i=10^(-4) (w_i/r_i f_(i,us))
Where w represents the monthly minimum wage for country i; r represents the monthly risk-free interest rate for country i; and f represents the foreign exchange rate between the currency of country i and the US dollar.
This equation gives the amount of dollars necessary for a person in country i to receive the equivalent of a minimum wage salary as passive income incurring minimum financial risks (real risk-free rates can be used by subtracting the inflation rate of country i from r). Values are scaled by 10,000 to facilitate comparison.
As per October 2022, some LoCI scores are: Brazil 2.13; South Africa 2.15; Mexico 3.29; Malaysia 9.10; United States 40.04; England 110.18; Germany 292.06.
More sophisticated models with other variables regarding r (e.g. real risk free rates) and w (e.g. median salary, or salary at the ith percentile) can also be used without altering the basic insight.
Araki, Michaeltag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10092022-09-26T05:32:51Z2022-10-29T11:46:26ZA sustainable strategy to promote ecological awareness and improve the well-being of university students by the beautification of green spaces.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232622Ecological awareness and respect for living organisms must be the main objectives of education. Universities have to promote the understanding of the impact of One Health (good health for people is not possible without good health for animals and the environment) and Global Health (all ecosystems are linked and their imbalance has global consequences), concepts in the community wellness, regardless of the professional career followed by the individual. To this goal, I propose to evaluate the knowledge of all freshmen in ecological issues through surveys. To identify their misconceptions and use this analysis to create a workshop that mitigates the issues. Validate the workshop. Implement this workshop as mandatory for freshmen. To launch a contest for the design of green spaces considering the concepts in the workshop. To analyze the impact of the workshop and the construction of the green spaces over the misconceptions through surveys. To repeat the strategy every year for the maintenance and improvement of green spaces. This approach can beautify the university while giving a more complete education to its students, promoting ecological awareness, the health of the environment, creativity, and respect for life. At no more price of hire gardeners.Ortega-Paredes, Davidtag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10082022-09-23T00:19:09Z2022-10-29T11:46:28ZA simple form of Rayleigh pitot tube formulahttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232620Rayleigh pitot tube formula is a very basic and commonly used formula in aerodynamics. It gives the rate of the total pressure behind a normal shock wave and the pressure of freestream at a given Mach number. Although the relation is rigorous in theory, it is difficult to understand the changing relationships between these variables due to its complexity as shown in the above formula. A numerically equivalent formula has been discovered. It is very simple while it still retains a high-precision. The coefficient of determination between the two formula is greater than 99.9% in a domain sufficient for practical applications. The new formula was detected by a special machine learning method, functional learning. The function blocks are limited to rational functions. A divide and conquer scheme is also applied during the learning process.Luo, Changtongtag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10072022-09-18T13:51:59Z2023-09-03T18:11:55ZShallow-transfer problems in Erzya-Moksha conjunctive-preterite2 syncretismhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232614The Mordvin languages, Erzya and Moksha, have as many as eight moods, including the Conj(unctive), and Ind(icative). Both languages have two Ind preterites (Prt1, Prt2) and a non-past. In Erzya, Prt2 and Conj have distinct morphology, whereas, in Moksha, the two are syncretic. In a preliminar parallel corpus test, three measures were taken:
(1) the causal conjunction 'in order to' /štobu/ (Erzya), /štoba/ (Moksha) was counted for co-occurrence with finite and non-finite verbal forms;
(2) the number of Conj vs Ind Prt2 forms were counted where the causal conjunction was absent, and
(3) the corresponding predicates were established for the forms attested in (2).
Moksha Conj, Erzya Opt/Conj – 4/56.
More divergence was found in the absence of clausal conjunction structures.
Moksha: 5 Conj, 1 Prt2 reading.
Erzya 4 Conj, 17 Prt2 readings.
Only one Moksha conjunctive lacked a parallel in Erzya;
Of the remaining 16 Prt2 in Erzya, 13 had Freq + Prt1 Moksha correlates, two had copula correlates, and one was lacking a correlate due to changes in the text.
The virtual absence of Ind Prt2 forms in the Moksha text is curious.
Additional work will be needed to establish regular frequentative derivation patterns for Erzya-to-Moksha transfer, whereas the reverse is complex.Rueter, Jacktag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10052022-09-10T14:34:51Z2022-10-21T06:00:46ZCalculation of multi-dimensional information acquisition in space potential disintegration targethttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232610Some space debris belongs to the upper stage of the rocket, and propellant remains inside the debris, which may explode and generate more space debris. In order to identify potential disintegration targets in space, understand the remaining amount of propellant, fracture location and degree of fracture, aging degree, etc., and predict when space targets will disintegrate. Based on this information, we can carry out debris removal in advance, which plays an important role in the governance of the space debris environment. Here we propose to use an X-ray camera to image the space target, use the computer X-ray tomography technology to obtain the multi-dimensional information inside the space target, and establish a multi-dimensional model of the space target's internal information. Relevant technologies can also help us troubleshoot spacecraft on-orbit and help humans solve potential space risks.Jiang, Yutag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/10032022-09-10T13:41:02Z2022-10-21T06:00:46ZSpacecraft cluster cloud high-frequency optimization computing theoryhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232600The satellite-ground collaborative computing requires information transmission between the satellite and the ground, which will cause significant delay, resulting in a time from calculation to execution of more than milliseconds. In the best case, the spacecraft is 300km above the ground station, so the round-trip transmission between the satellite and the ground will cause a delay of 2 milliseconds. For cloud computing, if the distance between two spacecraft is 300 meters, the round-trip transmission of computing information between the two spacecraft will only cause a delay of 2 microseconds. Cloud computing refers to autonomous computing only by the spacecraft in the cluster, without the need for a ground station.
Certain spacecraft swarm operations are extremely time-critical. This is just as high-frequency trading in the stock market places "server clusters" very close to the exchange's computers to shorten the distance that trading orders travel at the speed of light through fiber optic cables.
Since the operation of the spacecraft obeys the laws of celestial mechanics, it is an important subject direction in the future to quickly optimize the allocation strategy of cloud computing and information transmission according to the changing relative position of the spacecraft.
Jiang, Yu