Digital Commons Network^™

Seasonal Variability And Predictability Of Monsoon Precipitation In Southern Africa, Matthew F. Horan, Fred Kucharski, Moetasim Ashfaq

Faculty Publications

Rainfed agriculture is the mainstay of economies across Southern Africa (SA), where most precipitation is received during the austral summer monsoon. This study aims to further our understanding of monsoon precipitation predictability over SA. We use three natural climate forcings, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and the Indian Ocean Precipitation Dipole (IOPD)—the dominant precipitation variability mode—to construct an empirical model that exhibits significant skill over SA during monsoon in explaining precipitation variability and in forecasting it with a five-month lead. While most explained precipitation variance (50%–75%) comes from contemporaneous IOD and IOPD, preconditioning all three forcings is key …

Multispacecraft Observations Of A Widespread Solar Energetic Particle Event On 2022 February 15–16, L Y. Khoo, B Sánchez-Cano, C O. Lee, L Rodríguez-García, A Kouloumvakos, E Palmerio, F Carcaboso, D Lario, N Dresing, C M S Cohen, D J. Mccomas, B J. Lynch, F Fraschetti, I C. Jebaraj, J G. Mitchell, T Nieves-Chinchilla, V Krupar, D Pacheco, J Giacalone, H Auster, J Benkhoff, X Bonnin, E R. Christian, B Ehresmann, A Fedeli

Faculty Publications

On 2022 February 15–16, multiple spacecraft measured one of the most intense solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed so far in Solar Cycle 25. This study provides an overview of interesting observations made by multiple spacecraft during this event. Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and BepiColombo were close to each other at 0.34–0.37 au (a radial separation of ∼0.03 au) as they were impacted by the flank of the associated coronal mass ejection (CME). At about 100° in the retrograde direction and 1.5 au away from the Sun, the radiation detector on board the Curiosity surface rover observed the largest ground-level …

Random Forests For Detecting Weak Signals And Extracting Physical Information: A Case Study Of Magnetic Navigation, Mohammadamin Moradi, Zheng-Meng Zhai, Aaron Nielsen, Ying-Cheng Lai, Aaron P. Nielsen

Faculty Publications

It has been recently demonstrated that two machine-learning architectures, reservoir computing and time-delayed feed-forward neural networks, can be exploited for detecting the Earth’s anomaly magnetic field immersed in overwhelming complex signals for magnetic navigation in a GPS-denied environment. The accuracy of the detected anomaly field corresponds to a positioning accuracy in the range of 10–40 m. To increase the accuracy and reduce the uncertainty of weak signal detection as well as to directly obtain the position information, we exploit the machine-learning model of random forests that combines the output of multiple decision trees to give optimal values of the physical …

Multispacecraft Observations Of A Widespread Solar Energetic Particle Event On 2022 February 15–16, L Y. Khoo, B Sánchez-Cano, C O. Lee, L Rodríguez-García, A Kouloumvakos, E Palmerio, F Carcaboso, D Lario, N Dresing, C M S Cohen, D J. Mccomas, B J. Lynch, F Fraschetti, I C. Jebaraj, J G. Mitchell, T Nieves-Chinchilla, V Krupar, D Pacheco, J Giacalone, H Auster, J Benkhoff, X Bonnin, E R. Christian, B Ehresmann, A Fedeli, D. Fischer, D. Heyner, M. Holmström, R. A. Leske, M. Maksimovic, J. Z. D. Mieth, P. Oleynik, M. Pinto, I. Richter, J. Rodríguez-Pacheco, Nathan A. Schwadron, D. Schmid, D. Telloni, A. Vecchio, M. E. Wiedenbeck

Faculty Publications

On 2022 February 15–16, multiple spacecraft measured one of the most intense solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed so far in Solar Cycle 25. This study provides an overview of interesting observations made by multiple spacecraft during this event. Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and BepiColombo were close to each other at 0.34–0.37 au (a radial separation of ∼0.03 au) as they were impacted by the flank of the associated coronal mass ejection (CME). At about 100° in the retrograde direction and 1.5 au away from the Sun, the radiation detector on board the Curiosity surface rover observed the largest ground-level …

The Behavior Of ½⟨111⟩ Screw Dislocations In W–Mo Alloys Analyzed Through Atomistic Simulations, Lucas A. Heaton, Kevin Chu, Adib J. Samin

Faculty Publications

Analyzing plastic flow in refractory alloys is relevant to many different commercial and technological applications. In this study, screw dislocation statics and dynamics were studied for various compositions of the body-centered cubic binary alloy tungsten–molybdenum (W–Mo). The core structure did not appear to change for different alloy compositions, consistent with the literature. The pure tungsten and pure molybdenum samples had the lowest plastic flow, while the highest dislocation velocities were observed for equiatomic, W_0.5Mo_0.5 alloys. In general, dislocation velocities were found to largely align with a well-established dislocation mobility phenomenological model supporting two discrete dislocation mobility regimes, …

In Situ Chlorine Generation And Rare Earth Chlorination By Molten Salt Electrolysis, Mark Schvaneveldt, Tyler Williams, Ranon Fuller, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

Chloride volatility processes for purifying actinide and rare earth elements have historically required the use of Cl₂ tanks. To minimize the hazards associated with these processes, an apparatus was designed to produce Cl₂ via molten salt electrolysis. Within this apparatus, one can generate Cl₂, chlorinate metals, and consume excess Cl₂. Here, electrode materials were tested for their ability to generate Cl₂, the composition of the gaseous electrolysis product was evaluated using a quadrupole mass spectrometer, and a Ce foil sample was successfully chlorinated using the electrochemically generated Cl₂.

New Features Of Laboratory-Generated Epfrs From 1,2-Dichlorobenzene (Dcb) And 2-Monochlorophenol (Mcp), Lavrent Khachatryan, Marwan Y. Rezk, Divine Nde, Farhana Hasan, Slawomir Lomnicki, Dorin Boldor, Robert Cook, Phillip Sprunger, Randall Hall, Stephania Cormier

Faculty Publications

The present research is primarily focused on investigating the characteristics of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) generated from commonly recognized aromatic precursors, namely, 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) and 2-monochlorophenol (MCP), within controlled laboratory conditions at a temperature of 230 °C, termed as DCB230 and MCP230 EPFRs, respectively. An intriguing observation has emerged during the creation of EPFRs from MCP and DCB utilizing a catalyst 5% CuO/SiO2, which was prepared through various methods. A previously proposed mechanism, advanced by Dellinger and colleagues (a conventional model), postulated a positive correlation between the degree of hydroxylation on the catalyst’s surface (higher hydroxylated, HH and less …

Observational Features Of Charge Distribution In Earth's Inner Magnetosphere, Lai Gao, Chao Shen, Yufei Zhou, Yong Ji, Zuyin Pu, George Parks, Christopher T. Russell, Gang Zeng, Lan Ma, Roy B. Torbert, Yanyan Yang, James L. Burch

Faculty Publications

Understanding the motion of charged particles in the electromagnetic field in the inner magnetosphere is essential for space science and space weather. Charge accumulation can occur due to the dipole magnetic and convective electric fields in this region. However, until the recent Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, there were few means to detect charge distribution in situ. We report unambiguous in situ observation of the spatial distribution of the excess charge density in the inner magnetosphere by the MMS mission. We find that a positive (negative) charge accumulates in the dusk (dawn) side inner magnetospheres, which is contrary to the long …

Observational Features Of Charge Distribution In Earth's Inner Magnetosphere, Lai Gao, Chao Shen, Yufei Zhou, Yong Ji, Zuyin Pu, George Parks, Christopher T. Russell, Gang Zeng, Lan Ma, Roy B. Torbert, Yanyan Yang, James L. Burch

Faculty Publications

Understanding the motion of charged particles in the electromagnetic field in the inner magnetosphere is essential for space science and space weather. Charge accumulation can occur due to the dipole magnetic and convective electric fields in this region. However, until the recent Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, there were few means to detect charge distribution in situ. We report unambiguous in situ observation of the spatial distribution of the excess charge density in the inner magnetosphere by the MMS mission. We find that a positive (negative) charge accumulates in the dusk (dawn) side inner magnetospheres, which is contrary to the long …

Improving The Practical Skills Of Stem Students At A Historically Black College And University (Hbcu), Yasser Ismail, Phyllis Okwan, Fred Lacy

Faculty Publications

Improving the practical skills of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students at a historically black college and university (HBCU) was done by implementing a transformative teaching model. The model was implemented on undergraduate students of different educational levels in the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department at HBCU. The model was also extended to carefully chosen high and middle schools. These middle and high school students serve as a pipeline to the university, with a particular emphasis on fostering growth within the EE Department. The model aligns well with the core mission of the EE Department, aiming to enhance the theoretical …

The Mediating Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Heuristic Techniques And Cognitive Biases On Investment Decision-Making, Williams Kwasi Peprah, Christopher Ampadu Kwakwah-Oppong, Francis Osei-Kuffour, Lenny Leorina Evinita

Faculty Publications

US investors’ behavioral finance and investment decision-making approach became a concern during the COVID-19 pandemic era as the capital market crashed. The study used mediation analysis to explain how or why the COVID-19 pandemic intervened in the causal association of behavioral finance concepts of heuristic techniques and cognitive biases on their investment decision-making. This causal research design study was based on 500 snowball-sampled US investors who answered self-constructed, validated, and reliability-tested Likert-scale quantitative variables measured through a first-party data collection approach. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic was a specific moderate to partial significant mediator on the low positive …

Heavy-Element Production In A Compact Object Merger Observed By Jwst, Andrew J. Levan, Benjamin P. Gompertz, Om Sharan Salafia, Mattia Bulla, Eric Burns, Kenta Hotokezaka, Luca Izzo, Gavin P. Lamb, Daniele B. Malesani, Samantha R. Oates, Maria Edvige Ravasio, Alicia Rouco Escorial, Benjamin Schneider, Nikhil Sarin, Steve Schulze, Nial R. Tanvir, Kendall Ackley, Gemma Anderson, Gabriel B. Brammer, Lise Christensen, Vikram S. Dhillon, Phil A. Evans, Michael Fausnaugh, Wen Fai Fong, Andrew S. Fruchter, Chris Fryer, Johan P.U. Fynbo, Nicola Gaspari, Kasper E. Heintz, Jens Hjorth, Jamie A. Kennea, Mark R. Kennedy, Tanmoy Laskar

Faculty Publications

The mergers of binary compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are of central interest to several areas of astrophysics, including as the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)¹, sources of high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs)² and likely production sites for heavy-element nucleosynthesis by means of rapid neutron capture (the r-process)³. Here we present observations of the exceptionally bright GRB 230307A. We show that GRB 230307A belongs to the class of long-duration GRBs associated with compact object mergers^4–6 and contains a kilonova similar to AT2017gfo, associated with the GW merger GW170817 (refs. ^7–12). …

Residual Stress Generation In Additive Manufacturing Of Complex Lattice Geometries, Katie Bruggeman, Nathan Klingbeil, Anthony N. Palazotto

Faculty Publications

Residual stresses developed during additive manufacturing (AM) can influence the mechanical performance of structural components in their intended applications. In this study, thermomechanical residual stress simulations of the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process are conducted for both simplified (plate and cube-shaped) geometries as well as five complex lattice geometries fabricated with Inconel 718. These simulations are conducted with the commercial software package Simufact Additive©, which uses a nonlinear finite element analysis and layer-by-layer averaging approach in determining residual stresses. To verify the efficacy of the Simufact Additive© simulations, numerical results for the plate and cube-shape geometries are analyzed for …

Detecting Substance Use Disorder Using Social Media Data And Dark Web: Time And Knowledge Aware Study, Usha Lokala, Orchid Chetia Phukan, Triyasha Ghosh Dastidar, Francois Lamy, Raminta Daniulaityte, Amit Sheth

Faculty Publications

Opioid and substance misuse is rampant in the United States today, with the phenomenon known as the "opioid crisis". The relationship between substance use and mental health has been extensively studied, with one possible relationship being: substance misuse causes poor mental health. However, the lack of evidence on the relationship has resulted in opioids being largely inaccessible through legal means. This study analyzes the substance use posts on social media with opioids being sold through crypto market listings. We use the Drug Abuse Ontology, state-of-the-art deep learning, and knowledge-aware BERT-based models to generate sentiment and emotion for the social media …

Comparative Methods For Teaching Contemporary And Ancient Saints, Todd E. French, Mohammed Forero Bucheli

Faculty Publications

This paper argues that a comparative study of saints is not only a useful classroom tool for historians and religionists, but an exceptionally powerful locus of pedagogical insight and cultural understanding. By reframing contemporary consumptive patterns, media representations, and power discourses as religious vectors of saintliness, the professor has an opportunity to explore and assess cultural values, rituals, beliefs, worldviews, communities, traditions, and meaning making in the contemporary college student’s world. By acknowledging the dangers and possibilities of the category of saint while reframing the ascetical impact on developing subjectivities, we propose six pedagogical examples of how this might best …

Distinguishing Molecular Mechanical Action From Photothermal And Photodynamic Behavior, Jacob L. Beckham, Thomas S. Bradford, Ciceron Ayala-Orozco, Ana L. Santos, Dallin Arnold, Alexis R. Van Venrooy, Víctor García-López, Robert Pal, James M. Tour

Faculty Publications

Molecular motors (MM) are molecular machines, or nanomachines, that rotate unidirectionally upon photostimulation and perform mechanical work on their environment. In the last several years, it has been shown that the photomechanical action of MM can be used to permeabilize lipid bilayers, thereby killing cancer cells and pathogenic microorganisms and controlling cell signaling. The work contributes to a growing acknowledgement that the molecular actuation characteristic of these systems is useful for various applications in biology. However, the mechanical effects of molecular motion on biological materials are difficult to disentangle from photodynamic and photothermal action, which are also present when a …

Effects Of Adjunct Questions On L2 Reading Comprehension With Texts Of Different Types, Yunmei Sun, Wenhui Zhou, Shifang Tang

Faculty Publications

Answering text-related questions while reading is a questioning strategy which is called adjunct questions or embedded questions, the benefits of which have been established in first language reading as to enhance comprehension. The present study aims to study the effects different adjunct questions exert on second-language (L2) readers’ comprehension of texts of various types. One hundred and forty-four intermediate-level Chinese EFL learners participated in this study and were divided randomly into six groups. Each group was given either a narrative or an expository text with ‘what or why’ questions or no questions. A brief topic familiarity questionnaire was attached to …

Forecasting The Strength Of Graphene Nanoparticles-Reinforced Cementitious Composites Using Ensemble Learning Algorithms, Majid Khan, Roz-Ud-Din Nassar, Waqar Anwar, Mazhar Rasheed, Taoufik Najeh, Yaser Gamil, Furqan Farooq

Faculty Publications

Contemporary infrastructure requires structural elements with enhanced mechanical strength and durability. Integrating nanomaterials into concrete is a promising solution to improve concrete strength and durability. However, the intricacies of such nanoscale cementitious composites are highly complex. Traditional regression models encounter limitations in capturing these intricate compositions to provide accurate and reliable estimations. This study focuses on developing robust prediction models for the compressive strength (CS) of graphene nanoparticle-reinforced cementitious composites (GrNCC) through machine learning (ML) algorithms. Three ML models, bagging regressor (BR), decision tree (DT), and AdaBoost regressor (AR), were employed to predict CS based on a comprehensive dataset of …

Forecasting The Strength Of Graphene Nanoparticles-Reinforced Cementitious Composites Using Ensemble Learning Algorithms, Majid Khan, Roz-Ud-Din Nassar, Waqar Anwar, Mazhar Rasheed, Taoufik Najeh, Yaser Gamil, Furqan Farooq

Faculty Publications

Contemporary infrastructure requires structural elements with enhanced mechanical strength and durability. Integrating nanomaterials into concrete is a promising solution to improve concrete strength and durability. However, the intricacies of such nanoscale cementitious composites are highly complex. Traditional regression models encounter limitations in capturing these intricate compositions to provide accurate and reliable estimations. This study focuses on developing robust prediction models for the compressive strength (CS) of graphene nanoparticle-reinforced cementitious composites (GrNCC) through machine learning (ML) algorithms. Three ML models, bagging regressor (BR), decision tree (DT), and AdaBoost regressor (AR), were employed to predict CS based on a comprehensive dataset of …

Experimental Determination Of The Electrochemical Properties Of Bismuth Chloride In Eutectic Licl-Kcl And Licl-Kcl-Cacl2 Molten Salts, Greg Chipman, Bryant Johnson, Cameron Vann, Lance Whitesides, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

Bismuth has been investigated as a potential liquid electrode for molten salt electrorefining, but the electrochemical behavior of Bi³⁺/Bi redox couple has received scant attention in eutectic LiCl-KCl melts and no studies were found in the ternary LiCl-KCl-CaCl₂ melts. LiCl-KCl-CaCl₂ melts offer some advantages over eutectic LiCl-KCl, such as a lower melting point. Cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry and open-circuit chronopotentiometry were used to measure electrochemical parameters, such as diffusivity and standard apparent potential of bismuth electrodeposition, in LiCl-KCl and LiCl-KCl-CaCl₂ eutectics. The mean diffusivity values of 6.71 x 10^-6 cm^{2 …}

Block-Based Programming For Two-Armed Robots: A Comparative Study, Felipe Fronchetti, Chandler Barfield, Nico Ritschel, Gabriella Chang, Logan Schorr, Rodrigo Spinola, Reid Holmes, David C. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Programming industrial robots is difficult and expensive. Although recent work has made substantial progress in making it accessible to a wider range of users, it is often limited to simple programs and its usability remains untested in practice. In this article, we introduce Duplo, a block-based programming environment that allows end-users to program two-armed robots and solve tasks that require coordination. Duplo positions the program for each arm side-by-side, using the spatial relationship between blocks from each program to represent parallelism in a way that end-users can easily understand. This design was proposed by previous work, but not implemented or …

Creating An Inclusive Metadata Policy, Nicole Lewis, Jeremy Myntti

Faculty Publications

Best of Core Forum webinar series

The BYU Library has created an Inclusive Metadata Policy for metadata creators to use when creating and remediating descriptions to be more inclusive. Accompanying the policy is a companion document with recommendations and examples, including links to many external resources. In addition to working with stakeholders in the library to develop the policy, we consulted with the University’s Office of Belonging. This presentation describes the process we used to undertake the creation of the library policy and recommendations document.

Fatigue Characteristics Of Steel–Concrete Composite Beams, Ayman El-Zohairy, Hani Salim, Hesham Shaaban, Mahmoud T. Nawar

Faculty Publications

Fatigue in steel–concrete composite beams can result from cyclic loading, causing stress fluctuations that may lead to cumulative damage and eventual failure over an extended period. In this paper, the experimental findings from fatigue loading tests on composite beams with various arrangements are presented. Fatigue tests were performed up to 1,000,000 cycles using four-point loading, encompassing various ranges of shear stress at a consistent amplitude. Additionally, the effects of external post-tensioning and the strength of the shear connection were investigated. Static tests were run until failure to assess the enduring strength of the specimens subjected to fatigue. The cyclic mid-span …

High-Yield And Rapid Isolation Of Extracellular Vesicles By Flocculation Via Orbital Acoustic Trapping: Float, Joseph Rufo, Peiran Zhang, Zeyu Wang, Yuyang Gu, Kaichun Yang, Joseph Rich, Chuyi Chen, Ruoyu Zhong, Ke Jin, Je He, Jianping Xia, Ke Li, Jiarong Wu, Yingshi Ouyang, Yoel Sadovsky, Luke P. Lee, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as promising biomarkers for the noninvasive diagnosis of various diseases. However, challenges in separating EVs from soluble proteins have resulted in variable EV recovery rates and low purities. Here, we report a high-yield ( > 90%) and rapid ( <  10 min) EV isolation method called FLocculation via Orbital Acoustic Trapping (FLOAT). The FLOAT approach utilizes an acoustofluidic droplet centrifuge to rotate and controllably heat liquid droplets. By adding a thermoresponsive polymer flocculant, nanoparticles as small as 20 nm can be rapidly and selectively concentrated at the center of the droplet. We demonstrate the ability of FLOAT to separate urinary EVs from the highly abundant Tamm-Horsfall protein, addressing a significant obstacle in the development of EV-based liquid biopsies. Due to its high-yield nature, FLOAT reduces biofluid starting volume requirements by a factor of 100 (from 20 mL to 200 µL), demonstrating its promising potential in point-of-care diagnostics.

Left Ventricle Function And Post-Transcriptional Events With Exercise Training In Pigs, Stephanie L. Samani, Shayne C. Barlow, Lisa A. Freeburg, Traci L. Jones, Marlee Poole, Mark A. Sarzynski Ph.D., Faha, Facsm, Michael R. Zile, Tarek Shazly, Francis G. Spinale

Faculty Publications

Background

Standardized exercise protocols have been shown to improve overall cardiovascular fitness, but direct effects on left ventricular (LV) function, particularly diastolic function and relation to post-transcriptional molecular pathways (microRNAs (miRs)) are poorly understood. This project tested the central hypothesis that adaptive LV remodeling resulting from a large animal exercise training protocol, would be directly associated with specific miRs responsible for regulating pathways relevant to LV myocardial stiffness and geometry.

Methods and results

Pigs (n = 9; 25 Kg) underwent a 4 week exercise training protocol (10 degrees elevation, 2.5 mph, 10 min, 5 days/week) whereby LV chamber stiffness (KC) …

Left Ventricle Function And Post-Transcriptional Events With Exercise Training In Pigs, Stephanie L. Samani, Shayne C. Barlow, Lisa A. Freeburg, Traci L. Jones, Marlee Poole, Mark A. Sarzynski Facsm, Michael R. Zile, Tarek Shazly, Francis G. Spinale

Faculty Publications

Background

Standardized exercise protocols have been shown to improve overall cardiovascular fitness, but direct effects on left ventricular (LV) function, particularly diastolic function and relation to post-transcriptional molecular pathways (microRNAs (miRs)) are poorly understood. This project tested the central hypothesis that adaptive LV remodeling resulting from a large animal exercise training protocol, would be directly associated with specific miRs responsible for regulating pathways relevant to LV myocardial stiffness and geometry.

Methods and results

Pigs (n = 9; 25 Kg) underwent a 4 week exercise training protocol (10 degrees elevation, 2.5 mph, 10 min, 5 days/week) whereby LV chamber stiffness (KC) …

Seasonal, Spatial, And Water Level Predictors Of Angler Catch And Effort Within Texas Black Bass Reservoir Fisheries, David R. Smith, J. Warren Schlechte, Randall A. Myers, Michael A. Dance, Jacob D. Norman, Mitchell T. Nisbet

Faculty Publications

Objective: We sought to identify seasonal, spatial, and water level predictors of black bass angler catch rates and effort densities (i.e., angler-hours/ha) within Texas reservoirs. Methods: We tested for predictors of effort density and catch rate while building generalized additive models with responses derived from a long-term creel data set and explanatory variables derived from the season of the creel survey, geoposition of the reservoir, and water level data obtained from the Texas Water Development Board. Result: Season significantly affected models, with strong positive effects on catch rates during the spring and fall and strong positive effects on effort densities …

Residual Optical Absorption From Native Defects In Cdsip2 Crystals, Timothy D. Gustafson, Nancy C. Giles, Elizabeth M. Scherrer, Kevin T. Zawilski, Peter G. Schunemann, Kent L. Averett, Jonathan E. Slagle, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

CdSiP₂ crystals are used in optical parametric oscillators to produce tunable output in the mid-infrared. As expected, the performance of the OPOs is adversely affected by residual optical absorption from native defects that are unintentionally present in the crystals. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) identifies these native defects. Singly ionized silicon vacancies (V^-_Si) are responsible for broad optical absorption bands peaking near 800, 1033, and 1907 nm. A fourth absorption band, peaking near 630 nm, does not involve silicon vacancies. Exposure to 1064 nm light when the temperature of the CdSiP₂ crystal is near 80K converts …

Effector-Triggered Susceptibility By The Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe Oryzae, Ely Oliveira-Garcia, Xia Yan, Miriam Oses-Ruiz, Samuel De Paula, Nicholas J. Talbot

Faculty Publications

Rice blast, the most destructive disease of cultivated rice world-wide, is caused by the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. To cause disease in plants, M. oryzae secretes a diverse range of effector proteins to suppress plant defense responses, modulate cellular processes, and support pathogen growth. Some effectors can be secreted by appressoria even before host penetration, while others accumulate in the apoplast, or enter living plant cells where they target specific plant subcellular compartments. During plant infection, the blast fungus induces the formation of a specialized plant structure known as the biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC), which appears to be crucial for …

Residual-Based Error Corrector Operator To Enhance Accuracy And Reliability Of Neural Operator Surrogates Of Nonlinear Variational Boundary-Value Problems, Prashant K. Jha

Faculty Publications

This work focuses on developing methods for approximating the solution operators of a class of parametric partial differential equations via neural operators. Neural operators have several challenges, including the issue of generating appropriate training data, cost-accuracy trade-offs, and nontrivial hyperparameter tuning. The unpredictability of the accuracy of neural operators impacts their applications in downstream problems of inference, optimization, and control. A framework based on the linear variational problem that gives the correction to the prediction furnished by neural operators is considered based on earlier work in JCP 486 (2023) 112104. The operator, called Residual-based Error Corrector Operator or simply Corrector …