Three-dimensional (3D) printing has recently been introduced into the field of chemistry as an enabling tool employed to perform reactions, but so far, its use has been limited due to material and structural constraints. We have developed a new approach for fabricating 3D catalysts with high-complexity features for chemical reactions via digital light processing printing (DLP). PtO2-WO3 heterogeneous catalysts with complex shapes were directly fabricated from a clear solution, composed of photo-curable organic monomers, photoinitiators, and metallic salts. The 3D-printed catalysts were tested for the hydrogenation of alkynes and nitrobenzene, and displayed excellent reactivity in these catalytic transformations. Furthermore, to demonstrate the versatility of this approach and prove the concept of multifunctional reactors, a tungsten oxide-based tube consisting of three orderly sections containing platinum, rhodium, and palladium was 3D printed.
The article examines the relationship between humanitarianism, security, and ethics in the case of the provision of medical humanitarian aid by Israel to casualties from the Syrian civil war, between 2013 and 2018. We argue that this humanitarian project differs from the type of humanitarian intervention commonly seen in conflict zones and can be identified as a new form of humanitarian governance. Our case study deals with humanitarian care provided in the country of origin of the medical and security forces involved, rather than in the country of the injured. In this articulation of humanitarianism at home a new nature of life governance and new subjects of security, emerge. We argue that the politics of life shifts and is subordinated to two different ethical frameworks founded on two different logics: that of the human (as in the type of medical treatment seen in traditional humanitarian aid provision, which is often related to short-term immediate treatment) and that of the citizen (the standard of care provided to all official residents of Israel. The conflict between these two moralities, the shifting standard of medical treatment, and the new medical-security space – together, raise a new set of ethical and political questions.
Given the scale of digital communication, researchers face a painful trade-off between powerful, scalable computational strategies, and the theoretical sensitivity offered by small-scale manual analyses. Especially in the study of natural discourse on digital media, the interactive, ever-evolving stream of conversations across multiple platforms regularly defies efforts to obtain well-defined samples of manageable size, while their linguistic variability imposes major limitations upon the accuracy of automated tools. In this paper, we draw upon recent advances in computational text analysis to develop a hybrid approach to the deductive analysis of large-scale digital discourse, which combines the algorithmic extraction of coherent, recurrent patterns with a manual coding of identified patterns. The approach scales up to treat millions of texts at minimal added human effort, while affording researchers close control over the process of theory-guided classification. We demonstrate the power of Hybrid Content Analysis by studying polarization in a quarter of a million contributions from cross-platform interactive social media discourse about a controversial incident.
The performances of hydrological models in arid areas are significantly lower than other climates. The reasons are numerous, from the scales involved, to specific processes and the lack of adequate measurements. Effective parameters have been often observed to change between runoff events, limiting the predictive capacity of the models. We look at the problems that can be found in an operational setting and present an analysis to improve the understanding of the errors. Our method characterizes the conditions where the model fails systematically, and the conditions where the parameterization holds between floods. We applied KINEROS2 to 24 years of radar rainfall and streamflow data in 6 arid catchments. A GLUE probabilistic framework is used to characterize model performance, and a method is developed to identify floods with similar calibration. The analysis shows that uninformative conditions are difficult to generalize. A basin-specific analysis can help to identify conditions where the model fails and exclude them from calibration. Despite the large uncertainties, similar catchments display groups of floods with similar parameterization. In some basin we find that it is important to quantify antecedent moisture conditions. Hydrological models show some consistency within limited conditions. These conditions, however, depend on the errors involved, and are site-specific. There is some potential for parameter transfer, but proximity alone might not be enough, and other factors such as mean annual rainfall or storm type, should be taken into account.
A new empirical approach to identify local housing markets (LHM’s) is proposed, which focuses on the spatial correlation between local house price indices constructed from repeat sales data. It extends the work of Pryce who claimed that if housing in different locations are perfect substitutes, their house price indices should be perfectly correlated over time. Pryce’s work represents a paradigmatic change in identifying local housing markets using revealed preferences rather than hedonic pricing. It requires spatial panel data for house prices which we construct using repeated sales data to generate house price indices for Tel Aviv (1998–2014) for over 100 census tracts. These price indices are used to define LHMs. The number of LHMs varies inversely with the degree to which house prices in locations belonging to the same LHM, are expected to be correlated. It also varies directly with the order of contiguity of these locations. Results point to considerable spatial heterogeneity in house price movement. This belies the popular impression that the Tel Aviv housing market is relatively homogeneous, characterised by expensive housing and uniform house price movements.
The semantic view of computation is the claim that semantic properties play an essential role in the individuation of physical computing systems such as laptops and brains. The main argument for the semantic view (“the master argument”) rests on the fact that some physical systems simultaneously implement different automata at the same time, in the same space, and even in the very same physical properties ("simultaneous implementation"). Recently, several authors have challenged this argument (Piccinini 2008, 2015; Coelho Mollo 2018; Dewhurst 2018). They accept the premise of simultaneous implementation but reject the semantic conclusion. In this paper, I aim to explicate the semantic view and to address these objections. I first characterize the semantic view and distinguish it from other, closely related views. Then, I contend that the master argument for the semantic view survives the counter-arguments against it. One counter-argument is that computational individuation is not forced to choose between the implemented automata but rather always picks out a more basic computational structure. My response is that this move might undermine the notion of computational equivalence. Another counter-argument is that while computational individuation is forced to rely on extrinsic features, these features need not be semantic. My reply is that the semantic view better accounts for these extrinsic features than the proposed non-semantic alternatives.
The present study offers a novel approach that may explain the mechanisms of pathogenicity of the auto immune destructive disorder, Lupus Erythematosus. It is proposed that deposition of immune complexes and complement components in tissue is mediated by highly cationic histones released from neutrophils nets the phenomenon of netosis. Histones act a potent opsonic factor similar to antibodies which interact by strong electrostatic forces with negatively-charged domains in immune complexes and complements facilitating their deposition and also their internalization by hosts’ cells. However, the main cause of cell and tissue damage in Lupus is inflicted by the plethora of toxic pro inflammatory agonists released by neutrophils and by macrophages recruited to inflamed tissues by cytokines. The melioration of tissue damage may be initiated by highly anionic heparins, which neutralizes histones’ action if also combined with steroids, colchicin and methtorxate as well as by other agents which retard leukocytes migration and functions.
