Non-Covalent Interactions Atlas Benchmark Data Sets 5: London Dispersion in an Extended Chemical Space

The Non-Covalent Interactions Atlas (www.nciatlas.org) has been extended with two data sets of benchmark interaction energies in complexes dominated by London dispersion. The D1200 data set of equilibrium geometries provides a thorough sampling of an extended chemical space, while the D442×10 set features dissociation curves for selected complexes. In total, they provide 5,178 new CCSD(T)/CBS data points of the highest quality. The new data have been combined with previous NCIA data sets in a comprehensive test of dispersion-corrected DFT methods, identifying the ones that achieve high accuracy in all types of non-covalent interactions in a broad chemical space. Additional tests of dispersion-corrected MP2 and semiempirical QM methods are also reported.

A statistics and physics-based tropical cyclone full track model for catastrophe risk modeling

Catastrophe (CAT) risk modeling of perils such as typhoon and earthquake has become a prevailing practice in the insurance and reinsurance industry. The event generation model is the key component of the CAT modeling. In this paper, a physics-based tropical cyclone (TC) full track model is introduced to model typhoons events in the western North Pacific basin. At the same time, a comprehensive test of the model is presented from the perspective of CAT risk modeling for insurance and reinsurance applications. The full track model includes the genesis, track, intensity, and landing models. Driven by the global environmental circulations, the model employs the advection and beta drift theory in atmospheric dynamics to model the track of typhoons. The proposed model is novel in the way of modeling the genesis of TCs with three-dimension kernel distributions in space and time. This enables the simulation of seasonal characteristics of TCs. By generating 10,000-year TC events, we comprehensively test the model from the standpoint of CAT insurance and reinsurance applications. The typhoon hazard model and the generated events can serve as the inputs for assessing the typhoon risk and insured loss caused by winds, rains, floods, and storm surges.

Pakistan and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime

The arrival of nuclear weapons was detrimental in changing the nature of warfare; duringWWII, we used nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities. The catastrophic effect of nuclear weapons made the pioneers apprehensive about the spread of nuclear technology across the globe. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime (NNPR) is a set of international rules, norms, initiatives, agreements, arrangements, bilateral and multilateral treaties to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and technology. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the backbone of NNPR. This paper discusses the significance of NNPR and will focus on how Pakistan fits into the bigger picture of the NNPR as a nuclear state. This research study will further analyze the prospects and challenges for Pakistan viz a viz the NNPR. It will specifically focus on Pakistan's official position on joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), and the two relevant Export Control Regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime). Moreover, the challenges Pakistan faces viz-a-viz these treaties and arrangements will be highlighted. Recommendations will be provided based on the prospects of how Pakistan can overcome these challenges.

Research on Tactile Interaction Measurement and Evaluation Method of Vehicle Switch

In this paper, the method of vehicle switch-like tactile interaction measurement is explored by using high-degree-of-freedom robot objective test equipment. Besides, this paper also presents a complete set of vehicles switch-like tactile interaction subjective and objective comprehensive test evaluation method. This paper uses this method to evaluate many kinds of vehicles in the market. The results show that the tactile interaction evaluation method, which combines subjective evaluation with robot objective test, can effectively evaluate the vehicle’s tactile interaction performance and provide important theoretical support for quality control of vehicles’ interactive parts.

Exploring the Shortcomings of the Iranian MSRT English Proficiency Test

The Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT) English Proficiency Test (EPT) has been in use since 1992. While the MSRT-EPT is generally claimed to be reliable, valid, and practical, it does not assess speaking and writing skills. In this exploratory study, a qualitative approach was used to examine the MSRT-EPT test-takers experiences and language education experts’ beliefs about the test as well as their congruence with each other through semi-structured telephone interviews. Convenience and purposive sampling procedures were used to select 15 participants. Inductive coding method was applied to determine invariant constituents. Then, the constituents were reduced to categories, and finally the categories were clustered into 11 themes. Dependability and validity of the study were established through triangulation, inter-coder agreement, and member checking technique. The problems associated with the MSRT-EPT and a lack of productive skills included a lack of correspondence between the test content and Ph.D. Candidates'' needs, negative washback effect, non-theory-based content, inappropriate listening conditions, and a lack of test items originality. On the other hand, the candidates’ and experts’ perspectives were highly congruent. In light of these findings, the importance of designing a more comprehensive test including all facets of the language proficiency construct was highlighted, and some suggestions were made for future research.

Parental environmental effects are common and strong, but unpredictable, in Arabidopsis thaliana

The phenotypes of plants can be influenced by the environmental conditions experienced by their parents. In some cases, such parental effects have been found to be adaptive, which has led to much speculation about their ecological and evolutionary significance. However, there is still much uncertainty about how common and how predictable parental environmental effects really are. We carried out a comprehensive test for parental effects of different environmental stresses in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We subjected plants of three Arabidopsis genotypes to a broad range of biotic or abiotic stresses, or combinations thereof, and compared their offspring phenotypes in a common environment. The majority of environmental stresses (16 out of 24 stress treatments) caused significant parental effects, in particular on plant biomass and reproduction, with positive or negative effects ranging from 35% to +38% changes in offspring fitness. The expression of parental effects was strongly genotype-dependent, with some effects only present in some genotypes but absent, or even in the opposite direction, in others. Parental effects of multiple environmental stresses were often non-additive, and their effects can thus not be predicted from what we know about the effects of individual stresses. Intriguingly, the direction and magnitude of parental effects were unrelated to the direct effects on the parents: some stresses did not affect the parents but caused substantial effects on offspring, while for others the situation was reversed. In summary, parental environmental effects are common and often strong in A. thaliana, but they are genotype-dependent and difficult to predict.

Disentangling the Evolutionary Drivers of Social Complexity in Human History: a Comprehensive Test of Hypotheses

During the Holocene the scale and complexity of human societies increased dramatically. Generations of scholars have proposed different theories explaining this expansion, which range from functionalist explanations, focusing on the provision of public goods, to conflict theories, emphasizing the role of class struggle or warfare. To quantitatively test these theories, we develop a general dynamical model, based on the theoretical framework of cultural macroevolution. Using this model and Seshat: Global History Databank we test 17 potential predictor variables proxying mechanisms suggested by major theories of sociopolitical complexity (and >100,000 combinations of these predictors). The best-fitting model indicates a strong causal role played by a combination of increasing agricultural productivity and invention/adoption of military technologies (most notably, iron weapons and cavalry in the first millennium BCE).

Into the Noddyverse: A massive data store of 3D geological models for Machine Learning & inversion applications

Unlike some other well-known challenges such as facial recognition, where Machine Learning and Inversion algorithms are widely developed, the geosciences suffer from a lack of large, labelled datasets that can be used to validate or train robust Machine Learning and inversion schemes. Publicly available 3D geological models are far too restricted in both number and the range of geological scenarios to serve these purposes. With reference to inverting geophysical data this problem is further exacerbated as in most cases real geophysical observations result from unknown 3D geology, and synthetic test datasets are often not particularly geological, nor geologically diverse. To overcome these limitations, we have used the Noddy modelling platform to generate one million models, which represent the first publicly accessible massive training set for 3D geology and resulting gravity and magnetic datasets. This model suite can be used to train Machine Learning systems, and to provide comprehensive test suites for geophysical inversion. We describe the methodology for producing the model suite, and discuss the opportunities such a model suit affords, as well as its limitations, and how we can grow and access this resource.