In 2018, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) finalized its first video compression format AV1, which is jointly developed by the industry consortium of leading video technology companies. The main goal of AV1 is to provide an open source and royalty-free video coding format that substantially outperforms state-of-the-art codecs available on the market in compression efficiency while remaining practical decoding complexity as well as being optimized for hardware feasibility and scalability on modern devices. To give detailed insights into how the targeted performance and feasibility is realized, this paper provides a technical overview of key coding techniques in AV1. Besides, the coding performance gains are validated by video compression tests performed with the libaom AV1 encoder against the libvpx VP9 encoder. Preliminary comparison with two leading HEVC encoders, x265 and HM, and the reference software of VVC is also conducted on AOM's common test set and an open 4k set.

We investigate the old open cluster M67 using ultraviolet photometric data of Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope in multi-filter far-UV bands. M67, well known for the presence of several blue straggler stars (BSS), has been put to detailed tests to understand their formation pathways. Currently, there are three accepted formation channels: mass transfer due to Roche-lobe overflow in binary systems, stellar mergers either due to dynamical collisions or through coalescence of close binaries. So far, there had not been any confirmed detection of a white dwarf (WD) companion to any of the BSSs in this cluster. Here, we present the detection of WD companions to 5 bright BSSs in M67. The multiwavelength spectral energy distributions covering 0.12 -11.5 μm range, were found to require binary spectral fits for 5 BSSs, consisting of a cool (BSS) and a hot companion. The parameters (Luminosity, Temperature, Radius and Mass) of the hot companions suggest them to be WDs with mass in the range 0.2 - 0.35 M⊙ with Teff ~11000 –24000 K.

The market can produce skewed information about investigational products awaiting FDA approval. But the FDA rarely steps in to correct such misleading information, despite statutory authority to do so. This article evaluates a recommendation by the FDA Transparency Working Group that FDA more clearly signal when and how it will correct misleading information about investigational products, and why such a recommendation is particularly important after the 21st Century Cures Act.

We believe that Hyland, Lee, and Mills (2015) introduced important considerations concerning the importance of mindfulness for research and practice in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology, and we applaud their effort. We also feel that some equally important points were neglected or given scant attention. We amplify their introduction in three ways. We discuss (a) how construct confusion is common when new constructs are introduced and how paying attention to the type of meditation practice used to induce mindfulness will enhance construct clarity, (b) how using forms of meditation that employ physical movement and other activities to induce mindfulness expand the choices for intervention and training, and (c) how meditation and mindfulness provide a valuable bridge linking positive psychology and I-O psychology theory and practice.

Despite the current global decline in seagrass, sessile epifaunal invertebrates inhabiting seagrass ecosystems, particularly sponges and ascidians, have been poorly studied due to their taxonomic complexity. Understanding patterns of distribution of sessile epifaunal communities in seagrass meadows is an important precursor to determining the processes driving their distribution and species interactions. This study (1) identified the sponge and ascidian assemblage associated with Posidonia australis meadows and (2) determined distributional patterns of these invertebrates at a hierarchy of spatial scales in Jervis Bay, Australia. We used a fully nested design with transects distributed in the seagrass (10s m apart), two sites (100s m apart), and six locations (km apart). Within these transects, we recorded the abundance, volume, diversity and substratum used for attachment by sponges and ascidians. We encountered 20 sponge species and eight ascidian species; they were sporadically distributed in the seagrass meadows with high variability among the transects, sites and locations. A few sponge and ascidian species dominated the assemblage and were widespread across the largest spatial scale sampled. The remaining species were mostly rare and sparsely distributed. Sponges attached to a variety of substrata but most notably shells, P. australis and polychaete tubes. No obligate seagrass species were recorded although three species predominantly used P. australis as a substratum. These sponge species relying heavily on seagrass for their attachment are likely prone to disturbances impacting their host habitat. Examining the response of sessile epifauna to the degradation of their seagrass habitat remains a key challenge for the future.

Episodic memory deficits are a core feature of neurodegenerative disorders. Muscarinic M1 receptors play a critical role in modulating learning and memory and are highly expressed in the hippocampus. We examined the effect of GSK1034702, a potent M1 receptor allosteric agonist, on cognitive function, and in particular episodic memory, in healthy smokers using the nicotine abstinence model of cognitive dysfunction. The study utilized a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design in which 20 male nicotine abstained smokers were tested following single doses of placebo, 4 and 8 mg GSK1034702. Compared to the baseline (nicotine on-state), nicotine abstinence showed statistical significance in reducing immediate (p=0.019) and delayed (p=0.02) recall. GSK1034702 (8 mg) significantly attenuated (i.e. improved) immediate recall (p=0.014) but not delayed recall. None of the other cognitive domains was modulated by either nicotine abstinence or GSK1034702. These findings suggest that stimulating M1 receptor mediated neurotransmission in humans with GSK1034702 improves memory encoding potentially by modulating hippocampal function. Hence, selective M1 receptor allosteric agonists may have therapeutic benefits in disorders of impaired learning including Alzheimer's disease.

A system to grow heteroepitaxial thin-films of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes on single crystal substrates was developed. The cathode composition investigated was 20% strontium-doped lanthanum manganite (LSM) grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on single crystal (111) yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates. By combining electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy XAS measurements, we conclude that electrically driven cation migration away from the two-phase gas-cathode interface results in improved electrochemical performance. Our results provide support to the premise that the removal of surface passivating phases containing Sr2+ and Mn2+, which readily form at elevated temperatures even in O2 atmospheric pressures, is responsible for the improved cathodic performance upon application of a bias.

Carbon nanoclusters produced by high-repetition-rate laser ablation of graphite and glassy carbon in Ar exhibits para- and ferromagnetic behaviour at low temperature. The results show that the degree of remanent order is strongly dependent on the magnetic history, i.e. whether the samples were cooled under zero-field or field conditions. Such behaviour is typical for a spin glass structure where the system can exist in many different roughly equivalent spin configurations. The spin-freezing temperature is unusually high (50–300 K) compared with ≤ 15 K for typical spin glasses. The maximum in the zero-field magnetic susceptibility experiments and their field dependence indicate that there is competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange pathways, accounting for the spin glass behavior and/or a low-dimensionality of the system.