Native copper formation associated with serpentinization in the Cheshmeh-Bid ophiolite massif (Southern Iran)

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers, and the editor Marco Scambelluri for their constructive and valuable comments and suggestions on our manuscript. Valentina Batanova and Valerie Magnin (ISTerre) are thanked for their help during the electron microprobe measurements. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to local people in Khajeh-Jamali village and workers from the Fars Chromite Company. The work of L. E. Aradi and Cs. Szabo was supported by the ELTE Institutional Excellence Program (TKP2020-IKA-05) managed by the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities. The work of G. Grieco was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education (MIUR) through the projects "PRIN2017 -Mineral reactivity, a key to understand large-scale processes" (2017L83S77) and " Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018-2022". C.M.s research has been funded by project PID2019-111715GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.In the Cheshmeh-Bid district of the Khajeh-Jamali ophiolitic massifs (Southern Iran), mantle peridotites are intruded by abundant pyroxenite dykes. A few of these dykes are remarkable for the occurrence of native copper associated with the development of a metasomatic reaction zone. The dykes are progressively reacted, from their margins towards the center, with an amphibole + antigorite selvage, followed by a centimeter-thick clinopyroxene + antigorite assemblage and, finally, by the native copper-bearing zone consisting of clinopyroxene + chlorite + antigorite. Native Cu occurs along cleavages and partially healed fractures in clinopyroxene, and as massive grains intergrown with antigorite. Copper isotope signatures and thermodynamic calculations show that the main driver for reaction zone formation is Ca-metasomatism. Native copper forms at the expense of chalcocite in the reaction zone. Such a reaction can only occur in reducing conditions, in agreement with the analysis of fluid inclusions composition displaying H-2 and CH4. Such fluids presumably originated from the hydration of mantle rocks. The observed reaction zone and native copper mineralization are thus interpreted as the result of Ca-metasomatism during hydrothermal alteration of the oceanic lithosphere. This is consistent with U/Pb dating of titanite, suggesting formation during the Albian when the dykes were exposed on the seafloor in a supra-subduction setting. The source for copper mineralization, as revealed by Cu isotopes, is probably mantle-like.ELTE Institutional Excellence Program TKP2020-IKA-05Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) 2017L83S77Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) PID2019-111715GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/50110001103

Study of photovoltaic (PV) module interconnections failure analysis and reliability

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the award of Doctor of Philosophy.Solar Energy is one of the most widely used renewable energy sources, with the solar Photovoltaic (PV) module technologies deployed as one of the primary renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels. However, the R&D challenge for improving the performance and reliability of PV modules has become an urgent and critical agenda for the energy generation industry sector. The interconnection between the solar PV cells is a very important part of the PV module assembly, and its failure can adversely affect the performance and reliability of the PV module. The interconnection failure has been mostly linked to the crack initiation and propagation in the solder joints used to connect the ribbon interconnection to the cell. This research focuses on the study of the thermal failure of PV module solder joint to determine the optimum ribbon interconnection designs that will give improved thermo-mechanical reliability. It develops a virtual reliability qualification process for the assessment of the life expectancy of PV module interconnections. The FEM simulations in ABAQUS 2019 software are implemented to investigate failure of the solder joints in different ribbon interconnection designs under anticipated life cycle loading conditions and high temperature lamination process. For the first time, the extended finite element method (XFEM) technique is used to determine the crack initiation temperature, crack location, direction and growth rate in solder joint of PV module interconnection under lamination process. Furthermore, the research used the Developed Morrow Energy Density lifetime model to determine the number of cycles to creep-fatigue failure, and then it defined a new generic exponent factor using the Coffin–Manson–Arrhenius model to estimate the lifetime for the designs under different thermal cycling conditions. The research also combines the numerical results of XFEM and creep-fatigue investigation to determine the failure lifetime of PV Module interconnection designs. The results show that the Multi-Busbar interconnection design improves solder joint creep-fatigue life (up to 15%) and consequently provides higher thermo-mechanical reliability for the solar PV modules compared to other studied designs (Conventional and the Light Capturing Ribbon interconnections). The results of this PV module interconnections study can be used for evaluating potential design changes and to facilitate design for reliability validation of different configurations for improving the long-term PV module system reliability.Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton

Effect of probiotics in diarrhea and GE Reflux in pediatrics.

Probiotics are defined as nonpathogenic bacterial depravities (Lactobacillus GG Enterococcus faecium,Lactobacilus acidophilus & Bifidobacterium bifidum) that provides better ,and normal intestinal floral and  function ,which balances Intestinal micro-organism and supports the immune system. One of the most common form of diarrhea is Antibiotic induced diarrhea, in which probiotics are used as preservative therapy. A significant number of patients with diarrhea are children (infant –toddler), who have underdeveloped immune system and diarrhea may cause life-threatening event. GE reflux is a common disease in infants. probiotics are now taking a part in the treatment of these children but it is not approved by FDA, although some surveys have shown its benefits. Introduction: The aim of this study is to see the role of probiotics in prevention and treatment of diarrhea and control of GE reflux, versus its high cost. Methods and Results: Four groups were studied in this analysis. The first group had diarrhea without probiotic treatment, the second group were patients with GE Reflux without probiotic treatment. The third group had diarrhea treated with probiotics, and the fourth group had GE reflux and were treated with probiotics. We used patients precise age, weight. variables were sex(female/male)age, (months), weight duration of disease with and without probiotics. In this study mean age was 24 months ,the minimum was 6 months and maximum was 78 months.58%of them were male and 42% were female. The mean treatment duration in group1 was 10 days. In third group was 7days which was reduced by 3 days. The mean treatment duration in group 2 was nearby 26 days. In third group was  near 25 days. Conclusions: Probiotics have significantly reduced the duration of diarrhea but there has not been a prominent improvement in duration of disease in GE Reflux

A Novel Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization and Sine Cosine Algorithm for Seismic Optimization of Retaining Structures

This study introduces an effective hybrid optimization algorithm, namely Particle Swarm Sine Cosine Algorithm (PSSCA) for numerical function optimization and automating optimum design of retaining structures under seismic loads. The new algorithm employs the dynamic behavior of sine and cosine functions in the velocity updating operation of particle swarm optimization (PSO) to achieve faster convergence and better accuracy of final solution without getting trapped in local minima. The proposed algorithm is tested over a set of 16 benchmark functions and the results are compared with other well-known algorithms in the field of optimization. For seismic optimization of retaining structure, Mononobe-Okabe method is employed for dynamic loading condition and total construction cost of the structure is considered as the objective function. Finally, optimization of two retaining structures under static and seismic loading are considered from the literature. As results demonstrate, the PSSCA is superior and it could generate better optimal solutions compared with other competitive algorithms

Service Tailoring: Towards Personalized homecare Systems

Health monitoring and healthcare provisioning for the elderly at home have received increasingly attention. Since each elderly person is unique, with a unique lifestyle, living environment and health condition, personalization is an essential feature of homecare software services. Service tailoring, which is creating a new service to meet individual requirements may be achieved in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner if new services can be configured and composed from already existing services. In this paper, we propose an effective service tailoring process and architecture to personalize homecare services according to the individual care-receiver’s needs. In addition, we present a scenario to highlight the need for service tailoring and to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach

A Study of the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Patients with Methamphetamine-Induced Psychosis

Abstract Background: The abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances such as amphetamines and ecstasy has had a growing trend. Tachycardia, increased blood pressure, hallucinations, panic attacks, and psychosis are the negative effects of methamphetamine abuse. The present study aimed to assess psychiatric disorders associated with methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed from October 2013 to March 2014 on 165 patients hospitalized at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kerman, Iran, and diagnosed with psychosis induced by methamphetamine abuse within the previous 6 months. Study subjects were selected via census method. Based on the exclusion criteria and due to the lack of cooperation of some patients, 121 patients were enrolled in the study. Research data were gathered using clinical interviews, the Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (Y-BOCS), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAM-A) and Hamilton rating scale for depression (HRSD), Young mania rating scale (YMRS), substance dependence severity scale (SDSS), positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), and clinical global impression (CGI) scale. The data analysis was performed using SPSS software, descriptive statistics, and ANOVA. Findings: Among the 121 patients of the sample group, 4 patients (3.3%) had anxiety, 58 patients (47.9%) depression, 30 patients (24.8%) obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 20 patients (16.5%) bipolar mood disorder (BMD), 8 patients (6.6%) persistent psychotic symptoms, 85 patients (70.2%) personality disorder, and 36 patients (29.8%) had no personality disorders. The highest prevalence was related to borderline personality disorder (35.5%). However, 45 patients (37.2%) had no impairment associated with methamphetamine-induced psychosis. Conclusion: It seems that there is comorbidity between psychiatric disorders, including mood disorders, especially depressive disorder, childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorders, and methamphetamine abuse. Keywords: Methamphetamine, Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Manic disorder, Sustained psychotic symptoms, Personality disorde

PETROLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE ORIGIN OF PYROXENITE DYKES IN THE LITHOSPHERIC MANTLE OF THE CHESHMEH-BID OPHIOLITIC MASSIF, SOUTHERN IRAN

The Cheshmeh-Bid ophiolitic massif in the Khajeh-Jamali district (Southern Iran) is dominated by harzburgite-dunite tectonites locally intruded by orthopy-roxenite dikes. These latter are composed of dominant coarse orthopyroxene with minor olivine, Cr-spinel, clinopyroxene and amphibole. Estimated equilibrium temperatures for Mg-hornblende and edenitic amphibole reveal a late stage magmatic origin.The Cheshmeh-Bid orthopyroxenites are characterized by very low Al2O3, CaO, Na2O and TiO2 abundances coupled to relatively high MgO and SiO2contents. They display U-shaped REE patterns, selective LILE enrichment and positive Pb and Sr anomalies. The host harzburgites are highly refractory mantle residues resulting from fluid-assisted melting. Field observations and mineral assemblages suggest that the pyroxenites formed by melt injection along fractures within rather cold ambient harzburgites and chromitites at moderate pressure (P > 1 GPa). Based on bulk-rock compositions and mineral chemistry, we infer that the Cheshmeh-Bid orthopyroxenites originated from the intrusion and crystallization of hydrous Si-rich, low-Ca melts with a boninite signature in a supra-subduction environment. Fine-grained neoblastic domains developed in the pyroxenites in response to subsolidus ductile deformation and recrystallization, which were most likely related to the exhumation of the Cheshmeh-Bid ophiolite massif

Tetracycline aptamer-controlled regulation of pre-mRNA splicing in yeast

Splicing of pre-mRNA is a critical step in mRNA maturation and disturbances cause several genetic disorders. We apply the synthetic tetracycline (tc)-binding riboswitch to establish a gene expression system for conditional tc-dependent control of pre-mRNA splicing in yeast. Efficient regulation is obtained when the aptamer is inserted close to the 5′splice site (SS) with the consensus sequence of the SS located within the aptamer stem. Structural probing indicates limited spontaneous cleavage within this stem in the absence of the ligand. Addition of tc leads to tightening of the stem and the whole aptamer structure which probably prevents recognition of the 5′SS. Combination of more then one aptamer-regulated intron increases the extent of regulation leading to highly efficient conditional gene expression systems. Our findings highlight the potential of direct RNA–ligand interaction for regulation of gene expression

Personalized Service Creation by Non-technical Users in the Homecare Domain

AbstractOne of the conditions for the successful introduction of ICT-based homecare services is to allow non-technical persons such as home nurses to personalize these services. We refer to this process of homecare service personalization as service tailoring. Service tailoring can be done by configuring and composing previously developed and deployed service building blocks. In this paper, we describe an approach that employs predefined information of care-receivers, called user profile, to hide most of the technical details from care-givers who do the service tailoring. First, we define the information to be included in a user profile and patterns that represent composition structures corresponding to common homecare tasks experienced in homecare. Then, we define how the service tailoring process can exploit information contained in the predefined user profiles. After that, we illustrate the approach with a tailoring scenario