PRECISE FORMULA FOR VOLUME COMPUTATIONS USING CONTOURS METHOD

Except some special cases, commonly used volume computation methods are grids method, contours method and volume computations by utilizing TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network). In this study, to investigate the precisions of these techniques, a grid system is established in an undulating area and volume of the mound is determined by using these three volume computation methods. It is found out that contour method results were not as price as the other two methods. Thus, a precise formula for volume computations using contours method is proposed.Except some special cases, commonly used volume computation methods are grids method, contours method and volume computations by utilizing TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network). In this study, to investigate the precisions of these techniques, a grid system is established in an undulating area and volume of the mound is determined by using these three volume computation methods. It is found out that contour method results were not as price as the other two methods. Thus, a precise formula for volume computations using contours method is proposed

Transforming carbon nanotubes by silylation: An ab initio study

We use ab initio density functional calculations to study the chemical functionalization of single-wall carbon nanotubes and graphene monolayers by silyl (SiH3) radicals and hydrogen. We find that silyl radicals form strong covalent bonds with graphene and nanotube walls, causing local structural relaxations that enhance the sp3 character of these graphitic nanostructures. Silylation transforms all carbon nanotubes into semiconductors, independent of their chirality. Calculated vibrational spectra suggest that specific frequency shifts can be used as a signature of successful silylation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Microscopic mechanism of fullerene fusion

Combining total energy calculations with a search of phase space, we investigate the microscopic fusion mechanism of C60 fullerenes. We find that the (2 + 2) cycloaddition reaction, a necessary precursor for fullerene fusion, may be accelerated inside a nanotube. Fusion occurs along the minimum energy path as a finite sequence of Stone-Wales transformations, determined by a graphical search program. Search of the phase space using the "string method" indicates that Stone-Wales transformations are multistep processes, and provides detailed information about the transition states and activation barriers associated with fusion.open413

Composição da comunidade bacteriana do solo sob sistemas integrados na região norte de Mato Grosso.

Os sistemas integrados de produção agrícola estão sendo estudados como uma alternativa aos monocultivos tradicionais no intuíto de tornar a atividade agrícola sustentável, particulamente no estado do Mato Grosso. Entretanto, ainda não se conhece como essa atividade afeta as propriedades microbiológicas do solo. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar e comparar os efeitos de sistemas integrados na composição da comunidade bacteriana do solo com diferentes monocultivos tendo como área referência uma mata nativa do bioma de transição Cerrado e Amazônia. O local de estudo está localizado na Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril no município de Sinop/MT e foram avaliados sete tratamentos (1-mata nativa, 2-lavoura, 3-pecuária, 4-eucalipto, 5-integração eucalipto lavoura (iEL), 6-integração eucalipto pecuária (iEP), 7-integração eucalipto lavoura pecuária (iELP)) dispostos em quatro blocos casualizados, os quais foram conduzidos segundo as recomendações agronômicas das espécies cultivadas. As amostras de solo foram coletadas nas épocas de chuva e estiagem em 2012 com o auxílio de trado holandês na profundidade de 0-10 cm, considerando 20 pontos aleatórios com caminhamento zigue-zague para fazer uma composta de cada tratamento. A extração de DNA total do solo foi realizada com o kit MoBio UltraClean? Soil DNA (MoBio Laboratories, Carlsbad, CA., EUA) conforme protocolo descrito pelo fabricante e sequenciado pela tecnologia Illumina (Illumina, Inc., CA, USA) com a plataforma MiSeq na Universidade da Florida (Gainesville, EUA). Por meio de ferramentas de bioinformática 2.957.127 sequencias do gene 16S rRNA com alta qualidade foram obtidas, sendo que 2.172.432 de OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) foram classificados para o domínio Bacteria, 3.564 Archaea e 262.994 não foram classificados. A composição bacteriana do solo com abundancia relativa ≥ 10 % a nível de filo apresentou três táxons, porém Firmicutes e Proteobacteria apresentaram padrão de comportamento de maior abundancia na estiagem em relação a chuva para mata nativa e iELP e para a lavoura o padrão foi o oposto . A nível de classe, dentre cinco filos apenas Actinobacteria variou o comportamento para iELP e mata nativa com menor abundância na estiagem e maior na chuva, tendo a lavoura o comportamento inverso e para Clostridia ocorreu o mesmo padrão porém ao contrário para os respectivos tratamentos. Analisando a diferença entre os tratamentos por meio da dissimiliradidade a nível de filo, corte de abundância relativa ≥ 0.05 % (18 filos na estiagem e 21 na chuva), o dendrograma baseado na distância euclidiana agrupou mata nativa e iELP como os mais semelhantes e lavoura o mais dissimilar dentre todos os tratamentos. Podemos concluir, que o sistema integrado eucalipto lavoura pecuária apresentou maior semelhança na sua composição bacteriana do solo com a da mata nativa em comparação com os demais tratamentos avaliados, como também manteve o padrão do comportamento da abundancia relativa parecido na época de estiagem, assim demonstrando indício de sustentabilidade

Muscle atrophy and metal-on-metal hip implants

Background and purpose — Muscle atrophy is seen in patients with metal-on-metal (MOM) hip implants, probably because of inflammatory destruction of the musculo-tendon junction. However, like pseudotumors, it is unclear when atrophy occurs and whether it progresses with time. Our objective was to determine whether muscle atrophy associated with MOM hip implants progresses with time. Patients and methods — We retrospectively reviewed 74 hips in 56 patients (32 of them women) using serial MRI. Median age was 59 (23–83) years. The median time post-implantation was 83 (35–142) months, and the median interval between scans was 11 months. Hip muscles were scored using the Pfirrmann system. The mean scores for muscle atrophy were compared between the first and second MRI scans. Blood cobalt and chromium concentrations were determined. Results — The median blood cobalt was 6.84 (0.24–90) ppb and median chromium level was 4.42 (0.20–45) ppb. The median Oxford hip score was 34 (5–48). The change in the gluteus minimus mean atrophy score between first and second MRI was 0.12 (p = 0.002). Mean change in the gluteus medius posterior portion (unaffected by surgical approach) was 0.08 (p = 0.01) and mean change in the inferior portion was 0.10 (p = 0.05). Mean pseudotumor grade increased by 0.18 (p = 0.02). Interpretation — Worsening muscle atrophy and worsening pseudotumor grade occur over a 1-year period in a substantial proportion of patients with MOM hip implants. Serial MRI helps to identify those patients who are at risk of developing worsening soft-tissue pathology. These patients should be considered for revision surgery before irreversible muscle destruction occurs

YÜKSEK SICAKLIĞIN YAPI TAŞLARININ DAYANIMI ÜZERİNDEKİ ETKİSİNİN ULTRASONİK ÖLÇÜMLER İLE KESTİRİLMESİ

Natural stones have been used as a construction material since prehistoric age. Stone buildings and their protection and restoration are nowadays in the focus of interest. Natural disasters like fire can strongly damage or even may ruin these buildings. In this study, the resistance of building stones against high temperature was determined by ultrasonic measurements. The current study focuses on changes in the ultrasonic velocity of building stone subjected to simulated fire situations in the laboratory. 14 stones having different petrographical, physical and mechanical properties were used in the laboratory studies. The ultrasonic measurements and laboratory observation have shown that the texture and mineral composition of building stones are changed by heating. These changes influence the strength and durability of building stones. The evaluation of these results provides useful information when replacing damaged stone or one has to choose the suitable restoring method for the damaged part of buildings.Doğal taşlar tarih öncesi çağdan beri yapı malzemesi olarak kullanılmaktadır. Taş yapılar, bu yapıların korunması ve restorasyonu gibi konular günümüzde ilgi alanlarının odağında bulunmaktadır. Yangın gibi doğal felaketler bu yapılara çok fazla zarar verebilmekte ya da yıkılmasına neden olabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, yapı taşlarının yüksek sıcaklığa karşı dirençleri ultrasonik ölçümler ile belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Mevcut çalışma, laboratuar ortamında yangına maruz kalan yapı taşlarının ultrasonik hızlarındaki değişime odaklanmıştır. Laboratuar çalışmalarında farklı petrografik, fiziksel ve mekanik özelliklere sahip 14 farklı yapı taşı kullanılmıştır. Ultrasonik ölçümler ve laboratuar gözlemleri yapı taşlarının doku ve mineral içeriğinin sıcaklık değişimine bağlı olarak değiştiğini göstermiştir. Bu değişimler yapı taşlarının dayanımını ve duraylılığını etkilemektedir. Bu sonuçların değerlendirilmesi, hasar gören taşların değiştirilmesi ve hasar gören binanın restorasyon yönteminin seçiminde, bize çok faydalı bilgiler verebilir

Pharmacodynamic Interactions Between Ketamine and Psychiatric Medications Used in the Treatment of Depression:A Systematic Review

Background The use of ketamine for depression has increased rapidly in the past decades. Ketamine is often prescribed as an add-on to other drugs used in psychiatric patients, but clear information on drug-drug interactions is lacking. With this review, we aim to provide an overview of the pharmacodynamic interactions between ketamine and mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines, monoamine oxidase-inhibitors, antipsychotics, and psychostimulants. Methods MEDLINE and Web of Science were searched. Results Twenty-four studies were included. For lithium, no significant interactions with ketamine were reported. Two out of 5 studies on lamotrigine indicated that the effects of ketamine were attenuated. Benzodiazepines were repeatedly shown to reduce the duration of ketamine's antidepressant effect. For the monoamine oxidase-inhibitor tranylcypromine, case reports showed no relevant changes in vital signs during concurrent S-ketamine use. One paper indicated an interaction between ketamine and haloperidol, 2 other studies did not. Four papers investigated risperidone, including 3 neuroimaging studies showing an attenuating effect of risperidone on ketamine-induced brain perfusion changes. Clozapine significantly blunted ketamine-induced positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia but not in healthy participants. One paper reported no effect of olanzapine on ketamine's acute psychotomimetic effects. Conclusion Current literature shows that benzodiazepines and probably lamotrigine reduce ketamine's treatment outcome, which should be taken into account when considering ketamine treatment. There is evidence for an interaction between ketamine and clozapine, haloperidol, and risperidone. Due to small sample sizes, different subject groups and various outcome parameters, the evidence is of low quality. More studies are needed to provide insight into pharmacodynamic interactions with ketamine

Enhancing surface heat transfer by carbon nanofins: towards an alternative to nanofluids?

Background: Nanofluids are suspensions of nanoparticles and fibers which have recently attracted much attention because of their superior thermal properties. Nevertheless, it was proven that, due to modest dispersion of nanoparticles, such high expectations often remain unmet. In this article, by introducing the notion of nanofin, a possible solution is envisioned, where nanostructures with high aspect-ratio are sparsely attached to a solid surface (to avoid a significant disturbance on the fluid dynamic structures), and act as efficient thermal bridges within the boundary layer. As a result, particles are only needed in a small region of the fluid, while dispersion can be controlled in advance through design and manufacturing processes. Results: Toward the end of implementing the above idea, we focus on single carbon nanotubes to enhance heat transfer between a surface and a fluid in contact with it. First, we investigate the thermal conductivity of the latter nanostructures by means of classical non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Next, thermal conductance at the interface between a single wall carbon nanotube (nanofin) and water molecules is assessed by means of both steady-state and transient numerical experiments. Conclusions: Numerical evidences suggest a pretty favorable thermal boundary conductance (order of 107 W·m-2·K-1) which makes carbon nanotubes potential candidates for constructing nanofinned surface

Pharmacokinetically-guided dosing to improve the efficacy of brigatinib in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Brigatinib was recently approved for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small cell lung cancer and is dosed according to a one-dose-fits-all paradigm. We aimed to identify a pharmacokinetically-guided precision dosing strategy to improve treatment response with brigatinib through simulations using a previously published pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model. Dosing strategies explored were the approved 180 mg QD; the highest tolerable dose tested in clinical trials: 240 mg QD; and two precision dosing strategies targeting the median trough concentrations following 180 mg QD, and 240 mg QD. We investigated the impact of alternative dosing regimens on progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and the probability of developing a grade ≥2 rash or grade ≥2 amylase increase. Median PFS and OS increased by 1.6 and 7.8 months, respectively between the currently approved dosing strategy and precision dosing to the median trough concentration of the 240 mg dosing strategy, with only a minor increase in the probability of developing toxicity

Thermal transport measurements of individual multiwalled nanotubes

The thermal conductivity and thermoelectric power of a single carbon nanotube were measured using a microfabricated suspended device. The observed thermal conductivity is more than 3000 W/K m at room temperature, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the estimation from previous experiments that used macroscopic mat samples. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of nanotubes exhibits a peak at 320 K due to the onset of Umklapp phonon scattering. The measured thermoelectric power shows linear temperature dependence with a value of 80 $\mu$V/K at room temperature.Comment: 4 pages, figures include