Pravopisno znanje hrvatskoga jezika učenika četvrtoga razreda osnovne škole s obzirom na izloženost sadržaju u udžbenicima

The paper shows the research results of fourth grade pupils’ knowledge of Croatian orthography, more specifically of writing words containing č and ć with respect to exposure to such words in Croatian language textbooks. Both textbooks comprise in total 4552 lexical units containing č and ć, of which 1436 distinctive words. The research established which words in the textbook for Croatian language are frequent and which are less frequent. Using dictation, we checked knowledge of accurate writing of 10 most frequent and 22 less frequent words. The results indicate that pupils were statistically significantly more successful in writing more frequent words than in writing less frequent words. A statistically significant difference was not found in pupil achievement with respect to gender. For successful learning of orthography, pupils should be exposed to texts which are saturated with such content.U radu smo istražili pravopisno znanje hrvatskoga jezika učenika četvrtoga razreda u pisanju riječi koje sadrže č i ć s obzirom na izloženost tim riječima u udžbenicima hrvatskoga jezika. U oba udžbenika evidentirane su ukupno 4552 riječi koje sadrže č i ć, a od toga je 1436 riječi različito. Istraživanjem smo utvrdili koje su riječi u udžbeniku hrvatskoga jezika frekventne, a koje manje frekventne te smo s pomoću kontrolnoga diktata provjerili znanje pravilnoga pisanja 10 najfrekventnijih i 22 najmanje frekventne riječi. Rezultati pokazuju da su učenici bili statistički značajno uspješniji u pisanju frekventnijih riječi nego u onima manje frekventnima. Nije dobivena statistički značajna razlika u uspjehu učenika s obzirom na spol. Da bi učenje pravopisnih sadržaja bilo uspješno, učenike je potrebno izlagati jezičnometodičkim predlošcima koji su zasićeni tim sadržajem

Water adsorption on vanadium oxide thin films in ambient relative humidity.

In this work, ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) is used to study the initial stages of water adsorption on vanadium oxide surfaces. V 2p, O 1s, C 1s, and valence band XPS spectra were collected as a function of relative humidity in a series of isotherm and isobar experiments. Experiments were carried out on two VO2 thin films on TiO2 (100) substrates, prepared with different surface cleaning procedures. Hydroxyl and molecular water surface species were identified, with up to 0.5 ML hydroxide present at the minimum relative humidity, and a consistent molecular water adsorption onset occurring around 0.01% relative humidity. The work function was found to increase with increasing relative humidity, suggesting that surface water and hydroxyl species are oriented with the hydrogen atoms directed away from the surface. Changes in the valence band were also observed as a function of relative humidity. The results were similar to those observed in APXPS experiments on other transition metal oxide surfaces, suggesting that H2O-OH and H2O-H2O surface complex formation plays an important role in the oxide wetting process and water dissociation. Compared to polycrystalline vanadium metal, these vanadium oxide films generate less hydroxide and appear to be more favorable for molecular water adsorption

Rubidium Fluoride Post-Deposition Treatment: Impact on the Chemical Structure of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Surface and CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Interface in Thin-Film Solar Cells.

We present a detailed characterization of the chemical structure of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film surface and the CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 interface, both with and without a RbF post-deposition treatment (RbF-PDT). For this purpose, X-ray photoelectron and Auger electron spectroscopy, as well as synchrotron-based soft X-ray emission spectroscopy have been employed. Although some similarities with the reported impacts of light-element alkali PDT (i.e., NaF- and KF-PDT) are found, we observe some distinct differences, which might be the reason for the further improved conversion efficiency with heavy-element alkali PDT. In particular, we find that the RbF-PDT reduces, but not fully removes, the copper content at the absorber surface and does not induce a significant change in the Ga/(Ga + In) ratio. Additionally, we observe an increased amount of indium and gallium oxides at the surface of the treated absorber. These oxides are partly (in the case of indium) and completely (in the case of gallium) removed from the CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 interface by the chemical bath deposition of the CdS buffer

Gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin in pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: an observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin ± gemcitabine in patients with diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) pretreated with pemetrexed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study enrolled consecutive patients with relapsed MPM, all of them pretreated with a platin-pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin 80 mg/m²was administered as monotherapy or in combination with gemcitabine 1000 mg/m²given on day 1 and 8. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. The primary endpoints were response rate and disease control rate. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), time to tumour progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS), time to treatment failure (TTF), and toxicity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between February 2005 and September 2007 29 patients (median age: 65.0 years, World Health Organisation (WHO) performance status: 0–3) were enrolled. The follow-up period encompassed 5.4 to 97.4 weeks (median: 24.3 weeks). Out of these 29 patients, 15 were treated in second, 10 in third, 3 in fourth and 1 in fifth line, respectively. The majority of the patients received the combination oxaliplatin and gemcitabine (n = 25 vs. 4; 86.2 vs. 13.8%).</p> <p>The median overall survival (OS) was 71.7 weeks (30.6–243.3 weeks), whereas survival from the start of oxaliplatin/gemcitabine-treatment was 24.3 weeks (5.4–97.3 weeks). Median time to tumour progression (TTP) was 9.3 weeks (3.0–67.6 weeks).</p> <p>Partial response (PR) was observed in 2 patients (6.9%), stable disease (SD) for at least three courses of treatment in 11 patients (37.9%). Thus, disease control rate was 44.8%, whereas 16 of 29 patients exhibited progressive disease (55.2%).</p> <p>The toxicity profile was favourable, with no WHO grade 4-toxicities, only few dose-reductions were performed due to non-symptomatic haematotoxicities (neutropenia, thrombopenia). Mild WHO grade 2 neurotoxicity was seen in 6 patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Pemetrexed-pretreated patients with progressive MPM may benefit from a consecutive chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and gemcitabine without significant toxicity.</p

Resonant Inelastic Soft X-ray Scattering and X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Solid Proline and Proline Solutions

The amino group of proline is part of a pyrrolidine ring, which makes it unique among the proteinogenic amino acids. To unravel its full electronic structure, proline in solid state and aqueous solution is investigated using X-ray emission spectroscopy and resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering. By controlling the pH value of the solution, proline is studied in its cationic, zwitterionic, and anionic configurations. The spectra are analyzed within a “building-block principle” by comparing with suitable reference molecules, i.e., acetic acid, cysteine, and pyrrolidine, as well as with spectral calculations based on density functional theory. We find that the electronic structure of the carboxyl group of proline is very similar to that of other amino acids as well as acetic acid. In contrast, the electronic structure of the amino group is significantly different and strongly influenced by the ring structure of proline

Tuning SMSI Kinetics on Pt-loaded TiO2_2(110) by Choosing the Pressure: A Combined UHV / Near-Ambient Pressure XPS Study

Pt catalyst particles on reducible oxide supports often change their activity significantly at elevated temperatures due to the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), which induces the formation of an encapsulation layer around the noble metal particles. However, the impact of oxidizing and reducing treatments at elevated pressures on this encapsulation layer remains controversial, partly due to the 'pressure gap' between surface science studies and applied catalysis. In the present work, we employ synchrotron-based near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) to study the effect of O$_2$ and H$_2$ on the SMSI-state of well-defined Pt/TiO$_2$(110) catalysts at pressures of up to 0.1 Torr. By tuning the O$_2$ pressure, we can either selectively oxidize the TiO$_2$ support or both the support and the Pt particles. Catalyzed by metallic Pt, the encapsulating oxide overlayer grows rapidly in 1x10$^{-5}$ Torr O$_2$, but orders of magnitudes less effective at higher O$_2$ pressures, where Pt is in an oxidic state. While the oxidation/reduction of Pt particles is reversible, they remain embedded in the support once encapsulation has occurred

Satellite-Dominated Sulfur L2,3_{2,3} X-ray Emission of Alkaline Earth Metal Sulfides

The sulfur L2,3 X-ray emission spectra of the alkaline earth metal sulfides BeS, MgS, CaS, SrS, and BaS are investigated and compared with spectra calculations based on density functional theory. Very distinct spectral shapes are found for the different compounds. With decreasing electronegativity of the cation, that is, increasing ionic bonding character, the upper valence band width and its relative spectral intensity decrease. These general trends are qualitatively reproduced by the spectra calculations, which give quite an accurate description of the spectral shapes in the upper valence band region. On the low energy side of the sulfur 3s → 2p transition dominating the spectra, we find strong satellites caused by “semi-Auger” decays involving configuration interaction. These satellites, previously believed to be energetically forbidden for sulfur L2,3 emission and only observed for the L2,3 emission of Cl to Cr, increase in intensity as the bonding character becomes more ionic and dominate the spectra for SrS and BaS. The intensities, energies, and widths of the satellites vary strongly between the investigated compounds, giving a very specific spectral fingerprint that can be used for speciation analysis

Observation of Double Excitations in the Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering of Nitric Oxide

The nitrogen K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) map of nitric oxide (NO) has been measured and simulated to provide a detailed analysis of the observed features. High-resolution experimental RIXS maps were collected using an in situ gas flow cell and a high-transmission soft x-ray spectrometer. Accurate descriptions of the ground, excited, and core-excited states are based upon restricted active space self-consistent-field calculations using second order multiconfigurational perturbation theory. The nitrogen K-edge RIXS map of NO shows a range of features that can be assigned to intermediate states arising from 1s→π* and 1s→Rydberg excitations; additional bands are attributed to doubly excited intermediate states comprising 1s→π* and π→π* excitations. These results provide a detailed picture of RIXS for an open-shell molecule and an extensive description of the core-excited electronic structure of NO, an important molecule in many chemical and biological processes

Compression of a Stearic Acid Surfactant Layer on Water Investigated by Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

We present a combined Langmuir–Pockels trough and ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) study of the compression of stearic acid surfactant layers on neat water. Changes in the packing density of the molecules are directly determined from C 1s and O 1s APXPS data. The experimental data are fit with a 2D model for the stearic acid coverage. Based on the results of these proof-of-principle experiments, we discuss the remaining challenges that need to be overcome for future investigations of the role of surfactants in heterogeneous chemical reactions at liquid–vapor interfaces in combined Langmuir–Pockels trough and APXPS measurements