4,921 research outputs found
The effect of Fe atoms on the adsorption of a W atom on W(100) surface
We report a first-principles calculation that models the effect of iron (Fe)
atoms on the adsorption of a tungsten (W) atom on W(100) surfaces. The
adsorption of a W atom on a clean W(100) surface is compared with that of a W
atom on a W(100) surface covered with a monolayer of Fe atoms. The total energy
of the system is computed as the function of the height of the W adatom. Our
result shows that the W atom first adsorbs on top of the Fe monolayer. Then the
W atom can replace one of the Fe atoms through a path with a moderate energy
barrier and reduce its energy further. This intermediate site makes the
adsorption (and desorption) of W atoms a two-step process in the presence of Fe
atoms and lowers the overall adsorption energy by nearly 2.4 eV. The Fe atoms
also provide a surface for W atoms to adsorb facilitating the diffusion of W
atoms. The combination of these two effects result in a much more efficient
desorption and diffusion of W atoms in the presence of Fe atoms. Our result
provides a fundamental mechanism that can explain the activated sintering of
tungsten by Fe atoms.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Separation of suspended particles in microfluidic systems by directional-locking in periodic fields
We investigate the transport and separation of overdamped particles under the
action of a uniform external force in a two-dimensional periodic energy
landscape. Exact results are obtained for the deterministic transport in a
square lattice of parabolic, repulsive centers that correspond to a
piecewise-continuous linear-force model. The trajectories are periodic and
commensurate with the obstacle lattice and exhibit phase-locking behavior in
that the particle moves at the same average migration angle for a range of
orientation of the external force. The migration angle as a function of the
orientation of the external force has a Devil's staircase structure. The first
transition in the migration angle was analyzed in terms of a Poincare map,
showing that it corresponds to a tangent bifurcation. Numerical results show
that the limiting behavior for impenetrable obstacles is equivalent to the high
Peclet number limit in the case of transport of particles in a periodic pattern
of solid obstacles. Finally, we show how separation occurs in these systems
depending on the properties of the particles
Expression of neurogenin3 reveals an islet cell precursor population in the pancreas
Differentiation of early gut endoderm cells into the endocrine cells forming the pancreatic islets of Langerhans depends on a cascade of gene activation events controlled by transcription factors including the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins. To delineate this cascade, we began by establishing the position of neurogenin3, a bHLH factor found in the pancreas during fetal development. We detect neurogenin3 immunoreactivity transiently in scattered ductal cells in the fetal mouse pancreas, peaking at embryonic day 15.5. Although not detected in cells expressing islet hormones or the islet transcription factors Isl1, Brn4, Pax6 or PDX1, neurogenin3 is detected along with early islet differentiation factors Nkx6.1 and Nkx2.2, establishing that it is expressed in immature cells in the islet lineage. Analysis of transcription factor-deficient mice demonstrates that neurogenin3 expression is not dependent on neuroD1/BETA2, Mash1, Nkx2.2, Nkx6.1, or Pax6. Furthermore, early expression of neurogenin3 under control of the Pdx1 promoter is alone sufficient to drive early and ectopic differentiation of islet cells, a capability shared by the pancreatic bHLH factor, neuroD1/BETA2, but not by the muscle bHLH factor, MyoD. However, the islet cells produced in these transgenic experiments are overwhelmingly Ī± cells, suggesting that factors other than the bHLH factors are required to deviate from a default Ī± cell fate. These data support a model in which neurogenin3 acts upstream of other islet differentiation factors, initiating the differentiation of endocrine cells, but switching off prior to final differentiation. The ability to uniquely identify islet cell precursors by neurogenin3 expression allows us to determine the position of other islet transcription factors in the differentiation cascade and to propose a map for the islet cell differentiation pathway
Vocabulary intervention for adolescents with language disorder: a systematic review
Background: Language disorder and associated vocabulary difficulties can persist into adolescence, and can impact on long-term life outcomes. Previous reviews have shown that a variety of intervention techniques can successfully enhance studentsā vocabulary skills; however, none has investigated vocabulary intervention specifically for adolescents with language disorder.
Aims: To carry out a systematic review of the literature on vocabulary interventions for adolescents with language disorder.
Methods & Procedures: A systematic search of 14 databases and other sources yielded 1320 studies, of which 13 met inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were: intervention effectiveness studies with a focus on enhancing oral receptive and/or expressive vocabulary skills in the study's aims; participants in the age range 11;0ā16;11 with receptive and/or expressive language difficulties of any aetiology.
Main Contribution: There was a high degree of diversity between studies. Types of intervention included: semantic intervention (four studies); comparison of phonological versus semantic intervention (two); and combined phonologicalāsemantic intervention (seven). The strongest evidence for effectiveness was found with a combined phonologicalāsemantic approach. The evidence suggested a potential for all models of delivery to be helpful (individual, small group and whole class).
Conclusions & Implications: Tentative evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of a phonologicalāsemantic approach in enhancing the vocabulary skills of adolescents who have language disorder. Future research needs to refine and develop the methodologies used in this diverse group of studies in order to replicate their findings and to build consensus
Observational constraints on the spectral index of the cosmological curvature perturbation
We evaluate the observational constraints on the spectral index , in the
context of the CDM hypothesis which represents the simplest viable
cosmology. We first take to be practically scale-independent. Ignoring
reionization, we find at a nominal 2- level . If
we make the more realisitic assumption that reionization occurs when a fraction
to 1 of the matter has collapsed, the 2- lower bound is
unchanged while the 1- bound rises slightly. These constraints are
compared with the prediction of various inflation models. Then we investigate
the two-parameter scale-dependent spectral index, predicted by running-mass
inflation models, and find that present data allow significant scale-dependence
of , which occurs in a physically reasonable regime of parameter space.Comment: ReVTeX, 15 pages, 5 figures and 3 tables, uses epsf.sty Improved
treatment of reionization and small bug fixed in the constant n case; more
convenient parameterization and better treatment of the n dependence in the
CMB anisotropy for the running mass case; conclusions basically unchanged;
references adde
Towards the interoperability of computerised guidelines and electronic health records: an experiment with openEHR archetypes and a chronic heart failure guideline
Clinical guidelines contain recommendations based on the best empirical evidence available at the moment. There is a wide consensus about the benefits of guidelines and about the fact that they should be deployed through clinical information systems, making them available during clinical consultations. However, one of the main obstacles to this integration is the interaction with the electronic healthrecord system. With the aim of solving the interoperability problems of guideline systems, we have investigated the utilisation of the openEHR standardisation proposal in the context of one of the existing guideline representation languages. Concretely, we have designed a collection of archetypes to be used within a chronic heart failure guideline. The main contribution of our work is the utilisation of openEHR archetypes in the framework of guideline representation languages. Other contributions include both the concrete set of archetypes that we have selected and the methodological approach that we have followed to obtain itThis work has been supported by FundaciĀ“o Caixa CastellĀ“o-Bancaixa, through the research project P11B2009-3
Quark mass correction to the string potential
A consistent method for calculating the interquark potential generated by the
relativistic string with massive ends is proposed. In this approach the
interquark potential in the model of the Nambu--Goto string with point--like
masses at its ends is calculated. At first the calculation is done in the
one--loop approximation and then the variational estimation is performed. The
quark mass correction results in decreasing the critical distance
(deconfinement radius). When quark mass decreases the critical distance also
decreases. For obtaining a finite result under summation over eigenfrequencies
of the Nambu--Goto string with massive ends a suitable mode--by--mode
subtraction is proposed. This renormalization procedure proves to be completely
unique. In the framework of the developed approach the one--loop interquark
potential in the model of the relativistic string with rigidity is also
calculated.Comment: 34 pages, LATE
String Nature of Confinement in (Non-)Abelian Gauge Theories
Recent progress achieved in the solution of the problem of confinement in
various (non-)Abelian gauge theories by virtue of a derivation of their string
representation is reviewed. The theories under study include QCD within the
so-called Method of Field Correlators, QCD-inspired Abelian-projected theories,
and compact QED in three and four space-time dimensions. Various
nonperturbative properties of the vacua of the above mentioned theories are
discussed. The relevance of the Method of Field Correlators to the study of
confinement in Abelian models, allowing for an analytical description of this
phenomenon, is illustrated by an evaluation of field correlators in these
models.Comment: 100 pages, LaTeX2e, no figures, 1 table, based on the Ph.D. thesises
at the Humboldt University of Berlin (1999) (available under
http://dochost.rz.hu-berlin.de) and the Institute of Theoretical and
Experimental Physics, Moscow (2000), new results are included, extended with
respect to the journal versio
Longitudinal followāup of chronic hemodialysis patients without vitamin supplementation
Longitudinal followāup of chronic hemodialysis patients without vitamin supplementation. Vitamin supplementation for dialysis patients is still controversial. In our study, we followed longitudinally over a period of a year, 15 patients on chronic hemodialysis who were deprived of vitamin supplementation. Microbiological assays were used to determine the levels of five vitamins of the B group (folate, niacin, B12, B6, and thiamine). Vitamin C was measured chemically. During the observation period when vitamins were not supplemented, a marked drop of many of these vitamins in blood levels were encountered. For vitamins B12 and C, the plasma levels remained within the normal range in all the subjects studied. For the other vitamins, the blood levels were found to be low in a few patients. Our data suggest that vitamin supplementation is probably not needed in most stable hemodialysis patients as it is recommended now, and that perhaps, if supplementation is indicated, less should be given than is presently prescribed. Further research is needed in this area
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