In situ CCVD synthesis of carbon nanotubes within a commercial ceramic foam

Consolidated nanocomposite foams containing a large quantity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within millimetre-sized pores are prepared for the first time. A commercial ceramic foam is impregnated by a 60 g L21 slurry of a (Mg(12x)(Co0.75Mo0.25)xO solid solution (x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) powder in ethanol. Three successive impregnations led to deposits several tens of mm thick, with a good coverage of the commercial-ceramic pore walls but without closing the pores. The materials were submitted to a CCVD treatment in H2–CH4 atmosphere in order to synthesise the CNTs. When using attrition-milled powders, the carbon is mostly in the form of nanofibres or disordered carbon rather than CNTs. Using non-milled powders produces a less-compact deposit of catalytic material with a higher adherence to the walls of the ceramic foam. After CCVD, the carbon is mostly in the form of high-quality CNTs, as when using powder beds, their quantity being 2.5 times higher. The so-obtained consolidated nanocomposite materials show a multi-scale pore structuration

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL TOURISM OBJECTS: CASE OF THE KEMEROVO REGION – KUZBASS

In recent years, the industrialized regions of Russia have faced the need to diversify the economy and develop new industries. The advantage of such regions is that they can use their industrial heritage to develop primarily industrial tourism. The purpose of the article is to analyze the spatial organization of industrial tourism objects on the territory of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass. The authors analyze the approaches to the essence of the concept of "industrial tourism", study international and Russian experience in the development of industrial areas and assess the state of industrial tourism in the region with the help of SWOT-analysis method. Authors also identify the potential objects of industrial tourism and analyze their spatial organization. With the help of the QGIS 3.20 program, thematic map-scheme of the location of industrial tourism objects has been made. The conclusions about the prospects and directions of development of industrial tourism in the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass are made

O Impacto da Regulamentação Contábil sobre o Conservadorismo nas Empresas do Setor Elétrico do Brasil

This article examines whether the application of conservatism is different between companies in the Brazilian electric power sector (which are subject to specific accounting regulations) and other Brazilian companies not subject to any specific rules. Accounting has been studied for its ability to provide information through accounting variables, which is useful for the users' decisions. One of the most important of these variables is accounting income. However, the information content of this income may not accurately reflect a firm's real situation because it can be influenced by factors and characteristics of Brazilian accounting. Among these factors is the existence of specific regulations. The sample consisted of data on companies in the Brazilian electric power sector and other Brazilian companies not subject to any specific accounting rules, covering the period from December 1998 to December 2006, taken from the Economática database. To investigate the differences in accounting income, we used the model proposed by Basu (1997). We found that companies in other sectors act more conservatively. It can be inferred, then, that incidence of specific accounting regulations can influence the application of conservatism in the companies studied.El artículo tiene como objetivo investigar si la aplicación del Conservadorismo es diferente entre empresas del sector eléctrico brasileño (que sufren incidencia de reglamentación contable específica) y empresas brasileñas que no sufren incidencia de reglamentación contable específica. La contabilidad ha sido estudiada a partir de su capacidad de suministrar informaciones útiles al proceso de decisión de los usuarios y eso ocurre por medio de las variables contables. Una de esas principales variables es el beneficio contable. Sin embargo, el contenido informativo del beneficio puede no reflejar la realidad de las empresas, pues puede ser influido por factores y características de la contabilidad brasileña. Entre esos factores, se puede citar la incidencia de reglamentación contable específica. La muestra fue formada con datos colectados de empresas del sector eléctrico brasileño y de empresas brasileñas que no sufren incidencia de reglamentación contable específica, buscados en el banco de datos Economática. En esta pesquisa, fue utilizado el modelo propuesto por Basu (1997). El período analizado comprende diciembre de 1998 a diciembre de 2006. Se verificó que existe una aplicación menor del Conservadorismo en las empresas de los otros sectores frente a las empresas de energía eléctrica, evidenciando, por tanto, diferencia en la aplicación del Conservadorismo entre los dos grupos de empresas. Se puede inferir que la incidencia de reglamentación contable específica puede influenciar la elaboración del beneficio contable y, consecuentemente, influir en la aplicación del Conservadorismo en las empresas estudiadas.O artigo objetiva investigar se a aplicação do Conservadorismo é diferente entre empresas do setor elétrico brasileiro (que sofrem incidência de regulamentação contábil específica) e empresas brasileiras que não sofrem incidência de regulamentação contábil específica. A contabilidade tem sido estudada a partir de sua capacidade de fornecer informações úteis ao processo de decisão dos usuários e isso ocorre por meio das variáveis contábeis. Uma dessas principais variáveis é o lucro contábil. Porém, o conteúdo informacional do lucro pode não refletir a realidade das empresas, pois pode ser influenciado por fatores e características da contabilidade brasileira. Entre esses fatores, pode-se citar a incidência de regulamentação contábil específica. A amostra foi formada com dados coletados de empresas do setor elétrico brasileiro e de empresas brasileiras que não sofrem incidência de regulamentação contábil específica, buscados no banco de dados Economática. Nesta pesquisa, foi utilizado o modelo proposto por Basu (1997). O período analisado compreende dezembro de 1998 a dezembro de 2006. Verificou-se que existe uma menor aplicação do Conservadorismo nas empresas dos outros setores frente às empresas de energia elétrica, evidenciando, portanto, diferença na aplicação do Conservadorismo entre os dois grupos de empresas. Pode-se inferir que a incidência de regulamentação contábil específica pode influenciar a elaboração do lucro contábil e, consequentemente, influenciar a aplicação do Conservadorismo nas empresas estudadas

The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (LEGEND)

The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$) would show that lepton number is violated, reveal that neutrinos are Majorana particles, and provide information on neutrino mass. A discovery-capable experiment covering the inverted ordering region, with effective Majorana neutrino masses of 15 - 50 meV, will require a tonne-scale experiment with excellent energy resolution and extremely low backgrounds, at the level of $\sim$0.1 count /(FWHM$\cdot$t$\cdot$yr) in the region of the signal. The current generation $^{76}$Ge experiments GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR utilizing high purity Germanium detectors with an intrinsic energy resolution of 0.12%, have achieved the lowest backgrounds by over an order of magnitude in the 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ signal region of all 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ experiments. Building on this success, the LEGEND collaboration has been formed to pursue a tonne-scale $^{76}$Ge experiment. The collaboration aims to develop a phased 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ experimental program with discovery potential at a half-life approaching or at $10^{28}$ years, using existing resources as appropriate to expedite physics results.Comment: Proceedings of the MEDEX'17 meeting (Prague, May 29 - June 2, 2017

Early gene expression changes with rush immunotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To examine whether whole genome expression profiling could reveal changes in mRNA expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from allergic patients undergoing rush immunotherapy (RIT) that might be manifest within the first few months of treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For this study, PBMC from three allergic patients undergoing RIT were assessed at four timepoints: prior to RIT, at 1 week and 7 week post-RIT, during build-up and at 4 months, after establishment of a maintenance dose. PBMC mRNA gene expression changes over time were determined by oligonucleotide microarrays using the Illumina Human-6 BeadChip Platform, which simultaneously interrogates expression profiles of > 47,000 transcripts. Differentially expressed genes were identified using well-established statistical analysis for microarrays. In addition, we analyzed peripheral blood basophil high-affinity IgE receptor (Fc epsilon RI) expression and T-regulatory cell frequency as detected by expression of CD3⁺CD4⁺CD25bright cells at each timepoint using flow cytometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In comparing the initial 2 timepoints with the final 2 timepoints and analyzing for genes with ≥1.5-fold expression change (p less than or equal to 0.05, BH-FDR), we identified 507 transcripts. At a 2-fold change (p less than or equal to 0.05, BH-FDR), we found 44 transcripts. Of these, 28 were up-regulated and 16 were down-regulated genes. From these datasets, we have identified changes in immunologically relevant genes from both the innate and adaptive response with upregulation of expressed genes for molecules including IL-1β, IL-8, CD40L, BTK and BCL6. At the 4 month timepoint, we noted a downward trend in Fc epsilon RI expression in each of the three patients and increased allergen-specific IgG4 levels. No change was seen in the frequency of peripheral T-regulatory cells expressed over the four timepoints.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We observed significant changes in gene expression early in peripheral blood samples from allergic patients undergoing RIT. Moreover, serum levels for allergen specific IgG4 also increased over the course of treatment. These studies suggest that RIT induces rapid and dynamic alterations in both innate and adaptive immunity which can be observed in the periphery of allergic patients. These alterations could be directly related to the therapeutic shift in the allergen-specific class of immunoglobulin.</p

Randomized comparison of gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin versus dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin chemotherapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation for relapsed and refractory aggressive lymphomas: NCIC-CTG LY.12

PURPOSE: For patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma, we hypothesized that gemcitabine-based therapy before autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) is as effective as and less toxic than standard treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We randomly assigned 619 patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive lymphoma to treatment with gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) or to dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin (DHAP). Patients with B-cell lymphoma also received rituximab. Responding patients proceeded to stem-cell collection and ASCT. Coprimary end points were response rate after two treatment cycles and transplantation rate. The noninferiority margin for the response rate to GDP relative to DHAP was set at 10%. Secondary end points included event-free and overall survival, treatment toxicity, and quality of life. RESULTS: For the intention-to-treat population, the response rate with GDP was 45.2%; with DHAP the response rate was 44.0% (95% CI for difference, -9.0% to 6.7%), meeting protocol-defined criteria for noninferiority of GDP (P = .005). Similar results were obtained in a per-protocol analysis. The transplantation rates were 52.1% with GDP and 49.3% with DHAP (P = .44). At a median follow-up of 53 months, no differences were detected in event-free survival (HR, 0.99; stratified log-rank P = .95) or overall survival (HR, 1.03; P = .78) between GDP and DHAP. Treatment with GDP was associated with less toxicity (P < .001) and need for hospitalization (P < .001), and preserved quality of life (P = .04). CONCLUSION: For patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma, in comparison with DHAP, treatment with GDP is associated with a noninferior response rate, similar transplantation rate, event-free survival, and overall survival, less toxicity and hospitalization, and superior quality of life

Lithium-Containing Crystals for Light Dark Matter Search Experiments

In the current direct dark matter search landscape, the leading experiments in the sub-GeV mass region mostly rely on cryogenic techniques which employ crystalline targets. One attractive type of crystals for these experiments is those containing lithium, due to the fact that 7Li is an ideal candidate to study spin-dependent dark matter interactions in the low mass region. Furthermore, 6Li can absorb neutrons, a challenging background for dark matter experiments, through a distinctive signature which allows the monitoring of the neutron flux directly on site. In this work, we show the results obtained with three different detectors based on LiAlO2, a target crystal never used before in cryogenic experiments

Cryogenic characterization of a LiAlO 2 crystal and new results on spin-dependent dark matter interactions with ordinary matter: CRESST Collaboration

In this work, a first cryogenic characterization of a scintillating LiAlO 2 single crystal is presented. The results achieved show that this material holds great potential as a target for direct dark matter search experiments. Three different detector modules obtained from one crystal grown at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) have been tested to study different properties at cryogenic temperatures. Firstly, two 2.8 g twin crystals were used to build different detector modules which were operated in an above-ground laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) in Munich, Germany. The first detector module was used to study the scintillation properties of LiAlO 2 at cryogenic temperatures. The second achieved an energy threshold of (213.02 ± 1.48) eV which allows setting a competitive limit on the spin-dependent dark matter particle-proton scattering cross section for dark matter particle masses between 350MeV/c2 and 1.50GeV/c2. Secondly, a detector module with a 373 g LiAlO 2 crystal as the main absorber was tested in an underground facility at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS): from this measurement it was possible to determine the radiopurity of the crystal and study the feasibility of using this material as a neutron flux monitor for low-background experiments. © 2020, The Author(s)

Lithium-Containing Crystals for Light Dark Matter Search Experiments

In the current direct dark matter search landscape, the leading experiments in the sub-GeV mass region mostly rely on cryogenic techniques which employ crystalline targets. One attractive type of crystals for these experiments is those containing lithium, due to the fact that 7Li is an ideal candidate to study spin-dependent dark matter interactions in the low mass region. Furthermore, 6Li can absorb neutrons, a challenging background for dark matter experiments, through a distinctive signature which allows the monitoring of the neutron flux directly on site. In this work, we show the results obtained with three different detectors based on LiAlO 2, a target crystal never used before in cryogenic experiments