Cu-Au type orderings in the staggered quadrupolar region of the fcc Blume Emery Griffiths model

The spin-1 Ising (BEG) model has been simulated using a cellular automaton (CA) algorithm improved from the Creutz cellular automaton (CCA) for a face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice. The ground state diagram ($k$, $d$) of the fcc BEG model has ferromagnetic ($F$), quadrupolar ($Q$) and staggered quadrupolar ($SQ$) ordering regions. The simulations have been made in the staggered quadrupolar region for the parameter values in the intervals $-24\leq d=D/J<0$ and $-3\leq k=K/J\leq 0$ . The phase diagrams on the ($kT_{C}/J$, $d$) and the ($kT_{C}/J$, $k$) planes have been obtained through $k=-3$ and $d=-4$ lines, respectively. The staggered quadrupolar ordering region separates into five ordering regions ($A_{3}B(a)$, $A_{3}B(f)$, $AB$ (type-I), $AB$(type-II) and $AB_{3}(f)$) which have the different stoichiometric Cu-Au type structures.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure

Psychometric validation of the Turkish nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short Form (IGDS9-SF)

The main aims of the current study were to test the factor structure, reliability and validity of the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9- SF), a standardized measure to assess symptoms and prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). In the present study participants were assessed with the IGDS9-SF, nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS) and the Young's Internet Addiction Test-Short Form (YIAT-SF). Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the factor structure (i.e., the dimensional structure) of the IGDS9-SF was satisfactory. The scale was also reliable (i.e., internally consistent with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89) and showed adequate convergent and criterion-related validity, as indicated by statistically significant positive correlations between average time daily spent playing games during last year, IGDS and YIAT-SF scores. By applying the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) threshold for diagnosing IGD (e.g., endorsing at least five criteria), it was found that the prevalence of disordered gamers ranged from 0.96% (whole sample) to 2.57% (e-sports players). These findings support the Turkish version of the IGDS9-SF as a valid and reliable tool for determining the extent of IGD-related problems among young adults and for the purposes of early IGD diagnosis in clinical settings and similar research

Mucoid Cyst of The Penile Skin: A Rare Entity

A 9-year old male patient was admitted to our clinic for circumcision. Physical examination revealed a mass in the prepuce. After excision of the mass, histopathological examination was consistent with a mucoid cyst of the penile skin, which has been rarely reported. Pathologists and clinicians dealing with genitourinary system pathology should be familiar with this rarely encountered entity.Key Words: Mucoid cyst, penile ski

Measuring productivity and efficiency: a Kalman filter approach

In the Kalman filter setting, one can model the inefficiency term of the standard stochastic frontier composed error as an unobserved state. In this study a panel data version of the local level model is used for estimating time-varying efficiencies of firms. We apply the Kalman filter to estimate average efficiencies of U.S. airlines and find that the technical efficiency of these carriers did not improve during the period 1999-2009. During this period the industry incurred substantial losses, and the efficiency gains from reorganized networks, code-sharing arrangements, and other best business practices apparently had already been realized

Electronic properties of Li-doped zigzag graphene nanoribbons

Zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) are known to exhibit metallic behavior. Depending on structural properties such as edge status, doping and width of nanoribbons, the electronic properties of these structures may vary. In this study, changes in electronic properties of crystal by doping Lithium (Li) atom to ZGNR structure are analyzed. In spin polarized calculations are made using Density Functional Theory (DFT) with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) as exchange correlation. As a result of calculations, it has been determined that Li atom affects electronic properties of ZGNR structure significantly. It is observed that ZGNR structure exhibiting metallic behavior in pure state shows half-metal and semiconductor behavior with Li atom. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

The application of precisely controlled functional electrical stimulation to the shoulder, elbow and wrist for upper limb stroke rehabilitation: a feasibility study.

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) during repetitive practice of everyday tasks can facilitate recovery of upper limb function following stroke. Reduction in impairment is strongly associated with how closely FES assists performance, with advanced iterative learning control (ILC) technology providing precise upper-limb assistance. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of extending ILC technology to control FES of three muscle groups in the upper limb to facilitate functional motor recovery post-stroke

Effect of substitutional As impurity on electrical and optical properties of β-Si3N4 structure

β-Si3N4 is used as the gate dielectric for surface passivation in GaN-based, high-electron mobility transistors(HEMTs). In this study, the electrical and optical characteristics of the hexagonal β-Si3N4 crystal structure were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) and local-density approximation (LDA). Calculations of the electronic band structure and the density of states (DOS) were made for the pure β-Si3N4 crystal structure and the β-Si3N4 crystal doped with an arsenic (As) impurity atom. In addition, the optical properties such as the static dielectric constant, refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient and reflection coefficient were examined depending on the photon energy. As a result of these calculations, it was observed that the As impurity atom drastically changed the electrical and optical properties of the pure β-Si3N4 crystalline structure, and improvements are suggested for potential further studies. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Electronic structure of β-Si3N4 crystals with substitutional icosagen group impurities

The β-Si3N4 crystals are widely used in industrial and electronics areas. Therefore, β-Si3N4 has drawn the attention of researchers for many years. In this study, effects of icosagen group impurity atoms in the IIIA group on the electronic properties of the β-Si3N4 crystal were analyzed by using the density functional theory. As a result of these analyses, it was determined that the electronic properties of the crystal change significantly. Basic electronic characteristics for pure β-Si3N4 crystal and icosagen group impurity β-Si3N4 crystals, such as band structures, densities of states, binding energies, and formation energies were investigated. We identified that the band gap of the β-Si3N4 crystal was affected significantly by the impurity, and this change was varying linearly in line with the formation energy for the impurity cases. As a result of calculations, the Al-impurity was found to be the lowest-energy impurity state

Genome‐wide off‐target analyses of CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated T‐cell receptor engineering in primary human T cells

Objectives Exploiting the forces of human T cells for treatment has led to the current paradigm of emerging immunotherapy strategies. Genetic engineering of the T-cell receptor (TCR) redirects specificity, ablates alloreactivity and brings significant progress and off-the-shelf options to emerging adoptive T-cell transfer (ACT) approaches. Targeted CRISPR/Cas9-mediated double-strand breaks in the DNA enable knockout or knock-in engineering. Methods Here, we perform CRISPR/Cas9-mediated TCR knockout using a therapeutically relevant ribonucleoprotein (RNP) delivery method to assess the safety of genetically engineered T-cell products. Whole-genome sequencing was performed to analyse whether CRISPR/Cas9-mediated DNA double-strand break at the TCR locus is associated with off-target events in human primary T cells. Results TCRα chain and TCRβ chain knockout leads to high on-target InDel frequency and functional knockout. None of the predicted off-target sites could be confirmed experimentally, whereas whole-genome sequencing and manual Integrative Genomics Viewer (IGV) review revealed 9 potential low-frequency off-target events genome-wide. Subsequent amplification and targeted deep sequencing in 7 of 7 evaluable loci did not confirm these low-frequency InDels. Therefore, off-target events are unlikely to be caused by the CRISPR/Cas9 engineering. Conclusion The combinatorial approach of whole-genome sequencing and targeted deep sequencing confirmed highly specific genetic engineering using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated TCR knockout without potentially harmful exonic off-target effects