Absurdity underneath realistic elements in Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter

This paper is a study on the absurdity underneath the realistic factors in Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter. Through analyzing the realistic elements in The Dumb Waiter’s setting, plot and characterization respectively, this paper attempts to prove that despite these realistic aspects, the overall effect of the play is one of uncertainty and absurdity. Key words: The Dumb Waiter, realism, absurdity Résumé: L’article présent étudie principalement l’utilisation des éléments réalistes et l’absurdité cachée sous l’apparence réaliste dans la pièce d’Harold Pinter- Le Serveur muet. A travers l’interprétation de cette pièce, l’auteur croit que, malgré l’utilisation du système du théâtre réaliste traditionnel dans l’agencement du contexte, la structure de l’intrigue et la description des personnages, cette pièce exprime, du point de vue plus profond, l’absurdité de la condition humaine ainsi que l’isolement et la solitude entre les êtres. Mots-Clés: Le Serveur muet, réalisme, absurdit

Oscillatory Spin Polarization and Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect in Fe3O4 Thin Films on GaAs(001)

The spin dependent properties of epitaxial Fe3O4 thin films on GaAs(001) are studied by the ferromagnetic proximity polarization (FPP) effect and magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE). Both FPP and MOKE show oscillations with respect to Fe3O4 film thickness, and the oscillations are large enough to induce repeated sign reversals. We attribute the oscillatory behavior to spin-polarized quantum well states forming in the Fe3O4 film. Quantum confinement of the t2g states near the Fermi level provides an explanation for the similar thickness dependences of the FPP and MOKE oscillations.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

An Extrinsic Calibration Method of a 3D-LiDAR and a Pose Sensor for Autonomous Driving

Accurate and reliable sensor calibration is critical for fusing LiDAR and inertial measurements in autonomous driving. This paper proposes a novel three-stage extrinsic calibration method of a 3D-LiDAR and a pose sensor for autonomous driving. The first stage can quickly calibrate the extrinsic parameters between the sensors through point cloud surface features so that the extrinsic can be narrowed from a large initial error to a small error range in little time. The second stage can further calibrate the extrinsic parameters based on LiDAR-mapping space occupancy while removing motion distortion. In the final stage, the z-axis errors caused by the plane motion of the autonomous vehicle are corrected, and an accurate extrinsic parameter is finally obtained. Specifically, This method utilizes the natural characteristics of road scenes, making it independent and easy to apply in large-scale conditions. Experimental results on real-world data sets demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of our method. The codes are open-sourced on the Github website. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first open-source code specifically designed for autonomous driving to calibrate LiDAR and pose-sensor extrinsic parameters. The code link is https://github.com/OpenCalib/LiDAR2INS.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figure

Dexmedetomidine preconditioning alleviates apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes by suppressing programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

Purpose: To determine the role of dexmedetomidine (Dex) in hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced myocardial cell injury and the possible involvement of the programmed cell death 4 (Pdcd4) gene in Dex-mediated myocardial cell apoptosis after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Methods: An in vivo I/R-injured rat model and in vitro H/R rat cell model were evaluated to ascertain the role of Dex in apoptosis. Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) gene expression levels were measured after Dex preconditioning. The effects of Pdcd4 knockdown or overexpression on Dex-mediated apoptosis during H/R injury were determined. Results: Dex pretreatment alleviated myocardial infarction in rats, suppressed myocardial cell apoptosis, and inhibited PDCD4 expression (p < 0.05). Treatment with Dex also alleviated H/R-induced apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes, while PDCD4 expression decreased after Dex treatment (p < 0.05). Moreover, PDCD4 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of Dex on H/R myocardial cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Dex alleviates myocardial infarction in rats via its effect on PDCD4 expression. Therefore, Dex can potentially be used for the treatment but this has to clinical studies