Reaction Sintering of Ca3Co4O9 with BiCuSeO Nanosheets for High-Temperature Thermoelectric Composites

Ceramic composites composed of oxide materials have been synthesized by reaction sintering of Ca3Co4O9 with BiCuSeO nanosheets. In situ x-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses of the compound powders were conducted to understand the phase transformations during heating up to 1173 K. Further thermogravimetric analyses investigated the thermal stability of the composites and the completion of reaction sintering. The microstructure of the formed phases after reaction sintering and the composition of the composites were investigated for varying mixtures. Depending on the amount of BiCuSeO used, the phases present and their composition differed, having a significant impact on the thermoelectric properties. The increase of the electrical conductivity at a simultaneously high Seebeck coefficient resulted in a large power factor of 5.4 μW cm−1 K−2, more than twice that of pristine Ca3Co4O9

Effects of near-infrared light on well-being and health in human subjects with mild sleep-related complaints:A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Modern urban human activities are largely restricted to the indoors, deprived of direct sunlight containing visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths at high irradiance levels. Therapeutic exposure to doses of red and NIR, known as photobiomodulation (PBM), has been effective for a broad range of conditions. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we aimed to assess the effects of a PBM home set-up on various aspects of well-being, health, sleep, and circadian rhythms in healthy human subjects with mild sleep complaints. The effects of three NIR light (850 nm) doses (1, 4, or 6.5 J·cm−2) were examined against the placebo. Exposure was presented five days per week between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm for four consecutive weeks. The study was conducted in both summer and winter to include seasonal variation. The results showed PBM treatment only at 6.5 J·cm−2 to have consistent positive benefits on well-being and health, specifically improving mood, reducing drowsiness, reducing IFN-γ, and resting heart rate. This was only observed in winter. No significant effects on sleep or circadian rhythms were noted. This study provides further evidence that adequate exposure to NIR, especially during low sunlight conditions, such as in the winter, can be beneficial for human health and wellness.</p

Sellers’ Revisited: A Big Data Reassessment of Historical Outbreaks of Bluetongue and African Horse Sickness due to the Long-Distance Wind Dispersion of Culicoides Midges

The possibility that outbreaks of bluetongue (BT) and African horse sickness (AHS) might occur via long-distance wind dispersion (LDWD) of their insect vector (Culicoides spp.) was proposed by R. F. Sellers in a series of papers published between 1977 and 1991. These investigated the role of LDWD by means of visual examination of the wind direction of synoptic weather charts. Based on the hypothesis that simple wind direction analysis, which does not allow for wind speed, might have led to spurious conclusions, we reanalyzed six of the outbreak scenarios described in Sellers’ papers. For this reanalysis, we used a custom-built Big Data application (“TAPPAS”) which couples a user-friendly web-interface with an established atmospheric dispersal model (“HYSPLIT”), thus enabling more sophisticated modeling than was possible when Sellers undertook his analyzes. For the two AHS outbreaks, there was strong support from our reanalysis of the role of LDWD for that in Spain (1966), and to a lesser degree, for the outbreak in Cyprus (1960). However, for the BT outbreaks, the reassessments were more complex, and for one of these (western Turkey, 1977) we could discount LDWD as the means of direct introduction of the virus. By contrast, while the outbreak in Cyprus (1977) showed LDWD was a possible means of introduction, there is an apparent inconsistency in that the outbreaks were localized while the dispersion events covered much of the island. For Portugal (1956), LDWD from Morocco on the dates suggested by Sellers is very unlikely to have been the pathway for introduction, and for the detection of serotype 2 in Florida (1982), LDWD from Cuba would require an assumption of a lengthy survival time of the midges in the air column. Except for western Turkey, the BT reanalyses show the limitation of LDWD modeling when used by itself, and indicates the need to integrate susceptible host population distribution (and other covariate) data into the modeling process. A further refinement, which will become increasingly important to assess LDWD, will be the use of virus and vector genome sequence data collected from potential source and the incursion sites

Wissensbasierte Auswertung von Peilsignalen

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Arkeologi vid Ångermanälven

In this paper we report about ongoing research on navigation assistance in virtual environments. Our aim is to contribute to the development of forms of navigation assistance that enable non-professional visitors of a virtual environment to find their way without previous training. The environment used in this research is a virtual theatre that models a real world music theatre. This virtual theatre can be used for exploration as well as for transactions and goal-directed search for information. We first present some design principles for navigation assistance in virtual environments and some design criteria for assistance by personal agents. Subsequently we describe how these principles and criteria have been implemented in our experimental virtual theatre environment. Finally we give an overview of future research plans

Characterizing the host specificity of Ischnodemus variegatus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Blissidae) on two congeneric grass species

Life history parameters of the sap-feeding bug Ischnodemus variegatus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Blissidae) were compared between the invasive Neotropical grass, Hymenachne amplexicaulis (Rudge) Nees and the Australian native Hymenachne acutigluma (Steudel) Guilliland. Development of immatures, adult longevity, ovipositional preference and population growth of I. variegatus were compared on H. amplexicaulis and H. acutigluma under choice and no-choice conditions. Third-instar nymphs developed on both hosts but individuals reared on H. acutigluma had a 40% lower survival rate to the adult stage, 40% longer developmental time, a 9% reduction in length and a 30% reduction in weight of females compared to those reared on H. amplexicaulis. The no-choice adult longevity and oviposition study indicated that individuals feeding on H. acutigluma had half the lifespan, 62% as many ovipositing females, 52% longer time to first oviposition and only 14% as many eggs per female. Under choice conditions, females laid only 37% as many eggs on H. acutigluma as on H. amplexicaulis. Population growth of I. variegatus was slower on H. acutigluma compared to H. amplexicaulis over a 60. day period resulting in negative population increase on H. acutigluma but positive increase on H. amplexicaulis. These results reflect an overall poorer performance of I. variegatus on H. acutigluma for most life stages. © 2010 Elsevier Inc