Comparison of Executive Functions in Addicted Young People who Referred to Addiction Treatment Camps with Students Ardebill

Background and aim of the study: The present study compares the executive functions between pre-university male students and young addicted people who referred to addiction treatment camps.Method: The study is a causal-comparative study. The sample of study consisted of two groups of 25 male students and young addicted people who referred to addiction treatment camps of Ardebill city in 2014-2015, with coordination of sex, education and public health factors. Data was collected through researcher general health questionnaire for primary screening, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Color Word Test and the Wechsler Digit Span subscale. Data were analyzed by multivariate variance analysis. Findings of the study: data analysis indicated that there is a significant difference between the executive functions of young addicted people who are in addiction treatment camps and healthy students.Conclusion: According to the gathered results, it\u27s likely that in addicts young, existence of neuropsychological anomalies such as weakness in executive function of response inhibition, Set shifting and updating of working memory, resulting in their weak performance compared to normal peers in the executive functions

GaAs-based Self-Aligned Stripe Superluminescent Diodes Processed Normal to the Cleaved Facet

We demonstrate GaAs-based superluminescent diodes (SLDs) incorporating a window-like back facet in a self-aligned stripe. SLDs are realised with low spectral modulation depth (SMD) at high power spectral density, without application of anti-reflection coatings. Such application of a window-like facet reduces effective facet reflectivity in a broadband manner. We demonstrate 30mW output power in a narrow bandwidth with only 5% SMD, outline the design criteria for high power and low SMD, and describe the deviation from a linear dependence of SMD on output power as a result of Joule heating in SLDs under continuous wave current injection. Furthermore, SLDs processed normal to the facet demonstrate output powers as high as 20mW, offering improvements in beam quality, ease of packaging and use of real estate. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only

Higher-order approximation of cubic–quintic duffing model

We apply an Artificial Parameter Lindstedt-Poincaré Method (APL-PM) to find improved approximate solutions for strongly nonlinear Duffing oscillators with cubic–quintic nonlinear restoring force. This approach yields simple linear algebraic equations instead of nonlinear algebraic equations without analytical solution which makes it a unique solution. It is demonstrated that this method works very well for the whole range of parameters in the case of the cubic-quintic oscillator, and excellent agreement of the approximate frequencies with the exact one has been observed and discussed. Moreover, it is not limited to the small parameter such as in the classical perturbation method. Interestingly, This study revealed that the relative error percentage in the second-order approximate analytical period is less than 0.042% for the whole parameter values. In addition, we compared this analytical solution with the Newton– Harmonic Balancing Approach. Results indicate that this technique is very effective and convenient for solving conservative truly nonlinear oscillatory systems. Utter simplicity of the solution procedure confirms that this method can be easily extended to other kinds of nonlinear evolution equations

Colorimetric detection of chromium(VI) ions in water using unfolded-fullerene carbon nanoparticles

Water pollution caused by hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) ions represents a serious hazard for human health due to the high systemic toxicity and carcinogenic nature of this metal species. The optical sensing of Cr(VI) through specifically engineered nanomaterials has recently emerged as a versatile strategy for the application to easy-to-use and cheap monitoring devices. In this study, a one-pot oxidative method was developed for the cage opening of C60 fullerene and the synthesis of stable suspensions of N-doped carbon dots in water–THF solutions (N-CDs-W-THF). The N-CDs-W-THF selectively showed variations of optical absorbance in the presence of Cr(VI) ions in water through the arising of a distinct absorption band peaking at 550 nm, i.e., in the transparency region of pristine material. Absorbance increased linearly, with the ion concentration in the range 1–100 µM, thus enabling visual and ratiometric determination with a limit of detection (LOD) of 300 nM. Selectivity and possible interference effects were tested over the 11 other most common heavy metal ions. The sensing process occurred without the need for any other reactant or treatment at neutral pH and within 1 min after the addition of chromium ions, both in deionized and in real water sam-ples

Seasonal variation in the characteristics of the Azarbaijani buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) semen

Summary To study the seasonal variation in the characteristics of the Azarbaijani buffalo semen, three 2-4-year-old bulls of Azarbaijani water buffaloes, kept in the Buffalo Breeding Center, in Urmia, northwest of Iran, were selected. Semen samples were collected once a week for a period of one year using artificial vagina and a buffalo cow as a dummy. Semen volume, colour, pH and motility and spermatozoa motility, viability, morphology and concentration were examined. During one calendar year, 129 semen samples were examined. The mean values were plotted and a curve was drawn for the annual variations in each parameter. The comparison of the mean values in each sampling and in different seasons and the correlation between these variations and ecological factors, such as temperature, rainfall and day length were also studied. Semen was characterized by a mean (±SEM) ejaculation volume of 4 ± 0.14 ml, semen colour density score of 3.75 ± 0.07, pH of 6.97 ± 0.03 and motility score of 2.89 ± 0.05. The sperm motility of 75.85% ± 1.59% and sperm viability of 73.2% ± 1.56% were observed; 11.55% ± 0.42% of spermatozoa had abnoraml morphology. The mean (±SEM) sperm concentration was 1239.9 ± 34.11×10 6 cells/ml. All of the studied parameters showed fluctuations throughout the year but these variations were statistically significant only in some occasions and were mostly correlated with length of the day. Semen of better quality was collected in summer and autumn

Higher-order approximation of cubic–quintic duffing model

We apply an Artificial Parameter Lindstedt-Poincaré Method (APL-PM) to find improved approximate solutions for strongly nonlinear Duffing oscillators with cubic–quintic nonlinear restoring force. This approach yields simple linear algebraic equations instead of nonlinear algebraic equations without analytical solution which makes it a unique solution. It is demonstrated that this method works very well for the whole range of parameters in the case of the cubic-quintic oscillator, and excellent agreement of the approximate frequencies with the exact one has been observed and discussed. Moreover, it is not limited to the small parameter such as in the classical perturbation method. Interestingly, This study revealed that the relative error percentage in the second-order approximate analytical period is less than 0.042% for the whole parameter values. In addition, we compared this analytical solution with the Newton– Harmonic Balancing Approach. Results indicate that this technique is very effective and convenient for solving conservative truly nonlinear oscillatory systems. Utter simplicity of the solution procedure confirms that this method can be easily extended to other kinds of nonlinear evolution equations

Charge control in InP/GaInP single quantum dots embedded in Schottky diodes

We demonstrate control by applied electric field of the charge states in single self-assembled InP quantum dots placed in GaInP Schottky structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. This has been enabled by growth optimization leading to suppression of formation of large dots uncontrollably accumulating charge. Using bias- and polarization-dependent micro-photoluminescence, we identify the exciton multi-particle states and carry out a systematic study of the neutral exciton state dipole moment and polarizability. This analysis allows for the characterization of the exciton wavefunction properties at the single dot level for this type of quantum dots. Photocurrent measurements allow further characterization of exciton properties by electrical means, opening new possibilities for resonant excitation studies for such system.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Using reporters of different misfolded proteins reveals differential strategies in processing protein aggregates

The accumulation of misfolded proteins is a hallmark of aging and many neurodegenerative diseases, making it important to understand how the cellular machinery recognizes and processes such proteins. A key question in this respect is whether misfolded proteins are handled in a similar way regard less of their genetic origin. To approach this question, we compared how three different misfolded proteins, guk1-7,gus1-3, and pro3-1, are handled by the cell. We show that all three are nontoxic, even though highly overexpressed, high-lighting their usefulness in analyzing the cellular response to misfolding in the absence of severe stress. We found significant differences between the aggregation and disaggregation behavior of the misfolded proteins. Specifically, gus1-3 formed some aggregates that did not efficiently recruit the proteindisaggregase Hsp104 and did not colocalize with the other misfolded reporter proteins. Strikingly, while all three misfolded proteins generally coaggregated and colocalized to specific sites in the cell, disaggregation was notably different; the rate of aggregate clearance of pro3-1 was faster than that of the other misfolded proteins, and its clearance rate was nothindered when pro3-1 colocalized with a slowly resolved mis-folded protein. Finally, we observed using super-resolutionlight microscopy as well as immunogold labeling EM in which both showed an even distribution of the different mis-folded proteins within an inclusion, suggesting that misfolding characteristics and remodeling, rather than spatial compart-mentalization, allows for differential clearance of these mis-folding reporters residing in the same inclusion. Taken together, our results highlight how properties of misfolded proteins can significantly affect processing