Sol-gel niobium pentoxide coatings: Applications to photovoltaic energy conversion and electrochromism

In the last decade the sol-gel process became a promising method to synthesize materials in form of coatings, nanoscale powders and porous systems. Several products or devices made with such a process already exist on the market. This paper briefly reviews the state of the art in the development of electrochromic coatings and devices and nanocrystalline solar cells achieved during the last decade using sol-gel derived pure and doped niobium pentoxide

Adverse events after cervical spinal manipulative therapy: consensus based classification and definitions

Cervical spinal manipulations (CSM) are frequently employed techniques to alleviate neck pain and headache. Minor and major complications following CSM have been described, though clear consensus on definition and the classification of the complications had not yet been achieved. As a result, incidence rates may be underestimated. The aim of this study was to develop a consensus-based classification of adverse events following cervical spinal manipulations which has good feasibility in clinical practice and research. Design: A three round Delphi-study. Medical specialists, manual therapists, and patients (n=30) participated in an online survey. In Round 1, participants were invited to select a classification system of adverse events. Potential complications were inventoried and detailed in accordance with the ICF and the ICD-10. In Round 2, panel members categorized the potential complications in their selected classification. During the third round, it was inquired of the participants whether they concurred with the answer of the majority of participants. Results: Thirty four complications were defined. Consensus was achieved for 29 complications for all durations [hours, days, weeks]. For the remaining five complications, consensus was reached for two of the three durations [hours, days, weeks]. Conclusions: A consensus-based classification system of adverse events after cervical spinal manipulation was developed which comprises patients’ and clinicians’ perspectives and has only a small number of categories. The classification system includes a precise description of potential adverse events and is based on international accepted classifications (ICD-10 and ICF). This classification system may be useful for utilization in both clinical practice and research

The Case for Quantum Key Distribution

Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises secure key agreement by using quantum mechanical systems. We argue that QKD will be an important part of future cryptographic infrastructures. It can provide long-term confidentiality for encrypted information without reliance on computational assumptions. Although QKD still requires authentication to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, it can make use of either information-theoretically secure symmetric key authentication or computationally secure public key authentication: even when using public key authentication, we argue that QKD still offers stronger security than classical key agreement.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; to appear in proceedings of QuantumComm 2009 Workshop on Quantum and Classical Information Security; version 2 minor content revision

Induction of somatic embryogenesis as an example of stress-related plant reactions

In this review, we address the role of stress as one of the principal causes for a cell or tissue to change its pre-existing somatic program, reprogramming itself to express the embryogenic pathway. The focus of this paper is the effect of different stress conditions on the induction phase of plant somatic embryogenesis, as well as the development of embryogenic competence as a result of the applied stresses. We also present a variety of data that link plant somatic embryogenesis, DNA methylation and oxidative stress response

Hopf algebras and Markov chains: Two examples and a theory

The operation of squaring (coproduct followed by product) in a combinatorial Hopf algebra is shown to induce a Markov chain in natural bases. Chains constructed in this way include widely studied methods of card shuffling, a natural "rock-breaking" process, and Markov chains on simplicial complexes. Many of these chains can be explictly diagonalized using the primitive elements of the algebra and the combinatorics of the free Lie algebra. For card shuffling, this gives an explicit description of the eigenvectors. For rock-breaking, an explicit description of the quasi-stationary distribution and sharp rates to absorption follow.Comment: 51 pages, 17 figures. (Typographical errors corrected. Further fixes will only appear on the version on Amy Pang's website, the arXiv version will not be updated.