Configurational entropy of network-forming materials

We present a computationally efficient method to calculate the configurational entropy of network-forming materials. The method requires only the atomic coordinates and bonds of a single well-relaxed configuration. This is in contrast to the multiple simulations that are required for other methods to determine entropy, such as thermodynamic integration. We use our method to obtain the configurational entropy of well-relaxed networks of amorphous silicon and vitreous silica. For these materials we find configurational entropies of 1.02 kb and 0.97 kb per silicon atom, respectively, with kb the Boltzmann constant.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

De linde terug in het bos : verslag veldwerkplaats Droog zandlandschap Doorwerth, 9 mei 2008

Verslag van de veldwerkdag Droog zandlandschap in Doorwerth op 9 mei 2008. Tijdens deze veldwerkdag is in de bossen bij kasteel Doorwerth gekeken naar de 0strooisellaag van verschillende bostypen. Aanplant van lindes in een eikenbeukenbos op een relatief arme bodem geeft een zichtbare verbetering van de strooisellaag. De verzuring die in bossen plaatsvindt kan op deze manier plaatselijk worden bestreden. De aanplant van linde en andere boomsoorten met goed verterend strooisel kan dus een bijdrage leveren aan het oplossen van het verzuringsprobleem. Daarbij leidt de verbeterde strooiselkwaliteit tot een verhoging van biodiversiteit en bloemenpracht in het voorjaar

Effects of the saprophytic leaf mycoflora on growth and productivity of winter wheat

Veldproeven in 1980, 1981 en 1982, waarbij naast de in de titel genoemde effecten tevens de interactie van schimmelflora en graanluizen werd nagegaa

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 19/22 mutations alter heterocomplex Kv4.3 channel function and gating in a dominant manner

The dominantly inherited cerebellar ataxias are a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by Purkinje cell loss in the cerebellum. Recently, we identified loss-of-function mutations in the KCND3 gene as the cause of spinocerebellar ataxia type 19/22 (SCA19/22), revealing a previously unknown role for the voltage-gated potassium channel, Kv4.3, in Purkinje cell survival. However, how mutant Kv4.3 affects wild-type Kv4.3 channel functioning remains unknown. We provide evidence that SCA19/22-mutant Kv4.3 exerts a dominant negative effect on the trafficking and surface expression of wild-type Kv4.3 in the absence of its regulatory subunit, KChIP2. Notably, this dominant negative effect can be rescued by the presence of KChIP2. We also found that all SCA19/22-mutant subunits either suppress wild-type Kv4.3 current amplitude or alter channel gating in a dominant manner. Our findings suggest that altered Kv4.3 channel localization and/or functioning resulting from SCA19/22 mutations may lead to Purkinje cell loss, neurodegeneration and ataxia

The effect of multisensory semantic congruency on unisensory object recognition in schizophrenia

Multisensory, as opposed to unisensory processing of stimuli, has been found to enhance the performance (e.g., reaction time, accuracy, and discrimination) of healthy individuals across various tasks. However, this enhancement is not as pronounced in patients with schizophrenia (SZ), indicating impaired multisensory integration (MSI) in these individuals. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet investigated the impact of MSI deficits in the context of working memory, a domain highly reliant on multisensory processing and substantially impaired in schizophrenia. To address this research gap, we employed two adopted versions of the continuous object recognition task to investigate the effect of single-trail multisensory encoding on subsequent object recognition in 21 schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls (HC). Participants were tasked with discriminating between initial and repeated presentations. For the initial presentations, half of the stimuli were audiovisual pairings, while the other half were presented unimodal. The task-relevant stimuli were then presented a second time in a unisensory manner (either auditory stimuli in the auditory task or visual stimuli in the visual task). To explore the impact of semantic context on multisensory encoding, half of the audiovisual pairings were selected to be semantically congruent, while the remaining pairs were not semantically related to each other. Consistent with prior studies, our findings demonstrated that the impact of single-trial multisensory presentation during encoding remains discernible during subsequent object recognition. This influence could be distinguished based on the semantic congruity between the auditory and visual stimuli presented during the encoding. This effect was more robust in the auditory task. In the auditory task, when congruent multisensory pairings were encoded, both participant groups demonstrated a multisensory facilitation effect. This effect resulted in improved accuracy and RT performance. Regarding incongruent audiovisual encoding, as expected, HC did not demonstrate an evident multisensory facilitation effect on memory performance. In contrast, SZs exhibited an atypically accelerated reaction time during the subsequent auditory object recognition. Based on the predictive coding model we propose that this observed deviations indicate a reduced semantic modulatory effect and anomalous predictive errors signaling, particularly in the context of conflicting cross-modal sensory inputs in SZ

МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ПРОЦЕССОВ ДОСТАВКИ ВСПОМОГАТЕЛЬНыХ ГРУЗОПОТОКОВ ВНУТРИШАХТНОГО ТРАНСПОРТА С УЧЕТОМ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ ТРАССы

Розглянуто специфічні задачі внутрішахтного транспорту. Запропоновано використовувати метод Флойду-Уоршелла для моделювання допоміжних вантажопотоків з урахуванням характеристики мар- шруту. Наведені результати застосування цього методу для своєчасної доставки матеріальних потоків вугільних шахт у підготовчі вибої. Рассмотрены специфические задачи внутришахтного транспорта. Предложено использовать метод Флойда – Уоршелла для моделирования вспомогательных грузопотоков с учетом характеристики трас- сы. Приведены результаты применения используемого метода для оперативной доставки материаль- ных потоков угольных шахт в подготовительные забои

Renewable Energy

This chapter presents an in-depth examination of major renewable energy technologies, including their installed capacity and energy supply in 2009 , the current state of market and technology development, their economic and financial feasibility in 2009 and in the near future, as well as major issues they may face relative to their sustainability or implementation. Renewable energy sources have been important for humankind since the beginning of civilization. For centuries, biomass has been used for heating, cooking, steam generation, and power production; solar energy has been used for heating and drying; geothermal energy has been used for hot water supplies; hydropower, for movement; and wind energy, for pumping and irrigation. For many decades renewable energy sources have also been used to produce electricity or other modern energy carriers