Fractality of Electrostatic Microdischarges on the Surface of Polymers

Ramified Lichtenberg figures caused by electrostatic microdischarges on the surface of polymeric polyethylene terephthalate have been studied. They occurred in consequence of the previous electret forming of the polymeric sheets and were initiated in the air gap between the grounded electrode and the polymeric sheets. Multifractal image analysis was used to determine the fractal dimensions of the Lichtenberg patterns in dependence on the loading voltages used for electret forming

Diagnostics of Plasma Pencil Discharge for Chemical Analysis

We present diagnostics of plasma pencil discharge as alternative excitation source for analytical chemistry. The plasma pencil is special type of rf plasma nozzle at atmospheric pressure. Through this nozzle flows working gas argon with aerosol. The aerosol sample introduction system employed a double pass Scott spray chamber with a pneumatic concentric nebulizer. The parameters of the plasma were calculated by optical emission spectroscopy

Transport Properties of Thermal Plasma Containing Fluoro-Nitrile (C4F7N)-Based Gas Mixtures

Gas mixtures containing fluoro-nitriles C<sub>4</sub>F<sub>7</sub>N or fluoro-ketones C<sub>5</sub>F<sub>10</sub>O as minority components (<20%) have been identified as promising alternatives to SF<sub>6</sub> in medium voltage gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) applications, because of their low Global Warming Potential together with their dielectric strength values being comparable to SF<sub>6</sub>. The buffer gases in such fluoro-nitrile or fluoro-ketone based gas mixtures are usually N<sub>2</sub>, O<sub>2</sub>, CO<sub>2</sub>, or air. In this contribution, we provide calculation results of transport properties, assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), of thermal plasma containing following gas mixtures: C<sub>4</sub>F<sub>7</sub>N-CO<sub>2</sub> and C<sub>4</sub>F<sub>7</sub>N-CO<sub>2</sub>-O<sub>2</sub>. The modifications in the thermodynamic and transport properties upon the addition of oxygen to the C<sub>4</sub>F<sub>7</sub>N-CO<sub>2</sub> mixtures in the temperature range 300 K-30 kK at 1 bar are provided and discussed. These properties have been utilized to calculate the plasma temperature profile for a free-burning arc in a companion paper

Generation and orientation of organoxenon molecule H–Xe–CCH in the gas phase

We report on the first observation of the organoxenon HXeCCH molecule in the gas phase. This molecule has been prepared in a molecular beam experiment by 193 nm photolysis of an acetylene molecule on Xen clusters (¯n ≈ 390). Subsequently the molecule has been oriented via the pseudofirst-order Stark effect in a strong electric field of the polarized laser light combined with the weak electrostatic field in the extraction region of a time-of-flight spectrometer. The experimental evidence for the oriented molecule has been provided by measurements of its photodissociation. For comparison, photolysis of C₂H₂ on Arn clusters (¯n ≈ 280) has been measured. Here the analogous rare gas molecule HArCCH could not be generated. The interpretation of our experimental findings has been supported by ab initio calculations. In addition, the experiment together with the calculations reveals information on the photochemistry of the HXeCCH molecule. The 193 nm radiation excites the molecule predominantly into the 2¹∑⁺ state, which cannot dissociate the Xe-H bond directly, but the system evolves along the Xe-C coordinate to a conical intersection of a slightly non-linear configuration with the dissociative 1¹∏ state, which then dissociates the Xe-H bond

Epidemiologie, prevence a léčba kolorektálního karcinomu dle dostupných českých a mezinárodních dat

Nádory tlustého střeva a konečníku patří mezi nejčastější onkologické diagnózy. V České republice je každoročně nově diagnostikováno téměř 8 500 pacientů s kolorektálním karcinomem a přibližně 3 900 osob tomuto onemocnění každým rokem podlehne. Celková prevalence přesáhne v roce 2012 hranici 55 000 osob. Společenské, etické i ekonomické důsledky vyplývající z takto vysoké zátěže jsou zřejmé. Publikace „Epidemiologie, prevence a léčba kolorektálního karcinomu dle dostupných českých a mezinárodních dat“ přináší ucelený přehled epidemiologické a léčebné zátěže české populace touto chorobou a věnuje se krátkodobým a dlouhodobým predikcím dalšího vývoje. Situace je rovněž hodnocena v mezinárodním srovnání, neboť v hodnotách incidence a mortality kolorektálního karcinomu obsazuje ČR přední příčky evropských i světových statistik. Z mezinárodních studií však také vyplývá pozitivní poznatek, že většině nádorů tlustého střeva a konečníku lze předejít účinnou prevencí. Kromě primární prevence je zde hlavním nástrojem organizovaný populační screening, který je založen na testech krvácení do stolice a na kolonoskopii. Otázkám prevence a výsledkům screeningu kolorektálního karcinomu jsou v publikaci věnovány zvláštní kapitoly. Ačkoli nejnovější data dokládají rostoucí výkonnost českého screeningu, celkově dosažené pokrytí populace bohužel stále není dostatečné. To platí pro včasný záchyt kolorektálního karcinomu obecně, neboť v ČR je setrvale téměř 50 % nových onemocnění diagnostikováno v pokročilých klinických stadiích, a tedy s výrazně sníženou šancí na vyléčení nebo dlouhodobé přežití pacienta. Publikace rovněž hodnotí přežití dosahované u českých pacientů jakožto zásadní ukazatel výsledků léčebné péče, u kterého v posledních 15 letech zaznamenáváme statisticky významné zlepšení. Pravděpodobnost 5letého relativního přežití je u včasně diagnostikovaného kolorektálního karcinomu v klinickém stadiu i vyšší než 88%. Tato čísla opět potvrzují nutnost účinné prevence a posílení screeningu tohoto preventabilního onemocnění. V tomto směru má publikace ambici informovat odbornou i laickou veřejnost, a proto věnuje značný prostor přehledu dostupných informačních zdrojů.The book aims to inform expert and general public about epidemiology of colorectal carcinoma in the Czech Republic and priorities resulting from high population burden for prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of this severe disease. A number of invited experts assess selected information sources that representatively describe performance and quality of preventive programmes and results of CRC treatment in the Czech Republic

Observation of electron transfer mediated decay in aqueous solution

Photoionization is at the heart of X ray photoelectron spectroscopy XPS , which gives access to important information on a sample s local chemical environment. Local and non local electronic decay after photoionization in which the refilling of core holes results in electron emission from either the initially ionized species or a neighbour, respectively have been well studied. However, electron transfer mediated decay ETMD , which involves the refilling of a core hole by an electron from a neighbouring species, has not yet been observed in condensed phase. Here we report the experimental observation of ETMD in an aqueous LiCl solution by detecting characteristic secondary low energy electrons using liquid microjet soft XPS. Experimental results are interpreted using molecular dynamics and high level ab initio calculations. We show that both solvent molecules and counterions participate in the ETMD processes, and different ion associations have distinctive spectral fingerprints. Furthermore, ETMD spectra are sensitive to coordination numbers, ion solvent distances and solvent arrangemen

Estimating the number of colorectal cancer patients treated with anti-tumour therapy in 2015: the analysis of the Czech National Cancer Registry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a serious health care problem in the Czech Republic, introducing a need for a prospective modelling of the incidence and prevalence rates. The prevalence of patients requiring anti-tumour therapy is also of great importance, as it is directly associated with planning of health care resources.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This work proposes a population-based model for the estimation of stage-specific prevalence of CRC patients who will require active anti-tumour therapy in a given year. Its applicability is documented on records of the Czech National Cancer Registry (CNCR), which is used to estimate the number of patients potentially treated with anti-tumour therapy in the Czech Republic in 2015.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several scenarios are adopted to cover the plausible development of the incidence and survival rates, and the probability of an anti-tumour therapy initiation. Based on the scenarios, the model predicts an increase in CRC prevalence from 13% to 30% in comparison with the situation in 2008. Moreover, the model predicts that 10,074 to 11,440 CRC patients will be indicated for anti-tumour therapy in the Czech Republic in 2015. Considering all patients with terminal cancer recurrence and all patients primarily diagnosed in stage IV, it is predicted that 3,485 to 4,469 CRC patients will be treated for the metastatic disease in 2015, which accounts for more than one third (34-40%) of all CRC patients treated this year.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A new model for the estimation of the number of CRC patients requiring active anti-tumour therapy is proposed in this paper. The model respects the clinical stage as the primary stratification factor and utilizes solely the population-based cancer registry data. Thus, no specific hospital data records are needed in the proposed approach. Regarding the short-term prediction of the CRC burden in the Czech Republic, the model confirms a continuous increase in the burden that must be accounted for in the future planning of health care in the Czech Republic.</p

From fuzzy to annotated semantic web languages

The aim of this chapter is to present a detailed, selfcontained and comprehensive account of the state of the art in representing and reasoning with fuzzy knowledge in Semantic Web Languages such as triple languages RDF/RDFS, conceptual languages of the OWL 2 family and rule languages. We further show how one may generalise them to so-called annotation domains, that cover also e.g. temporal and provenance extensions