Ultrafast Coherent Generation of Hot Electrons Studied via Band-to-Acceptor Luminescence in GaAs

The distribution of hot electrons excited with femtosecond laser pulses is studied via spectrally resolved band-to-acceptor luminescence. Our data demonstrate for the first time that the coherent coupling between the laser pulse and the interband polarization strongly influences the initial carrier distribution. The energetic width of carrier generation is broadened due to rapid phase-breaking scattering events. Theoretical results from a Monte Carlo solution of the semiconductor Bloch equations including on the same kinetic level coherent and incoherent phenomena, are in excellent agreement with the experimental data

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Properties of Organic Coatings with Nonisometric Ferrite Particles

AbstractFerrite pigments were synthesized through a high-temperature process during a solid phase. Zinc ferrites were prepared from hematite, goethite, magnetite and specularite entering into reaction with zinc oxide at temperatures ranging from 650°C up to 1,150°C. The nature of the initial raw material, primarily the shape of its particles, affects the shape of the particles of the synthesized zinc ferrite. The formulated zinc ferrites had a rod-shape, lamellar, and/or isometric shape. The shape of the particles of synthesized zinc ferrites was studied with regard to its effects on the mechanical and corrosion resistance of organic coatings. The obtained pigments were characterized by means of X- ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The synthesized anticorrosion pigments were used to prepare epoxy-ester coatings and water-borne styrene-acrylate coatings that were subjected to post-application tests for physical-mechanical properties and anticorrosion properties

Involuntary childlessness and marital adjustment: His and hers

This study of 103 couples in treatment for infertility suggests that spouses are generally similar in the way they perceive their marital adjustment, but that they arrive at their views by different routes. Acceptance of a childless lifestyle is consistently associated with greater marital adjustment for men, but greater stress associated with infertility undermines marital adjustment for both husbands and wives. Men adjust better to an involuntarily childless marriage if their wives are employed or have high earnings. Wife's marital adjustment diminishes with the length of the marriage and the course of treatment for infertility. The stress women experience as a result of infertility influences their perception of their marriage and may undermine their ability to get the support they need during the transition to nonparenthood

Nicotine exposure during adolescence: cognitive performance and brain gene expression in adult heterozygous reeler mice

We have recently reported nicotine-induced stimulation of reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) mRNA expression levels in the brain of heterozygous reeler mice (HRM), a putative animal model for the study of symptoms relevant to major behavioral disorders. We aimed to evaluate long-term behavioral effects and brain molecular changes as a result of adaptations to nicotine exposure in the developing HRM males. Adolescent mice (pnd 37-42) were exposed to oral nicotine (10 mg/l) in a 6-day free-choice drinking schedule. As expected, no differences in total nicotine intake between WT (wild-type) mice and HRM were found. Long-term behavioral effects and brain molecular changes, as a consequence of nicotine exposure during adolescence, were only evidenced in HRM. Indeed, HRM perseverative exploratory behavior and poor cognitive performance were modulated to WT levels by subchronic exposure to nicotine during development. Furthermore, the expected reduction in the expression of mRNA of reelin and GAD67 in behaviorally relevant brain areas of HRM appeared persistently restored by nicotine. For brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression, no genotype-dependent changes appeared. However, expression levels were increased by previous nicotine in brains from both genotypes. The mRNA encoding for nicotine receptor subunits (alpha 7, beta 2 and alpha 4) did not differ between genotypes and as a result of previous nicotine exposure. These findings support the hypothesis of pre-existing vulnerability (based on haploinsufficiency of reelin) to brain and behavioral disorders and regulative short- and long-term effects associated with nicotine modulation

Accuracy and Precision of Mandible Segmentation and Its Clinical Implications:Virtual Reality, Desktop Screen and Artificial Intelligence

Objective: 3D modeling is a major challenge in computer-assisted surgery (CAS). Manual segmentation, as the gold standard, is tedious, time consuming, and particularly challenging for the mandible, while artificial intelligence (AI)-based segmentation is a promising and time-saving alternative. However, little is known about the clinical implications of various segmentation methods. Method: In this cross-over study, ten mandibles were segmented in virtual reality (VR), on a desktop screen (DS) by five experts and via five AI models. The exported mandible models were evaluated using metrics, a public reference (PUBDS), and blinded assessments by two radiologists. Results: Average segmentation-to-volume accuracy (1 = poor, 5 = perfect) was comparable for human segmentation (VR: 4.56; DS: 4.33; PUBDS: 4.55) and significant better than AI-based segmentation (AI: 3.80), while the average segmentation-to-segmentation accuracy revealed that DS (91.4 %/0.37 mm [Dice coefficient/average Hausdorff distance]) was more comparable to PUBDS than to VR (90.1 %/0.44 mm). The precision of VR (96.8 %/0.14 mm) and DS (96.6 %/0.15 mm) was superior to PUBDS (94.1 %/0.21 mm) and the AI method (89.2 %/0.60 mm). While VR was significantly faster than DS and PUBDS for the manual segmentation methods (p = 0.007/&lt; 0.001), in contrast, the AI method is not time sensitive due to its possible hardware scalability. Conclusion: Accuracy and precision of mandible segmentation depends primarily on CT quality and anatomical site, which should be considered in clinical applications and the generation of AI training data and could negatively impact CAS. Although current AI models have perfect intra-model reliability, they demonstrate higher inter-model variability and are accompanied by invalid outliers making human review still necessary. In summary, the use of VR in manual segmentation showed high accuracy and precision overall while saving time, making it the preferred method over DS due to its good usability.</p

The 2009 Report on R&D in ICT in the European Union

This report is the IPTS annual "PREDICT" report, which presents all the data available on ICT R&D private and public expenditures in Europe, at sector level, at country level, in an international perspective (benchmarking), and at company level. It covers data for the period 2001-2005 (and 2006 for company data). The second part of the report includes a thematic analysis on R&D output in ICT and provides a detailed investigation of ICT R&D output based on the analysis of patent data.JRC.J.4-Information Societ