Theoretical calculations of second and third-order nonlinear susceptibilities and their corresponding hyperpolarizabilities of a styrylquinolinium dye

The second (Xexp(2)) and third-order (Xexp(3)) susceptibilities of a styrylquinolinium dye (1) have been determined utilizing second-harmonic generation (SHG) and third-harmonic generation (THG) techniques, respectively. The reported measurement findings on Xexp(2) and Xexp(3) have been compared with the theoretical data evaluated here by means of ab-initio quantum mechanical calculations. The electric dipole moments (μ), static dipole polarizabilities (a) and first hyperpolarizabilities (β) have been computed by density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-311+G(d, p) level. To reveal the frequency-dependent second and third-order microscopic nonlinear optical (NLO) behavior of the title compound, the dynamic dipole polarizabilities, first and second (γ) hyperpolarizabilities have been theoretically investigated using time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) method. According to the experimental and theoretical results, the values of susceptibilities and the corresponding microscopic coefficients with large non-zero responses make the examined dye promising candidate for NLO applications

Suitability of foramen magnum measurements in sex determination and their clinical significance

Background: The foramen magnum provides a transition between fossa cranii posterior and canalis vertebralis. Medulla oblongata, arteria vertebralis and nervus accessorius spinal part pass through the foramen magnum. In this study, we aimed to make the morphometric measurements of the foramen magnum on computed tomography (CT) and to determine the feasibility of sex determination based on these measurements. Besides sex determination, from a clinical aspect, it is important to know the measurements of the foramen magnum in the normal population in terms of diseases characterised by displacement of the posterior fossa structures through foramen magnum to upper cervical spinal canal such as Chiari malformations and syringomyelia. Materials and methods: All the data for our study was obtained retrospectively from 100 patients (50 males, 50 females) who had a CT scan of the head and neck region in Adnan Menderes University Hospital, Department of Radiology. To examine the foramen magnum in each and every occipital bone, we measured the foramen magnum’s anteroposterior diameter, transverse diameter, the area of the foramen magnum and its circumference. Results: We found that men have a higher average value than women in our study. According to Student’s t-test results; in all measured parameters, there is significant difference between the genders (p < 0.05). When multivariate discriminant function test is performed for all four measurements, the discrimination rate is 64% for all women, 70% for all men and 67% for both genders. Conclusions: As a result of our study, the metric data we obtained will be useful in cases where the skeletons’ sex could not be determined by any other methods. We believe that, our study may be useful for other studies in determining of sex from foramen magnum. Our measurements could give some information of the normal ranges of the foramen magnum in normal population, so that this can contribute to the diagnosis process of some diseases by imaging. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 99–104)  

Optical and structural characterization of thin films containing metallophthalocyanine chlorides

Abstract The structural and optical investigation of thin films containing aluminum and gallium phthalocyanine chlorides is presented. The films were fabricated by Physical Vapor Deposition technique onto quartz substrates and annealed after fabrication in an ambient atmosphere for 24 h at the temperature equal to 150 °C or 250 °C. The experimental results and theoretical calculation of the Third Harmonic Generation process are reported. The third order nonlinear optical properties are expected and can be more or less accurately predicted due to the assembly of the molecules and theoretical calculations of the frequency-dependent dipole polarizabilities, third hyperpolarizabilities, third order susceptibilities, frontier and second frontier molecular orbitals. These parameters were used to understand the relationship of optical properties with the molecular structures. We found that the annealing process causes formation of nanostructures and the value of the third order optical susceptibility makes these materials interesting for future nonlinear optical applications

Antiproliferative Activity of Some Medicinal Plants on Human Breast and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines and their Phenolic Contents

Purpose: To determine the phenolic composition and antiproliferative activity of 16 different extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water) obtained from Bellis perennis, Convolvulus galaticus, Trifolium pannonicum and Lysimachia vulgaris on human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2/C3A) cell lines.Methods: The aerial parts of the plants were successively extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water using a Soxhlet apparatus. The phenolic content of the plants were determined by plants by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) while their antiproliferative activity was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide, a yellow tetrazole (MTT) assay.Results: Among the tested extracts, the methanol extract of B. perennis showed the best antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cell line with IC50 (inhibiting 50 % of cell growth) value of 71.6 μg/mL. Furthermore, the dichloromethane extract of C. galaticus showed the best anti-proliferative activity against HepG2/C3A cell line with IC50 of 57.3 μg/mL. The HPLC data for the plant extracts showed the presence of the following phenolic compounds: gallic acid monohydrate, caffeic acid, rutin hydrate, luteolin-7-O-β-D glucoside, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, coumarin and apigenin.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that there is some justification for the use of B. perennis and C. galaticus as traditional anticancer medicinal herbs.Keywords: Bellis perennis, Convolvulus galaticus, Trifolium pannonicum subsp. elongatum, Lysimachia vulgaris, MCF-7, HepG2/C3A, Phenolics, Breast cancer, Antiproliferativ

School building energy efficiency and NO₂ related risk of childhood asthma in England and Wales: Modelling study

Background: Climate change legislation will require dramatic increases in the energy efficiency of school buildings across the UK by 2050, which has the potential to affect air quality in schools. We assessed how different strategies for improving the energy efficiency of school buildings in England and Wales may affect asthma incidence and associated healthcare utilization costs in the future. / Methods: Indoor concentrations of traffic-related NO2 were modelled inside school buildings representing 13 climate regions in England and Wales using a building physics school stock model. We used a health impact assessment model to quantify the resulting burden of childhood asthma incidence by combining regional health and population data with exposure-response functions from a recent high-quality systematic review/meta-analysis. We compared the effects of four energy efficiency interventions consisting of combinations of retrofit and operational strategies aiming to improve indoor air quality and thermal comfort on asthma incidence and associated hospitalization costs. / Results: The highest childhood asthma incidence was found in the Thames Valley region (including London), in particular in older school buildings, while the lowest concentrations and health burdens were in the newest schools in Wales. Interventions consisting of only operational improvements or combinations of retrofit and operational strategies resulted in reductions in childhood asthma incidence (547 and 676 per annum regional average, respectively) and hospital utilization costs (£52,050 and £64,310 per annum regional average, respectively. Interventions that improved energy efficiency without operational measures resulted in higher childhood asthma incidence and hospital costs. / Conclusion: The effect of school energy efficiency retrofit on NO2 exposure and asthma incidence in schoolchildren depends critically on the use of appropriate building operation strategies. The findings from this study make several contributions to fill the knowledge gap about the impact of retrofitting schools on exposure to air pollutants and their effects on children's health

Dynamic modelling of indoor environmental conditions for future energy retrofit scenarios across the UK school building stock

UK schoolchildren spend on average 30% of their waking lives inside schools. While indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is critical for their health and attainment, school buildings are also a key part of the UK's carbon emissions reduction strategy. To address conflicts between energy efficiency and IEQ, predictive models of UK classroom stock should incorporate energy and IEQ performance criteria across dynamic scenarios comprising energy retrofit and IEQ improvement measures. On this basis, we have developed a novel approach for auto-generation, simulation, post-processing and analysis of EnergyPlus UK classroom archetype models. Such modelling facilitates the multi-parameter evaluation of school building performance, whilst incorporating stock-wide heterogeneity and longitudinal dynamic changes. As extent of retrofit increases, decreasing incremental energy demand reduction was quantified and increasing effectiveness of passive ventilation at mitigating overheating was identified. Negative impact of South facing orientation on overheating was reduced after applying a range of IEQ improvement methods. However, low ceiling heights in 1945–1967 era classrooms impact the efficacy of these IEQ mitigations on calculated attainment, requiring design rather than mitigation strategies as a remedial solution. Strategies preventing NO2 pollution ingress could be more-effective than PM2.5, with night-time ventilation avoiding ingress during daily peaks and greater sensitivity to location. Future work shall incorporate multiple criteria into a single tool based on stakeholder preferences to improve quality of retrofit decision making

Determination of technology based gains of students during informal education

Design studios have a multi-layered and integrative structure that involves different thinking and learning approaches. Outcomes are quite numerous and diverse in terms of the students. Therefore, various seminars, workshops, and many other events are organized by universities for this purpose in the education process. These activities help students to be successful in both the educational process and the business life. In this process, developing and changing technology has entered into education processes and has become a part of education. Thus, over time, the use of technology, as well as traditional methods, has become a necessity in architectural education institutions. Lessons with digital technologies have been added to current course contents. For students, these technologies are used as subsidiary tools in making the presentations. The international research and design seminar and workshop activity was held in Kyrenia on May 6-13, 2018, was organised by the Girne American University (GAU) Department of Interior Architecture and the International Centre for Heritage Studies for the first time. The event was carried out in collaboration with the University of Florence, the Sapienza University of Rome, the Özyeğin University and the Department of Antiquities and Museums (TRNC). The workshop consists of 11 scientific committee members1, 7 scientific coordinators2, 5 organization committee members3 and 16 studio trainers4, who observed and led the process and studies during 8 days. The workshop trainers consist of 16 faculty member and PhD students totally, 13 of whom are from these universities and 35 of whom are from the Karadeniz Technical University. The aim of this study is to measure and evaluate the technological achievements provided to the students through this international workshop activity. The survey technique was used to find out what extent students benefit from the technology while expressing their projects and to question the achievements based on the technology through the workshop activity. The survey was conducted with 36 students who participated in this event. In the direction of the survey results, the most effective factors and variables were determined to put forward the technology achievements on the students. At the end of the study, the achievements of the students from the workshop activity, one of the informal training methods, were examined. SPSS 23.0 program was used for the statistical analyzes, which is based on the data of the survey.Publisher versio

NLO investigations of self-assembled organometallic thin films

This work contains investigation results of the structural and nonlinear optical properties of self-assembled organometallic thin films. The films were successfully grown by Physical Vapor Deposition technique in high vacuum on transparent (quartz, glass) and semiconductor (n-type silicon) substrates kept at room temperature during the deposition process. Selected films were undergone an annealing process in ambient atmosphere for 24 hours in order to observe the process of self-organization. Nonlinear optical properties were examined using Second and Third Harmonic Generation\u27s techniques. The experimental spectra allowed determining optical constants of the films. Structural properties and self-assembling process were investigated by AFM and XRD measurements. The films exhibit very interesting structural properties strongly dependent on the temperature of the annealing process. NLO properties of self-assembled organometallic thin films were strongly related with the morphology and the annealing process can significantly change the structure of the organometallic films

The 95zr(n, gamma)96zr cross section from the surrogate ratio method and its effect on the s-process nucleosynthesis

The 95Zr(n,gamma)96Zr reaction cross section is crucial in the modelling of s-process nucleosynthesis in asymptotic giant branch stars because it controls the operation of the branching point at the unstable 95Zr and the subsequent production of 96Zr. We have carried out the measurement of the 94Zr(18O,16O) and 90Zr(18O,16O) reactions and obtained the gamma-decay probability ratio of 96Zr* and 92Zr* to determine the 95Zr(n,gamma)96Zr reaction cross sections with the surrogate ratio method. Our deduced maxwellian-averaged cross section of 66+-16 mb at 30 keV is close to the value recommended by Bao et al. (2000), but 30% and more than a factor of two larger than the values proposed by Toukan & Kappeler (1990) and Lugaro et al. (2014), respectively, and routinely used in s-process models. We tested the new rate in stellar models with masses between 2 and 6 Msun and metallicities 0.014 and 0.03. The largest changes - up 80% variations in 96Zr - are seen in models of mass 3-4 Msun, where the 22Ne neutron source is mildly activated. The new rate can still provide a match to data from meteoritic stardust silicon carbide grains, provided the maximum mass of the parent stars is below 4 Msun, for a metallicity of 0.03.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap