Thermoelectric bonding study. the bonding of pbte and pbte-snte with non-magnetic electrodes

Low resistance, high strength, nonmagnetic electrode bonding to lead telluride and lead- telluride-tin telluride alloy

Lead telluride non-magnetic bonding research study Second quarterly report, 1 Jun. - 31 Aug. 1965

Diffusion and braze bonding of tungsten and tantalum to lead telluride and lead telluride- tin telluride thermoelectric alloy

Lead telluride non-magnetic bonding research study Third quarterly report, Sep. 1 - Nov. 30, 1965

Diffusion bonding of tungsten electrodes to lead tellurium and lead tellurium-tin tellurium thermocouple

Do Agglomeration Economies Exist in the Hospital Services Industry

Given the importance of knowledge flows and the continued emphasis on face-to-face encounters especially for medical care, close proximity of hospitals may be essential for the efficient delivery of medical care. That is, hospital productivity might be greater where hospitals cluster and allow knowledge to more easily and quickly disperse among personnel in the various organizations. To add to the understanding about agglomeration economies in the hospital services sector, this study analyzes how the clustering of hospitals in the various metropolitan areas of the US affects industry wide productivity. The multiple regression analysis is conducted on a cross-sectional basis for both 1993 and 1999 and by using first differencing of the data between the two years. The observed productivity improvements resulting from the clustering of hospitals provides yet another justification for encouraging a larger number of hospitals in metropolitan areas.

Point-light biological motion perception activates human premotor cortex

Motion cues can be surprisingly powerful in defining objects and events. Specifically, a handful of point-lights attached to the joints of a human actor will evoke a vivid percept of action when the body is in motion. The perception of point-light biological motion activates posterior cortical areas of the brain. On the other hand, observation of others' actions is known to also evoke activity in motor and premotor areas in frontal cortex. In the present study, we investigated whether point-light biological motion animations would lead to activity in frontal cortex as well. We performed a human functional magnetic resonance imaging study on a high-field-strength magnet and used a number of methods to increase signal, as well as cortical surface-based analysis methods. Areas that responded selectively to point-light biological motion were found in lateral and inferior temporal cortex and in inferior frontal cortex. The robust responses we observed in frontal areas indicate that these stimuli can also recruit action observation networks, although they are very simplified and characterize actions by motion cues alone. The finding that even point-light animations evoke activity in frontal regions suggests that the motor system of the observer may be recruited to "fill in" these simplified displays

Properties of real metallic surfaces: Effects of density functional semilocality and van der Waals nonlocality

We have computed the surface energies, work functions, and interlayer surface relaxations of clean (111), (110), and (100) surfaces of Al, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Pt, and Au. Many of these metallic surfaces have technological or catalytic applications. We compare experimental reference values to those of the local density approximation (LDA), the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA), the PBEsol (PBE for solids) GGA, the SCAN meta-GGA, and SCAN+rVV10 (SCAN with a long-range van der Waals or vdW correction). The closest agreement with uncertain experimental values is achieved by the simplest density functional (LDA) and by the most sophisticated general-purpose one (SCAN+rVV10). The long-range vdW interaction increases the surface energies by about 10%, and the work functions by about 1%. LDA works for metal surfaces through a stronger-than-usual error cancellation. PBE yields the most-underestimated and presumably least accurate surface energies and work functions. Surface energies within the random phase approximation (RPA) are also reported. Interlayer relaxations from different functionals are in reasonable agreement with one another, and usually with experiment

Plasma homocysteine, folate and vitamin B(12) compared between rural Gambian and UK adults.

The disease risk indicator plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, including folate and vitamin B(12) status. Little is known about the determinants of tHcy in rural West Africa. We explored the hypothesis that tHcy in rural Gambian adults might vary between the sexes and physiological groups, and/or with folate and vitamin B(12) status. Comparisons were made with a British national survey. Non-pregnant Gambian women (n 158) had tHcy concentrations (geometric mean 9.0 micromol/l) similar to those of non-pregnant UK women (n 449; 9.4 micromol/l), whereas pregnant Gambian women (n 12) had significantly lower values (6.2 micromol/l). Gambian men (n 22) had significantly higher values (14.7 micromol/l) than British men (n 354; 10.8 micromol/l). Gambian lactating women and British men and women exhibited significant inverse relationships between log(e)(tHcy) and folate status; however, only the British subjects exhibited significant inverse relationships between loge(tHcy) and vitamin B(12) status. In the British sample, and in Gambian lactating women, folate and vitamin B(12) status variations together accounted for 20-25 % of the variation in log(e)(tHcy). Within the UK, black-skinned adults had folate and tHcy levels similar to those of their white-skinned counterparts, but significantly higher vitamin B(12) values. We conclude that, whereas folate and vitamin B(12) status are similar between British and rural Gambian populations, tHcy is higher in Gambian men and lower in pregnant Gambian women, and that serum vitamin B(12) values appear to be higher in black-skinned than white-skinned British subjects. Possible reasons are discussed