bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Die Rolle des Endocannabinoidsystems bei der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung
Authors: Kulakova Eugenia , Wingenfeld Katja
Published: April 2023

Die Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung ist eine schwerwiegende psychische Erkrankung mit hoher Krankheitslast. Für ihre Behandlung besteht jedoch noch keine störungsspezifische Pharmakotherapie-Empfehlung. In der Hoffnung auf ein besseres Verständnis der Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung der Störung sowie der Ableitung möglicher pharmakologischer Strategien besteht ein hohes Interesse an der Erforschung des Endocannabinoidsystems.

Dieses Review fasst den gegenwärtigen Stand dieses jungen Forschungsfeldes zusammen. Dabei zeigt sich eine relevante Interaktion zwischen dem Endocannabinoidsystem und anderen biologischen Stressregulationssystemen, insbesondere der Hypothalamus-Hypophysen-Nebennieren-Achse. Es gibt erst wenige Untersuchungen zu Veränderungen des Endocannabinoidsystems bei der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung, deren Befunde auf eine reduzierte Aktivität des Systems hinweisen. Klinische Studien sind nötig, um die möglichen Effekte einer Augmentation des Endocannabinoidsystems bei Symptomclustern der Borderline-Störung zu erforschen.
A Retrospective Matched-Pair Analysis of Long-term Outcomes after Successful Lower Extremity Free Flap Salvage
Authors: Bigdeli Amir K. , Strübing Felix , Troia Roman , Thomas Benjamin , Gazyakan Emre , Kneser Ulrich , Hirche Christoph
Published: April 2023

Background Pedicle occlusion with total free flap loss after microvascular lower extremity reconstruction is a considerably rare yet devastating complication. Fortunately, in the majority of cases, emergency salvage takebacks of compromised free flaps are initiated in a timely manner. In this report, we present our analysis of long-term outcomes following transient vascular compromise mitigated through successful free flap salvage in the lower extremity.

Methods We performed a single-center retrospective matched-pair analysis of 46 patients with lower extremity free flap reconstructions. Cases underwent successful revisions of microvascular compromise (n = 23), whereas controls had uneventful postoperative courses (n = 23). Patient-reported outcome questionnaires and physical evaluations were used to assess general quality of life, functional outcomes, and cosmesis (Lower Extremity Functional Scale [LEFS], Lower Limb Outcomes Questionnaire [LLOQ], Short Form 36 (SF-36), Vancouver Scar Scale [VSS]). The mean follow-up time was 4.4 years.

Results The health-related quality of life assessed by the SF-36 did not differ significantly between both groups in any of the subscales (p ≥ 0.15 for all subscales). Functional outcomes did not show significant differences between both groups according to the LEFS (p = 0.78) and LLOQ (p = 0.45). The overall scar appearance assessed by the VSS showed significantly poorer cosmesis in the re-exploration group (p = 0.014).

Conclusion Salvage of compromised free flaps in the lower extremity yields similar long-term outcomes compared to noncompromised free flaps with regard to function and quality of life. However, free flap revisions may lead to impaired scar formation. This study provides further evidence that the opportunity for urgent re-exploration is indispensable.
Brightening the Study of Listening Effort with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: A Scoping Review
Authors: Shatzer Hannah E. , Russo Frank A.
Published: April 2023

Listening effort is a long-standing area of interest in auditory cognitive neuroscience. Prior research has used multiple techniques to shed light on the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying listening during challenging conditions. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is growing in popularity as a tool for cognitive neuroscience research, and its recent advances offer many potential advantages over other neuroimaging modalities for research related to listening effort. This review introduces the basic science of fNIRS and its uses for auditory cognitive neuroscience. We also discuss its application in recently published studies on listening effort and consider future opportunities for studying effortful listening with fNIRS. After reading this article, the learner will know how fNIRS works and summarize its uses for listening effort research. The learner will also be able to apply this knowledge toward generation of future research in this area.
Krankenhausreform: Bund und Länder auf Konfrontationskurs
Authors: Doelfs Guntram
Published: April 2023

Der Ton zwischen Gesundheitsminister Prof. Karl Lauterbach (SPD) und den Ländern über die geplante Krankenhausreform wird schärfer. Drei Länder lassen per Rechtsgutachten die Verfassungsmäßigkeit der Reformpläne prüfen. Das BMG dagegen lehnt Öffnungsklauseln bei Leistungsgruppen ab.
Privacy paradox in 3D body scanning technology: the effect of 3D virtual try-on experience in the relationship between privacy concerns and mobile app adoption intention
Authors: Youn Song-yi , Hwang Joohye , Zhao Li , Kim Jong-Bum
Published: April 2023

3D body scanning technology has emerged in the retail industry by providing easy access to consumers. The technology has been incorporated with virtual-try-on (VTO) services to capture the accurate size of the human body and to provide user-centric experiences to online consumers. While consumers can have their body images scanned and shared with retailers, it raises concerns related to body information security and privacy. With the concern implied, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of consumers’ interaction experience with Avatar-based VTO services in alleviating consumer concerns related to body information privacy to adopt 3D body scanning technology. By adopting the privacy calculus theory and stimulus-organism-response model, the dataset (n = 285) was collected from an online experiment. The direct and indirect paths (i.e., mediation and serial mediation effects) were analyzed by adopting the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. This study finds body information privacy concerns negatively influence the future adoption of 3D body scanning technology while the perception of interactive features (i.e., perceived control, perceived responsiveness) of the VTO service positively enhances the future adoption. The result also indicates that the negative effects of privacy concerns can be mitigated through consumer experiences enhanced by the personalization and responsiveness features of the VTO service. This study contributes to the literature and industry by examining the potential role of consumers’ interactive experiences in reducing their concerns about body information privacy.
Human capital space: a spatial perspective of the dynamics of people and economic relationships
Authors: Yang Zhenshan
Published: April 2023

While researchers increasingly recognise drastic changes in populations and repeatedly emphasise their implications for development, far less attention is devoted to thinking of and making spaces available for people. This article proposes the concept of human capital space (HCS) and elaborates on its typology, spatial externalities, selection-sorting-matching mechanism, and crucial role in building dynamic capabilities in cities and regions. Theoretical discourses and constructs furnish reasons to believe that HCS is a useful instrument to examine the complex people–space relationship and to encourage conversations about the interactions among population, labour, economic geographies, and related disciplines. HCS provides a terrain for scientists to actively engage in human-centred spatial development, inform policies in a timely manner, and argue for effective investment in space to bolster the endogenous power of spatial development.
Synchrotron based transient x-ray absorption spectroscopy for emerging solid-state energy materials
Authors: Nyakuchena James , Zhang Xiaoyi , Huang Jier
Published: April 2023

The rational design of cutting-edge materials for an efficient solar energy conversion process is a challenging task, which demands a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms operative during the photoinduced physical and chemical reactions. In response to these issues, progress in the field has steered attention toward the use of time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to resolve the multiple intermediate species involved in these photoinduced reactions. Thanks to the advent of pump–probe technique, which leads to the development of various time-resolved spectroscopic methods, significant progress has been made in understanding the photophysical and photochemical properties (e.g., excited state dynamics, charge transfer mechanism, charge separation dynamics, etc.) of energy materials. Synchrotron-based x-ray transient absorption (XTA) spectroscopy is one of the most important time-resolved techniques to unravel the direct correlation of the material structure with their photophysical properties owing to its unique capability in directly observing electronic and structural evolution simultaneously. The aim of this work is to provide a systematic overview of the recent progress in using XTA for capturing the structural dynamics associated with excited state and charge separation dynamics in emerging solid-state energy materials.
Comment on “Arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic supersolitons in negative ion plasmas with two-temperature superthermal electrons” [Phys. Plasmas 29, 092101 (2022)]
Authors: Varghese Steffy Sara , Verheest Frank , Kourakis Ioannis
Published: April 2023

In a recent paper, “Arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic supersolitons in negative ion plasmas with two-temperature superthermal electrons” [Phys. Plasmas 29, 092101 (2022)], Kumar and Mishra deal with the study of ion-acoustic solitary and supersolitary waves in a four-component plasma consisting of positive ions and negative ions along with two temperature superthermal electrons. Unfortunately, the reported results are incorrect.
Protocol for structure determination of unknowns by EI mass spectrometry. II. Diagnostic ions in one ring alicyclic, heterocyclic, and aromatic compounds
Authors: Mikaia Anzor
Published: April 2023

Electron ionization (EI) mass spectra of saturated carbocyclic hydrocarbons containing a single ring with three or more members are discussed followed by the examination of their unsaturated analogs, including aromatic hydrocarbons. Mass spectrometry characteristics of heterocyclic compounds for each cycle size with one, two, three, and more hetero-atoms in a ring are considered along with their mono- and polyunsaturated analogs. An effect of the (a) size of a cycle; (b) number, nature, and location of elements in a ring; (c) position and nature of ring substituents; and (d) nature and location of unsaturation on the dissociation is revealed. Characteristic dissociation directions of these compounds and diagnostically important ions in their spectra are identified. Basic dissociation rules for alicyclic, heterocyclic, and aromatic compounds under EI are established for further use in the analysis of complex chemicals containing these structural elements.
Corrigendum to: Is Australia’s lack of national clinical leadership hampering efforts with the oral health policy agenda?
Authors: Nguyen Tan Minh , Arora Amit , Sethi Sneha , Gavanescu Danielle Justine , Heredia Ruth , Scully Ben , Lin Clare , Hall Martin
Published: April 2023

The landmark 2021 Resolution on Oral Health by the 74th World Health Assembly has elevated the importance of oral health into the global health policy agenda. This has led to the development and adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy on Oral Health in 2022. It acknowledged the need to integrate oral health as part of universal health coverage (UHC), which is supported by national clinical leadership for oral health. Although Australia is a signatory WHO member state, it is yet to appoint a Commonwealth Chief Dental Officer to provide national clinical leadership. This commentary provides a background on the current issues on population oral health in Australia, an insight into the Australian oral healthcare system, and explores some of the challenges and learnings related to previous Commonwealth dental programs. This paper highlights why expertise in dental public health is required to steer national oral health policy that is focused on prevention and early intervention. A population oral health approach for UHC should be informed by evidence, prioritise and address oral health inequities, and be co-ordinated by national clinical leadership for oral health.
NeuronMotif: Deciphering cis-regulatory codes by layer-wise demixing of deep neural networks
Authors: Wei Zheng , Hua Kui , Wei Lei , Ma Shining , Jiang Rui , Zhang Xuegong , Li Yanda , Wong Wing H. , Wang Xiaowo
Published: April 2023

Discovering DNA regulatory sequence motifs and their relative positions is vital to understanding the mechanisms of gene expression regulation. Although deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved great success in predicting cis-regulatory elements, the discovery of motifs and their combinatorial patterns from these CNN models has remained difficult. We show that the main difficulty is due to the problem of multifaceted neurons which respond to multiple types of sequence patterns. Since existing interpretation methods were mainly designed to visualize the class of sequences that can activate the neuron, the resulting visualization will correspond to a mixture of patterns. Such a mixture is usually difficult to interpret without resolving the mixed patterns. We propose the NeuronMotif algorithm to interpret such neurons. Given any convolutional neuron (CN) in the network, NeuronMotif first generates a large sample of sequences capable of activating the CN, which typically consists of a mixture of patterns. Then, the sequences are “demixed” in a layer-wise manner by backward clustering of the feature maps of the involved convolutional layers. NeuronMotif can output the sequence motifs, and the syntax rules governing their combinations are depicted by position weight matrices organized in tree structures. Compared to existing methods, the motifs found by NeuronMotif have more matches to known motifs in the JASPAR database. The higher-order patterns uncovered for deep CNs are supported by the literature and ATAC-seq footprinting. Overall, NeuronMotif enables the deciphering of cis-regulatory codes from deep CNs and enhances the utility of CNN in genome interpretation.
Magnetic Phase Transition in Strained Two-Dimensional CrSeTe Monolayer
Authors: Ji Zhiqiang , Huang Tian , Li Ying , Liu Xiaoyu , Wei Lujun , Wu Hong , Jin Jimeng , Pu Yong , Li Feng
Published: April 2023

Tunable magnetic phase transition in two-dimensional materials is a fascinating subject of research. We perform first-principle calculations based on density functional theory to clarify the magnetic property of CrSeTe monolayer modulated by the biaxial compressive strain. Based on the stable structure confirmed by the phonon calculation, CrSeTe is determined to be a ferromagnetic metal that undergoes a phase transition from a ferromagnetic state to an antiferromagnetic state with nearly 2.75% compressive strain. We identify the stress-magnetism behavior originating from the changes in interactions between the nearest-neighboring Cr atoms (J
1) and the next-nearest-neighboring Cr atoms (J
2). Through Monte Carlo simulation, we find that the Curie temperature of the CrSeTe monolayer is 160 K. The CrSeTe monolayer could be an intriguing platform for the two-dimensional systems and potential spintronic material.
Pressure in underwater spark discharge initiated with the help of bubble injection and its evaluation based on H-alpha line broadening
Authors: Frolov Alexandr , Stelmashuk Vitaliy , Kolacek Karel , Prukner Vaclav , Tuholukov Andrii , Hoffer Petr , Straus Jaroslav , Schmidt Jiri , Jirasek Vit , Oliva Eduardo
Published: April 2023

The pressure in an underwater discharge channel is the main parameter that influences all its applications. In this study, we investigate a relatively large gap with a plane-to-plane electrode geometry that uses the assistance of an injected gas bubble for breakdown. The delay in the application of high voltage following the injection of a gas bubble from a grounded electrode determines the initial dimensions of the bubble. We examined three types of discharge: (a) a large bubble with easy triggering, (b) a medium bubble, and (c) a small bubble with difficult triggering. The main diagnostic tool is H
α
line broadening. It is shown that (i) Doppler broadening plays no role; (ii) at pressure broadening, the resonance and van der Waals broadenings must be considered; (iii) the impact approximation is not applicable, and hence the quasi-static high-pressure (namely ‘nearest neighbour’) approximation must be used; and (iv) the Stark broadening plays the dominant role. Because a mixture of two gases (evaporated water vapour and nitrogen from bubble injection) is present in the discharge channel, simple thermodynamic considerations were applied to estimate the ratio of the contributions of resonance and van der Waals broadening. The larger the bubble, the smaller the pressure detected in the discharge channel. This is in agreement with the measurements of the pressure wave amplitude at a certain distance from the discharge channel using a piezoelectric pressure probe.
Eye lens dose for medical staff assisting patients during computed tomography: comparison of several types of radioprotective glasses
Authors: Fukushima Kotaro , Matsubara Kosuke , Tanabe Mariko , Ito Hajime
Published: April 2023

Medical staff sometimes assists patients in the examination room during computed tomography (CT) scans for several purposes. This study aimed to investigate the dose reduction effects of four radioprotective glasses with different lead equivalents and lens shapes. A medical staff phantom was positioned assuming body movement restraint of the patient during chest CT, and Hp(3) at the eye surfaces of the medical staff phantom and inside the lens of the four types of radioprotective glasses were measured by changing the distance of the staff phantom from the gantry, eye height, and width of the nose pad. The Hp(3) at the right eye surface with glasses of 0.50–0.75 mmPb and 0.07 mmPb was approximately 83.5% and 58.0%, respectively, lower than that without radioprotective glasses. The dose reduction rates at left eye surface increased with over-glass type glasses by 14%–28% by increasing the distance from the CT gantry to the staff phantom from 25 to 65 cm. The dose reduction rates at the left eye surface decreased with over-glass type glasses by 26%–31% by increasing the height of the eye lens for the medical staff phantom from 130 to 170 cm. The Hp(3) on the left eye surface decreased by 46.9% with the widest nose pad width compared to the narrowest nose pad width for the glasses with adjustable nose pad width. The radioprotective glasses for staff assisting patients during CT examinations should have a high lead equivalent and no gap around the nose and under the front lens.
Dose mimicking based strategies for online adaptive proton therapy of head and neck cancer
Authors: Borderias-Villarroel E , Fredriksson A , Cvilic S , Di Perri D , Longton E , Pierrard J , Geets X , Sterpin E
Published: April 2023

Objective. To compare a not adapted (NA) robust planning strategy with three fully automated online adaptive proton therapy (OAPT) workflows based on the same optimization method: dose mimicking (DM). The added clinical value and limitations of the OAPT methods are investigated for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Approach. The three OAPT strategies aimed at compensating for inter-fractional anatomical changes by mimiking different dose distributions on corrected cone beam CT images (corrCBCTs). Order by complexity, the OAPTs were: (1) online adaptive dose restoration (OADR) where the approved clinical dose on the planning-CT (pCT) was mimicked, (2) online adaptation using DM of the deformed clinical dose from the pCT to corrCBCTs (OADEF), and (3) online adaptation applying DM to a predicted dose on corrCBCTs (OAML). Adaptation was only applied in fractions where the target coverage criteria were not met (D98% < 95% of the prescribed dose). For 10 HNC patients, the accumulated dose distributions over the 35 fractions were calculated for NA, OADR, OADEF, and OAML. Main results. Higher target coverage was observed for all OAPT strategies compared to no adaptation. OADEF and OAML outperformed both NA and OADR and were comparable in terms of target coverage to initial clinical plans. However, only OAML provided comparable NTCP values to those from the clinical dose without statistically significant differences. When the NA initial plan was evaluated on corrCBCTs, 51% of fractions needed adaptation. The adaptation rate decreased significantly to 25% when the last adapted plan with OADR was selected for delivery, to 16% with OADEF, and to 21% with OAML. The reduction was even greater when the best plan among previously generated adapted plans (instead of the last one) was selected. Significance. The implemented OAPT strategies provided superior target coverage compared to no adaptation, higher OAR sparing, and fewer required adaptations.
The dispersion relation of a dark soliton
Authors: Meng Ling-Zheng , Mao Ning , Zhao Li-Chen
Published: April 2023

The energy-velocity relation of a dark soliton is usually derived by its exact solution, which has been used to explain the kinetic motion of the dark soliton widely in many-body physical systems. We perform a variational method to re-derive the dispersion relation, with the consideration that the number of particles of the dark soliton could be conserved. The re-derived dispersion relation is completely different from that given by the exact dark soliton solution. The validity of these two dispersion relations is tested by observing the motion of the dark soliton when we drive impurity atoms that coupled with the soliton. The results suggest that the dispersion relation given by the exact solution usually works better than the one with particle number conservation. This motivates us to reveal that density waves (carrying particle transport) are generated during the acceleration process of a dark soliton, in addition to the previously known sound waves (only carrying energy transport). We further show that the density wave emissions of dark solitons can be inhibited by increasing the impurity atom number, which is trapped by the dark soliton through nonlinear coupling. The discussion is meaningful for investigating and understanding the kinetic motion of dark solitons in many different circumstances.
Floquet engineering with quantum optimal control theory
Authors: Castro Alberto , Giovannini Umberto De , Sato Shunsuke A , Hübener Hannes , Rubio Angel
Published: April 2023

Floquet engineering consists in the modification of physical systems by the application of periodic time-dependent perturbations. The search for the shape of the periodic perturbation that best modifies the properties of a system in order to achieve some predefined metastable target behavior can be formulated as an optimal control problem. We discuss several ways to formulate and solve this problem. We present, as examples, some applications in the context of material science, although the methods discussed here are valid for any quantum system (from molecules and nanostructures to extended periodic and non periodic quantum materials). In particular, we show how one can achieve the manipulation of the Floquet pseudo-bandstructure of a transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer (MoS2).
Experimental benchmark data for Monte Carlo simulated radiation effects of gold nanoparticles. Part II: comparison of measured and simulated electron spectra from gold nanofoils
Authors: Borbinha Jorge , de la Fuente Rosales Liset , Hepperle Philine , Nettelbeck Heidi , Baek Woon Yong , Di Maria Salvatore , Rabus Hans
Published: April 2023

Electron emission spectra of a thin gold foil after photon interaction were measured over the energy range between 50 eV and 9500 eV to provide reference data for Monte Carlo radiation-transport simulations. Experiments were performed with the HAXPES spectrometer at the PETRA III high-brilliance beamline P22 at DESY (Hamburg, Germany) for photon energies just below and above each of the gold L-edges, that is, at 11.9 keV, 12.0 keV, 13.7 keV, 13.8 keV, 14.3 keV, and 14.4 keV. The data were analyzed to obtain the absolute values of the particle radiance of the emitted electrons per incident photon flux. Simulations of the experiment were performed using the Penelope and Geant4 Monte Carlo radiation-transport codes. Comparison of the measured and simulated results shows good qualitative agreement. On an absolute scale, the experiments tend to produce higher electron radiance values at the lower photon energies studied as well as at the higher photon energies for electron energies below the energy of the Au L3 photoelectron. This is attributed to the linear polarization of the photon beam in the experiments, something which is not considered in the simulation codes.
Highly efficient SnS-based inverted planar heterojunction solar cell with ZnO ETL
Authors: Islam Md Emtiajul , Islam Md Rasidul , Ahmmed Shamim , Hossain M Khalid , Rahman Md Ferdous
Published: April 2023

Tin Sulfide (SnS) is a promising absorber material for solar energy harvesting owing to the high absorption coefficient. Here, a novel inverted planar heterostructure of SnS based solar cell (ITO/NiOX/SnS/ZnO/Al) has been proposed for better efficiency among the different electron transport layers (ETLs), PCBM, C60, CeOX, and ZnO. The performance of the SnS based solar cell was theoretically studied by the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) software. Initially, we have been observed the device performance with different ETL materials to find the better ETL material. The layer parameters of the HTL, absorber layer, and ETLs have been optimized to find out the best performance of the device. The device showed efficiencies of around 26.44%, 26.33%, and 26.38% with the ETLs PCBM, C60, and CeOX respectively. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ∼28.15% has been observed after incorporating ZnO ETL in the designed architecture of the SnS-based solar cell. Then, we have been investigated the performance of the SnS-based solar cell with ZnO ETL for the various value of carrier concentration, thickness, and bulk defect of the SnS absorber layer, defect of the interfaces of NiOX/SnS and SnS/ZnO, back metal contact’s work function, and its operating temperature. The variation of the different parameters has exhibited a substantial effect on the device performance. The VOC, JSC, FF, and PCE of the optimized SnS-based solar cell with ZnO ETL showed 0.8954 V, 37.316452 mA cm−2, 84.24%, and 28.15%, respectively. The visualization of the results indicates that ZnO might be a potential ETL for the highly efficient, low-cost inverted planar solar cells based on SnS.
Influence of Fe2O3@reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite on the structural, morphological, and optical features of the polyvinyl alcohol films for optoelectronic applications
Authors: Ahmed R M , Soliman T S , Vshivkov S A , Khalid A
Published: April 2023

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films doped with Fe2O3-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using a casting-method. Fe2O3 NPs were synthesized via the hydrothermal process, and then Fe2O3 NPs were decorated on the graphene oxide (GO) sheets, where the GO was transferred to rGO during the sonication process. The obtained films were characterized using XRD and FTIR techniques. Optical absorption and transmission data were recorded via a UV–visible spectrophotometer and used to estimate various optical parameters. Increasing the amount of doped Fe2O3-rGO NPs in PVA decreased the ability of the prepared nanocomposites to allow visible light to pass through them. Solar material protection factor (SMPF) of PVA (11.93%) improved to 99.3%, corresponding to 2 wt% of Fe2O3-rGO NPs doped in the host matrix. The calculated values of the average refractive index are 2.18, 2.25, 2.36, 2.46, and 2.58, corresponding to 0 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 1.5 wt%, and 2 wt% of Fe2O3-rGO NPs doped in PVA. Therefore, the average refractive index showed a dependence on Fe2O3-rGO NPs. Low energy region (E < 2.4 eV) showed dielectric relaxation time- energy dependent behavior, whereas the high energy region (E > 2.4 eV) displayed dielectric relaxation time- energy independent behavior. Increasing the content of the doped NPs in PVA resulted in lowering the surface and volume energy loss.
On the gas heating effect of helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet
Authors: do Nascimento Fellype , Gerling Torsten , Kostov Konstantin Georgiev
Published: April 2023

Plasma medicine is an emerging research field which has been driven by the development of plasma sources suitable to generate low temperature plasmas. In many cases, such devices can operate without a gas flow, producing a plasma discharge from the ambient air. However, the most common case is the use of a working gas at a given flow rate to produce a plasma jet. Helium (He) is one of the gases commonly used as the carrier gas to generate cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets (CAPPJs) due mainly to the easiness to ignite a gas discharge with it. However, in this work it was observed that most of the heating of a He CAPPJ can come just from the expansion of the He gas. This was found through measurements of gas temperature (T

gas
), using fiber optic temperature (FOT) sensors, and thermal output, using both FOT and infrared imaging with the He flow impinging on a copper (Cu) plate. Such findings were achieved through comparisons of T

gas
and the temperature on the Cu (T

Cu
) plate in the conditions with and without discharge ignition, as well as comparing T

gas
in the free gas/jet mode with and without discharge ignition. It was verified that the T

gas
values increased as the distance from the gas outlet was enlarged, especially at low He flow rates, even without discharge ignition. Despite the temperature increase with distance, it is possible to produce plasma jets with temperatures lower than 40 °C at low He flow rates.
Generation of optical

-antisymmetry in a coherent N-type atomic medium
Authors: Dutta Bibhas Kumar , Panchadhyayee Pradipta
Published: April 2023

We have proposed two schemes to exhibit




-antisymmetry in a four-level N-type atomic system interacting with two strong driving fields and a weak probe field. For both the schemes, the required spatially modulated coherence rendering




-antisymmetry is achieved by employing a double-channel Gaussian beam for one driving field with a single channel for the other driving field in different field configurations. In each scheme, for equal and opposite detunings of the double-channel Gaussian beam,




-antisymmetry can be obtained in the spatial domain. Such a way of control is unique to this model. Using the present method, it is possible to obtain




-antisymmetry for both the homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened atoms.
Structure of shock wave in tungsten and titanium metals by using navier-stokes equation
Authors: Anand R K , Singh M K
Published: April 2023

Using the Navier–Stokes equation, we present the structure of a one-dimensional stationary shock wave formed in condensed alloy materials such as tungsten and titanium. In this study, the shock wave structure in the mentioned materials has been analysed by using several important parameters such as material viscosity, the Mie-Gruneisen parameter, and Mach number (M). One of our derived results is shock thickness, which is found to be of the order of 10−6 meters. In addition, we address a number of key insights into the shock wave interaction with tungsten and titanium. It should be noted that the validity of the model discussed in this study is limited to high M values, i.e., M ≥ 2.0.
Thermal ringdown of a Kerr black hole: overtone excitation, Fermi-Dirac statistics and greybody factor
Authors: Oshita Naritaka
Published: April 2023

We find a significant destructive interference among Kerr overtones in the early ringdown induced by an extreme mass-ratio merger of a massive black hole and a compact object, and that the ringdown spectrum apparently follows the Fermi-Dirac distribution. We numerically compute the spectral amplitude of gravitational waves induced by a particle plunging into a Kerr black hole and study the excitation of multiple quasi-normal (QN) modes. We find that the start time of ringdown is before the strain peak of the signal and corresponds to the time when the particle passes the photon sphere. When the black hole has the near-extremal rotation, the Kerr QN frequencies are close to the fermionic Matsubara frequencies with the Hawking temperature and the chemical potential of the superradiant frequency. We indeed find that the absolute square of the spectral amplitude apparently follows the Fermi-Dirac distribution with the chemical potential of around the real QN frequency of the fundamental mode. Fitting the Boltzmann distribution to the data in higher frequencies, the best-fit temperature is found out to be close to the Hawking temperature, especially for rapid rotations. In the near-extremal limit, the gravitational-wave spectrum exhibits a would-be Fermi degeneracy with the Fermi surface at the superradiant frequency ω = μ
H. We show that the greybody factor, i.e., the absorption cross section of a black hole, leads to the Fermi-Dirac distribution. As the greybody factor is another no-hair quantity of black holes, this opens a new possibility that we could test general relativity by observationally searching for the Boltzmann distribution in ringdown, provided that near-extremal black holes exist in the observable region. Indeed, it has been predicted that near-extremal supermassive black holes would exist at the center of some galaxies from the X-ray reflection spectroscopy. We could measure the mass and angular momentum of ringing black holes and could probe the Kerr/CFT correspondence by measuring the greybody factor imprinted on the ringdown spectrum.
Catalytic Role of H i in the Interstellar Synthesis of Complex Organic Molecule
Authors: Yang Shuming , Xie Peng , Liang Enwei , Wang Zhao
Published: April 2023

Using quantum chemical calculations, we model the pathways for synthesizing two purine nucleobases, adenine and guanine, in the gas-phase interstellar environment, surrounded by neutral atomic hydrogen (H i). H i is found active in facilitating a series of fundamental proton transfer processes of organic synthesis, including bond formation, cyclization, dehydrogenation, and H migration. The reactive potential barriers were significantly reduced in the alternative pathways created by H i, leading to a remarkable increase in the reaction rate. The presence of H i also lowered the reactive activation temperature from 757.8 K to 131.5–147.0 K, indicating the thermodynamic feasibility of these pathways in star-forming regions where some of the reactants have been astronomically detected. Our findings suggest that H i may serve as an effective catalyst for interstellar organic synthesis.
A (3+1)-dimensional equation of plasma drift waves perturbed by a singular potential in an infinite parallelepiped
Authors: Aldawish Ibtisam , Alazman Ibtehal , Jleli Mohamed , Samet Bessem
Published: April 2023

We investigate the existence and nonexistence of weak solutions to a (3+1)-dimensional equation of plasma drift waves perturbed by a singular potential. The considered equation is posed in an infinite parallelepiped, under an inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. We show that the dividing line with respect to existence or nonexistence is given by a critical exponent.
Development and evaluation of dose calculation algorithm with a combination of Monte Carlo and point-kernel methods for boron neutron capture therapy
Authors: Nojiri Mai , Takata Takushi , Hu Naonori , Sakurai Yoshinori , Suzuki Minoru , Tanaka Hiroki
Published: April 2023

We developed a ‘hybrid algorithm’ that combines the Monte Carlo (MC) and point-kernel methods for fast dose calculation in boron neutron capture therapy. The objectives of this study were to experimentally verify the hybrid algorithm and to verify the calculation accuracy and time of a ‘complementary approach’ adopting both the hybrid algorithm and the full-energy MC method. In the latter verification, the results were compared with those obtained using the full-energy MC method alone. In the hybrid algorithm, the moderation process of neutrons is simulated using only the MC method, and the thermalization process is modeled as a kernel. The thermal neutron fluxes calculated using only this algorithm were compared with those measured in a cubic phantom. In addition, a complementary approach was used for dose calculation in a geometry simulating the head region, and its computation time and accuracy were verified. The experimental verification indicated that the thermal neutron fluxes calculated using only the hybrid algorithm reproduced the measured values at depths exceeding a few centimeters, whereas they overestimated those at shallower depths. Compared with the calculation using only the full-energy MC method, the complementary approach reduced the computation time by approximately half, maintaining nearly same accuracy. When focusing on the calculation only using the hybrid algorithm only for the boron dose attributed to the reaction of thermal neutrons, the computation time was expected to reduce by 95% compared with the calculation using only the full-energy MC method. In conclusion, modeling the thermalization process as a kernel was effective for reducing the computation time.
Accessing radiation damage to biomolecules on the nanoscale by particle-scattering simulations
Authors: Hahn Marc Benjamin
Published: April 2023

Radiation damage to DNA plays a central role in radiation therapy to cure cancer. The physico-chemical and biological processes involved encompass huge time and spatial scales. To obtain a comprehensive understanding on the nano and the macro scale is a very challenging tasks for experimental techniques alone. Therefore particle-scattering simulations are often applied to complement measurements and aide their interpretation, to help in the planning of experiments, to predict their outcome and to test damage models. In the last years, powerful multipurpose particle-scattering framework based on the Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) method, such as Geant4 and Geant4-DNA, were extended by user friendly interfaces such as TOPAS and TOPAS-nBio. This shifts their applicability from the realm of dedicated specialists to a broader range of scientists. In the present review we aim to give an overview over MCS based approaches to understand radiation interaction on a broad scale, ranging from cancerous tissue, cells and their organelles including the nucleus, mitochondria and membranes, over radiosensitizer such as metallic nanoparticles, and water with additional radical scavenger, down to isolated biomolecules in the form of DNA, RNA, proteins and DNA-protein complexes. Hereby the degradation of biomolecules by direct damage from inelastic scattering processes during the physical stage, and the indirect damage caused by radicals during the chemical stage as well as some parts of the early biological response is covered. Due to their high abundance the action of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and secondary low energy electrons (LEE) as well as prehydrated electrons are covered in additional detail. Applications in the prediction of DNA damage, DNA repair processes, cell survival and apoptosis, influence of radiosensitizer on the dose distribution within cells and their organelles, the study of linear energy transfer (LET), the relative biological effectiveness (RBE), ion beam cancer therapy, microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), the FLASH effect, and the radiation induced bystander effect are reviewed.
Designing magnetocaloric materials for hydrogen liquefaction with light rare-earth Laves phases
Authors: Liu Wei , Gottschall Tino , Scheibel Franziska , Bykov Eduard , Fortunato Nuno , Aubert Alex , Zhang Hongbin , Skokov Konstantin , Gutfleisch Oliver
Published: April 2023

Magnetocaloric hydrogen liquefaction could be a ‘game-changer’ for liquid hydrogen industry. Although heavy rare-earth based magnetocaloric materials show strong magnetocaloric effects in the temperature range required by hydrogen liquefaction (77–20 K), the high resource criticality of the heavy rare-earth elements is a major obstacle for upscaling this emerging liquefaction technology. In contrast, the higher abundances of the light rare-earth elements make their alloys highly appealing for magnetocaloric hydrogen liquefaction. Via a mean-field approach, it is demonstrated that tuning the Curie temperature (T
C) of an idealized light rare-earth based magnetocaloric material towards lower cryogenic temperatures leads to larger maximum magnetic and adiabatic temperature changes (ΔS
T and ΔT
ad). Especially in the vicinity of the condensation point of hydrogen (20 K), ΔS
T and ΔT
ad of the optimized light rare-earth based material are predicted to show significantly large values. Following the mean-field approach and taking the chemical and physical similarities of the light rare-earth elements into consideration, a method of designing light rare-earth intermetallic compounds for hydrogen liquefaction is used: tuning T
C of a rare-earth alloy to approach 20 K by mixing light rare-earth elements with different de Gennes factors. By mixing Nd and Pr in Laves phase (Nd, Pr)Al2, and Pr and Ce in Laves phase (Pr, Ce)Al2, a fully light rare-earth intermetallic series with large magnetocaloric effects covering the temperature range required by hydrogen liquefaction is developed, demonstrating a competitive maximum effect compared to the heavy rare-earth compound DyAl2.
An efficient implementation of analytical nuclear gradients for linear-response time-dependent density functional theory in the plane wave basis
Authors: Liu Jie , Hu Wei , Yang Jinlong
Published: April 2023

We present an efficient implementation of the analytical nuclear gradient of linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT) with the frozen core approximation (FCA). This implementation is realized based on the Hutter’s formalism and the plane wave pseudopotential method. Numerical results demonstrate that the LR-TDDFT/FCA method using a small subset of Kohn–Sham occupied orbitals are accurate enough to reproduce the LR-TDDFT results. Here, the FCA remarkably reduces the computational cost in solving the LR-TDDFT eigenvalue equation. Another challenge in the calculations of analytical nuclear gradients for LR-TDDFT is the solution of the Z-vector equation, for which the Davidson algorithm is a popular choice. While, for large systems the standard Davidson algorithm exhibits a low convergence rate. In order to overcome this problem, we generalize the two-level Davidson algorithm to solve linear equation problems. A more stable performance is achieved with this new algorithm. Our method should encourage further studies of excited-state properties with LR-TDDFT in the plane wave basis.
PEG functionalized ZnO nanoparticles by fusion of precipitation-cum-hydrothermal method with enhanced photocatalytic activity
Authors: Gaur Jyoti , Pal Mohinder , Kumar Sanjeev , Kaur Harpreet , Lotey Gurmeet Singh , Bala Kanchan , Supreet  , Kaur Arshdeep
Published: April 2023

In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-aided zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized by fusion of precipitation-cum-hydrothermal method. The PEG/ZnO NPs were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) transformation, UV-visible field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray, high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), and RAMAN techniques. XRD analysis confirms the formation of the wurtzite phase with a crystallite size of 8 nm of synthesized PEG/ZnO. While FESEM and HRTEM investigations reveal the formation of distinct structural forms, FTIR investigations show interactions between PEG and ZnO. High crystallinity of PEG/ZnO is observed in the selected area electron diffraction pattern. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) study revealed that ZnO NPs have a mesoporous structure with a significant specific surface area of 42 m2 g−1. The evaluation of photocatalytic activity of PEG/ZnO-based photocatalyst was carried out via the degradation of typical azo dye (industrial methylene blue (MB) dye) along with total organic carbon (TOC) analysis. The PEG-ZnO (dose 200 mg l−1) was found to be an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of MB dye. The degradation reaction exhibits pseudo-first-order kinetics. Additionally, TOC removal was monitored, elucidating almost complete mineralization.
Investigation of electrical parameters and temperature analysis of a dual-metal DG PNPN TFET with extended source
Authors: Baruah Karabi , Baishya Srimanta
Published: April 2023

In this article, a dual-metal double-gate extended-source PNPN tunnel-FET (DG-ES-DMG TFET) is proposed and investigated. The performance of conventional double-gate PNPN TFET (DG TFET) can be improved by extending a portion of the source to the channel side, which creates vertical tunneling along with the lateral tunneling, thereby enhancing the band-to-band tunneling rate and on-current in double-gate extended-source PNPN tunnel-FET (DG-ES TFET). The performance of this DG-ES TFET can be further enhanced by introducing a dual metal gate in DG-ES-DMG TFET. The performance of the TFETs is evaluated with the help of TCAD (Technology Computer-Aided Design) software. The proposed optimized DG-ES-DMG TFET provides very good performances; On-current (I
ON) of 1.39 × 10−3 A μm−1, On-Off current ratio (I
ON/I
OFF) of 1.10 × 1011, subthreshold swing (SS) of 20 mV/Decade, threshold voltage (V
TH) of 0.37 V, and a cut-off frequency (f
T) of 188 GHz. The temperature sensitivity of the TFETs is also analyzed in this work. The comparison of the proposed TFET with other existing TFETs reveals that the proposed TFET could be a good contender for low-power applications.
Plug & play directed evolution of proteins with gradient-based discrete MCMC
Authors: Emami Patrick , Perreault Aidan , Law Jeffrey , Biagioni David , St. John Peter
Published: April 2023

A long-standing goal of machine-learning-based protein engineering is to accelerate the discovery of novel mutations that improve the function of a known protein. We introduce a sampling framework for evolving proteins in silico that supports mixing and matching a variety of unsupervised models, such as protein language models, and supervised models that predict protein function from sequence. By composing these models, we aim to improve our ability to evaluate unseen mutations and constrain search to regions of sequence space likely to contain functional proteins. Our framework achieves this without any model fine-tuning or re-training by constructing a product of experts distribution directly in discrete protein space. Instead of resorting to brute force search or random sampling, which is typical of classic directed evolution, we introduce a fast Markov chain Monte Carlo sampler that uses gradients to propose promising mutations. We conduct in silico directed evolution experiments on wide fitness landscapes and across a range of different pre-trained unsupervised models, including a 650 M parameter protein language model. Our results demonstrate an ability to efficiently discover variants with high evolutionary likelihood as well as estimated activity multiple mutations away from a wild type protein, suggesting our sampler provides a practical and effective new paradigm for machine-learning-based protein engineering.