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We obtain a large in-plane magnetic uniaxial anisotropy in the soft magnetic Fe60Co20B20 (FeCoB) thin films prepared by rotational sputtering. The anisotropy field (Ha) of 75 to 175 Oe was found in the films with wide ranged thickness from 2.5 to 100 nm, which was attributed to the magnetoelastic energy in association with anisotropic tensile stress. This stress-induced anisotropy has outstanding thermal stability that survives up to 350 °C in the annealing process. The similar large uniaxial anisotropy can be realized in other soft magnetic thin films, such as Fe, Co, Ni, FeCo, and NiFe, with the same synthesis technique. The anisotropic FeCoB film was used as a free layer in a synthetic spin valve. A linear resistance change against external field with a range wider than ±100 Oe together with a significantly reduced coercivity of ∼1.1 Oe (∼8.5 Oe in the case with isotropic free layer) was observed in the transfer curve. The results of this work not only confirm the feasibility of films with large stress-induced magnetic anisotropy as a functional layer in spin-valve devices but also demonstrate a simple synthesis route to induce the magnetic anisotropy, which provides an additional control parameter for the spintronic device design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential energy surfaces for the ground singlet (S0), lowest excited singlet (S1), and lowest triplet (T0) electronic states of carbon disulfide are explored using ab initio Hartree–Fock (HF), generalized valence bond (GVB) and multiconfiguration self-consistent-field (MCSCF) methods using the 6-31G* basis. The lowest singlet hypersurface, S0, contains the linear (D∞h) equilibrium geometry ground state X 1Σ+g and the previously unreported bent (C2v) conformer 1A1. The calculated geometry of the linear state [re(C–S)=1.544 Å] compares favorably with experiment [r0(C–S)=1.556 Å]; there are no experimental values to compare with the calculated geometry of the bent state [re(C–S)=1.718 Å,

Background Health-related quality of life ( QoL) is of major importance in pancreatic cancer, owing to the limited life expectation. The aim of this prospective longitudinal study was to describe QoL in patients undergoing resection for pancreatic or periampullary malignancy. Methods QoL was measured on a scale of 0-100 in patients who underwent pancreatic resection for malignancy or premalignancy at the University Medical Centre Utrecht before resection, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Measures consisted of the RAND-36, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer ( EORTC) core questionnaire ( QLQ-C30) and the EORTC pancreatic cancer-specific module ( QLQ-PAN26). Results Between March 2012 and November 2013, 68 consecutive patients with a malignancy (59 patients) or premalignancy (9) were included. Physical role restriction, social and emotional domains showed a significant and clinically relevant deterioration directly after operation in 53 per cent ( RAND-36, P < 0·001), 63 and 78 per cent ( QLQ-C30 and RAND-36 respectively, P < 0·001) and 37 per cent ( RAND-36, P < 0·001) of patients respectively. Most domains demonstrated recovery to preoperative values or better at 3 months, except for physical functioning. Emotional functioning at 3, 6 and 12 months was better than at baseline ( P < 0·001). Symptom scores revealed a deterioration in vitality, pain ( P = 0·002), fatigue ( P < 0·001), appetite loss ( P < 0·001), altered bowel habit ( P = 0·001) and side-effects ( P < 0·001) after 1 month. After 3 months, only side-effects were worse than preoperative values ( P < 0·001). Conclusion QoL after pancreatic resection for malignant and premalignant tumours decreased considerably in the early postoperative phase. Full recovery of QoL took up to 6 months after the operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:In experimental models of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), irradiation (IR) induces local expression of the chemokine CXCL12/SDF-1, which promotes tumour recurrence. The role of CXCR7, the high-affinity receptor for CXCL12, in the tumour's response to IR has not been addressed.Methods:We tested CXCR7 inhibitors for their effects on tumour growth and/or animal survival post IR in three rodent GBM models. We used immunohistochemistry to determine where CXCR7 protein is expressed in the tumours and in human GBM samples. We used neurosphere formation assays with human GBM xenografts to determine whether CXCR7 is required for cancer stem cell (CSC) activity in vitro.Results:CXCR7 was detected on tumour cells and/or tumour-associated vasculature in the rodent models and in human GBM. In human GBM, CXCR7 expression increased with glioma grade and was spatially associated with CXCL12 and CXCL11/I-TAC. In the rodent GBM models, pharmacological inhibition of CXCR7 post IR caused tumour regression, blocked tumour recurrence, and/or substantially prolonged survival. CXCR7 expression levels on human GBM xenograft cells correlated with neurosphere-forming activity, and a CXCR7 inhibitor blocked sphere formation by sorted CSCs.Conclusions:These results indicate that CXCR7 inhibitors could block GBM tumour recurrence after IR, perhaps by interfering with CSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local recurrence of glioblastomas is a major cause of patient mortality after definitive treatment. This review discusses the roles of the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 and its receptor CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in affecting the sensitivity of glioblastomas to irradiation. Blocking these molecules prevents or delays tumour recurrence after irradiation by inhibiting the recruitment of CD11b+ monocytes/macrophages that participate in revascularising the tumour. We review the literature pertaining to the mechanism by which revascularisation occurs following tumour irradiation using experimental models. Areas of interest and debate in the literature include the process by which endothelial cells die after irradiation and the identity/origin of the cells that reconstitute the tumour blood vessels after injury. Understanding the processes that mediate tumour revascularisation will guide the improvement of clinical strategies for preventing recurrence of glioblastoma after irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decolorization and transformation of the anthraquinone dye, Reactive Blue 19 (RB-19), by ozonation with a semi-batch reactor were investigated. The effects of different operating parameters, such as the initial RB-19 concentrations, ozone feed rates and initial pH, on the performance of color, dye and total organic carbon (TOC) removal were also evaluated based on their pseudo-first-order rate constants and removal efficiencies. The experimental results indicated that the removal of color and the dye itself was more rapid and complete than that of TOC in all the ozonation tests. However, increasing the initial RB-19 concentration had a significant effect on decreasing the rate constant of RB-19 reduction. In addition, increasing the ozone feed rate had positive effects on the color, dye and TOC removal, particularly on the TOC diminution. The rate constant and efficiency of color removal were highest at initial acidic pH conditions, but the dye and TOC removal were more effective at initial basic pH values, possibly due to the more powerful and non-selective hydroxyl radical oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that an anti-collision protocol plays an essential role in the overall tag read time in radio-frequency identification systems because of the obstruction caused by tag collision. With an aim at speeding up the tag identification process, the authors propose an anti-collision algorithm, the spread partial-Q slot count (SPSC) algorithm, based on a slotted ALOHA code division multiple access technique along with tag set partitioning. A new packet structure is introduced preceded by a description of the mechanism of partition-wise identification process. In fact, according to received power levels, tags are partitioned into a certain number of groups. In the partition-wise identification process, tags belonging to two subsets are regrouped as a partition with a guarantee of having a uniformly largest received power level difference in a tag set so as to be interrogated by the reader simultaneously. The identification process for each partition is then operated sequentially. Indeed, tag set partitioning in conjunction with spread spectrum techniques could enable a simple multi-tag access detection scheme and improve system throughput as well. Simulations demonstrated that the SPSC algorithm outperforms some existing anti-collision algorithms in terms of throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The Bologna Declaration aims to harmonize European higher education. At workshops held at AMEE Conferences (2001/2007), it was observed that medical educators seem unaware of Bologna Declaration policies in their own countries. Specifically the objective to structure higher education in two cycles evokes strong opinions, but an overview on the implementation progress is lacking. METHOD: To determine the present state of implementation of the Bologna two-cycle system in medical education, an AMEE-MEDINE survey was sent to all forty-six signatory countries, inquiring about legislative decisions. RESULTS: Not all answers were unequivocal, but it appears that only seven countries decided for adoption and nineteen decided not to adopt it. The remainder fifteen have not decided or leaves the decision to their medical schools. Non-European countries seem to reject the system more often than European countries. DISCUSSION: We found that very few persons are well informed about national policies and harmonization of medical education does not seem to be enhanced by the Bologna Declaration. Our findings point in the direction of a diversification regarding curricula structure. There is a need for clarity and dialogue on many aspects of Medical Education. The Bologna process could serve as a vehicle to reach this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An uplink direct sequence spread spectrum communications systems employing a multi-sequence model over a quasi-static frequency-selective fading channel is considered. In analogy with bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) technique, a group of bits at the output of a bit-wise interleaver is mapped uniquely to a complex signalling vector belonging to an orthogonal plane sequence modulation signal space, which is constructed over a set of expanded signature sequences. This transmission system provides not only bandwidth efficiency offered by additional signal planes but also time diversity resulting from the BICM technique. It is observed that at high system traffic load error performance could degrade substantially due to user cross-correlations, multi-access asynchronism as well as channel frequency selectivity. The authors employ a ‘turbo principle’ receiver, consisting of a soft interference cancellation scheme, soft demappers and maximum a posteriori decoders, to avert this capacity loss by exploiting the serially concatenating structure at the transmitter. After simple mathematical manipulation, a soft space–time linear minimum mean-square error multi-user detector could even be explored on the basis of per signal plane per user. Both analytical performance-bound and computer simulation of the proposed framework in terms of bit-error rate (BER) are revealed. Further, performance comparisons with convolutionally coded and conventional bandwidth-efficient coded direct sequence code division multiple access systems under the same system conditions are illustrated. The authors have also investigated the impact of labelling maps on the BER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The textile industry is one of the major industries of Taiwan but unfortunately it produces toxic and low biodegradable wastewater. To remedy this problem, this study compared the performance of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) processes for treating real textile dyeing wastewater. The microbial diversity of the MBR process was also identified by a combination of culturing methods and molecular biotechnology. The removal efficiencies of the MBR process for color, COD, BOD, and SS were 54, 79, 99, and 100%, respectively, all higher than the corresponding parameters for the SBR process: i.e., 51, 70, 96, and 60%. All the above four parameters for the MBR effluent meet the criteria of the Taiwan EPA, while on the other hand, for the SBR process, only color and COD meet the Taiwan EPA effluent criteria. Furthermore, the genus Microbacterium, in particular Microbacterium aurum, was the most predominant population, accounting for 70.6% of the total isolates, and might be responsible for the degradation of the dyeing wastewater. Another two textile dyeing degradation bacteria, Paenibacillus azoreducens and Bacillus sp., were also observed as predominant bacteria in MBR sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the factors that influence the reductive dechlorination of trichloroethylene (TCE) when direct current is externally supplied to a laboratory scale iron wall. Experimental results indicated that an anode electrode was placed in contact with the iron filling near the inlet of the column, and then a cathode was located on the top of the column. Excellent TCE degradation efficiency was displayed. The surface of the iron particles was acid-washed by H+, owing to water oxidation around the anode, and large quantities of Fe2+ were produced as a reductant which enhanced the TCE degradation, due to iron corrosion caused by the supply of external electrons. The cathode should be placed in sand fill atop the iron filling in order to avoid the formation of iron (hydr) oxide precipitates on the surface of the iron particles when the pH increases as a result of the release of OH- around the cathode. Due to more H+ being released, which benefited the acid-washing of the iron filling, the TCE removal efficiency increased from 32% to 100% when the electric potential increased to 60V. However, black precipitates of iron (hydr) oxide were observed coated on the iron surface, causing the blocking of pores in the iron wall with the increase in the electric potential application. The efficiency of TCE degradation was almost equal regardless of groundwater velocity when direct current was applied to the iron wall. Based on observations of TCE degradation during long-term operations, the TCE removal efficiency in the effluent reached 100% after seven days of operation and maintained this high level after 25 days of operation. Thus, iron wall by electroremediation displayed excellent potential for development in long-term operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biotransformation of octylphenol polyethoxylate surfactant (Triton X-100) and bacterial communities in soil microcosms was investigated. The soil microcosms were designed to simulate real sites of bioremediation. The soil used in this study was contaminated with pesticides and alkylphenol polyethoxylate surfactants over a long period of time. The nitrogen source, (NH4)2SO4 and the mineral salt basal solution were added to the microcosm and the water content was adjusted to 50% with distilled water. The microcosms were aerated using an aeration system with an air flow rate of 0.3 1 min-1. The exogenous bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. SH4 was added to the microcosms to increase the rate of biotransformation of the Triton X-100. The number of microorganisms and the theoretical extent of formation of carbon dioxide were estimated to evaluate the biotransformation of TritonX-100 in the microcosms. The analytical results revealed that the exogenous bacteria could increase the rate of transformation of Triton X-100 by approximately 50%. Aeration of the microcosm increased the biotransformation of Triton X-100 by 45%. Bacterial count of 6.8x1010 MPN g-1 of soil was achieved in the M5 microcosm. Analysis of the bacterial community by 16S rDNA sequences revealed that Pseudomonas sp. SH4 could dominate all the microcosms to which it was added as an exogenous bacteria. The quantity of the indigenous bacterial strains Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Stenotrophomonas sp. and clone 4-70 were also enhanced in the microcosms by the aeration, and the addition of carbon and nitrogen source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To perform a meta-analysis on existing randomized controlled trials to investigate the efficacy of patient letter reminders on increasing cervical cancer screening using Pap smears.Methods: A search was conducted for all relevant published and unpublished studies between the years 1966 and 2000. Eligibility criteria included randomized controlled studies that examined populations due for Pap smear screening. The intervention studied was in the form of a reminder letter. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used to measure the summary effect of the intervention. A test for homogeneity using the Mantel-Haenszel method was performed.Results: Ten articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria, including one unpublished study. The test for homogeneity showed evidence of heterogeneity (chi2 = 31, 9 df, P <.001). An analysis for causes of heterogeneity was pursued. Division into subpopulations based on socioeconomic status resolved the heterogeneity (chi2 = 5.2, 8 df, P =.75). The studies evaluating those in lower socioeconomic groups had a smaller response (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 to 1.35) than those studies using mixed populations (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.79 to 2.28). The pooled odds ratio showed that patients who received the intervention were significantly more likely to return for screening than those who did not (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.49 to 1.80).Conclusions: Patient reminders in the form of mailed letters increase the rate of cervical cancer screening. Patient letter reminders have less efficacy in lower socioeconomic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) steel exhibits good ductility at low temperatures down to 77 K in both ferrite-pearlite and dual-phase structures. The instantaneous strain-rate sensitivity ( m) increases with decreasing temperature and reaches a maximum at 100 K. This peak temperature is much lower than that for plain carbon steels. The post-uniform elongation, which is more sensitively dependent on m, shows only slight increase around 100 K. The effect of m on the post-uniform elongation is probably mitigated by the increasing dependence of m on strain rate above 180 K. The uniform elongation, normally associated with the strain hardening characteristics of the material, also shows some increase around 100 K. Therefore, both strain-hardening and strain-rate hardening are responsible for the enhanced ductility of HSLA steel around 100 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of two-phase Zircaloy-4-oxygen alloys at thermal equilibrium have been determined. The strength of these alloys depends to a large extent on their microstructure. The strengthening behavior for alloys having isolated a grains in the softer β matrix is similar to the dispersed particle strengthening. The yield strength of these alloys is found to obey the Petch relationship, $$\bar \sigma _y = 2 + 23\lambda _\beta ^{ - 1/2} $$ (MPa), where λ is the mean free path of β phase in μm. As the volume fraction of a phase increases, its aspect ratio also increases. This allows more effective load transfer from the matrix to the harder a phase. It has been shown that the strength of these alloys obeys a modified rule of mixtures. The alloys having equiaxed a grains in the β matrix show large strain rate sensitivities at low strain rate. The deformation behavior is interpreted in terms of dislocation slip in the β matrix and diffusion assisted climb near the interphase boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hypothesis was advanced that an anaerobic rotating biological contactor (AnRBC) digester, if operated with its discs half rather than fully submerged, should show an enhanced capability to withstand shock loads. Laboratory-scale AnRBC digesters were constructed and their performance under 50% and 100% disc submergence conditions compared. In all cases, under otherwise comparable conditions the performance in the 50% disc submergence mode was better. From measurements, including biogas hydrogen concentration, pH and propionic acid content of the digester liquid, it was concluded that it was the markedly better hydrogen stripping capability of the digester operated with discs only half submerged that accounted for its superior performance, implications for design and modelling of digesters are discussed. It is concluded that current models of anaerobic digester systems need to reflect more accurately the actual hydrodynamic conditions in digesters if good predictions of digester performance under dynamic conditions are to be realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented regarding clonally identical Hodgkin's disease.

Proposed is a zero-inserting precoder and a two-stage linear equaliser, to shorten the guard interval in block-based single-carrier modulation. The first-stage equaliser consists of a linear single-tapper-subcarrier frequency-domain equaliser. The second-stage equaliser maximises the SINR, in the time-domain, based on the interference-plus-noise estimated from the zero-padded sub-intervals of the single-carrier modulation. This proposed scheme is applicable even without cyclic prefixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we investigate coherent acoustooptic coherent mode coupling from the LP01 core mode to LP1m cladding mode of a polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) induced by two acoustic gratings. We show narrowband variable attenuation along either birefringent axis of the PMF by varying the relative phase between the two acoustic gratings. By launching two acoustic gratings at different frequencies, variable attenuation and low crosstalk along either birefringent axis within the acoustooptic coupling bandwidth are demonstrated [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel fibrous-bed trickling filter was developed to remove toluenepresent in contaminated air. Pure culture of Pseudomonas putida Fl was attached on fibrous-bed and utilized toluene as the carbon source.Experimental results indicated the removal efficiency decreafed withthe increase of inlet concentration. In general, the removal efficiency of toluene was greater than 90% when the inlet loading capacity was below 70 g m-3h-1. The elimination capacity increased with increasing inlet loading capacity, but the increased rate decreased gradually. When the inlet loading capacity increased to300 g m-3h-1, the elimination capacity could approach to 130 g m-3h-1. The first order kinetics model was useful to describe the removal of toluene in this filterand an excellent linear relationship was found between the apparent first order parameter and inlet concentration (ranging from 1.2 g m-3 to 3.5 g m-3). Also, the performance of fibrous-bed trickling filter was relatively stable during the four-month period of continuous operation. Slight clogging phenomena of filters were observed only under high loading capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sole ozone used in cooling water treatment has raised some critical questions concerned with what happens chemically, that may describe why it can control corrosion, scale and microorganism. The pilot cooling tower (PCT) test presented the effects of ozone as a sole cooling water treatment. Except the higher pH and alkalinity in the PCT test, proper residual ozone concentration produced an oxidative film (protective film) on the metal surface of carbon steel, brass and type316 stainless steel, the corrosion rate may also be decreased. Ozonewas still unpredictable for scale control except for the existence of organic matter. The excellent control of fouling was also attained,that could be determined by the presence of ozone. The strong biocide properties of ozone resulted in excellent biological control. A mechanism is proposed to explain the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thc potential advantages of the UV/H2O2 process treating petrochemical wastewater as the tertiary treatment or the direct pre-treatment were demonstrated. While the high alkalinity of wastewater was not reduced, the UV/H2O2 processas the tertiary treatment could not obtain removal efficiency of wastewater. If the system pH adjusts to 3, this process will polish the effluent of the current biological process to meet the National Effluent Standards of 1998. The results of the direct pre-treatment with the UV/H2O2 process revealed that the recalcitrant compounds presented in raw wastewater would be destroyed to small molecules and might reduce some degree of activity inhibition to bioculture. In the detoxified investigation of spiking aromatic compounds, this process could obtain a good removal efficiency, including a lot of COD removal and the complete detoxification. (c) 1997 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inoculation of pure microbial culture to biodegrade recalcitrant organic compounds has had increased interest in the field of biological treatment of polluted waters or wastewater effluents. The removal of benzo(a)pyrene by the free cells of Phanerochaete chrysosporium strains, including ATCC 24725, ATCC 32639, and ATCC 34541, in a shaking vessel with a nitrogen-limited incubation medium was observed. This study also investigated the removal efficiencies of naphthalene, fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene by immobilized white-rot fungus in a shaking flask and an aeration batch bioreactor. The biocarrier used in thisinvestigation was a mixed gel composed of alginate and powdered activated carbon (PAC). The results showed that these polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons (PAHs) were removed with an increased rate during the stationary growth phase, and strain ATCC 24725 exhibited the best PAH removal efficiency. No PAH residuals could be detected by HPLC from the immobilized-cell cultures in the shaking flask or aeration bioreactor during the incubation. However, a likely metabolite of PAH was identified in the chromatogram. The alginate-PAC biocarriers presented availability accessible pore volume for the colonization of fungus mycelia, moreover, the PAC fraction of the biocarrier obviously affected adsorptive capacities of PAHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]