Extreme Dimensions Research Articles

Badehauben-großes mikrozystisches Adnexkarzinom in Kollision mit einem Bowenkarzinom nach photodynamischer Therapie

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) is a rare, often over years slowly growing tumor of the sweat glands with an aggressive infiltrative growth. It is histologically characterized by superficial epithelial nests with central keratin horn cysts. In the deeper regions syringoid epithelial nests with perineural growth are typical for this tumor entity. We report on a 71-year-old male patient applied to our outpatient clinic with multiple carcinomata in situ on his head. Seven years ago he underwent a photodynamic therapy (PDT). Again we performed a PDT and excised a lesion on the occipital area of the head suspected as squamous cell carcinoma. After nine micrographically controlled excisions a defect resulted which involved the complete scalp. A R0 situation would only have been achievable with a destruction of the face. Therefore the wound was closed by mesh graft and a subsequent radiation therapy was started. Six months after radiation there is no histological evidence for a recurrence of the MAC. This case report demonstrates that MAC can develop to an extreme dimension notwithstanding its clinical invisibility. Due to the rareness of the tumor only little is known about etiology and pathogenesis. An induction by UV exposure or ionising radiation is discussed. If PDT had an influence of the appearance of the MAC in this case, remains speculative.

High Repetition Rate Gigawatt Peak Power Fiber Laser Systems: Challenges, Design, and Experiment

We review the main challenges and give design guidelines for high-peak-power high-average-power fiber-based chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) systems. It is clearly pointed out that the lowest order fiber nonlinearity (NL), namely the self-phase modulation, limits the scalability of high-energy ultrashort pulse fiber amplifiers. Therefore, a distinguished difference arises between the consequences of accumulated nonlinear phase originating from the pulse envelope and initial weak modulations, resulting in a strong recommendation to operate an amplification system as linearly as possible in order to generate high-contrast pulses. Low-NL rare-earth-doped fibers, such as the recently available designs of photonic crystal fibers, are the key element for successful peak power scaling in fiber laser systems. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis and optimization of the extraction characteristics in connection with the accumulated nonlinear phase in such extreme fiber dimensions. Consequently, millijoule pulse energy femtosecond pulses at repetition rates in the 100 kHz range have already been demonstrated experimentally in a Yb-fiber-based CPA system that has even further scaling potential.

A variational problem on Stiefel manifolds

In their paper on discrete analogues of some classical systems such as the rigid body and the geodesic flow on an ellipsoid, Moser and Veselov introduced their analysis in the general context of flows on Stiefel manifolds. We consider here a general class of continuous time, quadratic cost, optimal control problems on Stiefel manifolds, which in the extreme dimensions again yield these classical physical geodesic flows. We have already shown that this optimal control setting gives a new symmetric representation of the rigid body flow and in this paper we extend this representation to the geodesic flow on the ellipsoid and the more general Stiefel manifold case. The metric we choose on the Stiefel manifolds is the same as that used in the symmetric representation of the rigid body flow and that used by Moser and Veselov. In the extreme cases of the ellipsoid and the rigid body, the geodesic flows are known to be integrable. We obtain the extremal flows using both variational and optimal control approaches and elucidate the structure of the flows on general Stiefel manifolds.

Social skill imbalances in mood disorders and schizophrenia

Social skills traditionally have been conceptualized as a global construct with a linear relationship to clinical symptoms (i.e., more severe symptoms lead to greater social skill deficits). Using a multidimensional model of social skills, we define social skill imbalance as an extreme score (too high or too low) on any one or more dimensions in relation to the other social skill dimensions. We examined whether social skill imbalances, not simply deficits, may be important correlates of clinical symptoms. This study explored the relation between self-reported possession of social/communication skills and symptom severity in an outpatient sample ( N = 72) at a community mental health center. Participants with social skill imbalances scored higher in self-reported symptom severity. Results suggest that social skill imbalances, not merely deficits, may be important indicators of clinical distress. Behavioral interventions that bring extreme skill dimensions into balance with other social skills may be an important addition to social skills training that focuses on improving overall social skill deficits.

Estimation of Stature from Upper Extremity

With the increasing frequency of mass disasters, identification of an isolated upper extremity and determination of the stature of the person it belonged to have created problems for investigation of the identity of some victims. Despite a need for such a study, there is a lack of systematic studies to identify fragmented and dismembered human remains. The purpose of this study was to analyze anthropometric relationships between dimensions of the upper extremity and body height. Analyses were based on a sample of middle class male (n = 202) and female (n = 108) Turks residing in Istanbul, Turkey. Five variables were entered into the analyses. For male subjects, forearm length was selected as the first factor, followed by hand length and finally upper arm length. For female subjects, upper arm length was selected first, followed by forearm length and finally hand length. There were also individually calculated formulae for some of these measurements that provided smaller R2 values. The study suggested that estimation of a living height could be made possible by using various dimensions of the upper extremity. One must consider differences between populations to apply such functions to other populations.

Fractal geometry and root system structures of heterogeneous plant communities

Above-ground plant growth is widely known in terms of structural diversity. Likewise, the below-ground growth presents a mosaic of heterogeneous structures of differing complexity. In this study, root system structures of heterogeneous plant communities were recorded as integral systems by using the trench profile method. Fractal dimensions of the root images were calculated from image files by the box-counting method. This method allows the structural complexity of such associations to be compared between plant communities, with regard to their potentials for soil resource acquisition and utilization. Distinct and partly significant differences are found (fractal dimension between 1.46 ± 0.09 and 1.71 ± 0.05) in the below-ground structural complexity of plant communities, belonging to different biotope types. The size of the heterogeneous plant community to be examined has an crucial influence on the fractal dimension of the root system structures. The structural heterogeneity becomes particularly evident (fractal dimensions between 1.32 and 1.77) when analysing many small units of a complex root system association. In larger plant communities, a broad variety of below-ground structures is recorded in its entirety, integrating the specific features of single sub-structures. In that way, extreme fractal dimensions are lost and the diversity decreases. Therefore, the analysis of larger units of root system associations provides a general knowledge of the complexity of root system structures for heterogeneous plant communities.

Statistical evaluation of vial design features that influence sublimation rates during primary drying.

Understanding tubing vial design features that influence sublimation rate provides insight into the development of a more time and cost efficient lyophilization cycle. A Plackett-Burman screening experiment was initially used in evaluating multiple design features to predict those that have a statistically significant effect on sublimation rate. Sublimation rates of vials with intentional nominal and extreme dimensions were measured and directly correlated to glass vial design features using conservative and aggressive lyophilization parameters to amplify subtle differences in rates. Purified water, USP was used to alleviate the inhibition to mass transfer due to the presence of excipient and drug substances. Further studies quantified the effect of bottom concavity on sublimation rate while using model preparations to illustrate the impact of processing crystalline and amorphous material. The results from the Plackett-Burman statistical screening experiment indicate that sublimation rate is influenced by glass type, vial diameter, bottom radius, and fill volume. Results from further studies verify that the influence of concavity on sublimation rate is statistically insignificant. The results from the Plackett-Burman screening experiment reflect that vial diameter has the greatest impact on sublimation rate. Further studies confirm that various bottom concavities do not substantially influence sublimation rate.

Simulation of the three-dimensional morphology of solidification porosity in an aluminium–silicon alloy

A novel extension of the cellular automata technique for microstructural modelling is presented, allowing simulation of the evolution of the complex three-dimensional morphology of porosity during the solidification of an aluminium–silicon alloy. The complex morphology arises due to the restriction of the growth of the pores by the developing solid phase. The model predicts the average properties of the porosity formed, together with the distribution in size and morphology. The model is used to determine the influence of a variety of applied conditions (e.g. thermal history, pressure, hydrogen content) and material properties (nucleation behaviour, alloy composition) upon the pore morphology, as characterized by the average and extreme dimensions. The relative magnitude of the effect of each parameter and the interactions between parameters upon the porosity are statistically analysed. The simulated pore size shows the largest sensitivity to applied pressure, hydrogen content and solidification time, together with interactions between solidification time and pressure. These results are in good agreement with previously reported experimental behaviour.

Estimation of stature from body parts

Anthropometric technique commonly used by anthropologists and adopted by medical scientists has been employed to estimate body size for over a hundred years. With the increasing frequency of mass disasters, the identification of an isolated lower extremity and the stature of the person it belonged to has created problems for the investigation of the identity of some of the victims. In spite of a need for such a study, there is a lack of systematic studies to identify fragmented and dismembered human remains. The purpose of the paper is to analyze anthropometric relationships between dimensions of the lower extremity and body height. Analysis is based on a sample of middle class male ( N=203) and female ( N=108) adult Turks residing in Istanbul. The participants are mostly students and staff members of a medical school, and military personnel. Measurements taken are stature, trochanteric height, thigh length, lower leg length, leg length, and foot height, breadth, and length. Of the five variables entered into the regression analysis, all but foot breadth participate in the analysis with leg length as the first and followed by thigh and foot lengths, and finally foot height in males ( R 2). There were also individually calculated formulae for some of these measurements which provided smaller R 2-values. Student’s t-test to assess if there was any intraobserver error in measurements take by individual anthropometrist did not show such any statistically significant difference. In conclusion, the study suggested that estimation of a living height can be made possible using various dimensions of the lower extremity. One must consider differences between populations in order to apply functions as such to others.

Electron Microscope Analyses of Self-aligned HgTe Nanocrystallites Induced by Controlled Precipitation Technique

Controlled precipitation of quasi-binary semiconductor system is newly proposed as an effective and reliable technique for the formation of well-defined and crystallographically aligned semiconductor nanostructures. Using HgTe-PbTe quasi-binary semiconductor system, self-aligned HgTe nanocrystallites distributed three dimensionally within PbTe matrix were successfully formed by the simple three step heat treatment process routinely found in age hardening process of metallic alloys. Examination of the resulting nano precipitates using conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM) and high resolution TEM (HRTEM) reveals that the coherent HgTe precipitates form as thin discs along the (100) habit planes making a crystallographic relation of {100}<TEX>$\_$</TEX>HgTe///{100}<TEX>$\_$</TEX>PbTe/ and [100]<TEX>$\_$</TEX>HgTe///[100]<TEX>$\_$</TEX>PbTe/. It is also found that the precipitate undergoes a gradual thickening and a faceting under isothermal aging up to 500 hours without any noticeable coarsening. These results, combined with the extreme dimension of the precipitates (4-5 nm in length and sub-nanometer in thickness) and the simplicity of the formation process, leads to the conclusion that controlled precipitation is an effective method for preparing desirable quantum-dot nanostructures.

Exchange coupling between local moments in itinerant-electron ferromagnets

An analytical asymptotic approximation for the effective coupling between local moments in itinerant-electron systems is presented. On the basis of this result, the relation between the salient features of the coupling, namely, its sign, strength, and range, and specific features of the electronic structure of the system are established. We find that the coupling oscillates as a function of the interatomic distance with well-defined periods, which are determined by the extremal dimensions of the up- and down-spin Fermi surfaces of the materials along each crystalline direction. The amplitude and phase of the coupling are controlled by specific features of the electronic structure of the system, particularly the geometry of the Fermi surfaces for electrons with up- and down-spins. As regards the range of the coupling, it is expected to decay as ${1/R}_{\mathrm{ij}}^{3}$ at $T=0 \mathrm{K},$ and to exhibit an exponential damping at finite temperatures.

Investigation on self-aligned HgTe nano-crystals induced by controlled precipitation in PbTe–HgTe quasi-binary compound semiconductor alloys

The present paper reports the results of the controlled precipitation for the HgTe nano-crystals in the PbTe semiconductor matrix and demonstrates its effectiveness in producing well-organized and crystallographically aligned semiconductor nano-crystals. Following the same procedure used in metallic alloys, the semiconductor alloys are treated at 600°C for 48 h, quenched and aged up to 400 h at 300°C and 400°C to induce homogeneous nucleation and growth of HgTe precipitates. Examination of the resulting precipitates using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals that the coherent HgTe precipitates form as thin disks along the {1 0 0} habit planes of PbTe matrix. It is also found that the precipitate undergoes a gradual shape change without any noticeable coarsening, from a disk to a cube, as the aging time increases. The microstructure after full aging is found to contain almost equal sized HgTe cubes, roughly 7 nm, that maintain coherency with {1 0 0} planes of the matrix. These results combined with the extreme dimension of the precipitates and the simplicity of the formation process leads to a belief that controlled precipitation can be an effective method in preparing a desirable quantum-dot microstructure.

Densest Packings of More than Three d -Spheres Are Nonplanar

We prove that for a densest packing of more than three d -balls, d \geq 3 , where the density is measured by parametric density, the convex hull of their centers is either linear (a sausage) or at least three-dimensional. This is also true for restrictions to lattice packings. These results support the general conjecture that densest sphere packings have extreme dimensions. The proofs require a Lagrange-type theorem from number theory and Minkowski's theory of mixed volumes.

Responses of fractal dimensions ofPicea koraiensis seedlings to different light environments

The changes of fractal dimension ofPicea koraiensis seedlings under different light intensities in natural secondary forests was studied. The results showed that with the change of light environment, crown characters ofPicea koraiensis seedlings exhibited a greater plastic in lateral number, lateral increment, lateral dry weight, and specific leaf area. The range of calculated fractal dimensions of seedling crowns was confined between 2.5728 and 2.1036, but maximum of fractal dimension achieved in term moderate shading and in extreme low light conditions fractal dimension was least.

InniutandKooliut: Trends in Israeli Narrative Literature, 1995-1999

IN MARCH 1998, A MEETING of prominent Israeli and Swedish women writers took place in Stockholm. One of the Swedish writers asked Orly Castel-Bloom, the most eminent and prominent Israeli writer in recent years, a question related to her preoccupation with the process of writing and her outrageous, hilarious, absurd, avant-garde narratives. The question was: How can you write such stories in it difficult to be a writer and live in Israel? In the good Jewish tradition, Castel-Bloom replied with a question: Is it difficult to be a writer and live in Sweden? The audience was stupefied. After long moments of silence everyone burst into laughter. It sounded like a joke, but it wasn't. These two writers came from two opposite worlds: the Israeli writer, from a pressure cooker of constant changes, political, ideological, social and familial intensity and density, permeated with an anxiety about claustrophobic suffocation; whereas the Swedish writer lived in a place where, according to her own account and the account of her fellow writers, the last exciting event that happened in their country was the student revolution in the late I96os, on which they are all still feeding. Their loneliness is agoraphobic--not the one of a prison, but of a desert island, where all is open, but there is nothing around one-nothing external is happening. Since the I950s, an increasing number of American themes, characters, landscapes, and experiences have entered Israeli literature, but usually they are presented in contrast to Israeli reality. Over the years, we have witnessed a process of Americanization in Israeli life that finds its various expressions in literature. This process has reached extreme dimensions in the last ten years, and today we find great similarities between the literatures of the

Possible mechanisms of the altered platelet volume distribution in type 2 diabetes: does increased platelet activation contribute to platelet size heterogeneity?

A direct consequence of increased platelet sensitivity in diabetes mellitus might be augmented release of platelet granule contents, which, in turn, may lead to the formation of a platelet volume gradient, increased platelet turnover and reduced survival of platelets from diabetic individuals. In this study we addressed the question whether diabetes-induced and lipid fluidity-mediated changes in platelet receptor exposure and accessibility might be part of a general mechanism underlying the increased rate of platelet ageing and reduced platelet survival in diabetes. Diabetic individuals showed higher numbers of platelets of extreme dimensions: very small platelets and larger platelets were more frequent compared to controls ( Px2< 0.03). The shifts in platelet volume distributions were paralleled by decreased expression of the alpha subunit of glycoprotein Ib (by up to 17%, P < 0.01) in platelet membranes from diabetic patients, increased expression of P-selectin in thrombin-stimulated diabetic platelets (P< 0.02), an increased number of platelet microparticles in diabetic individuals (P< 0.05 or P< 0.03 for resting or stimulated platelets, respectively), and reduced platelet membrane fluidity (by 5.2 +/- 0.6%, P< 0.01). We suggest that the distinct bimodality of platelet distribution in diabetic patients might arise from accelerated thrombopoiesis in diabetic subjects, and this is supported by the demonstration of elevated fractions of reticulated (rich with residual RNA) platelets in diabetic patients (14.6 +/- 5.6% vs 8.1 + 2.1% pu < 0.025). Overall, our results point to a fluidity-mediated platelet hypersensitivity and accelerated rate of platelet production in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus, which results in a greater number of very large and hypersensitive younger platelets and a more abundant fraction of small exhausted platelets.

Der besondere Fall eines Mamillenadenoms - Anmerkungen zur Differentialdiagnose und Therapie

he adenoma of the nipple is an uncommon benign tumour originating from the milk sinus. Because of the deformed and partly erosive alterations of the nipple the tumour may be mistaken for Paget's disease. The histological picture shows a polymorphous papillary-adenomatous neoplasm with an intact surrounding myoepithelial layer and basal membrane. The diagnostic excisional biopsie is at the same time sufficiently therapeutic. A case of a patient with very extreme dimensions is discussed.

Physics of radioactive nuclear beams: Theoretical perspective

One of the main frontiers of nuclear structure today is the physics of radioactive nuclear beams. Thanks to developments in experimental technology, we are on the verge of invading new territory of extremeN/Z ratios in an unprecedented way. Experiments with radioactive beams will make it possible to look closely into many aspects of the nuclear many-body problem. What makes this subject both exciting and difficult is: (i) the weak binding and corresponding closeness of the particle continuum, implying a large diffuseness of the nuclear surface and extreme spatial dimensions characterizing the outermost nucleons, and (ii) access to the exotic combinations of proton and neutron numbers which offers prospects for completely new structural phenomena.

Extremity of Externalizing Behavior and Young Adult Outcomes

Data from the National Child Development Study were used to explore the relationship between extremity of externalizing behavior problems during childhood and employment-related outcomes in young adulthood. Analyses focused on four heuristic dimensions of extremity (age at onset, density, persistence, and pervasiveness) and three outcomes (school-leaving age, level of qualifications at labor force entry, and social class of job at age 23). Persistence was associated with the most substantial deficits across all outcomes, and temporal proximity was more influential than early onset. The data suggest that school-based and home-based situational behavior problems should not be combined into a single nonpervasive category.

Advertising Repetition and Variation Strategies: Implications for Understanding Attitude Strength

We argue that researchers need to move beyond the simple measure of attitude extremity to more clearly assess the impact of various advertising repetition strategies on consumer attitude. In study 1, we show that different advertising variation strategies can lead to the development of equally positive attitudes, even though the basis of the attitudes is quite different. In study 2, we show that, despite the appearance of equal effectiveness on the dimensions of extremity, persistence, and confidence, type of advertising repetition strategy differentially influences the extent to which individuals resist change in the face of a counterpersuasive attack.