Inclusion Of Phase Research Articles

Clinical Case of Urothelial Carcinoma with Implantation Metastasis

Urothelial cancer ranks 4th in the prevalence of malignant tumors after prostate cancer (or mammary glands), lung and colorectal cancer. Urothelial cancer of the upper urinary tract is quite rare and accounts for 5–10% of all cases of urothelial cancer. The leading clinical symptom of cancer of the renal pelvis and ureter is hematuria. Metastasis of tumors of the upper urinary tract is observed quite often. Metastasis of the tumor can be carried out lymphogenically into the para-aortic and parailiac lymph nodes, hematogenous to the liver, lungs, and bones. In addition, urothelial cancer often spreads through the urinary tract mucosa, mainly in the caudal direction. Currently, multidetector computer urography is considered the gold standard for examining the upper urinary tract, taking the place of excretory urography. This study should be performed under optimal conditions, especially with the inclusion of the excretory phase. It is necessary to perform scanning in a spiral mode (with a step of 1 millimeter) before and after the contrast medium. Clinical case of a patient with urethral carcinoma with implantation metastases in the ureter and in the bladder is presented.

SOMO-HOMO Level Inversion in Biologically Important Radicals.

Conventionally, the singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) of a radical species is considered to be the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), but this is not the case always. In this study, we considered a number of radicals from smallest diatomic anion radicals such as superoxide anion radical to one-electron oxidized DNA related base radicals that show the SOMO is energetically lower than one or more doubly occupied molecular orbitals (MOs) (SOMO–HOMO level inversion). The electronic configurations are calculated employing the B3LYP/6-31++G** method, with the inclusion of aqueous phase via the integral equation formalism of the polarized continuum model solvation model. From the extensive study of the electronic configurations of radicals produced by one-electron oxidation or reduction of natural-DNA bases, bromine-, sulfur-, selenium-, and aza-substituted DNA bases, as well as 20 diatomic molecules, we highlight the following important findings: (i) SOMO–HOMO level inversion is a common phenomenon in radical species. (ii) The more localized spin density in σ-orbital on a single atom (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, or selenium), the greater the gap between HOMO and SOMO. (iii) In species with SOMO–HOMO level inversion, one-electron oxidation takes place from HOMO not from the SOMO, which produces a molecule in its triplet ground state. Oxidation of aqueous superoxide anion producing triplet molecular oxygen is one example of many. (iv) These results are for conventional radicals and in contrast with those reported for distonic radical anions in which SOMO–HOMO gaps are smaller for more localized radicals and the orbital inversions vanish in water. Our findings yield new insights into the properties of free radical systems.

Enhancing Multifunctionality through Secondary Phase Inclusion by Self-Assembly of Mn3O4 Nanostructures with Superior Exchange Anisotropy and Oxygen Evolution Activity

While altering physical properties by self-assembly is a common phenomenon, controlled inclusion of a secondary phase that in turn enhances the properties of the ensemble is a rare occurrence. Herein monodisperse Mn3O4 spherical nanoparticles were self-assembled into hierarchical flakes and cubes by regulating the surfactant–metal precursor molar ratio, reaction atmosphere, and time. The secondary phase of Mn2O3 was incorporated differently, depending on the type of self-assembly as 2, 3.5, and 6.5 wt % in the flake, spherical, and cubic morphologies, respectively. The highest percentage of Mn2O3 in the cubes boosts its multifunctionality in terms of enhanced magnetic exchange coupling and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. With a 2 T cooling field, the hysteresis loop shift corresponding to coupling between antiferromagnetic Mn2O3 and ferrimagnetic Mn3O4 reached 3813 ± 2 Oe for the cubes, which is a record high for any reported Mn3O4–Mn2O3 system. The presence of a eg1 electron due to a higher Mn2...

Predicting the effect of seine rope layout pattern and haul-in procedure on the effectiveness of demersal seine fishing: A Computer simulation-based approach.

Demersal Seining is an active fishing method applying two long seine ropes and a seine net. Demersal seining relies on fish responding to the seine rope as it moves during the fishing process. The seine ropes and net are deployed in a specific pattern encircling an area on the seabed. In some variants of demersal seining the haul-in procedure includes a towing phase where the fishing vessel moves forward before starting to winch in the seine ropes. The initial seine rope encircled area, the gradual change in it during the haul-in process and the fish's reaction to the moving seine ropes play an important role in the catch performance of demersal seine fishing. The current study investigates this subject by applying computer simulation models for demersal seine fishing. The demersal seine fishing is dynamic in nature and therefore a dynamic model, SeineSolver is applied for simulating the physical behaviour of the seine ropes during the fishing process. Information about the seine rope behaviour is used as input to another simulation tool, SeineFish that predicts the catch performance of the demersal seine fishing process. SeineFish implements a simple model for how fish at the seabed reacts to an approaching seine rope. Here, the SeineSolver and SeineFish tools are applied to investigate catching performance for a Norwegian demersal seine fishery targeting cod (Gadus morhua) in the coastal zone. The effect of seine rope layout pattern and the duration of the towing phase are investigated. Among the four different layout patterns investigated, the square layout pattern was predicted to perform best; catching 69%-86% more fish than would be obtained with the rectangular layout pattern. Inclusion of a towing phase in the fishing process was found to increase the catch performance for all layout patterns. For the square layout pattern, inclusion of a towing phase of 15 or 35 minutes increased the catch performance by respectively 37% and 48% compared to fishing without a towing phase. These results highlights the importance of the selected seine rope layout pattern and the duration of the towing phase when fishermen try to maximize the catch performance of their fishery. To our knowledge this is the first time the combination of models for the physical behaviour of seine ropes and for fish behaviour in response to seine rope movements have been applied to predict catch performance for demersal seining.

A Comparison of Catch Phase Force-Time Characteristics During Clean Derivatives From the Knee.

Comfort, P, Williams, R, Suchomel, TJ, and Lake, JP. A comparison of catch phase force-time characteristics during clean derivatives from the knee. J Strength Cond Res 31(7): 1911-1918, 2017-The aim of this study was to compare load-absorption force-time characteristics of the clean from the knee (CK), power clean from the knee (PCK), and clean pull from the knee (CPK). Ten collegiate athletes (age 27.5 ± 4.2 years; height 180.4 ± 6.7 cm; mass 84.4 ± 7.8 kg) performed 3 repetitions each of the CK, PCK, and CPK with 90% of their 1 repetition maximum power clean on a force platform. The CK load-absorption duration (0.95 ± 0.35 seconds) was significantly longer compared with the CPK (0.44 ± 0.15 seconds; p < 0.001, d = 2.53), but not compared with the PCK (0.56 ± 0.11 seconds; p > 0.05, d = 1.08), with no differences between PCK and CPK (p > 0.05, d = 0.91). The CPK demonstrated the greatest mean force (2,039 ± 394 N), which was significantly greater than the PCK (1,771 ± 325 N; p = 0.012, d = 0.83), but not significantly different to the CK (1,830 ± 331 N; p > 0.05, d = 0.60); CK and PCK were not different (p > 0.05, d = 0.18). Significantly more load-absorption work was performed during the CK (655 ± 276 J) compared with the PCK (288 ± 109 J; d = 1.75, p < 0.001), but not compared with the CPK (518 ± 132 J; d = 0.80, p > 0.05). Additionally, more load-absorption work was performed during the CPK compared with the PCK (d = 1.90, p = 0.032). Inclusion of the catch phase during the CK does not provide any additional stimulus in terms of mean force or work during the load-absorption phase compared with the CPK, although the CPK may be beneficial in training rapid force absorption because of high force and a short duration.

Characterization of GaN films grown on hafnium foils by pulsed sputtering deposition

GaN films were grown on nearly lattice‐matched Hf foils by pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) which showed highly c‐axis oriented structures. Unlike GaN films directly grown on Hf foils that showed coexisting zinc blende and wurtzite phases, as a result of interfacial reactions the insertion of HfN reaction barrier layers between GaN and Hf suppressed the inclusion of the zinc blende phase. The utilization of surface‐oxidized AlN interlayers resulted in GaN films on Hf foils with controlled polarity (i.e., Ga‐polar). The residual carrier concentration in the Ga‐polar GaN films was as low as 3.2 × 1016 cm−3. These results revealed that the proposed technique can yield high‐quality Ga‐polar GaN films on Hf foils that can be potentially used in large‐area and flexible GaN‐based optical devices.

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent boundary layer with fully resolved particles at low volume fraction

In the present work, a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of dilute particulate flow in a turbulent boundary layer has been conducted, containing thousands of finite-sized solid rigid particles. The particle surfaces are resolved with the multi-direct forcing immersed-boundary method. This is, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first DNS study of a turbulent boundary layer laden with finite-sized particles. The particles have a diameter of approximately 11.3 wall units, a density of 3.3 times that of the fluid, and a solid volume fraction of 1/1000. The simulation shows that the onset and the completion of the transition processes are shifted earlier with the inclusion of the solid phase and that the resulting streamwise mean velocity of the boundary layer in the particle-laden case is almost consistent with the results of the single-phase case. At the same time, relatively stronger particle movements are observed in the near-wall regions, due to the driving of the counterrotating streamwise vortexes. As a result, increased levels of dissipation occur on the particle surfaces, and the root mean square of the fluctuating velocities of the fluid in the near-wall regions is decreased. Under the present parameters, including the particle Stokes number St+ = 24 and the particle Reynolds number Rep = 33 based on the maximum instantaneous fluid-solid velocity lag, no vortex shedding behind the particle is observed. Lastly, a trajectory analysis of the particles shows the influence of turbophoresis on particle wall-normal concentration, and the particles that originated between y+ = 60 and 2/3 of the boundary-layer thickness are the most influenced.

Long-range interacting pendula: A simple model for understanding complex dynamics of charged particles in an electronic curtain device

In this paper, we investigate the equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of a model that shares several important characteristics with charged particles interacting in an Electric Curtain (EC) device. An EC comprises a periodic array of parallel electrodes, applied to each is an alternating electric potential. Depending on the applied potentials and the geometry of the electrodes, a wide variety of field structures above the plane of the electrodes are possible. The EC has multiple applications in the control and manipulation of small particles, but is under utilized in industry and science because of difficulties in predicting and understanding the particle dynamics. One particular challenge in understanding the dynamics is the many-body coulomb interactions. To better understand the role of the interactions, we study a one-dimensional analytically tractable model that encapsulates their long-range nature. Specifically, we study a Hamiltonian similar to that of the Hamiltonian mean field model but with the inclusion of an index dependent phase in the interaction term that, as we show, reflects the periodic structure of an EC field. We solve for the canonical partition function and also investigate some of the non-equilibrium behaviors. In the study of the non-equilibrium behaviors, we find an interesting property, namely that a quasistationary (lifetime diverges as the number of particles is increased) clustered state can exist when an initial configuration is ordered by the particle indices.

Constructive and Destructive Interference in Nonadiabatic Tunneling via Conical Intersections.

As a manifestation of the molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect, tunneling-facilitated dissociation under a conical intersection (CI) requires the inclusion of the geometric phase (GP) to ensure a single-valued adiabatic wave function encircling the CI. In this work, we demonstrate using a simple two-dimensional model that the GP induces destructive interference for vibrational states with even quanta in the coupling mode, but it leads to constructive interference for those with odd quanta. The interference patterns are manifested in tunneling wave functions and clearly affect the tunneling lifetime. It is further shown that the inclusion of the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction is necessary for agreement with exact results.

Effect of texture and microstructure on properties of electrodeposited Cu-SiO2 and Cu-Y2O3 coatings

In the present study, crystallographic texture evolution of copper, Cu-SiO2 and Cu-Y2O3 coatings obtained by direct current (DC) and pulse direct current (PC) electrodeposition was correlated to their hardness and electrical conductivity. 30g/l SiO2/Y2O3 added acidic CuSO4 solution was used as electrolyte and both DC and PC mode (5 and 10kHz frequency, 30% duty cycle) depositions were carried out for 60min). Coated specimens were characterized by X-ray diffraction for phase analysis and texture study. The effect of pulse parameter and second phase particles (SiO2/Y2O3) on the crystallographic textures of [111], [001], and [110] orientations were analyzed. Coating morphology was studied with field emission scanning electron microscop (FESEM) whereas, surface-mechanical properties were investigated using microhradness testing. Electrical conductivity was also studied with four probe technique. Among the three deposition conditions (DC, 5 and 10kHz), at 10kHz pulsed frequency, the growth of [111] texture was observed in all systems. Highest hardness value of 240HV, which is far better than bulk copper, was achieved for Cu-Y2O3 coating developed by 10kHz pulse frequency. In spite of development of [111] fibre texture, minor decrease in electrical conductivity with increase in pulse frequency was observed in both the composite coatings and the same was attributed to finer matrix formation and inclusion of second phase insulating particles (SiO2 and Y2O3) into the matrix.

Study of cubic GaN clusters in hexagonal GaN layers and their dependence with the growth temperature

The inclusion of cubic phase in MOVPE-grown hexagonal GaN on GaAs substrate and its dependence with the growth temperature are investigated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cathodoluminescence (CL). It is observed that the GaN layers surface exhibits 3D-grains structure. The density and shape of these grains are largely dependent on the growth temperature. HR-XRD study reveals the presence of cubic GaN clusters in the hexagonal GaN layer. Using CL we show that the cubic inclusions are not localized at the substrate/epilayer interface but propagate throughout the film.

Geometric phase effects in ultracold hydrogen exchange reaction

The role of the geometric phase effect on chemical reaction dynamics is explored by examining the hydrogen exchange process in the fundamental H+HD reaction. Results are presented for vibrationally excited HD molecules in the v = 4 vibrational level and for collision energies ranging from 1 μK to 100 K. It is found that, for collision energies below 3 K, inclusion of the geometric phase leads to dramatic enhancement or suppression of the reaction rates depending on the final quantum state of the HD molecule. The effect was found to be the most prominent for rotationally resolved integral and differential cross sections but it persists to a lesser extent in the vibrationally resolved and total reaction rate coefficients. However, no significant GP effect is present in the reactive channel leading to the D+H2 product or in the D+H2 HD+H reaction. A simple interference mechanism involving inelastic (nonreactive) and exchange scattering amplitudes is invoked to account for the observed GP effects. The computed results also reveal a shape resonance in the H+HD reaction near 1 K and the GP effect is found to influence the magnitude of the resonant part of the cross section. Experimental detection of the resonance may allow a sensitive probe of the GP effect in the H+HD reaction.

Metallographic Examination of Forming Improved Mechanical Properties via Surfacing of Steel HARDOX 450 with Flux Cored Wire

Phase composition, defect substructure, and mechanical and tribological properties of the steel Hardox 450 surfaced with С-V-Cr-Nb-W wire are analyzed relying on procedures of transmission diffraction microscopy, mechanical and tribological methods. As a result of surfacing, wear resistance of the material is 138 – 153 times higher than that of the steel Hardox 450, and the friction factor diminishes 2 – 2.5 times. The changing dislocation substructure and phase composition of the deposited metal are analyzed in the paper. The authors have come to the conclusion that the change in analyzed properties is caused by initiation of a multiphase nanostructure. It has been revealed that its strengthening is possible due to the developing of the α-matrix martensitic pattern and a high inclusion of the volume fraction of iron-, chromium-, tungsten,- and niobium-based carbide phase. It has been ascertained in the paper that the iterative surfacing results in attenuation of the oxide phase and in the significant growth of the volume fraction inclusion of the carbide phase.

Enhancement of thermoelectric properties in the Nb–Co–Sn half-Heusler/Heusler system through spontaneous inclusion of a coherent second phase

Half-Heusler XYZ compounds with an 18 valence electron count are promising thermoelectric materials, being thermally and chemically stable, deriving from relatively earth-abundant components, and possessing appropriate electrical transport properties. The typical drawback with this family of compounds is their high thermal conductivity. A strategy for reducing thermal conductivity is through the inclusion of secondary phases designed to minimize negative impact on other properties. Here, we achieve this through the addition of excess Co to half-Heusler NbCoSn, which introduces precipitates of a semi-coherent NbCo2Sn Heusler phase. A series of NbCo1+xSn materials are characterized here using X-ray and neutron diffraction studies and electron microscopy. Electrical and thermal transport measurements and electronic structure calculations are used to understand property evolution. We find that annealing has an important role to play in determining antisite ordering and properties. Antisite disorder in the as-prepared samples improves thermoelectric performance through the reduction of thermal conductivity, but annealing during the measurement degrades properties to resemble those of the annealed samples. Similar to the more widely studied TiNi1+xSn system, Co addition to the NbCoSn phase results in improved thermoelectric performance through a decrease in thermal conductivity which results in a 20% improvement in the thermoelectric figure of merit, zT.

Gelling kinetics and in situ mineralization of alginate hydrogels: A correlative spatiotemporal characterization toolbox.

Due to their large water content and structural similarities to the extracellular matrix, hydrogels are an attractive class of material in the tissue engineering field. Polymers capable of ionotropic gelation are of special interest due to their ability to form gels at mild conditions. In this study we have developed an experimental toolbox to measure the gelling kinetics of alginate upon crosslinking with calcium ions. A reaction-diffusion model for gelation has been used to describe the diffusion of calcium within the hydrogel and was shown to match experimental observations well. In particular, a single set of parameters was able to predict gelation kinetics over a wide range of gelling ion concentrations. The developed model was used to predict the gelling time for a number of geometries, including microspheres typically used for cell encapsulation. We also demonstrate that this toolbox can be used to spatiotemporally investigate the formation and evolution of mineral within the hydrogel network via correlative Raman microspectroscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and electron microscopy. Hydrogels show great promise in cell-based tissue engineering, however new fabrication and modification methods are needed to realize the full potential of hydrogel based materials. The inclusion of an inorganic phase is one such approach and is known to affect both cell-material interactions and mechanical properties. This article describes the development of a correlative experimental approach where gel formation and mineralization has been investigated with spatial and temporal resolution by applying Raman microspectroscopy, optical and electron microscopy and a reaction-diffusion modeling scheme. Modeling allows us to predict gelling kinetics for other geometries and sizes than those investigated experimentally. Our experimental system enables non-destructive study of composite hydrogel systems relevant for, but not limited to, applications within bone tissue engineering.

Electrochemical Performance of Li&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;Ti&lt;sub&gt;5&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;12&lt;/sub&gt;/TiO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/Li&lt;sub&gt;0.4&lt;/sub&gt;TiO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/C Composite Prepared by the Electrospinning Method Using as Lithium Battery Anode Material

Li4Ti5O12(LTO) and Li4Ti5O12/TiO2/Li0.4TiO2/C (LTO/C) composite were prepared by the electrospinning method using acetic acid, ethanol, butyl titanate, lithium acetate and PVP (K90) as the raw materials. The phase structure and the morphology were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. It was found that the specific capacity was 356mAh/g at 0.5C for the composite, which was higher than the theoretical specific capacity of the pure Li4Ti5O12 due to the inclusion of other phase. Moreover, the C-rate performance for the composite was also better than that of the pure Li4Ti5O12 resulting from the formation of carbon-based fiber structure. Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) revealed that the composite exhibited the improved electronic conductivity than that of Li4Ti5O12.

Enhanced Thermoelectric Transport Properties of La0.98Sr0.02CoO3-BiCuSeO Composite

We report a facile method to enhance the thermoelectric efficiency of La0.98Sr0.02CoO3 by introducing BiCuSeO as a secondary phase with ultra-low thermal conductivity. Inclusion of secondary phase results in reducing the total thermal conductivity by suppressing the lattice and electronic thermal conductivities and also contributes to enhancement in the Seebeck coefficient. The wide grain size distribution of La0.98Sr0.02CoO3-BiCuSeO composite facilitates in breaking the interlinked transport properties through increased scattering of different wavelength phonons. The combined effect of enhanced Seebeck coefficient and ultra-low thermal conductivity, results in an improved ZT value of 0.07 at 923 K. The proposed strategy can be opted for improvement in the thermoelectric efficiency of other thermoelectric materials as well.

Delensing cosmic microwave background B modes with the Square Kilometre Array Radio Continuum Survey

We explore the potential use of the Radio Continuum (RC) survey conducted by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to remove (delens) the lensing-induced B-mode polarization and thus enhance future cosmic microwave background (CMB) searches for inflationary gravitational waves. Measurements of large-scale B-modes of the CMB are considered to be the best method for probing gravitational waves from the cosmic inflation. Future CMB experiments will, however, suffer from contamination by nonprimordial B modes, one source of which is the lensing B modes. Delensing, therefore, will be required for further improvement of the detection sensitivity for gravitational waves. Analyzing the use of the two-dimensional map of galaxy distribution provided by the SKA RC survey as a lensing mass tracer, we find that joint delensing using near-future CMB experiments and the SKA phase 1 will improve the constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio by more than a factor of $\ensuremath{\sim}2$ compared to those without the delensing analysis. Compared to the use of CMB data alone, the inclusion of the SKA phase 1 data will increase the significance of the constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio by a factor 1.2--1.6. For LiteBIRD combined with a ground-based experiment such as Simons Array and Advanced ACT, the constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio when adding SKA phase 2 data is improved by a factor of 2.3--2.7, whereas delensing with CMB data alone improves the constraints by only a factor 1.3--1.7. We conclude that the use of SKA data is a promising method for delensing upcoming CMB experiments such as LiteBIRD.

Thermophysical properties of USi to 1673 K

Consideration of uranium silicide compounds as candidate nuclear reactor fuels requires the accurate knowledge of their thermophysical properties as a function of temperature. Stoichiometric USi has received little attention in the literature with regard to property characterization. This absence of data prevents modeling and simulation communities from predicting performance of uranium silicide fuels that are either nominally USi itself, or are designed with other uranium silicide phases but may include appreciable fractions of USi introduced as a result of the fuel synthesis or fabrication process. This study was undertaken to quantify the thermal expansion coefficient, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal conductivity of USi from ambient conditions to just below the peritectic decomposition of the compound. Stoichiometric samples that were prepared by arc melting and powder metallurgical routes for thermophysical property measurements exhibited 94% USi phase, with the balance being U3Si5 phase that likely formed during the solidification process. An energetic phase transformation was observed at 723 K, which is attributed to the inclusion of the secondary U3Si5 phase.

Modeling Zero – Inflated Regression of Road Accidents at Johor Federal Road F001

This study focused on the Poisson regression with excess zero outcomes on the response variable. A generalized linear modelling technique such as Poisson regression model and Negative Binomial model was found to be insignificant in explaining and handle over dispersion which due to high amount of zeros thus Zero Inflated model was introduced to overcome the problem. The application work on the number of road accidents on F001 Jalan Jb - Air Hitam. Data on road accident were collected for five-year period from 2010 through 2014. The result from analysis show that ZINB model performed best, in terms of the comparative criteria based on the P value less than 0.05. Structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) elements for analysis and design are often obtained using the positive phase of the blast pressure curve disregarding the negative phase assuming insignificant contribution from the negative phase of the loading. Although, some insight on the effect of negative phase of blast pressure based on elastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analysis was presented before, the influence of negative phase on different types of resistance functions of SDOF models and on realistic finite element analysis has not been explored. In this study, the effects of inclusion of pulse negative phase on structural response of RC elements from SDOF analysis and from more detailed finite element analysis have been investigated. Investigation of SDOF part has been conducted using MATLAB code that utilizes non-linear resistance functions of SDOF model. Detailed numerical investigation using finite element code DIANA was conducted on the significance of the negative phase on structural response. In the FE model, different support stiffness was used to explore the effect of support stiffness on the structural response due to blast negative phase. RESULTS from SDOF and FE analyses present specific situations where the effect of large negative phase was found to be significant on the structural response of RC elements. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2016 Language: en