Direct Methods Optimised for Solving Crystal Structure by Powder Diffraction Data: Limits,Strategies, and Prospects

The ab-initio crystal structure solution by powder diffraction data requires great efforts because of the collapse of the experimental information onto the one dimensional 2θ axis of the pattern. Different strategies will be described aiming at improving the process of extraction of the integrated intensities from the experimental pattern in order to make more straightforward the structure solution process by direct methods. Particular attention will be devoted to the EXPO program. Some of its performance will be analysed and results will be shown.     

Tumor size and prognosis in aggressively treated osteosarcoma

PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to investigate the prognostic significance and optimal measures of tumor size in osteosarcoma treated with intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Initial anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral x-ray films of 128 patients treated within the trials Cooperative Osteosarcoma Study (COSS)-80, -82, and -86, were evaluated for the following three tumor diameters: length, width, and depth. Metastasis-free survival (MFS) analyses were performed in univariate and multivariate models with one, two, and three dimensions of the tumor as absolute or relative measures (tumor length, referred to bone length, plane and volume to body-surface area). RESULTS: Univariate analyses of MFS showed a high prognostic significance of all absolute measures. Relative measures, at best, showed a comparable predictive value. Cox regression analysis indicated the high prognostic significance of absolute tumor volume (ATV; P < .0001) and histologic response (P < .0001). None of 19 patients with an ATV < or = 70 cm3 and only four of 53 with an ATV < or = 150 cm3 relapsed, while in patients with an ATV more than 150 cm3, the relapse rate remained 40% to 60%, irrespective of further increase in volume. CONCLUSION: Initial tumor size is an important and easily obtainable prognostic factor in osteosarcoma and may serve as a basis for risk-adapted therapy. It is best represented by the absolute three-dimensional measure ATV. There is a cut-off point regarding the incidence of metastases at a tumor volume of approximately 150 cm3 as calculated from two-plane x-ray films.     

Mangrove forests as a nature-based solution for coastal flood protection: Biophysical and ecological considerations

Nature-based coastal protection is increasingly recognised as a potentially sustainable and cost-effective solution to reduce coastal flood risk. It uses coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests to create resilient designs for coastal flood protection. However, to use mangroves effectively as a nature-based measure for flood risk reduction, we must understand the biophysical processes that govern risk reduction capacity through mangrove ecosystem size and structure. In this perspective, we evaluate the current state of knowledge on local physical drivers and ecological processes that determine mangrove functioning as part of a nature-based flood defence. We show that the forest properties that comprise coastal flood protection are well-known, but models cannot yet pinpoint how spatial heterogeneity of the forest structure affects the capacity for wave or surge attenuation. Overall, there is relatively good understanding of the ecological processes that drive forest structure and size, but there is a lack of knowledge on how daily bed-level dynamics link to long-term biogeomorphic forest dynamics, and on the role of combined stressors influencing forest retreat. Integrating simulation models of forest structure under changing physical (e.g. due to sea-level change) and ecological drivers with hydrodynamic attenuation models will allow for better projections of long-term natural coastal protection.     

Even in virtual environments women shop and men build: A social role perspective on Second Life

The present study examined whether traditional gender role expectations (Eagly, 1987) influence behaviors in non-traditional contexts such as online virtual environments. Participants were 352 Second Life users who reported their activities and experiences in Second Life. Results indicated that men and women differed in the types of activities they engaged in a manner predicted by social role theory. Specifically, as compared to women, men were more likely to report building things (e.g. objects), to own and work on their own virtual property, and were less likely to change their avatar’s appearance. Women, as compared to men, were more likely to meet people, shop, regularly change their avatar’s appearance, and buy clothes/objects for their avatar. The present study adds to our understanding of how traditional gender role expectations may carry over to online virtual worlds and influence online behavior.     

Social evaluations of embodied agents and avatars

The purpose of this study was to examine social evaluations (i.e., perceptions of empathy and positivity) following peoples’ interactions with digital human representations. Female research participants engaged in a 3-min interaction while immersed in a 3-D immersive virtual environment with a “peer counselor.” Participants were led to believe that the peer counselor was either an embodied agent (i.e., computer algorithm) or an avatar (i.e., another person). During the interaction, the peer counselor either smiled or not. As predicted, a digitally-rendered smile was found to affect participants’ social evaluations. However, these effects were moderated by participants’ beliefs about their interaction partner. Specifically, smiles enhanced social evaluations of embodied agents but degraded them for avatars. Although these results are consistent with other findings concerning the communicative realism of embodied agents and avatars they uniquely demonstrate that people’s beliefs alone, rather than actual differences in virtual representations, can impact social evaluations.     

DIC image reconstruction on large cell scans

The width of the emission spectrum of a common fluorophore allows only for a limited number of spectral distinct fluorescent markers in the visible spectrum, which is also the regime where CCD-cameras are used in microscopy. For imaging of cells or tissues, it is required to obtain an image from which the morphology of the whole cell can be extracted. This is usually achieved by differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy. These images have a pseudo-3D appearance, easily interpreted by the human brain. In the age of high throughput and high content screening, manual image processing is not an option. Conventional algorithms for image processing often use threshold-based criteria to identify objects of interest. These algorithms fail for DIC images as they have a range from dim to bright with an intermediate intensity equal to the background, so as to produce no clear object boundary. In this article we compare different reconstruction methods for up to 100 MB-large DIC images and implement a new iterative reconstruction method based on the Hilbert Transform that enables identification of cell boundaries with standard threshold algorithms.     

Supply chain configurations: a model to evaluate performance in customised productions

This paper describes an approach used to evaluate the performance of different supply chain configurations in customised contexts. Based on historical data collected from the supply chain of a shoe producer, different configurations are evaluated based on a discrete-event simulation by highlighting the performance of the supply chain (in terms of supply chain order lead-time and inventory volume) when the production switched from standard production (characterised by batches of large quantities of the same product) to customised production (characterised by a small of series batches with high product variability). The simulation approach relies on experimentation through executable configurations, which enables the creation of different scenarios, and is then applied to the case of an actual firm in the footwear industry. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Composition of Mixed Micelles Formed by Dodecyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide and Benzethonium Chloride in Water

The composition of the mixed micelles formed by benzethonium chloride and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide in water were experimentally determined by a combination of surfactant ion-selective electrodes and UV–Vis spectroscopy measurements. Results were compared with the computed compositions from three theories on mixed micelles available in the literature (Regular Solution, Motomura’ and Georgiev’s). The basis of the Junquera and Aicart method and the determination of the micelle aggregation number (N) by pyrene fluorescence quenching, i.e., the constancy of N and the mixed micelle composition when the total concentration is changed, were not supported by our experimental results. Experimental micelle compositions were statistically equal to those computed by Regular Solution Theory. The mixed micelle composition and the quantity of non-micellized surfactant molecules change with concentration above the critical micelle concentration, and therefore do not support the assumptions used in the Junquera and Aicart procedure and in the determination of N by pyrene fluorescence quenching. The reason why the latter procedure gives N values similar to those obtained from other techniques is discussed.     

Demonstration of the monolithic interconnection on CIS solar cells by picosecond laser structuring on 30 by 30 cm2 modules

In this paper, we present the selective structuring of all three patterns (P1, P2 and P3) of a monolithic interconnection of CIS (Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)₂) thin film solar cells by picosecond laser pulses at a wavelength of 1064 nm. We show results for single pulse ablation threshold values and line scribing of molybdenum films on glass (P1), CIS on molybdenum (P2) and zinc oxide on CIS (P3). The purposes of these processes are the p‐type isolation (P1), cell interconnect (P2) and n‐type isolation (P3), which are required for complete cell architecture. The half micron thick molybdenum back electrode can be structured with a process speed of more than 15 m/s at about 15 W average power without detectable residues and damage by direct induced laser ablation from the back side (P1). The CIS layer can be structured selectively down to the molybdenum at process speeds up to 1 m/s at about 15 W average power, due to the precision of direct laser ablation in the ultrashort pulse regime (P2). The ZnO front electrode layer is separated by clean trenches with straight side walls at process speeds of up to 15 m/s at about 10 W average power, as a result of indirect induced laser ablation (P3). A validation of functionality of all processes is demonstrated on CIS solar cell modules (30 × 30 cm²). By replacing one state‐of‐the‐art process by a picosecond laser process at a time, solar efficiencies could be increased for P1 and P2 and stayed on a similar level for P3. After an optimization of the patterning processes in the R&D pilot line of AVANCIS, we achieved a new record efficiency for an all‐laser‐patterned CIS solar module: 14.7% as best value for the aperture area efficiency of a 30 × 30 cm² sized CIS module was reached. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.