Evolution of BET internal surface area in glassy carbon powder during thermal oxidation

It is demonstrated that glassy carbon powder can be thermochemically activated. During activation, a film with open pores is created on the glassy carbon particles. This film has a large internal surface area, which is accessible to liquids and gases. A simple model for the evolution of the internal surface area in glassy carbon powder during thermochemical gas-phase oxidation is also presented and compared with experimental data. Experimental results are in qualitative agreement with the model. We found that a sharp particle size distribution is desirable with regard to potential technical applications.     

On-line H NMR spectroscopic investigation of hydrogen bonding in supercritical and near critical CO2–methanol up to 35 MPa and 403 K

On-line NMR spectroscopy can beneficially be applied to studies of supercritical and near-critical fluids as an alternative to optical spectroscopy. Up to now high pressure NMR experiments are predominantly accomplished using custom made NMR batch reactors. The authors present a novel high pressure cell with displacement plunger for on-line NMR experiments on compressible fluids which can be used in conjunction with commercially available SCF NMR flow probes. The on-line technique offers advantages compared to stopped flow techniques such as enhanced control of mixture composition and reaction parameters as well as the facility of engagement into the reaction. The new apparatus is used for NMR studies on hydrogen bonding of methanol in near critical and supercritical carbon dioxide up to 403 K and 35 MPa for which data on the chemical shift of the hydroxyl group and methyl group are reported and interpreted.     

Improvements of metabolic imbalances after enteral sodium bicarbonate supplementation in infants of very low birth weight (VLBW)

One of the main points of clinical care is the catch-up growth of VLBW infants especially those of small gestational age (SGA). The required high amounts of protein are often not tolerated [1]. Metabolic imbalances due to immaturities of protein metabolism are described [2, 3] also in infants SGA feeding amounts of proteins comparable to mature newborns [4]. Remarkable signs of overloading by proteins are the elevation of amino acid and the bile acid concentrations in the serum [3, 5, 6]. In some of those cases [7] late metabolic acidosis (LMA) is to be seen. There is evidence in the literature that sodium bicarbonate influences nitrogen [8] and ionic balances [9] in newborn animals without any signs of acidosis, besides its simple buffer function. The aim of this study was to control changes of metabolic imbalances after bicarbonate supplementation before development of acidosis in predisposed infants. Therefore we determined parameters, which were significantly changed with LMA [6] during two feeding schedules: firstly, during bolus supplementation in infants feeding (2.0 +/- 0.4) g/kg BW.d protein and secondly during chronic supplementation of bicarbonate to (3.0 +/- 0.4) g/kg BW.d protein. In relation to the improvement of the nitrogen balance in growing lambs [7] we supposed comparable effect of bicarbonate on metabolic imbalances caused by protein overloading.     

Interhemispheric transfer after spontaneous recovery in 43 cases of severe closed head injury.

Examined the possibility of frequent callosal disconnection following closed head injury. Interhemispheric transfer was evaluated in 43 severe closed-head-injured patients (aged 18–51 yrs) using a wide-ranging battery of untimed behavioral tasks, after the period of spontaneous recovery. Only 1 S showed signs of callosal disconnection. Much effective interhemispheric transfer occurred in closed-head-injured Ss after the period of spontaneous recovery. More frequent occurrence of the disconnection syndrome in its acute phase is a possibility that cannot be excluded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonstrative Suffering: The Gestural (Re)embodiment of Symptoms

Despite the long-standing interest in emotion and bodily conduct, there remains relatively little research concerned with how gestures are used with talk and within interaction to reveal emotional and personal experience. In this article, the author considers the medical consultation and, in particular, the ways in which patients attempt to reveal their experience of illness to the doctor. The paper examines how gesture and other forms of bodily conduct are used to transform symptoms into suffering; to display, enact, and (re)embody medical problems and difficulties. The analysis is based on videorecordings of primary health care consultations and focuses on the social and interactional organization of demonstrative suffering.     

High-quality photonic sampling streams from a semiconductor diodering laser

We report on the development of an ultralow-noise, external-cavity, actively mode-locked semiconductor diode laser for application in next-generation photonic sampling systems. A summary of harmonically mode-locked noise characteristics in a 65-MHz ring cavity is presented through the range of pulse repetition frequencies between 130 MHz and 8.3 GHz (2nd-128th harmonic). Important implications regarding the use of gain-versus-loss modulation as the active modelocking mechanisms are discussed. We also report what are, to our knowledge, the lowest noise characteristics achieved to date for a semiconductor diode laser operating at 10 GHz. Individually optimized results of 0.12% rms amplitude noise (10 Hz-10 MHz), and 43 fs rms residual phase jitter (10 Hz-10 MHz) provide a theoretical resolution of 8.6 bits in a 10-GSPS optical analog-to-digital converter. We have also achieved dispersion-compensated pulsewidths; as short as 1.2 ps, and shown successful operation of a novel phase-locked-loop capable of reducing the rms; residual phase noise by as much as 91% within its response bandwidth. Finally, the first measurements of residual phase noise out to the Nyquist frequency (5 GHz) are presented, providing an upper bound on the rms residual phase jitter of 121 fs (10 Hz-5 GHz)     

Analysis of a master-slave architecture for distributed evolutionary computations.

This paper introduces a new mathematical model of the master-slave architecture for distributed evolutionary computations (EC). This model is validated using a concrete implementation based on the Distributed BEAGLE C++ framework. Results show that contrary to (current) popular belief, master-slave architectures are able to scale well over local area networks of workstations using off-the-shelf networking equipment. The main properties of the master-slave are also compared with those of the more mainstream island-model.