Effects of acute progesterone administration upon responses to acute psychosocial stress in men.

Animal studies suggest that neuroactive steroids, in particular progesterone and its metabolites, have stress-dampening effects. However, few studies have explored these effects in humans. In this study, we investigated the effects of acute progesterone administration on responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Healthy men participated in the TSST 3.5 hrs after intramuscular injection of 0, 50, or 100 mg progesterone (N = 16, 14, and 14). We measured cardiovascular (heart rate, blood pressure), hormonal (plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol, and noradrenaline), and subjective (e.g., anxiety, arousal) responses to stress in the three groups. Before the TSST, progesterone injections increased plasma levels without altering physiological or subjective states. Stress produced its expected physiological and subjective effects among placebo-treated individuals. Progesterone 50 mg attenuated peak increases in plasma cortisol and reduced changes in negative mood and alertness after stress, yet it increased plasma noradrenaline and systolic blood pressure. Progesterone 100 mg also attenuated stress-induced increases in alertness and arousal, yet it potentiated stress-induced increases in diastolic pressure. Thus, progesterone dampened some of the psychological effects of stress but produced inconsistent effects on physiological stress responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An inequality for the empirical D.F. in the non–I.I.D. case

A generalization to the non-i.i.d. case of an inequality for the empirical df. due to Mason (1981) is proved     

Properties of In-Doped ZnO Films Grown by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition on GaN(0001) Templates

We investigated the properties of indium-doped zinc oxide layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on semi-insulating GaN(0001) templates. Specular and transparent films were grown with n-type carrier concentrations up to 1.82 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ as determined by Hall measurements, and all In-doped films had carrier concentrations significantly higher than that of a comparable undoped film. For low In flows, the carrier concentration increased accordingly with trimethyl-indium (TMIn) flow until a maximum carrier concentration of 1.82 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ was realized. For higher In flows, the carrier concentration decreased with increasing TMIn flow rate. Sheet resistance as low as 185 Ω/sq was achieved for the In-doped films, which is a significant decrease from that of a comparable undoped ZnO film. Our n-type doping studies show that In is an effective dopant for controlling the n-type conductivity of ZnO.     

Dinh Van珠宝——香港国际金融中心/利园商场店

<正>法国珠宝商、Jean Dinh Van,是世界知名的珠宝商卡地亚(Cartier)的学徒。1965年,Dinh Van在巴黎推出其同名珠宝品牌时,他就想创建一个集人性化、活泼、有性格的珠宝品牌,而最重要的是这些珠宝要能体现出现代的元素。正是基于这种理念,Stefarno Tordiglione Design设计了在香港国际金融中心和利园商场两家当代珠宝店。     

Nuclear data sensitivity/uncertainty analysis for XT-ADS

The XT-ADS, an accelerator-driven system for an experimental demonstration, has been investigated in the framework of IP EUROTRANS FP6 project. In this study, the sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were performed to comprehend the reliability of the XT-ADS neutronic design.     

照明的明天：什么是热点

从社会、产品和应用的角度,举例说明未来数年照明的＂热点＂。从社会的角度,说明可持续发展以及相关节能产品和应用设计的持续重要性。要更加关注完全无废料的设计,即＂从摇篮到摇篮＂（from cradle to cradle）的设计。从产品的角度,说明固态将成为许多产品应用的标准。在固态照明方面,由于所提供的数据常常有误而令新用户不满,因此向固态照明转变的脚步会放缓。若有效控制固态照明中的眩光,须有新型的光学设计。目前的评价体系,是通过经验方法获得,完全不适用于固态照明环境,因此需要全新的眩光评价体系。普通室内照明的显色性和色表规格,过去以白炽灯为基准,现在须设定严格的新标准。在应用方面,若要达到非视觉生物效应,智能动态照明也要成为一种标准。我们将看到,为减少因生物钟失调而出现的问题,会广泛应用光学治疗。在固定路灯方面,随着汽车系统本身的发展,不会再优先考虑物体的能见度。我们需要的不再是路灯亮度概念,而是更加三维的概念。若综合考虑中间视觉的所有效果,路灯光源的最有效光谱应该偏暖白光。老年人会丧失短波长视觉能力,是其中的主要原因。     

Calculation of temperature transients in pulse electrochemical machining (PECM)

Pulse Electrochemical Machining (PECM) is a manufacturing process which provides an economical and effective method for machining hard materials into complex shapes. One important drawback of ECM is the lack of quantitative simulation software to predict the tool shape and machining parameters necessary to produce a given work-piece profile. Calculating temperature distributions in the system allows more accurate simulations, as well as the determination of the thermal limits of the system. In this paper temperature transients over multiple pulses are calculated. It is found that the way the system is modeled has a great impact on the temperature evolution in the thermal boundary layer. The presence of massive electrodes introduces extra time scales which may not be negligible. It is advantageous to identify the thermal time scales in the system, to see whether the heat produced during separate pulses will accumulate or not during the process. The occurring thermal time scales in the system are discussed in detail.     

Model-driven visualizations of constraint-based local search

Visualization is often invaluable to understand the behavior of optimization algorithms, identify their bottlenecks or pathological behaviors, and suggest remedial techniques. Yet developing visualizations is often a tedious activity requiring significant time and expertise. This paper presents a framework for the visualization of constraint-based local search (CBLS) algorithms. Given a high-level model and a declarative visualization specification, the CBLS visualizer systematically produces animations to visualize constraints and objectives, violations, and conflicts, as well as the temporal behavior of these measures. The visualization specification is declarative and typically composed of a triple (what,where,how) indicating what to display, where, and with which graphical objects. The visualizer architecture is compositional and extensible. It provides building blocks which can be assembled freely by the user and focuses almost exclusively on static aspects, the dynamic aspects being automated by the use of invariants. The paper highlights various functionalities of the visualizer and describes a blueprint for its implementation.     

Practical Assessment of Electronic Water Treatment for the Prevention of Fouling

Fouling or scaling, i.e., the occurrence of deposits on tubes, heat exchangers, and other devices, is a common problem in industrial and domestic processes. Many anti‐fouling techniques exist, both chemically and non‐chemically. The efficiency of non‐chemical methods is still controversial, although the use of these devices is already widespread in industry. In this contribution, a case study is presented in which the operation of such a device is demonstrated. The electronic water treatment device under study was connected to a 2 m‐long copper tube immersed in a water bath with a temperature of 65 °C. A short‐term experiment revealed that the device did not alter the water chemistry and that locally, fouling was prevented by the device. However, the potential for fouling further downstream was not reduced. A long‐term experiment further confirmed the findings of the short‐term experiment showing that locally, the device has an anti‐fouling action as a significant increase in weight was observed when the device was switched off and a significant decrease in weight was observed when the device was switched on.