Reducing treatment zone diameter in orthokeratology and its effect on peripheral ocular refraction

PurposeTo determine whether orthokeratology (OK) induced treatment zone (TZ) diameter can be reduced by altering OK lens design, and if so the impact of modifying TZ diameter on relative peripheral refraction (RPR).Methods16 subjects (mean age 23.4 ± 1.5 years; 8 female) completed the study. Standard (Control) OK lens design (PJ, Capricornia, Australia) or a modified version (Test) where the back optic zone diameter was reduced, and back optic zone asphericity and intermediate lens curves were altered, were worn overnight only for 7-nights in a randomised double masked order, with a minimum 1-week wash out (no lens wear) between lens designs. Full correction of refractive error was targeted. Refraction; best corrected visual acuity (BCVA); RPR (Shin-Nippon NVision-k 5001) along the horizontal and vertical meridians; and corneal topography (Medmont E300) were measured before starting lens wear and in the morning after lens removal after the seventh night of lens wear for both lens designs. TZ diameter and decentration was calculated from corneal topography.ResultsAfter 7-nights of wear both lens designs created -2.00D refraction effect with no significant difference in refractive effect or change to BCVA between the designs. The Test design created a significantly smaller horizontal (4.78 ± 0.37 vs 5.70 ± 0.37 mm, p < 0.001) and vertical (5.09 ± 0.51 vs 5.92 ± 0.51 mm p < 0.001) TZ diameter. The TZ was decentered inferior temporal with no significant difference between designs. There was no significant difference between the lens designs in RPR along the horizontal and vertical meridians at any measurement period.ConclusionsOK induced TZ diameter can be reliably reduced by altering OK lens design without detrimentally effecting lens centration or refractive effect. Reducing TZ diameter did not alter RPR, though measurement artifacts could be responsible for masking an effect. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess whether smaller TZ OK lens designs increase efficacy for slowing progression of myopia.     

Corrosion resistance of Al–Cr-slag containing chromium–corundum refractories to slags with different basicity

Al–Cr slag is the solid waste generated by the smelting of Cr metal. It presents a range of environmental hazards. This study addressed the corrosion resistance of Al–Cr slag containing chromium–corundum refractories to slags with different basicity. Herein, we provide suggestions for the use of Cr–corundum of different basicity in kilns. Al–Cr slag, brown fused Al₂O₃, and chrome green were used as the raw materials, with pure calcium aluminate cement being used as a binder. The brick samples, prepared using different blends of chrome green and corundum, were fired at 1600?°C, and subsequently subjected to a slag corrosion test. After corrosion by slag of different basicity, the phase composition and microstructure of the sample were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectrometer and scanning electron microscopy. There were two major findings. First, Cr–corundum brick made from Al–Cr slag has a better slag corrosion resistance than that made from Cr₂O₃ and brown fused Al₂O₃. Second, Cr–corundum brick made from Al–Cr slag has superior corrosion resistance to slag with a CaO:SiO₂ ratio of 2:1.     

Animations showing Lego manipulative tasks: Three potential moderators of effectiveness

Evidence suggests that transient visual information, such as animations, may be more challenging to learn than static visualizations. However, when a procedural-manipulative task is involved, our evolved embodied cognition seems to reverse this transitory challenge. Hence, for object manipulative tasks, instructional animations may be more suitable than statics. We investigated this argument further by comparing animations with statics using a Lego task shown to university students, by examining three potential moderators of effectiveness: (a) the environment of manipulation (virtual or physical), (b) the quality of visual information (focused or unfocused), and (c) the presence of hands (no hands or with hands). In Experiment 1 we found an advantage of animation over statics, and no differences among the environments. In Experiment 2, we again observed an animation advantage, a small advantage of focused static information compared to unfocused static information, and a positive effect of not showing the hands.     

p-Median and p-dispersion problems: A bi-criteria analysis

Given a collection of n locations and a symmetric measure of distance (difference) between each pair of locations, we seek to identify (select) a subset of p locations so as to achieve two distinct objectives. The first objective is to use the selected locations as centers (medians) of p groups that would partition the entire collection and minimize the total distance between the locations and their respective group medians. The second objective is to maximize the minimum distance (diversity) among the selected locations themselves. We study this problem as a multi-objective optimization problem and propose an iterative algorithm to obtain its non-dominated frontier. At each iteration we construct and solve a 0–1 integer programming problem. Through a computational experiment we show that this algorithm is computationally effective for small to medium size instances of the problem. We also propose a Lagrangian heuristic algorithm for solving larger instances of this problem.     

Alkali catalyzed liquefaction of corncob in supercritical ethanol–water

Corncob liquefaction in supercritical ethanol–water was performed with and without the addition of an alkali catalyst by direct addition or biomass impregnation in a 250-cm³ batch reactor. The effects of temperature, solvent and alkali addition on the biomass conversion level and oil yield were investigated to find the optimum condition. For non-catalytic liquefaction using a 1:1 (v/v) ethanol: water ratio, a maximum oil yield and conversion level of 49.0% and 93.4%, respectively, were obtained at 340 °C. For alkali catalytic liquefaction, the oil yield with KOH addition (57.5%) was higher than that from KOH-impregnated corncob liquefaction (43.3%). The oil from liquefaction with KOH addition had higher heating value (26.7–35.3 MJ kg⁻¹) than the corncob (19.1 MJ kg⁻¹). The dominant components of the obtained oil were found by GC/MS analysis to be aldehyde, ester, phenol derivatives and aromatic compounds.     

基于注意力机制与文本信息的用户关系抽取

随着社交媒体的发展,用户之间的关系网络对于社交媒体的分析有很大的帮助。因此,该文主要研究用户好友关系检测。以往的关于用户好友关系抽取的研究主要基于社交媒体上的结构化信息,比如其他好友关系,用户的不同属性等。但是,很多时候用户本身并没有大量的好友信息存在,同时也不一定有很多确定的属性。因此,我们希望基于用户发表的文本信息来对用户关系进行预测。不同于以往的潜在好友推荐算法,该文提出了一种基于注意力机制以及长短时记忆网络(long short-term memory,LSTM)的好友关系预测模型,将好友之间的评论分开处理,通过分析用户之间的评论来判断是否具备一定的好友关系。该模型将好友双方信息拼接后的结果作为输入,并将注意力机制应用于LSTM的输出。实验表明,用户之间的评论对于好友关系预测确实有较大的实际意义,该文提出的模型较之于多个基准系统的效果,取得了明显的提升。在不加入任何其它非文本特征的情况下,实验结果的准确率达到了77%。     

因素空间理论下基点分类算法研究

目前，基于因素空间理论的背景基提取算法计算过程复杂，初始化必须依赖各因素极值，基点数量提取冗余等原因，未能在应用中取得很好效果。为此，结合内点判别法和知识可继承、可扩展的思想，提出一种计算简单、初始化独立、基点数量小的改进的背景基提取算法。然后，利用改进的背景基提取算法构造出一种全新的数据分类算法-基点分类算法，基点分类算法以提取每一类样本的背景基为预测模型，再通过新定义的λ-背景基，优化预测模型。数值实验表明:基点分类算法原理简单、构造难度小、分类模型泛化能力强，预测能力准确率高，同时严格的模型限定区域又能为识别新类别提供新方法。     

Unraveling the effect of alumina-supported Y- doped ceria composition and method of preparation on the WGS activity of gold catalysts

The demands for high-purity hydrogen required in fuel-cell applications impose new goals and challenges for design of well performing water-gas shift (WGS) catalysts. Gold-based catalysts have exhibited high activity in the WGS reaction at low temperature. Preparation of appropriate and economically viable supports with complex composition by various synthesis procedures is an attractive approach to WGS performance improvement. The effect of two different preparation methods (wet impregnation or mechanical mixing) and ceria content (10, 20 or 30 wt%) on textural, structural, surface and reductive properties and WGS activity of gold catalysts was studied. Additionally, the role of Y₂O₃ as a promoter of ceria was examined. Long-term stability test was carried out at 260 °C over the most active catalyst. The composition of the best performing sample (composed of about 70 wt% alumina), prepared by mechanical mixing, was considered promising in case of practical applications because of its cost efficiency. The combination of gold nanoparticles and alumina supported Y-doped ceria proved an advantageous approach for developing new catalytic formulations with high effectiveness in clean hydrogen production.     

Corrosion behavior of Cu–Sn bronze alloys in simulated archeological soil media

The corrosion behavior of synthetic Cu–Sn bronze alloys with six different Sn contents was examined through an electrochemical test and a synthetic test in a simulated corrosive medium. The mechanism of corrosion and the morphology of the corroded surfaces were characterized through field emission scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy. At the corrosion potential, the corrosion behavior appears to be determined by the charge transfer step and the diffusion process. It was found that the bronze-IV (Cu–26.8Sn) specimen exhibited the best corrosion resistance, as evidenced by a low corrosion current density and a high impedance. This improvement resulted from an increase in the content of the Cu–Sn solid solution in the alloy, which was conducive to forming a relatively more protective passive film on the surface of the bronze alloy. This finding would be valuable in the anticorrosion protection of archeological artefacts after their excavation.     

Fatal Attraction: How Bacterial Adhesins Affect Host Signaling and What We Can Learn from Them

The ability of bacterial species to colonize and infect host organisms is critically dependent upon their capacity to adhere to cellular surfaces of the host. Adherence to cell surfaces is known to be essential for the activation and delivery of certain virulence factors, but can also directly affect host cell signaling to aid bacterial spread and survival. In this review we will discuss the recent advances in the field of bacterial adhesion, how we are beginning to unravel the effects adhesins have on host cell signaling, and how these changes aid the bacteria in terms of their survival and evasion of immune responses. Finally, we will highlight how the exploitation of bacterial adhesins may provide new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of a wide range of bacterial infections.