Investigation of structural properties of ITO thin films deposited on different substrates

The influence of the substrate nature on the structure and morphology of ITO thin films grown by thermal evaporation in vacuum is investigated. The as-prepared metal films with Sn/In molar ratio of 0.1 were subsequently annealed for 2 h at 723 K in air (to obtain tin doped indium oxide), then annealed in vacuum at 523 K, followed by UV irradiation (to reduce the electrical resistivity). Irrespective of substrate nature, XRD data evidence a (222) preferential orientation in films. Substrate nature, annealing in vacuum and UV irradiation influence the structure, morphology, optical, electrical and surface wetting properties of the films' surface.     

Anti-negation method for handling negation words in question answering system

The question answer (QA) system for a reading comprehension task tries to answer the question by retrieving the needed phrase from the given content. Precise answering is the key role of a QA system. An ambiguity is developed when we need to answer a negative question with a positive reply. The negation words change the polarity of the sentence, and hence, the scope of negation words is notable. This has paved the way for studying the role of ‘negation’ in the natural language processing (NLP) task. The handling of these words is considered a major part of our proposed methodology. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to retrieve and replace the negation words present in the content and query. A comparative study is done for performing word embedding over these words using various state-of-the-art methods. In earlier works when handling the negation the semantics of the sentences are changed. Hence, in this paper we try to maintain the semantics through our proposed methodology. The updated content is embedded into the bi-directional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) and thus makes the retrieving of an answer for a question answer system easier. The proposed work has been carried over the Stanford Negation, and the SQuAD dataset with a higher precision value of 96.2% has been achieved in retrieving the answers that are given in the dataset.

     

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Supplementary Motor Area in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Multi-Site Study

Recently, strategies beyond pharmacological and psychological treatments have been developed for the management of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Specifically, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been employed as an adjunctive treatment in cases of treatment-refractory OCD. Here, we investigate six weeks of low frequency rTMS, applied bilaterally and simultaneously over the sensory motor area, in OCD patients in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Twenty-two participants were randomly enrolled into the treatment (ACTIVE = 10) or placebo (SHAM = 12) groups. At each of seven visits (baseline; day 1 and weeks 2, 4, and 6 of treatment; and two and six weeks after treatment) the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was administered. At the end of the six weeks of rTMS, patients in the ACTIVE group showed a clinically significant decrease in Y-BOCS scores compared to both the baseline and the SHAM group. This effect was maintained six weeks following the end of rTMS treatment. Therefore, in this sample, rTMS appeared to significantly improve the OCD symptoms of the treated patients beyond the treatment window. More studies need to be conducted to determine the generalizability of these findings and to define the duration of rTMS’ clinical effect on the Y-BOCS. Clinical Trial Registration Number (NCT) at www.clinicaltrials.gov: {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00616486","term_id":"NCT00616486"}}NCT00616486.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Li2O–Fe2O3 ceramic nanostructures

xLi₂O–(1−x)α-Fe₂O₃ (x=0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7) nanoparticle systems were successfully synthesized by mechanochemical activation of Li₂O and α-Fe₂O₃ mixtures for 0–12 h of ball milling time. The study aims at exploring the formation of magnetic oxide semiconductors at the nanoscale, which is of crucial importance for catalysis, sensing and electrochemical applications. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements were used to study the phase evolution of xLi₂O–(1−x)α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle systems under the mechanochemical activation process. Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns yielded the values of the particle size as function of composition and milling times and indicated the presence of Li-substituted hematite and tetra lithium iron oxide LiFeO₂, along with the formation of multiple phases for large x values and long milling times. The Mössbauer studies showed that the spectrum of the mechanochemically activated composites evolved from a sextet for hematite to sextets and a doublet upon duration of the milling process with lithium oxide. Magnetic measurements recorded at 5 K to room temperature (RT) in an applied magnetic field of 50,000 Oe showed that the magnetization of the milled samples is larger at low temperatures than at RT and increases with decreasing particle size. Zero field cooling measurements made possible the determination of the blocking temperatures of the specimens as function of ball milling time and evidenced the occurrence of superparamagnetism in the studied samples. This result correlates well with the observed presence of a quadrupole-split doublet in the Mössbauer spectra.     

Mycotoxin risk assessment for the purpose of setting international regulatory standards

The 2003 Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Mycotoxin report states that one 21st century goal is the development of uniform regulations worldwide for foodborne mycotoxin contamination. This study informs that endeavor by a risk assessment and economic analysis of two important mycotoxins: fumonisins and aflatoxins. The goals are to identify the nations that would be most heavily impacted by tighter mycotoxin regulations, examine costs and benefits as a function of regulatory stringency, and address risk-risk tradeoffs between health benefits and economic losses from compliance with those regulations. Among industrial nations, the United States would experience the heaviest economic losses from more precautionary mycotoxin standards. Environmental conditions in the developing world, however, are more conducive to mycotoxin accumulation in crops. Contrary to concerns expressed among policymakers, the less developed countries that would likely experience the greatest loss from tighter mycotoxin standards are not sub-Saharan African nations, but China and Argentina. If a fumonisin standard of 0.5 mg/kg were adopted worldwide, total export losses from fumonisins in corn may exceed 300 million dollars annually: 3-fold higher than if the less stringent U.S. standard of 2 mg/kg were adopted. Likewise, export losses from aflatoxins in peanuts may exceed 450 million dollars under the current EU regulatory standard of 4 microg/kg: almost 5-fold higher than if the U.S. standard of 20 microg/kg were adopted. Stricter standards are unlikely to improve health significantly. In developing nations such as China where hepatitis B and C are prevalent, tighter aflatoxin standards may increase health risks until improved control methods for aflatoxins are found, as high-quality crops may be exported instead of being consumed domestically.     

Structure and gas sensing properties of nanocrystalline Fe-doped ZnO films prepared by spin coating method

Nanocrystalline Fe-doped ZnO films were obtained by spin coating, using zinc acetate and iron acetate as starting materials and N,N-dimethylformamide as solvent. Characteristic XRD patterns indicate that the films under study are single phase with the ZnO-like wurtzite structure. There are not any secondary phases and Fe²⁺ as well as Fe³⁺ substitutes for Zn²⁺ of ZnO host. Atomic force microscopy analysis revealed that the studied films are characterized by high-density columnar structure and the incorporation of Fe atoms into the ZnO lattice modified the surface morphology. The sensitivity, at three different gases, was investigated and it was observed that acetone is the test gas that produces the most significant changes in the electrical resistance of all studied samples. Experimental results indicate that the optimum operating temperature increases for Fe-doped ZnO films by comparison with the undoped one. Also, the values of sensitivity were found to depend on the dopant concentration in ZnO films.     

The effects of social category norms and stereotypes on explanations for intergroup differences.

A 2-stage model of the construction of explanations for differences between groups is presented. Category norms affect which of 2 groups becomes "the effect to be explained," and stereotypes shape attributions about that group. In 3 experiments, 288 participants wrote explanations for differences between gay and straight men. Explanations focused on gay men who were also judged to have more mutable attributes. However, these effects were not correlated. Participants focused explanations on straight men when explicitly instructed to do so (Experiment 1). Explanations focused on both groups equally when the gay men constituted the numerically larger sample, when gay men were more typical of the overarching category (i.e., people with AMS) than straight men, or when more straight men were described as performing the behavior (Experiment 2). Stereotype-consistent information prompted more essentialist references and fewer reconstructive references to gay men than did stereotype-inconsistent information (Experiment 3). The relevance of this model for theories of norms, stereotypes, and for the conduct of social science is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural studies on some doped CdS thin films deposited by thermal evaporation

The influence of the Mn, Se and Sb impurities on the structure and morphology of CdS thin films grown on p⁺ Si wafers was studied. The starting powders were mixed in the same molar ratios (0.3%) and deposited in the same conditions by vacuum thermal evaporation. X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and reflectance studies made on thermal treated thin films (573 K, 2 h in air) evidenced that thin films have a hexagonal oriented structure, and that dopants enter into the CdS lattice merely by substitution. The dopant nature influences the thin film thickness and chemical composition. The doped CdS thin films have roughness in nanometer region and a reflectivity lower than 40%. Silicon substrate acts as a template and favors the retention of Mn and scatters the Sb dopants. The CdS:Se thin film is thicker than CdS:Mn and CdS:Sb ones and is a mixture of doped and undoped nanocrystals.     

The gender gap in occupational role attainment: A social dominance approach.

Investigated the evidence of a gender gap in occupational role attainment in 3 experiments with 316 undergraduates. The authors present archival evidence that men disproportionately hold occupational roles that enhance group-based inequality and that women disproportionately hold roles that attenuate group-based inequality. Evidence for 3 processes that may contribute to this pattern was found: self-selection that is based on gender-linked differences in support for group inequality (social dominance orientation), hiring biases that are based on matching job applicants' group equality values with the hierarchy function of the job, and gender-stereotyped hiring biases. These processes were found across a number of occupations and participant variables. The social systems nature of these processes and the implications of the results for theoretical understandings of gender roles, social inequality, and theories of stereotyping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)