Thermoluminescence dating of archaeological artefacts from the Middle Neolithic,Bronze Age and the Roman Empire period

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating was applied for artefacts found near the small village of Michelstetten, Lower Austria. Settlements in this region can be traced hack a long time and, according to archaeologists, the discovered artefacts may be as old as 6000 years. A modified sample preparation technique based on the fine-grain method was developed. This technique results in a higher reproducibility and reduces the overall preparation time. For some artefacts the new information of the TL dating leads to an unforeseen re-interpretation of the archaeological age. Furthermore, an iron furnace from the period of the Roman Empire could be dated. For the first time, it was possible to estimate correctly the point of time of the burn-down of an ancient wooden house via an analysis of the house's clay plaster. The fire took place in the sixth century; this was confirmed by dating ceramic artefacts.     

Improving process models by discovering decision points

Workflow management systems (WfMS) are widely used by business enterprises as tools for administrating, automating and scheduling the business process activities with the available resources. Since the control flow specifications of workflows are manually designed, they entail assumptions and errors, leading to inaccurate workflow models. Decision points, the XOR nodes in a workflow graph model, determine the path chosen toward completion of any process invocation. In this work, we show that positioning the decision points at their earliest points can improve process efficiency by decreasing their uncertainties and identifying redundant activities. We present novel techniques to discover the earliest positions by analyzing workflow logs and to transform the model graph. The experimental results show that the transformed model is more efficient with respect to its average execution time and uncertainty, when compared to the original model.     

X-ray diffraction from intact tau aggregates in human brain tissue

We describe an instrument to record x-ray diffraction patterns from diseased regions of human brain tissue by combining an in-line visible light fluorescence microscope with an x-ray diffraction microprobe. We use thiazine red fluorescence to specifically label and detect the filamentous tau protein pathology associated with Pick's disease, as several labs have done previously. We demonstrate that thiazine red-enhanced regions within the tissue show periodic structure in x-ray diffraction that is not observed in healthy tissue. One observed periodicity (4.2 ?) is characteristic of cross-beta sheet structure, consistent with previous results from powder diffraction studies performed on purified, dried tau protein.     

The academic health center and the healthy community

US medical care reflects the priorities and influence of academic health centers. This paper describes the leadership role assumed by one academic health center, the State University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and its eight affiliated hospitals, to serve its region by promoting shared governance in educating graduate physicians and in influencing the cost and quality of patient care. Cooperation among hospitals, health insurance payers, the business community, state government, and physicians helped establish priorities to meet community needs and reduce duplication of resources and services; to train more primary care physicians; to introduce shared governance into rural health care delivery; to develop a regional management information system; and to implement health policy. This approach, spearheaded by an academic health center without walls, may serve as a model for other academic health centers as they adapt to health care reform.     

The removing of selected pharmaceuticals on WWTP in the Czech Republic

In this article, the results of three years monitoring of selected pharmaceuticals (diclofenac, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, salicylic acid, clofibric acid) in the wastewaters of the Czech Republic are presented. The monitoring was performed on selected Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) with various treatment technology and designed capacity. The concentrations and treatment efficiency of these substances were observed in various profiles of each WWTP, including influent, mechanical pretreatment, biological treatment, effluent. The main processes of removing selected pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment are discussed. These results are used for design wastewater treatment technology with improved treatment efficiency of these substances.     

Measurements of the equivalent dose in aircraft with TLDS

For measurements of the equivalent dose of the mixed radiation fields in aircraft many different measuring devices are usually necessary for consideration of the different components of the radiation field. The possibility is discussed of using thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDS) for determination of absorbed dose and average LET of this complex radiation field in aircraft. The HTR method, developed for determination of the equivalent dose in spacecraft, enables the measurement of the average LET in addition to the absorbed dose. Furthermore, a rem counter based on TLDs and a modified pair method (TLD-600, TLD-700) was used for determination of the absorbed dose due to the neutron component. Using small TLD crystals it is possible to obtain the depth distribution of absorbed dose and average LET by exposing TLDs in Bonner spheres with different diameters. The results indicate that the standards for determination of the effective dose may not be applicable in these mixed radiation fields in aircraft.     

Thermoreversible Self‐Assembly of Perfluorinated Core‐Coronas Cellulose‐Nanoparticles in Dry State

Self‐assembly of nanoparticles (NPs) forming unique structures has been investigated extensively over the past few years. However, many self‐assembled structures by NPs are irreversible, because they are generally constructed using their suspensions. It is still challenging for NPs to reversibly self‐assemble in dry state, let alone of polymeric NPs with general sizes of hundreds of nm. Herein, this study reports a new reversible self‐assembly phenomenon of NPs in dry state, forming thermoreversible strip‐like supermolecular structures. These novel NPs of around 150 nm are perfluorinated surface‐undecenoated cellulose nanoparticles (FSU‐CNPs) with a core‐coronas structure. The thermoreversible self‐assembled structure is formed after drying in the air at the interface between FSU‐CNP films and Teflon substrates. Remarkably, the formation and dissociation of this assembled structure are accompanied by a reversible conversion of the surface hydrophobicity, film transparency, and anisotropic properties. These findings show novel feasibility of reversible self‐assembly of NPs in dry state, and thereby expand our knowledge of self‐assembly phenomenon.