The validation of Kayzero-assisted NAA in Budapest, Rez, and Ljubljana via the analysis of three BCR certified reference materials

After installation and calibration of k0-assisted NAA in three Central European research institutes (AEKI-Budapest, NPI-Rez, and IJS, Ljubljana), its validation was established via the analysis of three BCR certified reference materials. The matrices of choice were: CRM 277 estuarine sediment, CRM 038 coal fly ash from pulverized coal, and CRM 101 spruce needles. For some elements, e.g. Zn, Cd, and Hg, the analyses were not only performed instrumentally (INAA), but also in the radiochemical mode (RNAA). The work was performed in the framework of a European Copernicus Project.     

Recent advances in metal catalysts with hybrid ligands

This review summarises some recent developments of the metal complexes of hetero-functional hybrid ligands of C-, N-, O-, P- and S-donors. It highlights the ligand designs, synthetic pathways, structural motifs and catalytic prowess of these complexes.     

On arbitrarily vertex decomposable trees

A tree T is arbitrarily vertex decomposable if for any sequence τ of positive integers adding up to the order of T there is a sequence of vertex-disjoint subtrees of T whose orders are given by τ; from a result by Barth and Fournier it follows that Δ(T)?4. A necessary and a sufficient condition for being an arbitrarily vertex decomposable star-like tree have been exhibited. The conditions seem to be very close to each other.     

Sorted cell microarrays as platforms for high-content informational bioassays

We report on surface-engineered microarrays that provide in situ cell sorting, localization, and immobilization of various subsets of human primary lymphocytes, followed by an on-chip bioassay for ionizing-radiation-induced cytogenetic damage. The microarray format eliminates the necessity of separating cell sub-populations by alternative means (such as fluorescence- or magnetic-activated cell sorting) prior to performing informational bioassays. To exemplify the potential of this on-chip cytometry approach, we have integrated the cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMNcyt) assay with the microarray platform for analysis of the chromosome damage profile of specific subsets of human peripheral lymphocytes. Microarray results were compared with data obtained from the traditional CBMNcyt assay on heterogeneous lymphocyte populations, and with flow cytometry data. Our results suggest that cytogenetic damage caused by ionizing radiation is not uniformly distributed across all lymphocytes subsets, but rather concentrated in specific subsets. The salient features of our approach are that it requires very small volumes of reagents, allows sorting of lymphocyte subsets in situ, increases parallelism of cell assays and is amenable to high content microscopy analysis. The on-chip cytometry format opens new vistas for advanced cell-based assays, potentially bringing to light important information which remains hidden with conventional assays and hence engendering new discoveries in cell biology.     

Vocal tract changes caused by phonation into a tube: a case study using computer tomography and finite-element modeling

Phonation into a glass tube is a voice training and therapy method that leads to beneficial effects in voice production. It has not been known, however, what changes occur in the vocal tract during and after the phonation into a tube. This pilot study examined the vocal tract shape in a female subject before, during, and after phonation into a tube using computer tomography (CT). Three-dimensional finite-element models (FEMs) of the vocal tract were derived from the CT images and used to study changes in vocal tract input impedance. When phonating on vowel [a:] the data showed tightened velopharyngeal closure and enlarged cross-sectional areas of the oropharyngeal and oral cavities during and after the tube-phonation. FEM calculations revealed an increased input inertance of the vocal tract and an increased acoustic energy radiated out of the vocal tract after the tube-phonation. The results indicate that the phonation into a tube causes changes in the vocal tract which remain also when the tube is removed. These effects may help improving voice production in patients and voice professionals.     

Universal intrinsic doping behavior of in-plane dc conductivity for hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Understanding the normal state transport properties in hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTCSs) is a challenging task which has been widely believed to be one of the key steps toward revealing the pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we present a true intrinsic and universal doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity for all underdoped HTCSs. The doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity normalized to that at optimal doping can be represented by a simple exponential formula. The doping behavior of the square of the nodal Fermi velocity derived by the high-resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the superconducting state follows reasonably well the universal intrinsic doping behavior. Our findings suggest a commonality of the low-energy quasiparticles both in the normal and superconducting states that place a true universal and stringent constraint on the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity for HTCSs.     

On R-linear convergence of semi-monotonic inexact augmented Lagrangians for saddle point problems

A variant of the inexact augmented Lagrangian algorithm called SMALE (Dostál in Comput. Optim. Appl. 38:47–59, 2007) for the solution of saddle point problems with a positive definite left upper block is studied. The algorithm SMALE-M presented here uses a fixed regularization parameter and controls the precision of the solution of auxiliary unconstrained problems by a multiple of the norm of the residual of the second block equation and a constant which is updated in order to enforce increase of the Lagrangian function. A nice feature of SMALE-M inherited from SMALE is its capability to find an approximate solution in a number of iterations that is bounded in terms of the extreme eigenvalues of the left upper block and does not depend on the off-diagonal blocks. Here we prove the R-linear rate of convergence of the outer loop of SMALE-M for any regularization parameter. The theory is illustrated by numerical experiments.