Equation of state of Iridium: from insight of ensemble theory.

The equations of state (EOS) of Iridium are, for the first time, obtained by solving the high-dimension integral of partition function based on a recently developed approach of ultrahigh efficiency and precision without any artificial parameter, and the deviation of 0.25% and 1.52% from the experiments was achieved respectively for the isobaric EOS in a temperature range of 300 K-2500 K and the isothermal EOS at 300 K up to 300 GPa. Specific comparisons show that the deviation of EOS based on harmonic approximation even including anharmonic effect, manifests worse than ours by several times or even one order of magnitude, indicating that ensemble theory is the very approach to understand the thermodynamic properties of condensed matter.

Highly selective extraction of uranium from wastewater using amine-bridged diacetamide-functionalized silica.

A major environmental concern related to nuclear energy is wastewater contaminated with uranium, thus necessitating the development of pollutant-reducing materials with efficiency and effectiveness. Herein, highly selective mesoporous silicas functionalized with amine-bridged diacetamide ligands SBA-15-ABDMA were prepared. Different spectroscopy techniques were used to probe the chemical environment and reactivity of the chelating ligands before and after sorption. The results showed that the functionalized SBA-15-ABDMA had a strong affinity for uranium at low pH (pH = 3) with desirable sorption capacity (68.82 mg/g) and good reusability (> 5). It showed excellent separation performance with a high distribution coefficient (Kd,U > 105 mL/g) and separation factors SFU/Ln > 1000 at a pH of 3.5 in the presence of lanthanide nuclides, alkaline earth metal and transition metal ions. In particular, SiO2spheres-ABDMA was used as a column material, which achieved excellent recovery of U(VI) (> 98%) and good reusability for samples of simulated mining and nuclear industries wastewater. XPS and crystallography studies clearly illustrated the tridentate coordination mode of U(VI)/PEABDMA and the mechanism and origin behind the high selectivity for U.

Autonomous indoor wayfinding for individuals with cognitive impairments.

BACKGROUND: A challenge to individuals with cognitive impairments in wayfinding is how to remain oriented, recall routines, and travel in unfamiliar areas in a way relying on limited cognitive capacity. While people without disabilities often use maps or written directions as navigation tools or for remaining oriented, this cognitively-impaired population is very sensitive to issues of abstraction (e.g. icons on maps or signage) and presents the designer with a challenge to tailor navigation information specific to each user and context. METHODS: This paper describes an approach to providing distributed cognition support of travel guidance for persons with cognitive disabilities. A solution is proposed based on passive near-field RFID tags and scanning PDAs. A prototype is built and tested in field experiments with real subjects. The unique strength of the system is the ability to provide unique-to-the-user prompts that are triggered by context. The key to the approach is to spread the context awareness across the system, with the context being flagged by the RFID tags and the appropriate response being evoked by displaying the appropriate path guidance images indexed by the intersection of specific end-user and context ID embedded in RFID tags. RESULTS: We found that passive RFIDs generally served as good context for triggering navigation prompts, although individual differences in effectiveness varied. The results of controlled experiments provided more evidence with regard to applicabilities of the proposed autonomous indoor wayfinding method. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the ability to adapt indoor wayfinding devices for appropriate timing of directions and standing orientation will be particularly important.

Effect of group music activity as an adjunctive therapy on psychotic symptoms in patients with acute schizophrenia.

The effect of group music activity as an adjunctive therapy on psychotic symptoms was evaluated in 67 patients with schizophrenia from an acute psychiatric ward of a regional hospital in south Taiwan. A pretest-posttest, two-group repeated measures design was used. The experimental group received 50-minute sessions of group musical activity five times a week for 2 weeks in addition to standard care. The severity of psychotic symptoms was assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Group music activity significantly reduced the scores in total and subscales of the BPRS in patients with acute schizophrenia.

Effects of music and essential oil inhalation on cardiac autonomic balance in healthy individuals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of listening to soft music or inhaling Citrus bergamia aroma on autonomic nervous system activity in young healthy individuals. STUDY DESIGN, LOCATION, AND SUBJECTS: This single-institution study was an open-label randomized controlled trial carried out on 114 healthy undergraduate students at a university located in south Taiwan. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomly allocated to one of four study groups including (1) a music group, (2) an aroma group, (3) a combined music and aroma group, and (4) a control group. Participants in the music group were asked to listen to preselected soft music for 15 minutes, and those in the aroma group were asked to inhale Citrus bergamia essential oil vapor generated from an ultrasonic atomizer for 15 minutes. OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome measure involved heart rate variability (HRV) indices measured before and after the intervention. The low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) components of the HRV were used to quantify modulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. RESULTS: The percentage changes of normalized LF (p = 0.003), normalized HF (p = 0.001), and the ratio of LF to HF (p < 0.001) were significantly different among the four groups. Tukey's post hoc analysis revealed that the percentage change of normalized LF and HF were significantly different between the control group and the music group. For the percentage change of the ratio of LF to HF, the negative change in the music group, the aroma group, and the combined group was significantly different from that of the increase in the control group. In addition, no significant differences were found in the percentage changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean heart rate in the four groups. CONCLUSIONS: Listening to soft music and inhaling Citrus bergamia essential oil was found to be an effective method of relaxation, as indicated by a shift of the autonomic balance toward parasympathetic activity in young healthy individuals.