SKIB-71 in Textual and Visual Memories

SKIB-71, the acronym of Sashi, Krishna, Indra and Batsa represents a very significant phase in the movement of modern Nepali paintings. These four artists launched a movement in paintings a quarter of a century ago with a view to inspiring young artists and opening new vista of communications with artists using other media and methods. Their personal involvements in art activities couples with their experimentations created a unique atmosphere in Nepali paintings characterised by such features as the gatherings of artists, interactions, exhibitions and, above all the pedagogy of arts. After the sad demise of Indra Pradhan in 1994, three of them continued to work for which they chose to engage in art pedagogy or to work quietly on cultural motifs. Among the many reasons to consider them as part of art activities today is their impact on art education, accentuation of the subject of experimentation and participation in the art activities of present times.

Infraslow activity as a potential modulator of corticomotor excitability

Fluctuations in cortical excitability are a candidate mechanism involved in the trial-to-trial variation of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We explore whether infraslow EEG activity (<0.1 Hz) modulates corticomotor excitability by evaluating the presence of temporal and phase clustering of TMS-induced MEPs. In addition, we evaluate the dependence of MEP amplitude on the phase of the infraslow activity. Twenty-three subjects were stimulated at an intensity above the resting motor threshold (rMT) and ten at the rMT. We evaluated whether temporal and phase clustering of MEP size and MEP generation were present, using 1,000 surrogates with a similar amplitude or occurrence distribution. To evaluate the MEP amplitude dependence, we used the least-square method to approximate the linear circular data by fitting a sine function. We observed significant temporal clustering at a group level, in all individual subjects stimulated at rMT and in the majority of those stimulated above rMT, suggesting underlying determinism of corticomotor excitability instead of randomly generated fluctuations. The majority of subjects showed significant phase clustering for MEP size and for MEP occurrence, and significant phase clustering was found at the group level. Furthermore, in approximately one-quarter to one-half of the subjects we found a significant correlation and dependence of MEP amplitude on the phase of infraslow activity, respectively. Although other mechanisms very likely contribute as well, our findings seem to suggest that infraslow activity is involved in the variability of cortical excitability and TMS-induced responses.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Cortical excitability measures are highly variable during transcranial magnetic stimulation. Although ongoing brain oscillations are assumed to modulate excitability, no consistent associations are found for the traditional frequency bands. We focus on the role of infraslow EEG activity, defined as rhythms with frequencies < 0.1 Hz. We provide experimental evidence suggesting that infraslow activity most likely modulates corticomotor excitability and that response variation could be reduced when stimulation is targeted at a specific infraslow phase.

Generation of single and double pulses using a symmetrical Mach–Zehnder interferometer employing microstructured chalcogenide fibres: numerical analysis

In this numerical work, a Mach–Zehnder interferometer device with sample and reference arms composed of microstructured chalcogenide optical fibres with AsSe2 core and As2S5 cladding is presented to generate single and double pulses. An unchirped hyperbolic secant-shaped pulse with enough high peak power centered at 1958 nm wavelength and a continuous wave with a very weak power level at 2070 nm wavelength are simultaneously introduced into the sample arm, in which stimulated Raman scattering and strong cross-phase modulation induced by two co-propagating waves give rise to a significant phase shift for a continuous wave. In the reference arm, the continuous wave directly passes through the fibre, where the transmitted wave has a slight phase shift due to the influence of self-phase modulation. Therefore, at the output port of the configuration, the re-combined optical fields at 2070 nm wavelength have a significant phase difference. As a result, both single and double pulses caused by the optical interference at the output port are achieved by judiciously adjusting the phase difference which is mainly controlled by the peak power and temporal width of the input optical pulse, as well as the length of a microstructured optical fibre. In addition, both widths of the single pulse and spacing of the double pulses are directly dependent on the temporal width of the input pulse and the fibre length of the arm.

Ultra-stable 4H-gold nanowires up to 800 °C in a vacuum

The in situ TEM observation disclosed that the 4H-phase Au nanowire can maintain stable ABCB stacking up to 800 °C without significant phase changes or melting.

THE RECOGNITION AND REPRESENTATION OF POLAND IN MODERN KOREAN LITERATURE – FOCUSING ON 2 NOVELS WRITTEN IN LATE COLONIAL PERIOD

This paper examines the aspects of the recognition and representation of Eastern Europe in modern Korean literature, especially focusing on the case of Poland. The late colonial period(1930~1945) needs to be considered as significant phase when we are trying to grasp the major aspects of representation and recognition of Poland and Eastern Europe in modern Korean literature. In the literary works written by writers of late colonial period, such as Kim Kwang-gyun (김광균), Lee Hyo-sok (이효석), and Lee Tae joon (이태준), we can observe that there were much similar historical and political situations between Poland and Korea. That’s why Korean writers often tried to mention Poland’s situation in metaphorical and analogical ways to express their political opinions, avoiding the censorship of Japanese government. This paper deals with those aspects in modern Korean literature.

Ca10(CrVO4)6(CrVIO4), a disordered mixed-valence chromium compound exhibiting inversion twinning

The structure analysis of so-called 9CaO·4CrO3·Cr2O3proved it to be the title compound, decacalcium hexakis[chromate(V)] chromate(VI), with the simultaneous presence of unusual chromium oxidation states. The structure determination was carried out on a crystal that had inversion twinning. The CrVIO4tetrahedron is situated on a threefold axis and is disordered over two possible orientations that share three O atoms, while the CrVO4tetrahedra are in general positions and are ordered. The charge is balanced by Ca2+cations, one of which is located on a threefold axis. The Ca2+ions are coordinated by six, seven or eight O atoms. The compound is a significant phase in the CaO–CrOxsystem and its formation reduces the refractoriness of calcium-rich compositions in an oxidizing atmosphere.