⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of a hydrothermal pegmatitic buddingtonite–muscovite assemblage from Volyn, Ukraine

We determined 40Ar/39Ar ages of buddingtonite, occurring together with muscovite, with the laser-ablation method. This is the first attempt to date the NH4-feldspar buddingtonite, which is typical for sedimentary–diagenetic environments of sediments, rich in organic matter, or in hydrothermal environments, associated with volcanic geyser systems. The sample is a hydrothermal breccia, coming from the Paleoproterozoic pegmatite field of the Korosten Plutonic Complex, Volyn, Ukraine. A detailed characterization by optical methods, electron microprobe analyses, backscattered electron imaging, and IR analyses showed that the buddingtonite consists of euhedral-appearing platy crystals of tens of micrometers wide, 100 or more micrometers in length, which consist of fine-grained fibers of ≤ 1 µm thickness. The crystals are sector and growth zoned in terms of K–NH4–H3O content. The content of K allows for an age determination with the 40Ar/39Ar method, as well as in the accompanying muscovite, intimately intergrown with the buddingtonite. The determinations on muscovite yielded an age of 1491 ± 9 Ma, interpreted as the hydrothermal event forming the breccia. However, buddingtonite apparent ages yielded a range of 563 ± 14 Ma down to 383 ± 12 Ma, which are interpreted as reset ages due to Ar loss of the fibrous buddingtonite crystals during later heating. We conclude that buddingtonite is suited for 40Ar/39Ar age determinations as a supplementary method, together with other methods and minerals; however, it requires a detailed mineralogical characterization, and the ages will likely represent minimum ages.

Comparison between binocular therapy and patching for treatment of amblyopia: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Several studies have compared binocular therapy and patching for the treatment of amblyopia. However, most of them involved a small number of cases and reported controversial results. Thus, the benefit of binocular therapy remains to be confirmed. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of binocular therapy versus patching and to testify whether binocular therapy could become supplementary method in children with amblyopia. Randomised controlled trials that evaluated the efficacy of binocular therapy for amblyopia versus patching were identified using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Ovid, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. Data screening, extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two researchers. Six trials were identified and analysed to compare binocular therapy (708 eyes) with patching (664 eyes) for change in best-corrected visual acuity and stereoacuity. Efficacy estimates were evaluated by standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% CI. The best-corrected visual acuity in binocular group was better than that of in patching group (SMD=−0.21 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (log MAR), 95% CI of −0.50 to 0.08 log MAR, p=0.003). The results showed statistically significant difference in the change of best-corrected visual acuity between the groups, but not in stereoacuity. Binocular therapy may be a promising treatment of conditions affecting visual acuity, and could be applied as a supplementary method to patching for amblyopia in clinical practice. The present analysis showed that some children with amblyopia may benefit from binocular therapy. Nevertheless, larger randomised controlled clinical trials are required to confirm these findings.

Using Autoregressive with Exogenous Input Models to Study Pulsatile Flows

The content of this paper shows the first outcomes of a supplementary method to simulate the behavior of a simple design formed by two rectangular leaflets under a pulsatile flow condition. These problems are commonly handled by using Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) simulations; however, one of its main limitations are the high computational cost required to conduct short time simulations and the vast number of parameter adjustments to simulate different scenarios. In order to overcome these disadvantages, we propose a system identification method with hereditary computation—AutoRegressive with eXogenous (ARX) input method—to train a model with FSI simulation outcomes and then use this model to simulate the outputs that are commonly measured from this kind of simulation, such as the pressure difference and the opening area of the leaflets. Numerical results of the presented methodology show that our model is able to follow the trend with significant agreement with the FSI results, with an average correlation coefficient R of Rtr=90.14% and Rtr=92.27% in training; whereas for validation, the average R is Rval=93.31% and Rval=83.08% for opening area and pressure difference, respectively. The system identification model is efficiently capable of estimating the outputs of the FSI approach; however, it is not intended to substitute FSI simulations, but to complement them when the requirement is to conduct many repetitions of the phenomena with similar conditions.

Designing and implementing policy writing assessments: A practical guide

Policy writing assessments are increasingly used as an alternative or supplementary method of assessment within the teaching of politics and policy. Such assessments, often referred to as ‘policy briefs’ or ‘briefing memos’, are often used to develop writing skills and to encourage active learning of policy-related topics among students. While they can be readily adapted to different teaching and learning contexts, it can be challenging to make appropriate design choices to implement policy writing assessments so that are able to meet the learning aims of students. This article sets out a heuristic framework, derived from the existing literature on policy writing assessments to help clarify these choices. It advocates for viewing assessment design as embedded within course design and emphasises the pedagogical and contextual aspects of assessment design. To illustrate how this heuristic framework can help those involved in course design, this article concludes with a reconstruction of the design process for a policy writing assessment in an undergraduate course on Global Energy Politics.

Geometrical Representation of Gas Properties

The perfect gas equation, laws, principles and processes as well as the van der Waals equation for real gases are represented geometrically. Intensive and extensive properties and the standard temperature and pressure (STP) condition are shown too. Plane geometry offers a supplementary method to the piston formulation for explaining and visualizing gas properties. Several difficulties and misconceptions of students may thus be resolved.

Bacterial Whole Cell Protein Profiling: Methodology, Applications and Constraints

Background:In the era of modern microbiology, several methods are available for identification and typing of bacteria, including whole genome sequencing. However, in microbiological laboratories or hospitals where genomic based molecular typing methods and/or trained manpower are unavailable, whole cell protein profiling using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis might be a useful alternative/supplementary method for bacterial identification, strain typing and epidemiology. Whole cell protein profiling by SDS-PAGE is based on the principle that under standard growth conditions, a bacterial strain expresses the same set of proteins, the pattern of which can be used for bacterial identification.Objective:The objective of this review is to assess the current status of whole cell protein profiling by SDS-PAGE and its advantages and constraints for bacterial identification and typing.Results and Conclusions:Several earlier and recent studies prove the potential and utility of this technique as an adjunct or supplementary method for bacterial identification, strain typing and epidemiology. There is no denying the fact that utility of this technique as an adjunct or supplementary method for bacterial identification and typing has already been demonstrated and its practical applications need to be evaluated further.