High Resolution Melting Curve Analysis for Rapid Detection of Pyrazinamide Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates

Background: Pyrazinamide (PZA) is one of the most important drugs for tuberculosis (TB) treatment, however, its susceptibility is not routinely tested. High-resolution melting (HRM) curve analysis has been widely used for many applications. In this study, HRM assay was developed and evaluated for the detection of PZA resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates. Methods: Ninety five M. tuberculosis clinical isolates with different susceptibility patterns to anti-TB drugs were used to evaluate this assay. Isolates were phenotypically (Bactec MGIT 960) and genotypically (HRM and pncA gene sequencing) analysed for PZA resistance. Results: Bactec MGIT 960 analysis revealed that 29 of the 95 M. tuberculosis isolates were PZA resistant. In comparison to the Bactec MGIT 960, HRM showed a sensitivity of 47.7% and specificity of 74.6%, and the overall agreement between the two methods was 68.4%. Based on DNA sequencing, a correlation of 0.67 (significant at p-value pncA mutations was observed. PZA resistance was strongly associated with multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB as it was shown in 79.3% of the MDR isolates included in the study. Conclusion: HRM is simple and useful for screening clinical M. tuberculosis isolates for PZA resistance, however, further modifications to improve its performance are required.

Estimating the Properties of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs Using Rate Transient Decline Curve Analysis

Transient rate decline curve analysis for constant pressure production is presented in this pa- per for a naturally fractured reservoir. This approach is based on exponential and constant bottom-hole pressure solution. Based on this method, when In （flow rate） is plotted versus time, two straight lines are ob- tained which can be used for estimating different parameters of a naturally fractured reservoir. Parameters such as storage capacity ratio （co）, reservoir drainage area （A）, reservoir shape factor （CA）, fracture per- meability （ky）, interporosity flow parameter （,~） and the other parameters can be determined by this ap- proach. The equations are based on a model originally presented by Warren and Root and extended by Da Prat et al. and Mavor and Cinco-Ley. The proposed method has been developed to be used for naturally fractured reservoirs with different geometries. This method does not involve the use of any chart and by us- ing the pseudo steady state flow regime, the influence of wellbore storage on the value of the parameters ob- tained from this technique is negligible. In this technique, all the parameters can be obtained directly while in conventional approaches like type curve matching method, parameters such as co and g should be ob- tained by other methods like build-up test analysis and this is one of the most important advantages of this method that could save time during reservoir analyses. Different simulated and field examples were used for testing the proposed technique. Comparison between the obtained results by this approach and the results of type curve matching method shows a high performance of decline curves in well testing.

Pressure Buildup Analysis Using Type Curves for a Well in a Pressure-Maintained System

The development and application of a new solution is demonstrated for the type-curve analysis and in-terpretation of well test data from a multiwell reservoir system of both production and injection wells with two-phase flow. The buildup type curves or buildup behavior could be obtained through the solution by using su-perposition. But a new outer boundary condition for variable pressure boundary must be introduced to obtain the correct pressure buildup solutions by superposition. A technique is shown to determine the deviation time from the infinite-acting semilog radial flow stabilization in the derivatives of pressure, which is calculated with respect to and plotted vs. shut-in time. Field examples are given to illustrate the use of the proposed method for analyzing transient pressure data from a well located in a multi-well water-injection reservoir. An adaptive genetic algorithm-based method is used to match the pressure and pressure derivative data to estimate reservoir parameters. The validity and applicability of the proposed method are also demonstrated through the examples.

Cumulative sum analysis score and phacoemulsification competency learning curve

AIM： To use the cumulative sum analysis score（CUSUM） to construct objectively the learning curve of phacoemulsification competency.METHODS： Three second-year residents and an experienced consultant were monitored for a series of 70 phacoemulsification cases each and had their series analysed by CUSUM regarding posterior capsule rupture（PCR） and best-corrected visual acuity. The acceptable rate for PCR was 〈5%（lower limit h） and the unacceptable rate was 〉10%（upper limit h）. The acceptable rate for bestcorrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 was 〈10%（lower limit h） and the unacceptable rate was 〉20%（upper limit h）. The area between lower limit h and upper limit h is called the decision interval. RESULTS： There was no statistically significant difference in the mean age, sex or cataract grades between groups. The first trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 22 nd case. His best-corrected visual acuity CUSUM was in the decision interval from his third case and stayed there until the end, never reaching competency. The second trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 39^ th case. He could reach best-corrected visual acuity CUSUM competency at his 22 ^nd case. The third trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 41 st case. He reached bestcorrected visual acuity CUSUM competency at his 14 ^th case.CONCLUSION： The learning curve of competency in phacoemulsification is constructed by CUSUM and in average took 38 cases for each trainee to achieve it.

Nomogram predicting the prognosis of primary liver cancer after radiofrequency ablation combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization

BACKGROUND The incidence and mortality rates of primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)are high,and the conventional treatment is radiofrequency ablation(RFA)with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE);however,the 3-year survival rate is still low.Further,there are no visual methods to effectively predict their prognosis.AIM To explore the factors influencing the prognosis of HCC after RFA and TACE and develop a nomogram prediction model.METHODS Clinical and follow-up information of 150 patients with HCC treated using RFA and TACE in the Hangzhou Linping Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2020 to December 2022 was retrospectively collected and recorded.We examined their prognostic factors using multivariate logistic regression and created a nomogram prognosis prediction model using the R software(version 4.1.2).Internal verification was performed using the bootstrapping technique.The prognostic efficacy of the nomogram prediction model was evaluated using the concordance index(CI),calibration curve,and receiver operating characteristic RESULTS Of the 150 patients treated with RFA and TACE,92(61.33%)developed recurrence and metastasis.Logistic regression analysis identified six variables,and a predictive model was created.The internal validation results of the model showed a CI of 0.882.The correction curve trend of the prognosis prediction model was always near the diagonal,and the mean absolute error before and after internal validation was 0.021.The area under the curve of the prediction model after internal verification was 0.882[95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.820-0.945],with a specificity of 0.828 and sensitivity of 0.656.According to the Hosmer-Lemeshow test,χ^(2)=3.552 and P=0.895.The predictive model demonstrated a satisfactory calibration,and the decision curve analysis demonstrated its clinical applicability.CONCLUSION The prognosis of patients with HCC after RFA and TACE is affected by several factors.The developed prediction model based on the influencing parameters shows a good prognosis predictive efficacy.

Assessment of solidification characteristics of carbon-inoculated Mg-3%Al melt by thermal analysis

The Mg-3%Al melt was inoculated by carbon with different holding time.The effect of holding time on grain refining efficiency was evaluated.The solidification characteristics of the carbon-inoculated Mg-3%Al melt with different holding time were assessed by computer-aided cooling curve analysis.The results showed that Mg-3%Al alloy could be effectively refined by carbon inoculation.Slight fading phenomenon occurred with increasing the holding time to 60 min.Carbon inoculation could significantly influence the shape of cooling curves of Mg-3%Al melt.The nucleation starting and minimum temperatures increased.The recalescence undercooling and duration decreased to almost zero after carbon inoculation.The grain refining efficiency of carbon inoculation could be assessed by the shape of the cooling curve and solidification characteristic parameters including nucleation starting and minimum temperatures,recalescence undercooling and duration.

Extension of covariant derivative(Ⅱ): From flat space to curved space

This paper extends the classical covariant deriva tive to the generalized covariant derivative on curved sur faces. The basement for the extension is similar to the pre vious paper, i.e., the axiom of the covariant form invariabil ity. Based on the generalized covariant derivative, a covari ant differential transformation group with orthogonal duality is set up. Through such orthogonal duality, tensor analy sis on curved surfaces is simplified intensively. Under the covariant differential transformation group, the differential invariabilities and integral invariabilities are constructed on curved surfaces.

ROC analysis of CT hemodynamic in the diagnosis of breast cancer

Objective:The aim of this study was evaluate the diagnostic value of computed tomography(CT) perfusion in breast cancer by the method of receiver operator characteristic curve(ROC) analysis.Methods:Eighty-one cases with breast masses found by health examination or mammography were scanned by multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT) perfusion and hemodynamic parameters of blood flow(BF), mean transit time(MTT) and blood volume(BV) were calculated by deconvolution arithmetic.According to the pathologic results, two groups, benign and malignant were classified and statistical analysis were performed between them.The ROC characteristics of BF, MTT, BV were compared for each and the diagnostic value of the hemodynamic parameters were confirmed.Results:In the malignant group, BF was(0.735 ± 0.440) mL/min/mL, MTT was(22.771 ± 7.647) s and BV was 0.234 ± 0.082.In the benign group, BF was(0.466 ± 0.527) mL/min/mL, MTT was(26.712 ± 12.934) s and BV was 0.179 ± 0.117.There was a significant difference for BF and BV between the benign and malignant groups.When the hemodynamic parameters were used to discriminate the breast lesions, the area under the ROC curve(AUCROC) of BF was 0.832 ± 0.086, the maximum, while AUCROC of BV was 0.695 ± 0.092.There was no significant statistical difference between BF and BV.AUCROC of MTT was 0.473 ± 0.102, which was minimal.Since the threshold of BF was 0.381 mL/min/mL, the sensitivity was 82.3%, the specificity was 73.2%, the positive likelihood ratio(LR) was 3.071 and the negative LR was 0.242.The threshold of BV was 0.190 with sensitivity 73.3%, specificity 56.5%, positive likelihood ratio 1.685 and negative LR 0.473.Conclusion:BF and BV among CT hemodynamic parameters have certain diagnostic value in breast cancer, but BF or BV can not yet be single index to confirm or deny the diagnosis.

Optimization of wavelength range and data interval in chemometric analysis of complex pharmaceutical mixtures

The performance of different chemometric approaches was evaluated in the spectrophotometric determination of pharmaceutical mixtures characterized by having the amount of components with a very high ratio. Principal component regression （PCR）, partial least squares with one dependent variable （PLS1） or multi-dependent variables （PLS2）, and multivariate curve resolution （MCR） were applied to the spectral data of a ternary mixture containing paracetamol, sodium ascorbate and chlorpheniramine （150：140：1, m/m/m）, and a quaternary mixture containing paracetamol, caffeine, phenylephrine and chlorpheniramine （125：6. 25：1.25：1, m/m/m/m）. The UV spectra of the calibration samples in the range of 200-320 nm were pre-treated by removing noise and useless data, and the wavelength regions having the most useful analytical information were selected using the regression coefficients calculated in the multivariate modeling. All the defined chemometric models were validated on external sample sets and then applied to commercial pharmaceutical formulations. Different data intervals, fixed at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 point/nm, were tested to optimize the prediction ability of the models. The best results were obtained using the PLSlcalibration models and the quantification of the species of a lower amount was sig- nificantly improved by adopting 0.5 data interval, which showed accuracy between 94.24% and 107.76%.

Diagnostic and economic value of carcinoembryonic antigen,carbohydrate antigen 19-9,and carbohydrate antigen 72-4 in gastrointestinal cancers

BACKGROUND The diagnostic and economic value of carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA),carbohydrate antigen 19-9(CA19-9)and CA72-4 for gastrointestinal malignant tumors lacked evaluation in a larger scale.AIM To reassess the diagnostic and economic value of the three tumor biomarkers.METHODS A retrospective analysis of all 32857 subjects who underwent CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4,gastroscopy and colonoscopy from October 2006 to May 2018 was conducted.Then,we assessed the discrimination and clinical usefulness.Total cost,cost per capita and cost-effectiveness ratios were used to evaluate the economic value of two schemes(gastrointestinal endoscopy for all people without blood tests vs both gastroscopy and colonoscopy when blood tests were positive).RESULTS The analysis of 32857 subjects showed that CEA was a qualified biomarker for colorectal cancer(CRC),while the diagnostic efficiencies of CA72-4 were catastrophic for all gastrointestinal cancers(GICs).Regarding early diagnosis,only CEA could be used for early CRC.The combination of biomarkers didn’t greatly increase the area under the curve.The economic indicators of CEA were superior to those of CA19-9,CA72-4 and any combination.At the threshold of 1.8μg/L to 10.4μg/L,all four indicators of CEA were lower than those in the scheme that conducted gastrointestinal endoscopy only.Subgroup analysis implied that the health checkup of CEA for people above 65 years old was economically valuable.CONCLUSION CEA had qualified diagnostic value for CRC and superior economic value for GICs,especially for elderly health checkup subjects.CA72-4 was not suitable as a diagnostic biomarker.

Liver fibrosis index-based nomograms for identifying esophageal varices in patients with chronic hepatitis B related cirrhosis

BACKGROUND Esophageal varices(EV)are the most fatal complication of chronic hepatitis B(CHB)related cirrhosis.The prognosis is poor,especially after the first upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.AIM To construct nomograms to predict the risk and severity of EV in patients with CHB related cirrhosis.METHODS Between 2016 and 2018,the patients with CHB related cirrhosis were recruited and divided into a training or validation cohort at The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University.Clinical and ultrasonic parameters that were closely related to EV risk and severity were screened out by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses,and integrated into two nomograms,respectively.Both nomograms were internally and externally validated by calibration,concordance index(C-index),receiver operating characteristic curve,and decision curve analyses(DCA).RESULTS A total of 307 patients with CHB related cirrhosis were recruited.The independent risk factors for EV included Child-Pugh class[odds ratio(OR)=7.705,95%confidence interval(CI)=2.169-27.370,P=0.002],platelet count(OR=0.992,95%CI=0.984-1.000,P=0.044),splenic portal index(SPI)(OR=3.895,95%CI=1.630-9.308,P=0.002),and liver fibrosis index(LFI)(OR=3.603,95%CI=1.336-9.719,P=0.011);those of EV severity included Child-Pugh class(OR=5.436,95%CI=2.112-13.990,P<0.001),mean portal vein velocity(OR=1.479,95%CI=1.043-2.098,P=0.028),portal vein diameter(OR=1.397,95%CI=1.021-1.912,P=0.037),SPI(OR=1.463,95%CI=1.030-2.079,P=0.034),and LFI(OR=3.089,95%CI=1.442-6.617,P=0.004).Two nomograms(predicting EV risk and severity,respectively)were well-calibrated and had a favorable discriminative ability,with C-indexes of 0.916 and 0.846 in the training cohort,respectively,higher than those of other predictive indexes,like LFI(C-indexes=0.781 and 0.738),SPI(C-indexes=0.805 and 0.714),ratio of platelet count to spleen diameter(PSR)(C-indexes=0.822 and 0.726),King’s score(C-indexes=0.694 and 0.609),and Lok index(C-indexes=0.788 and 0.700).The areas under the curves(AUCs)of the two nomograms were 0.916 and 0.846 in the training cohort,respectively,higher than those of LFI(AUCs=0.781 and 0.738),SPI(AUCs=0.805 and 0.714),PSR(AUCs=0.822 and 0.726),King’s score(AUCs=0.694 and 0.609),and Lok index(AUCs=0.788 and 0.700).Better net benefits were shown in the DCA.The results were validated in the validation cohort.CONCLUSION Nomograms incorporating clinical and ultrasonic variables are efficient in noninvasively predicting the risk and severity of EV.

Serum N-glycan markers for diagnosing liver fibrosis induced by hepatitis B virus

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the primary cause of hepatitis with chronic HBV infection,which may develop into liver fibrosis,cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.Detection of early-stage fibrosis related to HBV infection is of great clinical significance to block the progression of liver lesion.Direct liver biopsy is regarded as the gold standard to detect and assess fibrosis;however,this method is invasive and prone to clinical sampling error.In order to address these issues,we attempted to find more convenient and effective serum markers for detecting HBV-induced early-stage liver fibrosis.AIM To investigate serum N-glycan profiling related to HBV-induced liver fibrosis and verify multiparameter diagnostic models related to serum N-glycan changes.METHODS N-glycan profiles from the sera of 432 HBV-infected patients with liver fibrosis were analyzed.Significant changed N-glycan levels (peaks)(P <0.05) in differentfibrosis stages were selected in the modeling group,and multiparameter diagnostic models were established based on changed N-glycan levels by logistic regression analysis.The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate diagnostic efficacy of N-glycans models.These models were then compared with the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI),fibrosis index based on the four factors (FIB-4),glutamyltranspeptidase platelet albumin index (S index),GlycoCirrho-test,and GlycoFibro-test.Furthermore,we combined multiparameter diagnostic models with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and platelet (PLT) tests and compared their diagnostic power.In addition,the diagnostic accuracy of N-glycan models was also verified in the validation group of patients.RESULTS Multiparameter diagnostic models constructed based on N-glycan peak 1,3,4and 8 could distinguish between different stages of liver fibrosis.The area under ROC curves (AUROCs) of Model A and Model B were 0.890 and 0.752,respectively differentiating fibrosis F0-F1 from F2-F4,and F0-F2 from F3-F4,and surpassing other serum panels.However,AUROC (0.747) in Model C used for the diagnosis of F4 from F0-F3 was lower than AUROC (0.795) in FIB-4.In combination with ALT and PLT,the multiparameter models showed better diagnostic power (AUROC=0.912,0.829,0.885,respectively) when compared with other models.In the validation group,the AUROCs of the three combined models (0.929,0.858,and 0.867,respectively) were still satisfactory.We also applied the combined models to distinguish adjacent fibrosis stages of 432patients (F0-F1/F2/F3/F4),and the AUROCs were 0.917,0.720 and 0.785.CONCLUSION Multiparameter models based on serum N-glycans are effective supplementary markers to distinguish between adjacent fibrosis stages of patients caused by HBV,especially in combination with ALT and PLT.

Kinetics of synthesis of Li_4Ti_5O_(12) through solid-solid reaction

Sohd-solid reaction under low heat or low temperature is an approach to synthesize various kinds of materials that were widely used in electrochemistry field. In this paper a theoretical treatment has been presented for analyzing the mechanism of sohd-solid reaction and deriving a series of formulae to describe the variation and rate of reactions. This new model has been used in the manufacturing of spinel Li4Ti5O12. The results show that this new model works very well and will play a useful role for guiding the manufacturing of electrochemical materials.

Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram model for Chinese patients with primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus

BACKGROUND Primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus(PSCE)is a highly invasive malignant tumor with a poor prognosis compared with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Due to the limited samples size and the short follow-up time,there are few reports on elucidating the prognosis of PSCE,especially on the establishment and validation of a survival prediction nomogram model covering general information,pathological factors and specific biological proteins of PSCE patients.AIM To establish an effective nomogram to predict the overall survival(OS)probability for PSCE patients in China.METHODS The nomogram was based on a retrospective study of 256 PSCE patients.Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were used to examine the prognostic factors associated with PSCE,and establish the model for predicting 1-,3-,and 5-year OS based on the Akaike information criterion.Discrimination and validation were assessed by the concordance index(C-index)and calibration curve and decision curve analysis(DCA).Histology type,age,tumor invasion depth,lymph node invasion,detectable metastasis,chromogranin A,and neuronal cell adhesion molecule 56 were integrated into the model.RESULTS The C-index was prognostically superior to the 7th tumor node metastasis(TNM)staging in the primary cohort[0.659(95%CI:0.607-0.712)vs 0.591(95%CI:0.517-0.666),P=0.033]and in the validation cohort[0.700(95%CI:0.622-0.778)vs 0.605(95%CI:0.490-0.721),P=0.041].Good calibration curves were observed for the prediction probabilities of 1-,3-,and 5-year OS in both cohorts.DCA analysis showed that our nomogram model had a higher overall net benefit compared to the 7th TNM staging.CONCLUSION Our nomogram can be used to predict the survival probability of PSCE patients,which can help clinicians to make individualized survival predictions.

The Application of Dynamic Shock Mechanics Test in Engineering Blasting

With the continuous advancement of China’s infrastructure construction to the west,according to the geographic situation in the southwest region,such as mountainous areas and complex terrain,the road construction process is inevitably accompanied by earth and rock blasting.To improve the quality and safety of the project,this paper addresses the problems of land and rock blasting faced in the construction of mountain road projects,taking the research of rock dynamic mechanics test as the starting point,and using a combination of theoretical analysis and experimental research methods.The specific research content includes the following parts:dynamic impact compression test(SHPB),dynamic splitting tensile test,and stress-strain curve analysis of the test results,which provides the theoretical basis and numerical parameters for the numerical simulation of future engineering blasting.

Degradation diagnosis of lithium-ion batteries using AC impedance technique in fixing the state of charge of an electrode

A sustainable society requires an increase in electrified vehicles(xEVs) with a low environmental impact. Among various types of xEVs, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with lithium-ion batteries(LIBs) have received considerable research attention.

Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of Keapl mRNA Expression for Lung Cancer Based on Microarray and Clinical Information from Oncomine Database

We performed a bioinformatics analysis with validation by multiple databases,aiming to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(Keapl)mRNA for lung cancer,and to explore possible mechanisms.Diagnostic performance of Keapl mRNA was determined by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis.Prognostic implication of Keapl mRNA was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.Co-expressed genes with both Keapl and Nfe2L2 were identified by LinkedOmics.Mechanisms of Keapl-Nfe2L2-co-expressed genes underlying the pathogenesis of lung cancer were explored by function enrichment and pathway analysis.The ROC curve analysis determined a good diagnostic performance of Keapl mRNA for lung squamous cell carcinoma(LUSC),with an area under the ROC curve(AUC)of 0.833,sensitivity of 72.7%,and specificity of 90.6%(P<0.001).Multivariate Cox regression recognized high Keapl mRNA to be an independent risk factor of mortality for overall lung cancer[hazard ratio(HR):11.034,P=0.044],but an independent antagonistic factor for lung adenocarcinoma(LUAD)(HR:0.404,P<0.001).Validation by UALCAN and GEPIA supported Oncomine findings regarding the diagnostic value of Keapl mRNA for LUSC,but denied its prognostic value.After screening,we identified 17 co-expressed genes with both Keapl and Nfe2L2 for LUAD,and 22 for LUSC,mainly enriched in signaling pathway of oxidative stress-induced gene expression via Nrf2.In conclusion,Keapl mRNA has a good diagnostic performance,but controversial prognostic efficacy for LUSC.The pathogenesis of lung cancer is associated with Keapl-Nfe2L2-co-expressed genes by signaling pathway of oxidative stress-induced gene expression via Nrf2.

Maximum Net Benefit Indicator and Its Applications

Receiver operating characteristics(ROC)curve and the area under the curve(AUC)value are often used to illustrate the diagnostic ability of binary classifiers.However,both ROC and AUC focus on high accuracy in theory,which may not be effective for practical applications.In addition,it is difficult to judge which one is better when the ROC curves are intersect and the AUC values are equal.Decision curve analysis(DCA)methods improve ROC by incorporating accuracy and consequences.However,similar to ROC,DCA requires a quantitative indicator to objectively determine which one is better when DCA curves intersect.A DCA-based statistical indicator named maximum net benefit(MNB)is constructed for evaluating clinical treatment regimens rather than just accuracy as in ROC and AUC.As a simple and effective statistical indicator,the construction process of MNB is given theoretically.Moreover,the MNB can still provide effective identification when the AUC values are equal,which is proved by theory.Furthermore,the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed MNB are verified by gene selection and classifier performance comparison on actual data.

Developing Suitable Sensitive Compound Semiconductor Materials Doped by Transition Metals for Occupational Thermoluminescence Dosimetry

The essential objective of radiation dosimetry is to develop suitable sensitive materials for different measurements in radiation fields. Our exploration is to find potentially suitable high gamma radiation dosimeters in the range from 0.5E4 to 1.5E4 Gy. Gamma rays source (60Co, 136 Gy/min) has been used. Many compound semiconductor materials were prepared and investigated. Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve was analyzed into its component by analytical segregation program using computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD). Three zero dose readings for non-irradiated powders of the materials have been taken as lower limit of detection. The results indicated that some of the tested materials have exhibited TL linearly with respect to dose. In addition, dose response of these materials was found to be useful for high radiation dosimetry. Glow curve structures exhibited several peaks corresponding to the various energies of the emptied traps. Variation in the standard deviation for reusability cycles has been ten readout. The fading at ambient temperature was studied up to 60 days which reached a relative stability (~1.5% for all), 10 days after irradiation. A typical glow curve of CoPa which irradiated with 1.5E4 Gy was analyzed. Characterizations of tested materials indicated that crystals of ZnLa:Li, ZnLa:Cd, and ZnLa:Cr have stable and increasing thermoluminescent responses with high gamma radiation dose range. Special glow peaks can be used as estimators for absorbed doses as well as re-estimation for time elapsed exposures.

Extension of covariant derivative(Ⅲ): From classical gradient to shape gradient

This paper further extends the generalized covari ant derivative from the first covariant derivative to the sec ond one on curved surfaces. Through the linear transforma tion between the first generalized covariant derivative and the second one, the second covariant differential transformation group is set up. Under this transformation group, the sec ond class of differential invariants and integral invariants on curved surfaces is made clear. Besides, the symmetric struc ture of the tensor analysis on curved surfaces are revealed.