3,041 research outputs found
Enhancement of bulk second-harmonic generation from silicon nitride films by material composition
We present a comprehensive tensorial characterization of second-harmonic
generation from silicon nitride films with varying composition. The samples
were fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and the
material composition was varied by the reactive gas mixture in the process. We
found a six-fold enhancement between the lowest and highest second-order
susceptibility, with the highest value of approximately 5 pm/V from the most
silicon-rich sample. Moreover, the optical losses were found to be sufficiently
small (below 6 dB/cm) for applications. The tensorial results show that all
samples retain in-plane isotropy independent of silicon content, highlighting
the controllability of the fabrication process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; Re-submitted to Optics Letter
Dialogical self strategies of self-organization: psychotherapy and restructuring of internal management
A identidade tem sido um conceito central na literatura em psicologia e na forma como as diferentes abordagens terapêuticas têm concebido os processos de mudança. Entre as inúmeras perspectivas desenvolvidas sobre essa dimensão do ser humano, destacamos o paradigma dialógico que tem vindo a influenciar de forma crescente a teoria e prática em psicoterapia. Segundo esta perspectiva, a funcionalidade psicológica está relacionada com o modo como os indivíduos conseguem articular e colocar em diálogo produtivo as suas várias vozes ou posições de identidade. Neste artigo apresentamos uma revisão da literatura sobre as estratégias que subjazem a essa capacidade auto-organizadora do sistema identitário e sobre as diretrizes que poderão orientar uma intervenção terapêutica dialógica quando essa capacidade se torna disfuncional.Self-concept has been playing a crucial role in psychological literature and in the way the different therapeutic approaches conceive the processes of change. From the diverse perspectives developed about this human dimension, we emphasise the dialogical paradigm that has been increasingly influential in the psychotherapeutic theory and practice. According to the dialogical perspective the psychological well-being is dependent on the way individuals articulate and maintain productive dialogues between the different voices of the self or “I-Positions”. In this paper we present a review of the literature on the strategies that underlie this self-regulatory ability of the self-system and the guidelines of the dialogical therapeutic intervention that could be used when these self-regulatory strategies become dysfunctional.(undefined
Olfactomedin 4 Serves as a Marker for Disease Severity in Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infection
Funding: Statement of financial support: The study was financially supported by the VIRGO consortium, an Innovative Cluster approved by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative and partially funded by the Dutch Government (BSIK 03012). The authors have indicated they have no personal financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. Data Availability Statement: The data is accessible at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE69606.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Agricultural livelihoods, adaptation, and environmental migration in sub-Saharan drylands: a meta-analytical review
Drylands in sub-Saharan Africa are strongly affected by the impacts of climate change. Temperature increases, changes in rainfall patterns, and land degradation pose serious threats to food security, health, and water availability in the region. The increase in livelihood insecurity can in turn trigger migration as a way to adapt or cope with stress. Based on 89 original case studies, this study uses review and meta-analytical techniques to systematically explore the relationship between environmental change, adaptation, and migration in rural areas in sub-Saharan drylands. We show that households use a diverse range of strategies to respond to environmental hardships in different livelihood and ecological contexts. While migration is common in some communities, it is of less relevance to others, and it can take various forms. Our findings indicate that migration is often used as a complementary strategy to other forms of adaptation, which can vary depending on situational needs. We use cluster analysis to identify adaptation clusters and show how linked response strategies differ by socioeconomic conditions. We find that migration can serve as a last resort measure for highly vulnerable groups, or be used in combination with in-situ strategies for diversifying income and adapting agricultural practices. Our results have important implications highlighting the role of local conditions and complementary forms of coping and adaptation for understanding environmental migration
Outcome of Colonic Surgery in Elderly Patients with Colon Cancer
Introduction. Colonic cancer is one of the most
commonly diagnosed malignancies and most often occurs in patients
aged 65 years or older. Aim. To evaluate the
outcome of colonic surgery in the elderly in our hospital and to
compare five-year survival rates between the younger and elderly
patients. Methods. 207 consecutive patients
underwent surgery for colon cancer. Patients were separated in
patients younger than 75 and older than 75 years.
Results. Elderly patients presented significantly
more (P < .05) as a surgical emergency, had a longer duration of
admission and were more often admitted to the ICU (P < .01). Also, elderly patients had significant more
co-morbidities, especially cardiovascular pathology (P < .01). Post-operative complications were seen more often in
the elderly, although no significant difference was seen in
anastomotic leakage. The five-year survival rate in the younger
group was 62% compared with 36% in the elderly (P < .05). DFS was 61% in the younger patients compared
with 32% in the elderly (P < .05). Conclusion. Curative resection of
colonic carcinoma in the elderly is well tolerated and age alone
should not be an indication for less aggressive therapy. However,
the type and number of co-morbidities influence post-operative
mortality and morbidity
Nonuniversal Effects in the Homogeneous Bose Gas
Effective field theory predicts that the leading nonuniversal effects in the
homogeneous Bose gas arise from the effective range for S-wave scattering and
from an effective three-body contact interaction. We calculate the leading
nonuniversal contributions to the energy density and condensate fraction and
compare the predictions with results from diffusion Monte Carlo calculations by
Giorgini, Boronat, and Casulleras. We give a crude determination of the
strength of the three-body contact interaction for various model potentials.
Accurate determinations could be obtained from diffusion Monte Carlo
calculations of the energy density with higher statistics.Comment: 24 pages, RevTex, 5 ps figures, included with epsf.te
Reservoir Computing Approach to Robust Computation using Unreliable Nanoscale Networks
As we approach the physical limits of CMOS technology, advances in materials
science and nanotechnology are making available a variety of unconventional
computing substrates that can potentially replace top-down-designed
silicon-based computing devices. Inherent stochasticity in the fabrication
process and nanometer scale of these substrates inevitably lead to design
variations, defects, faults, and noise in the resulting devices. A key
challenge is how to harness such devices to perform robust computation. We
propose reservoir computing as a solution. In reservoir computing, computation
takes place by translating the dynamics of an excited medium, called a
reservoir, into a desired output. This approach eliminates the need for
external control and redundancy, and the programming is done using a
closed-form regression problem on the output, which also allows concurrent
programming using a single device. Using a theoretical model, we show that both
regular and irregular reservoirs are intrinsically robust to structural noise
as they perform computation
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