To what extent does severity of loneliness vary among different mental health diagnostic groups: A cross-sectional study.

Loneliness is a common and debilitating problem in individuals with mental health disorders. However, our knowledge on severity of loneliness in different mental health diagnostic groups and factors associated with loneliness is poor, thus limiting the ability to target and improve loneliness interventions. The current study investigated the association between diagnoses and loneliness and explored whether psychological and social factors were related to loneliness. This study employed a cross-sectional design using data from a completed study which developed a measure of social inclusion. It included 192 participants from secondary, specialist mental health services with a primary diagnosis of psychotic disorders (n = 106), common mental disorders (n = 49), or personality disorders (n = 37). The study explored differences in loneliness between these broad diagnostic groups, and the relationship to loneliness of: affective symptoms, social isolation, perceived discrimination, and internalized stigma. The study adhered to the STROBE checklist for observational research. People with common mental disorders (MD = 3.94, CI = 2.15 to 5.72, P < 0.001) and people with personality disorders (MD = 4.96, CI = 2.88 to 7.05, P < 0.001) reported higher levels of loneliness compared to people with psychosis. These differences remained significant after adjustment for all psychological and social variables. Perceived discrimination and internalized stigma were also independently associated with loneliness and substantially contributed to a final explanatory model. The severity of loneliness varies between different mental health diagnostic groups. Both people with common mental disorders and personality disorders reported higher levels of loneliness than people with psychosis. Addressing perceived mental health discrimination and stigma may help to reduce loneliness

Predicted efficiency of Si wire array solar cells

Solar cells based on arrays of CVD-grown Si nano- or micro-wires have attracted interest as potentially low-cost alternatives to conventional wafer-based Si photovoltaics [1-6], and single-wire solar cells have been reported with efficiencies of up to 3.4% [7]. We recently presented device physics simulations which predicted efficiencies exceeding 17%, based on experimentally observed diffusion lengths within our wires [8]. However, this model did not take into account the optical properties of a wire array device - in particular the inherently low packing fraction of wires within CVD-grown wire arrays, which might limit their ability to fully absorb incident sunlight. For this reason, we have combined a device physics model of Si wire solar cells with FDTD simulations of light absorption within wire arrays to investigate the potential photovoltaic efficiency of this cell geometry. We have found that even a sparsely packed array (14%) is expected to absorb moderate (66%) amounts of above-bandgap solar energy, yielding a simulated photovoltaic efficiency of 14.5%. Because the wire array comprises such a small volume of Si, the observed absorption represents an effective optical concentration, which enables greater operating voltages than previously predicted for Si wire array solar cells

Longevity and mortality in Kennel Club registered dog breeds in the UK in 2014

Abstract Background The domestic dog is one of the most diverse mammalian species, exhibiting wide variations in morphology, behaviour and morbidity across breeds. Therefore, it is not unexpected that breeds should also exhibit variation in mortality and longevity. While shorter longevity per se may not necessarily be a welfare issue, a generally foreshortened lifespan in a breed that is accompanied by a high prevalence of a particular cause of death may reveal potentially serious welfare concerns and highlight scope to improve breed welfare. Survey data gathered directly from owners offer useful insights into canine longevity and mortality that can support the overall evidence base for welfare reforms within breeds. Results Mortality data on 5663 deceased dogs registered with the UK Kennel Club were collected from an owner-based survey. The most commonly reported causes of death were old age (13.8%), unspecified cancer (8.7%) and heart failure (4.9%); with 5.1% of deaths reported as unknown cause. Overall median age at death was 10.33 years (interquartile range: 7.17–12.83 years). Breeds varied widely in median longevity overall from the West Highland Terrier (12.71 years) to the Dobermann Pinscher (7.67 years). There was also wide variation in the prevalence of some common causes of death among breeds, and in median longevity across the causes of death. Conclusion Substantial variation in the median lifespan and the prominent causes of death exists across breeds. This study has identified some breeds with both a low median lifespan and also a high proportional mortality for one or more specific causes of death that should be considered as both potential welfare concerns as well as opportunities for improvement

Large-scale survey to estimate the prevalence of disorders for 192 Kennel Club registered breeds

Abstract Background Pedigree or purebred dogs are often stated to have high prevalence of disorders which are commonly assumed to be a consequence of inbreeding and selection for exaggerated features. However, few studies empirically report and rank the prevalence of disorders across breeds although such data are of critical importance in the prioritisation of multiple health concerns, and to provide a baseline against which to explore changes over time. This paper reports an owner survey that gathered disorder information on Kennel Club registered pedigree dogs, regardless of whether these disorders received veterinary care. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of disorders among pedigree dogs overall and, where possible, determine any variation among breeds. Results This study included morbidity data on 43,005 live dogs registered with the Kennel Club. Just under two thirds of live dogs had no reported diseases/conditions. The most prevalent diseases/conditions overall were lipoma (4.3%; 95% confidence interval 4.13-4.52%), skin (cutaneous) cyst (3.1%; 2.94-3.27%) and hypersensitivity (allergic) skin disorder (2.7%; 2.52-2.82%). For the most common disorders in the most represented breeds, 90 significant differences between the within breed prevalence and the overall prevalence are reported. Conclusion The results from this study have added vital epidemiological data on disorders in UK dogs. It is anticipated that these results will contribute to the forthcoming Breed Health & Conservation Plans, a Kennel Club initiative aiming to assist in the identification and prioritisation of breeding selection objectives for health and provide advice to breeders/owners regarding steps that may be taken to minimise the risk of the disease/disorders. Future breed-specific studies are recommended to report more precise prevalence estimates within more breeds

That’s close enough:A threshold effect of time headway on the experience of risk, task diffculty, effort, and comfort

Subjective impressions of task difficulty, risk, effort, and comfort are key variables of several theories of driver behaviour. A point of difference between many of these theories is not only the importance of these variables, but also whether they are continuously present and monitored or only experienced by individuals at certain critical points in the driving task. Both a threshold relationship and evidence of constant monitoring of risk and task difficulty have been found for speed choice. In light of these conflicting findings this study seeks to examine a different part of the driving task, the choice of time headway. Participants (N = 40, aged 19 to 30) drove in a simulator behind a vehicle travelling at 50 km/h at set time headways ranging from 0.5 seconds to 4.0 seconds. After each drive ratings of task difficulty, risk, comfort, and effort were collected. In addition participants were asked to drive at the time headway they preferred. In order to assess familiarity participants also drove on both the left and right hand side of the road and the role of driving experience was also examined. The results show support for a threshold awareness of task difficulty, risk, effort, and comfort in relation to time headway. Participant's ratings of these variables tended to be low or nil at large time headways, but then around the 2.0 second mark began to noticeably increase. Feelings of task difficulty, risk, and effort were also found to be highly correlated with each other. No effect of driving experience or side of the road was found. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

10 µm minority-carrier diffusion lengths in Si wires synthesized by Cu-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth

The effective electron minority-carrier diffusion length, L_(n,eff), for 2.0 µm diameter Si wires that were synthesized by Cu-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth was measured by scanning photocurrent microscopy. In dark, ambient conditions, L_(n,eff) was limited by surface recombination to a value of ≤ 0.7 µm. However, a value of L_(n,eff) = 10.5±1 µm was measured under broad-area illumination in low-level injection. The relatively long minority-carrier diffusion length observed under illumination is consistent with an increased surface passivation resulting from filling of the surface states of the Si wires by photogenerated carriers. These relatively large L_(n,eff) values have important implications for the design of high-efficiency, radial-junction photovoltaic cells from arrays of Si wires synthesized by metal-catalyzed growth processes

Driver hand positions on the steering wheel while merging into motorway traffic

It has been suggested that a driver's hand position on the steering wheel can reflect the perceived risk of the road context (Walton, D., & Thomas, J. A. (2005). Naturalistic observations of driver hand positions. Transportation Research Part F, 8. 229-238, Thomas, J. A., & Walton, D. (2007). Measuring perceived risk: Self-reported and actual hand positions of SUV and car drivers. Transportation Research Part F, 10, 201-207). These original studies were based on field observations where only a part of the steering wheel could be viewed. In the present study hand positions were observed in a driving simulator during the performance of a demanding task: merging into motorway traffic. In the current study the whole steering wheel could be observed and hand positions were classified in three categories: high control, medium control, and low control. Differences in hand position between different traffic conditions were limited, and hand position did not correlate with self-reported risk or self-reported mental effort, but changes in hand positions do seem to be associated with changes in workload demand. It is therefore concluded that hand position can give some information about mental workload. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

High-performance Si microwire photovoltaics

Crystalline Si wires, grown by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) process, have emerged as promising candidate materials for lowcost, thin-film photovoltaics. Here, we demonstrate VLS-grown Si microwires that have suitable electrical properties for high-performance photovoltaic applications, including long minority-carrier diffusion lengths (L_n » 30 µm) and low surface recombination velocities (S « 70 cm·s^(-1)). Single-wire radial p–n junction solar cells were fabricated with amorphous silicon and silicon nitride surface coatings, achieving up to 9.0% apparent photovoltaic efficiency, and exhibiting up to ~600 mV open-circuit voltage with over 80% fill factor. Projective single-wire measurements and optoelectronic simulations suggest that large-area Si wire-array solar cells have the potential to exceed 17% energy-conversion efficiency, offering a promising route toward cost-effective crystalline Si photovoltaics

Determination of step--edge barriers to interlayer transport from surface morphology during the initial stages of homoepitaxial growth

We use analytic formulae obtained from a simple model of crystal growth by molecular--beam epitaxy to determine step--edge barriers to interlayer transport. The method is based on information about the surface morphology at the onset of nucleation on top of first--layer islands in the submonolayer coverage regime of homoepitaxial growth. The formulae are tested using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of a solid--on--solid model and applied to estimate step--edge barriers from scanning--tunneling microscopy data on initial stages of Fe(001), Pt(111), and Ag(111) homoepitaxy.Comment: 4 pages, a Postscript file, uuencoded and compressed. Physical Review B, Rapid Communications, in press