10,129 research outputs found
Study of highly fluorinated heterocyclic polymers for cryogenic bladder applications Final report, 15 Oct. 1968 - 15 Mar. 1970
Highly fluorinated heterocyclic polymers for cryogenic bladder application
Optimizing multi-dimensional terahertz imaging analysis for colon cancer diagnosis
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Poly/vinyl ethers/ synthesis for fundamental study of viscoelastic state Final report
Large scale synthesis of amorphous poly/vinyl ethers/ for viscoelastic state stud
Brood patch and sex-ratio observations indicate breeding provenance and timing in New Zealand storm petrel (Fregetta maoriana)
We used measurements of brood patch and moult status to estimate the breeding phenology of New Zealand Storm-Petrel, using birds caught at sea within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park near Auckland, New Zealand. Birds caught October–January had completely downy brood patches, whereas birds caught February–April had bare brood patches with an observed male bias in the February sex-ratio, consistent with a female pre-laying exodus typical of petrels and with the existence of an unknown colony in the region. No birds captured exhibited primary moult, which is known to occur in storm-petrels during their non-breeding season. Our data support the conclusion that the New Zealand storm-petrel breeds during January–June in northern New Zealand and that field surveys for the species on offshore islands in this region during this period are warrante
Active inference, evidence accumulation, and the urn task
Deciding how much evidence to accumulate before making a decision is a problem we and other animals often face, but one that is not completely understood. This issue is particularly important because a tendency to sample less information (often known as reflection impulsivity) is a feature in several psychopathologies, such as psychosis. A formal understanding of information sampling may therefore clarify the computational anatomy of psychopathology. In this theoretical letter, we consider evidence accumulation in terms of active (Bayesian) inference using a generic model of Markov decision processes. Here, agents are equipped with beliefs about their own behavior--in this case, that they will make informed decisions. Normative decision making is then modeled using variational Bayes to minimize surprise about choice outcomes. Under this scheme, different facets of belief updating map naturally onto the functional anatomy of the brain (at least at a heuristic level). Of particular interest is the key role played by the expected precision of beliefs about control, which we have previously suggested may be encoded by dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. We show that manipulating expected precision strongly affects how much information an agent characteristically samples, and thus provides a possible link between impulsivity and dopaminergic dysfunction. Our study therefore represents a step toward understanding evidence accumulation in terms of neurobiologically plausible Bayesian inference and may cast light on why this process is disordered in psychopathology
Ferromagnetism in substituted zinc oxide
Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in (110) oriented ZnO films
containing 5 at % of Sc, Ti, V, Fe, Co or Ni, but not Cr, Mn or Cu ions. There
are large moments, 1.9 and 0.5 muB/atom for Co- and Ti-substituted oxides,
respectively. Sc-substituted ZnO shows also a moment of 0.3 muB/Sc.
Magnetization is very anisotropic, with variations of up to a factor three
depending on the orientation of the applied field relative to the R-cut
sapphire substrates. Results are interpreted in terms of a spin-split donor
impurity band model, which can account for ferromagnetism in insulating or
conducting high-k oxides with concentrations of magnetic ions that lie far
below the percolation threshold. The variation of the ferromagnetism with
oxygen pressure used during film growth is evidence of a link between
ferromagnetism and defect concentration.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
ALMA and Keck analysis of Fomalhaut field sources: JWST's Great Dust Cloud is a background object
At 7.7 pc, the A-type star Fomalhaut hosts a bright debris disk with multiple
radial components. The disk is eccentric and misaligned, strongly suggesting
that it is sculpted by interaction with one or more planets. Compact sources
are now being detected with JWST, suggesting that new planet detections may be
imminent. However, to confirm such sources as companions, common proper motion
with the star must be established, as with unprecedented sensitivity comes a
high probability that planet candidates are actually background objects. Here,
ALMA and Keck observations of Fomalhaut are found to show significant emission
at the same sky location as multiple compact sources in JWST MIRI coronagraphic
observations, one of which has been dubbed the "Great Dust Cloud" because it
lies within the outer belt. Since the ground-based data were obtained between 6
to 18 years prior to the JWST observations, these compact sources are unlikely
to be common proper motion companions to Fomalhaut. More generally, this work
illustrates that images collected at a range of wavelengths can be valuable for
rejecting planet candidates uncovered via direct imaging with JWST.Comment: MNRAS in pres
Geriatrics Attitudes and Knowledge Among Surgical and Medical Subspecialty House Officers
To examine geriatrics knowledge and attitudes of non-primary care house officers (HOs) before and after a multidisciplinary faculty development program. DESIGN : Serial cross-sectional surveys. PARTICIPANTS : HOs. SETTING : A large midwestern academic medical center. INTERVENTION : Faculty from seven surgical and six medical subspecialties participated in weekly seminars for 9 months and implemented geriatrics curricula in their HO programs. MEASUREMENTS : HO geriatrics attitudes and knowledge were measured using the University of California at Los Angeles Geriatrics Attitudes Scale (GAS; 14 items), two scales of the Maxwell Sullivan test (Therapeutic Potential and Time/Energy; six items each; lower scores denote more-favorable attitudes), and the Geriatrics Clinical Knowledge Assessment (20 multiple choice items; range 0–100%). Repeat surveys were administered in seven disciplines after geriatrics curriculum implementation. RESULTS : Baseline (n=175) geriatrics attitudes were favorable (e.g., 3.7 for GAS; 2.1 for Time/Energy), with more-favorable attitudes among medical subspecialty than surgical HOs (e.g., mean GAS 3.8 and 3.6, respectively; P =.001), and with advanced training. Mean baseline knowledge scores were 65.1% among all HOs. No differences in attitudes or knowledge were observed between the first (n=100) and second (n=90) cohorts in the seven disciplines that administered subsequent tests. CONCLUSION : Geriatrics attitudes of non-primary care HOs are positive, and knowledge is moderate, suggesting need for and potential effect of geriatrics curricula. Demonstrating effects on learner outcomes of faculty development programs may require more than one faculty member per discipline and measures that are curriculum-specific and detailed rather than general and brief.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66180/1/j.1532-5415.2007.01475.x.pd
High resolution characterisation of microstructural evolution in RbFeSe crystals on annealing
The superconducting and magnetic properties of phase-separated
AFeSe compounds are known to depend on post-growth heat
treatments and cooling profiles. This paper focusses on the evolution of
microstructure on annealing, and how this influences the superconducting
properties of RbFeSe crystals. We find that the minority phase in
the as-grown crystal has increased unit cell anisotropy (c/a ratio), reduced Rb
content and increased Fe content compared to the matrix. The microstructure is
rather complex, with two-phase mesoscopic plate-shaped features aligned along
{113} habit planes. The minority phase are strongly facetted on the {113}
planes, which we have shown to be driven by minimising the volume strain energy
introduced as a result of the phase transformation. Annealing at 488K results
in coarsening of the mesoscopic plate-shaped features and the formation of a
third distinct phase. The subtle differences in structure and chemistry of the
minority phase(s) in the crystals are thought to be responsible for changes in
the superconducting transition temperature. In addition, scanning photoemission
microscopy has clearly shown that the electronic structure of the minority
phase has a higher occupied density of states of the low binding energy Fe3d
orbitals, characteristic of crystals that exhibit superconductivity. This
demonstrates a clear correlation between the Fe-vacancy-free phase with high
c/a ratio and the electronic structure characteristics of the superconducting
phase.Comment: 6 figures v2 is exactly the same as v1. The typesetting errors in the
abstract have been correcte
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