On the Origin of the -4.4 eV Band in CdTe(100)"

We calculate the bulk- (infinite system), (100)-bulk-projected- and (100)-Surface-projected Green's functions using the Surface Green's Function Matching method (SGFM) and an empirical tight-binding hamiltonian with tight-binding parameters (TBP) that describe well the bulk band structure of CdTe. In particular, we analyze the band (B--4) arising at --4.4 eV from the top of the valence band at $\Gamma$ according to the results of Niles and H\"ochst and at -4.6 eV according to Gawlik {\it et al.} both obtained by Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES). We give the first theoretical description of this band.Comment: 17 pages, Rev-TEX, CIEA-Phys. 02/9

Does functional soil microbial diversity contribute to explain within-site plant beta-diversity in an alpine grassland and a <i>dehesa</i> meadow in Spain?

Questions: Once that the effects of hydrological and chemical soil properties have been accounted for, does soil microbial diversity contribute to explain change in plant community structure (i.e. within-site beta-diversity)? If so, at which spatial scale does microbial diversity operate? Location: La Mina in Moscosa Farm, Salamanca, western Spain (dehesa community) and Laguna Larga in the Urbión Peaks, Soria, central-northern Spain (alpine grassland). Methods: The abundance of vascular plant species, soil gram-negative microbial functional types and soil chemical properties (pH, available phosphorus, and extractable cations) were sampled at both sites, for which hydrological models were available. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to partition variation in plant community structure into hydrological, chemical and microbial components. Spatial filters, arranged in scalograms, were used to test for the spatial scales at which plant community structure change. Results: In the case of the dehesa the diversity of soil gram-negative microbes, weakly driven by soil pH, contributed to a small extent (adj-R2 = 2%) and at a relative medium spatial scale to explain change in plant community structure. The abundance of a few dehesa species, both annual (Trifolium dubium, Vulpia bromoides) and perennial (Poa bulbosa, Festuca ampla), was associated with either increasing or decreasing soil microbial diversity. In the alpine meadow the contribution was negligible. Conclusions: Microbial diversity can drive community structure, though in the hierarchy of environmental factors structuring communities it appears to rank lower than other soil factors. Still, microbial diversity appears to promote or restrain individual plant species. This paper aims to encourage future studies to use more comprehensive and insightful techniques to assess microbial diversity and to combine this with statistical approaches such as the one used here

Efficient state-based CRDTs by delta-mutation

CRDTs are distributed data types that make eventual consistency of a distributed object possible and non ad-hoc. Specifically, state-based CRDTs ensure convergence through disseminating the entire state, that may be large, and merging it to other replicas; whereas operation-based CRDTs disseminate operations (i.e., small states) assuming an exactly-once reliable dissemination layer. We introduce Delta State Conflict-Free Replicated Datatypes (δ-CRDT) that can achieve the best of both worlds: small messages with an incremental nature, disseminated over unreliable communication channels. This is achieved by defining δ-mutators to return a delta-state, typically with a much smaller size than the full state, that is joined to both: local and remote states. We introduce the δ-CRDT framework, and we explain it through establishing a correspondence to current state-based CRDTs. In addition, we present an anti-entropy algorithm that ensures causal consistency, and two δ-CRDT specifications of well-known replicated datatypes.This work is co-financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2, O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within project NORTE07-0124-FEDER-000058; and by EU FP7 SyncFree project (609551)

Using stochastic acceleration to place experimental limits on the charge of antihydrogen

Assuming hydrogen is charge neutral, CPT invariance demands that antihydrogen also be charge neutral. Quantum anomaly cancellation also demands that antihydrogen be charge neutral. Standard techniques based on measurements of macroscopic quantities of atoms cannot be used to measure the charge of antihydrogen. In this paper, we describe how the application of randomly oscillating electric fields to a sample of trapped antihydrogen atoms, a form of stochastic acceleration, can be used to place experimental limits on this charge

New species of Entomobryini from Russia and Armenia (Collembola, Entomobryomorpha)

This paper is part of the results of a systematic study of the specimens of Entomobrya and related genera from various European museums and other material obtained from private collections. Various new species from Russia and Armenia were identified: Entomobrya karasukensis n. sp., Entomobrya tuvinica n. sp., Entomobrya pseudolanuginosa n. sp., Entomobrya stebaevae n. sp., Entomobrya kuznetsovae n. sp., Entomobrya brinevi n. sp., Entomobrya primorica n. sp., Entomobrya kabardinica n. sp., Entomobrya taigicola n. sp., Entomobryoides sotoadamesi n. sp. and Prodrepanura altaica n. sp. from Russia, and Entomobrya armeniensis n. sp. from Armenia. For the identification and description of these species we used the set of characters proposed by Jordana and Baquero (2005)

Funding models in palliative care: lessons from international experience

Background:Funding models influence provision and development of palliative care services. As palliative care integrates into mainstream health care provision, opportunities to develop funding mechanisms arise. However, little has been reported on what funding models exist or how we can learn from them.Aim:To assess national models and methods for financing and reimbursing palliative care.Design:Initial literature scoping yielded limited evidence on the subject as national policy documents are difficult to identify, access and interpret. We undertook expert consultations to appraise national models of palliative care financing in England, Germany, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Wales. These represent different levels of service development and a variety of funding mechanisms.Results:Funding mechanisms reflect country-specific context and local variations in care provision. Patterns emerging include the following:Provider payment is rarely linked to population need and often perpetuates existing inequitable patterns in service provision.Funding is frequently characterised as a mixed system of charitable, public and private payers.The basis on which providers are paid for services rarely reflects individual care input or patient needs.Conclusion:Funding mechanisms need to be well understood and used with caution to ensure best practice and minimise perverse incentives. Before we can conduct cross-national comparisons of costs and impact of palliative care, we need to understand the funding and policy context for palliative care in each country of interest

Sa Gleda cave (Majorca, Balearic Islands) and its fauna, with description of a new species of Oncopoduridae (Collembola)

A new species of Oncopodura (Collembola: Entomobryomorpha: Oncopoduridae) from a cave in Majorca is described. The new species can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the following characters: four distal leaf-shaped sensilla on antennal segment IV and another one on the basal part; PAO small, as a single vesicle; dens with distal outer hook-like spine; mucr with four teeth, with the basal one very sharp; basal part of dens with a large spine on the inner side; claw with a long lateral tooth. The discovery of this new species resulted from the speleological work that was carried out in the cave

Perioperative care of the geriatric patient for noncardiac surgery

Adults age 65 and over are the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States and around the world. As the size of this population expands, the number of older adults referred for surgical procedures will continue to increase. Due to the physiologic changes of aging and the increased frequency of comorbidities, older adults are at increased risk for adverse outcomes, and perioperative care is inherently more complex than in younger individuals. In this review, we discuss the physiologic changes of aging relevant to the surgical patient, comprehensive preoperative assessment, and postoperative management of common complications in older adults in order to promote optimal clinical outcomes both perioperatively and long-term

A new type of arthropod photoreceptor

A new type of photoreceptor for the phylum Arthropoda, found in the class Collembola (Arthropoda, Hexapoda) is reported. This new light-sensitive structure consists of a pair of interocular vesicles present in the genus Vesicephalus Richards, 1964 and is anatomically related to the cluster of ommatidia. The absence of a lens, the presence of a rabdome in the upper part of the vesicle and the reflection and refraction of light by a hemolymph bubble with incidence to the rhabdomeric structure are the main traits of this new photoreceptor

Performance of the modified Becke-Johnson potential

Very recently, in the 2011 version of the Wien2K code, the long standing shortcome of the codes based on Density Functional Theory, namely, its impossibility to account for the experimental band gap value of semiconductors, was overcome. The novelty is the introduction of a new exchange and correlation potential, the modified Becke-Johnson potential (mBJLDA). In this paper, we report our detailed analysis of this recent work. We calculated using this code, the band structure of forty one semiconductors and found an important improvement in the overall agreement with experiment as Tran and Blaha [{\em Phys. Rev. Lett.} 102, 226401 (2009)] did before for a more reduced set of semiconductors. We find, nevertheless, within this enhanced set, that the deviation from the experimental gap value can reach even much more than 20%, in some cases. Furthermore, since there is no exchange and correlation energy term from which the mBJLDA potential can be deduced, a direct optimization procedure to get the lattice parameter in a consistent way is not possible as in the usual theory. These authors suggest that a LDA or a GGA optimization procedure is used previous to a band structure calculation and the resulting lattice parameter introduced into the 2011 code. This choice is important since small percentage differences in the lattice parameter can give rise to quite higher percentage deviations from experiment in the predicted band gap value.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 5 Table