Novel design for noise controlled semiconductor optical amplifier

The use of semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) in optical communications networks has so far been limited due to their inherent large noise figure (NF) compared to Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifiers. Therefore improvement of the noise performance of SOAs is critical to their widespread adoption in future networks. We propose to reduce the NF of the SOA by introducing a lasing cavity lateral to the axis of amplification of the device. The carrier density within the cavity is clamped at the lasing threshold. It is thus possible to engineer the carrier density distribution along the active waveguide by controlling the cavity design. According to our simulations, some of the cavity designs lead to a reduction of the noise figure in this novel SOA

An Intensive, Interdisciplinary Treatment Program for Persons with Aphasia

Traditionally, much of individual aphasia therapy has been focused on attempts to remediate underlying linguistic deficits. While many treatments have been shown to improve discrete language functions (Robey et al, 1998), those newly learned skills do not always transfer readily to non-trained environments. Over the past two decades, a growing number of aphasiologists have begun to focus their attention on social approaches to aphasia assessment and treatment (Elman, 2007). One such approach, group treatment, serves as a natural and dynamic vehicle to improve social communication, which has been shown to improve discrete language skills in persons with aphasia (pwa), (Elman & Bernstein-Ellis, 1999). Group treatment frequently co-occurs with individual therapy, but is rarely used as a formal mechanism to train generalization. Another area of broad discussion in aphasia rehabilitation is the concept of treatment intensity. Basso (2005) reported that pwa who received a higher number of therapy sessions improved more than those who received a lower number of therapy sessions. Bhogal et al (2003) found that treatment provided on a more intense level (>8.8 hours/week) for a shorter period of time resulted in stronger improvements compared to treatment provided on a less intense level over a longer period of time. A final issue is that individuals with stroke-induced aphasia often present with concomitant motor, cognitive and dietary/cardiac issues. Thus it seems that an interdisciplinary approach incorporating physical, occupational and nutritional therapy would also be beneficial. This paper explores the speech-language effects of a treatment program, which attempts to incorporate evidenced-based treatment, in an intensive, interdisciplinary format. Pilot data from an initial cohort completed June 2011 as well as multiple-baseline data from a second cohort completed June 2012 is presented

The Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms : Multidimensional measures of Perceptual and Action Strength for 40,000 English words

Sensorimotor information plays a fundamental role in cognition. However, the existing materials that measure the sensorimotor basis of word meanings and concepts have been restricted in terms of their sample size and breadth of sensorimotor experience. Here we present norms of sensorimotor strength for 39,707 concepts across six perceptual modalities (touch, hearing, smell, taste, vision, and interoception) and five action effectors (mouth/throat, hand/arm, foot/leg, head excluding mouth/throat, and torso), gathered from a total of 3,500 individual participants using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. The Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms are unique and innovative in a number of respects: They represent the largest-ever set of semantic norms for English, at 40,000 words × 11 dimensions (plus several informative cross-dimensional variables), they extend perceptual strength norming to the new modality of interoception, and they include the first norming of action strength across separate bodily effectors. In the first study, we describe the data collection procedures, provide summary descriptives of the dataset, and interpret the relations observed between sensorimotor dimensions. We then report two further studies, in which we (1) extracted an optimal single-variable composite of the 11-dimension sensorimotor profile (Minkowski 3 strength) and (2) demonstrated the utility of both perceptual and action strength in facilitating lexical decision times and accuracy in two separate datasets. These norms provide a valuable resource to researchers in diverse areas, including psycholinguistics, grounded cognition, cognitive semantics, knowledge representation, machine learning, and big-data approaches to the analysis of language and conceptual representations. The data are accessible via the Open Science Framework (http://osf.io/7emr6/) and an interactive web application (https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/psychology/lsnorms/)

THE UNIVERSITY ENGLISH LECTURER: COLLEAGUE OR COMMODITY

Consumer demands and annual budgetary inconsistencies have caused today's postsecondary academic landscape to continuously shift and change. Challenges to remain competitive or simply survive impact postsecondary institutions at their most fundamental level: those who are teaching the core curricula. Within the discipline of English, lecturers teach the core undergraduate composition courses. They usually work on annual contracts and maintain 4/4 teaching loads with little, if any, job security, for low wages, long hours, and less prestige within the academic community. Yet, the number of postgraduates applying for lectureship positions seems endless. In light of the current academic culture this study asks: is the university English lecturer considered a colleague, or a commodity? The conclusions of the eight participants from six public universities within the University of North Carolina (UNC) system are: 1) Lecturers felt that they and their courses were marginalized by their institutions and to an extent, by their peers. 2) Job satisfaction was linked to the department and to their students rather than to their institution or peers. 3) Validation from teaching and control in their classrooms compensated for the heavy workload, poor wages, and job insecurity. 4) All lecturers felt more status over adjunct faculty but MAs felt less valued than those with PhDs. 5) Lecturers with terminal degrees showed more discontent and viewed this position as transitory. 6) All participants saw themselves as valid contributing professionals and thought that teaching composition was an honorable and important contribution to the institution, department, and to student development

Seasonal patterns of oral antihistamine and intranasal corticosteroid purchases from Australian community pharmacies : a retrospective observational study

Acknowledgments The abstract of this paper was presented at the Respiratory Effectiveness Group 2016 Annual Summit as a poster presentation with interim findings. The poster’s abstract was published in “Poster Abstracts” in The Journal of Thoracic Disease (Vol. 8, Supplement 5, 5 July 2016). http://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/8504.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

How are normal sleeping controls selected? A systematic review of cross-sectional insomnia studies, and a standardised method to select healthy controls for sleep research

There appears to be some inconsistency in how normal sleepers (controls) are selected and screened for participation in research studies for comparison with insomnia patients. The purpose of the current study is to assess and compare methods of identifying normal sleepers in insomnia studies, with reference to published standards. We systematically reviewed the literature on insomnia patients which included control subjects. The resulting 37 articles were systematically reviewed with reference to the five criteria for normal sleep specified by Edinger et al. (2004). In summary, these criteria are: evidence of sleep disruption; sleep scheduling; general health; substance/medication use; and other sleep disorders. We found sleep diaries, PSG, and clinical screening examinations to be widely used with both control subjects and insomnia participants. However, there are differences between research groups in the precise definitions applied to the components of normal sleep. We found that none of reviewed studies applied all of the Edinger et al. criteria, and 16% met four criteria. In general, screening is applied most rigorously at the level of a clinical disorder, whether physical, psychiatric, or sleep. While the Edinger et al. criteria seem to be applied in some form by most researchers, there is scope to improve standards and definitions in this area. Ideally, different methods such as sleep diaries and questionnaires would be used concurrently with objective measures to ensure normal sleepers are identified, and descriptive information for control subjects would be reported. Here, we have devised working criteria and methods to be used for assessment of normal sleepers. This would help clarify the nature of the control group, in contrast to insomnia subjects and other patient groups

Noise controlled semiconductor optical amplifier based on lateral cavity laser

Experimental characterisation of a novel noise-controlled semiconductor optical amplifier (NCSOA) is presented. The design utilises grooves etched parallel to the active waveguide, at the output sections of the NCSOA, so as to induce lasing laterally to the propagation axis. This clamps the carrier density in a relevant region, allowing for the engineering of a specific longitudinal carrier density profile, corresponding to an improved noise figure performance. Results have demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier density profile engineering as a means of reducing the noise figure in semiconductor optical amplifier

Impact of bias current distribution on the noise figure and power saturation of a multi-contact semiconductor optical amplifier

We present an experimental investigation of a multi-contact semiconductor optical amplifier. This first-generation device allows for direct control of the carrier density profile along the length of the waveguide. This is used to control the device noise figure, with a minimum value of 5 dB observed at a gain of 15 dB for an optimum carrier density profile. The opposite carrier density profile results in an increase of the power saturation by 3 dB