Absence of Wigner Crystallization in Graphene

Graphene, a single sheet of graphite, has attracted tremendous attention due to recent experiments which demonstrate that carriers in it are described by massless fermions with linear dispersion. In this note, we consider the possibility of Wigner crystallization in graphene in the absence of external magnetic field. We show that the ratio of potential and kinetic energy is independent of the carrier density, the tuning parameter that usually drives Wigner crystallization and find out that for given material parameters (dielectric constant and Fermi velocity), Wigner crystallization is not possible. We comment on the how these results change in the presence of a strong external magnetic field.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure,Submitted for PR

Effect of individual entrepreneurship orientation on export intention in micro and small enterprises: The moderating role of access to finance

Purpose: Considering the importance of the internationalization of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) for the national economic growth, this study was conducted in order to determine the possible impact of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) on export intention in MSEs through the moderating effect of access to finance. Methodology: This research consists of a survey of 150 agriculture farm owners from Nepal conducted in January 2020. The researchers used SmartPLS as a research tool to analyse the data. Results: The results of this study indicate that out of five dimensions of IEO, only autonomy has a positive significant effect on export intention, whereas access to finance had no moderating role in the effect of IEO on export intention. Conclusion: Overall, this study provides profound insight about IEO in the context of a less developed country like Nepal and also sheds light on Nepalese farm owners’ IEO and their intention to export

Organisational learning model for utility asset management using knowledge engineering approach.

Under the evolving environment, a utility company is required to improve the operation and maintenance of its physical assets usually in the forms of an asset management program. This paper proposes an organisational learning model for the utility companies with respect to the asset management activities. CommonKADS is utilised as a tool to capture the knowledge associated with managing the assets from the learning processes of the utility company. A case study of Bangpakong power plant in Thailand is presented. The results show that by applying the proposed methodologies, the learning processes within the utility companies can be categorised and explained by five major learning steps of breakdown, corrective, preventive, predictive, and proactive maintenances

Immunoregulatory soluble CTLA-4 modifies effector T cell responses in systemic lupus erythematosus

Acknowledgments This work was supported by Arthritis Research UK (Grant no. 19282). We are grateful to Dr. Nick Fluck for his invaluable support in recruiting patients for the study, and Mrs. Vivien Vaughan for her invaluable expertise in recruiting study participants and maintaining ethical documentation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

On the Road to Immunotherapy : Prospects for Treating Head and Neck Cancers With Checkpoint Inhibitor Antibodies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Dynamic adjustment of age distribution in Human Resource Management by genetic algorithms.

Adjustment of a given age distribution to a desired age distribution within a required time frame is dynamically performed for the purpose of Human Resource (HR) planning in Human Resource Management (HRM). The adjustment process is carried out by adding the adjustment magnitudes to the existing number of employees at the selected age groups on the yearly basis. A model of a discrete dynamical system is employed to emulate the evolution of the age distribution used under the adjustment process. Genetic Algorithms (GA) is applied for determining the adjustment magnitudes that influence the dynamics of the system. An interesting aspect of the problem lies in the high number of constraints; though the constraints are fundamental, they are considerably higher in number than in many other optimization problems. An adaptive penalty scheme is proposed for handling the constraints. Numerical examples show that GA with the utilized adaptive penalty scheme provides potential means for HR planning in HRM

Remarks on the tight-binding model of graphene

We address a simple but fundamental issue arising in the study of graphene, as well as of other systems that have a crystalline structure with more than one atom per unit cell. For these systems, the choice of the tight-binding basis is not unique. For monolayer graphene two bases are widely used in the literature. While the expectation values of operators describing physical quantities should be independent of basis, the form of the operators may depend on the basis, especially in the presence of disorder or of an applied magnetic field. Using the inappropriate form of certain operators may lead to erroneous physical predictions. We discuss the two bases used to describe monolayer graphene, as well as the form of the most commonly used operators in the two bases. We repeat our analysis for the case of bilayer graphene.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Elective surgery patients walk to operating room instead of wheeled in on trolley: patient centered care

Introductions: Habits and beliefs of earlier practitioners influence medicine. We continue to wheel in the elective surgery patients to operating room (OR) which makes them feel not in self-control and increases anxiety. With few exceptions of heavily sedated, in severe pain or frail patients, most prefer to walk to the OR accompanied by nurse and family, if given the opportunity, in line with patient centered care. We aim to assess feasibility to allow elective surgery patients walk to OR accompanied by nurse and family member. Methods:This was a cross-sectional observation of 100 consecutive elective surgery patients admitted at surgery department, Patan Hospital, Nepal. Adult patients of 15 years or above were allowed to walk to OR accompanied by a nurse and family members. Demographic profile, patient satisfaction, anxiety on arriving to OR, patient feeling of autonomy were recorded to assess patient centered care. Microsoft Excel was used to descriptively analyze the data. Ethical approval was obtained. Results:Of 100 consecutive patients, 62 were female and 38 male, average age 52 years (range 15 to 72), and abdomen surgery 62 (62%). Two patients did not want to walk. The 98 patients who walked to the OR, all were satisfied and 89 were not anxious. Conclusions: Elective surgery patients (98 out of 100) accompanied by nurse and family members walked to operating room satisfied and were not anxious.  Keywords: elective surgery, patient autonomy, patient-centered care, patient satisfaction, walking to operating roo

SUSTAINABLE DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE HIMALAYA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION

The soil and land resources play a vital role in sustaining the local livelihoods of rural communities in the Himalaya. Most of the arable land has already been brought under cultivation, hence the ever-increasing demand for food and fiber has left farmers with no choice but to intensify agriculture. However, producing more crops and greater quantities of food, fiber and other materials on the same parcel of land can to soil fertility and productivity decline with overall degradation of land quality. Therefore, ways and means to intensify agriculture to enhance productivity without degrading the soil and land resource base have become imperative. Agro-forestry, agro-slivi-pastoral systems, and the adoption of a variety of crop, soil and water management and conservation practices offer potential to deliver multiple benefits without sacrificing the very resource upon which the human population depends. Presented herein are findings on approaches to sustainable intensification of agriculture and land management related to soil OM management and C sequestration for multiple benefits, and, agro-forestry as a crop diversification strategy with both livelihood, and climate change adaptation/mitigation benefits. The results indicate that sustainable soil management practices could lead to significant SOC accumulations (4-8 t/ha over 6 yrs). SOC and soil C stocks tend to increase with elevation due to cooler climate and slow decomposition rates. Carbon stocks for the 3 LU types was in the order CF>AF/LH>AG, suggesting that diversified cropping practices including agro-forestry have good potential sequester C while providing livelihood opportunities and climate adaptive capacity for local farming communities. Biochar amendment increased growth of both coffee plants and radish with mixed grass/weed biochar being most effective. Biochar application also significantly decreased emission of GHGs, especially N2O