2,307 research outputs found
High-Power Directional Emission from Microlasers with Chaotic Resonators
High-power and highly directional semiconductor cylinder-lasers based on an
optical resonator with deformed cross section are reported. In the favorable
directions of the far-field, a power increase of up to three orders of
magnitude over the conventional circularly symmetric lasers was obtained. A
"bow-tie"-shaped resonance is responsible for the improved performance of the
lasers in the higher range of deformations, in contrast to
"whispering-gallery"-type modes of circular and weakly deformed lasers. This
resonator design, although demonstrated here in midinfrared quantum-cascade
lasers, should be applicable to any laser based on semiconductors or other
high-refractive index materials.Comment: Removed minor discrepancies with published version in the text and in
Fig.
An analysis of likes and dislikes for history and geography of 3360 sixth grade children
Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit
LETâs CONNECT community mentorship program for youths with peer social problems: Preliminary findings from a randomized effectiveness trial
This study examined the effectiveness of LETâs CONNECT (LC), a community mentorship program for youths who report peer social problems, which is based on a positive youth development framework. Participants were 218 youths (66.5% girls), aged 12 to 15 years, who were recruited from an urban medical emergency department and screened positive for bullying victimization, bullying perpetration, and/or low social connectedness. Youths were randomized to LC (n = 106) or the control condition (n = 112). Sixâmonth outcomes were assessed with selfâreport measures of youth social connectedness, community connectedness, thwarted belongingness, depression, selfâesteem, and suicidal ideation. LC was associated with a significant increase in only one of these outcomes, social connectedness (effect size = 0.4). It was associated consistently with trendâlevel positive changes for thwarted belongingness (decreased), depression (decreased), community connectedness, and selfâesteem (effect sizes = 0.2). There was no effect on suicidal ideation (effect size = 0.0), and although not a primary outcome, eight youths in the LC condition and seven youths in the control condition engaged in suicidal behavior between baseline and followâup. Although LC effect sizes are consistent with those from previous studies of community mentorship, there were multiple challenges to LC implementation that affected dosage and intervention fidelity, and that may account for the lack of stronger positive effects.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145529/1/jcop21979.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145529/2/jcop21979_am.pd
Paper 3: Workforce Readiness Alignment: The Relationship Between Job Preferences, Retention, and Earnings
This paper focuses on testing propositions related to workforce readiness by examining the relationship between job preferences, military conferred skills, and a variety of outcome measures including retention, income, and perceptions about transition
Morphological and Molecular Characterizations of Psychrophilic Fungus Geomyces destructans from New York Bats with White Nose Syndrome (WNS)
Background: Massive die-offs of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have been occurring since 2006 in hibernation site
A Hypermorphic Missense Mutation in PLCG2, Encoding Phospholipase CÎł2, Causes a Dominantly Inherited Autoinflammatory Disease with Immunodeficiency
Whole-exome sequencing was performed in a family affected by dominantly inherited inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent blistering skin lesions, bronchiolitis, arthralgia, ocular inflammation, enterocolitis, absence of autoantibodies, and mild immunodeficiency. Exome data from three samples, including the affected father and daughter and unaffected mother, were filtered for the exclusion of reported variants, along with benign variants, as determined by PolyPhen-2. A total of eight transcripts were identified as possible candidate genes. We confirmed a variant, c.2120C>A (p.Ser707Tyr), within PLCG2 as the only de novo variant that was present in two affected family members and not present in four unaffected members. PLCG2 encodes phospholipase CÎł2 (PLCÎł2), an enzyme with a critical regulatory role in various immune and inflammatory pathways. The p.Ser707Tyr substitution is located in an autoinhibitory SH2 domain that is crucial for PLCÎł2 activation. Overexpression of the altered p.Ser707Tyr protein and ex vivo experiments using affected individualsâ leukocytes showed clearly enhanced PLCÎł2 activity, suggesting increased intracellular signaling in the PLCÎł2-mediated pathway. Recently, our laboratory identified in individuals with cold-induced urticaria and immune dysregulation PLCG2 exon-skipping mutations resulting in protein products with constitutive phospholipase activity but with reduced intracellular signaling at physiological temperatures. In contrast, the p.Ser707Tyr substitution in PLCÎł2 causes a distinct inflammatory phenotype that is not provoked by cold temperatures and that has different end-organ involvement and increased intracellular signaling at physiological temperatures. Our results highlight the utility of exome-sequencing technology in finding causal mutations in nuclear families with dominantly inherited traits otherwise intractable by linkage analysis
Examination of Englandâs New Medicine Service (NMS) of complex health care interventions in community pharmacy
Background: Community pharmacies are increasingly commissioned to deliver new, complex health interventions in response to the growing demands on family doctors and secondary health care services. Little is known about how these complex interventions are being accommodated and translated into the community pharmacy setting and whether their aims and objectives are realized in practice. The New Medicine Service (NMS) is a complex medicine management intervention that aims to support patientsâ adherence to newly prescribed medicines for a long-term condition.
Objective: This study explores the recent implementation of the NMS in community pharmacies across England. It also seeks to understand how the service is becoming manifest in practice and what lessons can be learned for future service implementation.
Methods: Structured, organizational ethnographic observations and in situ workplace interviews with pharmacists and support staff were undertaken within 23 English community pharmacies. Additionally, one-toone, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 47 community pharmacists and 11 general practitioners (GPs). Observational and interview data were transcribed and analysed thematically and guided by Damschroderâs consolidated framework for implementation research.
Results: The NMS workload had been implemented and absorbed into pharmacistsâ daily routines alongside existing responsibilities with no extra resources and little evidence of reduction in other responsibilities. Pharmacists were pragmatic, simplifying, and adapting the NMS to facilitate its delivery and using discretion to circumvent perceived non-essential paperwork. Pharmacist understanding of the NMS was found to impact on what they believed should be achieved from the service. Despite pharmacists holding positive views about the value of the NMS, not all were convinced of its perceived benefits and necessity, with reports that many consultations did not identify any problems with the patientsâ medicines. GPs were generally supportive of the initiative but were unaware of the service or potential benefits. Poorly developed existing pharmacist-GP relationships impeded implementation.
Conclusions: This study identifies the multifaceted and complex processes involved in implementing a new community pharmacy service in England. Community pharmacy workflow, infrastructure, and public and professional relationships all affect NMS implementation. Greater prior engagement with the pharmacy workforce and GPs, robust piloting and a phased rollout together with ongoing support and updates, are potentials strategies to ensure future implementation of pharmacy services meet their intended aims in practice
What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Performance? Dialogue Theory and Performance Budgeting
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Outbreak in New England Seals, United States
We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds. Our data indicate monitoring both wild coastal birds and marine mammals will be critical to determine pandemic potential of influenza A viruses
Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model
based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and
at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample
of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS
detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98
inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent
with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples
in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the
production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final
states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
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