Electrical modeling of InAs/GaSb superlattice mid-wavelength infrared pin photodiode to analyze experimental dark current characteristics

Dark current characteristics of 7 Monolayers (ML) InAs/ 4 ML GaSb SL pin photodiodes are simulated using ATLAS software. Using appropriate models and material parameters, we obtain good agreement between the simulated and the experimental dark current curves of photodiodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The n-type non-intentionally-doped (nid) SL samples exhibit a dependence of the lifetime with temperature following the T−12 law, signature of Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) Generation-Recombination current. We also studied the dependence of the dark current with the absorber doping level. It appears that the absorber doping level must not exceed a value of 2 × 1015 cm−3, above this value the dark current is increasing with increased doping level. However for this doping value, a dark current as low as 5 × 10−9 A/cm2, at 50 mV reverse bias at 77 K can be obtained

Symptoms and quality of life from patients undergoing hemodialysis in Switzerland

Background: Dialysis patients experience multiple symptoms impairing their quality of life. A relationship seems to exist between the cultural context and the burden of symptoms. In this study, the prevalence and severity of 30 symptoms and their relationship with quality of life among hemodialysis patients in Switzerland is explored. Methods: A cross-sectional correlation design was used with a convenience sample of 119 patients from five dialysis units. Presence and severity of symptoms were assessed with the Dialysis Symptom Index and quality of life with the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire. Multivariate linear regressions were used to examine the relationship between the prevalence and severity of symptoms, respectively, and quality of life. T-tests and Fisher’s tests were used for the international comparison

A comparative descriptive analysis of perceived quality of caring attitudes and behaviours between haemodialysis patients and their nurses

Despite its importance in nursing, perceived quality of the nurse-patient relationship has seldom been researched. This study sought to examine and compare the quality of caring attitudes and behaviours as perceived by haemodialysis patients and their nurses. Design This comparative descriptive study involved 140 haemodialysis patients and 101 nurses caring for them in ten haemodialysis units in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Methods Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Caring Nurse-Patient Interaction Scale (CNPI-70). Results Both nurses and patients reported a high frequency of caring attitudes and behaviours. Patients gave higher ratings than nurses did on all the caring dimensions, except spirituality. Implications are discussed

Identification of a limiting mechanism in GaSb-rich superlattice midwave infrared detector

GaSb-rich superlattice (SL) p-i-n photodiodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy were studied theoretically and experimentally in order to understand the poor dark current characteristics typically obtained. This behavior, independent of the SL-grown material quality, is usually attributed to the presence of defects due to Ga-related bonds, limiting the SL carrier lifetime. By analyzing the photoresponse spectra of reverse-biased photodiodes at 80 K, we have highlighted the presence of an electric field, breaking the minibands into localized Wannier-Stark states. Besides the influence of defects in such GaSb-rich SL structures, this electric field induces a strong tunneling current at low bias which can be the main limiting mechanism explaining the high dark current density of the GaSb-rich SL diode

High-resolution imaging of the Pyrenees and Massif Central from the data of the PYROPE and IBERARRAY portable array deployments

International audienceThe lithospheric structures beneath the Pyrenees, which holds the key to settle long-standing controversies regarding the opening of the Bay of Biscay and the formation of the Pyrenees, are still poorly known. The temporary PYROPE and IBERARRAY experiments have recently filled a strong deficit of seismological stations in this part of western Europe, offering a new and unique opportunity to image crustal and mantle structures with unprecedented resolution. Here we report the results of the first tomographic study of the Pyrenees relying on this rich data set. The important aspects of our tomographic study are the precision of both absolute and relative traveltime measurements obtained by a nonlinear simulated annealing waveform fit and the detailed crustal model that has been constructed to compute accurate crustal corrections. Beneath the Massif Central, the most prominent feature is a widespread slow anomaly that reflects a strong thermal anomaly resulting from the thinning of the lithosphere and upwelling of the asthenosphere. Our tomographic images clearly exclude scenarios involving subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Pyrenees. In contrast, they reveal the segmentation of lithospheric structures, mainly by two major lithospheric faults, the Toulouse fault in the central Pyrenees and the Pamplona fault in the western Pyrenees. These inherited Hercynian faults were reactivated during the Cretaceous rifting of the Aquitaine and Iberian margins and during the Cenozoic Alpine convergence. Therefore, the Pyrenees can be seen as resulting from the tectonic inversion of a segmented continental rift that was buried by subduction beneath the European plate

GLI2-Mediated Melanoma Invasion and Metastasis

Background The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) pathway, which has both tumor suppressor and pro-oncogenic activities, is often constitutively active in melanoma and is a marker of poor prognosis. Recently, we identified GLI2, a mediator of the hedgehog pathway, as a transcriptional target of TGF-β signaling. Methods We used real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting to determine GLI2 expression in human melanoma cell lines and subsequently classified them as GLI2high or as GLI2low according to their relative GLI2 mRNA and protein expression levels. GLI2 expression was reduced in a GLI2high cell line with lentiviral expression of short hairpin RNA targeting GLI2. We assessed the role of GLI2 in melanoma cell invasiveness in Matrigel assays. We measured secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 by gelatin zymography and expression of E-cadherin by western blotting and RT-PCR. The role of GLI2 in development of bone metastases was determined following intracardiac injection of melanoma cells in immunocompromised mice (n = 5-13). Human melanoma samples (n = 79) at various stages of disease progression were analyzed for GLI2 and E-cadherin expression by immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, or RT-PCR. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Among melanoma cell lines, increased GLI2 expression was associated with loss of E-cadherin expression and with increased capacity to invade Matrigel and to form bone metastases in mice (mean osteolytic tumor area: GLI2high vs GLI2low, 2.81 vs 0.93 mm2, difference = 1.88 mm2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16 to 2.60, P < .001). Reduction of GLI2 expression in melanoma cells that had expressed high levels of GLI2 substantially inhibited both basal and TGF-β-induced cell migration, invasion (mean number of Matrigel invading cells: shGLI2 vs shCtrl (control), 52.6 vs 100, difference = 47.4, 95% CI = 37.0 to 57.8, P = .024; for shGLI2 + TGF-β vs shCtrl + TGF-β, 31.0 vs 161.9, difference = −130.9, 95% CI = −96.2 to −165.5, P = .002), and MMP secretion in vitro and the development of experimental bone metastases in mice. Within human melanoma lesions, GLI2 expression was heterogeneous, associated with tumor regions in which E-cadherin was lost and increased in the most aggressive tumors. Conclusion GLI2 was directly involved in driving melanoma invasion and metastasis in this preclinical stud

Governance traditions and narratives of public sector reform in contemporary France.

This article explores the basic traditions of governance in contemporary France and the narratives of public sector reform associated with them. It should be stressed right from the outset that this article does not aim to describe the set of public sector reforms that have been implemented in France in the last ten years or so. Instead, the aim is to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the narratives of the left and the right with regard to these reforms and to show how these narratives help to explain the types of reform that have been enacted. The basic argument is that there is a certain commonality to both the left and the right with regard to their narratives of public sector reform. At the same time, though, there are differences of emphasis both within each tradition and between the two main traditions themselves. Except where indicated, all translations are the author's own