The importance of poverty early in childhood

Introduction: Using a poverty line set at 60% of New Zealand’s median national income, nearly one in five New Zealand children (19%) was poor in 2011. This poverty rate is considerably less than that of the United States and Canada, similar to that of Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and much greater that in Scandinavian countries. These rates are far from immutable; New Zealand’s child poverty rate was much higher in 2004 before social policies were enacted which focused, in part, on the country’s child poverty problem

High-Voltage Testing For A High-Current Electron Gun

Cornell University has designed an Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) X-ray facility, necessitating high-brightness electron beam emittance to be provided by the injector. This has posed a continuing technical challenge in the design and contruction of a DC photoemission gun, which is intended to give 100 mA average beam current in a 1300 MHz CW bunch train (77 pC/bunch), as well as to operate at up to 750 kV cathode potential. Construction experience in light of difficulties in meeting the injector requirements will be described. Additionally, in a separate but related topic of interest, the application of Fowler-Nordheim theory to photoassisted field emission is discussed

Flexible electronics : materials and sensor fabrication

This dissertation demonstrates how to fabricate piezoelectric/pyroelectric thin films by using different printing techniques. These techniques could replace vacuum techniques for manufacturing piezoelectric/pyroelectric sensors. Ink-jet, screen and stencil printing techniques were developed to print these devices. This work outlines attempts to develop a solution processable conductive ink for ink-jet printing. It then details the printing of commercial conductive ink on flexible substrates employing the three printing methods. Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, are both used to investigate the structure of the P(VDF-TrFE) films. Optical microscopy is used to investigate the thickness and uniformity of the deposited films. The formulation of P(VDF-TrFE) for printing is also described for the three printing methods. Piezoelectric accelerometers have been developed and demonstrated. The sensors are axial compression piezoelectric accelerometers which measure impacts in the direction perpendicular to the sensors themselves. When the sensors are moved downward the top electrode tends to move upward, inducing charge via the piezoelectric effect. The sensors were mounted on an electrodynamic shaker and tested with an input vibration up to 1.5 g s at 100 Hz. The test data show that the accelerometers track the frequency of the input vibration; the output increases with increasing input acceleration. A comparison of the three printing methods to fabricate sensors on flexible substrates with commercial conductive inks and formulated P(VDF-TrFE) ink specific to the print method with similar geometries produces the following conclusions: Excellent adhesion of the commercial silver ink for screen and stencil printing has been achieved. The stencil printed silver films are smoother and more uniform than the screen printed films. Adhesion of the commercial PEDOT/PSS ink-jettable was successful. However, smoothness and uniformity were issues that need to be resolved. Also, when the ink-jetted PDOT/PSS films were exposed to high temperatures the films tended to crack and adhesion was lost. Functional devices were fabricated with screen and stencil printing quickly. In a one day period, multiple sheets of functional devices were obtained with both printing methods. Ink-jet printing, on the other hand, required greater then twenty four hours to fabricate one sheet of sensors even when the sensor size was reduced. The cost of masks/cartridges was $0.75,$1.68 and $59 per layer for stencil, screen and ink-jet printing respectively. The ink-jet print system cartridges were manufactured for one time use, whereas the masks were reusable for both screen and stencil printing. The best stencil and screen printed accelerometers demonstrated a voltage sensitivity of 145 mV/g. It is believed that the performance of these sensors can be enhanced with an automated printing system that is equipped with optical vision and automated alignment systems. The successful development of printed devices demonstrates that these print methods will be beneficial to the future of flexible electronics

Development and validation of the Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire (MTBQ)

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a new scale to assess treatment burden (the effort of looking after one's health) for patients with multimorbidity. DESIGN: Mixed-methods. SETTING: UK primary care. PARTICIPANTS: Content of the Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire (MTBQ) was based on a literature review and views from a patient and public involvement group. Face validity was assessed through cognitive interviews. The scale was piloted and the final version was tested in 1546 adults with multimorbidity (mean age 71 years) who took part in the 3D Study, a cluster randomised controlled trial. For each question, we examined the proportion of missing data and the distribution of responses. Factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, Spearman's rank correlations and longitudinal regression assessed dimensional structure, internal consistency reliability, construct validity and responsiveness, respectively. We assessed interpretability by grouping the global MTBQ scores into zero and tertiles (>0) and comparing participant characteristics across these categories. RESULTS: Cognitive interviews found good acceptability and content validity. Factor analysis supported a one-factor solution. Cronbach's alpha was 0.83, indicating internal consistency reliability. The MTBQ score had a positive association with a comparator treatment burden scale (rs 0.58, P<0.0001) and with self-reported disease burden (rs 0.43, P<0.0001), and a negative association with quality of life (rs-0.36, P<0.0001) and self-rated health (rs-0.36, P<0.0001). Female participants, younger participants and participants with mental health conditions were more likely to have high treatment burden scores. Changes in MTBQ score over 9-month follow-up were associated, as expected, with changes in measures of quality of life (EuroQol five dimensions, five level questionnaire) and patient-centred care (Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care). CONCLUSION: The MTBQ is a 10-item measure of treatment burden for patients with multimorbidity that has demonstrated good content validity, construct validity, reliability and responsiveness. It is a useful research tool for assessing the impact of interventions on treatment burden. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN06180958

Antarctic sponge associated microbial chemistry with biomedical relevance– the need for ecologically driven studies

Sponges are known to be a rich source of structurally diverse bioactive natural products, accounting for approximately one third of the 25,000 novel marine natural products discovered to date. The advancement of molecular techniques, especially next generation sequencing, has revealed a highly diverse and complex microbial consortia associated with sponges. Currently, research is on-going to investigate the role of these microorganisms in symbiosis and in the production of these sponge-associated secondary metabolites. It is hypothesised that adaptations to extreme temperatures and oxygen levels in the Antarctic may result in novel microbial strains with unprecedented bioactive metabolites. Although ecological and environmental factors are believed to play a crucial role in the expression of microbial bioactive secondary metabolites, underpinning the ecological function of microorganism-sponge interactions within Antarctica is poorly understood, despite mounting evidence that these metabolites play an important role in chemical defence and microbial community structure. The importance of the Antarctic ecosystem as a research resource will be underpinned by future global change; therefore it will be vital for ecological approaches to be addressed in addition to these biomedical functions. This review collates studies that assess the biomedical activity of secondary metabolites produced by Antarctic sponge associated microorganisms, which may stimulate the ecological function to be addressed by the community

Giuga\u27s Primality Conjecture for Number Fields

Giuseppe Giuga conjectured in 1950 that a natural number n is prime if and only if it satisfies the congruence 1n-1+2n-1+ ... + (n-1)n-1 = -1 mod n. Progress in validating or disproving the conjecture has been minimal, with the most significant advance being the knowledge that a counter-example would need at least 19,907 digits. To gain new insights into Giuga\u27s conjecture, we explore it in the broader context of number fields. We present a generalized version of the conjecture and prove generalizations of many of the major results related to the conjecture. We introduce the concept of a Giuga ideal and perform computational searches for partial counter-examples to the generalized conjecture. We investigate the relationship between the existence of a counter-example in one number field with the existence of counter-examples in others, with a particular focus on quadratic extensions. This paper lays the preliminary foundation for answering the question: When does the existence of a counter-example in a number field imply the existence of a counter-example in the integers

Working with a young people’s advisory panel to conduct educational research:Young people’s perspectives and researcher reflections

Participatory Action Research (PAR) with young people aims to centre their knowledge and experience in research which is meaningful to them. In recent years, there has been an increase in PAR approaches within education, yet there is still a need for greater methodological insight into this approach. In this project, which explored adolescents’ reading motivation and engagement, a young people's advisory panel was convened to ensure the perspectives and experiences of young people were central to the project. The panel consisted of 6 young people (13–15-years-old) from 3 geographically dispersed schools in Scotland. The panel worked with researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee and a national literacy organisation across one academic year to plan and design the project, carry out data collection, and support interpretation the findings. In this article, young peoples’ perspectives on their role and adult perspectives on the methodological approach of working with a young people's advisory panel on a reading research project are explored. Discussion of the benefits (e.g., challenging systems of power and privilege, producing outcomes which are more relevant to pupils), limitations (e.g., truly disrupting hierarchies of power), and considerations (e.g., planning participatory projects, including diverse and representative voices, and ‘bounded empowerment’) for researchers interested in convening youth advisory panels for educational research are provided to contribute towards the growing interest in PAR approaches in educational research