Disinflation, equity valuation, and investor rationality

An examination of the relationship between inflation and equity prices, concluding that equity prices respond rationally to such factors as real interest rates and risk.Corporations - Finance ; Inflation (Finance) ; Stocks

Origin of resistivity contrast in interfacial phase-change memory: The crucial role of Ge/Sb intermixing

Phase-change memories based on reversible amorphous-crystal transformations in pseudobinary GeTe-Sb2Te3 alloys are one of the most promising nonvolatile memory technologies. The recently proposed superlattice-based memory, or interfacial phase-change memory (iPCM), is characterized by significantly faster switching, lower energy consumption, and better endurance. The switching mechanism in iPCM, where both the SET and RESET states are crystalline, is still contentious. Here, using the ab initio density functional theory simulations, a conceptually new switching mechanism for iPCM is derived, which is based on the change in the potential landscape of the bandgap, associated with local deviations from the pseudobinary stoichiometry across the van der Waals gaps and the associated shift of the Fermi level. The crucial role in this process belongs to Ge/Sb intermixing on the cation planes of iPCM. These findings offer a comprehensive understanding of the switching mechanisms in iPCM and are an essential step forward to the insightful development of phase-change memory technology.</jats:p

P1185 IBD Has No Age: Preliminary results of an international survey among older patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Background Future research and health policy can benefit from a better understanding of the characteristics of a globally growing, but often underrepresented, older population with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The aim is to evaluate the characteristics of this population, including frailty, comorbidity, and reported therapy goals through a survey. Methods An international, anonymous online survey was conducted among older patients (aged ≥ 60 years) with Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and IBD-unclassified (IBD-U). The survey was developed by the European Federation of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA), translated in 21 languages and distributed in 46 countries through national IBD associations affiliated with the EFCCA. The survey contained questions about demographic- and IBD characteristics, IBD-therapy and symptoms. Clinical disease activity was assessed by the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) (&gt;= 4) for CD, and 6-point Mayo score (≥ 1.5) for UC and IBD-U. Self-reported versions of the Geriatric-8 (G8) questionnaire and Charlson Comorbidity Index were included to assess frailty (G8 ≤ 14) and comorbidity, respectively. Respondents were asked to choose three out of the following 12 therapy goals they considered most important: to experience less abdominal pain, decrease inflammation, prevent/postpone IBD surgery, not feel fatigued, stop using corticosteroids, decrease diarrhea/incontinence, maintain or get to their preferred weight, be comfortable with their body image, or to preserve/restore their mobility, social life, good mood or sexual activity. Descriptive analyses were performed using R, version 4.3. Results Out of 2191 respondents, 1785 (81.4%) completed the survey for the variables of interest and were retained for analyses. Respondents were mainly from the Netherlands (47.2%), Norway (9.1%) and Italy (8.4%). Mean age was 67.3 years (Standard Deviation (SD) 5.9), 61% was female, and 58.1% was retired. The most common type of IBD was CD (50.9%). Clinical disease activity was found in 33% of respondents. Therapy with aminosalicylates was most common among patients with UC (58%), biological therapy among patients with CD (44%). Frailty was reported by 39% of respondents and 64% of respondents reported to have one or more comorbidities. Three therapy goals that were most frequently reported were: to not feel fatigued (56.1%), to be of good mood (42.2%) and decrease in diarrhea/incontinence (31.1%). Conclusion Preliminary results from the "IBD Has No Age" survey suggest that it will contribute a wealth of knowledge to the IBD landscape, providing insight in a range of IBD characteristics, frailty, comorbidity and therapy goals in an older population with IBD

Ferroelectric switching in epitaxial GeTe films

In this paper, using a resonance-enhanced piezoresponse force microscopy approach supported by density functional theory computer simulations, we have demonstrated the ferroelectric switching in epitaxial GeTe films. It has been shown that in films with thickness on the order of several nanometers reversible reorientation of polarization occurs due to swapping of the shorter and longer Ge-Te bonds in the interior of the material. It is also hinted that for ultra thin films consisting of just several atomic layers weakly bonded to the substrate, ferroelectric switching may proceed through exchange of Ge and Te planes within individual GeTe layers

A possible mechanism of ultrafast amorphization in phase-change memory alloys: an ion slingshot from the crystalline to amorphous position

We propose that the driving force of an ultrafast crystalline-to-amorphous transition in phase-change memory alloys are strained bonds existing in the (metastable) crystalline phase. For the prototypical example of GST, we demonstrate that upon breaking of long Ge-Te bond by photoexcitation Ge ion shot from an octahedral crystalline to a tetrahedral amorphous position by the uncompensated force of strained short bonds. Subsequent lattice relaxation stabilizes the tetrahedral surroundings of the Ge atoms and ensures the long-term stability of the optically induced phase.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure