Novel phosphors for solid state lighting

Solid state white light emitting diode lighting devices outperform conventional light sources in terms of lifetime, durability, and lumens per watt. However, the capital contribution is still to high to encourage widespread adoption. Furthermore, the colour from today's devices is unsuitable for general room illumination and thus new phosphor materials are needed. This dissertation will examine the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles and the possibility of using hybrid inorganic-organic frameworks in the search for new lighting phosphors. Nanoparticles of the oxide compound yttrium aluminium garnet were synthesized using an emulsion technique, though it was found that the high temperature processing needed for good optical properties was not compatible with maintaining nanosized particles. In terms of hybrid framework phosphors, several aspects of this new area have been explored. The mechanical and optical properties of a dense cerium oxalate formate hybrid framework compound have been investigated. Its strength was found to be nearly as great as some classical ceramic compounds, and clearly robust enough for device applications. While the photoluminescence of the cerium oxalate formate was not suitable for solid state lighting, the impressive mechanical properties evaluated are expected to be valid for a wide range of dense inorganic-organic frameworks. A novel approach to solid state lighting phosphors was introduced by using ligand-based photoluminescence in hybrid frameworks. Novel frameworks were prepared using 9,10-anthraquinone-2,3-dicarboxylic acid in combination with calcium, manganese, nickel, and zinc. These compounds show excellent photoluminescent emission for use in solid state lighting applications, although the luminescence is quenched at room temperature due to dynamic effects. The excitation, while reaching the blue part of the spectrum, falls just short of what is needed for use today's devices. To address these issues, a second class of novel framework compounds was prepared using 9-fluorenone-2,7-dicarboxylic acid in combination with calcium, strontium, barium, cadmium, and manganese. They are more rigid structures and show good luminescence at room temperature with a photoluminescent excitation spectrum extending further into the blue than the anthraquinones. Additionally, quantum yield in the calcium fluorenone is nearly double that of its parent ligand, suggesting that there is an enhancement in luminescent properties as a result its inclusion in a framework structure. An explanation for the differences in efficiency between seemingly similar compounds are drawn from their compositions, crystal structures, photoluminescence, and specific heat properties. Finally, some structural and chemical targets for future hybrid phosphor development are identified based on the relationships identified in this work.This work was supported by Mitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced Material

Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans: Bipartisan Policies to Increase Work, Wages, and Skills

Many workers today find themselves lacking the skills and training necessary to thrive in the modern economy. Most low- and middle-income workers have not seen meaningful wage increases in many years. Millions of men and women are missing from the workforce altogether. These challenges stem from profound shifts in the American economy and necessitate a dedicated policy response.Over the course of the past year, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group collected policy ideas to address the barriers to broad-based economic opportunity and identified concrete proposals with bipartisan appeal. These proposals are presented here

Integrated plasma proteomic and single-cell immune signaling network signatures demarcate mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19

The biological determinants of the wide spectrum of COVID-19 clinical manifestations are not fully understood. Here, over 1400 plasma proteins and 2600 single-cell immune features comprising cell phenotype, basal signaling activity, and signaling responses to inflammatory ligands were assessed in peripheral blood from patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19, at the time of diagnosis. Using an integrated computational approach to analyze the combined plasma and single-cell proteomic data, we identified and independently validated a multivariate model classifying COVID-19 severity (multi-class AUCtraining = 0.799, p-value = 4.2e-6; multi-class AUCvalidation = 0.773, p-value = 7.7e-6). Features of this high-dimensional model recapitulated recent COVID-19 related observations of immune perturbations, and revealed novel biological signatures of severity, including the mobilization of elements of the renin-angiotensin system and primary hemostasis, as well as dysregulation of JAK/STAT, MAPK/mTOR, and NF-κB immune signaling networks. These results provide a set of early determinants of COVID-19 severity that may point to therapeutic targets for the prevention of COVID-19 progression

A critical review of the research literature on Six Sigma, Lean and StuderGroup's Hardwiring Excellence in the United States: the need to demonstrate and communicate the effectiveness of transformation strategies in healthcare

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>U.S. healthcare organizations are confronted with numerous and varied transformational strategies promising improvements along all dimensions of quality and performance. This article examines the peer-reviewed literature from the U.S. for evidence of effectiveness among three current popular transformational strategies: Six Sigma, Lean/Toyota Production System, and Studer's Hardwiring Excellence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The English language health, healthcare management, and organizational science literature (up to December 2007) indexed in Medline, Web of Science, ABI/Inform, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and ERIC was reviewed for studies on the aforementioned transformation strategies in healthcare settings. Articles were included if they: appeared in a peer-reviewed journal; described a specific intervention; were not classified as a pilot study; provided quantitative data; and were not review articles. Nine references on Six Sigma, nine on Lean/Toyota Production System, and one on StuderGroup meet the study's eligibility criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The reviewed studies universally concluded the implementations of these transformation strategies were successful in improving a variety of healthcare related processes and outcomes. Additionally, the existing literature reflects a wide application of these transformation strategies in terms of both settings and problems. However, despite these positive features, the vast majority had methodological limitations that might undermine the validity of the results. Common features included: weak study designs, inappropriate analyses, and failures to rule out alternative hypotheses. Furthermore, frequently absent was any attention to changes in organizational culture or substantial evidence of lasting effects from these efforts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite the current popularity of these strategies, few studies meet the inclusion criteria for this review. Furthermore, each could have been improved substantially in order to ensure the validity of the conclusions, demonstrate sustainability, investigate changes in organizational culture, or even how one strategy interfaced with other concurrent and subsequent transformation efforts. While informative results can be gleaned from less rigorous studies, improved design and analysis can more effectively guide healthcare leaders who are motivated to transform their organizations and convince others of the need to employ such strategies. Demanding more exacting evaluation of projects consultants, or partnerships with health management researchers in academic settings, can support such efforts.</p

Incipient Social Groups: An Analysis via In-Vivo Behavioral Tracking

Social psychology is fundamentally the study of individuals in groups, yet there remain basic unanswered questions about group formation, structure, and change. We argue that the problem is methodological. Until recently, there was no way to track who was interacting with whom with anything approximating valid resolution and scale. In the current study we describe a new method that applies recent advances in image-based tracking to study incipient group formation and evolution with experimental precision and control. In this method, which we term "in vivo behavioral tracking," we track individuals' movements with a high definition video camera mounted atop a large field laboratory. We report results of an initial study that quantifies the composition, structure, and size of the incipient groups. We also apply in-vivo spatial tracking to study participants' tendency to cooperate as a function of their embeddedness in those crowds. We find that participants form groups of seven on average, are more likely to approach others of similar attractiveness and (to a lesser extent) gender, and that participants' gender and attractiveness are both associated with their proximity to the spatial center of groups (such that women and attractive individuals are more likely than men and unattractive individuals to end up in the center of their groups). Furthermore, participants' proximity to others early in the study predicted the effort they exerted in a subsequent cooperative task, suggesting that submergence in a crowd may predict social loafing. We conclude that in vivo behavioral tracking is a uniquely powerful new tool for answering longstanding, fundamental questions about group dynamics

Novel phosphors for solid state lighting

Solid state white light emitting diode lighting devices outperform conventional light sources in terms of lifetime, durability, and lumens per watt. However, the capital contribution is still to high to encourage widespread adoption. Furthermore, the colour from today's devices is unsuitable for general room illumination and thus new phosphor materials are needed. This dissertation will examine the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles and the possibility of using hybrid inorganic-organic frameworks in the search for new lighting phosphors. Nanoparticles of the oxide compound yttrium aluminium garnet were synthesized using an emulsion technique, though it was found that the high temperature processing needed for good optical properties was not compatible with maintaining nanosized particles. In terms of hybrid framework phosphors, several aspects of this new area have been explored. The mechanical and optical properties of a dense cerium oxalate formate hybrid framework compound have been investigated. Its strength was found to be nearly as great as some classical ceramic compounds, and clearly robust enough for device applications. While the photoluminescence of the cerium oxalate formate was not suitable for solid state lighting, the impressive mechanical properties evaluated are expected to be valid for a wide range of dense inorganic-organic frameworks. A novel approach to solid state lighting phosphors was introduced by using ligand-based photoluminescence in hybrid frameworks. Novel frameworks were prepared using 9,10-anthraquinone-2,3-dicarboxylic acid in combination with calcium, manganese, nickel, and zinc. These compounds show excellent photoluminescent emission for use in solid state lighting applications, although the luminescence is quenched at room temperature due to dynamic effects. The excitation, while reaching the blue part of the spectrum, falls just short of what is needed for use today's devices. To address these issues, a second class of novel framework compounds was prepared using 9-fluorenone-2,7-dicarboxylic acid in combination with calcium, strontium, barium, cadmium, and manganese. They are more rigid structures and show good luminescence at room temperature with a photoluminescent excitation spectrum extending further into the blue than the anthraquinones. Additionally, quantum yield in the calcium fluorenone is nearly double that of its parent ligand, suggesting that there is an enhancement in luminescent properties as a result its inclusion in a framework structure. An explanation for the differences in efficiency between seemingly similar compounds are drawn from their compositions, crystal structures, photoluminescence, and specific heat properties. Finally, some structural and chemical targets for future hybrid phosphor development are identified based on the relationships identified in this work.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceMitsubishi Chemical Center for Advanced MaterialsGBUnited Kingdo