2,951 research outputs found
Automation and robotics for the Space Exploration Initiative: Results from Project Outreach
A total of 52 submissions were received in the Automation and Robotics (A&R) area during Project Outreach. About half of the submissions (24) contained concepts that were judged to have high utility for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and were analyzed further by the robotics panel. These 24 submissions are analyzed here. Three types of robots were proposed in the high scoring submissions: structured task robots (STRs), teleoperated robots (TORs), and surface exploration robots. Several advanced TOR control interface technologies were proposed in the submissions. Many A&R concepts or potential standards were presented or alluded to by the submitters, but few specific technologies or systems were suggested
A qualitative study exploring barriers related to use of footwear in rural highland Ethiopia: implications for neglected tropical disease control
Background
The role of footwear in protection against a range of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) is gaining increasing attention. Better understanding of the behaviors that influence use of footwear will lead to improved ability to measure shoe use and will be important for those implementing footwear programs.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model we assessed social, behavioral, environmental, educational and ecological needs influencing whether and when children wear shoes in a rural highland Ethiopian community endemic for podoconiosis. Information was gathered from 242 respondents using focus groups, semi-structured interviews and extended case studies. Shoe-wearing norms were said to be changing, with going barefoot increasingly seen as ‘shameful’. Shoes were thought to confer dignity as well as protection against injury and cold. However, many practical and social barriers prevented the desire to wear shoes from being translated into practice. Limited financial resources meant that people were neither able to purchase more than one pair of shoes to ensure their longevity nor afford shoes of the preferred quality. As a result of this limited access, shoes were typically preserved for special occasions and might not be provided for children until they reached a certain age. While some barriers (for example fit of shoe and fear of labeling through use of a certain type of shoe) may be applicable only to certain diseases, underlying structural level barriers related to poverty (for example price, quality, unsuitability for daily activities and low risk perception) are likely to be relevant to a range of NTDs.
Conclusions/Significance
Using well established conceptual models of health behavior adoption, we identified several barriers to shoe wearing that are amenable to intervention and which we anticipate will be of benefit to those considering NTD prevention through shoe distribution
Magneto-transmission of multi-layer epitaxial graphene and bulk graphite: A comparison
Magneto-transmission of a thin layer of bulk graphite is compared with
spectra taken on multilayer epitaxial graphene prepared by thermal
decomposition of a SiC crystal. We focus on the spectral features evolving as
\sqrt{B}, which are evidence for the presence of Dirac fermions in both
materials. Whereas the results on multi-layer epitaxial graphene can be
interpreted within the model of 2D Dirac fermions, the data obtained on bulk
graphite can only be explained taking into account the 3D nature of graphite,
e.g. by using the standard Slonczewski-Weiss-McClure model.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Effect of a magnetic field on the two-phonon Raman scattering in graphene
We have studied, both experimentally and theoretically, the change of the
so-called 2D band of the Raman scattering spectrum of graphene (the two-phonon
peak near 2700 cm-1) in an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the
graphene crystal plane at liquid helium temperature. A shift to lower frequency
and broadening of this band is observed as the magnetic field is increased from
0 to 33 T. At fields up to 5--10 T the changes are quadratic in the field while
they become linear at higher magnetic fields. This effect is explained by the
curving of the quasiclassical trajectories of the photo-excited electrons and
holes in the magnetic field, which enables us (i) to extract the electron
inelastic scattering rate, and (ii) to conclude that electronic scattering
accounts for about half of the measured width of the 2D peak.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
2,3-butanediol in experimental myocardial ischaemia in pigs
To investigate the role of 2,3-butanediol in myocardial ischaemia we analysed this compound in pig's myocardium and blood. Ischaemia was induced by ligation of a coronary artery. In the first study we found significantly higher levels of 2,3-butanediol in the homogenate of ischaemic myocardium than in non-ischaemic myocardium. The lactate concentration was also significantly elevated. In the second study, where ischaemia was similarly induced, and where reperfusion was achieved by re-opening the ligated coronary artery after 20 min, 2,3-butanediol in peripheral blood was found to increase significantly. In the pigs in which the coronary artery was not re-opened, the 2,3-butanediol level in peripheral blood was unchanged. We conclude that in pigs' anaerobic myocardia accumulation of 2,3-butanediol occurs; if the myocardium is reperfused this metabolite also appears in the bloo
Bilayer graphene inclusions in rotational-stacked multilayer epitaxial graphene
Additional component in multi-layer epitaxial graphene grown on the
C-terminated surface of SiC, which exhibits the characteristic electronic
properties of a AB-stacked graphene bilayer, is identified in magneto-optical
response of this material. We show that these inclusions represent a
well-defined platform for accurate magneto-spectroscopy of unperturbed graphene
bilayers.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Magnetoplasmons in quasi-neutral epitaxial graphene nanoribbons
We present infrared transmission spectroscopy study of the inter-Landau-level
excitations in quasi-neutral epitaxial graphene nanoribbon arrays. We observed
a substantial deviation in energy of the transition
from the characteristic square root magnetic-field dependence of
two-dimensional graphene. This deviation arises from the formation of
upper-hybrid mode between the Landau level transition and the plasmon
resonance. In the quantum regime the hybrid mode exhibits a distinct dispersion
relation, markedly different from that expected for conventional
two-dimensional systems and highly doped graphene
Theoretical Aspects of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene
We review the theoretical basis and understanding of electronic interactions
in graphene Landau levels, in the limit of strong correlations. This limit
occurs when inter-Landau-level excitations may be omitted because they belong
to a high-energy sector, whereas the low-energy excitations only involve the
same level, such that the kinetic energy (of the Landau level) is an
unimportant constant. Two prominent effects emerge in this limit of strong
electronic correlations: generalised quantum Hall ferromagnetic states that
profit from the approximate four-fold spin-valley degeneracy of graphene's
Landau levels and the fractional quantum Hall effect. Here, we discuss these
effects in the framework of an SU(4)-symmetric theory, in comparison with
available experimental observations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures; review for the proceedings of the Nobel
Symposium on Graphene and Quantum Matte
Orbital Magnetism in Small Quantum Dots with Closed Shells
It is found that various kind of shell structure which occurs at specific
values of the magnetic field leads to the disappearance of the orbital
magnetization for particular magic numbers of small quantum dots with an
electron number .Comment: 4 pages, latex file, four figures as postscript files, to appear at
JETP Letters, December 199
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