464 research outputs found
A Road to Results: Results-Based Accountability in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Education Program
Reviews a four-year pilot K-12 education project focused on results-based assessments of preparedness for children, families, and communities. Details how project results shaped the foundation's education program and grantmaking
Monopolelike probes for quantitative magnetic force microscopy: calibration and application
A local magnetization measurement was performed with a Magnetic Force
Microscope (MFM) to determine magnetization in domains of an exchange coupled
[Co/Pt]/Co/Ru multilayer with predominant perpendicular anisotropy. The
quantitative MFM measurements were conducted with an iron filled carbon
nanotube tip, which is shown to behave like a monopole. As a result we
determined an additional in-plane magnetization component of the multilayer,
which is explained by estimating the effective permeability of the sample
within the \mu*-method.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
A Road to Results: A Performance Measurement Guidebook for the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Education Program
Provides an overview of Casey's performance measurement process: how to select measures, set goals, and report results. Includes a measurement matrix; common measures of impact, influence, and leverage; and examples of highlights from grantee reports
A new view of electrochemistry at highly oriented pyrolytic graphite
Major new insights on electrochemical processes at graphite electrodes are reported, following extensive investigations of two of the most studied redox couples, Fe(CN)64–/3– and Ru(NH3)63+/2+. Experiments have been carried out on five different grades of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) that vary in step-edge height and surface coverage. Significantly, the same electrochemical characteristic is observed on all surfaces, independent of surface quality: initial cyclic voltammetry (CV) is close to reversible on freshly cleaved surfaces (>400 measurements for Fe(CN)64–/3– and >100 for Ru(NH3)63+/2+), in marked contrast to previous studies that have found very slow electron transfer (ET) kinetics, with an interpretation that ET only occurs at step edges. Significantly, high spatial resolution electrochemical imaging with scanning electrochemical cell microscopy, on the highest quality mechanically cleaved HOPG, demonstrates definitively that the pristine basal surface supports fast ET, and that ET is not confined to step edges. However, the history of the HOPG surface strongly influences the electrochemical behavior. Thus, Fe(CN)64–/3– shows markedly diminished ET kinetics with either extended exposure of the HOPG surface to the ambient environment or repeated CV measurements. In situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the deterioration in apparent ET kinetics is coupled with the deposition of material on the HOPG electrode, while conducting-AFM highlights that, after cleaving, the local surface conductivity of HOPG deteriorates significantly with time. These observations and new insights are not only important for graphite, but have significant implications for electrochemistry at related carbon materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes
The Minimum-Uncertainty Squeezed States for for Atoms and Photons in a Cavity
We describe a six-parameter family of the minimum-uncertainty squeezed states
for the harmonic oscillator in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. They are
derived by the action of corresponding maximal kinematical invariance group on
the standard ground state solution. We show that the product of the variances
attains the required minimum value 1/4 only at the instances that one variance
is a minimum and the other is a maximum, when the squeezing of one of the
variances occurs. The generalized coherent states are explicitly constructed
and their Wigner function is studied. The overlap coefficients between the
squeezed, or generalized harmonic, and the Fock states are explicitly evaluated
in terms of hypergeometric functions. The corresponding photons statistics are
discussed and some applications to quantum optics, cavity quantum
electrodynamics, and superfocusing in channeling scattering are mentioned.
Explicit solutions of the Heisenberg equations for radiation field operators
with squeezing are found.Comment: 27 pages, no figures, 174 references J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.,
Special Issue celebrating the 20th anniversary of quantum state engineering
(R. Blatt, A. Lvovsky, and G. Milburn, Guest Editors), May 201
Functional and symptom impact of trametinib versus chemotherapy in BRAF V600E advanced or metastatic melanoma: quality-of-life analyses of the METRIC study
We report the first quality-of-life assessment of a MEK inhibitor in metastatic melanoma from a phase III study. Trametinib prolonged progression-free survival and improved overall survival versus chemotherapy in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma. Less functional impairment, smaller declines in health status, and less exacerbation of symptoms were observed with trametini
Spatial organization in cyclic Lotka-Volterra systems
We study the evolution of a system of interacting species which mimics
the dynamics of a cyclic food chain. On a one-dimensional lattice with N<5
species, spatial inhomogeneities develop spontaneously in initially homogeneous
systems. The arising spatial patterns form a mosaic of single-species domains
with algebraically growing size, , where
(1/2) and 1/3 for N=3 with sequential (parallel) dynamics and N=4,
respectively. The domain distribution also exhibits a self-similar spatial
structure which is characterized by an additional length scale, , with and 2/3 for N=3 and 4, respectively. For
, the system quickly reaches a frozen state with non interacting
neighboring species. We investigate the time distribution of the number of
mutations of a site using scaling arguments as well as an exact solution for
N=3. Some possible extensions of the system are analyzed.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, revtex, also available from
http://arnold.uchicago.edu/~ebn
Treatment Motivations and Expectations in Patients with Actinic Keratosis: A German-Wide Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Trial
Patient-centered motives and expectations of the treatment of actinic keratoses (AK) have received little attention until now. Hence, we aimed to profile and cluster treatment motivations and expectations among patients with AK in a nationwide multicenter, cross-sectional study including patients from 14 German skin cancer centers. Patients were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Treatment motives and expectations towards AK management were measured on a visual analogue scale from 1–10. Specific patient profiles were investigated with subgroup and correlation analysis. Overall, 403 patients were included. The highest motivation values were obtained for the items “avoid transition to invasive squamous cell carcinoma” (mean ± standard deviation; 8.98 ± 1.46), “AK are considered precancerous lesions” (8.72 ± 1.34) and “treating physician recommends treatment” (8.10 ± 2.37; p < 0.0001). The highest expectation values were observed for the items “effective lesion clearance” (8.36 ± 1.99), “safety” (8.20 ± 2.03) and “treatment-related costs are covered by health insurance” (8.00 ± 2.41; p < 0.0001). Patients aged ≥77 years and those with ≥7 lesions were identified at high risk of not undergoing any treatment due to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation deficits. Heat mapping of correlation analysis revealed four clusters with distinct motivation and expectation profiles. This study provides a patient-based heuristic tool for a personalized treatment decision in patients with AK
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