Temperature dependency of resonance fluorescence from InAs/GaAs quantum dots : dephasing mechanisms

We report a study on temperature-dependent resonant fluorescence from InAs/GaAs quantum dots. We combined spectral and temporal measurements in order to identify sources of dephasing. In the spectral domain, we observed temperature-dependent broadening of the zero-phonon line as 0.3 μeV/K, and a temperature-dependent phonon broadband. Time-resolved autocorrelation measurements revealed temperature-dependent spin pumping times between T1,s = 6 ns (4 K) and 0.5 ns (15 K). These results are compared against theoretical modeling with a master equation for a four-level system coupled to phonon and spin baths. We explained the results by phonon-mediated hole-spin scattering between two excited states, with the piezophonons as a dominant mechanism.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Role of product characteristics for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations

The aim of this study was the identification of those product characteristics that are important for the adoption of fruit and fruit product innovations by consumers. Sixteen focus group discussions were held in four European countries (Greece, The Netherlands, Poland, and Spain). Different aspects of six innovative fruit products were discussed, revealing those characteristics that were important for the adoption of each of them. It was observed that the participants did not perceive fruit innovations as a homogenous group, but assigned them to different groups, which led to a number of categories of fruit innovation. Three categories concerned the level of preparation of fruit. These were fresh, prepared, and processed fruit product innovations. Another two categories, radical and evolutionary innovations, related to the level of novelty of the fruit innovation. Characteristics important for the adoption of each of these categories are given.The results will be used for further, more quantitative, research

Propensity assessment of tensile surface structures to water ponding

This paper has been created with the financial support of the specific university research project granted by the Brno University of Technology, registered under the number FAST-J-23-8326

Brief assessment of male depression in clinical care: Validation of the Male Depression Risk Scale short form in a cross-sectional study of Australian men

Objectives: To develop and validate a short form of the Male Depression Risk Scale (MDRS-22) for use in primary care, examining associations with prototypic depression symptoms, psychological distress and suicidality. Design Cross-sectional study with 8-month follow-up. Setting Community-based. Participants: A community sample of younger (n=510; 18–64 years) and older (n=439; 65–93 years) men residing in Australia (M age=58.09 years, SD=17.77) participated in the study. A subset of respondents (n=159 younger men; n=169 older men) provided follow-up data approximately eightmonths later. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Quantitative data were obtained through a survey comprising a range of validated measures, including the MDRS-22, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). The MDRS-22 was refined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in line with best practice guidelines. Analysis of variance and generalised linear models were conducted to explore relationships between variables. Results: The short-form MDRS consisted of seven items (MDRS-7) and captured all of the domains in the original tool. Participants with mixed symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥10and MDRS-7 >5) had significantly higher risk of mental illness (K10 ≥ 25) and current suicidality (PHQ-9 item 9 ≥ 1) than those with exclusively prototypic symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥10and MDRS-7 ≤5). Furthermore, the MDRS-7 was shown to be effective at predicting elevated symptoms of depression at follow-up, after controlling for previous depression diagnosis. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential utility of the MDRS-7 as a screening tool for externalised and male-type symptoms associated with major depression in men. Field trials of the MDRS-7 in primary care settings may facilitate identification of men at risk of suicide and psychological distress who do not meet cut-off scores for existing measures of major depression symptoms.Danielle Herreen, Simon Rice, Ian Zaja

Fluctuating Elastic Rings: Statics and Dynamics

We study the effects of thermal fluctuations on elastic rings. Analytical expressions are derived for correlation functions of Euler angles, mean square distance between points on the ring contour, radius of gyration, and probability distribution of writhe fluctuations. Since fluctuation amplitudes diverge in the limit of vanishing twist rigidity, twist elasticity is essential for the description of fluctuating rings. We find a crossover from a small scale regime in which the filament behaves as a straight rod, to a large scale regime in which spontaneous curvature is important and twist rigidity affects the spatial configurations of the ring. The fluctuation-dissipation relation between correlation functions of Euler angles and response functions, is used to study the deformation of the ring by external forces. The effects of inertia and dissipation on the relaxation of temporal correlations of writhe fluctuations, are analyzed using Langevin dynamics.Comment: 43 pages, 9 Figure

Modelling health behaviour: the contribution of health thinking style

PosterClare E. McGuiness, Ian Zajac, Deborah Turnbull, Carlene Wilso

Resistance training practices of Brazilian Olympic sprint and jump coaches: toward a deeper understanding of their choices and insights (part III)

In the final part of this three-article collection on the training strategies of Brazilian Olympic sprint and jump coaches, we provide a detailed description of the resistance training methods and exercises most commonly employed by these speed experts. Always with the objective of maximizing the sprint and jump capabilities of their athletes, these experienced coaches primarily utilize variable, eccentric, concentric, machine-based, isometric, complex, and isoinertial resistance training methods in their daily practices. Squats (in their different forms), Olympic weightlifting, ballistics, hip thrusts, lunges, calf raises, core exercises, leg curls, stiff-leg deadlifts, and leg extension are the most commonly prescribed exercises in their training programs, during both the preparatory and competitive periods. Therefore, the current manuscript comprehensively describes and examines these methods, with the additional aim of extrapolating their application to other sports, especially those where sprint speed is a key performance factor

Robustness Verification of Support Vector Machines

We study the problem of formally verifying the robustness to adversarial examples of support vector machines (SVMs), a major machine learning model for classification and regression tasks. Following a recent stream of works on formal robustness verification of (deep) neural networks, our approach relies on a sound abstract version of a given SVM classifier to be used for checking its robustness. This methodology is parametric on a given numerical abstraction of real values and, analogously to the case of neural networks, needs neither abstract least upper bounds nor widening operators on this abstraction. The standard interval domain provides a simple instantiation of our abstraction technique, which is enhanced with the domain of reduced affine forms, which is an efficient abstraction of the zonotope abstract domain. This robustness verification technique has been fully implemented and experimentally evaluated on SVMs based on linear and nonlinear (polynomial and radial basis function) kernels, which have been trained on the popular MNIST dataset of images and on the recent and more challenging Fashion-MNIST dataset. The experimental results of our prototype SVM robustness verifier appear to be encouraging: this automated verification is fast, scalable and shows significantly high percentages of provable robustness on the test set of MNIST, in particular compared to the analogous provable robustness of neural networks