12,325 research outputs found
Coupled quintessence and vacuum decay
We discuss observational consequences of a class of cosmological models
characterized by the dilution of pressureless matter attenuated with respect to
the usual scaling due to the decay of vacuum energy. We carry out a
joint statistical analysis of observational data from the new \emph{gold}
sample of 182 SNe Ia, recent estimates of the CMB shift parameter, and BAO
measurements from the SDSS to show that such models favor the decay of vacuum
only into the dark matter sector, and that the separately conserved baryons
cannot be neglected. In order to explore ways to more fundamentally motivated
models, we also derive a coupled scalar field version for this general class of
vacuum decay scenarios.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, LaTe
Alimentação na seca: cana-de-açĂșcar e urĂ©ia.
bitstream/item/65407/1/COT-40-Alimentacao-na-seca.pd
Fabrication of zinc oxide and nanostructured porous silicon composite micropatterns on silicon
The luminescent properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) and nanostructured porous silicon (PSi)
make these materials very appealing for photoemission applications. The current study reports on
the fabrication of a composite of ZnO and nanostructured porous silicon micropatterns (ZnO + PSi
micropatterns) onto heavily-doped silicon surfaces. The proposed composite micropattern is devoted
to the future development of light-emitting diodes. The fabrication of the ZnO + PSi micropatterns
was carried out in a twoâstep process. (1) A regular hexagonal micropattern of a photoresist/ZnO
stack was fabricated by UV lithography on crystalline silicon substrates. (2) Before being lifted off
the photoresist, nanostructured PSi micropatterns were fabricated by electrochemically etching the
exposed areas of the silicon substrate. Subsequently, wet etching of the photoresist was carried out
for the final development of the composite ZnO and PSi micropatterns. Further, thin films of ZnO
and nanostructured PSi layers were characterized. In particular, their photoluminescent properties
were analyzed, as well as their morphology and composition. The experimental PL results show
that the ZnO layers have emission broadbands centered at (2.63 eV, blue), while the PSi layers show
a band centered at (1.71 eV, red). Further, the emission peaks from the PSi layers can be tuned by
changing their fabrication conditions. It was observed that the properties of the ZnO thin films are
not influenced by either the surface morphology of PSi or by its PL emissions. Therefore, the PL
properties of the composite ZnO + PSi micropatterns are equivalent to those featuring the addition of
PSi layers and ZnO thin films. Accordingly, broadband optical emissions are expected to arise from
a combination between the ZnO layer (blue band) and PSi (red band). Furthermore, the electrical
losses associated with the PSi areas can be greatly reduced since ZnO is in contact with the Si surface.
As a result, the proposed composite micropatterns might be attractive for many solid-state lighting
applications, such as light-emitting diodesThis research was partially funded by Universidad AutĂłnoma de Madrid, FPI-UAM grant (2019) and by the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education, Missions Section under Egyptian Joint Supervision Grant, call 015/01
Transient dynamics for sequence processing neural networks: effect of degree distributions
We derive a analytic evolution equation for overlap parameters including the
effect of degree distribution on the transient dynamics of sequence processing
neural networks. In the special case of globally coupled networks, the
precisely retrieved critical loading ratio is obtained,
where is the network size. In the presence of random networks, our
theoretical predictions agree quantitatively with the numerical experiments for
delta, binomial, and power-law degree distributions.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Brand logo design: examining consumer responses to figurativeness
In a previous investigation, aimed at studying brand identity preferences in a merger context, researchers found the most preferred logos are figurative ones. Additionally, results suggested the aesthetic appeal of the logo significantly influences consumersâ identity choices. These results find support in logo strategy literature. The main purpose of this study is to investigate more thoroughly the influence of logo design characteristics, and particularly of figurativeness, on consumersâ responses. In two studies, this research will try to shed light on consumer logo preferences, by investigating psychological properties of figurativeness. Firstly, this research will allow classifying a significant sample of international logos according to the figurativeness of logo design. Then, this study will evaluate affect towards logo design.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The Critical Coupling Likelihood Method: A new approach for seamless integration of environmental and operating conditions of gravitational wave detectors into gravitational wave searches
Any search effort for gravitational waves (GW) using interferometric
detectors like LIGO needs to be able to identify if and when noise is coupling
into the detector's output signal. The Critical Coupling Likelihood (CCL)
method has been developed to characterize potential noise coupling and in the
future aid GW search efforts. By testing two hypotheses about pairs of
channels, CCL is able to identify undesirable coupled instrumental noise from
potential GW candidates. Our preliminary results show that CCL can associate up
to of observed artifacts with , to local noise sources,
while reducing the duty cycle of the instrument by . An approach
like CCL will become increasingly important as GW research moves into the
Advanced LIGO era, going from the first GW detection to GW astronomy.Comment: submitted CQ
Prevalence and Determinants of Bullying Among Health Care Workers in Portugal
Bullying is defined as systematic exposure to humiliation as well as hostile and violent behaviors against one or more individuals. These behaviors are a serious, growing problem, which affects a significant proportion of health care professionals. To support the hospitalâs risk management policy, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of bullying in this institution and identify the determinants of bullying. Bullying was measured using the Negative Acts QuestionnaireâRevised, Portuguese version (NAQ-R), a self-administered tool. The questionnaire was made available in digital format on the hospitalâs internal network (Intranet) and in hard copy; questionnaires were returned via nonidentified internal mail addressed to the occupational health unit or deposited in suggestion boxes located throughout the hospital. Multiple questionnaire delivery methods guaranteed data anonymity and confidentiality. The prevalence of bullying in this hospital was 8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [6.2, 10.2]). Reported bullying was predominantly vertical and more frequently occurring among nurses, clerical staff, and health care assistants (12.5%, 7.6%, 6.4%, respectively; p = .005). After adjusting for gender, age, occupation, type of contract, and work schedule, only type of contract was significantly associated with bullying in the workplace; the risk of bullying was twice as high among government employees compared to workers with indefinite duration employment contracts (p = .038). This study identified a high prevalence of bullying among health professionals; hence a program to prevent and control this phenomenon was implemented in this institution
Sobolev homeomorphisms are dense in volume preserving automorphisms
In this paper we prove a Lusin theorem for the space of Sobolev-(1,p) volume preserving homeomorphism on closed and connected n-dimensional manifolds, n >= 3, for pn this result is not true.The authors would like to thank the anonymous referee for the careful
reading of the manuscript and for giving very helpful comments and suggestions.
AA and MJT were partially supported by the Research Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho with the Portuguese Funds from the
âFundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologiaâ, through the Project UID/MAT/
00013/2013.
MB was partially supported by FCT - âFundação para a CiĂȘncia e a
Tecnologiaâ, through Centro de MatemĂĄtica e AplicaçÔes (CMA-UBI), Universidade da Beira Interior, project UID/MAT/00212/2013
Randomized Clinical Trial of Balloon Occlusion versus Conventional Microcatheter Prostatic Artery Embolization for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Purpose: To compare balloon occlusion prostatic artery embolization (bPAE) with conventional microcatheter PAE (cPAE).
Materials and methods: In this single-center trial, between November 2017 and November 2018, 89 patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia were randomly assigned to cPAE (n = 43) or bPAE (n = 46). All patients received embolization with 300-500 ÎŒm Embosphere microspheres and were evaluated before and 1 and 6 months after PAE. Primary outcome measure was change from baseline in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Student t test was used for between-group comparisons of change from baseline, and paired t test was used for within-group comparisons.
Results: At baseline, groups were identical (P > .05). Unilateral PAE was performed in 4 patients receiving cPAE and 3 patients receiving bPAE (9.30% and 6.52%, P = .708). Procedural and fluoroscopy times, dose area product, air kerma, embolic volume, and mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 24 hours after PAE did not differ between groups (P > .05). Coils were used in 6 patients receiving cPAE and 4 patients receiving bPAE (14.0% and 8.70%, P = .51). Assessments at 6 months after PAE showed mean IPSS reduction was 7.58 ± 6.88 after cPAE and 8.30 ± 8.12 after bPAE (P = .65); mean prostate volume reduction was 21.9 cm3 ± 51.6 (18.2%) after cPAE and 6.15 cm3 ± 14.6 (7.3%) after bPAE (P = .05); mean PSA reduction was 0.9 ng/mL ± 2.22 after cPAE and 0.22 ng/mL ± 1.65 after bPAE (P = .10). Penile skin lesions (n = 3) and rectal bleeding (n = 2) were documented only in patients receiving cPAE (11.9%, P = .01). No major adverse events occurred.
Conclusions: bPAE is as effective as cPAE in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia with a potential to reduce nontarget embolization.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Free-electron Model for Mesoscopic Force Fluctuations in Nanowires
When two metal electrodes are separated, a nanometer sized wire (nanowire) is
formed just before the contact breaks. The electrical conduction measured
during this retraction process shows signs of quantized conductance in units of
G_0=2e^2/h. Recent experiments show that the force acting on the wire during
separation fluctuates, which has been interpreted as being due to atomic
rearrangements. In this report we use a simple free electron model, for two
simple geometries, and show that the electronic contribution to the force
fluctuations is comparable to the experimentally found values, about 2 nN.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, reference correcte
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