Reactive ion etching of tellurite and chalcogenide waveguides using hydrogen, methane, and argon

The authors report in detail on the reactive plasma etching properties of tellurium and demonstrate a high quality etching process using hydrogen, methane, and argon. Very low loss planar ridge waveguides are demonstrated. Optical losses in tellurium dioxide waveguides below 0.1 dB/cm in most of the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum and at 1550 nm have been achieved—the lowest ever reported by more than an order of magnitude and clearly suitable for planar integrated devices. The etch process is also shown to be suitable for chalcogenide glasses which may be of importance in applications such as phase change memory devices and nonlinear integrated optics.The support of the Australian Research Council through its Discovery Grant Program is gratefully acknowledged Grant No. DP070333

The Behavioral Economics of Smoking

Evidence that economic principles may be employed to predict the rates at which cigarettes are consumed is presented from several laboratory experiments. In these experiments, cigarette-deprived smokers were required to make a effortful response to earn cigarette puffs. Changing the number of responses required per puff is conceptualized as a price manipulation. Our experiments show that these price increases decrease cigarette consumption and that price elasticity of demand increases with increases in price. When from 74 different smokers, participating in 17 different experiments, in our laboratory were analyzed, five demographic variables were related to rates of earning and smoking cigarettes in the lab: 1) males smoked more than females; 2) less-educated individuals tended to smoke more than better-educated smokers; 3) higher rates of smoking were observed in individuals with high Fagerstr”m smoke more than heavy drinkers; and 5) unemployed subjects smoked more than employed individuals. Demographic effects on price elasticity did not accord as well with econometric data. Finally, we discuss the ability of behavioral- economic laboratory experiments to model cigarette smoking in the natural economy, and the validity of using these laboratory results as a means of assessing the likely effects of public-policy initiatives. The results from one such experiment are presented that suggest the economic concept of inferior goods may be informative in understanding nicotine-replacement products and the likely effects of differential pricing of cigarettes and these replacement products.

Water exchange at a hydrated platinum electrode is rare and collective

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the exchange kinetics of water molecules at a model metal electrode surface -- exchange between water molecules in the bulk liquid and water molecules bound to the metal. This process is a rare event, with a mean residence time of a bound water of about 40 ns for the model we consider. With analysis borrowed from the techniques of rare-event sampling, we show how this exchange or desorption is controlled by (1) reorganization of the hydrogen bond network within the adlayer of bound water molecules, and by (2) interfacial density fluctuations of the bulk liquid adjacent to the adlayer. We define collective coordinates that describe the desorption mechanism. Spatial and temporal correlations associated with a single event extend over nanometers and tens of picoseconds.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Totally ordered commutative monoids

A totally ordered monoid - or tomonoid, for short - is a commutative semigroup with identity S equipped with a total order ≤s that is translation invariant, i.e., that satisfies: ∀x, y, z ∈, x ≤s y ⇒ x + z ≤s y + z. We call a tomonoid that is a quotient of some totally ordered free commutative monoid formally integral. Our most significant results concern characterizations of this condition by means of constructions in the lattice Zn that are reminiscent of the geometric interpretation of the Buchberger algorithm that occurs in integer programming. In particular, we show that every two-generator tomonoid is formally integral. In addition, we give several (new) examples of tomonoids that are not formally integral, we present results on the structure of nil tomonoids and we show how a valuation-theoretic construction due to Hion reveals relationships between formally integral tomonoids and ordered commutative rings satisfying a condition introduced by Henriksen and Isbell

Patient perspectives on discussing alcohol as part of medicines review in community pharmacies.

BACKGROUND: This paper reports on a qualitative study which formed part of the intervention development phase of a five year research programme (Community pharmacy: Highlighting Alcohol use in Medication aPpointments; CHAMP-1). OBJECTIVES: To better understand patient views on the appropriateness of alcohol as a subject for discussion in medication reviews in community pharmacy. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 25 people eligible for medication reviews whose AUDIT-C screening scores identified them as likely risky drinkers. Transcripts were analysed using a modified framework method with a constructionist thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Most patients interviewed said they were open to the idea of a medication and alcohol linked discussion with a pharmacist if this was routine, well-conducted and confidential. Such a discussion was thought less personally relevant for those who viewed the proposed intervention through the prism of a particular set of ideas about the nature of alcohol problems, which distanced them from thinking about alcohol in terms of their everyday life and possible impacts on their health. Study findings attest to some of the sensitivities involved in discussion of alcohol, and the complexities inherent in helping people to talk about their own drinking, medicine use and health. CONCLUSIONS: Patients were open to the idea of discussing alcohol with community pharmacists in the context of a medicines review if this was sensitively done and the relevance was clear to them

Taking Control of What Counts in Accountability: The Context Enriched Report Card

During the last two decades concerns about the quality of education have resulted in widespread calls for educational improvement and reform in many nations

Dust emission at 8-mic and 24-mic as Diagnostics of HII Region Radiative Transfer

We use the Spitzer SAGE survey of the Magellanic Clouds to evaluate the relationship between the 8-mic PAH emission, 24-mic hot dust emission, and HII region radiative transfer. We confirm that in the higher-metallicity Large Magellanic Cloud, PAH destruction is sensitive to optically thin conditions in the nebular Lyman continuum: objects identified as optically thin candidates based on nebular ionization structure show 6 times lower median 8-mic surface brightness (0.18 mJy arcsec^-2) than their optically thick counterparts (1.2 mJy arcsec^-2). The 24-mic surface brightness also shows a factor of 3 offset between the two classes of objects (0.13 vs 0.44 mJy arcsec^-2, respectively), which is driven by the association between the very small dust grains and higher density gas found at higher nebular optical depths. In contrast, PAH and dust formation in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud is strongly inhibited such that we find no variation in either 8-mic or 24-mic emission between our optically thick and thin samples. This is attributable to extremely low PAH and dust production together with high, corrosive UV photon fluxes in this low-metallicity environment. The dust mass surface densities and gas-to-dust ratios determined from dust maps using Herschel HERITAGE survey data support this interpretation.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, May 15, 2017. 10 pages, 9 figure