Development of improved plastic foam generating agents and techniques for Saturn applications Final report, Jul. 1964 - Jun. 1965

Foam system compressive strength analysis, solid urethane castings to screen polymer systems, and prepolymer methods of foam preparation in plastic foam development for Saturn projec

Extended Timed Up and Go assessment as a clinical indicator of cognitive state in Parkinson\u27s disease

Objective: To evaluate a modified extended Timed Up and Go (extended-TUG) assessment against a panel of validated clinical assessments, as an indicator of Parkinson’s disease (PD) severity and cognitive impairment. Methods: Eighty-seven participants with idiopathic PD were sequentially recruited from a Movement Disorders Clinic. An extended-TUG assessment was employed which required participants to stand from a seated position, walk in a straight line for 7 metres, turn 180 degrees and then return to the start, in a seated position. The extended-TUG assessment duration was correlated to a panel of clinical assessments, including the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Quality of Life (PDQ-39), Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s disease (SCOPA-Cog), revised Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Index (ACE-R) and Barratt’s Impulsivity Scale 11 (BIS-11). Results: Extended-TUG time was significantly correlated to MDS-UPDRS III score and to SCOPA-Cog, ACE-R (p\u3c0.001) and PDQ-39 scores (p\u3c0.01). Generalized linear models determined the extended-TUG to be a sole variable in predicting ACE-R or SCOPA-Cog scores. Patients in the fastest extended-TUG tertile were predicted to perform 8.3 and 13.4 points better in the SCOPA-Cog and ACE-R assessments, respectively, than the slowest group. Patients who exceeded the dementia cut-off scores with these instruments exhibited significantly longer extended-TUG times. Conclusions: Extended-TUG performance appears to be a useful indicator of cognition as well as motor function and quality of life in PD, and warrants further evaluation as a first line assessment tool to monitor disease severity and response to treatment. Poor extended-TUG performance may identify patients without overt cognitive impairment form whom cognitive assessment is needed

Band anticrossing in GaNxSb1–x

Fourier transform infrared absorption measurements are presented from the dilute nitride semiconductor GaNSb with nitrogen incorporations between 0.2% and 1.0%. The divergence of transitions from the valence band to E– and E+ can be seen with increasing nitrogen incorporation, consistent with theoretical predictions. The GaNSb band structure has been modeled using a five-band k·p Hamiltonian and a band anticrossing fitting has been obtained using a nitrogen level of 0.78 eV above the valence band maximum and a coupling parameter of 2.6 eV

Transition from electron accumulation to depletion at InGaN surfaces

The composition dependence of the Fermi-level pinning at the oxidized (0001) surfaces of n-type InxGa1−xN films (0<=x<=1) is investigated using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The surface Fermi-level position varies from high above the conduction band minimum (CBM) at InN surfaces to significantly below the CBM at GaN surfaces, with the transition from electron accumulation to depletion occurring at approximately x=0.3. The results are consistent with the composition dependence of the band edges with respect to the charge neutrality level

Band gap reduction in GaNSb alloys due to the anion mismatch

The structural and optoelectronic properties in GaNxSb1–x alloys (0<=x<0.02) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on both GaSb substrates and AlSb buffer layers on GaAs substrates are investigated. High-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD) and reciprocal space mapping indicate that the GaNxSb1–x epilayers are of high crystalline quality and the alloy composition is found to be independent of substrate, for identical growth conditions. The band gap of the GaNSb alloys is found to decrease with increasing nitrogen content from absorption spectroscopy. Strain-induced band-gap shifts, Moss-Burstein effects, and band renormalization were ruled out by XRD and Hall measurements. The band-gap reduction is solely due to the substitution of dilute amounts of highly electronegative nitrogen for antimony, and is greater than observed in GaNAs with the same N content

Photoluminescence spectroscopy of bandgap reduction in dilute InNAs alloys

Photoluminescence (PL) has been observed from dilute InNxAs1–x epilayers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The PL spectra unambiguously show band gap reduction with increasing N content. The variation of the PL spectra with temperature is indicative of carrier detrapping from localized to extended states as the temperature is increased. The redshift of the free exciton PL peak with increasing N content and temperature is reproduced by the band anticrossing model, implemented via a (5×5) k·p Hamiltonian

Never the twain shall meet: a critical appraisal of the combination of discourse and psychoanalytic theory in studies of men and masculinity

In recent years there has been a number of attempts by different researchers to study men and masculinity using a combination of discourse theory and psychoanalysis. The main reason for this development is the sense that, on its own, discourse theory provides an incomplete account of masculine subjectivity. Psychoanalysis is thought to be able to fill those gaps. In this paper I want to begin by reviewing these arguments. I will provide an outline of the alleged deficiencies in discursive approaches to men and masculinity before going on to examine some of the work that has attempted the above synthesis. What I aim to show is that, for a number of reasons, such attempts are bound to fail. Instead, I will argue that better progress can be made in studies of masculinity by remaining within the theoretical boundaries of Discursive Psychology

The analysis of facial beauty: an emerging area of research in pattern analysis

Much research presented recently supports the idea that the human perception of attractiveness is data-driven and largely irrespective of the perceiver. This suggests using pattern analysis techniques for beauty analysis. Several scientific papers on this subject are appearing in image processing, computer vision and pattern analysis contexts, or use techniques of these areas. In this paper, we will survey the recent studies on automatic analysis of facial beauty, and discuss research lines and practical application