Field Emission to control nanometer tip-medium distances in probe storage

In this work, we present a novel concept for high resolution proximity sending based on field emission and provide more insight in the vacuum conditions and electronics needed for stable operation

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Data Descriptor: An open resource for transdiagnostic research in pediatric mental health and learning disorders

Technological and methodological innovations are equipping researchers with unprecedented capabilities for detecting and characterizing pathologic processes in the developing human brain. As a result, ambitions to achieve clinically useful tools to assist in the diagnosis and management of mental health and learning disorders are gaining momentum. To this end, it is critical to accrue large-scale multimodal datasets that capture a broad range of commonly encountered clinical psychopathology. The Child Mind Institute has launched the Healthy Brain Network (HBN), an ongoing initiative focused on creating and sharing a biobank of data from 10,000 New York area participants (ages 5–21). The HBN Biobank houses data about psychiatric, behavioral, cognitive, and lifestyle phenotypes, as well as multimodal brain imaging (resting and naturalistic viewing fMRI, diffusion MRI, morphometric MRI), electroencephalography, eyetracking, voice and video recordings, genetics and actigraphy. Here, we present the rationale, design and implementation of HBN protocols. We describe the first data release (n =664) and the potential of the biobank to advance related areas (e.g., biophysical modeling, voice analysis

Displacement sensing by field emission with nanometer resolution

Field emission is used as a displacement sensing method, exploiting the exponential relation\ud between field emission current and electrode gap. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes have been\ud used as field emission source to measure I/V characteristics which were found to correspond well to\ud theory. The field emission sensor was operated in a more linear regime by using feedback on the position\ud of the probe in order to maintain a constant current. The sensitivity of the sensor for displacement was\ud found to be 0.26 V/nm at a range of ~100 nm. From the experimental data, typical parameters for the\ud Fowler-Nordheim equation were deduced and used to model the sensor performance. The measurements\ud confirm that field emission can be applied to sense the distance between a probe tip and sample with\ud <20 nm resolution

Field emission to control tip-sample distance in magnetic probe recording

An integrated method using field-emission to control the tip-sample distance for non-contact magnetic probe recording is presented, adopting the exponential relation between current and electric field as feedback. I/V characteristics that correspond well to field emission theory are measured using a probe coated with a 100 nm conductive diamond layer. By using feedback to control the tip-sample distance at constant current, the distance was increased by 2.8 nm per volt applied bias. The method was tested by scanning a probe coated with 20 nm chromium over a conducting nanopatterned sample, at bias voltages of 0.5V, 5.0V and 50.0V. The measurements confirm that field emission can be applied to control the tip-sample distance, with sufficient resolution and current stability for magnetic probe recording

Magnetic properties of CoPt thin films and nanosized dots patterned by Laser Interference Lithography (LIL)

Magnetic properties of Co/Pt multilayers have been extensively studied from both the practical and fundamental points of view. These multilayers have large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, high remanent squareness and high coercivity [1]. Therefore, Co/Pt multilayer dots are possible candidates for future high-density magnetic storage media. In order to understand the magnetization process, it is essential to measure not only the properties of the array, but also of individual dots. Techniques like micro-SQUID’s can be used to measure on nano dots, however they are limited to cryogenic temperatures [2]. Alternatively, anomalous Hall effect (AHE) measurements are very sensitive and can be operated in a wide temperature range including room temperature. The AHE technique has previously been used to measure L10-FePt [3] and Co/Pt multilayer nanodots [4] and shown that the extremely high sensitivity allows detecting switching behaviour of a sub-100-nm dot. In this work we investigate the magnetic reversal of Co/Pt dots, with a focus on the switching field distribution. The arrays of dots are defined by laser interference lithography (LIL) [5]. LIL offers advantages over scanning electron-beam lithography due to its ability to define grid patterns over large, square cm, areas in a single, fast, maskless exposure

Detection of Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum from Culture Isolates and Clinical Specimens by Use of Real-Time PCR▿†

Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum are dimorphic fungi that often cause self-limited respiratory infections. However, they may also cause severe disseminated disease, depending on the level of the exposure to the organism and the host immune status. In addition, patients with infections caused by these fungi may have very similar clinical presentations. Although microbiologic culture is a standard method for detecting these pathogens, their recovery may require days to weeks, and the manipulation of cultures presents a significant safety hazard to laboratory personnel. Therefore, the goal of this study was to design a rapid, real-time PCR assay to detect and differentiate B. dermatitidis and H. capsulatum from culture isolates and directly from clinical specimens. Primers and fluorescence resonance energy transfer hybridization probes were designed to target the histidine kinase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes of B. dermatitidis and H. capsulatum, respectively. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was determined to be 100 copies/μl for both fungi. From culture isolates, the assay demonstrated 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity for B. dermatitidis and 100% specificity and 94% sensitivity for H. capsulatum. Detection directly from 797 clinical specimens demonstrated specificities and sensitivities of 99% and 86% for B. dermatitidis and 100% and 73% for H. capsulatum compared with the results for culture. This real-time PCR assay provides a rapid method for the detection of B. dermatitidis and H. capsulatum from culture isolates and directly from clinical specimens