Direct vs. indirect optical recombination in Ge films grown on Si substrates

The optical emission spectra from Ge films on Si are markedly different from their bulk Ge counterparts. Whereas bulk Ge emission is dominated by the material's indirect gap, the photoluminescence signal from Ge films is mainly associated with its direct band gap. Using a new class of Ge-on-Si films grown by a recently introduced CVD approach, we study the direct and indirect photoluminescence from intrinsic and doped samples and we conclude that the origin of the discrepancy is the lack of self-absorption in thin Ge films combined with a deviation from quasi-equilibrium conditions in the conduction band. The latter is confirmed by a simple model suggesting that the deviation from quasi-equilibrium is caused by the much shorter recombination lifetime in the films relative to bulk Ge

Pseudophakic cystoid macular edema: update 2016

Pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (PCME) is the most common complication of cataract surgery, leading in some cases to a decrease in vision. Although the pathogenesis of PCME is not completely understood, the contribution of postsurgical inflammation is generally accepted. Consequently, anti-inflammatory medicines, including steroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, have been postulated as having a role in both the prophylaxis and treatment of PCME. However, the lack of a uniformly accepted PCME definition, conflicting data on some risk factors, and the scarcity of studies comparing the role of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to steroids in PCME prevention make the problem of PCME one of the puzzles of ophthalmology. This paper presents an updated review on the pathogenesis, risk factors, and use of anti-inflammatory drugs in PCME that reflect current research and practice

A non-autonomous stochastic discrete time system with uniform disturbances

The main objective of this article is to present Bayesian optimal control over a class of non-autonomous linear stochastic discrete time systems with disturbances belonging to a family of the one parameter uniform distributions. It is proved that the Bayes control for the Pareto priors is the solution of a linear system of algebraic equations. For the case that this linear system is singular, we apply optimization techniques to gain the Bayesian optimal control. These results are extended to generalized linear stochastic systems of difference equations and provide the Bayesian optimal control for the case where the coefficients of these type of systems are non-square matrices. The paper extends the results of the authors developed for system with disturbances belonging to the exponential family

Effective interactions between inclusions in complex fluids driven out of equilibrium

The concept of fluctuation-induced effective interactions is extended to systems driven out of equilibrium. We compute the forces experienced by macroscopic objects immersed in a soft material driven by external shaking sources. We show that, in contrast with equilibrium Casimir forces induced by thermal fluctuations, their sign, range and amplitude depends on specifics of the shaking and can thus be tuned. We also comment upon the dispersion of these shaking-induced forces, and discuss their potential application to phase ordering in soft-materials.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PR

Rural health service planning: the need for a comprehensive approach to costing

The precipitous closure of rural maternity services in industrialized countries over the past two decades is underscored in part by assumptions of efficiencies of scale leading to cost-effectiveness. However, there is scant evidence to support this and the costing evidence that exists lacks comprehensiveness. To clearly understand the cost-effectiveness of rural services we must take the broadest societal perspective to include not only health system costs, but also those costs incurred at the family and community levels. We must consider manifest costs (hard, easily quantifiable costs, both direct and indirect) and latent costs (understood as what is sacrificed or lost), and take into account cost shifting (reallocating costs to different parts of the system) and cost downloading (passing costs on to women and families). Further, we must compare the costs of having a rural maternity service to those incurred by not having a service, a comparison that is seldom made. This approach will require determining a methodological framework for weighing all costs, one which will likely involve attention to the rich descriptions of those experiencing loss

Peptide-based microcapsules obtained by self-assembly and microfluidics as controlled environments for cell culture

Funding for this study was provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, grant PTDC/EBB-BIO/ 114523/2009). D. S. Ferreira gratefully acknowledges FCT for the PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/44977/2008)

Bibliography of Secondary Sources on the History of Dermatology II. Obituaries and Biographies in English Supplemented through 2015

Introduction A bibliographic record on the history of dermatology has been a project that started over 4 decades ago. It is a collection of all forms of history, ranging from dermatologic conditions, to famous dermatologists and physicians who have advanced the field of both dermatology and medicine, to the different countries that promoted the development of scientists, researchers and physicians alike. It was decided that the bibliographic record would encompass journals, books and a compilation of obituaries. A pertinent question is whether a manually created bibliographic project is still warranted in the 21st century. In short, yes. While Index Medicus has expanded the number of journals that are indexed, the number of dermatology publications currently included by Index Medicus exceeds 164; however, not all are in English or easily accessible. Although most of the papers of dermatologic interest are included in these journals, some contributions are also located in non-indexed publications. In addition, many documents of an historical interest or of a biographical nature are not necessarily selected for indexing in Index Medicus. The amalgamation of these historical publications from 2010-2015 will be divided into 3 separate contributions: journals, obituaries and books, with only those in English being recorded. Not only will this bibliographic record serve as a formal collection on the history of dermatology, it will also provide a reference to those wishing to enrich their knowledge on the expansion of the different fields of dermatology over time. It will also serve as a reminder of the achievements of our dermatology forefathers, from whom we have still so much to learn

Bibliography of Secondary Sources on the History of Dermatology

Introduction A bibliographic record on the history of dermatology has been a project that started over 4 decades ago. It is a collection of all forms of history, ranging from dermatologic conditions, to famous dermatologists and physicians who have advanced the field of both dermatology and medicine, to the different countries that promoted the development of scientists, researchers and physicians alike. It was decided that the bibliographic record would encompass journals, books and a compilation of obituaries. A pertinent question is whether a manually created bibliographic project is still warranted in the 21st century. In short, yes. While Index Medicus has expanded the number of journals that are indexed, the number of dermatology publications currently included by Index Medicus exceeds 164; however, not all are in English or easily accessible. Although most of the papers of dermatologic interest are included in these journals, some contributions are also located in non-indexed publications. In addition, many documents of an historical interest or of a biographical nature are not necessarily selected for indexing in Index Medicus. The amalgamation of these historical publications from 2010-2015 will be divided into 3 separate contributions: journals, obituaries and books, with only those in English being recorded. Not only will this bibliographic record serve as a formal collection on the history of dermatology, it will also provide a reference to those wishing to enrich their knowledge on the expansion of the different fields of dermatology over time. It will also serve as a reminder of the achievements of our dermatology forefathers, from whom we have still so much to learn

Reconceptualising risk: Perceptions of risk in rural and remote maternity service planning.

OBJECTIVE: to explore perceptions and examples of risk related to pregnancy and childbirth in rural and remote Australia and how these influence the planning of maternity services. DESIGN: data collection in this qualitative component of a mixed methods study included 88 semi-structured individual and group interviews (n=102), three focus groups (n=22) and one group information session (n=17). Researchers identified two categories of risk for exploration: health services risk (including clinical and corporate risks) and social risk (including cultural, emotional and financial risks). Data were aggregated and thematically analysed to identify perceptions and examples of risk related to each category. SETTING: fieldwork was conducted in four jurisdictions at nine sites in rural (n=3) and remote (n=6) Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 117 health service employees and 24 consumers. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: examples and perceptions relating to each category of risk were identified from the data. Most medical practitioners and health service managers perceived clinical risks related to rural birthing services without access to caesarean section. Consumer participants were more likely to emphasise social risks arising from a lack of local birthing services. KEY CONCLUSIONS: our analysis demonstrated that the closure of services adds social risk, which exacerbates clinical risk. Analysis also highlighted that perceptions of clinical risk are privileged over social risk in decisions about rural and remote maternity service planning. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: a comprehensive analysis of risk that identifies how social and other forms of risk contribute to adverse clinical outcomes would benefit rural and remote people and their health services. Formal risk analyses should consider the risks associated with failure to provide birthing services in rural and remote communities as well as the risks of maintaining services