Atom lithography of Fe

Direct write atom lithography is a technique in which nearly resonant light is used to pattern an atom beam. Nanostructures are formed when the patterned beam falls onto a substrate. We have applied this lithography scheme to a ferromagnetic element, using a 372 nm laser light standing wave to pattern a beam of iron atoms. In this proof-of-principle experiment, we have deposited a grid of 50-nm-wide lines 186 nm apart. These ultraregular, large-scale, ferromagnetic wire arrays may generate exciting new developments in the fields of spintronics and nanomagnetics. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics

Monitoring integraal duurzame stallen : peildatum 1 januari 2017

De overheid ambieert een integraal duurzame veehouderij in 2023. Daarom wordt jaarlijks een nieuw doel gesteld. Voor eind 2016 (peildatum 1 januari 2017) noemt het ministerie als ambitie dat minimaal 14% van de rundvee-, varkens- en pluimveestallen integraal duurzaam is. Deze studie laat zien dat op 1 januari 2017 in Nederland 13,6 % van alle stallen integraal duurzaam is

Bedrijfstoeslagen en maatschappelijke waarden in Nederland : een verkenning van opties

In deze studie zijn vier opties doorberekend over de mogelijkheden om bedrijfstoeslagen te verbinden met maatschappelijke waarden, in dit geval natuur, milieu en landschap. De onderzochte effecten betreffen naast natuur, landschap en milieu ook de inkomens, toegevoegde waarde en werkgelegenheid van betrokken agrarische bedrijven, sectoren, regio's en agroketens en de uitvoerbaarheid van de onderzochte maatregelen (zoals genoemd in de houtskoolschets van LNV). Bij de uitvoering van deze studie zijn modellen van diverse instituten meegenome

Monitoring integraal duurzame stallen : Peildatum 1 januari 2018

Sinds 2008 voert WUR in opdracht van het ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) de monitor integraal duurzame stallen uit. De monitor laat zien dat op 1 januari 2018 in Nederland 15,0 % van alle rundvee-, varkens- en pluimveestallen integraal duurzaam is---Since 2008 commissioned by the Ministry of agriculture, nature and food quality (LNV) WUR conducts the monitor integral sustainable stables. The monitor shows that on 1 January 2018 in the Netherlands 15.0% of all cattle, pig and poultry houses are integral sustainabl

Assessing the value of volume navigation during ultrasound-guided radiofrequency- and microwave-ablations of liver lesions

Purpose: The goal of our study was to determine the influence of ultrasound (US)-coupled volume navigation on the use of computed tomography (CT) during minimally-invasive radiofrequency and microwave ablation procedures of liver lesions.Method: Twenty-five patients with 40 liver lesions of different histological origin were retrospectively analysed. Lesions were ablated following standard protocol, using 1) conventional US-guidance, 2) manual registered volume navigation (mVNav), 3) automatic registered (alpha VNav) or 4) CT-guidance. In case of ultrasonographically inconspicuous lesions, conventional US-guidance was abandoned and mVNav was used. If mVNav was also unsuccessful, the procedure was either continued with alpha VNav or CT-guidance. The number, size and location of the lesions targeted using the different approaches were documented.Results: Of the 40 lesions, sixteen (40.0 %) could be targeted with conventional US-guidance only, sixteen (40.0 %) with mVNav, three (7.5 %) with aVNav and five (12.5 %) only through the use of CT-guidance. Of the three alternatives (mVNav, alpha VNav and CT only) the mean size of the lesions targeted using mVNav (9.1 +/- 4.6 mm) was significantly smaller from those targeted using US-guidance only (20.4 +/- 9.4 mm; p < 0.001). The location of the lesions did not influence the selection of the modality used to guide the ablation.Conclusions: In our cohort, mVNav allowed the ablation procedure to become less dependent on the use of CT. mVNav supported the ablation of lesions smaller than those that could be ablated with US only and doubled the application of minimally-invasive US-guided ablations.Cardiovascular Aspects of Radiolog

Еволюція топоформанта -щина в слов’янських мовах та його рефлекси в реґіональній історичній ойконімії

У статті автор на широкому географічно-історичному тлі простежує еволюцію топоформанта -щина в слов'янській топонімії детально аналізує рефлекси цього суфікса в реґіональній історичній ойконімії на прикладі дев'яти назв (і 12-ти мікроойконімних варіантів) населених пунктів Галицької та Львівської земель Руського воєводства із подальшим встановленням їхньої етимологи.В статье автор на широком географическо-историческом фоне прослеживает эволюцию топонимического форманта -щина в славянской топонимии детально анализирует рефлексы этого суффикса в региональной исторической ойконимии на примере девяти названий (с 12-ю микроойконимными вариантами) населенных пунктов Галицкой и Львовской земель Русского воеводства с последующим установлением их этимологии.The author traces the evolution of topoformant -schyna on the basis of historical and geographical studies in Slavic Toponymy. Reflexes of the suffix are analyzed in regional historical oykonymy in 12 toponyms (and their 12 microokonymic variants) of villages and towns of Halych and Lviv Lands of Ruske Woyewodstwo. Their etymology is also analysed

What can local authorities do to improve the social care-related quality of life of older adults living at home? Evidence from the Adult Social Care Survey

Local authorities spend considerable resources on social care at home for older adults. Given the expected growth in the population of older adults and budget cuts on local government, it is important to find efficient ways of maintaining and improving the quality of life of older adults. The ageing in place literature suggests that policies in other functions of local authorities may have a significant role to play. This study aims to examine the associations between social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) in older adults and three potential policy targets for local authorities: (i) accessibility of information and advice, (ii) design of the home and (iii) accessibility of the local area. We used cross-sectional data from the English national Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) 2010/2011 on service users aged 65 years and older and living at home (N=29,935). To examine the association between SCRQoL, as measured by the ASCOT, and three single-item questions about accessibility of information, design of the home and accessibility of the local area, we estimate linear and quantile regression models. After adjusting for physical and mental health factors and other confounders our findings indicate that SCRQoL is significantly lower for older adults who find it more difficult to find information and advice, for those who report that their home design is inappropriate for their needs and for those who find it more difficult to get around their local area. In addition, these three variables are as strongly associated with SCRQoL as physical and mental health factors. We conclude that in seeking to find ways to maintain and improve the quality of life of social care users living at home, local authorities could look more broadly across their responsibilities. Further research is required to explore the cost-effectiveness of these options compared to standard social care services

A molecular dynamics study on the equilibrium magnetization properties and structure of ferrofluids

We investigate in detail the initial susceptibility, magnetization curves, and microstructure of ferrofluids in various concentration and particle dipole moment ranges by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We use the Ewald summation for the long-range dipolar interactions, take explicitly into account the translational and rotational degrees of freedom, coupled to a Langevin thermostat. When the dipolar interaction energy is comparable with the thermal energy, the simulation results on the magnetization properties agree with the theoretical predictions very well. For stronger dipolar couplings, however, we find systematic deviations from the theoretical curves. We analyze in detail the observed microstructure of the fluids under different conditions. The formation of clusters is found to enhance the magnetization at weak fields and thus leads to a larger initial susceptibility. The influence of the particle aggregation is isolated by studying ferro-solids, which consist of magnetic dipoles frozen in at random locations but which are free to rotate. Due to the artificial suppression of clusters in ferro-solids the observed susceptibility is considerably lowered when compared to ferrofluids.Comment: 33 pages including 12 figures, requires RevTex

Enhancement of the magnetic anisotropy of nanometer-sized Co clusters: influence of the surface and of the inter-particle interactions

We study the magnetic properties of spherical Co clusters with diameters between 0.8 nm and 5.4 nm (25 to 7500$ atoms) prepared by sequential sputtering of Co and Al2O3. The particle size distribution has been determined from the equilibrium susceptibility and magnetization data and it is compared to previous structural characterizations. The distribution of activation energies was independently obtained from a scaling plot of the ac susceptibility. Combining these two distributions we have accurately determined the effective anisotropy constant Keff. We find that Keff is enhanced with respect to the bulk value and that it is dominated by a strong anisotropy induced at the surface of the clusters. Interactions between the magnetic moments of adjacent layers are shown to increase the effective activation energy barrier for the reversal of the magnetic moments. Finally, this reversal is shown to proceed classically down to the lowest temperature investigated (1.8 K).Comment: 13 figures submitted to Phys. Rev.