5,828 research outputs found
Public service innovation and multiple institutional logics: the case of hybrid social enterprise providers of health and wellbeing
Public sector organisations are confronted with growing health and social care needs in combination with severe resource constraints, prompting interest in innovative responses to such challenges. Public service and social innovation is poorly understood, particularly where innovators must navigate between the norms, practices and logics of public, private and civil society sectors. We contribute to the understanding of how innovating hybrid organisations are able to creatively combine co-existing logics. Case study evidence from newly established social enterprise providers of health and wellbeing services in England is utilised to examine how innovations are shaped by (i) an incumbent state or public sector logic, and two āchallengerā logics relating to (ii) the market and increasing competition; and (iii) civil society, emphasising social value and democratic engagement with employees and service users. The analysis shows how a more fluid and creative interplay of logics can be observed in relation to specific strategies and practices. Within organisations, these strategies relate to the empowerment of staff to be creative, financial management, and knowledge sharing and protection. The interplay of logics shaping social innovation is also found in relationships with key stakeholders, notably public sector funders, service users and service delivery partners. Implications are drawn for innovation in public services and hybrid organisations more broadly
Superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators for low temperature pulsed electron spin resonance spectroscopy
We discuss the design and implementation of thin film superconducting
coplanar waveguide micro- resonators for pulsed ESR experiments. The
performance of the resonators with P doped Si epilayer samples is compared to
waveguide resonators under equivalent conditions. The high achievable filling
factor even for small sized samples and the relatively high Q-factor result in
a sensitivity that is superior to that of conventional waveguide resonators, in
particular to spins close to the sample surface. The peak microwave power is on
the order of a few microwatts, which is compatible with measurements at ultra
low temperatures. We also discuss the effect of the nonuniform microwave
magnetic field on the Hahn echo power dependence
Oxygen isotopes implanted in the LDEF spacecraft
Secondary ion mass spectrometry was used to study oxygen implanted in the surface of copper from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Oxidation that occurred in orbit shows a characteristic oxygen isotope composition, depleted in O-18. The measured depletion is comparable to the predicted depletion (45 percent) based on a model of the gravitational separation of the oxygen isotopes. The anomalous oxygen was contained within 10nm of the surface. Tray E10 was calculated to have received 5.14 x 10(exp 21) atoms of oxygen cm(sup -2) during the LDEF mission and so there is sufficient anomalous implanted oxygen present in the surface to obtain a reliable isotopic profile
In situ UāPb dating of 4 billion-year-old carbonates in the martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001
InĀ situ carbonate UāPb dating studies have proliferated dramatically in recent years. Almost all these studies have targeted relatively young terrestrial calcite up to Carboniferous in age. To assess the robustness of the carbonate UāPb chronometer in deep time, we carried out inĀ situ UāPb analyses in magnesiteāankeriteācalcite carbonates in the martian meteorite Allan Hills
(ALH) 84001. Carbonates in ALH 84001 formed at ca. 3.94āGa, and there is little evidence that much happened to this rock since then, making
it an ideal sample to test the robustness of the UāPb system in old carbonates. We obtained a concordant date of
3941āĀ±ā49/110āMa (n=14, MSWDā=ā2.0), which is identical to the step-leaching Rb/Sr date determined
previously. These results thus confirm that old carbonates are amenable to UāPb dating in samples that have had a relatively simple
history post-carbonate formation.</p
Interplay of structure and spin-orbit strength in magnetism of metal-benzene sandwiches: from single molecules to infinite wires
Based on first-principles density functional theory calculations we explore
electronic and magnetic properties of experimentally producible sandwiches and
infinite wires made of repeating benzene molecules and transition-metal atoms
of V, Nb, and Ta. We describe the bonding mechanism in the molecules and in
particular concentrate on the origin of magnetism in these structures. We find
that all the considered systems have sizable magnetic moments and ferromagnetic
spin-ordering, with the single exception of the V3-Bz4 molecule. By including
the spin-orbit coupling into our calculations we determine the easy and hard
axes of the magnetic moment, the strength of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy
energy (MAE), relevant for the thermal stability of magnetic orientation, and
the change of the electronic structure with respect to the direction of the
magnetic moment, important for spin-transport properties. While for the V-based
compounds the values of the MAE are only of the order of 0.05-0.5 meV per metal
atom, increasing the spin-orbit strength by substituting V with heavier Nb and
Ta allows to achieve an increase in anisotropy values by one to two orders of
magnitude. The rigid stability of magnetism in these compounds together with
the strong ferromagnetic ordering makes them attractive candidates for
spin-polarized transport applications. For a Nb-benzene infinite wire the
occurrence of ballistic anisotropic magnetoresistance is demonstrated.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
Thixotropy in macroscopic suspensions of spheres
An experimental study of the viscosity of a macroscopic suspension, i.e. a
suspension for which Brownian motion can be neglected, under steady shear is
presented. The suspension is prepared with a high packing fraction and is
density-matched in a Newtonian carrier fluid. The viscosity of the suspension
depends on the shear rate and the time of shearing. It is shown for the first
time that a macroscopic suspension shows thixotropic viscosity, i.e.
shear-thinning with a long relaxation time as a unique function of shear. The
relaxation times show a systematic decrease with increasing shear rate. These
relaxation times are larger when decreasing the shear rates, compared to those
observed after increasing the shear. The time scales involved are about 10000
times larger than the viscous time scale and about 1000 times smaller than the
thermodynamic time scale. The structure of the suspension at the outer cylinder
of a viscometer is monitored with a camera, showing the formation of a
hexagonal structure. The temporal decrease of the viscosity under shear
coincides with the formation of this hexagonal pattern
Reducing INDEL calling errors in whole genome and exome sequencing data
BACKGROUND:
INDELs, especially those disrupting protein-coding regions of the genome, have been strongly associated with human diseases. However, there are still many errors with INDEL variant calling, driven by library preparation, sequencing biases, and algorithm artifacts.
METHODS:
We characterized whole genome sequencing (WGS), whole exome sequencing (WES), and PCR-free sequencing data from the same samples to investigate the sources of INDEL errors. We also developed a classification scheme based on the coverage and composition to rank high and low quality INDEL calls. We performed a large-scale validation experiment on 600 loci, and find high-quality INDELs to have a substantially lower error rate than low-quality INDELs (7% vs. 51%).
RESULTS:
Simulation and experimental data show that assembly based callers are significantly more sensitive and robust for detecting large INDELs (>5 bp) than alignment based callers, consistent with published data. The concordance of INDEL detection between WGS and WES is low (53%), and WGS data uniquely identifies 10.8-fold more high-quality INDELs. The validation rate for WGS-specific INDELs is also much higher than that for WES-specific INDELs (84% vs. 57%), and WES misses many large INDELs. In addition, the concordance for INDEL detection between standard WGS and PCR-free sequencing is 71%, and standard WGS data uniquely identifies 6.3-fold more low-quality INDELs. Furthermore, accurate detection with Scalpel of heterozygous INDELs requires 1.2-fold higher coverage than that for homozygous INDELs. Lastly, homopolymer A/T INDELs are a major source of low-quality INDEL calls, and they are highly enriched in the WES data.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall, we show that accuracy of INDEL detection with WGS is much greater than WES even in the targeted region. We calculated that 60X WGS depth of coverage from the HiSeq platform is needed to recover 95% of INDELs detected by Scalpel. While this is higher than current sequencing practice, the deeper coverage may save total project costs because of the greater accuracy and sensitivity. Finally, we investigate sources of INDEL errors (for example, capture deficiency, PCR amplification, homopolymers) with various data that will serve as a guideline to effectively reduce INDEL errors in genome sequencing
Regulating CCTV? : We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them
Peer reviewedPostprin
CO adsorption on neutral iridium clusters
The adsorption of carbon monoxide on neutral iridium clusters in the size
range of n = 3 to 21 atoms is investigated with infrared multiple photon
dissociation spectroscopy. For each cluster size only a single v(CO) band is
present with frequencies in the range between 1962 cm-1 (n = 8) and 1985 cm-1
(n = 18) which can be attributed to an atop binding geometry. This behaviour is
compared to the CO binding geometries on clusters of other group 9 and 10
transition metals as well as to that on extended surfaces. The preference of Ir
for atop binding is rationalized by relativistic effects on the electronic
structure of the later 5d metals
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