2,908 research outputs found
One-by-one trap activation in silicon nanowire transistors
Flicker or 1/f noise in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors
(MOSFETs) has been identified as the main source of noise at low frequency. It
often originates from an ensemble of a huge number of charges trapping and
detrapping. However, a deviation from the well-known model of 1/f noise is
observed for nanoscale MOSFETs and a new model is required. Here, we report the
observation of one-by-one trap activation controlled by the gate voltage in a
nanowire MOSFET and we propose a new low-frequency-noise theory for nanoscale
FETs. We demonstrate that the Coulomb repulsion between electronically charged
trap sites avoids the activation of several traps simultaneously. This effect
induces a noise reduction by more than one order of magnitude. It decreases
when increasing the electron density in the channel due to the electrical
screening of traps. These findings are technologically useful for any FETs with
a short and narrow channel.Comment: One file with paper and supplementary informatio
How to democratize Internet of Things devices. A participatory design research
The global introduction of affordable Internet of Things (IoT) devices offers
an opportunity to empower a large variety of users with different needs.
However, many off-the-shelf digital products are still not widely adopted by
people who are hesitant technology users or by older adults, notwithstanding
that the design and user-interaction of these devices is recognized to be
user-friendly. In view of the potential of IoT-based devices, how can we reduce
the obstacles of a cohort with low digital literacy and technology anxiety and
enable them to be equal participants in the digitalized world? This article
shows the method and results achieved in a community-stakeholder workshop,
developed through the participatory design methodology, aiming at brainstorming
problems and scenarios through a focus group and a structured survey. The
research activity focused on understanding factors to increase the usability of
off-the-shelf IoT devices for hesitant users and identify strategies for
improving digital literacy and reducing technology anxiety. A notable result
was a series of feedback items pointing to the importance of creating learning
resources to support individuals with different abilities, age, gender
expression, to better adopt off-the-shelf IoT-based solutions.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Domain walls and instantons in N=1, d=4 supergravity
We study the supersymmetric sources of (multi-) domain-wall and (multi-)
instanton solutions of generic N=1, d=4 supergravities, that is: the
worldvolume effective actions for said supersymmetric topological defects. The
domain-wall solutions naturally couple to the two 3-forms recently found as
part of the N=1, d=4 tensor hierarchy (i.e. they have two charges in general)
and their tension is the absolute value of the superpotential section L. The
introduction of sources (we study sources with finite and vanishing thickness)
is equivalent to the introduction of local coupling constants and results in
dramatic changes of the solutions. Our results call for a democratic
reformulation of N=1,d=4 supergravity in which coupling constants are,
off-shell, scalar fields. The effective actions for the instantons are always
proportional to the coordinate orthogonal to the twist-free embedding of the
null-geodesic (in the Wick-rotated scalar manifold) describing the instanton.
We show their supersymmetry and find the associated supersymmetric (multi-)
instanton solutions.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures, references adde
Changing indications and socio-demographic determinants of (adeno)tonsillectomy among children in England--are they linked? A retrospective analysis of hospital data.
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether increased awareness and diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and national guidance on tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis have influenced the socio-demographic profile of children who underwent tonsillectomy over the last decade.
METHOD: Retrospective time-trends study of Hospital Episodes Statistics data. We examined the age, sex and deprivation level, alongside OSAS diagnoses, among children aged <16 years who underwent (adeno)tonsillectomy in England between 2001/2 and 2011/12.
RESULTS: Among children aged <16 years, there were 29,697 and 27,732 (adeno)tonsillectomies performed in 2001/2 and 2011/12, respectively. The median age at (adeno)tonsillectomy decreased from 7 (IQR: 5-11) to 5 (IQR: 4-9) years over the decade. (Adeno)tonsillectomy rates among children aged 4-15 years decreased by 14% from 350 (95%CI: 346-354) in 2001/2 to 300 (95%CI: 296-303) per 100,000 children in 2011/12. However, (adeno)tonsillectomy rates among children aged <4 years increased by 58% from 135 (95%CI: 131-140) to 213 (95%CI 208-219) per 100,000 children in 2001/2 and 2011/2, respectively. OSAS diagnoses among children aged <4 years who underwent surgery increased from 18% to 39% between these study years and the proportion of children aged <4 years with OSAS from the most deprived areas increased from 5% to 12%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: (Adeno)tonsillectomy rates declined among children aged 4-15 years, which reflects national guidelines recommending the restriction of the operation to children with more severe recurrent throat infections. However, (adeno)tonsillectomy rates among pre-school children substantially increased over the past decade and one in five children undergoing the operation was aged <4 years in 2011/12.The increase in surgery rates in younger children is likely to have been driven by increased awareness and detection of OSAS, particularly among children from the most deprived areas
Protocol for the INFORMED (Individualised Patient Care and Treatment for Maternal Diabetes) Study: a randomised controlled trial embedded within routine care
Introduction Diabetes in pregnancy presents a unique physiological challenge to manage glycaemia while maintaining adequate nourishment for the growing fetus. Women with diabetes who become pregnant are at greater risk of adverse maternal and newborn outcomes, compared with women without diabetes. Evidence suggests that control of (postprandial) glycaemia is key to manage maternal and offspring health but it is not yet clear (1) how diet and lifestyle moderate these shifts across the full duration of pregnancy or (2) what aspects of maternal and offspring health are associated with dysglycaemia.
Methods and analysis To investigate these gaps, a cross-over randomised clinical trial has been embedded within routine clinical care. Seventy-six pregnant women in their first trimester with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (with or without medication) attending their routine antenatal appointments at National Health Service (NHS) Leeds Teaching Hospitals will be recruited. Following informed consent, data on women’s health, glycaemia, pregnancy and delivery will be shared by the NHS with researchers. At each visit in the first (10–12 weeks), second (18–20 weeks) and third (28–34 weeks) trimester, participants will be asked for consent to: (1) lifestyle and diet questionnaires, (2) blood for research purposes and (3) analysis of urine collected at clinical visits. Additionally, participants will be asked to consume two blinded meals in duplicate in second and third trimester. Glycaemia will be assessed by continuous glucose monitoring as part of routine care. The primary outcome is the effect of experimental meals (high vs low protein) on postprandial glycaemia. Secondary outcomes include (1) the association between dysglycaemia and maternal and newborn health, and (2) the association between maternal metabolic profiles in early pregnancy with dysglycaemia in later pregnancy.
Ethics and dissemination The Leeds East Research Ethics Committee and NHS (REC: 21/NE/0196) approved the study. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated to participants and the wider public.
Trial registration number ISRCTN57579163
Warped black holes in 3D general massive gravity
We study regular spacelike warped black holes in the three dimensional
general massive gravity model, which contains both the gravitational
Chern-Simons term and the linear combination of curvature squared terms
characterizing the new massive gravity besides the Einstein-Hilbert term. The
parameters of the metric are found by solving a quartic equation constrained by
an inequality that imposes the absence of closed timelike curves. Explicit
expressions for the central charges are suggested by exploiting the fact that
these black holes are discrete quotients of spacelike warped AdS(3) and a known
formula for the entropy. Previous results obtained separately in topological
massive gravity and in new massive gravity are recovered as special cases.Comment: 38 pages, 7 figures. v2: minor changes, added refs and an appendix on
self-dual and null z-warped black hole
Ethnobotanical knowledge is vastly under-documented in northwestern South America
A main objective of ethnobotany is to document traditional knowledge about plants before it disappears. However, little is known about the coverage of past ethnobotanical studies and thus about how well the existing literature covers the overall traditional knowledge of different human groups. To bridge this gap, we investigated ethnobotanical data-collecting efforts across four countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia), three ecoregions (Amazon, Andes, ChocĂł), and several human groups (including Amerindians, mestizos, and Afro-Americans). We used palms (Arecaceae) as our model group because of their usefulness and pervasiveness in the ethnobotanical literature. We carried out a large number of field interviews (n = 2201) to determine the coverage and quality of palm ethnobotanical data in the existing ethnobotanical literature (n = 255) published over the past 60 years. In our fieldwork in 68 communities, we collected 87,886 use reports and documented 2262 different palm uses and 140 useful palm species. We demonstrate that traditional knowledge on palm uses is vastly under-documented across ecoregions, countries, and human groups. We suggest that the use of standardized data-collecting protocols in wide-ranging ethnobotanical fieldwork is a promising approach for filling critical information gaps. Our work contributes to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and emphasizes the need for signatory nations to the Convention on Biological Diversity to respond to these information gaps. Given our findings, we hope to stimulate the formulation of clear plans to systematically document ethnobotanical knowledge in northwestern South America and elsewhere before it vanishesThis study was funded by the European Union, 7th Framework Programme (contract no. 212631), the Russel E. Train Education for Nature Program of
the WWF (to NPZ), the Anne S. Chatham fellowship of the Garden Club of America (to NPZ), and the Universidad AutĂłnoma de Madrid travel grants programme
(to RCL
The contribution of microlensing surveys to the distance scale
In the early nineties several teams started large scale systematic surveys of
the Magellanic Clouds and the Galactic Bulge to search for microlensing
effects. As a by product, these groups have created enormous time-series
databases of photometric measurements of stars with a temporal sampling
duration and accuracy which are unprecedented. They provide the opportunity to
test the accuracy of primary distance indicators, such as Cepheids, RRLyrae
stars, the detached eclipsing binaries, or the luminosity of the red clump. We
will review the contribution of the microlensing surveys to the understanding
of the physics of the primary distance indicators, recent differential studies
and direct distance determinations to the Magellanic Clouds and the Galactic
Bulge.Comment: Invited review article to appear in: `Post-Hipparcos Cosmic Candles',
A. Heck & F. Caputo (Eds), Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, in press. 21
pages; uses Kluwer's crckapb.sty LaTeX style file, enclose
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