2D cognitive optical data processing with phase change materials

We demonstrate high-density, multi-level crystallization of a Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses. The optical reflectivity in each distinct phase states level is characterized for applications in ultra-fast cognitive parallel data processing

Pedagogic development of a gamified approach to enhancing engagement in interprofessional education

Inter-professional education (IPE) is an integral part of learning for undergraduate healthcare students. From the evidence in the literature about the benefits of linked learning, collaboration between the health professions early in student development can lead to improved patient outcomes. This article reflects on the adoption at Keele University in the United Kingdom (UK), of a novel approach to introducing inter-professional education – with the intention of increasing interest in undergraduate health students across the Health faculty. A card-based scenario game (a ‘Braincept’ game) in the style of a pub quiz introduced elements of gamification, in order to engage students and increase their awareness of various healthcare professionals’ roles and interactions. This article assesses the impact of using gamification elements and outlines pedagogic principles underpinning development of this novel intervention

Diet quality in late midlife is associated with faster walking speed in later life in women, but not men

Healthy diet has been linked to better age-related physical functioning, but evidence on the relationship of overall diet quality in late midlife and clinically relevant measures of physical functioning in later life is limited. Research on potential sex differences in this relationship is scarce. The aim was to investigate the prospective association between overall diet quality, as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index-2015 at age 60-64y and measures of walking speed seven years later, among men and women from the Insight46, a neuroscience sub-study of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development. Diet was assessed at age 60-64y using five-day food diaries, from which total HEI-2015 was calculated. At age 69-71y, walking speed was estimated during four 10-meter walks at self-selected pace, using inertial measurement units. Multivariable linear regression models with sex as modifier, controlling for age, follow-up, lifestyle, health, social variables and physical performance were used. The final sample was 164 women and 167 men (n=331). Women had higher HEI-2015 scores and slower walking speed than men. A 10 point increase in HEI-2015 was associated with faster walking speed seven years later among women (B: 0.024, 95% CI: 0.006, 0.043), but not men. The association remained significant in the multivariable model (B: 0.021, 95% CI: 0.003, 0.040). In women in late midlife higher diet quality is associated with faster walking speed. A healthy diet in late midlife is likely to contribute towards better age-related physical capability and sex differences are likely to affect this relationship

Neural Basis of Moral Elevation Demonstrated through Inter-Subject Synchronization of Cortical Activity during Free-Viewing

Most research investigating the neural basis of social emotions has examined emotions that give rise to negative evaluations of others (e.g. anger, disgust). Emotions triggered by the virtues and excellences of others have been largely ignored. Using fMRI, we investigated the neural basis of two "other-praising" emotions--Moral Elevation (a response to witnessing acts of moral beauty), and Admiration (which we restricted to admiration for physical skill).Ten participants viewed the same nine video clips. Three clips elicited moral elevation, three elicited admiration, and three were emotionally neutral. We then performed pair-wise voxel-by-voxel correlations of the BOLD signal between individuals for each video clip and a separate resting-state run. We observed a high degree of inter-subject synchronization, regardless of stimulus type, across several brain regions during free-viewing of videos. Videos in the elevation condition evoked significant inter-subject synchronization in brain regions previously implicated in self-referential and interoceptive processes, including the medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and insula. The degree of synchronization was highly variable over the course of the videos, with the strongest synchrony occurring during portions of the videos that were independently rated as most emotionally arousing. Synchrony in these same brain regions was not consistently observed during the admiration videos, and was absent for the neutral videos.Results suggest that the neural systems supporting moral elevation are remarkably consistent across subjects viewing the same emotional content. We demonstrate that model-free techniques such as inter-subject synchronization may be a useful tool for studying complex, context dependent emotions such as self-transcendent emotion

Research priorities for children's cancer : a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership in the UK

OBJECTIVES: To engage children who have experienced cancer, childhood cancer survivors, their families and professionals to systematically identify and prioritise research questions about childhood cancer to inform the future research agenda. DESIGN: James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership. SETTING: UK health service and community. METHODS: A steering group oversaw the initiative. Potential research questions were collected in an online survey, then checked to ensure they were unanswered. Shortlisting via a second online survey identified the highest priority questions. A parallel process with children was undertaken. A final consensus workshop was held to determine the Top 10 priorities. PARTICIPANTS: Children and survivors of childhood cancer, diagnosed before age 16, their families, friends and professionals who work with this population. RESULTS: Four hundred and eighty-eight people submitted 1299 potential questions. These were refined into 108 unique questions; 4 were already answered and 3 were under active study, therefore, removed. Three hundred and twenty-seven respondents completed the shortlisting survey. Seventy-one children submitted questions in the children's surveys, eight children attended a workshop to prioritise these questions. The Top 5 questions from children were taken to the final workshop where 23 questions in total were discussed by 25 participants (young adults, carers and professionals). The top priority was 'can we find effective and kinder (less burdensome, more tolerable, with fewer short and long-term effects) treatments for children with cancer, including relapsed cancer?' CONCLUSIONS: We have identified research priorities for children's cancer from the perspectives of children, survivors, their families and the professionals who care for them. Questions reflect the breadth of the cancer experience, including diagnosis, relapse, hospital experience, support during/after treatment and the long-term impact of cancer. These should inform funding of future research as they are the questions that matter most to the people who could benefit from research

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Chalcogenide-based phase-change metamaterials

Phase-change metamaterials combine the sharp resonant dispersions afforded by metamaterials with the optical switching characteristics of phase-change chalcogenides to create a high-contrast, non-volatile planar optical modulator. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to accurately determine the highly-contrasting complex dielectric functions of the amorphous and crystalline states of GST, an amorphous chalcogenide. This data was then used to model a phase-change metamaterial hybrid device in both phases,which showed a large wavelength shift in resonant spectral features on crystallisation of the chalcogenide layer. Femtosecond pulse-induced crystallisation and amorphisation of thin films of GST was shown to be possible, and the crystalline fraction in the material was shown to be continuously tunable. Femtosecond pulses were then used to reversibly switch a phase-change metamaterial device to modulate the trapped mode resonance. Modelling of an all-dielectric phase-change metamaterial structure indicated that larger optical modulation may be realised by changing the phase of the resonant structure itself

Femtosecond multi-level phase switching in chalcogenide thin films for all-optical data and image processing

We report on the non-volatile switching of amorphous chalcogenide glass thin films to the crystalline phase through a through a number of reproducible, discrete, optically distinguishable intermediate states, and on the re-amorphization of these films using femtosecond laser pulses. Potential applications lie in high-base (>binary) all-optical signal modulation, high-density data storage, image processing and non-Von Neuman computing. Chalcogenide phase-change media such as Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) are commercially established as a platform for both optical and electronic data storage (re-writable CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs; Phase-change RAM). These technologies harness non-volatile amorphous-crystalline (binary) transitions in the chalcogenide induced by nanosecond optical or electronic excitations, which have also recently been applied to the realization of metamaterial electro- and all-optical transmission/reflection modulators for near- to mid-IR wavelengths providing switching high-contrast in device structures only a fraction of a wavelength thick. But chalcogenides offer a much richer pallet of transitional behaviours that can be exploited to enhance all of these functionalities and to open up new computational and image processing paradigms: They retain a 'memory' of sub-threshold excitations, such that transitions ordinarily initiated by single excitation pulses can be reproducibly stimulated by sequences of arbitrarily timed shorter/lower energy pulses cumulatively delivering the required energy. Here we demonstrate multi-level switching of GST films down to 30 nm thick using femtosecond optical pulses. Domains ranging in size from 200 down to 1 µm2 are progressively converted through at least eight distinct partially crystalline states using 85 fs pulses. Intermediate states are distinguished and their progressively changing optical properties characterised using white light reflectivity, transmission/reflection microspectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. Applications potential is demonstrated to high-density data storage - encoding/read-out of multiple bits per (semi-)crystalline mark with micron-level pixellation, the performance of optical arithmetic operations, and progressive tuning of chalcogenide hybrid metamaterial resonance

A lower San Pedro river basin groundwater flow model

Water issues in the Lower San Pedro River basin in southeastern Arizona are becoming increasingly contentious as urban development, agriculture, and mining needs compete with the needs of the riparian habitat. To better understand the water demands in this basin, a new groundwater flow model has been created. First, the conceptual model was produced using various Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. A new method allocating digital precipitation data to the smaller drainages within the watershed was used to estimate mountain front recharge. Well data was gathered from both the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). Depth to bedrock was interpolated from an earlier gravity survey of the area. The current extent of riparian vegetation was determined by recent United States Forest Service aerial photography. GIS shapefiles were created depicting the data necessary for MODFLOW. Second, the numerical MODFLOW model was formed using GMS (Groundwater Modeling System), a graphical user interface for MODFLOW. GMS was used to create the grid, allocate the information from the shapefiles into MODFLOW input files, create the MODFLOW numerical model, and calibrate the model. The model results project potential impacts to the overall sustainability of groundwater within the basin. In the future, the model will be used as an administrative tool to assess alternative land management scenarios and their abilities to sustain or improve the riparian habitat along the San Pedro River.This study was jointly funded by the Arizona Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and by the Nation Science Foundation's Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of semi -Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA). We would like to express our gratitude for the many individuals that assisted us in bring this study to fruition. We would like to give a special thanks Jeanmarie Haney and Dave Harris of The Nature Consrvancy for their support, and James Lombard for loaning us his calibration expertise. For their editorial comments, we would like to thank Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Dr. Bart Nijssen and Dr Errol Montgomery. Kathryn Baird, Carolyn Dragoo Lambert, and Staffan Schorr, were a huge help throughout this study by providing feedback and support.This title from the Hydrology & Water Resources Technical Reports collection is made available by the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences and the University Libraries, University of Arizona. If you have questions about titles in this collection, please contact [email protected]

All-optical, non-volatile, chalcogenide phase-change meta-switch

We show experimentally that bistable, optically-induced phase switching in germanium antimony telluride (GST) - a member of the Te-based chalcogenide alloy family upon which all of today's re-writable optical disc and phase-change RAM technologies are based - provides a platform for the engineering of non-volatile metamaterial transmission/reflection modulators (Fig. 1) for near- to mid-infrared wavelengths with thicknesses down to 1/27 of the operating wavelength. These hybrid materials provide a robust and versatile platform for a new generation of optical switching and memory devices