Direct correlation between structural and optical properties of III-V nitride nanowire heterostructures with nanoscale resolution,” Nano Lett

ABSTRACT Direct correlation of structural and optical properties on the nanoscale is essential for rational synthesis of nanomaterials with predefined structure and functionality. We study optical properties of single III-V nitride nanowire radial heterostructures with measured spatial resolution of <20 nm using cathodoluminescence (CL) technique coupled with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Enhanced carrier recombination in nanowire quantum wells and reduced light emission from regions containing structural defects were directly observed. Using newly developed parallel-detection-mode CL-STEM, we show that optical properties can vary within a single nanowire heterostructure as a function of nanowire morphology. Nanostructured materials exhibit interesting size-and morphology-dependent properties and offer unique opportunities for fundamental studies and applications of light-matter interactions. 1-3 In particular, semiconductor nanowires and nanowire heterostructures have emerged as an important class of nanomaterials for applications in nanophotonics and optoelectronics. The optical excitation of single nanowire cavities have produced wavelength-tunable stimulated emission 4 and lasing with low lasing thresholds, 5 electrically injected light-emitting diodes have been demonstrated using radial 6 and axial 7 nanowire heterostructures, and axial nanowire heterostructures can act as single photon emitters. 8 Relevant electron energy levels in nanowire heterostructures are position dependent; consequently, nanowire device functionalities, such as emission wavelength and extraction efficiency, are sensitive to miniscule changes in interface quality and interdiffusion between nanowire segments or surface passivation layers. Only methods that combine a multitude of complementary techniques on the nanometer scale can provide direct insight into the complex structureproperties interplay within semiconductor nanowires, as well as in other nanostructured materials. Here, we show that scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) coupled with cathodoluminescence (CL) provides simultaneous structural, compositional, and optical information with high spatial resolution. CL is a spectroscopic technique based on the light emission as a result of electronic excitation. 9 A highly focused electron beam generates electron-hole pairs within a sample, which diffuse and recombine through radiative or nonradiative processes. Far-field CL inside a scanning electron microscope (CL-SEM) is a common technique; but CL-STEM, although scarcely available, provides improved spatial resolutio

What is a good medical decision? A research agenda guided by perspectives from multiple stakeholders

Informed and shared decision making are critical aspects of patient-centered care, which has contributed to an emphasis on decision support interventions to promote good medical decision making. However, researchers and healthcare providers have not reached a consensus on what defines a good decision, nor how to evaluate it. This position paper, informed by conference sessions featuring diverse stakeholders held at the 2015 Society of Behavioral Medicine and Society for Medical Decision Making annual meetings, describes key concepts that influence the decision making process itself and that may change what it means to make a good decision: interpersonal factors, structural constraints, affective influences, and values clarification methods. This paper also proposes specific research questions within each of these priority areas, with the goal of moving medical decision making research to a more comprehensive definition of a good medical decision, and enhancing the ability to measure and improve the decision making process

The Accretion History of AGN: A Newly Defined Population of Cold Quasars

Quasars are the most luminous of active galactic nuclei (AGN), and are perhaps responsible for quenching star formation in their hosts. The Stripe 82X catalog covers 31.3 deg$^2$ of the Stripe 82 field, of which the 15.6 deg$^2$ covered with XMM-Newton is also covered by Herschel/SPIRE. We have 2500 X-ray detected sources with multi-wavelength counterparts, and 30% of these are unobscured quasars, with $L_X > 10^{44}\,$erg/s and $M_B < -23$. We define a new population of quasars which are unobscured, have X-ray luminosities in excess of $10^{44}\,$erg/s, have broad emission lines, and yet are also bright in the far-infrared, with a 250$\mu$m flux density of $S_{\rm 250}>30$mJy. We refer to these Herschel-detected, unobscured quasars as "Cold Quasars". A mere 4% (21) of the X-ray- and optically-selected unobscured quasars in Stripe 82X are detected at 250$\mu$m. These Cold Quasars lie at $z\sim1-3$, have $L_{\rm IR}>10^{12}\,L_\odot$, and have star formation rates of $\sim200-1400\,M_\odot$/yr. Cold Quasars are bluer in the mid-IR than the full quasar population, and 72% of our Cold Quasars have WISE W3 $<$ 11.5 [Vega], while only 19% of the full quasar sample meets this criteria. Crucially, Cold Quasars have on average $\sim9\times$ as much star formation as the main sequence of star forming galaxies at similar redshifts. Although dust-rich, unobscured quasars have occasionally been noted in the literature before, we argue that they should be considered as a separate class of quasars due to their high star formation rates. This phase is likely short-lived, as the central engine and immense star formation consume the gas reservoir. Cold Quasars are type-1 blue quasars that reside in starburst galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Optimized Phosphors for Warm White LED Light Engines

The objective of this program is to develop phosphor systems and LED light engines that have steady-state LED efficacies (using LEDs with a 60% wall-plug efficiency) of 105–120 lm/W with correlated color temperatures (CCT) ~3000 K, color rendering indices (CRI) >85, <0.003 distance from the blackbody curve (dbb), and <2% loss in phosphor efficiency under high temperature, high humidity conditions. In order to reach these goals, this involves the composition and processing optimization of phosphors previously developed by GE in combination with light engine package modification

Mutant Versions of the S. cerevisiae Transcription Elongation Factor Spt16 Define Regions of Spt16 That Functionally Interact with Histone H3

In eukaryotic cells, the highly conserved FACT (FAcilitates Chromatin Transcription) complex plays important roles in several chromatin-based processes including transcription initiation and elongation. During transcription elongation, the FACT complex interacts directly with nucleosomes to facilitate histone removal upon RNA polymerase II (Pol II) passage and assists in the reconstitution of nucleosomes following Pol II passage. Although the contribution of the FACT complex to the process of transcription elongation has been well established, the mechanisms that govern interactions between FACT and chromatin still remain to be fully elucidated. Using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system, we provide evidence that the middle domain of the FACT subunit Spt16 – the Spt16-M domain – is involved in functional interactions with histone H3. Our results show that the Spt16-M domain plays a role in the prevention of cryptic intragenic transcription during transcription elongation and also suggest that the Spt16-M domain has a function in regulating dissociation of Spt16 from chromatin at the end of the transcription process. We also provide evidence for a role for the extreme carboxy terminus of Spt16 in functional interactions with histone H3. Taken together, our studies point to previously undescribed roles for the Spt16 M-domain and extreme carboxy terminus in regulating interactions between Spt16 and chromatin during the process of transcription elongation

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Role of Au in the Growth and Nanoscale Optical Properties of ZnO Nanowires

Metallic nanoparticles play a crucial role in nanowire growth and have profound consequences on nanowire morphology and their physical properties. Here, we investigate the evolving role of the Au nanoparticle during ZnO nanowire growth and its effects on nanoscale photoemission of the nanowires. We observe the transition from Au-assisted to non-assisted growth mechanisms during a single nanowire growth, with significant changes in growth rates during these two regimes. This transition occurs through the reduction of oxygen partial pressure, which modifies the ZnO facet stability and increases Au diffusion. Nanoscale quenching of ZnO cathodoluminescence occurs near the Au nanoparticle due to excited electron diffusion to the nanoparticle. Thus, the Au nanoparticle is critically linked to the nanowire growth mechanism and corresponding growth rate through the energy of its interface with the ZnO nanowire, and its presence modifies nanowire optical properties on the nanoscale

Optimized Phosphors for Warm White LED Light Engines

The objective of this program is to develop phosphor systems and LED light engines that have steady-state LED efficacies (using LEDs with a 60% wall-plug efficiency) of 105–120 lm/W with correlated color temperatures (CCT) ~3000 K, color rendering indices (CRI) >85, <0.003 distance from the blackbody curve (dbb), and <2% loss in phosphor efficiency under high temperature, high humidity conditions. In order to reach these goals, this involves the composition and processing optimization of phosphors previously developed by GE in combination with light engine package modification