Nanoscale studies of domain wall motion in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films

Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate ferroelectric switching and nanoscale domain dynamics in epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films. Measurements of the writing time dependence of domain size reveal a two-step process in which nucleation is followed by radial domain growth. During this growth, the domain wall velocity exhibits a v ~ exp[-(1/E)^mu] dependence on the electric field, characteristic of a creep process. The domain wall motion was analyzed both in the context of stochastic nucleation in a periodic potential as well as the canonical creep motion of an elastic manifold in a disorder potential. The dimensionality of the films suggests that disorder is at the origin of the observed domain wall creep. To investigate the effects of changing the disorder in the films, defects were introduced during crystal growth (a-axis inclusions) or by heavy ion irradiation, producing films with planar and columnar defects, respectively. The presence of these defects was found to significantly decrease the creep exponent mu, from 0.62 - 0.69 to 0.38 - 0.5 in the irradiated films and 0.19 - 0.31 in the films containing a-axis inclusions.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, to be published in J. App. Phys. special issue on ferroelectric

Problematik der Grenzüberschreitenden Zusammenarbeit in der Europäischen Union am Beispiel der Euroregion Neisse-Nisa-Nysa und der Euroregion Bayerischer Wald-Böhmerwald-Untere Inn

In der Arbeit wurden bestehende Problemfelder grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit in den Euroregionen Bayerischer Wald-Böhmerwald-Untere Inn und Neisse-Nisa-Nysa herausgearbeitet und Lösungsvorschläge entwickelt. Die ablaufenden Kooperationsprozesse wurde an Hand des Multi Level Governance Ansatzes erläutert. Als Problemfelder wurden vor allem rechtliche Hindernisse, finanzielle Barrieren, wirtschaftliche Disparitäten sowie unterschiedliche Einflussmöglichkeiten der grenzüberschreitenden Einrichtungen identifiziert. Die ambitionierten Ziele und Strategien konnten nur zum Teil verwirklicht werden, weil Entscheidungs- und Machtkonflikte sowie Konkurrenzdenken die Herausbildung eines gemeinsamen Kooperations- und Lebensraums erschwerten. Sinnvolle Maßnahmen zur Reduzierung bestehender Hindernisse wären insbesondere die Erarbeitung gemeinsamer Entwicklungsstrategien, Stärkung der euroregionalen Einflussmöglichkeiten und realistische Zielsetzung. The Ph.D. examines existing problems of cross-border cooperation in the two Euroregions Bavarian Forest - Bohemian Forest - Lower Inn as well as Neisse-Nisa-Nysa and generates suggestions for improvement. The cooperation processes is analysed and illustrated by means of the multi-level governance approach. Identified problem areas are in particular regulatory barriers, financial barriers, economic disparities and insufficiently aligned organisational structures in the abut countries. The aspired implementation of the ambitious goals and strategies had only been partly successful in the past years. The creation of a joint cooperation and living space were impeded by decision making conflicts, power struggles and rivalry. Meaningful measures to reduce existing barriers would be particularly implementing joint development strategies, strengthening the Euroregional influence and setting realistic goals taking all existing obstacles into account

Sprawność funkcjonalna pacjentów w starszym wieku po przebytym zabiegu kardiochirurgicznym

Wstęp. Starzenie się jest fizjologicznym etapem przemian biologicznych, psychologicznych i społecznych. Zaspokojenie potrzeb i wspieranie samodzielności osób w starszym wieku poprawia jego codzienne funkcjonowanie oraz jakość życia. Choroby układu sercowo-naczyniowego i metody ich leczenia zaburzają normalne funkcjonowanie człowieka we wszystkich sferach. Cel pracy. Celem pracy była ocena potrzeb, sprawności funkcjonalnej oraz związku między zmiennymi demograficzno-społecznymi wśród pacjentów w starszym wieku po przebytym zabiegu pomostowania aortalnowieńcowego. Materiał i metody. Badaniem objęto grupę 130 pacjentów leczonych w oddziale Chirurgii Serca, Naczyń i Transplantologii Krakowskiego Szpitala Specjalistycznego im. Jana Pawła w Krakowie. W badaniu wykorzystano: Kwestionariusz Care Depend-ency Scale (CDS), Skalę Aktywności Dnia Codziennego wg Katza (ADL), Skalę Czynności Złożonych wg Lawtona (IADL), Test Upośledzenia Funkcji Poznawczych (MMSE) oraz kwestionariusz autorski. Uzyskane dane poddano analizie statystycznej wykorzystując pakiet statystyczny PQStat. Wyniki. Sprawność funkcjonalna pacjentów po zabiegu pomostowania aortalnowieńcowego określony był jako umiarkowanie niesamodzielny. Średnia długość choroby wyniosła 9 lat. W przypadku 55 pacjentów (58%), potwierdziło się występowanie choroby w rodzinie. Średni wynik uzyskany przez ankietowanych w skali CDS wynosił 47 punktów, co oznacza, że większość badanych to osoby o średnim poziomie zależności od opieki i możliwości realizacji potrzeb. Badania wykazały, że mężczyźni z chorobą niedokrwienną serca po zabiegu CABG wymagają opieki opiekunów w zdecydowanie większym stopniu niż kobiety. Wniosk. Choroba niedokrwienna serca w znacznym stopniu uniemożliwiała pacjentom codzienne funkcjonowanie. Badania wykazały, że na sprawność funkcjonalną w zakresie pod-stawowych i złożonych czynności dnia codziennego i poziom zależności od osób trzecich w realizacji potrzeb własnych ma wpływ wiek, płeć oraz współwystępowanie innych chorób. Zależność od pomocy innych w realizacji potrzeb zwiększała się wraz z wiekiem.Introduction. Aging is a physiological stage of biolog-ical, psychological, and social change. Meeting the needs and supporting the independence of older people improves their daily functioning and quality of life. Cardiovascular diseases and their treatment methods disturb normal human functioning in all spheres. Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to assess the functional needs, performance and the relationship between socio-demographic factors of elderly patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. Materials and methods. The study included a group of 130 patients treated in the Department of Cardiac, Vascular and Transplantation at the John Paul II Specialist Hospital in Krakow. The study used the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) Questionnaire, the Aged Daily Activity Scale (ADL), the Lawton Aggregate Action Scale (IADL), the Cognitive Functional Impairment Test (MMSE), and the authors’ own questionnaire. The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using the PQStat statistical package. Results. Functional efficacy of patients after coronary artery by-pass graft was defined as moderately dependent. The average length of illness was 9 years. In 55 patients (58%), the presence of the disease in the family was confirmed. The average score obtained by CDS respondents was 47 points, which means that the majority of respondents are people with an average level of dependency on care and ability to meet needs. Studies have shown that men with coronary heart disease after CABG require caregivers to a much greater extent than women. Conclusions. Ischemic heart disease largely prevented patients from daily activities. Studies have shown that age, sex and cooccurrence of other diseases are affected by the functional efficiency of basic and complex daily activities and the level of dependence on others to meet their own needs. Dependence on helping others in meeting their needs increased with age

Are the Rates of Dexter Transfer in TADF Hyperfluorescence Systems Optically Accessible?

Seemingly not, but for unexpected reasons. Combining the triplet harvesting properties of TADF materials with the fast emission rates and colour purity of fluorescent emitters is attractive for developing high performance OLEDs. In this “hyperfluorescence” approach, triplet excitons are converted to singlets on the TADF material and transferred to the fluorescent material by long range Förster energy transfer. The primary loss mechanism is assumed to be Dexter energy transfer from the TADF triplet to the non-emissive triplet of the fluorescent emitter. Here we use optical spectroscopy to investigate energy transfer in representative emissive layers. Despite observing kinetics that at first appear consistent with Dexter quenching of the TADF triplet state, transient absorption, photoluminescence quantum yields, and comparison to phosphor-sensitised “hyperphosphorescent” systems reveal that this is not the case. While Dexter quenching by the fluorescent emitter is likely still a key loss mechanism in devices, we demonstrate that – despite initial appearances - it is inoperative under optical excitation. These results reveal a deep limitation of optical spectroscopy in characterizing hyperfluorescent systems

“Revolutionizing Beauty Industry”: Co-Creation and Customer Engagement for Brand Image Development

Utilization of consumer participation is gaining importance in multiple sectors at a high pace. However, in the beauty industry, consumer engagement as a tool to drive innovation and support image creation is relatively new and rarely utilized. This qualitative content analysis study aimed to examine the case of Volition Beauty - the beauty brand which has

Morphological effects on pronunciation

Converging, albeit inconsistent, empirical evidence suggests that the morphological structure of a word influences its pronunciation. We investigated this issue using Ultrasound Tongue Imaging in the context of an experimental cognitive psychology paradigm. Scottish speakers were trained on apparently homophonous monomorphemic and bimorphemic novel words (e.g. zord, zorred), and tested on speech production tasks. Monomorphemic items were realised acoustically with shorter durations than bimorphemic items; however, this difference was not statistically significant. Progressive coarticulatory effects were also observed in the monomorphemic condition for some speakers. A dynamic analysis of the articulatory data revealed that the observed differences in the pronunciations of the two types of items could be due to factors other than morphological structure. Our results, albeit inconclusive, make a significant contribution to the literature in this research domain insofar as the presence or absence of morphological effects on pronunciation has important implications for extant theories of speech production.https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs/icphs2015caslpub3961pub81

Impact of air pollution on hospital patients admitted with ST- and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in heavily polluted cities within the European Union

Background: Air pollution triggered diseases have become a leading health problem worldwide. The main adverse effects of air pollutants on human health are related to the cardiovascular system and particularly show an increasing prevalence of myocardial infarct and stroke. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of main air pollutants on non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) admissions to local interventionalcardiology centers.Methods: Between 2014 and 2015, a multicenter registry of 1957 patients with acute myocardial infarction (STEMI, NSTEMI) admitted to interventional cardiology departments in three Polish cities were under investigation. The air pollution (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, O3) and weather conditions (temperature, barometric pressure, humidity) data for each city were collected as daily averages. The case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression were used to explore the association between acute myocardial infarctions and short-term air pollution exposure.Results: Occurrence of NSTEMI on the day of air pollution was triggered by PM2.5 (OR = 1.099, p = 0.01) and PM10 (OR = 1.078, p = 0.03). On the following day after the air pollution was recorded, NSTEMI was induced by: PM2.5 (OR = 1.093, p = 0.025), PM10 (OR = 1.077, p = 0.025) and SO2 (OR = 1.522, p = 0.009). For STEMI, events that occurred on the day in which air pollution was triggered by: PM2.5 (OR = 1.197, p < 0.001), PM10 (OR = 1.163, p < 0.001), SO2 (OR = 1.670, p = 0.001) and NO2 (OR = 1.287, p = 0.011). On the following day after air pollution was recorded, STEMI was induced by: PM2.5 (OR = 1.172, p < 0.001), PM10 (OR = 1.131, p = 0.001), SO2 (OR = 1.550, p = 0.005) and NO2 (OR = 1.265, p = 0.02). None of the weather conditions indicated were statistically significant for acute myocardial infarction occurrence.Conclusions: The most important pollutants triggering acute myocardial infarction occurrence in the population of southern Poland, both on the day of air pollution and the following day are particulate matters (PM2.5, PM10) and gaseous pollutants including NO2 and SO2. These pollutants should be regarded as modifiable risk factors and thus, their reduction is a priority in order to decrease total morbidity and mortality in Poland

Biofabrication of novel silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles from Fusarium solani IOR 825 and their potential application in agriculture as biocontrol agents of phytopathogens, and seed germination and seedling growth promoters

Introduction: Plant pathogenic microorganisms adversely affect the growth and yield of crops, which consequently leads to losses in food production. Metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs) can be a remedy to solve this problem.Methods: Novel silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were biosynthesized from Fusarium solani IOR 825 and characterized using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and measurement of Zeta potential. Antibacterial activity of NPs was evaluated against four plant pathogenic strains by determination of the minimum inhibitory (MIC) and biocidal concentrations (MBC). Micro-broth dilution method and poisoned food technique were used to assess antifungal activity of NPs against a set of plant pathogens. Effect of nanopriming with both types of MNPs on maize seed germination and seedlings growth was evaluated at a concentration range of 1–256 μg mL-1.Results: Mycosynthesis of MNPs provided small (8.27 nm), spherical and stable (zeta potential of −17.08 mV) AgNPs with good crystallinity. Similarly, ZnONPs synthesized by using two different methods (ZnONPs(1) and ZnONPs(2)) were larger in size (117.79 and 175.12 nm, respectively) with Zeta potential at −9.39 and −21.81 mV, respectively. The FTIR spectra showed the functional groups (hydroxyl, amino, and carboxyl) of the capping molecules on the surface of MNPs. The values of MIC and MBC of AgNPs against bacteria ranged from 8 to 256 μg mL-1 and from 512 to 1024 μg mL-1, respectively. Both types of ZnONPs displayed antibacterial activity at 256–1024 μg mL-1 (MIC) and 512–2048 μg mL-1 (MBC), but in the concentration range tested, they revealed no activity against Pectobacterium carotovorum. Moreover, AgNPs and ZnONPs inhibited the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternata, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Phoma lingam, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. MIC and MFC values of AgNPs ranged from 16–128 and 16–2048 μg mL -1, respectively. ZnONPs showed antifungal activity with MIC and MFC values of 128–2048 μg mL-1 and 256–2048 μg mL-1, respectively. The AgNPs at a concentration of ≥32 μg mL-1 revealed sterilization effect on maize seeds while ZnONPs demonstrated stimulatory effect on seedlings growth at concentrations of ≥16 μg mL-1 by improving the fresh and dry biomass production by 24% and 18%–19%, respectively.Discussion: AgNPs and ZnONPs mycosynthesized from F. solani IOR 825 could be applied in agriculture to prevent the spread of pathogens. However, further toxicity assays should be performed before field evaluation. In view of the potential of ZnONPs to stimulate plant growth, they could be crucial in increasing crop production from the perspective of current food assurance problems