Tunable superlattice p-i-n photodetectors: characteristics, theory, and application

Extended measurements and theory on the recently developed monolithic wavelength demultiplexer consisting of voltage-tunable superlattice p-i-n photodetectors in a waveguide confirmation are discussed. It is shown that the device is able to demultiplex and detect two optical signals with a wavelength separation of 20 nm directly into different electrical channels at a data rate of 1 Gb/s and with a crosstalk attenuation varying between 20 and 28 dB, depending on the polarization. The minimum acceptable crosstalk attenuation at a data rate of 100 Mb/s is determined to be 10 dB. The feasibility of using the device as a polarization angle sensor for linearly polarized light is also demonstrated. A theory for the emission of photogenerated carriers out of the quantum wells is included, since this is potentially a speed limiting mechanism in these detectors. It is shown that a theory of thermally assisted tunneling by polar optical phonon interaction is able to predict emission times consistent with the observed temporal response

Market Efficiency Test Of Australian Options Market Using Put Call Parity Analysis

The aims of this thesis is twofold. The primary objective is to test the market efficiency of Australian Options Marlcet (AOM) using the put call parity model. In addition, empirical evidence on the put call parity model is also gather. The put call parity model specified a deterministic relation between the prices of calls and puts. In particular, the put call parity model specifies an upper and lower boundary conditions. A breach in the put call parity model result in arbitrage opportunities which is inconsistent with a efficient market. Four companies share options traded in AOM over a six month period, were used to test whether\u27 the put call parity pricing relation was maintained. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 spell out the aims of the thesis and a brief overview of the structure of AOM. This is follow by a literature review on previous studies of put call parity analysis. Chapter 3 describe the methodology and hypothesis tested in the current study. The findings of the test are reported in Chapter 4. The final chapter summarizes the methodology and findings of this thesis. The findings of the thesis support the hypothesis that the AOM is efficient over the period study. Violations of put call parity boundary conditions were infrequent None of these violations yield economic profits for potential arbitragers. Lower boundary violations occur more often than upper boundary violations. In addition, the lower boundary violations appear to be affected by companies specific effect, time to maturity effect and degree in which options is in the money

How to Stop Killing Patients with Healthcare-associated Infections

Background. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, are a significant cause of preventable death for patients receiving treatment for medical or surgical conditions. HAIs are attributed to 99,000 patient deaths in the United States annually. These infections rack up an estimated $20 billion of additional costs per year by extending the length of stay for hospitalized patients and increasing the cost of treatment at the same time. Current empirical findings highlight the severity and gravity of the effect that HAIs have on patient communities around the world. Methodology. The Google Scholar search engine was utilized with the search terms (a) nosocomial, (b) hospital-acquired infections, and (c) healthcare-associated infections for articles published between 2011 and 2018, written in English, yielding 13 articles. Supplemental information was gathered utilizing Papadakis’s 2017 edition of Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment. Results. Recent research has established that Staphylococcus aureus, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is the leading nosocomial infection in the world. S. aureus infections are followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli infections in incidence. The most common HAI manifestations include (a) surgical wound infections, (b) respiratory infections, and (c) genitourinary infections. However, central-line bloodstream infections are one of the deadliest with a mortality rate of 12-25%. Patient risk factors for HAIs include (a) age \u3e70, (b) mechanical ventilation, (c) indwelling catheter use, (d) intensive care unit stays \u3e3 days, and (e) immunocompromised states. These infections are most commonly caused by (a) violation of infection control practices, (b) a non-sterile environment, and (c) ill employees. After implementing CDC-based HAI preventative measures, multiple intensive care units in Michigan reported reductions as high as 66% for catheter-associated blood stream infections over a period of 18 months. The overall consensus amongst the studies was that adherence to proper hand hygiene and the standard precautions, including infection-route-specific prevention measures, reduces transmission of HAIs, length of patient stays, healthcare costs, and attributable mortality. Conclusions and Recommendations. HAIs continue to be a major cause of preventable death for hospitalized patients. Multiple articles have identified proper hand hygiene as the single most important factor in curtailing the acquisition of HAIs. Research has shown that a significant reduction of the transmission of these infections can be achieved through adherence to CDC’s HAI-prevention guidelines. Healthcare organizations should adopt the relevant CDC recommendations for preventing HAIs and take all necessary steps to ensure a high level of compliance

The Second Epoch: Liberal Imperialism and Decolonization. 1846-1974.

The costs and benefits of European Imperialism from the conquest of Ceuta, 1415, to the Treaty of Lusaka, 1974.Twelfth International Economic History Congress. Madrid, 1998.Patrick K. O'Brien and Leandro Prados de la Escosura (eds.)Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaPedro Lains. An Account of the Portuguese African Empire, 1885-1975.-- Pedro Fraile and Alvaro Escribano. The Spanish 1898 Disaster: The Drift towards National-Protectionism.-- Pierre Van Der Eng. Exploring Exploitation: The Netherlands and Colonial Indonesia 1870-1940.-- Jean-Pierre Dormois and François Crouzet. The Significance of the French Colonial Empire for French Economic Development (1815-1960).-- Peter Cain. Was it Worth Having? The British Empire 1850-1950.-- Giovanni Federico. Italy's Late Unprofitable Forays into Empire.Publicad

Applications of Face Analysis and Modeling in Media Production

Facial expressions play an important role in day-by-day communication as well as media production. This article surveys automatic facial analysis and modeling methods using computer vision techniques and their applications for media production. The authors give a brief overview of the psychology of face perception and then describe some of the applications of computer vision and pattern recognition applied to face recognition in media production. This article also covers the automatic generation of face models, which are used in movie and TV productions for special effects in order to manipulate people's faces or combine real actors with computer graphics

Differentiation of Surface Contaminants and Implanted Material on Genesis Solar Wind Samples Using Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Spectometry and Grazing Incidence X-Ray Fluorescence

During the Genesis mission solar wind was implanted in collector materials for analysis by various instrumental methods. Unfortunately the space craft crash landed upon return to Earth shattering the collectors into small fragments and exposing them to desert soil and spacecraft debris. Thus only small fragments are available for analysis with each having different degrees of contamination present at and embedded within the surface. Cleaning procedures were developed and applied to remove the contamination. To aid in this process bench top total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) was used to characterize a sample surface before and after various cleaning steps. In contrast to TXRF, synchrotron grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (GI-XRF) is capable of probing at the surface and below the surface thus providing information about surface deposits as well as implanted material. A number of samples were subjected to both, TXRF and GI-XRF analysis and it was observed that some elements detected by TXRF were present not on top of but below the surface of the collector fragment. This suggested the possibility of using laboratory TXRF to distinguish between surface deposits and ion-implanted subsurface material. The feasibility of this approach was tested with a surface deposited and an ion implanted control sample. In addition a careful TXRF angle scan was also executed with one Genesis flight sample and compared to GI-XRF measurements, confirming the ability of bench top TXRF to distinguish between surface and subsurface material