The Role of Transport Agents in MoS2 Single Crystals

We report resistivity, thermoelectric power and thermal conductivity of MoS2 single crystals prepared by chemical vapour transport (CVT) method using I2, Br2 and TeCl4 as transport agents. The material presents low-lying donor and acceptor levels, which dominate the in-plane charge transport. Intercalates into the Van der Waals gap strongly influence the inter-plane resistivity. Thermoelectric power displays the characteristics of strong electron-phonon interaction. Detailed theoretical model of thermal conductivity reveals the presence of high number of defects in the MoS2 structure. We show that these defects are inherent to CVT growth method, coming mostly from the transport agent molecules inclusion as identified by Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence analysis (TXRF) and in-beam activation analysis (IBAA).Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Masses and Distances of Planetary Microlens Systems with High Angular Resolution Imaging

Microlensing is the only method that can detect and measure mass of wide orbit, low mass, solar system analog exoplanets. Mass measurements of such planets would yield massive science on planet formation, exoplanet demographics, free floating planets, planet frequencies towards the galaxy. High res follow-up observations of past microlens targets provide a mass measurement of microlens planets and hosts at an uncertainty of <20%. This will be primary method for mass measurement with WFIRST. We advocate for the fact that high resolution observations with AO, HST and JWST(in future) remain necessary in coming decade to develop the methods, to determine the field and filter selection, understand the systematics and to develop a robust pipeline to release high quality data products from WFIRST microlensing survey such that the astronomy community can promptly engage in the science. We also support future high res obs with US ELTs with advanced Laser AO systems in context of enhancing the science return of WFIRST microlensing survey. We endorse the 2018 Exoplanet Science Strategy report published by the National Academy. This white paper extends and complements the material presented therein. In particular, this white paper supports the recommendation of the National Academy Exoplanet Science Strategy report that: NASA should launch WFIRST to conduct its microlensing survey of distant planets and to demonstrate the technique of coronagraphic spectroscopy on exoplanet targets. This white paper also supports to the finding from that report which states "A number of activities, including precursor and concurrent observations using ground- and space-based facilities, would optimize the scientific yield of the WFIRST microlensing survey."Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Astro2020 decadal submissio

Masses and Distances of Planetary Microlens Systems with High Angular Resolution Imaging

Microlensing is the only method that can detect and measure mass of wide orbit, low mass, solar system analog exoplanets. Mass measurements of such planets would yield massive science on planet formation, exoplanet demographics, free floating planets, planet frequencies towards the galaxy. High res follow-up observations of past microlens targets provide a mass measurement of microlens planets and hosts at an uncertainty of <20%. This will be primary method for mass measurement with WFIRST. We advocate for the fact that high resolution observations with AO, HST and JWST(in future) remain necessary in coming decade to develop the methods, to determine the field and filter selection, understand the systematics and to develop a robust pipeline to release high quality data products from WFIRST microlensing survey such that the astronomy community can promptly engage in the science. We also support future high res obs with US ELTs with advanced Laser AO systems in context of enhancing the science return of WFIRST microlensing survey. We endorse the 2018 Exoplanet Science Strategy report published by the National Academy. This white paper extends and complements the material presented therein. In particular, this white paper supports the recommendation of the National Academy Exoplanet Science Strategy report that: NASA should launch WFIRST to conduct its microlensing survey of distant planets and to demonstrate the technique of coronagraphic spectroscopy on exoplanet targets. This white paper also supports to the finding from that report which states "A number of activities, including precursor and concurrent observations using ground- and space-based facilities, would optimize the scientific yield of the WFIRST microlensing survey.

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

An “adhocracy” of stakeholders, the case of ADSA in France (Essonne)

FNEGE 4, HCERES CInternational audiencePurpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the structural problems emerging in the course of managing and safeguarding a French association for home care to a thousand elderly or disabled people between 2007 and 2012, employing 150-190 people and on the verge of bankruptcy. In France, small local businesses not only compete with major capital outlets in this sector but also with associations of varying size and origin. Free market rules apply, under the legislation of 2003, to what is, in part, “competition free”, being “in the public interest” and within the framework of local and national public funding.Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses those pragmatic solutions put in place to meet the aim of shared governance and in the context of a generalized financial crisis.Findings - Borrowing from cooperatives and associations, the non-profit-based management structure the authors arrived at, including worker participation in the decision-making processes, raises questions for researchers as to the advisability of any short-term models and the validity of present social and supportive economic models.Originality/value - The hybrid management of this paper is offered as a working model in what the authors have termed an “adhocracy of stakeholders”

Automatic CAD Assemblies Generation by Linkage Graph Overlay for Machine Learning Applications

Enlarging 3D model databases by shape synthesis is a large field of research. Indeed, the use of machine learning techniques requires a huge amount of labeled CAD models, and it is therefore crucial to rely on large and varied databases. Most of existing works in shape synthesis focus on everyday life objects generation [1]. However, these methods often do not work on assemblies composed of several CAD models, and it is the aim of this paper to develop a new shape synthesis method to enlarge existing CAD assembly databases. Today, there exist lots of free databases of non-labeled CAD models (e.g. GrabCAD, 3D Warehouse, Turbosquid) often available as STEP or IGES files. Unfortunately, very few of these databases are labeled. Other databases like PartNet [2] and ShapeNet [3] are currently labeled by crowdsourcing, but they do not contain complex mechanical assemblies. Current works in shape synthesis often use auto-encoders to generate new coherent CAD assemblies [4]. Moreover, there are probabilistic models to create diversity in large 3D Database [5] or to classify 3D assemblies [6]. Those techniques often use linkage graphs [7] to classify and generate new coherent assemblies. Furthermore, information within the linkage graphs differs according to the method, and those graphs are not suitable for complex CAD assemblies like hydraulic pumps. But the main issue of all methods is still that those databases have to be labelled. The method explained in this paper consists in creating new labeled CAD assemblies from existing ones by linkage graph overlay. Here, the STEP file format has been adopted in order to be the most reproductible and to be adaptable. The linkage graphs are automatically created thanks to the identification of the linkages between the components. Indeed, linkages are not included in the STEP files and they need to be computed. Theses linkage graphs are then analyzed and components with similar linkages are detected. Finally, once the similarities detected, the corresponding components can be exchanged to created new assemblies for which the labels can be directly inherited from the source assemblies. The contribution is threefold: (i) a method to create linkage graphs from existing non-labelled CAD assemblies; (ii) a method to recognize basic components using linkage graphs; (iii) a smart overlay method to replace some components while keeping the coherence between all the components of the assembly. The algorithm has been implemented in Python on FreeCAD and it has been tested on several test cases. Figure 1 shows the overview of the method, from the graph synthesis to the components overlay, finishing with the replacement of the components. The results are presented and discussed, and a conclusion ends this extended abstract while discussing the next steps

An “adhocracy” of stakeholders, the case of ADSA in France (Essonne)

FNEGE 4, HCERES C, ABS 2International audiencePurpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the structural problems emerging in the course of managing and safeguarding a French association for home care to a thousand elderly or disabled people between 2007 and 2012, employing 150-190 people and on the verge of bankruptcy. In France, small local businesses not only compete with major capital outlets in this sector but also with associations of varying size and origin. Free market rules apply, under the legislation of 2003, to what is, in part, “competition free”, being “in the public interest” and within the framework of local and national public funding.Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses those pragmatic solutions put in place to meet the aim of shared governance and in the context of a generalized financial crisis.Findings - Borrowing from cooperatives and associations, the non-profit-based management structure the authors arrived at, including worker participation in the decision-making processes, raises questions for researchers as to the advisability of any short-term models and the validity of present social and supportive economic models.Originality/value - The hybrid management of this paper is offered as a working model in what the authors have termed an “adhocracy of stakeholders”