Strong exciton-photon coupling with colloidal nanoplatelets in an open microcavity

Colloidal semiconductor nanoplatelets exhibit quantum size effects due to their thickness of only few monolayers, together with strong optical band-edge transitions facilitated by large lateral extensions. In this article we demonstrate room temperature strong coupling of the light and heavy hole exciton transitions of CdSe nanoplatelets with the photonic modes of an open planar microcavity. Vacuum Rabi splittings of $66 \pm 1$ meV and $58 \pm 1$ meV are observed for the heavy and light hole excitons respectively, together with a polariton-mediated hybridisation of both transitions. By measuring the concentration of platelets in the film we compute the transition dipole moment of a nanoplatelet exciton to be $\mu = (575 \pm 110)$ D. The large oscillator strength and fluorescence quantum yield of semiconductor nanoplatelets provide a perspective towards novel photonic devices, combining polaritonic and spinoptronic effects.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

An Integrated Approach To Recruiting And Retaining Appalachian Engineering Students

Recruiting and retaining Appalachian engineering students is difficult for a variety of ecological and cultural reasons. At West Virginia University an NSF STEP grant1* has allowed the development specific interventions to evolve from an ecological model we describe here. The interventions include web-based, realistic engineering design exercises linked to state and federal content standards and objectives; a week-long residential summer camp addressing social and academic challenges for rural and minority students; a full set of retention efforts including "rescue courses" targeting struggling college freshmen in early stages of academic difficulty coupled with required study labs to underscore time management and persistence skills early in a freshman's academic career. Process and impact measures suggest that this package of interventions is effective in building interest in engineering not only in high school teachers but in the high school students themselves. While freshman retention has improved remarkably to an all time high of 84%, we conclude that it may take longer than five years to establish among youth in Appalachia an "engineering identity" as a cultural norm. We discuss the key aspects of our 5 year NSF project along with findings and conclusions

Family-centered care for hospitalized children aged 0-12 years: a systematic review of qualitative studies

The foundation for a family-centered approach to pediatric health care is the belief that a child'semotional and developmental needs, and overall family wellbeing are best achieved when the service system supports the ability of the family to meet the needs of their child by involving families in their child’s care. There are a range of potential benefits and difficulties associated with the provision of family centred care, e.g. role negotiation, parental expectations in regard to participation in their child’s care, and issues relating to power and control. Currently, however, there is limited systematic information on how the principles of family-centered care are implemented in the delivery of care to the hospitalized child and their family, and the impact on the family and the health care providers

Educating Farmers\u27 Market Consumers on Best Practices for Retaining Maximum Nutrient and Phytonutrient Levels in Local Produce

Few farmers\u27 market consumers are aware of how to retain optimal nutritional quality of produce following purchase. Our objective was to develop and evaluate educational materials intended to inform market consumers about best practices for storing, preserving, and consuming local produce to maximize nutrients and phytonutrients. Printed educational materials were developed and then evaluated via a survey of and interviews with Ohio farmers\u27 market consumers. The materials were modified to reflect consumer comments, and finalized materials were distributed to farmers\u27 markets throughout Ohio. The approach we used can be applied by other Extension professionals when developing educational materials for different audiences

Does slow and steady win the race? Rates of antipsychotic discontinuation, antipsychotic dose, and risk of psychotic relapse

Background Antipsychotics are recommended for prevention of relapse in schizophrenia. It is unclear whether increased risk of relapse following antipsychotic discontinuation is predominantly associated with an absolute magnitude of dose reduction or rate of antipsychotic reduction. Establishing the responsible mechanism is important because prolonged withdrawal schedules have been suggested to reduce risk of relapse. Study Design Individual patient data from antipsychotic discontinuation studies were obtained. We estimated the occupancy of receptors over time using half-lives and median effective dose ED50 values obtained from pharmacokinetic and receptor occupancy studies. Hazard ratios for relapse events were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models to assess the influence of formulation (oral, 1-monthly, and 3-monthly injections). The change in hazard ratio over time was estimated, and the effect of time-varying covariates was calculated, including rate of occupancy reduction and absolute receptor occupancy. Study Results Five studies including 1388 participants with schizophrenia were identified (k = 2: oral, k = 2: 1-monthly injection, k = 1: 3-monthly injection). Withdrawal of long-acting injectable medication did not lead to a lower hazard ratio compared with withdrawal of oral medication, and this included the period immediately following randomization. Hazard ratios were not associated with the rate of decline of receptor occupancy; however, they were associated with reduced absolute occupancy in trials of long-acting injections (P = .038). Conclusions Antipsychotic discontinuation is associated with an increased risk of psychotic relapse, related to receptor occupancy. Although relapse does not appear to be related to the rate of discontinuation, gradual discontinuation strategies may allow for easier antipsychotic reinstatement in case of symptomatic worsening

Implementation and evaluation of the new wind algorithm in NASA's 50 MHz doppler radar wind profiler

The purpose of this report is to document the Applied Meteorology Unit's implementation and evaluation of the wind algorithm developed by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on the data analysis processor (DAP) of NASA's 50 MHz doppler radar wind profiler (DRWP). The report also includes a summary of the 50 MHz DRWP characteristics and performance and a proposed concept of operations for the DRWP

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial examining multilevel prediction of response to behavioral activation and exposure-based therapy for generalized anxiety disorder.

BACKGROUND:Only 40-60% of patients with generalized anxiety disorder experience long-lasting improvement with gold standard psychosocial interventions. Identifying neurobehavioral factors that predict treatment success might provide specific targets for more individualized interventions, fostering more optimal outcomes and bringing us closer to the goal of "personalized medicine." Research suggests that reward and threat processing (approach/avoidance behavior) and cognitive control may be important for understanding anxiety and comorbid depressive disorders and may have relevance to treatment outcomes. This study was designed to determine whether approach-avoidance behaviors and associated neural responses moderate treatment response to exposure-based versus behavioral activation therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. METHODS/DESIGN:We are conducting a randomized controlled trial involving two 10-week group-based interventions: exposure-based therapy or behavioral activation therapy. These interventions focus on specific and unique aspects of threat and reward processing, respectively. Prior to and after treatment, participants are interviewed and undergo behavioral, biomarker, and neuroimaging assessments, with a focus on approach and avoidance processing and decision-making. Primary analyses will use mixed models to examine whether hypothesized approach, avoidance, and conflict arbitration behaviors and associated neural responses at baseline moderate symptom change with treatment, as assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item scale. Exploratory analyses will examine additional potential treatment moderators and use data reduction and machine learning methods. DISCUSSION:This protocol provides a framework for how studies may be designed to move the field toward neuroscience-informed and personalized psychosocial treatments. The results of this trial will have implications for approach-avoidance processing in generalized anxiety disorder, relationships between levels of analysis (i.e., behavioral, neural), and predictors of behavioral therapy outcome. TRIAL REGISTRATION:The study was retrospectively registered within 21 days of first participant enrollment in accordance with FDAAA 801 with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02807480. Registered on June 21, 2016, before results