577 research outputs found

    Collisionless Hydrodynamics of Doped Graphene in a Magnetic Field

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    The electrodynamics of a two-dimensional gas of massless fermions in graphene is studied by a collisionless hydrodynamic approach. A low-energy dispersion relation for the collective modes (plasmons) is derived both in the absence and in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. The results for graphene are compared to those for a standard two-dimensional gas of massive electrons. We further compare the results within the classical hydrodynamic approach to the full quantum mechanical calculation in the random phase approximation. The low-energy dispersion relation is shown to be a good approximation at small wave vectors. The limitations of this approach at higher order is also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

    The moderator role of Gender in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT): A study on users of Electronic Document Management Systems

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    Venkatesh et al. [1] tried to integrate predictability capabilities from the different existing models of technology acceptance. This produced the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). This comprehensive model resulted in the identification of common aspects. It proposed several constructs with a greater explanatory power and analyzed moderating drivers, such as age, Gender, experience and voluntariness of use. By doing so, UTAUT identifies three major drivers of behavioral intention: performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence. On the other hand, facilitating conditions and behavioral intention were identified as determinant factors of actual use [1]. In addition to previous considerations about UTAUT, empirical research has scarcely analyzed the moderating role of Gender [2]. This is why this paper particularly aims to fill this gap. Hofstede [3] describes strength, competitiveness and guidance for material success as social roles linked to male values, whilst modesty, tenderness, sensitivity and concern for the quality of life are values associated with women. With respect to UTAUT, existing studies have shown that performance expectancy positively influences behavioral intention more strongly for men (cf. [4], [5], [6] and [7]). Moreover, it has been observed that effort expectancy positively influences behavioral intention more strongly for women (cf. [4], [5] and [6]), while social influence positively affects behavioral intention more strongly for women (cf. [5], [7] and [8]). In our research, with the aim of testing the moderating effects of Gender, a sample of 2,175 users of Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) in Portuguese municipalities was used. Taking into account that Gender is a categorical variable, we have adopted a multi-group or multi-sample analysis [9] -dividing the sample into two groups (male = 748; female = 1,427) and estimating each group of observations separately. Before comparing the groups, an analysis of the measurement invariance was carried out to make sure that the construct measures were invariant between both groups [10]. Once the metric invariance had been assessed, we carried out a set of multi-group analyses –interpreting statistically-significant differences in path coefficients as moderating effects. On the one hand, the parametric approach considering both equal variances and different variances has been used [11, 12]. On the other hand, we have applied non-parametric approaches exemplified by the permutation test [13], and Henseler’s PLS multi-group analysis [10, 12, 14]. This study notes slight differences in the results of the aforementioned methods. As a result, the moderating effect of Gender on the relation between performance expectancy and behavioral intention showed that this relationship is stronger among men than women. Finally, a discussion on the implications of Gender as a moderator for the UTAUT model is included

    Determinants of User Acceptance of a Local eGovernment Electronic Document Management System (EDMS)

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    On numerous occasions the significant value of the investments involved in the development of eGovernment and the expectations of governmental information systems use do not correspond to the rate of effective use. This scenario makes it difficult to justify the development of electronic government by governments and local authorities among its citizens. It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence the employees' intention of using governmental information systems. With the aim of understanding the determining factors of using an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) in the context of Portuguese municipalities, this study develops an empirical analysis using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, (Venkatesh et al., 2003). This model's application for information systems research in the governmental context has a weak expression and is unique in EDMS research. This empirical research follows a realist and positivist approach. Data was collected from a survey answered by 2,175 employees of Portuguese municipalities (EDMS users). Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to test the model proposed. The results showed that Intention to Use is positively affected by Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence and Facilitating Conditions. With respect to the EDMS Use, the results showed that it is positively influenced by Intention to Use and Facilitating Conditions. The main result indicates that EDMS users believe that the use of this information system will help them to obtain performance benefits in their work. However, the increasing use of EDMS is not very influenced by the system's perceived ease of use. In short, this study provides a contribution to the Information Systems Acceptance and Adoption literature in local eGovernmental contexts. In addition, our contribution empirically tests the model for implementation in governmental organizations and provides a better understanding of the adoption and use of an EDM

    Collective modes of doped graphene and a standard 2DEG in a strong magnetic field: linear magneto-plasmons versus magneto-excitons

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    A doped graphene layer in the integer quantum Hall regime reveals a highly unusual particle-hole excitation spectrum, which is calculated from the dynamical polarizability in the random phase approximation. We find that the elementary neutral excitations in graphene in a magnetic field are unlike those of a standard two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG): in addition to the upper-hybrid mode, the particle-hole spectrum is reorganized in linear magneto-plasmons that disperse roughly parallel to ω=vFq\omega=v_F q, instead of the usual horizontal (almost dispersionless) magneto-excitons. These modes could be detected in an inelastic light scattering experiment.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

    Supervised physical activity during pregnancy improves fetal cardiac response

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    Objetivo: Valorar la influencia de un programa de ejercicio físico durante la gestación en la adaptación de la frecuencia cardiaca fetal (FCF). Se espera encontrar una mejor adaptación de la FCF especialmente en cuanto a recuperaciones más rápidas. Método: 45 gestantes participantes en un ensayo clínico aleatorizado sin complicaciones ni contraindicaciones para el ejercicio fueron estudiadas durante el tercer trimestre de embarazo. Se midieron las siguientes variables: FCF en reposo, FCF post-ejercicio y tiempo de recuperación de la FCF a los niveles de reposo. Resultados: La FCF en reposo fue similar en ambos grupos. La FCF post-ejercicio fue significativamente mayor en el grupo control (GC) que en el grupo ejercicio (GE) en ambas pruebas, al 40% GE=138,5±6,4GE vs 141±7,5 GC (p=0,001), al 60% 141,6±10,8 GE vs 150,3±16,8GC. Lo mismo ocurre en los tiempos de recuperación, al 40% 78,2±95,7GE vs 328,4±315,2GC (p=0,001), al 60% 193,3±257,8 GE vs 542,6±482,9GC (p=0,003). Conclusión: El ejercicio físico desarrollado durante el embarazo tiene como consecuencia una mejor adaptación de la FCF post-ejercicio, así como recuperaciones más rápidas.Objective: To assess the influence of a physical activity program during pregnancy on the adaptation of the fetal heart rate (FHR). Greater adaptations and faster recovery are expected to find. Methods: 45 pregnant women included in a randomized control trial, all with uncomplicated pregnancies for exercise were studied in their third trimester of pregnancy. Rest FHR, post-exercise FHR and recovery time were assessed. Results: Rest FHR was similar in both groups. Post-exercise FHR were significantly higher in control group (CG) than in exercise group (EG) in both test, 40% 138,5±6,4EG vs 141±7,5CG (p=0,001), 60% 141,6±10,8EG vs 150,3±16,8CG. The same was found in recovery time, 40% 78,2±95,7EG vs 328,4±315,2CG (p=0,001), al 60% 193,3±257,8EG vs 542,6±482,9CG (p=0,003)

    Caracterización de pacientes alcohólicos del consultorio médico de familia Nº 9. Policlínica "Armando García" 2006-2007

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    Se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal en el consultorio médico de familia (CMF) Nº 9 de la policlínica Armando García Aspuru de Santiago de Cuba, con el objetivo de determinar aspectos biopsicosociales y clínico-epidemiológicos en pacientes diagnosticados como alcohólicos mayores de15 años en el período de octubre del 2006 hasta junio del 2007, siendo el total 38 pacientes. Para dicho diagnóstico se le aplicó a la totalidad de los mayores de 15 años la encuesta CAGE para definir alcoholismo obteniendo que la mayor cifra de los sujetos alcohólicos comenzaron la ingestión excesiva de alcohol adultos jóvenes, que ingerían el tóxico para olvidar los problemas, estimaban que el alcohol les ayudaba a levantar el ánimo, los hombres desconocían si estimulaba las funciones sexuales no así las mujeres que consideraron que no, dedicaban el tiempo libre a ver la televisión, no poseían noxas ambientales, presentaron conflictos de vivienda, polineuritis como signo somático, gastritis como enfermedad somática y como síntoma psíquico la hipotimia

    Rastrojo de maíz: producción teórica de etanol lignocelulósico en relación a la fecha de siembra

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    El efecto de la fecha de siembra sobre el rendimiento y la calidad bioenergética del rastrojo de maíz (Zea mays L.) es poco conocido. Este recurso está siendo reconsiderado debido a que no compite con los alimentos y tiene un bajo costo. El objetivo fue determinar el efecto de la fecha de siembra en la producción teórica de etanol del rastrojo en híbridos comerciales de maíz. Cuatro híbridos fueron evaluados en dos fechas de siembra en un diseño de bloques completos aleatorizados con arreglo factorial y tres repeticiones. Se analizaron variables de rendimiento y calidad bioenergética. Además, se determinaron mediante regresión lineal los perfiles verticales de distribución del rendimiento (tn/ha) y del rendimiento en etanol teórico potencial (L/ha), dividiendo al rastrojo en estratos de 20 cm desde la base al ápice. La fecha de siembra tardía fue superior a la temprana. Produjo un mayor rendimiento de rastrojo (11,32 vs. 9,37 tn/ha) y en etanol teórico potencial (3,78 vs. 2,47 mil L/ha). Hubo un aporte decreciente de cada estrato desde la base hasta el ápice de la planta. No obstante, la fecha de siembra tardía produjo mayor acumulación de biomasa por estrato, aportando mayor remanente al suelo ante una misma altura de corte.Trabajo presentado por el Instituto de Investigación Agropecuaria, Ambiente y Salud (IIPAAS

    On the synthesis of metadata tags for HTML files

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    RDFa, JSON-LD, Microdata, and Microformats allow to endow the data in HTML files with metadata tags that help software agents understand them. Unluckily, there are many HTML files that do not have any metadata tags, which has motivated many authors to work on proposals to synthesize them. But they have some problems: the authors either provide an overall picture of their designs without too many details on the techniques behind the scenes or focus on the techniques but do not describe the design of the software systems that support them; many of them cannot deal with data that are encoded using semistructured formats like forms, listings, or tables; and the few proposals that can work on tables can deal with horizontal listings only. In this article, we describe the design of a system that overcomes the previous limitations using a novel embedding approach that has proven to outperform four state-of-the-art techniques on a repository with randomly selected HTML files from 40 differ ent sites. According to our experimental analysis, our proposal can achieve an F1 score that outperforms the others by 10.14%; this difference was confirmed to be statistically significant at the standard confidence level.Junta de Andalucía P18-RT-1060Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-40848-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-75394-

    Tailoring discrete quantum walk dynamics via extended initial conditions: Towards homogeneous probability distributions

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    We study the evolution of initially extended distributions in the coined quantum walk on the line by analyzing the dispersion relation of the process and its associated wave equations. This allows us, in particular, to devise an initially extended condition leading to a uniform probability distribution whose width increases linearly with time, with increasing homogeneity.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

    Production of recombinant proteins in E. coli by the heat inducible expression system based on the phage lambda pL and/or pR promoters

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    The temperature inducible expression system, based on the pL and/or pR phage lambda promoters regulated by the thermolabile cI857 repressor has been widely use to produce recombinant proteins in prokariotic cells. In this expression system, induction of heterologous protein is achieved by increasing the culture temperature, generally above 37°C. Concomitant to the overexpression of heterologous protein, the increase in temperature also causes a variety of complex stress responses. Many studies have reported the use of such temperature inducible expression system, however only few discuss the simultaneous stress effects caused by recombinant protein production and the up-shift in temperature. Understanding the integral effect of such responses should be useful to develop improved strategies for high yield protein production and recovery. Here, we describe the current status of the heat inducible expression system based on the pL and/or pR λ phage promoters, focusing on recent developments on expression vehicles, the stress responses at the molecular and physiological level that occur after heat induction, and bioprocessing factors that affect protein overexpression, including culture operation variables and induction strategies
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