Static capacitive pressure sensing using a single graphene drum

To realize nanomechanical graphene-based pressure and gas sensors, it is beneficial to have a method to electrically readout the static displacement of a suspended graphene membrane. Capacitive readout, typical in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), gets increasingly challenging as one starts shrinking the dimensions of these devices, since the expected responsivity of such devices is below 0.1 aF/Pa. To overcome the challenges of detecting small capacitance changes, we design an electrical readout device fabricated on top of an insulating quartz substrate, maximizing the contribution of the suspended membrane to the total capacitance of the device. The capacitance of the drum is further increased by reducing the gap size to 110 nm. Using external pressure load, we demonstrate successful detection of capacitance changes of a single graphene drum down to 50 aF, and pressure differences down to 25 mbar

A method to estimate wood surface moisture content during drying

A method to estimate the surface moisture content below the fibre saturation point that is a function of the surface temperature, wet- and dry bulb temperatures, equilibrium moisture content, and fibre saturation point was evaluated. The method is based on the premise that the surface temperature is solely influenced by the surface moisture content and the climate that the surface is exposed to. The prediction model contends that the surface moisture content is equal to the fibre saturation point when the surface temperature is equal to the wet bulb temperature, and equal to the equilibrium moisture content when the surface temperature is equal to the dry bulb temperature, with a linear interpolation between those two points. The model thus predicts that the average moisture content of a thin piece of veneer can be predicted with fairly good accuracy. Also, when drying boards in a fast changing climate, e.g. fan reversals in industrial kilns, the surface temperature and surface moisture content should change as abruptly as the climate does. Additionally, the surface moisture content should correlate to the known drying phases, with a consistently high surface moisture content during the capillary phase when the wet line is close to the surface, and a quickly decreasing surface moisture content when the wet line moves into the wood during the transition to the diffusion phase. The prediction model was tested in these three scenarios and the results suggest that the basic premise is reasonable, and that the method is useful for surface moisture content estimation

Ethnocentrism in the Low Countries: A comparative perspective

Contains fulltext : 3361.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)New Community, continued by: Journal of ethnic and migration studies [1369-183X

Sorting Permutations: Games, Genomes, and Cycles

Permutation sorting, one of the fundamental steps in pre-processing data for the efficient application of other algorithms, has a long history in mathematical research literature and has numerous applications. Two special-purpose sorting operations are considered in this paper: context directed swap, abbreviated cds, and context directed reversal, abbreviated cdr. These are special cases of sorting operations that were studied in prior work on permutation sorting. Moreover, cds and cdr have been postulated to model molecular sorting events that occur in the genome maintenance program of certain species of single-celled organisms called ciliates. This paper investigates mathematical aspects of these two sorting operations. The main result of this paper is a generalization of previously discovered characterizations of cds-sortability of a permutation. The combinatorial structure underlying this generalization suggests natural combinatorial two-player games. These games are the main mathematical innovation of this paper.Comment: to appear in Discrete Mathematics, Algorithms and Application

Motivational Mindsets and Reasons for Studying: Development and Validation of a Classification Tool

First-year university students have multiple motives for studying and these motives may interact. Yet, past research has primarily focused on a variable-centered, dimensional approach missing out on the possibility to study the joint effect of multiple motives that students may have. Examining the interplay between motives is key to (a) better explain student d

Pesticide Exposure of Residents Living Close to Agricultural Fields in the Netherlands:Protocol for an Observational Study

Background: Application of pesticides in the vicinity of homes has caused concern regarding possible health effects in residents living nearby. However, the high spatiotemporal variation of pesticide levels and lack of knowledge regarding the contribution of exposure routes greatly complicates exposure assessment approaches. Objective: The objective of this paper was to describe the study protocol of a large exposure survey in the Netherlands assessing pesticide exposure of residents living close ( Methods: We performed an observational study involving residents living in the vicinity of agricultural fields and residents living more than 500 m away from any agricultural fields (control subjects). Residential exposures were measured both during a pesticide use period after a specific application and during the nonuse period for 7 and 2 days, respectively. We collected environmental samples (outdoor and indoor air, dust, and garden and field soils) and personal samples (urine and hand wipes). We also collected data on spraying applications as well as on home characteristics, participants' demographics, and food habits via questionnaires and diaries. Environmental samples were analyzed for 46 prioritized pesticides. Urine samples were analyzed for biomarkers of a subset of 5 pesticides. Alongside the field study, and by taking spray events and environmental data into account, we developed a modeling framework to estimate environmental exposure of residents to pesticides. Results: Our study was conducted between 2016 and 2019. We assessed 96 homes and 192 participants, including 7 growers and 28 control subjects. We followed 14 pesticide applications, applying 20 active ingredients. We collected 4416 samples: 1018 air, 445 dust (224 vacuumed floor, 221 doormat), 265 soil (238 garden, 27 fields), 2485 urine, 112 hand wipes, and 91 tank mixtures. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study on residents' exposure to pesticides addressing all major nondietary exposure sources and routes (air, soil, dust). Our protocol provides insights on used sampling techniques, the wealth of data collected, developed methods, modeling framework, and lessons learned. Resources and data are open for future collaborations on this important topic

Walk well:a randomised controlled trial of a walking intervention for adults with intellectual disabilities: study protocol

Background - Walking interventions have been shown to have a positive impact on physical activity (PA) levels, health and wellbeing for adult and older adult populations. There has been very little work carried out to explore the effectiveness of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities. This paper will provide details of the Walk Well intervention, designed for adults with intellectual disabilities, and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test its effectiveness. Methods/design - This study will adopt a RCT design, with participants allocated to the walking intervention group or a waiting list control group. The intervention consists of three PA consultations (baseline, six weeks and 12 weeks) and an individualised 12 week walking programme. A range of measures will be completed by participants at baseline, post intervention (three months from baseline) and at follow up (three months post intervention and six months from baseline). All outcome measures will be collected by a researcher who will be blinded to the study groups. The primary outcome will be steps walked per day, measured using accelerometers. Secondary outcome measures will include time spent in PA per day (across various intensity levels), time spent in sedentary behaviour per day, quality of life, self-efficacy and anthropometric measures to monitor weight change. Discussion - Since there are currently no published RCTs of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities, this RCT will examine if a walking intervention can successfully increase PA, health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual disabilities

Childhood abuse v. neglect and risk for major psychiatric disorders

Background. Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a strong risk factor for psychiatric disorders but serves in its current definitions as an umbrella for various fundamentally different childhood experiences. As first step toward a more refined analysis of the impact of CM, our objective is to revisit the relation of abuse and neglect, major subtypes of CM, with symptoms across disorders.Methods. Three longitudinal studies of major depressive disorder (MDD, N = 1240), bipolar disorder (BD, N = 1339), and schizophrenia (SCZ, N = 577), each including controls (N = 881), were analyzed. Multivariate regression models were used to examine the relation between exposure to abuse, neglect, or their combination to the odds for MDD, BD, SCZ, and symptoms across disorders. Bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to probe causality, using genetic instruments of abuse and neglect derived from UK Biobank data (N = 143 473).Results. Abuse was the stronger risk factor for SCZ (OR 3.51, 95% CI 2.17-5.67) and neglect for BD (OR 2.69, 95% CI 2.09-3.46). Combined CM was related to increased risk exceeding additive effects of abuse and neglect for MDD (RERI = 1.4) and BD (RERI = 1.1). Across disorders, abuse was associated with hallucinations (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.55-3.01) and suicide attempts (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.55-3.01) whereas neglect was associated with agitation (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.02-1.51) and reduced need for sleep (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.08-2.48). MR analyses were consistent with a bidirectional causal effect of abuse with SCZ (IVWforward = 0.13, 95% CI 0.01-0.24).Conclusions. Childhood abuse and neglect are associated with different risks to psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Unraveling the origin of these differences may advance understanding of disease etiology and ultimately facilitate development of improved personalized treatment strategies

Culture shapes how we look at faces

Background: Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance: These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures