Charge density functional plus UU calculation of lacunar spinel GaM4_4Se8_8 (M = Nb, Mo, Ta, and W)

Charge density functional plus $U$ calculations are carried out to examine the validity of molecular $J_\text{eff}$=1/2 and 3/2 state in lacunar spinel GaM$_4$X$_8$ (M = Nb, Mo, Ta, and W). With LDA (spin-unpolarized local density approximation)$+U$, which has recently been suggested as the more desirable choice than LSDA (local spin density approximation)$+U$, we examine the band structure in comparison with the previous prediction based on the spin-polarized version of functional and with the prototypical $J_\text{eff}$=1/2 material Sr$_2$IrO$_4$. It is found that the previously suggested $J_\text{eff}$=1/2 and 3/2 band characters remain valid still in LDA$+U$ calculations while the use of charge-only density causes some minor differences. Our result provides the further support for the novel molecular $J_\text{eff}$ state in this series of materials, which can hopefully motivate the future exploration toward its verification and the further search for new functionalities

Editorial: clock/frequency generation circuits and systems

1 Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 2Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy 3Department of Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Kyungbuk 790-784, Republic of Korea 4Department of Physical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan 5Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, US

Clock/Frequency Generation Circuits and Systems

1 Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 2Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy 3Department of Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Kyungbuk 790-784, Republic of Korea 4Department of Physical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan 5Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, US

Ion trap with gold-plated alumina: substrate and surface characterization

We describe a complete development process of a segmented-blade linear ion trap. Alumina substrate is characterized with an X-ray diffraction and loss-tangent measurement. The blade is laser-micromachined and polished, followed by the sputtering and gold electroplating. Surface roughness is examined at each step of the fabrication via both electron and optical microscopies. On the gold-plated facet, we obtain a height deviation of tens of nanometers in the vicinity of the ion position. Trapping of laser-cooled $^{174}$Yb$^{+}$ ions is demonstrated.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Contrast enhancement behavior of hydrogen silsesquioxane in a salty developer

The authors investigated a contrast enhancement behavior of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) in a salty development system (NaOH/NaCl). Time-resolved analysis of contrast curves and line-grating patterns were carried out to investigate the unique properties of a salty development process. In NaOH developer without salt, the development process was saturated beyond a certain development time. On the other hand, the addition of salt enabled a continuous development, which was not observed in the pure NaOH development. The continuous thinning process enhances the contrast of HSQ in the salty developer, which allows a fast collapsing behavior in HSQ line-grating patterns. During development process, salt seems to have the role of modifying HSQ by breaking network bonds preferentially, leading to a continuous development rate

Prognostic value of quality of life score in disease-free survivors of surgically-treated lung cancer

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of quality of life (QOL) for predicting survival among disease-free survivors of surgically-treated lung cancer after the completion of cancer treatment. Methods We administered the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Quality of Life Questionnaire Lung Cancer Module (QLQ-LC13), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) to 809 survivors who were surgically-treated for lung cancer at two hospitals from 2001 through 2006. We gathered mortality data by linkage to the National Statistical Office through December 2011. We used Cox proportional hazard models to compute adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate the relationship between QOL and survival. Results Analyses of QOL items adjusted for age, sex, stage, body mass index, and physical activity showed that scores for poor physical functioning, dyspnea, anorexia, diarrhea, cough, personal strength, anxiety, and depression were associated with poor survival. With adjustment for the independent indicators of survival, final multiple proportional hazard regression analyses of QOL show that physical functioning (aHR, 2.39; 95 % CI, 1.13–5.07), dyspnea (aHR, 1.56; 95 % CI, 1.01–2.40), personal strength (aHR, 2.36; 95 % CI, 1.31–4.27), and anxiety (aHR, 2.13; 95 % CI, 1.38–3.30) retained their independent prognostic power of survival. Conclusion This study suggests that patient-reported QOL outcomes in disease-free survivors of surgically-treated lung cancer after the completion of active treatment has independent prognostic value for long-term survival