Analytical results regarding electrostatic resonances of surface phonon/plasmon polaritons: separation of variables with a twist

The boundary integral equation method ascertains explicit relations between localized surface phonon and plasmon polariton resonances and the eigenvalues of its associated electrostatic operator. We show that group-theoretical analysis of Laplace equation can be used to calculate the full set of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the electrostatic operator for shapes and shells described by separable coordinate systems. These results not only unify and generalize many existing studies but also offer the opportunity to expand the study of phenomena like cloaking by anomalous localized resonance. For that reason we calculate the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of elliptic and circular cylinders. We illustrate the benefits of using the boundary integral equation method to interpret recent experiments involving localized surface phonon polariton resonances and the size scaling of plasmon resonances in graphene nano-disks. Finally, symmetry-based operator analysis can be extended from electrostatic to full-wave regime. Thus, bound states of light in the continuum can be studied for shapes beyond spherical configurations.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, to be published Proc. Royal Soc.

MonALISA : A Distributed Monitoring Service Architecture

The MonALISA (Monitoring Agents in A Large Integrated Services Architecture) system provides a distributed monitoring service. MonALISA is based on a scalable Dynamic Distributed Services Architecture which is designed to meet the needs of physics collaborations for monitoring global Grid systems, and is implemented using JINI/JAVA and WSDL/SOAP technologies. The scalability of the system derives from the use of multithreaded Station Servers to host a variety of loosely coupled self-describing dynamic services, the ability of each service to register itself and then to be discovered and used by any other services, or clients that require such information, and the ability of all services and clients subscribing to a set of events (state changes) in the system to be notified automatically. The framework integrates several existing monitoring tools and procedures to collect parameters describing computational nodes, applications and network performance. It has built-in SNMP support and network-performance monitoring algorithms that enable it to monitor end-to-end network performance as well as the performance and state of site facilities in a Grid. MonALISA is currently running around the clock on the US CMS test Grid as well as an increasing number of other sites. It is also being used to monitor the performance and optimize the interconnections among the reflectors in the VRVS system.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 8 pages, pdf. PSN MOET00

Civil Liberties and Volunteering in Six Former Soviet Union Countries

To contribute to the debate as to whether volunteering is an outcome of democratization rather than a driver of it, we analyze how divergent democratization pathways in six countries of the former Soviet Union have led to varied levels of volunteering. Using data from the European Values Study, we find that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—which followed a Europeanization path—have high and increasing levels of civil liberties and volunteering. In Russia and Belarus, following a pre-emption path, civil liberties have remained low and volunteering has declined. Surprisingly, despite the Orange Revolution and increased civil liberties, volunteering rates in Ukraine have also declined. The case of Ukraine indicates that the freedom to participate is not always taken up by citizens. Our findings suggest it is not volunteering that brings civil liberties, but rather that increased civil liberties lead to higher levels of volunteerin

Childbearing intentions in a low fertility context: the case of Romania

This paper applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to find out the predictors of fertility intentions in Romania, a low-fertility country. We analyse how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control relate to the intention to have a child among childless individuals and one-child parents. Principal axis factor analysis confirms which items proposed by the Generation and Gender Survey (GGS 2005) act as valid and reliable measures of the suggested theoretical socio-psychological factors. Four parity-specific logistic regression models are applied to evaluate the relationship between the socio-psychological factors and childbearing intentions. Social pressure emerges as the most important aspect in fertility decision-making among childless individuals and one-child parents, and positive attitudes towards childbearing are a strong component in planning for a child. This paper also underlines the importance of the region-specific factors when studying childbearing intentions: planning for the second child significantly differs among the development regions, representing the cultural and socio-economic divisions of the Romanian territory

TITANIUM FUNCTIONALIZING AND DERIVATIZING FOR IMPLANTABLE MATERIALS OSSEOINTEGRATION PROPERTIES ENHANCING

The article focuses on titanium functionalizing and derivatizing reactions for implantable materials osseointegration properties enhancing. Thus, the titanium dioxide was activated to the titanium hydroxide (functionalization), being further immobilized on the titanium surface by ethanolamine covalent reactions and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTS) for the osseointegration membranes reactive coating. The derivatizing was based on ether forming reactions between hydroxyl group from the titanium hydroxide surface and the ethanolamine hydroxyl groups and hydrolyzed APTS respectively. The obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR infrared spectroscopy, contact angle and X-Ray fluorescence

On the definition and examples of cones and finsler spacetimes

The authors warmly acknowledge Professor Daniel Azagra (Universidad Complutense, Madrid) his advise on approximation of convex functions as well as Profs. Kostelecky (Indiana University), Fuster (University of Technology, Eindhoven), Stavrinos (University of Athens), Pfeifer (University of Tartu), Perlick (University of Bremen) and Makhmali (Institute of Mathematics, Warsaw) their comments on a preliminary version of the article. The careful revision by the referee is also acknowledged. This work is a result of the activity developed within the framework of the Programme in Support of Excellence Groups of the Region de Murcia, Spain, by Fundacion Seneca, Science and Technology Agency of the Region de Murcia. MAJ was partially supported by MINECO/FEDER project reference MTM2015-65430-P and Fundacion Seneca project reference 19901/GERM/15, Spain and MS by Spanish MINECO/ERDF project reference MTM2016-78807-C2-1-P.A systematic study of (smooth, strong) cone structures C and Lorentz–Finsler metrics L is carried out. As a link between both notions, cone triples (Ω,T,F), where Ω (resp. T) is a 1-form (resp. vector field) with Ω(T)≡1 and F, a Finsler metric on ker(Ω), are introduced. Explicit descriptions of all the Finsler spacetimes are given, paying special attention to stationary and static ones, as well as to issues related to differentiability. In particular, cone structures C are bijectively associated with classes of anisotropically conformal metrics L, and the notion of cone geodesic is introduced consistently with both structures. As a non-relativistic application, the time-dependent Zermelo navigation problem is posed rigorously, and its general solution is provided.MINECO/FEDER project, Spain MTM2015-65430-PFundacion Seneca 19901/GERM/15Spanish MINECO/ERDF project MTM2016-78807-C2-1-

Circulating adrenomedullin estimates survival and reversibility of organ failure in sepsis: the prospective observational multinational Adrenomedullin and Outcome in Sepsis and Septic Shock-1 (AdrenOSS-1) study

Background: Adrenomedullin (ADM) regulates vascular tone and endothelial permeability during sepsis. Levels of circulating biologically active ADM (bio-ADM) show an inverse relationship with blood pressure and a direct relationship with vasopressor requirement. In the present prospective observational multinational Adrenomedullin and Outcome in Sepsis and Septic Shock 1 (, AdrenOSS-1) study, we assessed relationships between circulating bio-ADM during the initial intensive care unit (ICU) stay and short-term outcome in order to eventually design a biomarker-guided randomized controlled trial. Methods: AdrenOSS-1 was a prospective observational multinational study. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included organ failure as defined by Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, organ support with focus on vasopressor/inotropic use, and need for renal replacement therapy. AdrenOSS-1 included 583 patients admitted to the ICU with sepsis or septic shock. Results: Circulating bio-ADM levels were measured upon admission and at day 2. Median bio-ADM concentration upon admission was 80.5 pg/ml [IQR 41.5-148.1 pg/ml]. Initial SOFA score was 7 [IQR 5-10], and 28-day mortality was 22%. We found marked associations between bio-ADM upon admission and 28-day mortality (unadjusted standardized HR 2.3 [CI 1.9-2.9]; adjusted HR 1.6 [CI 1.1-2.5]) and between bio-ADM levels and SOFA score (p < 0.0001). Need of vasopressor/inotrope, renal replacement therapy, and positive fluid balance were more prevalent in patients with a bio-ADM > 70 pg/ml upon admission than in those with bio-ADM ≤ 70 pg/ml. In patients with bio-ADM > 70 pg/ml upon admission, decrease in bio-ADM below 70 pg/ml at day 2 was associated with recovery of organ function at day 7 and better 28-day outcome (9.5% mortality). By contrast, persistently elevated bio-ADM at day 2 was associated with prolonged organ dysfunction and high 28-day mortality (38.1% mortality, HR 4.9, 95% CI 2.5-9.8). Conclusions: AdrenOSS-1 shows that early levels and rapid changes in bio-ADM estimate short-term outcome in sepsis and septic shock. These data are the backbone of the design of the biomarker-guided AdrenOSS-2 trial. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02393781. Registered on March 19, 2015