Deformation Potential Carrier-Phonon Scattering in Semiconducting Carbon Nanotube Transistors

Theoretical calculations of carrier transport in single-walled carbon nanotubes are compared with recent experiments. Carrier-phonon scattering is accounted for using the deformation potential approximation. Comparing with experiments, a deformation potential coupling constant of 14eV is determined for semiconducting carbon nanotubes. Theory is shown to closely predict the low-field mobility, on conductance, and on resistance of field-effect transistors as a function of induced nanotube charge density, diameter, and temperature. Results indicate that the device conductance is reduced as multiple subband channels conduct due to strong intersubband scattering. Comparison with experiment allows identification of the mean free path (Lm) in semiconducting carbon nanotubes. As the device turns on, Lm is found to increase significantly. When the device is in the on state, the mean free path (Lm-ON) varies linearly with tube diameter and inversely with temperature. Intersubband scattering is found to strongly decrease Lm-ON when a few subbands are occupied. When 3 subband channels are considered at room temperature, Lm-ON decreases from 570nm to 200nm for a 4nm diameter tube when intersubband scattering is included. Since the subband spacing increases with decreasing tube diameter, the effects of intersubband are reduced for smaller diameters.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Intimate partner violence against women with disability and associated mental health concerns: a cross-sectional survey in Mumbai, India

OBJECTIVES: The risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women with disability is believed to be high. We aimed to compare the prevalence of past-year IPV against women with and without functional difficulties in urban informal settlements, to review its social determinants and to explore its association with mental health. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Fifty clusters within four informal settlements. PARTICIPANTS: 5122 women aged 18-49 years. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We used the Washington Group Short Set of Questions to assess functional difficulties. IPV in the past year was described by binary composites of questions about physical, sexual and emotional violence. We screened for symptoms of depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and of anxiety using the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7. Multivariable logistic regression models examined associations between functional difficulties, IPV and mental health. RESULTS: 10% of participants who screened positive for functional disability had greater odds of experiencing physical or sexual IPV (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.68, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.29) and emotional IPV (1.52, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.00) than women who screened negative. Women who screened positive for functional disability had greater odds than women who screened negative of symptoms suggesting moderate or severe anxiety (AOR 2.50, 95% CI 1.78 to 3.49), depression (2.91, 95% CI 2.13 to 3.99) and suicidal thinking (AOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.50). CONCLUSIONS: The burden of IPV fell disproportionately on women with functional difficulties, who were also more likely to screen positive for common mental disorder. Public health initiatives need to respond at local and national levels to address the overlapping and mutually reinforcing determinants of violence, while existing policy needs to be better utilised to ensure protection for the most vulnerable

Electronic textile reparability

The market for electronic textiles is predicted to expand rapidly, with great benefits expected from some products, at the same time as creating large and challenging waste stream. The amalgamation of electronics with textiles can lead to shortened product lifetimes, as breakage of either the electronics or textile components can lead to product failure. Reparability is therefore crucial, extending electronic textile lifetimes and decreasing the overall volume of waste produced. Three commercially available electronic textile garments were examined. The assessment revealed varying degrees of reparability, from batteries that could not be replaced to fully rechargeable and removable components. Standard clothing care processes, such as washing and ironing, could limit maintenance and cause irreversible damage to electronic components. Running counter to the design and engineering objective of full integration between textile and electronics, a modular approach to electronic textiles, where electronics are held in pockets rather than integrated into textile structures, should be reconsidered to prolong product lifetime by enabling maintenance and repair. Labelling could inform users about appropriate care of the electronics within electronic textiles, but presence of electronics was not always mentioned. The findings of this study provide rich descriptive data about the reparability of products in a rapidly growing market

Understanding parents and professionals knowledge and awareness of autism in Nepal

Autism is a global phenomenon. Yet, there is a dearth of knowledge of how it is understood and its impact in low-income countries. We examined parents’ and professionals’ understanding of autism in one low-income country, Nepal. We conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with parents of autistic and non-autistic children and education and health professionals from urban and rural settings (n = 106), asking questions about typical and atypical development and presenting vignettes of children to prompt discussion. Overall, parents of typically developing children and professionals had little explicit awareness of autism. They did, however, use some distinctive terms to describe children with autism from children with other developmental conditions. Furthermore, most participants felt that environmental factors, including in-utero stressors and birth complications, parenting style and home or school environment were key causes of atypical child development and further called for greater efforts to raise awareness and build community capacity to address autism. This is the first study to show the striking lack of awareness of autism by parents and professionals alike. These results have important implications for future work in Nepal aiming both to estimate the prevalence of autism and to enhance support available for autistic children and their families

State-Dependent Allosteric Inhibition of the Human SLC13A5 Citrate Transporter by Hydroxysuccinic Acids, PF-06649298 and PF-06761281 s

ABSTRACT In the liver, citrate is a key metabolic intermediate involved in the regulation of glycolysis and lipid synthesis and reduced expression of the hepatic citrate SLC13A5 transporter has been shown to improve metabolic outcomes in various animal models. Although inhibition of hepatic extracellular citrate uptake through SLC13A5 has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach for Type-2 diabetes and/or fatty liver disease, so far, only a few SLC13A5 inhibitors have been identified. Moreover, their mechanism of action still remains unclear, potentially limiting their utility for in vivo proof-of-concept studies. In this study, we characterized the pharmacology of the recently identified hydroxysuccinic acid SLC13A5 inhibitors, PF-06649298 and PF-06761281, using a combination of 14 C-citrate uptake, a membrane potential assay and electrophysiology. In contrast to their previously proposed mechanism of action, our data suggest that both PF-06649298 and PF-06761281 are allosteric, state-dependent SLC13A5 inhibitors, with low-affinity substrate activity in the absence of citrate. As allosteric state-dependent modulators, the inhibitory potency of both compounds is highly dependent on the ambient citrate concentration and our detailed mechanism of action studies therefore, may be of value in interpreting the in vivo effects of these compounds

The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring

Environment, conservation, green, and kindred movements look back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring as a milestone. The impact of the book, including on government, industry, and civil society, was immediate and substantial, and has been extensively described; however, the provenance of the book has been less thoroughly examined. Using Carson’s personal correspondence, this paper reveals that the primary source for Carson’s book was the extensive evidence and contacts compiled by two biodynamic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards, of Long Island, New York. Their evidence was compiled for a suite of legal actions (1957-1960) against the U.S. Government and that contested the aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). During Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, Spock and Richards both studied at Steiner’s Goetheanum, the headquarters of Anthroposophy, located in Dornach, Switzerland. Spock and Richards were prominent U.S. anthroposophists, and established a biodynamic farm under the tutelage of the leading biodynamics exponent of the time, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. When their property was under threat from a government program of DDT spraying, they brought their case, eventually lost it, in the process spent US$100,000, and compiled the evidence that they then shared with Carson, who used it, and their extensive contacts and the trial transcripts, as the primary input for Silent Spring. Carson attributed to Spock, Richards, and Pfeiffer, no credit whatsoever in her book. As a consequence, the organics movement has not received the recognition, that is its due, as the primary impulse for Silent Spring, and it is, itself, unaware of this provenance

The Estimated Prevalence of Autism in School-Aged Children Living in Rural Nepal Using a Population-Based Screening Tool

Few data exist on the prevalence of autism in low-income countries. We translated, adapted and tested the acceptability of a Nepali-language version of a screening tool for autism (Autism Quotient-10). Using this tool, we estimated autism prevalence in 4098 rural Nepali children aged 9-13 years. Fourteen children scored > 6 out of 10, indicative of elevated autistic symptomatology, of which 13 also screened positive for disability. If the AQ-10 screening tool is as sensitive and specific in the Nepali population as it is in the UK, this would yield an estimated true prevalence of 3 in 1000 (95% confidence interval 2-5 in 1000). Future research is required to validate this tool through in-depth assessments of high-scoring children

Resolution of hyposmotic stress in isolated mouse ventricular myocytes causes sealing of t‐tubules

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98789/1/expphysiol.2013.072470.pd