Cryogenic Stress-Driven Grain Growth Observed via Microcompression with in situ Electron Backscatter Diffraction

The deformation of materials at cryogenic temperature is of interest for space, arctic, and fundamental science applications. In this work, a custom-built cooling system attached to a commercial picoindenter was used for in situ cryogenic microcompression testing of equal-channel angular-pressed copper with real-time electron backscatter diffraction. Stress-driven grain growth at cryogenic temperatures was observed during a series of elastic and plastic deformations. These results provide direct evidence for the previously predicted phenomenon, whereas previous ex situ examinations demonstrated coarsening after cryogenic loading when samples were not maintained at cryogenic temperatures between deformation and characterization

Shannon entropies of atomic structure factors, off-diagonal order and electron correlation

Shannon entropies of one- and two-electron atomic structure factors in the position and momentum representations are used to examine the behavior of the off-diagonal elements of density matrices with respect to the uncertainty principle and to analyze the effects of electron correlation on off-diagonal order. We show that electron correlation induces off-diagonal order in position space which is characterized by larger entropic values. Electron correlation in momentum space is characterized by smaller entropic values as information is forced into regions closer to the diagonal. Related off-diagonal correlation functions are also discussed

Spinodal Instabilities in Nuclear Matter in a Stochastic Relativistic Mean-Field Approach

Spinodal instabilities and early growth of baryon density fluctuations in symmetric nuclear matter are investigated in the basis of stochastic extension of relativistic mean-field approach in the semi-classical approximation. Calculations are compared with the results of non-relativistic calculations based on Skyrme-type effective interactions under similar conditions. A qualitative difference appears in the unstable response of the system: the system exhibits most unstable behavior at higher baryon densities around $\rho_{b}=0.4 ~\rho_{0}$ in the relativistic approach while most unstable behavior occurs at lower baryon densities around $\rho_{b}=0.2 ~\rho_{0}$ in the non-relativistic calculationsComment: 18 pages, 7 figure

System-adapted correlation energy density functionals from effective pair interactions

We present and discuss some ideas concerning an ``average-pair-density functional theory'', in which the ground-state energy of a many-electron system is rewritten as a functional of the spherically and system-averaged pair density. These ideas are further clarified with simple physical examples. We then show that the proposed formalism can be combined with density functional theory to build system-adapted correlation energy functionals. A simple approximation for the unknown effective electron-electron interaction that enters in this combined approach is described, and results for the He series and for the uniform electron gas are briefly reviewed.Comment: to appear in Phil. Mag. as part of Conference proceedings for the "Electron Correlations and Materials Properties", Kos Greece, July 5-9, 200

A Sparse Stress Model

Force-directed layout methods constitute the most common approach to draw general graphs. Among them, stress minimization produces layouts of comparatively high quality but also imposes comparatively high computational demands. We propose a speed-up method based on the aggregation of terms in the objective function. It is akin to aggregate repulsion from far-away nodes during spring embedding but transfers the idea from the layout space into a preprocessing phase. An initial experimental study informs a method to select representatives, and subsequent more extensive experiments indicate that our method yields better approximations of minimum-stress layouts in less time than related methods.Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2016

A Review paper on the Memory Built-In Self-Repair with Redundancy Logic

The Present review paper expresses the word oriented memory test methodology for Built-In Self-Repair (BISR). To replace the defect words few logics are introduced. These logics are memory BIST logic and Wrapper logic. Whenever a test is carries on, the defected words are pointed out by its address only and these addresses are called failing address. The failing addresses are stored in the fuse box. Using fuse box it avoids the classic redundancy concept, where the RAMS has spare rows and columns. After the detection of faulty address, they are stored in redundancy logic. During test and redundancy configuration, the fuse box is connected to a scan registernbsp by this processnbsp inputnbsp and output data can be evaluated

"I don't believe in leading a life of my own, I lead his life": A qualitative investigation of difficulties experienced by informal caregivers of stroke survivors experiencing depressive and anxious symptoms

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.OBJECTIVES: Health and social care services are increasingly reliant on informal caregivers to provide long-term support to stroke survivors. However, caregiving is associated with elevated levels of depression and anxiety in the caregiver that may also negatively impact stroke survivor recovery. This qualitative study aims to understand the specific difficulties experienced by caregivers experiencing elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression. METHODS: Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers experiencing elevated levels of depression and anxiety, with a thematic analysis approach adopted for analysis. RESULTS: Analysis revealed three main themes: Difficulties adapting to the caring role; Uncertainty; and Lack of support. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers experienced significant difficulties adapting to changes and losses associated with becoming a caregiver, such as giving up roles and goals of importance and value. Such difficulties persisted into the long-term and were coupled with feelings of hopelessness and worry. Difficulties were further exacerbated by social isolation, lack of information and poor long-term health and social care support. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: A greater understanding of difficulties experienced by depressed and anxious caregivers may inform the development of psychological support targeting difficulties unique to the caring role. Improving caregiver mental health may also result in health benefits for stroke survivors themselves.This work was supported by the Dunhill Medical Trust (grant number: RTF43/1111). JW was the recipient of the Dunhill Medical Trust Research Training Fellowship. DJL is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula. We are grateful for the support provided by the Stroke Association; Different Strokes; Carers UK; Headway and Unite Devon. Additionally, we thank all the participants in the stud

Pregnant women's beliefs, expectations and experiences of antenatal ultrasound in Northern Tanzania

This qualitative study explored pregnant women's beliefs, expectations and experiences of the recently introduced antenatal ultrasound service in BomaNg'ombe hospital, Tanzania. Thematic analysis of 25 semi-structured interviews and 41 questionnaires was employed. The majority of women desired ultrasonography despite many not understanding the procedure or purpose. Patient's expectations included discovering fetal position, fetal sex and pregnancy problems. However, women frequently over-estimated the capacity of ultrasound, and had significant fears of harm. One sixth of questionnaire respondents said they did not want ultrasonography. Nonetheless since the service was introduced no woman has declined, and numerous interviewees believed scans were obligatory. Despite fears, some women reported enjoyment of ultrasound. Interviewees believed ultrasound would increase antenatal care (ANC) attendance. An informed consent policy and an education campaign are needed to reduce fears and maximiseuptake and health gains. The effects of ultrasound availability on timely ANC uptake, including amongst women not currently accessing ANC, should be further researche

Mapping EORTC-QLQ-C30 to EQ-5D-3L in patients with colorectal cancer

AIMS: The primary aim of this study was to perform a mapping of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 scores to EQ-5D-3L for the SIRFLOX study; a large dataset of patients with previously untreated liver-only or liver-dominant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). A secondary aim was to compare the predictive validity of existing mappings from EORTC-QLQ-C30 to EQ-5D-3L conducted in other cancers. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Questionnaires (completed within 529 patients) were used in a linear mixed regression to model EQ-5D-3L utility values (scored using the UK tariff) as a function of the five function scores, nine symptom scores and the global score from the EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire. A Tobit regression was also performed. The mean EQ-5D-3L values for the SIRFLOX trial were calculated and compared with predicted EQ-5D-3L values derived using published. RESULTS: The linear mixed regression model provided a satisfactory mapping between the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and the EQ-5D-3L, whilst the Tobit model did not perform as well. When utilities from the SIRFLOX data were calculated with previously published mapping studies, three out of five studies performed well (<10% mean difference). LIMITATIONS: The main limitation of the study was the lack of meaningful observations post-progression (67 paired observations). For this reason, we were unable to test whether the mapping holds by disease stage. Additionally, although the study adds to the literature of mappings to the EQ-5D-3L, it is not known how results would differ using the EQ-5D-5L. CONCLUSION: This study is the first of its kind in liver-only or liver-dominant mCRC, and mCRC in general. The mapping constructed showed a good fit to the data and provides practitioners with an additional mapping between EORTC-QLQ-C30 to EQ-5D-3L using a large dataset (529 patients, 707 paired observations). The study also confirmed the generalisability of mappings published by Proskorovsky, Kontodimopoulos and Longworth to liver-only or liver-dominant mCRC