Automated approaches for band gap mapping in STEM-EELS

Band gap variations in thin film structures, across grain boundaries, and in embedded nanoparticles are of increasing interest in the materials science community. As many common experimental techniques for measuring band gaps do not have the spatial resolution needed to observe these variations directly, probe-corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) with monochromated Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) is a promising method for studying band gaps of such features. However, extraction of band gaps from EELS data sets usually requires heavy user involvement, and makes the analysis of large data sets challenging. Here we develop and present methods for automated extraction of band gap maps from large STEM-EELS data sets with high spatial resolution while preserving high accuracy and precision

Klagens ABC

The ABCs of Complaint: The Book of Lamentations Through the Ages analyzes the biblical Book of Lamentations. Central to the book are the questions: How can we translate the Hebrew text while at the same time taking into consideration the poetic devices of the source text and insights from recent research into biblical Hebrew grammar? What are the literary forms and content of the poems? How have readers read, understood and used Lamentations over the course of its reception history? The author examines Lamentations’ literary form, its religion-historical, theological and historical content, and its contexts. In addition, selected stations along Lamentations’ nomadic journey through reception history are explored. The book combines historical-critical, literary and form-critical methods. The five poems of Lamentations are analyzed according to the categories orientation (being at equilibrium), disorientation (a state of being out of balance), and reorientation (a state of existence where equilibrium has been restored), inspired by Walter Brueggemann’s typology of psalms. Based on a meticulous philological analysis of the Hebrew text, the author presents a new, transparent Norwegian translation. A distinctive feature of this translation is that it, in several instances, interprets the Hebrew perfect (qatal) as a so-called precative perfect (“perfect of prayer”). The ABCs of Complaint is relevant for students of theology and religion, researchers, church employees, lay people, and all who are interested in Biblical lament literature and images of God from a historical perspective on theology and religion.Klagens ABC: Boken Klagesangene i dens samtid og ettertid analyserer den bibelske boken Klagesangene. Sentralt står spørsmålene: Hvordan kan vi oversette den hebraiske teksten og samtidig ta hensyn til grunntekstens poetiske virkemidler og innsikter fra nyere forskning på bibelhebraisk grammatikk? Hva er diktenes litterære form og innhold? Hvordan har lesere lest, forstått og brukt Klagesangene gjennom dens resepsjonshistorie? Forfatteren drøfter Klagesangenes litterære form, dens religionshistoriske, teologiske og historiske innhold og dens kontekster. I tillegg drøftes utvalgte stasjoner langs Klagesangenes nomadiske vandring gjennom resepsjonshistorien. Boken kombinerer historisk-kritiske, litterære og formkritiske metoder. De fem diktene i Klagesangene analyseres ut fra kategoriene orientering (en tilværelse i likevekt), desorientering (en virkelighet ute av balanse) og nyorientering (en tilværelse hvor likevekten er gjenopprettet), inspirert av Walter Brueggemanns salmetypologi. På grunnlag av en nitid filologisk analyse av den hebraiske teksten presenterer forfatteren en ny, transparent norsk oversettelse. Et kjennetegn ved oversettelsen er at den i flere tilfeller forstår hebraisk perfektum (qatal) som en såkalt prekativ perfektum («bønneperfektum»). Klagens ABC henvender seg til teologi- og religionsstudenter, forskere, kirkelige medarbeidere, legfolk og alle som interesserer seg for Bibelens klagelitteratur og gudsbilder i et teologisk og religionshistorisk perspektiv

Klagens ABC

The ABCs of Complaint: The Book of Lamentations Through the Ages analyzes the biblical Book of Lamentations. Central to the book are the questions: How can we translate the Hebrew text while at the same time taking into consideration the poetic devices of the source text and insights from recent research into biblical Hebrew grammar? What are the literary forms and content of the poems? How have readers read, understood and used Lamentations over the course of its reception history? The author examines Lamentations’ literary form, its religion-historical, theological and historical content, and its contexts. In addition, selected stations along Lamentations’ nomadic journey through reception history are explored. The book combines historical-critical, literary and form-critical methods. The five poems of Lamentations are analyzed according to the categories orientation (being at equilibrium), disorientation (a state of being out of balance), and reorientation (a state of existence where equilibrium has been restored), inspired by Walter Brueggemann’s typology of psalms. Based on a meticulous philological analysis of the Hebrew text, the author presents a new, transparent Norwegian translation. A distinctive feature of this translation is that it, in several instances, interprets the Hebrew perfect (qatal) as a so-called precative perfect (“perfect of prayer”). The ABCs of Complaint is relevant for students of theology and religion, researchers, church employees, lay people, and all who are interested in Biblical lament literature and images of God from a historical perspective on theology and religion

Direct observation of spin-polarised bulk bands in an inversion-symmetric semiconductor

Methods to generate spin-polarised electronic states in non-magnetic solids are strongly desired to enable all-electrical manipulation of electron spins for new quantum devices. This is generally accepted to require breaking global structural inversion symmetry. In contrast, here we present direct evidence from spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy for a strong spin polarisation of bulk states in the centrosymmetric transition-metal dichalcogenide WSe$_2$. We show how this arises due to a lack of inversion symmetry in constituent structural units of the bulk crystal where the electronic states are localised, leading to enormous spin splittings up to $\sim\!0.5$ eV, with a spin texture that is strongly modulated in both real and momentum space. As well as providing the first experimental evidence for a recently-predicted `hidden' spin polarisation in inversion-symmetric materials, our study sheds new light on a putative spin-valley coupling in transition-metal dichalcogenides, of key importance for using these compounds in proposed valleytronic devices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Bloodborne Viral Hepatitis Infections among Drug Users: The Role of Vaccination

Drug use is a prevalent world-wide phenomenon and hepatitis virus infections are traditionally a major health problem among drug users (DUs). HBV and HCV, and to a lesser extent HAV, are easily transmitted through exposure to infected blood and body fluids. Viral hepatitis is not inevitable for DUs. Licensed vaccines are available for hepatitis A and hepatitis B. The purpose of this overview is to show some epidemiological data about HBV and the other blood-borne viral hepatitis among DUs and to summarize and discuss use of hepatitis vaccinations in this population. Successful vaccination campaigns among DUs are feasible and well described. We try to focus on the most significant results achieved in successful vaccination programs as reported in scientific literature. Vaccination campaigns among DUs represent a highly effective form of health education and they are cost-saving

Changing epidemiology of hepatitis A: should we be doing more to vaccinate injecting drug users?

Since 2001 there have been significant outbreaks of hepatitis A virus (HAV) across South Yorkshire, largely in intravenous drug users, and HAV infection has been reported to be an increasing problem in England and Scotland during this time. This paper reports a brief investigation to clarify current HAV epidemiology in England and Wales. The epidemiology of HAV in England, but not yet Wales, has recently changed. Laboratory reports now show that most cases are occurring in young adults, mainly young men, and that the commonest reported risk group is injecting drug users. That cases may now be concentrated in injecting drug users is supported by reports from consultants in communicable disease control (CsCDC). These detail fourteen outbreaks in England in 2002 alone, all involving injecting drug users. Links to prisons and to the homeless, usually those in hostels, were also common. A combined Hepatitis A/B vaccine is readily available and we recommend that this now be used to extend the national immunisation programme against Hepatitis B in injecting drug users to include HAV

Clusters of meningococcal disease in educational establishments in the United Kingdom: April 2001 to March 2002.

Clusters of meningococcal disease in school and pre-school settings generate high levels of public anxiety. Thus, cluster detection and reporting is crucial to trigger prompt public health measures, and detailed study is essential to shape future public health policy. In 2001/02, most clusters were of group B meningococcal disease and most occurred in pre-school or secondary school settings. No clusters of group C meningococcal disease occurred in this time period

Abram the One from Beyond-the-River, and King Chedorlaomer of Elam (Genesis 14): Persia and the Formation of Judaean Ethnic Identity in a Late Patriarchal Narrative

The perception of Persia in Judaean/Jewish texts from antiquity contributed to the construction of a Judaean/Jewish identity. Genesis 14 gives an example of this; in it, Abra(ha)m wages war with a coalition headed by King Chedorlaomer of Elam. The article argues that Genesis 14 is one of the latest additions to the patriarchal narratives (Genesis 12–36), composed in the Persian or early Hellenistic period. It was conceived and used as an ethnic identity-forming story. The characters in the narrative represented groups and nations in the neighbourhood of the province of Judah. Abra(ha)m was perceived as the ancestor of the Judaeans and the inhabitants of the province Beyond-the-River. The King of Elam represented the Persian Empire. The article uses redaction criticism to argue that Genesis 14 is among the latest additions to the patriarchal narrative in the late Persian or Hellenistic period. Moreover, it uses a combination of philological and historical methods to argue that the description of Abra(ha)m as hāʿibrî (traditionally translated “the Hebrew,” Gen 14: 13) characterises him as a person from the region Eber-nāri (Beyond-the-River). The article uses similar methods to argue that the names of people and places in Genesis 14 referred to political entities in and around Judah. Eventually, the article uses Anthony D. Smith’s theory of ethnic community and elements from postcolonial theory as “reading lenses” and a framework for analysing Genesis 14. Reading this way underscores that Genesis 14 originated and worked as an ethnic identity-forming story

Thunderstorms in Norway. A climatological and a case study

The object of this thesis are thunderstorms in Norway. In the first part, the variability of thunderstorms in time and space is investigated, based on synoptic observations from 60 weather stations in Norway. An analysis of the annual and diurnal variability is carried out, and the long term tendency is explored on the basis of long time series from for five different locations. Some of the results are discussed with respect to the static stability of the atmosphere. There is high variability of the frequency of thunderstorms from one year to another, but there is no clear long term trend in the frequency of thunderstorms in Norway from 1957/58 to 2009. The interannual and diurnal variability confirm that thunderstorms in Southeast Norway have a continental character with a maximum activity in the late afternoon in the summer, while the west coast of Norway has a maritime character with thunderstorms observed through the whole year. The study shows that in the winter, the frequency of thunderstorms is greater in the northern part of the west coast of Norway than in the southern part of the west coast. In the autumn, the relative frequency is opposite: the southern part of the west coast has higher frequency than the northern part. This variability agrees with the frequency of low static stability. In the second part, the case of the 3 July 2009 thunderstorm in Oslo is investigated. The flow is simulated with The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) with different configurations, including 7 microphysical parametrizations and 4 cumulus schemes. A predictability analysis is done for the best configuration. The 3 July case study shows that the convective precipitation is quite sensitive to the resolution, the microphysical parametrizations, the cumulus schemes and the initial data. This real case is described with respect to the temperature, moisture, convective available potential energy (CAPE) and convective inhibition (CIN). Trajectories are also calculated to find the origin of the airmasses. The predictability of the event is good in terms of prediction of the potential for convective precipitation, while the predictability of the high quantity and location of the precipitation is not as good. The 96 hour forecast gives a better forecast than the 72 hours forecast. The reason for this is traced back to a difference in temperature at levels between 600 hPa and 900 hPa over Kattegat