Characterization of magneto-optical media

Amorphous rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM) alloys and compositionally modulated TM/TM films were characterized in terms of their magnetic, magneto-optic, and galvanomagnetic properties. The loop tracer, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) facility were used to characterize and analyze the various properties of these magneto-optical storage media. Kerr effect, ellipticity, coercivity, and anisotropy at various temperatures, magnetoresistance, and resistivity are among the properties measured in Co/Pt films, Co/Pd films, and TbFeCo films

Technology education in Hong Kong: trends, challenges and potentials

While education promotes technological changes, it also responds to technological changes. Technology education, with the concept of applying technology to solve problems and satisfy needs and wants, aims to develop individuals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in order to maximizing their adaptability and flexibility for future employment. As a field of study, technology education was internationally recognized in the 1980s, but the history of teaching craft-based and skill-oriented subjects in secondary schools in Hong Kong began in the 1920s. Students at that time were simply needed to acquire basic technical skills and gain practical experience to prepare for earning a living. Not until the mid-1970s was the higher order design element integrated into the curriculum of the local technology education to provide students with opportunities to practise problem-solving skills. Now, technology education is a part of general education in Hong Kong. In alignment with the global education trend, by combining science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, STEM education is currently being highly promoted in local schools. Besides, sustainability is a global issue of immense importance. Hong Kong, like many other cities in the world, has implemented various strategic measures to achieve sustainability. Theoretical perspectives on sustainable development under three topics, namely value position, nature of the proposed responses and structure of the proposed responses to this issue, as suggested in the literature, revealed that technology education can effectively contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD). A coherent and cross-curricular approach across all STEM subjects can be adopted in local secondary schools for ESD. This paper reviews the trends and challenges of technology education and STEM education in Hong Kong, discusses overseas experiences on integrating ESD through technology education into the school curricula, and describes case studies in the context of STEM education for introducing green design and green products as recommended in the literature to be beneficial to the future ESD

The impact of school bullying on mental health in young adulthood

Purpose: The aim of this paper was to explore the impact of childhood school bullying on subsequent mental health from the perspective of young adults with mental health problems. Background: Quantitative studies have highlighted the negative impact of school bullying on subsequent mental health during adulthood in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, however these studies are unable to explain how the perception of and coping response to being bullied in school during childhood may influence subsequent mental health. A qualitative study allows for greater understanding of cognitive and emotional responses to victimisation. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 young adults with affective disorders and interview data were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings & Conclusions: Four superordinate themes were derived: (1) Feelings of exclusion affecting trust in others; (2) I am no good; (3) Troubled by overwhelming torment and unfairness; (4) Not within my control, suggesting the possible roles of maladaptive cognitions, negative internal models, poor coping ability and helplessness in the development of poor mental health. These findings have implications for the use of cognitive or attachment based interventions for victims of bullying

The role of atrial natriuretic peptide to attenuate inflammation in a mouse skin wound and individually perfused rat mesenteric microvessels.

We tested the hypothesis that the anti-inflammatory actions of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) result from the modulation of leukocyte adhesion to inflamed endothelium and not solely ANP ligation of endothelial receptors to stabilize endothelial barrier function. We measured vascular permeability to albumin and accumulation of fluorescent neutrophils in a full-thickness skin wound on the flank of LysM-EGFP mice 24 h after formation. Vascular permeability in individually perfused rat mesenteric microvessels was also measured after leukocytes were washed out of the vessel lumen. Thrombin increased albumin permeability and increased the accumulation of neutrophils. The thrombin-induced inflammatory responses were attenuated by pretreating the wound with ANP (30 min). During pretreatment ANP did not lower permeability, but transiently increased baseline albumin permeability concomitant with the reduction in neutrophil accumulation. ANP did not attenuate acute increases in permeability to histamine and bradykinin in individually perfused rat microvessels. The hypothesis that anti-inflammatory actions of ANP depend solely on endothelial responses that stabilize the endothelial barrier is not supported by our results in either individually perfused microvessels in the absence of circulating leukocytes or the more chronic skin wound model. Our results conform to the alternate hypothesis that ANP modulates the interaction of leukocytes with the inflamed microvascular wall of the 24 h wound. Taken together with our previous observations that ANP reduces deformability of neutrophils and their strength of attachment, rolling, and transvascular migration, these observations provide the basis for additional investigations of ANP as an anti-inflammatory agent to modulate leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions

Enabling Psychiatrists to Explore the Full Potential of E-Health

10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00177Frontiers in Psychiatry6DEC17

Ethnic influences in suicide risk and prediction of lethality in suicide attempts

Medical records of 666 suicide attempters, who were admitted to a teaching hospital in January 2004 - December 2006, were examined. Of the sample, 69.2% were female, 30.8% were male. 63.8% were Chinese, 15.8% were Indian, 15.0 % were Malay and 5.4% were Eurasian. Significant ethnic differences were seen in suicide risk and protective factors. The Malays reported more protective factors and less risk factors as compared to the Chinese and Indians. Ethnic influences were also seen in the prediction of lethality measures. Compared to the Indians and Chinese, Malays made up the lowest proportion of attempters with high lethality attempts. The Chinese differ from the Indians and Malays in the prediction models for lethality. Cultural influences are discussed with implications for suicide assessments and interventions. Suicide prevention efforts could be targeted at promoting strengths to buffer against the impact of the identified vulnerabilities, and suicide assessment could also be improved by utilising empirical study of the local population

Perceived importance and levels of technical English communication skills among stakeholders in engineering fields

The purposes of this study were to examine stakeholders’ perceptions of the importance of technical English communication skills in engineering and academic teachers and industry professionals’ perceptions of current engineering students’ and graduates’ levels of technical communication skills. Survey questionnaires were designed to collect data from different research participants. The data were subsequently analysed using descriptive statistics. The study identified a discrepancy between students’ self-perceived performance on technical English communication skills and their perceived standards of these skills required by the programmes in which they were enrolled. Technical communication skills, including writing in engineering genres, essays and technical reports, reading and speaking, were viewed to be fairly important for their academic success. The findings also indicated that the students’ abilities in writing in engineering genres, and essays and technical report writing were perceived to be below the standards. In addition, the study highlighted that industry professionals viewed the technical communication skills of engineering graduates working in the engineering sectors as inadequate. Based on these results, it is vitally important to develop a tailor-made enhancement course to cater for the specific needs of engineering students, including technical communication skills for their study programmes and to prepare them for workplace needs of engineers in the near future

The effects of temperament on depression according to the schema model: a scoping review

Background: Recent studies have shown that not every depressed patient responds to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and some of those who do relapse upon termination. Due to its dual focus on the past and present, Schema Model (SM) represents a promising alternative model to understand depression. However, studies examining SM often operationalize the same construct differently, resulting in inconsistent evidence of change. There is no known review clarifying (1) how best to assess schema constructs; and (2) the relevant pathways to depression, without which, the empirical basis for SM cannot be examined. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance to PRISMA guidelines to map evidence of the relationship between constructs of SM and depression, and measures used to assess the constructs. 2463 articles were identified with 49 primary research studies included. This paper is a subset of the scoping review and focuses on the five studies examining effects of temperament on depression. Results: Two models were used to operationalize temperament: The Five Factor Model (FFM) and the Psychobiological Model of Personality (PBM). The variables of neuroticism and harm avoidance were positively associated with depressive symptoms while self-directedness and cooperativeness were negative associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The FFM is more suited to operationalize temperament in studies of SM and depression due to its theoretical compatibility with SM, established psychometric properties of its measures, and widespread use among studies of SM. Out of the five factors in the FFM, only neuroticism exerts direct and indirect effects on depression. These findings are limited by homogeneous sampling, hence future research studies should consider extending it to adult clinical samples. Nevertheless, this review represents a first step in the systematic examination of the empirical basis of SM and a contribution to treatment innovation and practice for depression

New General Models for Evaluating Interactions in Non-Regular Solutions and Adsorption Energies Based on Both Hansen's and Drago's Parameters

This study aims at providing a model for the internal mixing energy of two liquids. The concerned variables are the solute molar volume V (cm3/mol.), the cohesion parameters and the Drago's parameters. The model is based on the following fundamental novelties: The fragmentation of molar cohesive energy ∆Ecoh (kJ/mol) into two distinct categories. Indeed, the dispersive and polar cohesion energies are magnetic and electrical in nature, and the cohesive energy of the chemical bonds (Hydrogen Bond) is due to charge transfer and orbital overlap. The origins of these two categories of energy are different, requiring two different treatments in use. For the first time, a relationship has been established between the cohesive energy from chemical bonds ∆Eh (kJ/mol) and Drago's parameters Ea, Eb, Ca, and Cb (KJ1/ 2mol-1/2). A simple equation has been proposed for the salvation energy of a gaseous solute in a liquid solvent. This equation contains a term for the perturbation energy of the solvent in the presence of the solute, namely the cavity formation energy, and different types of interaction energies between the solvent and the solute at infinite dilution. Based on calorimetric data published, the proposed model is compared with the classic model in terms of the mixing energy. The result shows a clear advantage of the new model over the old or conventional one. Clearly, this new model should provide a new method to determine the interaction parameters or interaction capacities of complex pharmaceutical molecules using a series of simple and well-chosen solvents