Deep levels in the band gap of CdTe films electrodeposited from an acidic bath—PICTS analysis

The deep traps detected in a CdTe thin film electrodeposited from an acidic bath are discussed. CdTe thin films were developed on flexible metallic substrates by electro deposition. The films were nearly stiochiometric, highly uniform and exhibit good crystallinity. The films were characterized using XRD, SEM, AUGER and AFM. The crystallites exhibited a strong preference for the (1 1 1) plane. The grain size of the film was in the range 0.2–0.4 μm. The photoinduced current transient spectroscopic technique was effectively used to identify the electron and hole traps. Two hole traps and one electron trap was detected. The activation energies of those deep traps were 0.37 and 0.42 eV for the hole traps and 0.41 eV for the electron trap.     

Measuring quality of nursing home service: residents' perspective

An inventory was developed to measure residents' perceptions of the quality of nursing home service. The content domain and dimensions of the inventory were derived from actual comments of nursing home residents. Independent studies employing a multiple-facility sample of 103 residents and 194 residents from a single institution supported a four-factor structure of the quality of nursing home service--Staff and Environmental Responsiveness, Dependability and Trust, Food-related Services and Resources, and Personal Control. The data provide preliminary support for the measure's reliability and validity so it may be used to study the antecedents and consequences of quality in nursing home service from the residents' perspective.     

Choosing the most appropriate treatment for stable angina. Safety considerations

Using a play-based methodology and a symptom checklist, this study investigated idiom comprehension in 26 children aged between 6-11 who were considered to have semantic-pragmatic difficulties. This group was compared with two groups of mainstream children and a group of children with (other) language disorders not primarily of a semantic or pragmatic nature. The results indicate that the children with semantic-pragmatic difficulties did, as a group, demonstrate significantly fewer appropriate idiomatic interpretations and significantly more inappropriate interpretations than did any of the other three groups. However, the higher level of inappropriate scores in the semantic-pragmatic difficulties group reflected a large number of 'fuzzy' actions rather than significantly higher rates of literality. This may indicate an awareness among these children that the literal meaning is inappropriate in the absence of adequate idiom vocabulary. It may also reflect difficulty in retrieving known idioms from memory and/or in selecting the most appropriate meaning from several possibilities in context. Despite relative weakness, the children with semantic-pragmatic difficulties displayed appropriate interpretations considerably more often than they evidenced inappropriate ones. Within-group analysis reveals that the children diagnosed with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism performed less well than did those diagnosed with 'semantic-pragmatic disorder'. Nevertheless, both of these subgroups encompassed a considerable range of comprehension ability with regard to the 12 common idioms tested. Analysis of the play task performance and symptom checklist suggests that this variation probably reflects differences in the critical semantic and pragmatic skills underpinning idiom comprehension. These include flexibility of thought, theory of mind, attention to context, prosody and overall coherence, as well as the ability to integrate world knowledge and current contextual information to guide inferencing. In combination with definition task data and broader knowledge of symptomatology, the play task may be used to identify the sites and sources of idiom comprehension breakdown in individual children. It is probable that idiom comprehension in this group of children with semantic-pragmatic difficulties was facilitated by the inclusion of only concrete idioms and by the visual support provided by the play set. Nevertheless, the moderate to age-appropriate ability displayed by this group in this context suggests that the characterization of children with semantic-pragmatic difficulties as predominantly literal needs to be revised. Rather than seeking a blanket characterization of an essentially heterogeneous group, it may be more useful to consider idiom comprehension a secondary manifestation of semantic and/or pragmatic difficulties. Since the children who exhibit these difficulties vary in symptomatology and, probably, in aetiology, it follows that they will also vary with respect to idiom comprehension and the reasons for its breakdown.     

Effects of chronic intrahypothalamic infusion of insulin on food intake and diurnal meal patterning in the rat.

In Experiment 1, rats were chronically infused with insulin (2.7, 27, or 270 ng/hr) or 0.9% saline into the ventromedial (VMH), medial perifornical (PF), or lateral (LH) hypothalamus. VMH infusions of insulin caused a significant, dose-dependent decrease in food intake and body weight; PF infusion of insulin was less effective, but significant; whereas LH infusions of insulin were ineffective. In Experiment 2, rats were chronically infused with insulin (0.54 ng/hr) or 0.9% saline into the VMH, paraventricular (PVN), or posterior (PN) hypothalamic nucleus. Subjects that received VMH or PN infusions of insulin failed to regain weight lost as a result of surgery even 2 weeks after infusion; subjects that received PVN infusions of insulin regained their preoperative weights faster than did controls. All of the groups that received insulin significantly increased their daytime food intake during the infusion period and decreased their night food intake slightly; 24-hr food intake remained unchanged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microwave dielectric properties of LaMgAl11O19

The suitable choice of a substrate material is one of the aims to be fulfilled in high speed microwave technology. LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ oxide ceramic material, which belongs to the magnetoplumbite family, has been reported earlier as a potential candidate for such applications. This material has been prepared by conventional solid-state ceramic route. The structure has been studied by X-ray diffraction and characterized at microwave frequencies. The effect of dopant and glass addition on the microwave dielectric properties of this material has also been investigated. LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ has relatively low dielectric constant (ε_r=14), low dielectric loss or high quality factor (Q_u×f>28,000 GHz at 7 GHz) and small temperature variation of resonant frequency (τ_f=−12 ppm/°C) at room temperature (300 K). These properties make LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ as a good substrate material and as a dielectric resonator to be used in microwave devices operating at relatively high frequencies.     

Emotional history and pathogenesis of cancer

Emotional history was evaluated in a sample of cancer patients and a sample of noncancer patients who were hospitalized for treatment. An in-depth interview was conducted with each S to identify the frequency, duration, and intensity of each emotion-provoking event that he could remember across his life history. Evaluations of the interview information identified more frequent and intense emotional events in the Ss with cancer than in the controls who did not have cancer.     

Polychlorierte Biphenyle (PCB) in Fischen aus Teichwirtschaften und Nachklärteichen

European Food Research and Technology - Das Muskelgewebe von 58 Fischen aus Teichwirtschaften und 17 Fischen aus Nachklärteichen wurde auf seinen Gehalt an den sechs in der...     

Application of an interferometric phase contrast method to fabricate arbitrary diffractive optical elements

A novel approach for the fabrication of diffractive optical elements is described. This approach is based on an interferometric phase contrast method that transforms a complex object wavefront into an intensity pattern. The resulting intensity pattern is used to expose a photoresist layer on a substrate. After development, a diffractive phase object with an on-axis diffraction pattern is achieved. We show that the interferometric phase contrast method allows a precise control of the resulting intensity pattern. An array of blazed Fresnel lenses is realized in photoresist by using kinoform or detour-phase computer holograms for the interferometric phase contrast setup.