Positive expectations predict health after heart transplantation.

We explored the relations between positive expectations and adjustment, adherence, and health in cardiac transplant patients. Thirty-one patients and their nurse completed questionnaires before transplantation and at 3 times after surgery. As predicted, patients' self-reported positive expectations were generally associated with good mood, adjustment to the illness, and quality of life, even in patients who experienced health setbacks. High preoperative expectations predicted later adherence to a complex medical regimen. Positive expectations measured before the transplant predicted a substantial amount of the variance in the nurse's ratings of physical health 6 months after surgery, covarying for adherence behavior and preoperative health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Segmentation and recognition of phonetic features in handwritten Pitman shorthand

There is a wish to be able to enter text into mobile computing devices at the speed of speech. Only handwritten shorthand schemes can achieve this data recording rate. A new, overall solution to the segmentation and recognition of phonetic features in Pitman shorthand is proposed in this paper. Approaches to the recognition of consonant outlines, vowel and diphthong symbols and shortforms, which are different components of Pitman shorthand, are presented. A new rule is introduced to solve the issue of smooth junctions in the consonant outlines which was normally the bottleneck for recognition. Experiments with a set of 1127 consonant outlines, 2039 vowels and diphthongs and 841 shortforms from three shorthand writers have demonstrated that the proposed solution is quite promising. The recognition accuracies for consonant outlines, vowels and diphthongs, and shortforms achieved 75.33%, 96.86% and 91.86%, respectively. From the evaluation of 461 outlines with smooth junction, the introduction of the new rule has a great positive effect on the performance of the solution. The recognition accuracy of smooth junction improves from 37.53% to 93.41% given a writing time increase of 14.42%.     

Electrical characterization of HfO2 films obtained by UV assisted injection MOCVD

HfO₂ films were deposited at low temperature (400 °C) by UV assisted injection metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (UVI-MOCVD). A three-step process was used for this study, consisting of (A) Pre-deposition anneal for nitridation; (B) Deposition step; (C) Post-deposition annealing in oxygen. Special attention was paid to the effect of UV exposure during these steps. Films were characterized by physical, optical and electrical techniques. Thickness was determined by different methods (X-ray Reflectrometry (XRR), spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission electron microscopy) and a good agreement was found for all samples. The HfO₂ permittivity, equivalent oxide thickness (E_OT), flat-band voltage (V_fb) and total charge (Q_t) were extracted from the CV response at high frequency taking into account the HfO₂ and SiO₂ thicknesses obtained by XRR. The calculated permittivity values were in the range 7–13, i.e. lower than theoretical values for the monoclinic phase. Explanations are suggested in the context of the other characterizations. JE_eff characteristics were constructed taking into account the E_OT values (E_eff = V/E_OT). Effective breakdown fields range between 8.7 and 16.9 MV/cm. No dependence of E_eff with UV exposure was found.     

THE DETECTION OF LACTIC ACID BACTERIA

An examination of lactic acid bacteria involved in beer spoilage has demonstrated that many Pediococci and Lactobacilli are capable of growth on glucose media but incapable of growth on sucrose within 6 days. Some Lactobacilli are incapable of utilizing glucose for growth and are also unable to grow on media based on sucrose. All Lactobacilli studied which could not utilize glucose could utilize maltose. The results presented suggest that the use of a detection medium incorporating both glucose and maltose will result in increased ability to detect lactic acid bacteria.     

PRECURSOR CHEMISTRY FOR POLAR NANOTUBES

ABSTRACT

The strategy for synthesising a precursor solution for Misted Chemical Deposition of strontium bismuth tantalate is described and the importance of attention to detail is illustrated. With a view towards eventual commercial exploitation, emphasis is laid upon robustness and adaptability of the synthesis process in terms of raw material availability, impurity elimination, solution formulation and stoichiometry control.     

Metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of oxides and ferroelectric materials

The electrical properties of thin-film oxides span a tremendous range from insulating to superconducting. As a consequence, they are now finding an increasing number of applications in electronics and opto-electronics, both as stand-alone layers and for the provision of added functionality to electronic circuits, especially silicon. The modified precursor delivery technologies (e.g. aerosol or liquid delivery or injection techniques) coupled with improved precursors, and better engineering of the deposition kit, have transformed the prospects for the deposition of these materials by MOCVD. It is now possible to exploit the many traditional advantages of MOCVD, especially over other routes to thin-film oxide deposition. A wide range of oxides and particularly complex ferroelectric oxides are being produced on substrates of up to 200 mm in diameter. This paper highlights the progress and real advantages that MOCVD has for thin-film oxide deposition, including the design of improved precursors. Examples of the deposition of dielectric layers and lead-based ferroelectric layers for uncooled thermal imaging, and MEMS actuation applications are presented.