Use of an Epitaxial BaF2 Buffer Layer on Silicon to Control W03 Thin Film Growth

The electronic and mechanical properties of tungsten trioxide (W03) thin films have been successfully utilized in both surface acoustic wave and chemiresistive microsensor devices for the detection of certain gas-phase species. A critical material aspect that can affect microsensor performance is the type and degree of crystallization within the sensing film. However, the inclusion of this added dimension into a thin film limits the number of viable substrates for which heteroepitaxy may be realized. For W03, this constraint has restricted its usage as a sensing material to being primarily coupled with sapphire substrates. Not only does sapphire promote structured film growth in this system, but it also provides the necessary electronic insulation for proper chemiresistive sensor operation. In this thesis study, we have demonstrated that multi-domained, heteroepitaxial tungsten trioxide films can alternatively be integrated onto silicon (100) oriented substrates by way of a high quality, (1 11) oriented barium fluoride insulator film buffer layer. Specifically, within an optimal deposition temperature range of 400°C - 500°C, monoclinic phase W03 films maintained coexisting (002), (020), and (200) orientations on BaF2(1 11)/Si(100) substrates. The W03 films were grown by electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma-assisted electron beam evaporation of a W03 source. A thorough investigation of the BaF2/Si substrate revealed that the BaF2 layer consisted of multiple crystalline domains oriented about the BaF2 [ I l l ] axis, which produced similarly oriented domains within subsequent film layers. Further analysis indicated that an interfacial barium tungstate (BaW04) reaction product formed at the W03-BaF2 interface. Post-deposition air-anneal experiments indicated that the heteroepitaxial W03 films maintained their lattice structure when air-annealed for 24 hours at 400°C

Primary Care Physicians' Experience with Electronic Medical Records: Barriers to Implementation in a Fee-for-Service Environment

Our aging population has exacerbated strong and divergent trends between health human resource supply and demand. One way to mitigate future inequities is through the adoption of health information technology (HIT). Our previous research showed a number of risks and mitigating factors which affected HIT implementation success. We confirmed these findings through semistructured interviews with nine Alberta clinics. Sociotechnical factors significantly affected physicians' implementation success. Physicians reported that the time constraints limited their willingness to investigate, procure, and implement an EMR. The combination of antiquated exam room design, complex HIT user interfaces, insufficient physician computer skills, and the urgency in patient encounters precipitated by a fee-for-service remuneration model and long waitlists compromised the quantity, if not the quality, of the information exchange. Alternative remuneration and access to services plans might be considered to drive prudent behavior during physician office system implementation

South Korea's automotive labour regime, Hyundai Motors’ global production network and trade‐based integration with the European Union

This article explores the interrelationship between global production networks(GPNs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) in the South Korean auto industry and its employment relations. It focuses on the production network of the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) — the third biggest automobile manufacturer in the world — and the FTA between the EU and South Korea. This was the first of the EU’s ‘new generation’ FTAs, which among other things contained provisions designed to protect and promote labour standards. The article’s argument is twofold. First, that HMG’s production network and Korea’s political economy (of which HMG is a crucial part) limited the possibilities for the FTA’s labour provisions to take effect. Second, that the commercial provisions in this same FTA simultaneously eroded HMG’s domestic market and corporate profitability, leading to adverse consequences for auto workers in the more insecure and low-paid jobs. In making this argument, the article advances a multiscalar conceptualization of the labour regime as an analytical intermediary between GPNs and FTAs. It also provides one of the first empirical studies of the EU–South Korea FTA in terms of employment relations, drawing on 105 interviews with trade unions, employer associations, automobile companies and state officials across both parties

Dimensions of professional competences for interventions towards sustainability

This paper investigates sustainability competences through the eyes of professional practitioners in the field of sustainability and presents empirical data that have been created using an action research approach. The design of the study consists of two workshops, in which professional practitioners in interaction with each other and the facilitators are invited to explore and reflect on the specific knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to conduct change processes successfully towards sustainability in a variety of business and professional contexts. The research focuses on the competences associated with these change processes to devise, propose and conduct appropriate interventions that address sustainability issues. Labelled ‘intervention competence’, this ability comprises an interlocking set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that include: appreciating the importance of (trying to) reaching decisions or interventions; being able to learn from lived experience of practice and to connect such learning to one’s own scientific knowledge; being able to engage in political-strategic thinking, deliberations and actions, related to different perspectives; the ability for showing goal-oriented, adequate action; adopting and communicating ethical practices during the intervention process; being able to cope with the degree of complexity, and finally being able to translate stakeholder diversity into collectively produced interventions (actions) towards sustainability. Moreover, this competence has to be practised in contexts of competing values, non-technical interests and power relations. The article concludes with recommendations for future research and practice

Willingness to communicate and action control

Abstract Being willing to communicate is part of becoming fluent in a second language, which often is the ultimate goal of L2 learners. Julius Kuhl's theory of action control is introduced as an expansion of the conceptual framework for the study of Willingness to Communicate. Kuhl proposed three key concepts, preoccupation, volatility, and hesitation, which form part of the base from which WTC in the second language is built. In essence, we propose that a lack of WTC inside and outside the language classroom is related to tendencies for a disruption in action control. Using path analysis, we find support for the proposed model that also integrates perceived competence and communication anxiety. Implications for the trait and dynamic conceptions of WTC are discussed

Comparison of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) and Energized Dispersive Guided Extraction (EDGE) for the Analysis of Pesticides in Leaves

Various techniques have been evaluated for the extraction and cleanup of pesticides from environmental samples. In this work, a Selective Pressurized Liquid Extraction (SPLE) method for pesticides was developed using a Thermo Fisher Scientific Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) system. This instrument was compared to the newly introduced (2017) extraction instrument, the Energized Dispersive Guided Extraction (EDGE) system, which combines Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and dispersive Solid Phase Extraction (dSPE). We first optimized the SPLE method using the ASE instrument for pesticide extraction from alfalfa leaves using layers of Florisil and graphitized carbon black (GCB) downstream of the leaf homogenate in the extraction cell (Layered ASE method). We then compared results obtained for alfalfa and citrus leaves with the Layered ASE method to those from a method in which the leaf homogenate and sorbents were mixed (Mixed ASE method) and to similar methods modified for use with EDGE (Layered EDGE and Mixed EDGE methods). The ASE and EDGE methods led to clear, colorless extracts with low residual lipid weight. No significant differences in residual lipid masses were observed between the methods. The UV-Vis spectra showed that Florisil removed a significant quantity of the light-absorbing chemicals, but that GCB was required to produce colorless extracts. Recoveries of spiked analytes into leaf homogenates were generally similar among methods, but in several cases, significantly higher recoveries were observed in ASE extracts. Nonetheless, no significant differences were observed among pesticide concentrations in field samples when calculated with the isotope dilution method in which labelled surrogates were added to samples before extraction. The extraction time with the ASE methods was ~45 minutes, which was ~4.5 times longer than with the EDGE methods. The EDGE methods used ~10 mL more solvent than the ASE methods. Based on these results, the EDGE is an acceptable extraction instrument and, for most compounds, the EDGE had a similar extraction efficiency to the ASE methods

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Statistical methods to estimate the impact of gun policy on gun violence

Gun violence is a critical public health and safety concern in the United States. There is considerable variability in policy proposals meant to curb gun violence, ranging from increasing gun availability to deter potential assailants (e.g., concealed carry laws or arming school teachers) to restricting access to firearms (e.g., universal background checks or banning assault weapons). Many studies use state-level variation in the enactment of these policies in order to quantify their effect on gun violence. In this paper, we discuss the policy trial emulation framework for evaluating the impact of these policies, and show how to apply this framework to estimating impacts via difference-in-differences and synthetic controls when there is staggered adoption of policies across jurisdictions, estimating the impacts of right-to-carry laws on violent crime as a case study

Methyl-donor depletion of head and neck cancer cells in vitro establishes a less aggressive tumour cell phenotype

PURPOSE: DNA methylation plays a fundamental role in the epigenetic control of carcinogenesis and is, in part, influenced by the availability of methyl donors obtained from the diet. In this study, we developed an in-vitro model to investigate whether methyl donor depletion affects the phenotype and gene expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells. METHODS: HNSCC cell lines (UD-SCC2 and UPCI-SCC72) were cultured in medium deficient in methionine, folate, and choline or methyl donor complete medium. Cell doubling-time, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis were analysed. The effects of methyl donor depletion on enzymes controlling DNA methylation and the pro-apoptotic factors death-associated protein kinase-1 (DAPK1) and p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) were examined by quantitative-PCR or immunoblotting. RESULTS: HNSCC cells cultured in methyl donor deplete conditions showed significantly increased cell doubling times, reduced cell proliferation, impaired cell migration, and a dose-dependent increase in apoptosis when compared to cells cultured in complete medium. Methyl donor depletion significantly increased the gene expression of DNMT3a and TET-1, an effect that was reversed upon methyl donor repletion in UD-SCC2 cells. In addition, expression of DAPK1 and PUMA was increased in UD-SCC2 cells cultured in methyl donor deplete compared to complete medium, possibly explaining the observed increase in apoptosis in these cells. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data show that depleting HNSCC cells of methyl donors reduces the growth and mobility of HNSCC cells, while increasing rates of apoptosis, suggesting that a methyl donor depleted diet may significantly affect the growth of established HNSCC