Design and fabrication of a mid infra-red photonic crystal defect laser in indium antimonide

This paper presents 2D FDTD modelling and prototype fabrication of a mid-infrared photonic crystal defect laser. The device is fabricated using a two stage Focused Ion Beam process which results in improved hole profiles

Role of quasicylindrical waves and surface plasmon polaritons on beam shaping with resonant nanogratings in the infrared

Journal ArticleThe role of quasicylindrical waves and surface plasmon polaritons in beam shaping with resonant nanogratings is investigated. It is shown that the field on the grating surface can be strongly influenced by plasmons and quasicylindrical waves in the infrared. A method that combines far-field measurements with the fast Fourier transform to map the field amplitude at the grating surface is demonstrated. For samples with a small degree of geometric asymmetry, it is shown that the imaginary part of the transform (with null zeroth-order component) can better map the amplitude of the resonant surface waves than the full complex-valued transform. Our results will impact the study, design, and footprint of resonant nanogratings. © 2014 American Physical Society.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Derived neutrophil lymphocyte ratio is predictive of survival from intermittent therapy in advanced colorectal cancer: a post hoc analysis of the MRC COIN study

BACKGROUND: The phase III COntinuous or INtermittent (COIN) trial failed to show non-inferiority of intermittent compared with continuous chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer in overall survival (OS). The present analysis evaluated whether the derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) could predict the effect of intermittent vs continuous chemotherapy on OS in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. METHODS: A post hoc exploratory analysis of COIN arms A and C was performed. Landmark analysis was conducted on all patients with available WBC and neutrophils data. The dNLR was calculated using a formula which has previously demonstrated predictive power in cancer patients: dNLR=ANC/(WBC−ANC). A high dNLR was defined using a cut-off value of ⩾2.22. Derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio was then correlated with clinical outcomes. Survival curves were generated based on dNLR using the Kaplan–Meier method. Comparison between groups was performed using Cox regression. RESULTS: A total of 1630 patients were assigned to the continuous (N=815) or intermittent (N=815) arms. There was a strong association between dNLR level and OS. The median survival times in the ITT population were 18.6 months and 12.5 months for patients with low and high dNLR, respectively (HR=1.70; 95% CI=1.52–1.90; P<0.001). The estimate of the hazard ratio did not alter substantially (HR=1.54) after adjusting for treatment, tumour status, number of metastatic sites, alkaline phosphate and platelet count. CONCLUSIONS: Derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is strongly prognostic for survival in the COIN intermittent vs continuous treatment arms. Derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio does not predict for detrimental survival in patients treated with intermittent therapy

Comparison of Two Mathematical Models for Greenhouse Gas Emission from Membrane Bioreactors

In this study two mathematical models (Model I and Model II), able to predict the nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from an University Cape Town (UCT) \u2013 membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant, have been compared. Model I considers the N2O production only during the denitrification. Model II takes into account the two ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) formation pathways for N2O. Both models were calibrated adopting real data. Results highlight that Model II had a better capability of reproducing the measured data especially in terms of N2O model outputs. Indeed, the average efficiency related to the N2O model outputs was equal to 0.3 and 0.38 for Model I and Model II respectively

An investigation into the biochemistry of glycoprotein I and the interaction of the fibrinolytic system with antiphospholipid antibodies

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), is an autoimmune condition characterised by the occurrence of thrombosis (both arterial and venous) and obstetric morbidity along with the persistent production of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). At present the pathophysiology of APS is unclear although several hypothesis are available in the literature. This thesis has aimed to examine some of the processes behind the APS focusing on the interaction of aPL with components of the fibrinolytic system and the interaction of Beta2 glycoprotein I (P2GPI) with fibrinolytic and other proteolytic enzymes. A detailed examination of our patient cohort was undertaken and compared to new serological criteria for APS. The interaction of aPL on plasmin mediated cleavage of (32GPI was examined and found to be reduced in the presence of some aPL. Plasma kallikrein and Xa were tested for proteolytic activity on p2GPI and found to posses this although to a lesser degree to that seen for plasmin. The effect of domain V genetic polymorphisms of 02GPI on the action of plasmin on this part of the molecule was examined and found to be reduced in the presence of these polymorphisms. An investigation into the effect of one of these polymorphisms (Cys306Gly) on aPL production was undertaken with negative results in this respect. An examination of the effect of aPL on the binding of plasminogen to endothelial cell surfaces was undertaken and in some patient samples found to have an effect on this process. Moreover, some aPL were found to reduce fibrinolysis in a plasma clot lysis assay

Preschool language profiles of children at family risk of dyslexia: continuities with specific language impairment

Background Children at family risk of dyslexia have been reported to show phonological deficits as well as broader language delays in the preschool years. Method The preschool language skills of 112 children at family risk of dyslexia (FR) at ages 3½ and 4½ were compared with those of children with SLI and typically developing (TD) controls. Results Children at FR showed two different profiles: one third of the group resembled the children with SLI and scored poorly across multiple domains of language including phonology. As a group, the remaining children had difficulties on tasks tapping phonological skills at T1 and T2. At the individual level, we confirmed that some FR children had both phonological and broader oral language difficulties (compared with TD controls), some had only phonological difficulties and some appeared to be developing typically. Conclusions We have highlighted the early overlap between family risk of dyslexia and SLI. A family history of dyslexia carries an increased risk for SLI and the two disorders both show an increased incidence of phonological deficits which appear to a proximal risk factor for developing a reading impairment

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal