Tunable Plasmonic Nanoantennas in Rolled-up Microtubes Coupled to Integrated Quantum Wells

We propose and realize a tunable plasmonic nanoantenna design consisting of two stacked Ag cuboids that are integrated into a rolled-up semiconductor microtube. The antenna's resonance is tuned by varying the cuboid's distance to match the photoluminescence emission of an embedded GaAs quantum well. Spatially, spectrally and temporally resolved photoluminescence measurements reveal a redshift and a reduction in lifetime of the quantum-well emission as signatures for the coupling to the antenna system. By means of finite-element electromagnetic simulations, we assign the coupling to an excitation of a high-order plasmonic mode inside the Ag cuboids.Comment: This document is the unedited Author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in ACS Photonics, copyright American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-SSNAn2JmMfr3KzD5ii2

The Catholic Church and the Turn of the 20th Century: An Anthropology of Human Flourishing and a Church for Peace

This paper will explore the connections between the 20th century’s unsurpassed violence and the Catholic Church’s adoption of anthropology of human dignity and flourishing, resulting in a call and commission for peace as seen in Pacem et Terris, Gaudium et Spes, and the Catholic Worker Movement

Examining a Layered Approach to Function and Design Representation for Reusable Software Components

This effort examined ways to improve the effectiveness of reusable software libraries. The main area of investigation was in improving the user interface by finding better ways to present the software components to potential re-users. The first aspect which was considered was finding an effective representation for reusable software components. A set of criteria was developed for evaluating the effectiveness of software representations. The criteria consisted of generality, expressiveness, understandability, consistency, and resolution. The second aspect which was considered was how to present the software component information to the user to facilitate finding the appropriate component for reuse. A representation framework was examined which advocated presenting reuse information in four layers: component functionality, design information, quality metrics, and source code. Several current representations for software function and design were evaluated using the criteria listed above. The highest rated representations were then incorporated into a prototype library interface for examination by a group of software engineers. Feedback was collected and summarized in a set of recommendations and conclusions

Carbon bridge: making businesses greener by realizing the potential of biochar - impact: elevating our customers success

This work project discusses the development of the impact business Carbon Bridge. Carbon Bridge has the mission of increasing the sale of biochar by raising awareness for it. While doing so it is aiding businesses to reduce their emissions with biochar. The project, guided by the Plan-Do-Check-Act framework, evolved from an initial vision to a multifaceted product which was further developed using the Lean Business Model Canvas. The final product is a website that includes an educational blog, a Python-built impact assessment tool, and a marketplace for biochar. Upon the reflection of this progress, the work extends with a discussion of customer success. More importantly how Carbon Bridge’s platform and marketplace can positively impact our customers success based on the three pilar approach. It distills the biochar producers needs and expectations based on direct conversations and how we aim to build trust-based relationships to lay the foundation of a strong, long-term bond

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators for the treatment of arrhythmias and cardiac resynchronisation therapy for the treatment of heart failure: systematic review and economic evaluation

Background This assessment updates and expands on two previous technology assessments that evaluated implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) for arrhythmias and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) for heart failure (HF). Objectives To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ICDs in addition to optimal pharmacological therapy (OPT) for people at increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) as a result of ventricular arrhythmias despite receiving OPT; to assess CRT with or without a defibrillator (CRT-D or CRT-P) in addition to OPT for people with HF as a result of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and cardiac dyssynchrony despite receiving OPT; and to assess CRT-D in addition to OPT for people with both conditions. Data sources Electronic resources including MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library were searched from inception to November 2012. Additional studies were sought from reference lists, clinical experts and manufacturers’ submissions to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Review methods Inclusion criteria were applied by two reviewers independently. Data extraction and quality assessment were undertaken by one reviewer and checked by a second. Data were synthesised through narrative review and meta-analyses. For the three populations above, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing (1) ICD with standard therapy, (2) CRT-P or CRT-D with each other or with OPT and (3) CRT-D with OPT, CRT-P or ICD were eligible. Outcomes included mortality, adverse events and quality of life. A previously developed Markov model was adapted to estimate the cost-effectiveness of OPT, ICDs, CRT-P and CRT-D in the three populations by simulating disease progression calculated at 4-weekly cycles over a lifetime horizon. Results A total of 4556 references were identified, of which 26 RCTs were included in the review: 13 compared ICD with medical therapy, four compared CRT-P/CRT-D with OPT and nine compared CRT-D with ICD. ICDs reduced all-cause mortality in people at increased risk of SCD, defined in trials as those with previous ventricular arrhythmias/cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction (MI) > 3 weeks previously, non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (depending on data included) or ischaemic/non-ischaemic HF and left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35%. There was no benefit in people scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft. A reduction in SCD but not all-cause mortality was found in people with recent MI. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) ranged from £14,231 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) to £29,756 per QALY for the scenarios modelled. CRT-P and CRT-D reduced mortality and HF hospitalisations, and improved other outcomes, in people with HF as a result of LVSD and cardiac dyssynchrony when compared with OPT. The rate of SCD was lower with CRT-D than with CRT-P but other outcomes were similar. CRT-P and CRT-D compared with OPT produced ICERs of £27,584 per QALY and £27,899 per QALY respectively. The ICER for CRT-D compared with CRT-P was £28,420 per QALY. In people with both conditions, CRT-D reduced the risk of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalisation, and improved other outcomes, compared with ICDs. Complications were more common with CRT-D. Initial management with OPT alone was most cost-effective (ICER £2824 per QALY compared with ICD) when health-related quality of life was kept constant over time. Costs and QALYs for CRT-D and CRT-P were similar. The ICER for CRT-D compared with ICD was £27,195 per QALY and that for CRT-D compared with OPT was £35,193 per QALY. Limitations Limitations of the model include the structural assumptions made about disease progression and treatment provision, the extrapolation of trial survival estimates over time and the assumptions made around parameter values when evidence was not available for specific patient groups. Conclusions In people at risk of SCD as a result of ventricular arrhythmias and in those with HF as a result of LVSD and cardiac dyssynchrony, the interventions modelled produced ICERs of < £30,000 per QALY gained. In people with both conditions, the ICER for CRT-D compared with ICD, but not CRT-D compared with OPT, was < £30,000 per QALY, and the costs and QALYs for CRT-D and CRT-P were similar. A RCT comparing CRT-D and CRT-P in people with HF as a result of LVSD and cardiac dyssynchrony is required, for both those with and those without an ICD indication. A RCT is also needed into the benefits of ICD in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy in the absence of dyssynchrony. Study registration This study is registered as PROSPERO number CRD42012002062. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme

Caractérisation lithologique par fusion évidentielle de résultats de démixage par ratio de bandes voisines et de données géochimiques

L’activité minière fait partie des principales sources de matières premières utilisées en industrie. Elle constitue un des piliers indispensables à l’activité économique au Canada et dans le monde. Cet apport de matière première est cependant dépendant de gisements qui doivent être découverts et caractérisés avant leur exploitation. Dans le secteur minier, la télédétection optique fait partie intégrante des données utilisées en exploration. Parmi les outils disponibles, les méthodes de démixage visent à fournir des informations quantitatives sur les matériaux présents dans la scène observée par le capteur. Les analyses s’appuient sur des modèles théoriques de mélange spectral pour démixer les spectres de réflectance de surfaces à plusieurs composants. Presque exclusivement utilisées en exploration, le démixage est généralement appliqué sur des images satellitaires et aéroportées. Dans cette thèse, il est envisagé comme source d’information complémentaire pour la caractérisation lithologique de mines à ciel ouvert en phase d’exploitation. Il est combiné par fusion évidentielle à l’information géochimique tirée d’analyses d’échantillons. Le site d’étude de cette thèse est la mine d’or à ciel ouvert Canadian Malartic, située dans la province canadienne du Québec, en Abitibi. La mine utilise des méthodes conventionnelles d’exploitation avec forage, dynamitage et transport par tombereau. Ce contexte particulier entraîne cependant d’importantes difficultés dans l’application du démixage. L’activité frénétique d’une mine en exploitation produit en effet une quantité considérable de poussière, masquant les roches en place. En outre, la compagnie arrose en permanence les chemins empruntés par les véhicules afin de réduire la poussière qu’ils génèrent. Or, les variations d’humidité qui en résultent peuvent impacter les résultats du démixage. Cette thèse aborde donc également ces difficultés. La première étape visait à évaluer les performances de cinq modèles de démixage existants ainsi que d’une nouvelle approche, appelée Neighbor-Band Ratio Unmixing (NBRU). La première expérience a consisté à démixer des spectres de 94 mélanges de minéraux afin d’évaluer leur aptitude à retrouver leurs abondances. Ce premier volet a ainsi mis en évidence l’avantage des modèles de transfert radiatif (MTR) de Hapke et de Shkuratov. Parmi les quatre modèles restants, NBRU s’est démarqué en fournissant les meilleures estimations pour 16 des 94 mélanges testés. Ses erreurs d’estimation moyenne et médiane, tout mélange confondu, étaient de 9,8 et 7,4 %, respectivement. Les modèles ont ensuite été testés sur une image hyperspectral AVIRIS de Cuprite, Nevada, États-Unis. Sans accès à des données additionnelles, les MTR n’ont cependant pu être appliqués. Dans cette seconde étape, NBRU s’est largement distingué en retrouvant le plus fidèlement les distributions spatiales de sept des neufs minéraux cartographiés. Face à l’impossibilité d’application des MTR et aux bons résultats de NBRU, c’est donc ce dernier qui a été retenu dans la suite de la thèse. Pour composer avec le problème d’humidité de la mine, l’approche NBRU a ensuite été modifiée en y intégrant une équation linéaire. Cette fonction exprime l’impact spectral de l’humidité d’après un facteur d’influence prédéfini par calibration, d’un indice d’humidité, et de la longueur d’onde considérée. Elle a été calibrée à partir de deux échantillons collectés dans la mine dont les spectres ont été mesurés à différents niveaux d’humidité. Le démixage des spectres de ces mêmes échantillons a ainsi montré un gain considérable de robustesse face aux variations d’humidité. Les différences d’abondances estimées entre les états saturés et secs restent ainsi en deçà de 4 % tout minéral confondu, contre 10 à plus de 90 % sans l’ajout de la fonction. L’application de l’approche modifiée sur une image Worldview-3 de la mine a cependant abouti à des résultats mitigés. Alors que les abondances de certains minéraux ont paru s’affranchir des variations d’humidité, d’autres, au contraire, ont vu leur sensibilité s’accroître. Ces cartes d’abondance minéralogique ont ensuite été utilisées dans le reste du processus de recherche. Les données géochimiques utilisées dans cette thèse sont des analyses simulées à partir des analyses d’échantillons réels. Ces simulations ont ensuite été interpolées par krigeage universel dans tout l’espace du gisement. Les prédictions ainsi produites ont constitué la deuxième source d’information pour la caractérisation lithologique. Les résultats de démixage et d’interpolation ont dans un premier temps été classifiés par arbre de décision avec ensachement. Plusieurs jeux d’entraînement ont été testés pour les deux sources. Ces classifications ont produit des probabilités d’appartenance pour chaque pixel et pour chacune des quatre classes lithologiques considérées. Ces probabilités ont ensuite été fusionnées d’après la théorie de Dezert-Smarandache (DSmT). Le résultat final est une carte lithologique combinant les informations géochimiques et de démixage. L’amélioration obtenue par addition du démixage s’est cependant avéré limitée, atteignant 6,4 % dans le meilleur des cas.Abstract: Mining activity is one of the main sources of raw material used in the industry and is therefore essential for the economic activity of Canada and around the world. This source of raw materials relies, however, on deposits which must be discovered, explored and exploited. In the mining sector, optical remote sensing takes a key role in the exploration process. Among the methods available, spectral unmixing aims at providing quantitative information on the materials covered by the field of view of the sensor. The analyses are based on spectral mixture models to unmix multi-component reflectance spectra. Almost exclusively used for exploration purposes, spectral unmixing is classically performed on airborne and satellite images. In this thesis, spectral unmixing is used as a complementary source of information to better retrieve the lithological information in an active open pit mine. This source is combined to geochemical analysis using evidential fusion. The study site is the Canadian Malartic Mine. This open pit gold mine is located in Abitibi, in the Canadian province of Québec, between Val-d’Or and Rouyn-Noranda. The mine uses common exploitation methods with drills, blasts and transport by trucks. The site is particularly challenging for unmixing methods. Indeed, mining activities generate a huge amount of dust, which potentially hides in situ rocks and considerably affects the textures of the surfaces. Additionally, the company permanently waters the tracks of the vehicles to reduce the amount of dust produced, which causes important variation of moisture across the mine, with all its spectral consequences. This thesis considers these problems as well. The first experiment compared the results of five existing models as well as those of a new proposed approach called Neighbor-Band Ratio Unmixing (NBRU). Models ability at retrieving mineral abundances was first assessed on 94 spectra of crafted mineral mixtures. This first experiment highlights how radiative transfer models – Hapke’s and Shkuratov’s models – outperform the four remaining one. Among the latter, NBRU obtained the best results with 16 best abundance estimations and mean and median errors of 9.8 et 7.4%, respectively. Models’ robustness was then tested on an AVIRIS hyperspectral image of Cuprite, Nevada, US. However, since insufficient information on the samples of the spectral references were available, transfer radiative models were unworkable. NBRU obtained significantly better results than the three other models tested, retrieving most accurate spatial distributions for seven of the nine minerals mapped. Based on these results, the proposed NBRU approach was selected and applied in the rest of the research. To handle the moisture problem encountered in Canadian Malartic Mine, the NBRU approach was modified by integrating a linear equation. The latter expresses the spectral influence of moisture as a function of a moisture index, an influence factor, and the wavelength considered. The function was calibrated based on spectra of two grinded rock samples with various moisture levels. The unmixing of these spectra showed that the modification of the approach led to a significant improvement of robustness when facing moisture variations. However, its application on a 16-spectral-bands Worldview-3 image of the mine led to arguable results. While the abundance of some minerals appeared to overcome the influence of moisture, other minerals displayed an opposite behavior, showing higher contrasts in its presence. These abundance maps were used as the first source of lithological information in the fusion process. The geochemical data used in this thesis were simulated analysis based on real samples. These virtual samples were interpolated by universal 3D kriging. The predictions were then used as the second source of information in the evidential fusion. The results of the unmixing and of the interpolation steps were then classified using bagged decision trees with various training sets. These classifications led to probabilities for each pixel to belong to the four considered lithological classes. These probabilities were then combined following the Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT). The final result of this research is a lithological map that combines both geochemical and remote sensed information. The fusion of the unmixing results led however to limited gains, improving the precisions of the lithological classifications of 6,4 %, at its best

Untersuchung von Transport-, Umschlag- und Lagerprozessen bezüglich ihres Potenzials zur autarken Energieversorgung semi-aktiver multisensorischer RFID-Transponder

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to create a self-sufficient energy supply for a semi-active and multi-sensory RFID transponder. In this context the main focus lies on new scientific findings with regard to the ambient energy that is available on a single loading unit during the processes of transport, handling and storage. By using appropriate energy har-vesting technologies such as photovoltaic cells, thermoelectric generators or vibration-powered generators, it is possible to convert the ambient energy into electrical energy, which can therefore be used for sensor transponders. To define the potential amount of energy that can be harvested from light radiation, tempera-ture differences and vibrations in connection with the processes of transport, handling and storage on the level of a single loading unit, practical measurements are executed in the first instance. Moreover, the acceleration values recorded during the practical tests are evaluated in order to identify the frequency range within which the highest amplitudes of acceleration can be expected, because this information is essential for optimizing vibration generators. This is done by using a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). Furthermore, a functional model of the self-sustaining and multi-sensory RFID transponder will be developed on the basis of the new scientific findings deduced from the practical research. It essentially consists of the energy harvesting modules which were con-sidered as the most appropriate for logistic processes, an energy management module as well as a sensor transponder for exemplary monitoring the surrounding humidity and temper-ature. The general functionality of the evaluation model is proven by extensive laboratory tests. Additionally, a comprehensive profitability analysis is elaborated. It contains concise statements about the economic efficiency of using self-sustaining and multi-sensory RFID transponders for monitoring the quality of individual loading units in distribution logistics