Electrically conducting polyimide film containing tin complexes

Disclosed is a thermally-stable SnO.sub.2 -surfaced polyimide film wherein the electrical conductivity of the SnO.sub.2 surface is within the range of about 3.0.times.10.sup.-3 to about 1.times.10.sup.-2 ohms.sup.-1,. Also disclosed is a method of preparing this film from a solution containing a polyamic acid and SnCl.sub.4 (DMSO).sub.2

A new technique for elucidating β\beta-decay schemes which involve daughter nuclei with very low energy excited states

A new technique of elucidating $\beta$-decay schemes of isotopes with large density of states at low excitation energies has been developed, in which a Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector is used in conjunction with coaxial hyper-pure germanium detectors. The power of this technique has been demonstrated on the example of 183Hg decay. Mass-separated samples of 183Hg were produced by a deposition of the low-energy radioactive-ion beam delivered by the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The excellent energy resolution of the BEGe detector allowed $\gamma$ rays energies to be determined with a precision of a few tens of electronvolts, which was sufficient for the analysis of the Rydberg-Ritz combinations in the level scheme. The timestamped structure of the data was used for unambiguous separation of $\gamma$ rays arising from the decay of 183Hg from those due to the daughter decays

Formation of superconducting yttrium barium copper oxide using sulphur-containing templates

The formation of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) via biotemplated routes is often plagued by unwanted stable intermediates, some of which arise from the template itself. Here we describe a method which allows sulphur-containing templates, such as proteins, to form superconducting YBCO which would have hitherto resulted in non-superconducting sulphated phases

Chisel: Reliability- and Accuracy-Aware Optimization of Approximate Computational Kernels

The accuracy of an approximate computation is the distance between the result that the computation produces and the corresponding fully accurate result. The reliability of the computation is the probability that it will produce an acceptably accurate result. Emerging approximate hardware platforms provide approximate operations that, in return for reduced energy consumption and/or increased performance, exhibit reduced reliability and/or accuracy. We present Chisel, a system for reliability- and accuracy-aware optimization of approximate computational kernels that run on approximate hardware platforms. Given a combined reliability and/or accuracy specification, Chisel automatically selects approximate kernel operations to synthesize an approximate computation that minimizes energy consumption while satisfying its reliability and accuracy specification. We evaluate Chisel on five applications from the image processing, scientific computing, and financial analysis domains. The experimental results show that our implemented optimization algorithm enables Chisel to optimize our set of benchmark kernels to obtain energy savings from 8.7% to 19.8% compared to the fully reliable kernel implementations while preserving important reliability guarantees.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CCF-1036241)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CCF-1138967)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant IIS-0835652)United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant DE-SC0008923)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant FA8650-11-C-7192)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant FA8750-12-2-0110)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant FA-8750-14-2-0004

Constructing female entrepreneurship policy in the UK : is the US a relevant benchmark?

Successive UK governments have introduced a range of policy initiatives designed to encourage more women to start new firms. Underpinning these policies has been an explicit ambition for the UK to achieve similar participation rates as those in the US where it is widely reported that women own nearly half the stock of businesses. The data underlying these objectives are critically evaluated and it is argued that the definitions and measures of female enterprise used in the UK and the US restrict meaningful comparisons between the two. It is suggested that the expansion of female entrepreneurship in the US is historically and culturally specific to that country. UK policy goals should reflect the national socioeconomic context, while drawing upon good practice examples from a range of other countries. The paper concludes by discussing the economic and social viability of encouraging more women in the UK to enter self-employment without fully recognising the intensely competitive sectors in which they are often located

A Systematic Review of Mosquito Coils and Passive Emanators: Defining Recommendations for Spatial Repellency Testing Methodologies.

Mosquito coils, vaporizer mats and emanators confer protection against mosquito bites through the spatial action of emanated vapor or airborne pyrethroid particles. These products dominate the pest control market; therefore, it is vital to characterize mosquito responses elicited by the chemical actives and their potential for disease prevention. The aim of this review was to determine effects of mosquito coils and emanators on mosquito responses that reduce human-vector contact and to propose scientific consensus on terminologies and methodologies used for evaluation of product formats that could contain spatial chemical actives, including indoor residual spraying (IRS), long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) and insecticide treated materials (ITMs). PubMed, (National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH), MEDLINE, LILAC, Cochrane library, IBECS and Armed Forces Pest Management Board Literature Retrieval System search engines were used to identify studies of pyrethroid based coils and emanators with key-words "Mosquito coils" "Mosquito emanators" and "Spatial repellents". It was concluded that there is need to improve statistical reporting of studies, and reach consensus in the methodologies and terminologies used through standardized testing guidelines. Despite differing evaluation methodologies, data showed that coils and emanators induce mortality, deterrence, repellency as well as reduce the ability of mosquitoes to feed on humans. Available data on efficacy outdoors, dose-response relationships and effective distance of coils and emanators is inadequate for developing a target product profile (TPP), which will be required for such chemicals before optimized implementation can occur for maximum benefits in disease control

Unstructured NIL Settlements

On October 7, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval to the largest, most transformative antitrust settlement in intercollegiate athletics history. Popularly known as the House Settlement (the “Settlement”), its terms remove National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scholarship limits and provide $2.8 billion in retroactive name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation to both current and former NCAA athletes. But more importantly, the Settlement allows schools to disburse up to$20 million annually to athletes as part of a historic, new revenue-sharing model—effectively abolishing NCAA amateurism. Analysts estimate that intercollegiate men’s basketball and football athletes will receive roughly 90 percent of the Settlement funds, which raises far-reaching Title IX concerns. This Essay asks whether the court properly excluded Title IX concerns when preliminarily approving the multi-billion-dollar Settlement. In response, this Essay references Judge Guido Calabresi and Professor Sir Philip C. Bobbitt’s framework from their seminal book Tragic Choices to explore the egalitarian conflict within the Settlement classes, whose legal interests initially converged for antitrust purposes but later diverged as Title IX issues arose. This Essay concludes that although the Settlement properly excluded Title IX concerns, it is imperative that more appropriate legal authorities expeditiously address these concerns

Is NIL Woke?

NCAA football and men’s basketball cumulatively receive almost one hundred percent of intercollegiate name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation. NIL exceptionalism, however, is not the only distinguishing factor for these two sports. They are also distinctively racially and economically diverse in comparison to the dozens of other NCAA sports. Thus, demographically, NIL produces outcomes that align with so-called ‘woke’ policies. Although almost all states support NIL, an increasing number actively oppose woke policies. In fact, anti-woke backlash served as the impetus for recent anti-woke legislation (AWL) that, for example, bars funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education. Various scholars have addressed the effects of AWL on academia. Yet this Article is the first to address AWL’s effects on intercollegiate athletics. This Article uses the law of unintended consequences to explore the connection between AWL and NIL. In so doing, it advances two main arguments. First, it argues that AWL will produce unintended consequences for intercollegiate athletics. Given these consequences, this Article’s second argument foreshadows how states enacting AWL will be impeded by it, as they simultaneously attempt to achieve a competitive advantage in athletics through NIL. This Article concludes with recommendations for preventing AWL from frustrating the purpose of NIL legislation