Primordial Perturbations from Multifield Inflation with Nonminimal Couplings

Realistic models of particle physics include many scalar fields. These fields generically have nonminimal couplings to the Ricci curvature scalar, either as part of a generalized Einstein theory or as necessary counterterms for renormalization in curved background spacetimes. We develop a gauge-invariant formalism for calculating primordial perturbations in models with multiple nonminimally coupled fields. We work in the Jordan frame (in which the nonminimal couplings remain explicit) and identify two distinct sources of entropy perturbations for such models. One set of entropy perturbations arises from interactions among the multiple fields. The second set arises from the presence of nonminimal couplings. Neither of these varieties of entropy perturbations will necessarily be suppressed in the long-wavelength limit, and hence they can amplify the curvature perturbation, $\zeta$, even for modes that have crossed outside the Hubble radius. Models that overproduce long-wavelength entropy perturbations endanger the close fit between predicted inflationary spectra and empirical observations.Comment: 16 pages, no figures. References added to match published versio

The relationship between and the characteristics of computing competence and confidence in undergraduate students of nursing

The aim of this research was to understand the relationship between and the characteristics of computing competence and confidence in student nurses. The absence of a dominant paradigm for ICT, computers and computing influenced the choice of two sequential exploratory quantitative and explanatory qualitative studies. Data for the first study were collected through survey using a postal questionnaire, from a volunteer sample of student nurses. The results from a Principal Components Analysis influenced the second study. This was a recording of simultaneous concurrent think-aloud commentary and the behaviours of volunteer student nurses working in small groups on a computing activity. Protocol Analysis was used to examine a computing task outcomes and concurrent think-aloud comments. The results and findings showed a complex relationship between competence and confidence in this context. Students wanted a combination of teaching and social learning approaches. In both studies confidence had a high representation. This was evident where collaboration and social learning in small groups influenced confidence and competence. Research originality and its contribution to nursing lie first in the use of an innovative combination of methods. Secondly, the grouping and exploration of a range of subtle and seemingly unremarkable phenomena gave unique insight into how student nurses develop computing competence and confidence, not examined elsewhere. Both studies revealed differing levels of ability within and across the academic year groups. The findings show that attention to the social and psychological aspects of learning is crucial for skill and confidence development. Students would benefit from a bespoke range of approaches to suit their individual needs. This requires a balanced response between ongoing assessment of individual needs and proactive teaching and learning provision. Transferable to a wider setting, this research adds to the current understanding of ICT and computer related teaching and learning in nurse education

Grover's search with faults on some marked elements

Grover's algorithm is a quantum query algorithm solving the unstructured search problem of size $N$ using $O(\sqrt{N})$ queries. It provides a significant speed-up over any classical algorithm \cite{Gro96}. The running time of the algorithm, however, is very sensitive to errors in queries. It is known that if query may fail (report all marked elements as unmarked) the algorithm needs $\Omega(N)$ queries to find a marked element \cite{RS08}. \cite{AB+13} have proved the same result for the model where each marked element has its own probability to be reported as unmarked. We study the behavior of Grover's algorithm in the model where the search space contains both faulty and non-faulty marked elements. We show that in this setting it is indeed possible to find one of non-faulty marked items in $O(\sqrt{N})$ queries. We also analyze the limiting behavior of the algorithm for a large number of steps and show the existence and the structure of limiting state $\rho_{lim}$.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

The relationship between and the characteristics of computing competence and confidence in undergraduate students of nursing

The aim of this research was to understand the relationship between and the characteristics of computing competence and confidence in student nurses. The absence of a dominant paradigm for ICT, computers and computing influenced the choice of two sequential exploratory quantitative and explanatory qualitative studies. Data for the first study were collected through survey using a postal questionnaire, from a volunteer sample of student nurses. The results from a Principal Components Analysis influenced the second study. This was a recording of simultaneous concurrent think-aloud commentary and the behaviours of volunteer student nurses working in small groups on a computing activity. Protocol Analysis was used to examine a computing task outcomes and concurrent think-aloud comments. The results and findings showed a complex relationship between competence and confidence in this context. Students wanted a combination of teaching and social learning approaches. In both studies confidence had a high representation. This was evident where collaboration and social learning in small groups influenced confidence and competence. Research originality and its contribution to nursing lie first in the use of an innovative combination of methods. Secondly, the grouping and exploration of a range of subtle and seemingly unremarkable phenomena gave unique insight into how student nurses develop computing competence and confidence, not examined elsewhere. Both studies revealed differing levels of ability within and across the academic year groups. The findings show that attention to the social and psychological aspects of learning is crucial for skill and confidence development. Students would benefit from a bespoke range of approaches to suit their individual needs. This requires a balanced response between ongoing assessment of individual needs and proactive teaching and learning provision. Transferable to a wider setting, this research adds to the current understanding of ICT and computer related teaching and learning in nurse education

Development and validation of a chemostat gut model to study both planktonic and biofilm modes of growth of Clostridium difficile and human microbiota

Copyright: 2014 Crowther et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The human gastrointestinal tract harbours a complex microbial community which exist in planktonic and sessile form. The degree to which composition and function of faecal and mucosal microbiota differ remains unclear. We describe the development and characterisation of an in vitro human gut model, which can be used to facilitate the formation and longitudinal analysis of mature mixed species biofilms. This enables the investigation of the role of biofilms in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). A well established and validated human gut model of simulated CDI was adapted to incorporate glass rods that create a solid-gaseous-liquid interface for biofilm formation. The continuous chemostat model was inoculated with a pooled human faecal emulsion and controlled to mimic colonic conditions in vivo. Planktonic and sessile bacterial populations were enumerated for up to 46 days. Biofilm consistently formed macroscopic structures on all glass rods over extended periods of time, providing a framework to sample and analyse biofilm structures independently. Whilst variation in biofilm biomass is evident between rods, populations of sessile bacterial groups (log10 cfu/g of biofilm) remain relatively consistent between rods at each sampling point. All bacterial groups enumerated within the planktonic communities were also present within biofilm structures. The planktonic mode of growth of C. difficile and gut microbiota closely reflected observations within the original gut model. However, distinct differences were observed in the behaviour of sessile and planktonic C. difficile populations, with C. difficile spores preferentially persisting within biofilm structures. The redesigned biofilm chemostat model has been validated for reproducible and consistent formation of mixed species intestinal biofilms. This model can be utilised for the analysis of sessile mixed species communities longitudinally, potentially providing information of the role of biofilms in CDI.Peer reviewe

An industrial survey on the use of surface texture parameters

In 1999, CIRP conducted an industrial survey of the use of surface texture parameters [1]. In the seventeen years since, much has changed, with the most important advancement being the introduction of areal surface texture parameters as described in ISO 25178-2 [2]. There has also been the release of commercial software packages for the calculation of surface texture parameters and, therefore, it is expected that industry is starting to embrace areal surface texture characterisation. Industry is also increasingly using more optical instruments, which are often inherently areal in nature. These factors bring to light the need for a new parameter survey, to investigate whether industry really has been adopting areal surface texture parameters. This study used an online survey to obtain information about the current use of surface texture parameters in industry. The survey features both profile and areal surface texture parameters defined in specification standards ISO 4287 [3], ISO 25178-2 [2], ISO 12085 [4] and ISO 16565-2/3 [5, 6]. The survey was open to responses for eight months and obtained a total of 179 responses from a variety of industrial users of surface texture parameters spread across thirty-two countries. Responses from the survey offer information about the usage of individual surface texture parameters, highlighting any parameters that are unpopular and may require attention. The survey also enables participants to share their opinion on the current range of parameters in use, giving an insight into the perception of surface texture parameters in industry. The results from the survey highlight a strong adoption by industry of the areal surface texture parameters defined in ISO 25178-2. In comparison to the 1999 survey, there has also been an overall increase in the use of profile surface texture parameters, and an increase in the variety of parameters used, particularly for the ISO 4287 roughness parameters, suggesting a better understanding of the range of parameters available and their uses. Conversely, this increase in parameter variety could be due to the greater computational power available to users of surface texture parameters, allowing them to use more parameters with little cost. The results of the surface texture parameter survey will serve as an indication of the current state of the industry to those interested in the widespread acceptance and evolution of surface texture parameters. The analysis of the survey will identify common potential improvement areas in surface texture parameter selection and provide a starting point from which to better promote the current selection and better educate the users

Social media and population health virtual exchange for senior nursing students: an international collaboration

The authors have all engaged in using social media with students as a means for collaboration across national and international boundaries for various educational purposes. Following the explosion of big data in health the authors are now moving this concept forward within undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula for the development of population health virtual exchanges. Nursing has a global presence and yet it appears as though students have little knowledge of the health and social care needs and provision outside their local environment. This development will allow for explorative exchange amongst students in three countries, enhancing their understanding of their own and the selected international population health needs and solutions through asking and responding to questions amongst the learning community involved. The connection of the students will be recorded for their use in reflection; of particular interest will be the use of information included by the students to answer questions about their locality

Probing the luminal microenvironment of reconstituted epithelial microtissues.

Polymeric microparticles can serve as carriers or sensors to instruct or characterize tissue biology. However, incorporating microparticles into tissues for in vitro assays remains a challenge. We exploit three-dimensional cell-patterning technologies and directed epithelial self-organization to deliver microparticles to the lumen of reconstituted human intestinal microtissues. We also develop a novel pH-sensitive microsensor that can measure the luminal pH of reconstituted epithelial microtissues. These studies offer a novel approach for investigating luminal microenvironments and drug-delivery across epithelial barriers

Results of an industrial survey on the use of surface texture parameters

In 1999, CIRP conducted an industrial survey of the use of surface texture parameters [1]. In the seventeen years since, much has changed, with the most important advancement being the introduction of areal surface texture parameters as described in ISO 25178-2 [2]. There has also been the release of commercial software packages for the calculation of surface texture parameters and, therefore, it is expected that industry is starting to embrace areal surface texture characterisation. Industry is also increasingly using more optical instruments, which are often inherently areal in nature. These factors bring to light the need for a new parameter survey, to investigate whether industry really has been adopting areal surface texture parameters. This study used an online survey to obtain information about the current use of surface texture parameters in industry. The survey features both profile and areal surface texture parameters defined in specification standards ISO 4287 [3], ISO 25178-2 [2], ISO 12085 [4] and ISO 13565-2/3 [5, 6]. The survey was open to responses for eight months and obtained a total of 179 responses from a variety of industrial users of surface texture parameters spread across thirty-two countries. Responses from the survey offer information about the usage of individual surface texture parameters, highlighting any parameters that are unpopular and may require attention. The survey also enables participants to share their opinion on the current range of parameters in use, giving an insight into the perception of surface texture parameters in industry. The results from the survey highlight a strong adoption by industry of the areal surface texture parameters defined in ISO 25178-2. In comparison to the 1999 survey, there has also been an overall increase in the use of profile surface texture parameters, and an increase in the variety of parameters used, particularly for the ISO 4287 roughness parameters, suggesting a better understanding of the range of parameters available and their uses. Conversely, this increase in parameter variety could be due to the greater computational power available to users of surface texture parameters, allowing them to use more parameters with little cost. The results of the surface texture parameter survey will serve as an indication of the current state of the industry to those interested in the widespread acceptance and evolution of surface texture parameters. The analysis of the survey will identify common potential improvement areas in surface texture parameter selection and provide a starting point from which to better promote the current selection and better educate the users