Early Galactic Evolution of Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen

We present results on carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen abundances for a sample of unevolved metal-poor stars with metallicities in the range -0.3< [Fe/H]< -3. Oxygen abundances derived from different indicators are compared showing consistently that in the range 0.3 >[Fe/H]>-3.0, the [O/Fe] ratio increases from approximately 0 to 1. We find a good agreement between abundances based on the forbidden line, the OH and IR triplet lines when gravities based on Hipparcos} parallaxes are considered for the sample stars. Gravities derived from LTE ionization balance in metal-poor stars with [Fe/H]< -1 are likely too low, and could be responsible for an underestimation of the oxygen abundances derived using the [OI] line. [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] ratios appear to be constant, independently of metallicity, in the same range. However, they show larger scatter than oxygen at a given metallicity, which could reflect the larger variety of stellar production sites for these other elements.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the conference "The Chemical Evolution of The Milky Way: Stars versus Clusters", eds. F. Matteucci and F. Giovannelli, Vulcano, Italy, September 20-24 199

Brillouin Scattering Self-cancellation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The interaction between light and acoustic phonons is strongly modified in sub-wavelength confinement, and has led to the demonstration and control of Brillouin scattering in photonic structures such as nano-scale optical waveguides and cavities. Besides the small optical mode volume, two physical mechanisms come into play simultaneously: a volume effect caused by the strain-induced refractive index perturbation (known as photo-elasticity), and a surface effect caused by the shift of the optical boundaries due to mechanical vibrations. As a result, proper material and structure engineering allows one to control each contribution individually. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the perfect cancellation of Brillouin scattering arising from Rayleigh acoustic waves by engineering a silica nanowire with exactly opposing photo-elastic and moving-boundary effects. This demonstration provides clear experimental evidence that the interplay between the two mechanisms is a promising tool to precisely control the photon-phonon interaction, enhancing or suppressing it.7Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2013/20180-3, 2012/17765-7, 2012/17610-3, 08/57857-2]National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [574017/2008-9]Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

The assessment of job satisfaction for the healthcare providers in university clinics of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction:&nbsp;In the world, the health policies are necessary to satisfy with efficiency the requirements of the quality management in the health sector. The laboratory of the academic clinics of Lubumbashi in Africa was inspired by the EFQM model to improve its performance and the quality of its services offered to the community. The aim of this survey is to evaluate the level of job satisfaction of the healthcare providers after implementation of the model. Methods:&nbsp;Qualitative study used an anonymous questionnaire consisted of 16 semi directional dichotomous and 12 according to four modality of the Likert's scale; to evaluate the job satisfaction of the healthcare providers. 40 workers are concerned and their informed consent is obtained. Epi Info 3.5.3 and SPSS 19.0 software, the Student t test and Chi-square test and the threshold set at p ≤ 0.05 were used. The mean score was calculated. Cronbach's ' coefficient and principal component analysis allowed the validity measurement of the questionnaire, and the correlations has been calculated. Results:&nbsp;This survey had a rate of answer of 80% on a set of all questionnaires. The Cronbach's coefficient of reliability is 0.72 on 40 complete observations with 12 questions. The Kaiser Meyer Olkin (0.564) and the Bartlett test is significant (χ²= 57, 30, p=0.001). The Physicians are very dissatisfied (2.363) against the nurses, and the biologists who are moderately dissatisfied (3 and 3.312). The relative results to the global satisfaction of the workers show a meaningful difference between the workers satisfied versus those non satisfied (p = 0.003). More of the half of the workers is satisfied after the setting up of the EFQM model. Conclusion:&nbsp;A certain number of the factors act together and simultaneously on the satisfaction of the workers particular in the health sector. The EFQM model permits the job satisfaction in the hospital because it combines several factors acting on the individuals

Vers le « législateur évaluateur » ? : nécessité de surveiller l’exécution et les effets des lois en République démocratique du Congo

Fondé essentiellement sur l’approche légisprudentielle, autrement dit la légistique, cet ouvrage postule que l’évaluation législative est hautement nécessaire et doit être intégrée, au travers notamment d’un dispositif institutionnel, dans la culture politico-administrative de la République démocratique du Congo. Il fustige la quasi-inexistence des clauses de l’évaluation législative, le caractère confus, spontané de la démarche dans les assemblées délibérantes, ainsi que la hantise d’une vision dogmatique de la législation largement révolue, «l’idéalisme normatif», vision dans laquelle le législateur pense qu’il suffit d’adopter des lois pour que la réalité soit conforme à ce qu’il veut. Il souligne, à cet effet, que ces éléments suscitent notamment l’épineuse et sempiternelle problématique de la non-application des lois et de leurs effets pervers sur la société. Il invite ainsi le législateur congolais à prendre conscience de la place prépondérante de la démarche évaluative pendant et après l’élaboration des lois et recommande que cette démarche devienne une pratique habituelle au sein des assemblées et prolonge les missions parlementaires en vue de résoudre la problématique posée. Based mainly on the legistic, this book postulates that the legisla-tive evaluation is highly necessary and must be integrated, in par-ticular through an institutional mechanism, into the politico-ad-ministrative culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It denounces the almost nonexistence of the clauses on the legislative evaluation, the confused and spontaneous character of the approach during the deliberative assemblies as well as the obsession with the dogmatic vision of the largely outdated legislation or « the norma-tive idealism », vision in which the legislator thinks that it is enough to adopt laws so that the reality is in conformity with what he wants. It emphasizes to this effect that these elements raise especially the eternal or thorny problem of non-application of laws and their per-verse effects on society. Finally, the author invites the Congolese legislator to become aware of the preponderance of the evaluative process during and after the drafting of laws and recommends that this practice becomes a customary practice within these assemblies and prolongs parliamentary missions with a view to resolving the problem

Proposal of a Hybrid Structure Acoustic Wave Filter for Improving Quality of the Output Signal in the GSM 900 Band

This paper provides information on the study of acoustic bulk wave filter technologies, the Harmonic Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator (HBAR) and the Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonator (FBAR) and proposes a hybrid structure (HBAR-FBAR). ) that would be a solution to overcome the disadvantage of HBAR technology manifested by an exaggerated occupation of harmonic frequencies around the resonant frequency when it used in the oscillators of mobile phone systems. The results show that hybrid technology is the best solution

Cost of hospital care for HIV/AIDS infected patients in three general reference hospitals in Lubumbashi, DR Congo: prospective cohort study

Introduction: This article analyses the composition of healthcare costs for HIV/AIDS infected patients in a country with limited resources and attempts to identify the factors that influence these costs. The aims are to calculate medical care costs, analysing how they vary depending on patients' income, and to evaluate the factors explaining healthcare consumption. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study focusing on patients who were admitted to hospital for a short stay between January 2010 and June 2011, before their integration into a specialised program. The patients were selected randomly. Free consent was obtained from all participants. Data were analysed using the SPSS 19.0 software. The significance threshold was set at 5% and the CI (Confidence Interval) at 95%. We used Kruskal-Wallis tests, Fisher's exact test and multiple linear regression. Results: We monitored 209 patients. Their average age was 36.37 years (SD: 8.72). The sex ratio was 0.58 and the women patients were generally younger than the male ones (p=0.011). The overall cost of healthcare amounted to $US 41,922. The cost of Antiretroviral Therapy represented 21.6$US 9,045). The price of para-clinical examinations represented 46% ($US 19,136) of the overall cost. The patient's average monthly income was$US 157.40 whereas the average direct cost per patient was$US 201.45. Both monthly income (t=4.385; p=0.0000) and education level (t=3.703 p=0.0003) were statistically significant predictive factors for healthcare consumption. The medical care costs for patients with opportunistic infections were nine times higher than those for patients who presented none. The presence of opportunistic infections increased healthcare consumption by approximately 31$ US (CI 95%: 15-46.9). Conclusion: The average direct cost for patients on each short-term stay was higher than the average monthly income. To be able to access the necessary services, the patients need additional resources, which are derived from various sources. Monthly income and the level of education were both statistically significant predictors for healthcare consumption. The analysis allows us to extend the study by using different analytical accounting approaches such as by case and by pathology.Key words: Healthcare costs, HIV AIDS, Predictive factors for healthcare consumption

Superconducting spintronics

The interaction between superconducting and spin-polarized orders has recently emerged as a major research field following a series of fundamental breakthroughs in charge transport in superconductor-ferromagnet heterodevices which promise new device functionality. Traditional studies which combine spintronics and superconductivity have mainly focused on the injection of spin-polarized quasiparticles into superconducting materials. However, a complete synergy between superconducting and magnetic orders turns out to be possible through the creation of spin-triplet Cooper pairs which are generated at carefully engineered superconductor interfaces with ferromagnetic materials. Currently, there is intense activity focused on identifying materials combinations which merge superconductivity and spintronics in order to enhance device functionality and performance. The results look promising: it has been shown, for example, that superconducting order can greatly enhance central effects in spintronics such as spin injection and magnetoresistance. Here, we review the experimental and theoretical advances in this field and provide an outlook for upcoming challenges related to the new concept of superconducting spintronics.J.L. was supported by the Research Council of Norway, Grants No. 205591 and 216700. J.W.A.R. was supported by the UK Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust through an International Network Grant (IN-2013-033).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v11/n4/full/nphys3242.html

Testing different forms of regulation of yolk thyroid hormone transfer in pied flycatchers

Hormones transferred from mothers to their offspring are considered a maternal tool to prepare progeny for expected environmental conditions, increasing maternal and offspring fitness. To flexibly influence offspring, mothers should be able to transmit the hormonal signals independent of their own hormonal status. However, the ability to regulate hormone transfer to the next generation is under debate. We studied the transfer of thyroid hormones (THs) to eggs in a bird model. We elevated thyroxine (T-4, the prohormone for the biologically active triiodothyronine, T-3) during egg laying using T-4 implants in females of a wild population of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), and measured the resulting plasma and yolk T-4 and T-3 levels. We found an increase in plasma and yolk T-4 and no change in plasma or yolk T-3 concentration, leading to a decrease in yolk T-3/T-4 ratio in response to the T-4 treatment. The yolk T-3/T-4 ratio was similar to the plasma ratio in females during the yolking phase. This suggests that mothers are not able to regulate TH transfer to yolk but may regulate the T-4 to T-3 conversion to avoid potential costs of elevated exposure to the active hormone to herself and to her progeny. The absence of regulation in hormone transfer to eggs is in contrast to our predictions. Future studies on deiodinase activity that converts T-4 to T-3 in maternal and embryonic tissues may help our understanding of how mothers regulate circulating THs during breeding, as well as the embryos' role in converting maternal T-4 to its biologically active T-3 form during development

Risk of death and the economic accessibility at the dialysis therapy for the renal insufficient patients in Lubumbashi city, Democratic Republic of Congo

The last five years, Lubumbashi records the emergence centers of dialysis. We achieved this study to evaluate the risk factors of death for the renal insufficient patients and the economic accessibility to this peak therapy. A cross sectional study based on a random sample of 53 patients has been completed in 2012. The data is analyzed using the SPSS 19.0 software. A significance level of p &lt; 0.05 and Confidence interval fixed to 95%. The Fischer exact test and the odds ratio have been used. The participation rate was 65.4%. The mean age was 49.49 ± 13.30 years old and 60.4 % were aged &gt; 50 years old. The sex ratio 0.3 women by men was noted. 83% of patients was private versus other category (p&lt;0.05). 66 % are renal insufficient chronic patients versus 34 % of recent renal insufficient patients. 90% of patients were diabetic hypertensive. The patients' monthly income declared was US$205 for 52.8$ 525 for 34% patients and US $750 for 13.2$ 1, 270 monthly mean care cost. The deaths are associated statistically with an interruption of the treatment (χ²=9.30, p=0.0022, OR= 8.5) and with the irregularity of treatment (χ²=8.65, p=0.0032, OR=6). Africa in comparison with countries of other continents, to invest in advanced medical equipment is a salutary measure, but the majority of patients are not able to pay the costs of health care. Our results shown that, the dialysis became an ultimate recourse for the renal insufficient patients at Lubumbashi city but the economic  accessibility remains a major obstacle. Consequently, it's important to subsidize the health care of these patients.Key words: Dialysis, risk of death, economic accessibility, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Cong