Dielectric travelling wave antennas for directional light emission.

We present a combined experimental and numerical study of the far-field emission properties of optical travelling wave antennas made from low-loss dielectric materials. The antennas considered here are composed of two simple building blocks, a director and a reflector, deposited on a glass substrate. Colloidal quantum dots placed in the feed gap between the two elements serve as internal light source. The emission profile of the antenna is mainly formed by the director while the reflector suppresses backward emission. Systematic studies of the director dimensions as well as variation of antenna material show that the effective refractive index of the director primarily governs the far-field emission pattern. Below cut off, i.e., if the director's effective refractive index is smaller than the refractive index of the substrate, the main lobe results from leaky wave emission along the director. In contrast, if the director supports a guided mode, the emission predominately originates from the end facet of the director.

Interferometric near-field characterization of plasmonic slot waveguides in single- and poly-crystalline gold films.

Single-crystalline gold films show superior plasmonic properties compared to their poly-crystalline counterparts. However, this advantage comes at the cost of a more complex preparation process. It is thus crucial to validate whether the impact of the material quality on the performance of the respective plasmonic device justifies this additional effort. In order to address this question for the case of plasmonic slot waveguides, we present interferometric near-field measurements at telecommunication wavelengths on slot waveguides in single- and poly-crystalline gold films. We observe significantly larger propagation lengths in the case of single-crystalline gold films for slot widths below 100 nm. In contrast for larger widths, both gold films give rise to comparable propagation lengths.

Freestanding metasurfaces for optical frequencies.

We present freestanding metasurfaces operating at optical frequencies with a total thickness of only 40 nm. The metasurfaces are fabricated by focused ion beam milling of nanovoids in a carbon film followed by thermal evaporation of gold and plasma ashing of the carbon film. As a first example, we demonstrate a metasurface lens based on resonant V-shaped nanovoids with a focal length of 1 mm. The second example is a metasurface phase plate consisting of appropriately oriented rectangular nanovoids that transform a Gaussian input beam into a Laguerre-Gaussian LG-1,0 mode.

Short communication: Recombinant bacteriophage endolysin PlyC is nontoxic and does not alter blood neutrophil oxidative response in lactating dairy cows.

Mastitis is the leading cause of antimicrobial use on dairy farms. The potential for antimicrobial resistance has led to the examination of alternative strategies for controlling mastitis. One such alternative is PlyC, a potent peptidoglycan hydrolase derived from the streptococcal C1 bacteriophage that causes targeted lysis of the cell wall of Streptococcus uberis. At a concentration of 1.0 µg/mL, recombinant PlyC can induce lytic activity, suggesting that a low dose may successfully eliminate infection. We evaluated the dose effect of PlyC (1-50 µg/mL) on cytotoxicity and oxidative response on bovine blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) obtained from 12 healthy, mid-lactation primiparous dairy cows. Following incubation at 0.5 and 2 h, cytotoxicity was characterized by measuring lactate dehydrogenase release from isolated cells. Oxidative burst response was characterized as the intensity of chemiluminescence produced in the interaction of reactive oxygen species generated in response to 0 or 1.6 µg/mL of phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) with a luminescent substrate with and without addition to PlyC to the incubation matrix. Data were analyzed as a complete randomized block design using mixed model procedures. Cytotoxicity of PlyC was not affected by concentrations up to 50 µg/mL. As expected, PlyC cytotoxicity on PMN varied across incubation time with greater cell toxicity measured at 2 h of incubation as compared with 0.5 h and is primarily attributed to the short life of PMN ex vivo. Concentrations of PlyC up to 50 µg/mL did not affect oxidative response; however, oxidative response was affected by incubation time and PMA concentration. In summary, varying doses of PlyC are nontoxic as estimated by lactate dehydrogenase release from cells and do not appear to alter PMA-stimulated reactive oxygen species production in bovine PMN. These early observations support continued work on the potential for application of this novel agent in combating mastitis.

Transverse Anderson localization of surface plasmon polaritons.

We investigate the effect of disorder on the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons in arrays of evanescently coupled dielectric loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides. Diagonal disorder is implemented by randomly varying the heights of the waveguides. Real-space as well as momentum-space images of the surface plasmon polariton intensity distribution in the waveguide arrays are recorded by leakage radiation microscopy. In real space, increasing disorder results in a transverse localization of surface plasmon polaritons. In the momentum distribution, we observe for the first time a disorder-induced transition from a continuous band to a set of discrete modes.

An Evaluation of Preparedness, Delivery and Impact of Surgical and Anesthesia Care in Madagascar: A Framework for a National Surgical Plan.

BACKGROUND: The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) described the lack of access to safe, affordable, timely surgical, and anesthesia care. It proposed a series of 6 indicators to measure surgery, accompanied by time-bound targets and a template for national surgical planning. To date, no sub-Saharan African country has completed and published a nationwide evaluation of its surgical system within this framework. METHOD: Mercy Ships, in partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Madagascar Ministry of Health, collected data on the 6 indicators from 22 referral hospitals in 16 out of 22 regions of Madagascar. Data collection was by semi-structured interviews with ministerial, medical, laboratory, pharmacy, and administrative representatives in each region. Microsimulation modeling was used to calculate values for financial indicators. RESULTS: In Madagascar, 29% of the population can access a surgical facility within 2 h. Surgical workforce density is 0.78 providers per 100,000 and annual surgical volume is 135-191 procedures per 100,000 with a perioperative mortality rate of 2.5-3.3%. Patients requiring surgery have a 77.4-86.3 and 78.8-95.1% risk of incurring impoverishing and catastrophic expenditure, respectively. Of the six LCoGS indicator targets, Madagascar meets one, the reporting of perioperative mortality rate. CONCLUSION: Compared to the LCoGS targets, Madagascar has deficits in surgical access, workforce, volume, and the ability to offer financial risk protection to surgical patients. Its perioperative mortality rate, however, appears better than in comparable countries. The government is committed to improvement, and key stakeholder meetings to create a national surgical plan have begun.

An Observational Assessment of Anesthesia Capacity in Madagascar as a Prerequisite to the Development of a National Surgical Plan.

BACKGROUND: The global lack of anesthesia capacity is well described, but country-specific data are needed to provide country-specific solutions. We aimed to assess anesthesia capacity in Madagascar as part of the development of a Ministry of Health national surgical plan. METHODS: As part of a nationwide surgical safety quality improvement project, we surveyed 19 of 22 regional hospitals, representing surgical facilities caring for 75% of the total population. The assessment was divided into 3 areas: anesthesia workforce density, infrastructure and equipment, and medications. Data were obtained by semistructured interviews with Ministry of Health officials, hospital directors, technical directors, statisticians, pharmacists, and anesthesia providers and through on-site observations. Interview questions were adapted from the World Health Organization Situational Analysis Tool and the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists International Standards for Safe Practice of Anaesthesia. Additional data on workforce density were collected from the 3 remaining regions so that workforce density data are representative of all 22 regions. RESULTS: Anesthesia physician workforce density is 0.26 per 100,000 population and 0.19 per 100,000 outside of the capital region. Less than 50% of hospitals surveyed reported having a reliable electricity and oxygen supply. The majority of anesthesia providers work without pulse oximetry (52%) or a functioning vaporizer (52%). All the hospitals surveyed had very basic pediatric supplies, and none had a pediatric pulse oximetry probe. Ketamine is universally available but more than 50% of hospitals lack access to opioids. None of the 19 regional hospitals surveyed was able to completely meet the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists' standards for monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Improving anesthesia care is complex. Capacity assessment is a first step that would enable progress to be tracked against specific targets. In Madagascar, scale-up of the anesthesia workforce, investment in infrastructure and equipment, and improvement in medication supply-chain management are needed to attain minimal international standards. Data from this study were presented to the Ministry of Health for inclusion in the development of a national surgical plan, together with recommendations for the needed improvements in the delivery of anesthesia.

Associations between disability-management self-efficacy, participation and life satisfaction in people with long-standing spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVES: To study disability-management self-efficacy (DMSE) and its correlates in a large sample of Dutch people with long-standing spinal cord injury (SCI). DMSE is the confidence that people with SCI may have in their ability to manage the consequences of their condition with respect to the various domains in their life. Research questions were: (1) What is the level of DMSE in Dutch people with long-standing SCI?; (2) Is DMSE associated with demographic and lesion characteristics?; and (3) Is DMSE associated with participation and life satisfaction if these associations are adjusted for demographic and lesion characteristics and mood? METHODS: Eligible people were identified from all eight rehabilitation centers with a specialty in SCI rehabilitation in the Netherlands (N=261). Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. DMSE was measured using the University of Washington Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (UW-SES-6). Correlation and linear regression analyses were used. RESULTS: Levels of UW-SES-6 scores were largely independent of demographic and lesion characteristics. UW-SES-6 scores were bivariately moderately to strongly associated with mood (0.47), participation (0.39-0.51) and life satisfaction (0.46). In the regression analyses, UW-SES-6 scores still explained a significant amount of variance of participation (standardized ß 0.31-0.33) and life satisfaction (standardized ß 0.21) when controlling for demographic and lesion characteristics and mood, and explained an additional 3.2-8.1% of the variance of participation and life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: DMSE is a psychological resource associated with higher levels of participation and life satisfaction after SCI. The UW-SES-6 is a brief and easy to use measure of this psychological resource.

[Strengthen the prevention and health promotion in a science-based way--Results and experience of the German National Prevention Research Initiative]. / Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung wissenschaftsbasiert stärken--Ergebnisse und Erfahrungen des BMBF-Förderschwerpunkts Präventionsforschung.

From 2004 to 2013, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) established its first funding programme for the promotion of prevention research. Objectives of this programme were the prevention of widespread health risks and diseases and to reinforce health promotion. Within this programme, 4 phases concentrated on socially disadvantaged target groups and on methodical and structural challenges relating to prevention/ health promotion. The projects covered evaluating the effectiveness of existing or newly-designed measures, developing and testing new concepts, programmes and access routes. Furthermore, the projects should contribute to the development of methods. The umbrella project "Kooperation für nachhaltige Präventionsforschung" (KNP-Cooperation for sustainable prevention research) was set up in 2009 to support the meaningful processing and application of key knowledge from this BMBF funding focus on prevention research and to promote networking between science, practice, and politics.

The importance of cultural tailoring of communicators and media outlets in an influenza vaccination awareness campaign: a digital randomized trial.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of ethnic minorities again. Health inequity within ethnic minorities has been explained by factors such as higher prevalence of underlying disease, restricted access to care, and lower vaccination rates. In this study, we investigated the effect of cultural tailoring of communicators and media outlets, respectively, on vaccine willingness in an influenza vaccination campaign in the Netherlands. A total of 1226 participants were recruited from two culturally non-tailored media outlets (Dutch newspaper and Facebook), and one media outlet tailored to a large community in the Netherlands with Indian ancestry. The participants from all three media outlets were randomly exposed to a vaccination awareness video delivered by a physician with an Indian or Dutch background, followed by an online survey. Cultural tailoring compared to cultural non-tailoring of communicators showed no difference in improvement of vaccine willingness (13.9% vs. 20.7% increment, respectively, p = 0.083). However, the media outlet tailored to the community with Indian ancestry, resulted in a higher improvement of vaccine willingness compared to non-tailored media outlets (46.7% vs. 14.7% increment, respectively, p < 0.001, unadjusted OR = 5.096). These results suggest that cultural tailoring of media outlets may be critical to effectively reach out to ethnic minorities to help optimize vaccination rates and improve general health.

Collective effects in second-harmonic generation from split-ring-resonator arrays.

Optical experiments on second-harmonic generation from split-ring-resonator square arrays show a nonmonotonic dependence of the conversion efficiency on the lattice constant. This finding is interpreted in terms of a competition between dilution effects and linewidth or near-field changes due to interactions among the individual elements in the array.

Electronic structure of spatially aligned graphene nanoribbons on Au(788).

We report on a bottom-up approach of the selective and precise growth of subnanometer wide straight and chevron-type armchair nanoribbons (GNRs) on a stepped Au(788) surface using different specific molecular precursors. This process creates spatially well-aligned GNRs, as characterized by STM. High-resolution direct and inverse photoemission spectroscopy of occupied and unoccupied states allows the determination of the energetic position and momentum dispersion of electronic states revealing the existence of band gaps of several electron volts for straight 7-armchair, 13-armchair, and chevron-type GNRs in the electronic structure.

First measurements of inclusive muon neutrino charged current differential cross sections on argon.

The ArgoNeuT Collaboration presents the first measurements of inclusive muon neutrino charged current differential cross sections on argon. Obtained in the NuMI neutrino beam line at Fermilab, the flux-integrated results are reported in terms of outgoing muon angle and momentum. The data are consistent with the Monte Carlo expectation across the full range of kinematics sampled, 0°<θ(µ)<36° and 0

[Memorandum prevention research - research areas and methods]. / Memorandum zur Präventionsforschung - Themenfelder und Methoden (Langfassung).

From 2004 to 2012, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) established its first funding programme for the promotion of prevention research. 60 projects on primary prevention and health promotion and the meta-project entitled "Cooperation for Sustainable Prevention Research" (KNP) received BMBF grants under this programme during this period. The experience and knowledge gained and recommendations arising from the research funded under this programme are compiled in memorandum format. The "Memorandum on Prevention Research - Research Areas and Methods" highlights 5 research areas that are considered to be especially relevant from the perspective of the involved scientists and practice partners.The promotion of structural development and sustainability enhancement in disease prevention and health promotion are central areas that should branch out from existing nuclei of crystallization. Improving the health competence of the population and of specific subpopulations is another major area. Research in these areas should contribute to the development of theoretical concepts and to the empirical testing of these concepts. The transfer of knowledge for effective use of developed disease prevention and health promotion programmes and measures is still a scarcely researched area. Among other things, studies of the transfer of programmes from one context to another, analyses of the coop-eration between politics and science, and the continued theoretical and conceptual development of transfer research are needed. Long-term data on the effects of intervention studies are also needed for proper evaluation of sustainability. The latter dem-onstrates the importance of method development in disease prevention and health promotion research as an area that should receive separate funding and support. This research should include, in particular, studies of the efficacy of complex interventions, health economic analyses, and participative health research.

Rewetting does not return drained fen peatlands to their old selves.

Peatlands have been drained for land use for a long time and on a large scale, turning them from carbon and nutrient sinks into respective sources, diminishing water regulation capacity, causing surface height loss and destroying biodiversity. Over the last decades, drained peatlands have been rewetted for biodiversity restoration and, as it strongly decreases greenhouse gas emissions, also for climate protection. We quantify restoration success by comparing 320 rewetted fen peatland sites to 243 near-natural peatland sites of similar origin across temperate Europe, all set into perspective by 10k additional European fen vegetation plots. Results imply that rewetting of drained fen peatlands induces the establishment of tall, graminoid wetland plants (helophytisation) and long-lasting differences to pre-drainage biodiversity (vegetation), ecosystem functioning (geochemistry, hydrology), and land cover characteristics (spectral temporal metrics). The Paris Agreement entails the rewetting of 500,000 km2 of drained peatlands worldwide until 2050-2070. A better understanding of the resulting locally novel ecosystems is required to improve planning and implementation of peatland rewetting and subsequent management.

Survival, comorbidities and joint damage 11 years after the COBRA combination therapy trial in early rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: COBRA (for 'COmbinatie therapie Bij Rheumatoide Artritis') combination therapy is effective for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but long-term safety is unknown. This study evaluates survival, comorbidities and joint damage in the original COBRA trial cohort. METHODS: In the COBRA trial, 155 patients with early RA were treated with sulfasalazine (SSZ) monotherapy (SSZ group) or a combination of step-down prednisolone, methotrexate (MTX) and SSZ (COBRA group). The current 11-year follow-up study of the COBRA trial invited all original patients and performed protocollised scrutiny of clinical records, questionnaires, physical examination, laboratory and imaging tests. RESULTS: In all, 152 out of 155 patients yielded at least partial data. After a mean of 11 years follow-up, 18 (12%) patients had died, 6 COBRA patients and 12 SSZ patients, HR 0.57 (95% CI 0.21 to 1.52). Treatment for hypertension was significantly more prevalent in the COBRA group (p=0.02) with similar trends for diabetes and cataract. Conversely, hypercholesterolaemia, cancer and infection showed a trend in favour of COBRA. Other comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and fractures appeared in similar frequency. Radiographic findings suggest as a minimum sustained benefit for COBRA therapy, that is, difference in joint damage but similar subsequent progression rates after 5 years. Imputation to compensate for selective dropout suggests increasing benefit for COBRA, that is, difference in yearly progression rates similar to that seen in the first 5 years of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: After 11 years, initial COBRA combination therapy resulted in numerically lower mortality and similar prevalence of comorbidity compared with initial SSZ monotherapy. In addition, lower progression of joint damage suggests long-term disease modification.

Twisted split-ring-resonator photonic metamaterial with huge optical activity.

Coupled split-ring-resonator metamaterials have previously been shown to exhibit large coupling effects, which are a prerequisite for obtaining large effective optical activity. By a suitable lateral arrangement of these building blocks, we completely eliminate linear birefringence and obtain pure optical activity and connected circular optical dichroism. Experiments around a 100 THz frequency and corresponding modeling are in good agreement. Rotation angles of about 30 degrees for 205 nm sample thickness are derived.

Event excess in the MiniBooNE search for ¯νµâ†’¯νe oscillations.

The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from a search for ¯ν_{µ}→¯ν_{e} oscillations, using a data sample corresponding to 5.66×10²° protons on target. An excess of 20.9±14.0 events is observed in the energy range 475

Religion and psychosis: the effects of the Welsh religious revival in 1904-1905.

BACKGROUND: Psychotic symptoms have been linked to religious experience, but empirical evidence is scarce. We have investigated the impact of the Welsh religious revival (RR) of 1904-1905 on the number of admissions to the regional psychiatric hospital, their diagnostic features and lifelong course. METHOD: All case-notes of patients admitted to the North Wales Hospital between 1902 and 1907 were included. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in admissions for brief polymorphic psychoses (BPP; ICD-10: F23.0 and F23.1) in the revival years, but the number of first admissions for other mental disorders did not change. The vast majority of BPP admissions were linked to a revival meeting and did not result in further admissions. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive religious experience can lead to transient psychotic episodes. Our data also support the view that BPP triggered by life events rarely lead to chronic mental illness, distinguishing them from other psychoses and supporting the validity of the concept of reactive psychosis.

Communicating the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of government policies and their impact on public support: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Low public support for government interventions in health, environment and other policy domains can be a barrier to implementation. Communicating evidence of policy effectiveness has been used to influence attitudes towards policies, with mixed results. This review provides the first systematic synthesis of such studies. Eligible studies were randomized controlled experiments that included an intervention group that provided evidence of a policy's effectiveness or ineffectiveness at achieving a salient outcome, and measured policy support. From 6498 abstracts examined, there were 45 effect sizes from 36 eligible studies. In total, 35 (N = 30 858) communicated evidence of effectiveness, and 10 (N = 5078) communicated evidence of ineffectiveness. Random effects meta-analysis revealed that communicating evidence of a policy's effectiveness increased support for the policy (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI [0.07, 0.15], p < 0.0001), equivalent to support increasing from 50% to 54% (95% CI [53%, 56%]). Communicating evidence of ineffectiveness decreased policy support (SMD = -0.14, 95% CI [-0.22, -0.06], p < 0.001), equivalent to support decreasing from 50% to 44% (95% CI [41%, 47%]). These findings suggest that public support for policies in a range of domains is sensitive to evidence of their effectiveness, as well as their ineffectiveness.