Gasochromic switching of Ta and Pd-doped nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films.

In this work TiO2:(Ta, Pd) thin films with gasochromic properties have been described. Thin films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering process using mosaic Ti-Ta-Pd target. The amounts of dopants were 2.54 at.% and 12.36 at.% of Ta and Pd, respectively. The results of optical measurements performed at presence of ethanol and additional heating of the sample up to 350 degrees C have shown an abrupt change of transmission level from 80% down to 10% in VIS and in IR range. The gasochromic change was very fast. Moreover, rapid cooling (down to room temperature) in an air ambient results in stable thin film coloration. The reverse effect (bleaching) was obtained after annealing at 500 degrees C in an ambient air.

Photoemission studies and electronic structure of U(2)T(2)In (T = Ni, Rh, Pt) compounds.

The electronic structure of the tetragonal U(2)T(2)In (T = Ni, Rh, Pt) compounds in the paramagnetic phase were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Both valence band and core level spectra were analysed. The experimental data are compared with the calculations of the density of states using the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method (TB-LMTO) and full-potential local-orbital full-relativistic method (FPLO). The calculated data reveal a dominant U 5f electron character for the states near the Fermi level E(F) with a small contribution from U 5d, Ni 3d, Rh 4d, Pt 5d and In 5p states. The XPS valence bands of these compounds are characterized by a sharp peak of the U 5f states near the Fermi level (E(F)) and broad peaks of the Ni 3d, Rh 4d and Pt 5d states at about 2.6, 3.2 and 4.0 eV below E(F), respectively. The small change in the position of the U 5f peak with respect to E(F) is -0.35 eV for T = Ni and -0.15 eV for T = Rh and Pt. A satellite between the Ni 2p(1/2) and Ni 2p(3/2) peaks is visible, suggesting that the Ni 3d band is not completely filled, and the existence of a small induced magnetic moment on the Ni atoms cannot be ruled out.

Direct investigation of orbital ordering in a colossal magnetoresistance manganite by means of X-ray linear dichroism at the Mn L edge.

We have investigated for the first time the orbital ordering in a three-dimensional colossal magnetoresistance manganite, namely La(7/8)Sr(1/8)MnO3, by applying soft X-ray linear dichroism (XLD) to the Mn L edge. We found that the cooperative Jahn-Teller distorted orthorhombic phase, which is present at a temperature of 240 K, is probably accompanied by a predominantly cross type (x2 - z2)/(y2 - z2) orbital ordering. This result is discussed in the light of different exchange interaction models.

Aggression directed toward emergency department staff at a university teaching hospital.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the scope and magnitude of patient and visitor aggression directed toward emergency department staff. DESIGN: One-year retrospective review of university police log records and ED staff incident reports. SETTING: Medium-sized, urban, noncounty, university Level I teaching hospital treating approximately 40,000 ED patients annually. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: All violent incidents involving patients/visitors and ED staff that triggered a police response to the ED area were included in the study. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: All ED violent episodes were recorded and categorized by shift, type of incident, type of police response, perpetrator, and site of incident. It was found that police responded to the ED nearly twice daily; the night shift had 32% of the cases with only 13% of the patient volume; custody and medical psychiatric clearance patients accounted for 40% of the cases; more than 20% of incidents occurred in the waiting room; and 4.2% of the incidents represented a significant threat to ED staff. CONCLUSION: ED violence is a significant and under-reported problem at our medium-sized university teaching hospital. These data are useful in objectively quantifying the scope of violence in our institution, and they underscore the potential risk to emergency patients, visitors, and staff. There is an acute need for additional studies in other settings so that appropriate and cost-effective security recommendations can be formulated.

Mechanical properties of rat skeletal muscle after hind limb suspension.

It is clear that there are events which occur in response to neuromuscular activity that are essential to maintain normal muscle properties. Two factors though to influence muscle contractile properties are tension and electrical activity. To study these variables the hind limbs of 10 postpubertal female Sprague-Dawley rats were prevented from supporting the weight of the body for 4 weeks, then in situ isometric properties were determined and compared with 10 age-matched control rats. The soleus (slow plantarflexor), the medial gastrocnemius (fast plantarflexor), and the tibialis anterior (fast dorsiflexor) were studied. The suspended soleus wet weight was 42% lower and the maximum isometric twitch (Pt) and tetanic (P0) tensions were 62 and 69% lower respectively, than in the control rats. The suspended medial gastrocnemius was 18% lower in wet weight and 14 and 9% lower in P0 and Pt than the controls. No differences in wet weight, P0 or Pt were observed in tibialis anterior. Mean contraction time was 22% shorter in the soleus, 9% in the medial gastrocnemius, and unchanged in the tibialis anterior following suspension. Further, the percent of P0 attained during a 330-ms tetanus at 20 Hz was 15% lower in the suspended soleus and unchanged in the other two muscles. The fatigue index (ratio of tension after 2 min of stimulation at 40 Hz for 330 ms once per second to the maximum tension developed during the test) was unaffected by suspension in the soleus and tibialis anterior but was reduced from 49% to 36% in the medial gastrocnemius. The maximum rate of shortening of all three muscles was unaffected by suspension. These results indicate that suspension of the hind limbs selectively affects the mass and force-generating capabilities of the plantarflexors, particularly the predominantly slow soleus. In contrast, the fatigability of only the fast plantarflexor was increased whereas the slow plantarflexor was unaffected. These results, considered in light of collaborative studies, suggest that the chronic force-time levels in a muscle have an important influence on tension- and speed-related properties but not necessarily the fatigability of that muscle. Further, a marked difference in the sensitivity of the contractile elements of slow and fast muscle to this influence was evident.