CALCULATION OF SLOW MODE SURFACE-PLASMON POLARITON PROPERTIES RELATED TO EXPERIMENTAL-OBSERVATIONS

Recent experimental results definitively showed, for the first time, optical radiation mediated by the slow mode surface plasmon polariton of metal-oxide-metal tunnel junctions. Here, dispersion curves for this mode are calculated. They are consistent with first-order grating coupling to light at the energies of the experimental emission peaks. The curves are then used to analyze second-order and high-energy (> 2.35 eV) grating coupling of the polaritons to radiation. Finally, variation of slow mode damping as a function of energy is used to explain qualitatively the relative experimental peak emission intensities and the absence of radiation peaks above 2.35 eV.

Adherence to treatment in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis: a cross-sectional, multi-method study investigating the influence of beliefs about treatment and parental depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND: Adherence to treatment is often reported to be low in children with cystic fibrosis. Adherence in cystic fibrosis is an important research area and more research is needed to better understand family barriers to adherence in order for clinicians to provide appropriate intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to enzyme supplements, vitamins and chest physiotherapy in children with cystic fibrosis and to determine if any modifiable risk factors are associated with adherence.

METHODS: A sample of 100 children (≤18 years) with cystic fibrosis (44 male; median [range] 10.1 [0.2-18.6] years) and their parents were recruited to the study from the Northern Ireland Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre. Adherence to enzyme supplements, vitamins and chest physiotherapy was assessed using a multi-method approach including; Medication Adherence Report Scale, pharmacy prescription refill data and general practitioner prescription issue data. Beliefs about treatments were assessed using refined versions of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire-specific. Parental depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

RESULTS: Using the multi-method approach 72% of children were classified as low-adherers to enzyme supplements, 59% low-adherers to vitamins and 49% low-adherers to chest physiotherapy. Variations in adherence were observed between measurement methods, treatments and respondents. Parental necessity beliefs and child age were significant independent predictors of child adherence to enzyme supplements and chest physiotherapy, but parental depressive symptoms were not found to be predictive of adherence.

CONCLUSIONS: Child age and parental beliefs about treatments should be taken into account by clinicians when addressing adherence at routine clinic appointments. Low adherence is more likely to occur in older children, whereas, better adherence to cystic fibrosis therapies is more likely in children whose parents strongly believe the treatments are necessary. The necessity of treatments should be reinforced regularly to both parents and children.

A methodology to analyse the impact of offshore wind forecasting error on electricity markets

Currently wind power is dominated by onshore wind farms in the British Isles, but both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have high renewable energy targets, expected to come mostly from wind power. However, as the demand for wind power grows to ensure security of energy supply, as a potentially cheaper alternative to fossil fuels and to meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets offshore wind power will grow rapidly as the availability of suitable onshore sites decrease. However, wind is variable and stochastic by nature and thus difficult to schedule. In order to plan for these uncertainties market operators use wind forecasting tools, reserve plant and ancillary service agreements. Onshore wind power forecasting techniques have improved dramatically and continue to advance, but offshore wind power forecasting is more difficult due to limited datasets and knowledge. So as the amount of offshore wind power increases in the British Isles robust forecasting and planning techniques are even more critical. This paper presents a methodology to investigate the impacts of better offshore wind forecasting on the operation and management of the single wholesale electricity market in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland using PLEXOS for Power Systems. © 2013 IEEE.

Healthcare Staff Experience of Providing End-of-Life Care to Children: A Mixed Method Review

Background: Staff who provide end-of-life care to children not only have to deal with their own sense of loss, but also that of bereaved families. There is a dearth of knowledge on how they cope with these challenges.
Aim: The aim of this review is to explore the experiences of health care professionals who provide end-of-life care to children in order to inform the development of interventions to support them, thereby improving the quality of paediatric care for both children and their families.
Data sources: Searches included CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and The Cochrane Library in June 2015, with no date restrictions. Additional literature was uncovered from searching reference lists of relevant studies, along with contacting experts in the field of paediatric palliative care.
Design: This was a systematic mixed studies review. Study selection, appraisal and data extraction were conducted by two independent researchers. Integrative thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data.
Results: The 16 qualitative, six quantitative, and eight mixed-method studies identified included healthcare professionals in a range of settings. Key themes identified rewards and challenges of providing end-of-life care to children, the impact on staff’s personal and professional lives, coping strategies, and key approaches to help support staff in their role.
Conclusions: Education focusing on the unique challenges of providing end-of-life care to children and the importance of self-care, along with timely multidisciplinary debriefing are key strategies for improving healthcare staffs’ experiences, and as such the quality of care they provide.

A integração curricular da intercompreensão numa turma de ELE

O presente Relatório Final de estágio tem como principal intento fazer o relato de uma experiência de integração curricular da intercompreensão (IC) numa turma de Espanhol Língua Estrangeira (ELE) do Ensino Secundário, decorrente do desenvolvimento de uma sessão na plataforma Galanet, procurando verificar de que forma esta experiência concorrre para o desenvolvimento curricular da disciplina. Após uma breve incursão pela paisagem didatológica que enforma este trabalho e pelos documentos reguladores do ensino de ELE em Portugal, prossegue-se com uma apresentação do contexto em que a intervenção foi realizada e da intervenção em si mesma (objetivos, estratégias, materiais, etc.). Posteriormente, procede-se a uma análise qualitativa e quantitativa dos dados, recolhidos ao longo das diversas intervenções didáticas: notas de campo elaboradas pela própria professora, artefactos escritos e orais elaborados pelos alunos; inquérito final. Propõe-se uma análise dos dados a partir do referencial aprendente, elaborado no âmbito do projeto Miriadi (Mutualização e Inovação por uma Rede de Intercompreensão à Distância), e do CARAP (Cadre de Référence pour les Approches Plurielles), orientado para as abordagens plurais do ensino-aprendizagem de línguas. Em concomitância, descreve-se de que forma a presente proposta de integração curricular da IC no ensino de ELE concorre para atingir os objetivos propostos pelo Programa de Espanhol para o Ensino Secundário, 10º ano iniciação. Os resultados evidenciam que a integração curricular da IC no ensino de ELE induz dinâmicas de ensino-aprendizagem que, ao colocarem os sujeitos em situações de comunicação plural, envolvem-nos nas suas dimensões afetiva e inteletual, originando significativas aprendizagens, tanto no que concerne a aspetos linguísticos comuns às diversas línguas românicas como a particularidades da língua espanhola.

Autistic Functioning and Language Development

This thesis is a retrospective qualitative study based on psychotherapy sessions with children presenting autistic features who use language in atypical ways. The aim was to understand, through the transferential relationship, what psychological context in terms of anxieties and defences prevents the child from using language efficiently. Hypotheses concerning children‘s use of language in the context of their emotional oscillation and evolution during the course of treatment were noted and checked against subsequent developments. They were also triangulated with the outcome of a grounded theory analysis. The grounded theory analysis led to the emergence of higher-level themes that were compared within and across cases and allowed factors surrounding the children‘s use of language to be conceptualized. The grounded theory method was used in parallel with the usual process of evaluation of the dynamics of each session and patient used by psychoanalysts a posteriori and which is part of the researcher‘s background. This procedure was enhanced by the use of Bion‘s Grid, here in a version adapted to the aims of the research. This approach is discussed in detail in the Methodology chapter. The psychoanalytic theoretical background that supported the research was mainly based on the tradition of Object-Relations Theory, particularly the evolution of Kleinian thinking represented by Bion‘s works, and as far as autism is concerned, by Frances Tustin and Donald Meltzer‘s formulations. Concerning the subject of language development, Meltzer‘s explorations on the necessary conditions for its development and the philosopher Wittgenstein‘s investigations on the social function of language were the main influences of this work. The evolution of the children‘s use of language in parallel with their emotional development in the context of their psychotherapies was analyzed and some hypotheses about the oscillations in their emotional and mental functioning were made. The oscillation in the children‘s emotional state, language use and thinking processes was also studied in terms of a general fluctuation between different mental states that was considered to be present in different degrees and quality in mental life and more strongly when there are limitations in communication skills and social interaction. A few excerpts from notes on adolescent and adult cases with autistic features were included in the Discussion Chapters to briefly illustrate this aspect.

Examining how post-secondary L2 readers make use of background knowledge when reading literary texts an exploratory study

Literary texts offer rich opportunities for language learning. However, can second language (L2) learners fully understand L2 literary texts? According to Bernhardt (2001):"the act of reading in a second language is extremely tricky -- is even trickier with literary texts that are inherently ambiguous, full of metaphor and intertextual relations to texts to which the readers have no access" (p.198). In other words, L2 readers are often poorly equipped grammatically, linguistically and culturally to cope with literary texts in which it might be difficult to recognize figurative language, to comprehend metaphors, to identify underlying cultural assumptions and above all to think critically while navigating those complexities. Therefore, during the reading process, L2 readers encounter gaps in the text which necessarily compel them to use whatever background knowledge they possess in order to create meaning. The purpose of this research is to see exactly how post-secondary L2 readers use their existing background knowledge to understand literary texts and what they do when confronted with text passages for which they lack such knowledge.

The Point teen health centers

This is a poster in both Spanish and English advertising The Point, a teen health center in Spartanburg S.C.

2015 Vacunas recomendadas para niños, desde el nacimiento hasta los 6 años de edad

This sheet, printed in Spanish, shows what vaccinations infants and children should get at various ages. Also listed are diseases, the vaccine that prevents them, how the disease is spread, its symptoms and disease complications.

Spitting Up: Is This Normal?

This document written in English and Spanish discusses the problem of babies spitting up.

Información de moluscos y mariscos : Norma 61-25: Establecimientos de ventas de alimentos

This Spanish language sheet explains SC regulation 61-25 dealing with retail food establishments and shellfish. It also has a daily shellstock receiving record that can be used by restaurants for record keeping.

Recyclables

This document printed in English and Spanish tells the kinds of items that can be recycled in Georgetown County.

Establecimientos de Venta de Alimentos al Menudeo: Ningún Contacto con las Manos Desnudas

This Spanish language fact sheet cites SC Regulation 61-25 dealing with food inspection.

Establecimientos de venta de alimentos: Directrices para el arroz de sushi

This Spanish language document cites Regulation 61-25 giving regulations for cooking sushi rice.

Exenciones de permiso

This Spanish language document cites Regulation 61-25 dealing with restaurant permits.