An examination of microfinance self-help groups and the poorest of the poor women in Tamil Nadu, India

This study examined the formation and operation of women's microfinance self-help groups in southern India and investigated whether or not the poorest of the poor women were accepted as members of those groups. The study found that caste was used as a selection criterion. Many eligible women excluded themselves from joining the self-help group due to their own lack of education, age, poor health, poverty and lack of trust in the system. The research revealed that self-help groups enhanced women's income and education, improved village infrastructure, and reduced household conflict. Factors that might prevent inclusion of the poorest of the poor in future microfinance programs were identified.

Maternal feeding self-efficacy and fruit and vegetable intakes in infants. Results from the SAIDI study

Adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) is a characteristic of a healthy diet but remains a challenge in nutrition interventions. This cross-sectional study explored the multi-directional relationships between maternal feeding self-efficacy, parenting confidence, child feeding behaviour, exposure to new food and FV intake in a cohort of 277 infants. Mothers with healthy infants weighing ≥2500 g and ≥37 weeks gestation were recruited post-natally from 11 South Australian hospitals. Socio-demographic datawere collected at recruitment. At 6 months postnatal, infantswereweighed and measured, andmothers completed a questionnaire exploring their perceptions of child feeding behaviour and child exposure to newfoods. The questionnaire also included the Short Temperament Scale for Infants, Kessler 10 to measure maternal psychological distress and 5 items measuring maternal feeding self-efficacy. The number of occasions and variety of FV (number of subgroups within food groups) consumed by infants were estimated from a 24-hour dietary recall and 2 days food record. Structural equation modellingwas performed using Mplus version 6.11. Median (IQR) variety scores were 2 (1–3) for fruit and 3 (2–5) for vegetable intake. The most popular FV consumed were apple (n = 108, 45.0%) and pumpkin (n = 143, 56.3%). None of the variables studied predicted the variety of child fruit intake. Parenting confidence, exposure to new foods and child feeding behaviourwere indirectly related to child vegetable intake through maternal feeding self-efficacy while total number of children negatively predicted child vegetable variety (p < 0.05). This highlights the need for addressing antecedents of maternal feeding self-efficacy and the family eating environment as key strategies towards development of healthy eating in children.

Measuring the biases in self-reported disability status : Evidence from aggregate data

Self-reported health status measures are generally used to analyse Social Security Disability Insurance's (SSDI) application and award decisions as well as the relationship between its generosity and labour force participation. Due to endogeneity and measurement error, the use of self-reported health and disability indicators as explanatory variables in economic models is problematic. We employ county-level aggregate data, instrumental variables and spatial econometric techniques to analyse the determinants of variation in SSDI rates and explicitly account for the endogeneity and measurement error of the self-reported disability measure. Two surprising results are found. First, it is shown that measurement error is the dominating source of the bias and that the main source of measurement error is sampling error. Second, results suggest that there may be synergies for applying for SSDI when the disabled population is larger. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Nanoherding : plasma-chemical synthesis and electric-charge-driven self organization of SiO2 nanodots

We report on the chemical synthesis of the arrays of silicon oxide nanodots and their self-organization on the surface via physical processes triggered by surface charges. The method based on chemically active oxygen plasma leads to the rearrangement of nanostructures and eventually to the formation of groups of nanodots. This behavior is explained in terms of the effect of electric field on the kinetics of surface processes. The direct measurements of the electric charges on the surface demonstrate that the charge correlates with the density and arrangement of nanodots within the array. Extensive numerical simulations support the proposed mechanism and prove a critical role of the electric charges in the self-organization. This simple and environment-friendly self-guided process could be used in the chemical synthesis of large arrays of nanodots on semiconducting surfaces for a variety of applications in catalysis, energy conversion and storage, photochemistry, environmental and biosensing, and several others.

Independent learning skills, self-determination theory and psychological well-being : strategies for supporting the first year university experience

The purpose of this article is to explain why the first year in higher education experience of Australian tertiary students can be improved through the explicit teaching of independent learning skills. Becoming an independent learner has many benefits, but the focus of this piece is upon the connection between independent learning and the improvement of student psychological well-being. High psychological distress levels appear to start in the first year of university education. We argue that explicitly teaching students independent learning skills is an important curriculum-based strategy that will contribute to the significant task of addressing this issue.

Self-organized Au nanoarrays on vertical graphenes : an advanced three-dimensional sensing platform

A three-dimensional surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)/plasmonic sensing platform based on plasma-enabled, catalyst-free, few-layer vertical graphenes decorated with self-organized Au nanoparticle arrays is demonstrated. This platform is viable for multiple species detection and overcomes several limitations of two-dimensional sensors.

Control of density of self-organized carbon nanotube arrays by catalyst pretreatment through plasma immersion ion implantation

A simple and effective method of controlling the growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays in a lowerature plasma is presented. Ni catalyst was pretreated by plasma immersion ion implantation prior to the nanotube growth by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Both the size distribution and the areal density of the catalyst nanoparticles decrease due to the ion-surface interactions. Consequently, the resulting size distribution of the vertically aligned carbon nanotubes is reduced to 50 ∼ 100 nm and the areal density is lowered (by a factor of ten) to 10 8 cm -2, which is significantly different from the very-high-density carbon nanotube forests commonly produced by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The efficiency of this pretreatment is compared with the existing techniques such as neutral gas annealing and plasma etching. These results are highly relevant to the development of the next-generation nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices that require effective control of the density of nanotube arrays.

Self-organization in arrays of surface-grown nanoparticles : characterization, control, driving forces

Some important issues related to the self-organization in the arrays of nanoparticles on solid surfaces exposed to the low-temperature plasma are analysed and discussed. The available tools for the characterization of the size and position uniformity in nanoarrays are examined. The technique capable of revealing the realistic adsorbed atom and adsorbed radical capture zone pattern based on the surface physics is indicated as the most promising characterization tool. The processes responsible for the self-organization are analysed, the main driving forces of the self-organization are discussed, and possible ways to control the self-organization by controlling the plasma parameters are introduced. A view on the possible ways to further improve the methods of nanoarray characterization and self-organization is presented as well.

Control of morphology and electrical properties of self-organized graphenes in a plasma

The possibility of effective control of morphology and electrical properties of self-organized graphene structures on plasma-exposed Si surfaces is demonstrated. The structures are vertically standing nanosheets and can be grown without any catalyst and any external heating upon direct contact with high-density inductively coupled plasmas at surface temperatures not exceeding 673–723 K. Study of nucleation and growth dynamics revealed the possibility to switch-over between the two most common (turnstile- and maze-like) morphologies on the same substrates by a simple change of the plasma parameters. This change leads to the continuous or discontinuous native oxide layer that supports self-organized patterns of small carbon nanoparticles on which the structures nucleate. It is shown that by tailoring the nanoparticle arrangement one can create various three-dimensional architectures and networks of graphene nanosheet structures. We also demonstrate effective control of the degree of graphitization of the graphene nanosheet structures from the initial through the final growth stages. This makes it possible to tune the electrical resistivity properties of the produced three-dimensional patterns/networks from strongly dielectric to semiconducting. Our results contribute to enabling direct integration of graphene structures into presently dominant Si-based nanofabrication platform for next-generation nanoelectronic, sensor, biomedical, and optoelectronic components and nanodevices.

Self-organized quantum dot arrays : kinetic mapping of adatom capture

Deterministic synthesis of self-organized quantum dot arrays for renewable energy, biomedical, and optoelectronic applications requires control over adatom capture zones, which are presently mapped using unphysical geometric tessellation. In contrast, the proposed kinetic mapping is based on simulated two-dimensional adatom fluxes in the array and includes the effects of nucleation, dissolution, coalescence, and process parameters such as surface temperature and deposition rate. This approach is generic and can be used to control the nanoarray development in various practical applications. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Plasma-driven self-organization of Ni nanodot arrays on Si(100)

The results of the combined experimental and numerical study suggest that nonequilibrium plasma-driven self-organization leads to better size and positional uniformity of nickel nanodot arrays on a Si(100) surface compared with neutral gas-based processes under similar conditions. This phenomenon is explained by introducing the absorption zone patterns, whose areas relative to the small nanodot sizes become larger when the surface is charged. Our results suggest that strongly nonequilibrium and higher-complexity plasma systems can be used to improve ordering and size uniformity in nanodot arrays of various materials, a common and seemingly irresolvable problem in self-organized systems of small nanoparticles. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Plasma-assisted self-sharpening of platelet-structured single-crystalline carbon nanocones

A mechanism and model for the vertical growth of platelet-structured vertically aligned single-crystalline carbon nanostructures by the formation of graphene layers on a flat top surface are proposed and verified experimentally. It is demonstrated that plasma-related effects lead to self-sharpening of tapered nanocones to form needlelike nanostructures, in a good agreement with the predicted dependence of the radius of a nanocone's flat top on the incoming ion flux and surface temperature. The growth mechanism is relevant to a broad class of nanostructures including nanotips, nanoneedles, and nanowires and can be used to improve the predictability of nanofabrication processes. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Self-organized vertically aligned single-crystal silicon nanostructures with controlled shape and aspect ratio by reactive plasma etching

The formation of vertically aligned single-crystalline silicon nanostructures via "self-organized" maskless etching in Ar+ H 2 plasmas is studied. The shape and aspect ratio can be effectively controlled by the reactive plasma composition. In the optimum parameter space, single-crystalline pyramid-like nanostructures are produced; otherwise, nanocones and nanodots are formed. This generic nanostructure formation approach does not involve any external material deposition. It is based on a concurrent sputtering, etching, hydrogen termination, and atom/radical redeposition and can be applied to other nanomaterials.

Hierarchical multilevel arrays of self-assembled gold nanoparticles : Control of resistivity-temperature dependence

The possibility to control the electric resistivity-temperature dependence of the nanosized resistive components made using hierarchical multilevel arrays of self-assembled gold nanoparticles prepared by multiple deposition/annealing is demonstrated. It is experimentally shown that the hierarchical three-level patterns, where the nanoparticles of sizes ranging from several nanometers to several tens of nanometer play a competitive roles in the electric conductivity, demonstrate sharp changes in the activation energy. These patterns can be used for the precise tuning of the resistivity-temperature behavior of nanoelectronic components.

Silicon on silicon : self-organized nanotip arrays formed in reactive Ar+H2 plasmas

The formation of arrays of vertically aligned nanotips on a moderately heated (up to 500 degrees C) Si surface exposed to reactive low-temperature radio frequency (RF) Ar+H(2) plasmas is studied. It is demonstrated that the nanotip surface density, aspect ratio and height dispersion strongly depend on the substrate temperature, discharge power, and gas composition. It is shown that nanotips with aspect ratios from 2.0 to 4.0 can only be produced at a higher RF power density (41.7 mW cm(-3)) and a hydrogen content of about 60%, and that larger aspect ratios can be achieved at substrate temperatures of about 300 degrees C. The use of higher (up to 500 degrees C) temperatures leads to a decrease of the aspect ratio but promotes the formation of more uniform arrays with the height dispersion decreasing to 1.5. At lower (approximately 20 mW cm(-3)) RF power density, only semispherical nanodots can be produced. Based on these experimental results, a nanotip formation scenario is proposed suggesting that sputtering, etching, hydrogen termination, and atom/radical re-deposition are the main concurrent mechanisms for the nanostructure formation. Numerical calculations of the ion flux distribution and hydrogen termination profiles can be used to predict the nanotip shapes and are in a good agreement with the experimental results. This approach can be applied to describe the kinetics of low-temperature formation of other nanoscale materials by plasma treatment.