Edinburgh Napier University

About: Edinburgh Napier University is a education organization based out in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 2665 authors who have published 6859 publications receiving 175272 citations.

Constant current forming in Cr/p + a-Si:H/V thin film devices

Abstract: Experimental results on the constant current stressing and forming of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si) Cr/p+-V thin film devices are presented. In the initial stage of electro-forming by constant current stressing, with increasing injection of charge via either increasing bias or time, the current=f(v) properties of devices exhibit an instability, as shown by a decrease in the reverse current. Eventually, with further increase in the current bias, the local current density reaches a critical value IF, and a rapid `runaway' processes occurs, which results in an irreversible change of the initial higher resistance state into a permanent `formed' state of lower resistance.

Optimal Selection of a Connected Reserve Network

Abstract: Spatial considerations are important in conservation reserve design. A particularly important spatial requirement is the connectivity of selected sites. Direct connections between reserve sites increase the likelihood of species persistence by allowing dispersal and colonization of other areas within the network without species having to leave the reserve. The conventional set-covering and maximal-covering formulations of the reserve selection problem assume that species representation is the only criterion in site selection. This approach usually results in a small but highly fragmented reserve, which may not be desirable. We present a linear integer programming framework incorporating spatial contiguity as an additional site selection criterion. An empirical application to a data set on the occurrence of breeding birds in Berkshire, United Kingdom, demonstrates that site connectivity requires a significantly larger reserve. Incorporation of spatial criteria increases the computational complexity of the problem. To overcome this, we use a two-stage procedure where the original sites are aggregated first and an optimum solution is determined for the aggregate sites. Then, site selection is restricted to original sites included in the aggregate solution and a connected reserve is determined. In this particular application the above procedure generated a significantly more efficient reserve than a heuristic selection.

Definitive Glasgow acute pain scale for cats: validation and intervention level

Abstract: The usefulness of a pain assessment instrument is enhanced in general practice if the score can be linked to an intervention level, which is informative as to whether or not an animal requires analgesic treatment. Previously the authors described the derivation of an intervention level for the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) short form tool for assessing acute pain in dogs (Reid and others 2007). More recently, the authors reported the validation of a behaviour-based tool (the revised composite measure pain scale (rCMPS)-F) for the assessment of acute pain in cats that was developed using psychometric principles (Calvo and others 2014). It takes the form of a structured questionnaire completed by an observer following a standard protocol and includes assessment of spontaneous and evoked behaviours, interactions with the animal and clinical observations. Construction and clinical testing of the tool supported its validity and provided some evidence for responsiveness, but sensitivity was moderate (misclassification, 26.7 per cent). In order to improve the performance of the tool, a simple three-point facial scale, which in preliminary testing had performed very well in classifying cats in pain, was developed (Holden and others 2014) with the intention of embedding it within the behaviour-based cat tool, an approach adopted previously in paediatric medicine (CRIES (Krechel and others 1995); Premature Infant Pain Profile (Stevens and others 1996)). This communication describes a single, multicentre …