BackgroundSeveral review studies have shown that 3.4% to 16.6% of patients in acute care hospitals experience one or more adverse events. Adverse events (AEs) in hospitals constitute a significant problem with serious consequences and a challenge for public health. The occurrence of AEs in Portuguese hospitals has not yet been systematically studied. The main purpose of this study is to estimate the incidence, impact and preventability of adverse events in Portuguese hospitals. It is also our aim to examine the feasibility of applying to Portuguese acute hospitals the methodology of detecting AEs through record review, previously used in other countries.MethodsThis work is based on a retrospective cohort study and was carried out at three acute care hospitals in the Administrative Region of Lisbon. The identification of AEs and their impact was done using a two-stage structured retrospective medical records review based on the use of 18 screening criteria. A random sample of 1,669 medical records (representative of 47,783 hospital admissions) for the year 2009 was analyzed.ResultsThe main results found in this study were an incidence rate of 11.1% AEs, of which around 53.2% were considered preventable. The majority of AEs were associated with surgical procedures (27%), drug errors (18.3%) and hospital acquired infections (12.2%). Most AEs (61%) resulted in minimal or no physical impairment or disability, and 10.8% were associated with death. In 58.6% of the AEs’ cases, the length of stay was prolonged on average 10.7 days. Additional direct costs amounted to €470,380.00.ConclusionThe magnitude of these results was critical, reinforcing the need of more detailed studies in this area. The knowledge of the incidence and nature of AEs that occur in hospitals should be seen as a first step towards the improvement of quality and safety in health care.

Here, we use Andreev reflection spectroscopy to study the spin polarization of high quality CrO2 films. We study the spin polarization as a function of growth temperature, resulting in grain size and electrical resistivity. In these films low temperature growth appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition to guarantee the observation of high spin polarization, and this is only observed in conjunction with suppressed superconducting gap values and anomalously low interface properties. We suggest that this combination of observations is a manifestation of the long range spin triplet proximity effect.

This work reports on the synthesis of chromium (III, IV) oxides films by KrF laser-assisted CVD. Films were deposited onto sapphire substrates at room temperature by the photodissociation of Cr(CO)(6) in dynamic atmospheres containing oxygen and argon. A study of the processing parameters has shown that partial pressure ratio Of O-2 to Cr(CO)(6) and laser fluence are the prominent parameters that have to be accurately controlled in order to co-deposit both the crystalline oxide phases. Films consistent with such a two-phase system were synthesised for a laser fluence of 75 mJ cm(-2) and a partial pressure ratio of about 1. (c)

Chromium oxides, Cr x O y , are of great interest due to the wide variety of their technological applications. Among them, CrO 2 has been extensively investigated in recent years because it is an attractive compound to be used in spintronic heterostructures. However, its synthesis at low temperatures has been a difficult task due to the metastable nature of this oxide. This is indeed essential to ensure interface quality and the ability to coat thermal-sensitive materials such as those envisaged in spintronic devices. Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a technique that has the potential to meet the requirements stated above.In this work, we describe our efforts to grow chromium oxide thin films by PLD from Cr 8 O 21 targets, using a KrF excimer laser. The as-deposited films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Structural and chemical composition studies showed that the films consist of a mixture of amorphous chromium oxides exhibiting different stoichiometries depending on the processing parameters, where nanocrystals of mainly Cr 2 O 3 are dispersed. The analyses do not exclude the possibility of co-deposition of Cr 2 O 3 and a low fraction of CrO 2 . In this paper, we present results on chromium oxide films produced onto Si (100) by room temperature PLD in oxygen atmosphere and using Cr 8 O 21 as target material. PACS Experimental details Film growthChromium oxide films were grown by reactive pulsed laser deposition (RPLD) using a stainless steel HV deposition chamber and a pulsed UV laser (KrF, 248 nm wavelength, 30 ns pulse duration) with associated beam delivery optics. The laser was operated at 5 Hz and the laser beam was incident at an angle of 45º with respect to the target surface. The target was produced from Cr 8 O 21 powder, as described below, and was continuously rotated and periodically translated during laser ablation to renew the irradiated surface and to prevent crater formation. The ablated material was collected onto a Si(100) substrate, at room temperature, placed in front of and at 6.2 cm from the target. Prior to an experiment, the chamber was evacuated to 2-7×10 -4 Pa, a screen was placed between the substrate and the target for protection, and the target surface was cleaned for several minutes by irradiating with the non-focused KrF laser beam. During deposition, oxygen (99.999 %) was flown through the chamber and the background pressure was varied between 0.3 and 1.9 Pa. The laser fluence was kept at 4.0 ± 0.3 J cm -2 . 2 Target preparationPowder of Cr 8 O 21 was obtained by slow thermal decomposition of CrO 3 powder in air at 260 ºC. Afterwards, the powder was crushed to nanometre size and sintered at 220 ºC and 0.2 GPa into pellets 20 mm in diameter and 2 mm thick. Sample characterisationStructural analysis of the films was carried out in a Siemens D5000 diffractometer by glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), using CuKα radiation at 1º angle of incidence to the specimen surface. The identification of crystalline phases was d...

ionic current therefore provides a simple single-molecule biosensing technique. [1][2][3][4] Indeed, over the past several decades, nanopores have proven to be versatile single-molecule sensing devices with applications ranging from DNA [5,6] and protein sequencing, [7,8] to ultra-dilute analyte detection, [9][10][11][12] polymer data storage, [13,14] and enzymology. [15] Nanopore sensors can be classified as either biological [16] or solid-state. [17] Biological nanopores generally consist of barrel shaped proteins that self-insert into lipid or synthetic membranes. Solid-state nanopores, however, are typically formed in thin (<50 nm) dielectrics such as SiN x , [18] TiO 2 , [19] and HfO 2 [20] or 2D materials such as graphene, [21][22][23] MoS 2 , [6] and hBN. [24] The ability to fabricate solid-state nanopores of different diameters and operate them in a wide range of environmental conditions makes them particularly attractive for many of the applications discussed above. [1,17] In the past, solid-state nanopores were typically fabricated using focused charged particle beams to locally sputter material from the membrane. [25][26][27][28] However, this requires specialized equipment, trained operators, and is a labor intensive process thus limiting the availability of this technique to the wider research community.To overcome these issues, a technique called controlled breakdown (CBD) has been developed to fabricate nanopores in solid-state membranes. [29][30][31] In this method, an electric Controlled breakdown has recently emerged as a highly appealing technique to fabricate solid-state nanopores for a wide range of biosensing applications. This technique relies on applying an electric field of approximately 0.4-1 V nm −1 across the membrane to induce a current, and eventually, breakdown of the dielectric. Although previous studies have performed controlled breakdown under a range of different conditions, the mechanism of conduction and breakdown has not been fully explored. Here, electrical conduction and nanopore formation in SiN x membranes during controlled breakdown is studied. It is demonstrated that for Si-rich SiN x , oxidation reactions that occur at the membrane-electrolyte interface limit conduction across the dielectric. However, for stoichiometric Si 3 N 4 the effect of oxidation reactions becomes relatively small and conduction is predominately limited by charge transport across the dielectric. Several important implications resulting from understanding this process are provided which will aid in further developing controlled breakdown in the coming years, particularly for extending this technique to integrate nanopores with on-chip nanostructures.

Chromia (Cr2O3) has been extensively explored for the purpose of developing widespread industrial applications, owing to the convergence of a variety of mechanical, physical and chemical properties in one single oxide material. Various methods have been used for large area synthesis of Cr2O3 films. However, for selective area growth and growth on thermally sensitive materials, laser-assisted chemical vapour deposition (LCVD) can be applied advantageously.Here we report on the growth of single layers of pure Cr2O3 onto sapphire substrates at room temperature by low pressure photolytic LCVD, using UV laser radiation and Cr(CO)(6) as chromium precursor. The feasibility of the LCVD technique to access selective area deposition of chromia thin films is demonstrated. Best results were obtained for a laser fluence of 120 mJ cm(-2) and a partial pressure ratio of O-2 to Cr(CO)(6) of 1.0. Samples grown with these experimental parameters are polycrystalline and their microstructure is characterised by a high density of particles whose size follows a lognormal distribution. Deposition rates of 0.1 nm s(-1) and mean particle sizes of 1.85 mu m were measured for these films. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Document Type: ArticleLanguage: English

The scaling exponent of 1.6 between anomalous Hall and longitudinal conductivity, characteristic of the universal Hall mechanism in dirty-metal ferromagnets, emerges from a series of CrO 2 films as we systematically increase structural disorder. Magnetic disorder in CrO 2 increases with temperature and this drives a separate topological Hall mechanism. We find that these terms are controlled discretely by structural and magnetic defect populations, and their coexistence leads to apparent divergence from exponent 1.6, suggesting that the universal term is more prevalent than previously realised.

ObjectiveDignity therapy (DT) is well established in adult populations, and it is likely that it could benefit younger people. This study aimed to adapt the adult Portuguese DT question framework for adolescents (DT-QF-Adol) (ages 10–18).MethodFive stages were followed: (1) the Portuguese DT-QF for adults was adapted for adolescents with the original author's collaboration, (2) an expert committee provided feedback on the adapted version, (3) an initial consensus version of the DT-QF-Adol was created, (4) expert committee consult affirmed final consensus, and (5) validation stage with a sample of 17 adolescents followed in ambulatory psychology clinic.ResultsDT's original author endorsed the final Portuguese DT-QF-Adol, reinforcing that it captures the fundamental dimensions of DT. There was 100% agreement on the final consensus version and defined age group (10–18 years old). Twenty adolescents were invited to participate, and 17 were included after informed consent was obtained; 53% were female. The average age was 12.7 years. The interviewed adolescents reported that the DT-QF-Adol was clear, and they did not identify any ambiguity or difficulty in answering any of the questions. They assumed that this information could positively affect the way parents and friends see and cared for them, permitting others to understand their concerns and preferences. Participants felt that the DT-QF-Adol could be a good starting point for a conversation with their loved ones. Although they did not consider vital for health professionals to access their answers, they strongly felt that the DT-QF-Adol might be essential to sick adolescents and they would recommend it to others.Significance of resultsWe developed a DT-QF of nine questions for Portuguese adolescents (DT-QF-Adol), coined Protocolo de Perguntas da Terapia da Dignidade para Adolescentes — 10–18 anos. This tool can potentially be considered a good addition for pediatric palliative care.