The appeal of ketamine – in promptly ameliorating depressive symptoms even in those with non-response – has led to a dramatic increase in its off-label use. Initial promising results await robust corroboration and key questions remain, particularly concerning its long-term administration. It is, therefore, timely to review the opinions of mood disorder experts worldwide pertaining to ketamine's potential as an option for treating depression and provide a synthesis of perspectives – derived from evidence and clinical experience – and to consider strategies for future investigations.

In Costa Rica, there is a widespread belief among the public and policymakers that the country's ‘exceptional’ universal healthcare system represents a magnet for Nicaraguan immigrants. However, examining immigrants’ actual access to social policy demonstrates the importance of legal and extra-legal mechanisms of exclusion that go hand in hand with official recognition of human rights. This paper critically assesses the relationship between migrants and the state, and public social policy in particular, in both sending and receiving country. We analyse the extent to which Nicaraguan migrant families on both sides of the Costa Rica–Nicaragua migration system incorporate public social protection in their welfare strategies. Drawing on two sets of qualitative data, we find that, on both sides of the border, migrants and their families display very similar commodified practices of welfare strategies, side-stepping the state and purchasing services in the private sector.

HR 2740 was a target for a photometric campaign carried out at La Silla (ESO) and Sutherland (SAAO) from 1997 January 14 to 1997 February 11 (Poretti et al., 1997). The campaign revealed that HR 2740 is one of the brightest γ Dor stars, a class of variable stars located near the cool border of the instability strip, and in which gravity pulsation modes are excited. Four frequencies were identified (f 1=1.0434, f 2=0.9951, f 3=1.1088, f 4=0.9019 c d−1), which together yield a satisfactory solution to the observed light curve. The frequency analysis was not simple, but thanks to the large coverage in longitude we could separate the effect of aliasing on the two terms f 3=1.1088 c d−1 and f 4=0.9019 c d−1, linked by the relationship f 4 = 2 - f 3. Moreover, only the long time baseline allowed us to resolve the two close terms f 1=1.0434 c d−1 and f 2=0.9951 c d−1. See Poretti et al. (1997) for a detailed discussion.

We report the discovery of both intermediate-order gravity mode and low-order pressure mode pulsation in the same star, HD 209295. It is therefore both a γ Doradus and a δ Scuti star, which makes it the first confirmed member of two classes of pulsating star.

This object is located in a close binary system with an unknown, but likely degenerate companion in an eccentric orbit, and some of the γ Doradus pulsation frequencies are exact integer multiples of the orbital frequency. We suggest that these pulsations are tidally excited. HD 209295 may be the progenitor of an intermediate-mass X-Ray binary.

The literature on the λ Boo stars has grown to become somewhat heterogenous, as different authors have applied different criteria across the UV, optical, and infrared regions to determine the membership status of λ Boo candidates. We aim to clear up the confusion by consulting the literature on 212 objects that have been considered as λ Boo candidates, and subsequently evaluating the evidence in favour of their admission to the λ Boo class. We obtained new spectra of ~ 90 of these candidates and classified them on the MK system to aid in the membership evaluations. The re-evaluation of the 212 objects resulted in 64 members and 103 non-members of the λ Boo class, with a further 45 stars for which membership status is unclear. We suggest observations for each of the stars in the latter category that will allow them to be confidently included or rejected from the class. Our reclassification facilitates homogenous analysis on group members, and represents the largest collection of confirmed λ Boo stars known.

A new technique for the deposition of amorphous organic thin films, low pressure organic vapor phase deposition (LP-OVPD), was used to fabricate organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) and optically pumped organic lasers. The OLED consisted of a film of aluminum tris- (8 hydroxyquinoline) (Alq3) grown on the surface of a film of N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3- methylphenyl)1–l'biphenyl-4–4'diamine (TPD). Growth on both glass and polyester substrates was accomplished and the resulting heterojunction devices were found to have a performance similar to conventional, small molecular weight OLEDs grown using thermal evaporation in vacuum. The LP-OVPD grown OLED has an external quantum efficiency of 0.40 ± 0.05% and a turn-on voltage of approximately 6V. The optically pumped organic laser consisted of a film of Alq3 doped with the laser dye, benzoic acid, 2-[6-(ethylamino)-3-(ethylimino)-2,7-dimethyl-3Hxanthen- 9-yl]-ethyl ester, monohydrochloride (Rhodamine 6G). The laser output was centered at approximately 610nm and the lasing threshold was 30μJcm−2. The rapid throughput of LP-OVPD and its use of low vacuum in a horizontal reactor demonstrate its potential to facilitate low cost, roll-to-roll deposition of organic films for many photonic device applications.

High mobility channel materials and new device structures will be needed to meet the power and performance specifications in future technology nodes. Therefore, the use of Ge and III/V materials and novel devices such as heterojunction TunnelFET’s is investigated for future CMOS applications. High-performance CMOS can be obtained by combining Ge pMOS devices with nMOS devices made on III/V compounds such as InGaAs. In all cases the key challenge is the electrical passivation of the interface between the high-k dielectric and the alternative channel materials. Recent studies have demonstrated good electrical properties of the GeO2/Ge interface. Since the GeO2 layer is very hygroscopic, full in-situ processing of GeO2 formation and high-k deposition must be performed or other methods must be employed to stabilize the GeO2 layer. One of the most successful passivation techniques for Ge MOS gate stacks is a thin, epitaxial layer of Si. A lot of attention went into better understanding of this passivation and the effects of its optimization on various device characteristics. It was found that mobility and Vt trends in both pMOS and nMOS transistors can be explained based on defects located at the Si/SiO2 interface. Unfortunately, III-V/oxide interfaces are not quite as robust and most interfaces present rather high densities of interface states. Although, considerable improvements have been realized in the reduction of the interface state density, further developments are required to obtain high performance MOS devices. To this purpose various passivation methods were critically evaluated. Simulations using Density Functional Theory reveal the possibility of using a thin amorphous layer made of GeOX to obtain an electrically unpinned gap. The major challenge resides in the control of the c-Ge thickness and the oxidation of this layer to avoid the diffusion of oxygen atoms at the Ge/GaAs(001) interface. Promising results are obtained by optimizing the surface preparation, high-k deposition and annealing cycle on In0.53Ga0.47As-Al2O3 interfaces. Self-aligned inversion channel n-MOSFETs fabricated on p-type In0.53Ga0.47As demonstrate inversion-mode operation with high drive current and a peak electron mobility of 3000 cm2/Vs. Since ultimately the major showstopper on the scaling roadmap is not device speed, but rather power density, the introduction of these advanced materials will have to go together with the introduction of new device concepts. Novel structures such as heterojunction TunnelFET’s can fully exploit the properties of these new materials and provide superior performance at lower power consumption by virtue of their improved subthreshold behaviour. Vertical surround gate devices produced from nanowires allow the introduction of a wide range of materials on Si. This illustrates the possibilities that are created by the combination of new materials and devices to allow scaling of nanoelectronics beyond the Si roadmap.

In May 2008 the Nijmegen Municipal Health Service (MHS) was informed about an outbreak of atypical pneumonia in three in-patients of a long-term psychiatric institution. The patients had been hospitalized and had laboratory confirmation of acute Q fever infection. The MHS started active case finding among in-patients, employees of and visitors to the institution. In a small meadow on the institution premises a flock of sheep was present. One of the lambs in the flock had been abandoned by its mother and cuddled by the in-patients. Samples were taken of the flock. Forty-five clinical cases were identified in employees, in-patients and visitors; 28 were laboratory confirmed as Q fever. Laboratory screening of pregnant women and persons with valvular heart disease resulted in one confirmed Q fever case in a pregnant woman. Of 27 samples from animals, seven were positive and 15 suspect for Coxiella burnetii infection. This outbreak of Q fever in a unique psychiatric setting pointed to a small flock of sheep with newborn lambs as the most likely source of exposure. Care institutions that have vulnerable residents and keep flocks of sheep should be careful to take adequate hygienic measures during delivery of lambs and handling of birth products.

In this paper experiments are reported on a condensing steam jet. Superheated steam is injected at the bottom centre of a cylindrical water vessel, resulting in a turbulent jet with Reynolds numbers varying between $7.9{\times}10^4$ and $18.1{\times}10.4$, depending on the bulk temperature of the water. Near the steam inlet, the flow is two-phase with rapidly condensing steam. Downstream of a development region the jet is essentially single-phase. Using particle image velocimetry in a vertical plane through the central axis, instantaneous velocity fields of the single-phase region have been measured at a rate of 15Hz. The velocity field in this region is found to be self-similar, i.e. the width of the jet, $r_{1/2}$, increases linearly with increasing distance to the virtual origin, and a Gaussian profile prevails if velocities and distances are properly scaled. The spreading rate is equal to the one usually found in single-phase jets, and temperature independent. The virtual origin of the jet is positioned at a temperature-dependent distance (3–7 nozzle diameters) upstream of the steam inlet, and this distance is shown to correlate with the length of the condensation region. The turbulence intensity is found to be similar to the intensities usually reported for single-phase jets, although full isotropy is only reached at a distance of 15 nozzle diameters from the nozzle. The jet exhibits a slow wobbling motion, which can be attributed to instability of the backflow resulting from the confinement. When the measurements are compensated for this wobble, a slightly smaller spreading rate is obtained, which indicates that unconditional averaging may conceal significant flow structuring.

A floristic and taxonomic survey was made of the diatom communities of sediments and microbial mats in 66 freshwater and saline lakes and pools in the Larsemann Hills, Rauer Islands and Bølingen Islands (continental eastern Antarctica). A total of 31 taxa were distinguished, 10 of which could not be identified to species (nine) or even generic (one) level, either because they have most probably not yet been described or because they belong to species complexes that are in need of revision. Four new combinations are proposed; three species are reported for the first time from continental Antarctica, while another three are confirmed for eastern Antarctica for the first time. Analysis of literature data on Antarctic lacustrine diatoms shows that taxonomic practice has a profound influence on the assessment of distribution patterns. Force-fitting of European and North American names to Antarctic taxa and erroneous identifications have contributed to an underestimation of endemism in the diatom flora of Antarctic inland waters. In addition, changing concepts on species boundaries during the last decade influence the interpretation of biogeographic patterns. The application of a more fine grained taxonomy will almost certainly reveal a higher degree of endemism in Antarctica, and especially continental Antarctica. The present case study shows that in the Larsemann Hills Antarctic endemics account for about 40% of all freshwater and brackish taxa, while the biogeographic distribution of about 26% is unknown, mainly due to their uncertain taxonomic identity. This contradicts the view that cosmopolitanism prevails in Antarctic diatoms.