Josephson junctions are dissipationless elements used notably in superconducting nanocircuits. While being indispensable for the making of superconducting quantum bits, they are plagued by intrinsic noise mechanisms that reduce the coherence time of the quantum devices. An important source of such fluctuations may come from the non-cristallinity and disorder of the oxide layer sandwiched between the two superconducting leads. In this work, roughness in a Josephson junction is modeled as a set of pinholes with a universal bimodal distribution of transmission eigenvalues that sum incoherently in the noise power. Each of these channels is treated as a ballistic quantum point contact with a thin barrier that determines the transmission eigenvalue. The noise spectrum is calculated using the quasiclassical Green's function method to analyze high and low transmission limits at non-zero temperature for all interesting frequencies. As suggested by experiments, low transmission channels generate shot noise while fast switching between subgap states creates strong non-poissonian low-frequency noise. However, when analyzed for three different universal models of disorder, the principal contribution to noise is found to come from the partially opened channels. Finally, fluctuations of the noise from sample to sample is seen to be dominated by the contribution of opened channels which may reduce the reproducibility of results between different experiments.

Experiences of Barriers and Facilitators for Physical Activity from People with Mental Disorders who Participated in a Physical Activity Project - An Interview Study   Purpose: To explore the experiences regarding perceived barriers and facilitators for physical activity of three participants with mental disorders who took part in the Norwegian Physical Activity Mentor project. Design and methods: Descriptive qualitative design. Individual semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Data from the interviews was used in two separate bachelor theses, written by Swedish and Norwegian physiotherapy students. This cooperation was part of the NordPlus Higher Education Program Joint Physiotherapy Education in Bachelor Thesis Module. Qualitative content analysis was used in processing the data. Findings: Perceived barriers for physical activity were: mental disorder symptoms, antipsychotics, undertaking physical activity independently and physical experiences. Perceived facilitators for physical activity were: positive mental effects, intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, goal setting and routine. The experiences from the Physical Activity Mentor project, including the possibility of self-selected activities, were mainly positive. The support provided by the physical activity mentor was an important facilitator. Conclusion: Disease-related problems were perceived as barriers for physical activity. The most important perceived facilitator for physical activity was mental benefits from being physically active. External support from a physical activity mentor might facilitate physical activity for psychiatric outpatients.     Key words: mental disorder, physical activity, barriers, facilitators, mentor / NordPlus Higher Education Program Joint Physiotherapy Education in Bachelor Thesis Module

Patienter som lider av Münchhausens syndrom hittar på symtom och/eller skadar sig själva i syfte att få uppmärksamhet från sjukvårdspersonal. Det är en svårdiagnostiserad störning som är till skada för individen och hela sjukvårdssystemet. Det har gjorts få undersökningar om Münchhausens syndrom och därför intervjuades fem läkare för att öka kunskapen om Münchhausens syndrom och få svar på vilka möjligheter läkare har att kunna identifiera denna störning, samt vilka åtgärder som då kan bli aktuella. Resultatet visade att läkarna ansåg sig vara för lite insatta om Münchhausens syndrom och att de inte kunde vara helt säkra på att patienten inte hade de besvär som patienten påstod sig lida av. Det fanns heller ingen handlingsplan ifall läkarna misstänkte att en patient inte talade sanning om sitt hälsotillstånd. Kunskap och medvetenhet var två viktiga faktorer för att kunna identifiera och behandla patienter med Münchhausens syndrom. Urvalet kan ha påverkat studiens giltighet.

Background: According to 2010 U.S. Renal Data System 2010Annual Data Report, the incidence and prevalence of End-Stage Renal Disease is the worst of the world in Taiwan. Sleep complaints are common in dialysis patients, and impacts negatively on health. It has become highly important issue. Objectives: This study explored the prevalence of ESRD with sleep disorder. We focused on demography status, comorbidities, dialysis therapies and utilization of health care to define the risk factors of disease. Methods: We conducted secondary data analysis with admnstrative data of National Health Insurance between 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. We firstly seleced the patients diagnosed as ESRD and Dyssomnia, and merged the data set and other related variables.The data was analyzed by Chi-square test, t-test and logistic regression. Result: The prevalence of ESRD with sleep disorder for the four years were 2.1%¡B2.7%¡B6.4% and 7.3%, respectively. Female patient has higher risk than male .Higher comorbidity score also lead to higher risk, dialysis therapies in hemodialysis/peritoneal were 16.45¡B16.48¡B8.23 and 7.91 in OR. There were significant differences in regions of hospital organizations (northern compared with the eastern, OR were 3.47, 2.73, 1.94 and 2.29, class of hospital organizations (compared with Physician Clinics), there are more cases in Regional Hospitals, except 2006. Outpatient expenses and visits are both positive correlation in all years. Conclusion: The risk factors of suffering sleep disorder in ESRD patients are sex, comorbidities and dialysis therapies. It is a relatively common but frequently unrecognized, therefore, we strongly suggested further study could be conducted by research questionnaires to make up the weakness of adminstatrative data.

Psychologists face challenges on a daily basis. Among the challenges they face are making diagnostic decisions. Recently, bipolar disorder has shown an increase in diagnosis in children and adolescents. Once felt to be an adult disorder, journals are describing the use of the diagnosis with children and adolescents. While the diagnosis has been considered as relevant, no psychological measures have been developed to make an accurate diagnosis. Developing a new psychological measure for bipolar disorder in children is critical. Due to the lack of data on what constitutes normal behavior as well as the absence of an accurate measurement of early-onset bipolar disorder, it is necessary to develop such a measure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly developed measure based on the literature on bipolar disorder in children. The measure was developed through a review of the current literature, DSMIV-TR criteria for bipolar disorder, and ideas developed within a bipolar disorder research team at Texas A&M University. Because of the item content, the new measure is entitled the Mania Assessment Scale for Children (MASC). The first steps in understanding a new measure for early-onset bipolar disorder is to determine the factor structure of the scale as well as the reliability and validity. Results indicated that the MASC is best understood as a measure with a single score, or factor. Once the underlying structure of the MASC was determined, the study evaluated which behaviors of typically developing children may be misconstrued as indicative of bipolar disorder. Group differences on the measure are also evaluated. Results from statistical analysis showed that there were significant group differences between age groups, but not gender and ethnic groups. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between clinical and non-clinical groups. To conclude, a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future research is presented. Overall, it is hoped that the study will help psychologists better understand the complexity of behaviors associated with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2000. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-94). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Youngstown State University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-124). Also available via the World Wide Web in PDF format.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 2, 2009). Advisor: Stevan Hobfoll. Keywords: intimate partner violence; PTSD; empowerment; resources. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-83).

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.