ZrN-based plasmonic sensor: a promising alternative to traditional noble metal-based sensors for CMOS-compatible and tunable optical properties.

In this article, we introduce a novel comb shaped plasmonic refractive index sensor that employs a ZrN-Insulator-ZrN configuration. The sensor is constructed using Zirconium Nitride (ZrN), an alternative refractory material that offers advantages over traditional metals such as silver and gold, as ZrN is standard Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible and has tunable optical properties. The sensor has recorded a maximum sensitivity, figure of merit (FOM), and sensing resolution of 1445.46 nm/RIU, 140.96, and 6.91 × 10-7RIU-1, respectively. Beyond that, the integration of ZrN offers the sensor with various advantages, including higher hardness, thermal stability at high temperatures, better corrosion and abrasion resistance, and lower electrical resistivity, whereas traditional plasmonic metals lack these properties, curtailing the real-world use of plasmonic devices. As a result, our suggested model surpasses the typical noble material based Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) arrangement and offers potential for the development of highly efficient, robust, and durable nanometric sensing devices which will create a bridge between nanoelectronics and plasmonics.

Subjective quality of life in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

The aim of this study was to (1) assess Subjective Quality of Life (SQOL) of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) using a generic concept and to compare the findings with those in groups with mental disorders and healthy subjects, and (2) investigate whether and, if so, to what extent socio-demographic and clinical variables predict SQOL in CFS patients. Seventy-three patients diagnosed with CFS were randomly selected and interviewed from two specialised clinics. CFS was diagnosed using the Oxford Criteria. SQOL was assessed on the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) on the Medical Outcome Study Short-Form 36 (MOS) SF-36. A battery of mood and symptom questionnaires, including the Symptom Checklist Questionnaire (SCL-90-R), was administered to assess various aspects of symptomatology as potential predictor variables. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of SQOL. Overall, SQOL was low in CFS patients and less favourable than in groups with mental disorders and healthy subjects. Satisfaction was particularly low with life as a whole, leisure activities and financial situation. Whilst SQOL was only moderately correlated with HRQOL, the SCL-90-R score, especially SCL-90-R Depression scale score, was the best predictor of SQOL explaining 35% of the variance. HRQOL and generic SQOL appear distinct despite some overlap. The findings underline that SQOL is significantly disrupted in CFS patients. Depressive symptoms are statistically the strongest 'predictor' of SQOL, although the direction of the relationship is not established. These data suggest that treatment of depression associated with CFS, regardless of causation, could help to improve SQOL in CFS patients.

A comparison of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome attending separate fatigue clinics based in immunology and psychiatry.

Hospital clinics for patients with chronic unexplained fatigue are held in departments of various disciplines. This causes difficulties for referrers in choosing the appropriate clinic and for researchers in generalizing findings from one type of clinic to others. We randomly selected 37 outpatients attending an immunology fatigue clinic and 36 outpatients attending a psychiatry fatigue clinic, all of whom had chronic fatigue syndrome. We compared demographic factors, symptoms, disability, quality of life, psychological distress and illness attributions. The patients from the two clinics were closely similar in their specific symptoms, disability, quality of life, psychological distress and previous attendance to mental health professionals. Psychological distress was high and equal in the two samples. The proportion of men was greater among patients attending the immunology clinic. In a post-hoc analysis, 64% of immunology attenders attributed their fatigue to physical factors, compared with 31% of psychiatry clinic attenders (chi(2)=6.35, 1 d.f., P=0.01). These findings suggest that research data from one type of chronic fatigue clinic can be generalized to others. Clinically similar patients are referred to different clinics, and the choice of clinic may be influenced by the patients' illness beliefs. The high levels of emotional distress suggest that psychosocial management is as important as physical management in hospital outpatients with chronic fatigue syndrome, irrespective of its aetiology.