Structural transitions in biomolecules - a numerical comparison of two approaches for the study of phase transitions in small systems

We compare two recently proposed methods for the characterization of phase transitions in small systems. The usefulness of these techniques is evaluated for the case of structural transition in alanine-based peptides.Comment: Accepted for publication in Int. J. Mol. Sci., to appear in a special issue devoted to R.S. Berr

Partition Function Zeros and Finite Size Scaling of Helix-Coil Transitions in a Polypeptide

We report on multicanonical simulations of the helix-coil transition of a polypeptide. The nature of this transition was studied by calculating partition function zeros and the finite-size scaling of various quantities. Estimates for critical exponents are presented.Comment: RevTex, 4 eps-files; to appear in Phys. Rev. Le

Green, red and infrared Er-related emission in implanted GaN:Er and GaN:Er,O samples

Er-related luminescence near 1.54 mm ~;805 meV! is observed under below band gap excitation at 4.2 K in GaN:Er and GaN:Er,O implanted samples. The spectrum of the recovered damage samples is a multiline structure. So far, these lines are the sharpest ones reported for GaN. Well-resolved green and red luminescences are observed in implanted samples. The dependence of luminescence on the excitation energy as well as the influence of different nominal fluence and annealing conditions is discussed. Combining the results obtained from photoluminescence and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, different lattice sites for the optical active Er-related centers are identified

Lattice location and thermal stability of implanted Fe in ZnO

The emission channeling technique was applied to evaluate the lattice location of implanted $^{59}$Fe in single-crystalline ZnO. The angular distribution of $\beta^{-}$- particles emitted by $^{59}$Fe was monitored with a position-sensitive electron detector, following 60-keV low dose ($2.0 \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$) room-temperature implantation of the precursor isotope $^{59}$Mn. The emission patterns around the [0001], [1102], [1101] and [2113] directions revealed that following annealing at 800°C 95(8)% of the Fe atoms occupy ideal substitutional Zn sites with root mean square displacements of 0.06-0.09 Å

Rapid decomposition of traditionally produced biochar in an Oxisol under savannah in Northeastern Brazil.

Soil amendment with biochar has been claimed as an option for carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural soils. Most studies on biochar/soil organic carbon (SOC) interactions were executed under laboratory conditions. Here we tested the stability of biochar produced in a traditional kiln and its effects on the stocks of native SOC under field conditions

Near-band-edge slow luminescence in nominally undoped bulk ZnO

We report the observation of slow emission bands overlapped with the near-band-edge steady-state luminescence of nominally undoped ZnO crystals. At low temperatures the time-resolved spectra are dominated by the emission of several high-energy bound exciton lines and the two-electron satellite spectral region. Furthermore, two donor-acceptor pair transitions at 3.22 and 3.238 eV are clearly identified in temperature-dependent time-resolved spectroscopy. These donor-acceptor pairs involve a common shallow donor at 67 meV and deep acceptor levels at 250 and 232 meV.FCT/FEDER - POCTI/CTM/45236/0