15,726 research outputs found
Ion beam induced enhanced diffusion from gold thin films in silicon
Enhanced diffusion of gold atoms into silicon substrate has been studied in
Au thin films of various thicknesses (2.0, 5.3, 10.9 and 27.5 nm) deposited on
Si(111) and followed by irradiation with 1.5 MeV Au2+ at a flux of 6.3x10^12
ions cm-2 s-1 and fluence up to 1x10^15 ions cm-2. The high resolution
transmission electron microscopy measurements showed the presence of gold
silicide formation for the above-mentioned systems at fluence greater than
equal to 1x1014 ions cm-2. The maximum depth to which the gold atoms have been
diffused at a fluence of 1x10^14 ions cm-2 for the cases of 2.0, 5.3, 10.9 and
27.5 nm thick films has been found to be 60, 95, 160 and 13 nm respectively.
Interestingly, at higher fluence of 1x1015 ions cm-2 in case of 27.5 nm thick
film, gold atoms from the film transported to a maximum depth of 265 nm in the
substrate. The substrate silicon is found to be amorphous at the above fluence
values where unusually large mass transport occurred. Enhanced diffusion has
been explained on the basis of ion beam induced, flux dependent amorphous
nature of the substrate, and transient beam induced temperature effects. This
work confirms the absence of confinement effects that arise from spatially
confined structures and existence of thermal and chemical reactions during ion
irradiation.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
Thermal conductivity of graphene in Corbino membrane geometry
Local laser excitation and temperature readout from the intensity ratio of
Stokes to anti-Stokes Raman scattering signals are employed to study the
thermal properties of a large graphene membrane. The concluded value of the
heat conductivity coefficient \kappa ~ 600 W/m \cdot K is smaller than
previously reported but still validates the conclusion that graphene is a very
good thermal conductor.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Remodeling of Fibrous Extracellular Matrices by Contractile Cells: Predictions from Discrete Fiber Network Simulations
Contractile forces exerted on the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) lead
to the alignment and stretching of constituent fibers within the vicinity of
cells. As a consequence, the matrix reorganizes to form thick bundles of
aligned fibers that enable force transmission over distances larger than the
size of the cells. Contractile force-mediated remodeling of ECM fibers has
bearing on a number of physiologic and pathophysiologic phenomena. In this
work, we present a computational model to capture cell-mediated remodeling
within fibrous matrices using finite element based discrete fiber network
simulations. The model is shown to accurately capture collagen alignment,
heterogeneous deformations, and long-range force transmission observed
experimentally. The zone of mechanical influence surrounding a single
contractile cell and the interaction between two cells are predicted from the
strain-induced alignment of fibers. Through parametric studies, the effect of
cell contractility and cell shape anisotropy on matrix remodeling and force
transmission are quantified and summarized in a phase diagram. For highly
contractile and elongated cells, we find a sensing distance that is ten times
the cell size, in agreement with experimental observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Biophysical Journa
Discriminating quantum-optical beam-splitter channels with number-diagonal signal states: Applications to quantum reading and target detection
We consider the problem of distinguishing, with minimum probability of error,
two optical beam-splitter channels with unequal complex-valued reflectivities
using general quantum probe states entangled over M signal and M' idler mode
pairs of which the signal modes are bounced off the beam splitter while the
idler modes are retained losslessly. We obtain a lower bound on the output
state fidelity valid for any pure input state. We define number-diagonal signal
(NDS) states to be input states whose density operator in the signal modes is
diagonal in the multimode number basis. For such input states, we derive series
formulas for the optimal error probability, the output state fidelity, and the
Chernoff-type upper bounds on the error probability. For the special cases of
quantum reading of a classical digital memory and target detection (for which
the reflectivities are real valued), we show that for a given input signal
photon probability distribution, the fidelity is minimized by the NDS states
with that distribution and that for a given average total signal energy N_s,
the fidelity is minimized by any multimode Fock state with N_s total signal
photons. For reading of an ideal memory, it is shown that Fock state inputs
minimize the Chernoff bound. For target detection under high-loss conditions, a
no-go result showing the lack of appreciable quantum advantage over coherent
state transmitters is derived. A comparison of the error probability
performance for quantum reading of number state and two-mode squeezed vacuum
state (or EPR state) transmitters relative to coherent state transmitters is
presented for various values of the reflectances. While the nonclassical states
in general perform better than the coherent state, the quantitative performance
gains differ depending on the values of the reflectances.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. This closely approximates the published version.
The major change from v2 is that Section IV has been re-organized, with a
no-go result for target detection under high loss conditions highlighted. The
last sentence of the abstract has been deleted to conform to the arXiv word
limit. Please see the PDF for the full abstrac
Case studies to enhance online student evaluation: Bond University – Surveying students online to improve learning and teaching
One of the most sensible ways of improving learning and teaching is to ask the students for feedback. At the end of each teaching period (i.e. semester or term) all universities and many schools survey their students. Usually these surveys are managed online. Questions ask for student perceptions about teaching, assessment and workload. The survey administrators report four common problems
On the least common multiple of -binomial coefficients
In this paper, we prove the following identity \lcm({n\brack 0}_q,{n\brack
1}_q,...,{n\brack n}_q) =\frac{\lcm([1]_q,[2]_q,...,[n+1]_q)}{[n+1]_q},
where denotes the -binomial coefficient and
. This result is a -analogue of an identity of
Farhi [Amer. Math. Monthly, November (2009)].Comment: 5 page
Ultrastructure of the epithelial cells and oleo-gumresin secretion in Boswellia serrata (Burseraceae)
The ultrastructure of epithelial cells of oleo-gumresin ducts in Boswellia serrata, the source of Indian olibanum, is described. Oleo-gumresin ducts are present in primary and secondary phloem. The duct lumen forms an enlarged apoplastic space surrounded by epithelial cells. The epithelial cells are rich in dictyosomes, lipid bodies, mitochondria with dilated cristae, multivesicular bodies, osmiophilic materials, plastids and vesicIes. Plastids have poorly developed internal membranes. Dictyosomes and plastids are possible sites of resin synthesis. The gum component of the exudate is formed in dictyosomes and from the outer layers of the inner tangential wall (wall facing the duct lumen). This wall is replenished from inside by the activity of dictyosomes. The secretory materials are transported to the apoplast by granulocrine and eccrine secretion. They migrate through the loose microfibrils of the inner tangential wall into the duct lumen. Rarely, epithelial cells of young ducts have rudimentary plasmodesmata on the inner tangential wall which may be channels for passage of secretory materials into the duct lumen
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