28,414 research outputs found
Electric dipole sheets in BaTiO/BaZrO superlattices
We investigate two-dimensional electric dipole sheets in the superlattice
made of BaTiO and BaZrO using first-principles-based Monte-Carlo
simulations and density functional calculations. Electric dipole domains and
complex patterns are observed and the complex dipole structures with various
symmetries (e.g. Pma2, Cmcm and Pmc2_{1}) are further confirmed by density
functional calculations, which are found to be almost degenerate in energy with
the ferroelectric ground state of the Amm2 symmetry, therefore strongly
resembling magnetic sheets. More complex dipole patterns, including vortices
and anti-vortices, are also observed, which may constitute the intermediate
states that overcome the high energy barrier of different polarization
orientations previously predicted by Lebedev\onlinecite{Lebedev2013}. We also
show that such system possesses large electrostrictive effects that may be
technologically important
Regional estimation of daily to annual regional evapotranspiration with MODIS data in the Yellow River Delta wetland
Evapotranspiration (ET) from the wetland of the Yellow River Delta (YRD) is one of the important components in the water cycle, which represents the water consumption by the plants and evaporation from the water and the non-vegetated surfaces. Reliable estimates of the total evapotranspiration from the wetland is useful information both for understanding the hydrological process and for water management to protect this natural environment. Due to the heterogeneity of the vegetation types and canopy density and of soil water content over the wetland (specifically over the natural reserve areas), it is difficult to estimate the regional evapotranspiration extrapolating measurements or calculations usually done locally for a specific land cover type. Remote sensing can provide observations of land surface conditions with high spatial and temporal resolution and coverage. In this study, a model based on the Energy Balance method was used to calculate daily evapotranspiration (ET) using instantaneous observations of land surface reflectance and temperature from MODIS when the data were available on clouds-free days. A time series analysis algorithm was then applied to generate a time series of daily ET over a year period by filling the gaps in the observation series due to clouds. A detailed vegetation classification map was used to help identifying areas of various wetland vegetation types in the YRD wetland. Such information was also used to improve the parameterizations in the energy balance model to improve the accuracy of ET estimates. This study showed that spatial variation of ET was significant over the same vegetation class at a given time and over different vegetation types in different seasons in the YRD wetlan
Piezoelectric control of the magnetic anisotropy via interface strain coupling in a composite multiferroic structure
We investigate theoretically the magnetic dynamics in a
ferroelectric/ferromagnetic heterostructure coupled via strain-mediated
magnetoelectric interaction. We predict an electric field-induced magnetic
switching in the plane perpendicular to the magneto-crystalline easy axis, and
trace this effect back to the piezoelectric control of the magnetoelastic
coupling. We also investigate the magnetic remanence and the electric
coercivity
A rapid staining-assisted wood sampling method for PCR-based detection of pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in Pinus massoniana wood tissue
For reasons of unequal distribution of more than one nematode species in wood, and limited
availability of wood samples required for the PCR-based method for detecting pinewood nematodes in
wood tissue of Pinus massoniana, a rapid staining-assisted wood sampling method aiding PCR-based
detection of the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Bx) in small wood samples of P.
massoniana was developed in this study. This comprised a series of new techniques: sampling, mass
estimations of nematodes using staining techniques, and lowest limit Bx nematode mass determination
for PCR detection. The procedure was undertaken on three adjoining 5-mg wood cross-sections, of
0.5 · 0.5 · 0.015 cm dimension, that were cut from a wood sample of 0.5 · 0.5 · 0.5 cm initially, then
the larger wood sample was stained by acid fuchsin, from which two 5-mg wood cross-sections (that
adjoined the three 5-mg wood cross-sections, mentioned above) were cut. Nematode-staining-spots
(NSSs) in each of the two stained sections were counted under a microscope at 100· magnification. If
there were eight or more NSSs present, the adjoining three sections were used for PCR assays. The
B. xylophilus – specific amplicon of 403 bp (DQ855275) was generated by PCR assay from 100.00% of
5-mg wood cross-sections that contained more than eight Bx NSSs by the PCR assay. The entire
sampling procedure took only 10 min indicating that it is suitable for the fast estimation of nematode
numbers in the wood of P. massonina as the prelimary sample selections for other more expensive
Bx-detection methods such as PCR assay
Momentum Kick Model Description of the Ridge in (Delta-phi)-(Delta eta) Correlation in pp Collisions at 7 TeV
The near-side ridge structure in the (Delta phi)-(Delta eta) correlation
observed by the CMS Collaboration for pp collisions at 7 TeV at LHC can be
explained by the momentum kick model in which the ridge particles are medium
partons that suffer a collision with the jet and acquire a momentum kick along
the jet direction. Similar to the early medium parton momentum distribution
obtained in previous analysis for nucleus-nucleus collisions at 0.2 TeV, the
early medium parton momentum distribution in pp collisions at 7 TeV exhibits a
rapidity plateau as arising from particle production in a flux tube.Comment: Talk presented at Workshop on High-pT Probes of High-Density QCD at
the LHC, Palaiseau, May 30-June2, 201
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