In situ monitoring of GaSb, GaInAsSb, and AlGaAsSb

Suitability of silicon photodiode detector arrays for monitoring the spectral reflectance during epitaxial growths of GaSb, AlGaAsSb, and GaInAsSb, which have cutoff wavelengths of 1.7, 1.2, and 2.3 {micro}m, respectively, is demonstrated. These alloys were grown lattice matched to GaSb in a vertical rotating-disk reactor, which was modified to accommodate near normal reflectance without affecting epilayer uniformity. By using a virtual interface model, the growth rate and complex refractive index at the growth temperature are extracted for these alloys over the 600 to 950 nm spectral range. Excellent agreement is obtained between the extracted growth rate and that determined by ex-situ measurement. Optical constants are compared to theoretical predictions based on an existing dielectric function model for these materials. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the entire reflectance spectrum yields valuable information on the approximate thickness of overlayers on the pregrowth substrate

Numerical study of the thermoelectric power factor in ultra-thin Si nanowires

Low dimensional structures have demonstrated improved thermoelectric (TE) performance because of a drastic reduction in their thermal conductivity, {\kappa}l. This has been observed for a variety of materials, even for traditionally poor thermoelectrics such as silicon. Other than the reduction in {\kappa}l, further improvements in the TE figure of merit ZT could potentially originate from the thermoelectric power factor. In this work, we couple the ballistic (Landauer) and diffusive linearized Boltzmann electron transport theory to the atomistic sp3d5s*-spin-orbit-coupled tight-binding (TB) electronic structure model. We calculate the room temperature electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and power factor of narrow 1D Si nanowires (NWs). We describe the numerical formulation of coupling TB to those transport formalisms, the approximations involved, and explain the differences in the conclusions obtained from each model. We investigate the effects of cross section size, transport orientation and confinement orientation, and the influence of the different scattering mechanisms. We show that such methodology can provide robust results for structures including thousands of atoms in the simulation domain and extending to length scales beyond 10nm, and point towards insightful design directions using the length scale and geometry as a design degree of freedom. We find that the effect of low dimensionality on the thermoelectric power factor of Si NWs can be observed at diameters below ~7nm, and that quantum confinement and different transport orientations offer the possibility for power factor optimization.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures; Journal of Computational Electronics, 201

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

In-situ Reflectance Monitoring of GaSb Substrate Oxide Desorption

The use of specular reflectance to monitor GaSb substrate oxide desorption in-situ is reported. Substrates were loaded into the organometallic vapor phase epitaxy reactor either as-received (epi-ready) or after receiving a solvent degrease, acid etch and rinse. A variety of surface preparations and anneal conditions were investigated. HCL was used as the etchant, and in certain cases was followed by an additional etch in Br{sub 2}-HCl-HNO{sub 3}-CH{sub 3}COOH for comparison. Rinse comparisons included 2-propanol, methanol, and deionized water. Substrates were heated to either 525, 550, or 575 C. Features observed in the in-situ reflectance associated with the oxide desorption process were interpreted based on the starting oxide chemistry and thickness. Based on in-situ reflectance and ex-situ atomic force microscopy data, a recommendation on a reproducible GaSb substrate preparation technique suitable for high-quality epitaxial growth is suggested

In-Situ Monitoring of GaSb, GaInAsSb, and AlGaAsSb*

The suitability of the wavelength range provided by silicon photodiode detector arrays for monitoring the spectral reflectance during epitaxial growth of GaSb, AlGaAsSb, and GaInAsSb, which have cutoff wavelengths at 25 degree C of 1.7, 1.2, and 2.3 um, respectively, is demonstrated. These alloys were grown lattice matched to GaSb in a vertical rotating-disk reactor, which was modified to accommodate near normal reflectance without affecting epilayer uniformity, By using a virtual interface model, the growth rate and complex refractive index at the growth temperature are extracted for these alloys over the 600 to 1000 nm spectral range. Excellent agreement is obtained between the extracted growth rate and that determined by ex-situ measurement

In-situ monitoring of GaSb, GaInAsSb, and AlGaAsSb

Suitability of silicon photodiode detector arrays for monitoring the spectral reflectance during epitaxial growths of GaSb, AlGaAsSb, and GaInAsSb, which have cutoff wavelengths of 1.7, 1.2, and 2.3 {micro}m, respectively, is demonstrated. These alloys were grown lattice matched to GaSb in a vertical rotating-disk reactor, which was modified to accommodate near normal reflectance without affecting epilayer uniformity. By using a virtual interface model, the growth rate and complex refractive index at the growth temperature are extracted for these alloys over the 600 to 950 nm spectral range. Excellent agreement is obtained between the extracted growth rate and that determined by ex-situ measurement. Optical constants are compared to theoretical predictions based on an existing dielectric function model for these materials. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the entire reflectance spectrum yields valuable information on the approximate thickness of overlayers on the pregrowth substrate

A multi-omic analysis of birthweight in newborn cord blood reveals new underlying mechanisms related to cholesterol metabolism

Background Birthweight reflects in utero exposures and later health evolution. Despite existing studies employing high-dimensional molecular measurements, the understanding of underlying mechanisms of birthweight remains limited. Methods To investigate the systems biology of birthweight, we cross-sectionally integrated the methylome, the transcriptome, the metabolome and a set of inflammatory proteins measured in cord blood samples, collected from four birth-cohorts (n = 489). We focused on two sets of 68 metabolites and 903 CpGs previously related to birthweight and investigated the correlation structures existing between these two sets and all other omic features via bipartite Pearson correlations. Results This dataset revealed that the set of metabolome and methylome signatures of birthweight have seven signals in common, including three metabolites [PC(34:2), plasmalogen PC(36:4)/PC(O-36:5), and a compound with m/z of 781.0545], two CpGs (on the DHCR24 and SC4MOL gene), and two proteins (periostin and CCL22). CCL22, a macrophage-derived chemokine has not been previously identified in relation to birthweight. Since the results of the omics integration indicated the central role of cholesterol metabolism, we explored the association of cholesterol levels in cord blood with birthweight in the ENVIRONAGE cohort (n = 1097), finding that higher birthweight was associated with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower in small versus large for gestational age newborns. Conclusions Our data suggests that an integration of different omic-layers in addition to single omics studies is a useful approach to generate new hypotheses regarding biological mechanisms. CCL22 and cholesterol metabolism in cord blood play a mechanistic role in birthweight

A multi-omic analysis of birthweight in newborn cord blood reveals new underlying mechanisms related to cholesterol metabolism

Background: Birthweight reflects in utero exposures and later health evolution. Despite existing studies employing high-dimensional molecular measurements, the understanding of underlying mechanisms of birthweight remains limited. Methods: To investigate the systems biology of birthweight, we cross-sectionally integrated the methylome, the transcriptome, the metabolome and a set of inflammatory proteins measured in cord blood samples, collected from four birth-cohorts (n = 489). We focused on two sets of 68 metabolites and 903 CpGs previously related to birthweight and investigated the correlation structures existing between these two sets and all other omic features via bipartite Pearson correlations. Results: This dataset revealed that the set of metabolome and methylome signatures of birthweight have seven signals in common, including three metabolites [PC(34:2), plasmalogen PC(36:4)/PC(O-36:5), and a compound with m/z of 781.0545], two CpGs (on the DHCR24 and SC4MOL gene), and two proteins (periostin and CCL22). CCL22, a macrophage-derived chemokine has not been previously identified in relation to birthweight. Since the results of the omics integration indicated the central role of cholesterol metabolism, we explored the association of cholesterol levels in cord blood with birthweight in the ENVIRONAGE cohort (n = 1097), finding that higher birthweight was associated with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower in small versus large for gestational age newborns. Conclusions: Our data suggests that an integration of different omic-layers in addition to single omics studies is a useful approach to generate new hypotheses regarding biological mechanisms. CCL22 and cholesterol metabolism in cord blood play a mechanistic role in birthweight.This work is supported by the Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (BOF) Hasselt University through a PhD fellowship [to RA], the “EXPOsOMICS” grant [grant number 308610-FP7 European Commission to PV], and the “STOP” grant [grant number 774548-European Commission H2020 to PV]. The ENVIRONAGE birth-cohort is supported by the EU Program “Ideas” (ERC-2012-StG-310898) and the FWO (G082317N). Piccolipiù cohort has been funded by the CCM grant 2010 and the Italian Ministry of Health

Thermal transport in free-standing silicon membranes: influence of dimensional reduction and surface nanostructures

Nanostructuring provides a viable route to improve the thermoelectric performance of materials, even of those that in bulk form have very low figure of merit. This strategy would potentially enable the fabrication of thermoelectric devices based on silicon, the cheapest, most integrable and easiest to dope Earth-abundant semiconductor. A drastic reduction of the thermal conductivity, which would lead to a proportional enhancement of the figure of merit, was observed for silicon low-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanowires and ultra-thin membranes. Here we provide a detailed analysis of the phononic properties of the latter, and we show that dimensionality reduction alone is not sufficient to hinder heat transport to a great extent. In turn, the presence of surface roughness at the nanoscale reduces the thermal conductivity of sub-10 nm membranes up to 10 times with respect to bulk