Numerical solutions on fracture of piezoelectric materials by hybrid element

The cracked piezoelectric problem is observed numerically. To simulate the characteristic singularity at the crack tip, a plane piezoelectric hybrid element is derived. The new model involves displacement u, stress σo, electric displacement D and electric potential p as independent variables. The electromechanical coupling behavior of the cracked piezoelectric ceramics PZT-4 and PZT-5 is investigated. Under impermeable crack condition, the 1/√r-singularity at the crack-tip zone is exactly represented for σ and D. The efficiency of implementing the permeable crack condition is also inspected. To examine current energy release rate formulas, the path-independent integral is computed, and then a fitting formula for the energy release rate is obtained. In this paper, all the numerical results are compared with the previously reported theoretical solutions. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Fabrication and characteristics of a GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor using a selective buried sub-collector

A C-doped GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with a selective buried sub-collector has been fabricated by two growth steps. The active HBT region was made on the selective buried sub-collector layer with minimum overlap of the extrinsic base and the sub-collector region resulting in substantial reduction of the base-collector capacitance. The experiment shows that the base-collector capacitance is reduced to about half of that of a conventional HBT while the base resistance remains unchanged resulting in a 40-50% increase in the maximum oscillation frequency. Both DC and RF characteristics are investigated and compared with a conventional HBT. A current gain of 40 cutoff frequency of 50 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency of 140 GHz were obtained for the GaInP/GaAs HBT. It is demonstrated that the selective buried sub-collector provides an effective means for enhancing RF performance of an HBT. © 1997 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Impaired vowel discrimination in Mandarin-speaking congenital amusics

2015-2016 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Experimental study and modeling of the influence of screw dislocations on the performance of Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes

The influence of screw dislocations on the performance of Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes was investigated. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the diodes fabricated on different GaN templates grown by metallorganic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrates were studied. It was shown that these dislocations result in the lowering of the barrier height in the localized regions.published_or_final_versio

Functional and molecular characterization of hyposensitive underactive bladder tissue and urine in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat

Background: The functional and molecular alterations of nerve growth factor (NGF) and Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and its receptors were studied in bladder and urine in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methodology/Principal Findings: Diabetes mellitus was induced with a single dose of 45 mg/kg STZ Intraperitoneally (i.p) in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Continuous cystometrogram were performed on control rats and STZ treated rats at week 4 or 12 under urethane anesthesia. Bladder was then harvested for histology, expression of EP receptors and NGF by western blotting, PGE2 levels by ELISA, and detection of apoptosis by TUNEL staining. In addition, 4-hr urine was collected from all groups for urine levels of PGE2, and NGF assay. DM induced progressive increase of bladder weight, urine production, intercontraction interval (ICI) and residual urine in a time dependent fashion. Upregulation of Prostaglandin E receptor (EP)1 and EP3 receptors and downregulation of NGF expression, increase in urine NGF and decrease levels of urine PGE2 at week 12 was observed. The decrease in ICI by intravesical instillation of PGE2 was by 51% in control rats and 31.4% in DM group at week 12. Conclusions/Significance: DM induced hyposensitive underactive bladder which is characterized by increased inflammatory reaction, apoptosis, urine NGF levels, upregulation of EP1 and EP3 receptors and decreased bladder NGF and urine PGE2. The data suggest that EP3 receptor are potential targets in the treatment of diabetes induced underactive bladder. © 2014 Nirmal et al

Outbreak of West Nile virus causing severe neurological involvement in children, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, 2002.

An atypical outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) occurred in Ngorban County, South Kordophan, Sudan, from May to August 2002. We investigated the epidemic and conducted a case-control study in the village of Limon. Blood samples were obtained for cases and controls. Patients with obvious sequelae underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling as well. We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neutralization tests for laboratory diagnosis and identified 31 cases with encephalitis, four of whom died. Median age was 36 months. Bivariate analysis did not reveal any significant association with the risk factors investigated. Laboratory analysis confirmed presence of IgM antibodies caused by WNV in eight of 13 cases, indicative of recent viral infection. The unique aspects of the WNW outbreak in Sudan, i.e. disease occurrence solely among children and the clinical domination of encephalitis, involving severe neurological sequelae, demonstrate the continuing evolution of WNV virulence. The spread of such a virus to other countries or continents cannot be excluded

Effects of serum proteins on corrosion behavior of ISO 5832–9 alloy modified by titania coatings

Stainless steel ISO 5832–9 type is often used to perform implants which operate in protein-containing physiological environments. The interaction between proteins and surface of the implant may affect its corrosive properties. The aim of this work was to study the effect of selected serum proteins (albumin and γ-globulins) on the corrosion of ISO 5832–9 alloy (trade name M30NW) which surface was modified by titania coatings. These coatings were obtained by sol– gel method and heated at temperatures of 400 and 800 °C. To evaluate the effect of the proteins, the corrosion tests were performed with and without the addition of proteins with concentration of 1 g L−1 to the physiological saline solution (0.9 % NaCl, pH 7.4) at 37 °C. The tests were carried out within 7 days. The following electrochemical methods were used: open circuit potential, linear polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, surface analysis by optical microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method was done at the end of weekly corrosion tests. The results of corrosion tests showed that M30NW alloy both uncoated and modified with titania coatings exhibits a very good corrosion resistance during weekly exposition to corrosion medium. The best corrosion resistance in 0.9 % NaCl solution is shown by alloy samples modified by titania coating annealed at 400 °C. The serumproteins have no significant effect onto corrosion of investigated biomedical steel. The XPS results confirmed the presence of proteins on the alloy surface after 7 days of immersion in proteincontaining solutions.The investigations were supported by the National Science Centre project No. N N507 501339. The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Janusz Sobczak and Dr. hab. Wojciech Lisowski from Institute of Physical Chemistry of PAS for XPS surface analyses

Current transport property of n-GaN/n-6H-SiC heterojunction: Influence of interface states

Heterostructures of n-GaNn-6H-SiC grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) and molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) are characterized with the current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V), and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) techniques. Using different contact configurations, the I-V results reveal a rectifying barrier in the n-GaNn-6H-SiC heterostructures. When GaN is negatively biased, the current is exponentially proportional to the applied voltage with the built-in barrier being 0.4-1.1 eV for the HVPE samples and 0.5 eV for the MBE sample. DLTS measurements reveal intense band-like deep level states in the interfacial region of the heterostructure, and the Fermi-level pinning by these deep level defects is invoked to account for the interfacial rectifying barrier of the heterostructures. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

The depth-profiled carrier concentration and scattering mechanism in undoped GaN film grown on sapphire

The carrier concentration and scattering mechanism in undoped GaN film grown on sapphire were investigated. The film was grown on sapphire using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic measurements and temperature-dependant Hall (TDH) measurements were performed for the study of the depth distribution of the carrier density across the GaN film. The existence of a nonuniform spatial distribution of free carriers in the film with a highly conductive layer of ∼1 μm thickness near the GaN sapphire boundary was confirmed from the study. The electron mobility limiting effect of nitrogen vacancies on GaN bulk film was also discussed.published_or_final_versio

DNA barcoding reveals the coral “laboratory-rat”, Stylophora pistillata encompasses multiple identities

Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral “lab-rat” species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16–24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation