Characterization of GaN Nanorods Fabricated Using Ni Nanomasking and Reactive Ion Etching: A Top-Down Approach

Large thermal mismatch between GaN surface and sapphire results in compressive stress in Gallium Nitride (GaN) layer which degrades the device performance. Nanostructuring the GaN can reduce this stress leading to reduction in Quantum Confined Stark Effect. Aligned GaN nanorods based nanodevices have potential applications in electronics and optoelectronics. This paper describes the fabrication of GaN nanorods using Ni nanomasking and reactive ion etching. The morphology of GaN nanorods was studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The optical properties of GaN nanorods were studied by Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy. CL results revealed the existence of characteristic band-edge luminescence and yellow band luminescence. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3099

Relativistic Landau Levels in the Rotating Cosmic String Spacetime

In the spacetime induced by a rotating cosmic string we compute the energy levels of a massive spinless particle coupled covariantly to a homogeneous magnetic field parallel to the string. Afterwards, we consider the addition of a scalar potential with a Coulomb-type and a linear confining term and completely solve the Klein-Gordon equations for each configuration. Finally, assuming rigid-wall boundary conditions, we find the Landau levels when the linear defect is itself magnetized. Remarkably, our analysis reveals that the Landau quantization occurs even in the absence of gauge fields provided the string is endowed with spin.Comment: Writing and grammar revised. References added. 14 pages, no figures. To appear in European Phys. J.

Elaborator reflection : extending Idris in Idris

Many programming languages and proof assistants are defined by elaboration from a high-level language with a great deal of implicit information to a highly explicit core language. In many advanced languages, these elaboration facilities contain powerful tools for program construction, but these tools are rarely designed to be repurposed by users. We describe elaborator reflection, a paradigm for metaprogramming in which the elaboration machinery is made directly available to metaprograms, as well as a concrete realization of elaborator reflection in Idris, a functional language with full dependent types. We demonstrate the applicability of Idris’s reflected elaboration framework to a number of realistic problems, we discuss the motivation for the specific features of its design, and we explore the broader meaning of elaborator reflection as it can relate to other languages.Postprin

A Water Quality Survey of the Big Blue River, Nebraska

Physiochemical and bacteriological conditions along with the macroinvertebrate community structure were studied to evaluate water quality of the Big Blue River, in southeastern Nebraska. Samples were taken between November 7, 1978, and December 19, 1979, at six stations from the headwaters to lower reaches of the river. Some sample sites were below specific municipal and industrial effluents to evaluate better their impact on water quality. Parameters measured included pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, suspended solids, conductivity, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, ammonia, and fecal coliforms. Dissolved oxygen and nitrate were significantly different (p\u3c0.05) between stations, with the headwaters station exhibiting the greatest difference in water quality. Fecal coliforms were substantially higher at stations below Crete. The macroinvertebrate fauna comprised 42 and 66 taxa collected with Ekman grabs and multiplate artificial substrates, respectively. Average diversity values, using the Shannon-Weaver index, indicated all stations would be categorized as moderately polluted. Taxa collected at the stations showed a great deal of homogeneity. An exception was the headwaters site where pollution-associated taxa were found in abundance. Seasonal changes were an apparent factor affecting diversity of the macro invertebrates. The results collected provide useful baseline information for future evaluation of water quality trends of the Big Blue River

A Water Quality Survey of the Big Blue River, Nebraska

Physiochemical and bacteriological conditions along with the macroinvertebrate community structure were studied to evaluate water quality of the Big Blue River, in southeastern Nebraska. Samples were taken between November 7, 1978, and December 19, 1979, at six stations from the headwaters to lower reaches of the river. Some sample sites were below specific municipal and industrial effluents to evaluate better their impact on water quality. Parameters measured included pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, suspended solids, conductivity, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, ammonia, and fecal coliforms. Dissolved oxygen and nitrate were significantly different (p\u3c0.05) between stations, with the headwaters station exhibiting the greatest difference in water quality. Fecal coliforms were substantially higher at stations below Crete. The macroinvertebrate fauna comprised 42 and 66 taxa collected with Ekman grabs and multiplate artificial substrates, respectively. Average diversity values, using the Shannon-Weaver index, indicated all stations would be categorized as moderately polluted. Taxa collected at the stations showed a great deal of homogeneity. An exception was the headwaters site where pollution-associated taxa were found in abundance. Seasonal changes were an apparent factor affecting diversity of the macro invertebrates. The results collected provide useful baseline information for future evaluation of water quality trends of the Big Blue River

Complex Line Bundles over Simplicial Complexes and their Applications

Discrete vector bundles are important in Physics and recently found remarkable applications in Computer Graphics. This article approaches discrete bundles from the viewpoint of Discrete Differential Geometry, including a complete classification of discrete vector bundles over finite simplicial complexes. In particular, we obtain a discrete analogue of a theorem of Andr\'e Weil on the classification of hermitian line bundles. Moreover, we associate to each discrete hermitian line bundle with curvature a unique piecewise-smooth hermitian line bundle of piecewise constant curvature. This is then used to define a discrete Dirichlet energy which generalizes the well-known cotangent Laplace operator to discrete hermitian line bundles over Euclidean simplicial manifolds of arbitrary dimension

Submergence times and abundance estimation of blue whales off Sri Lanka

Very little is known about the blue whale populations in the waters of Sri Lanka. A first attempt at estimating their relative abundances using DISTANCE sampling methods is currently underway in the waters off the southern coast of the island. Surfacing behavior was quantified from focal follows of individual blue whales between January and March 2011. Estimates of submergence times will be used for generating more precise abundance estimates. Individuals were followed from a 32-foot vessel to observe surfacing patterns and breathing behaviour in the presence and absence of whalewatching boats. Time at first surface, length of surface interval, number of blows and final dive time were collected. The data gathered was analysed using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to identify whether dive duration was uniform or whether dives could be classified using surface interval and submergence time. The preliminary results show that the whales performed two types of dives; ‘regular’ and ‘deep’ dives with Inter Breath Intervals (IBI) of 22.0s (SD=4.7) and 635.6s (SD=405.4) respectively. Blue Whales off southern Sri Lanka spend 75% of their time performing ‘regular’ dives. Accordingly; we estimated that their mean IBI was approximately 173s. These preliminary results obtained using HMM may provide a more accurate correction factor than that obtained from the raw data. This may refine estimates of whale density and abundance for the area

Tramp Ship Scheduling Problem with Berth Allocation Considerations and Time-dependent Constraints

This work presents a model for the Tramp Ship Scheduling problem including berth allocation considerations, motivated by a real case of a shipping company. The aim is to determine the travel schedule for each vessel considering multiple docking and multiple time windows at the berths. This work is innovative due to the consideration of both spatial and temporal attributes during the scheduling process. The resulting model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming problem, and a heuristic method to deal with multiple vessel schedules is also presented. Numerical experimentation is performed to highlight the benefits of the proposed approach and the applicability of the heuristic. Conclusions and recommendations for further research are provided.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables, proceedings paper of Mexican International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (MICAI) 201

Effect of alendronate on post-traumatic osteoarthritis induced by anterior cruciate ligament rupture in mice.

IntroductionPrevious studies in animal models of osteoarthritis suggest that alendronate (ALN) has antiresorptive and chondroprotective effects, and can reduce osteophyte formation. However, these studies used non-physiologic injury methods, and did not investigate early time points during which bone is rapidly remodeled prior to cartilage degeneration. The current study utilized a non-invasive model of knee injury in mice to investigate the effect of ALN treatment on subchondral bone changes, articular cartilage degeneration, and osteophyte formation following injury.MethodsNon-invasive knee injury via tibial compression overload or sham injury was performed on a total of 90 mice. Mice were treated with twice weekly subcutaneous injections of low-dose ALN (40 μg/kg/dose), high-dose ALN (1,000 μg/kg/dose), or vehicle, starting immediately after injury until sacrifice at 7, 14 or 56 days. Trabecular bone of the femoral epiphysis, subchondral cortical bone, and osteophyte volume were quantified using micro-computed tomography (μCT). Whole-joint histology was performed at all time points to analyze articular cartilage and joint degeneration. Blood was collected at sacrifice, and serum was analyzed for biomarkers of bone formation and resorption.ResultsμCT analysis revealed significant loss of trabecular bone from the femoral epiphysis 7 and 14 days post-injury, which was effectively prevented by high-dose ALN treatment. High-dose ALN treatment was also able to reduce subchondral bone thickening 56 days post-injury, and was able to partially preserve articular cartilage 14 days post-injury. However, ALN treatment was not able to reduce osteophyte formation at 56 days post-injury, nor was it able to prevent articular cartilage and joint degeneration at this time point. Analysis of serum biomarkers revealed an increase in bone resorption at 7 and 14 days post-injury, with no change in bone formation at any time points.ConclusionsHigh-dose ALN treatment was able to prevent early trabecular bone loss and cartilage degeneration following non-invasive knee injury, but was not able to mitigate long-term joint degeneration. These data contribute to understanding the effect of bisphosphonates on the development of osteoarthritis, and may support the use of anti-resorptive drugs to prevent joint degeneration following injury, although further investigation is warranted