Investigating routes toward atomic layer deposition of silicon carbide: Ab initio screening of potential silicon and carbon precursors

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising material for electronics due to its hardness, and ability to carry high currents and high operating temperature. SiC films are currently deposited using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at high temperatures 1500–1600 °C. However, there is a need to deposit SiC-based films on the surface of high aspect ratio features at low temperatures. One of the most precise thin film deposition techniques on high-aspect-ratio surfaces that operates at low temperatures is atomic layer deposition (ALD). However, there are currently no known methods for ALD of SiC. Herein, the authors present a first-principles thermodynamic analysis so as to screen different precursor combinations for SiC thin films. The authors do this by calculating the Gibbs energy ΔGΔG of the reaction using density functional theory and including the effects of pressure and temperature. This theoretical model was validated for existing chemical reactions in CVD of SiC at 1000 °C. The precursors disilane (Si2H6), silane (SiH4), or monochlorosilane (SiH3Cl) with ethyne (C2H2), carbontetrachloride (CCl4), or trichloromethane (CHCl3) were predicted to be the most promising for ALD of SiC at 400 °C

Actors and factors - bridging social science findings and urban land use change modeling

Recent uneven land use dynamics in urban areas resulting from demographic change, economic pressure and the cities’ mutual competition in a globalising world challenge both scientists and practitioners, among them social scientists, modellers and spatial planners. Processes of growth and decline specifically affect the urban environment, the requirements of the residents on social and natural resources. Social and environmental research is interested in a better understanding and ways of explaining the interactions between society and landscape in urban areas. And it is also needed for making life in cities attractive, secure and affordable within or despite of uneven dynamics.\ud The position paper upon “Actors and factors – bridging social science findings and urban land use change modeling” presents approaches and ideas on how social science findings on the interaction of the social system (actors) and the land use (factors) are taken up and formalised using modelling and gaming techniques. It should be understood as a first sketch compiling major challenges and proposing exemplary solutions in the field of interest

Gun, pistol and daggers in the drama of A. N. Ostrovsky “The Dowerless Bride”

The complex of “weapon” motives in the Ostrovsky drama “The Dowerless Bride” is considered. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of works that reveal the semantics of these elements of the playwright's artistic world. The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that the weapon motives in the play “The Dowerless Bride” are analyzed systematically, taking into account their functioning in other texts of Ostrovsky. Particular attention is paid to the episodes of the play, in which the weapons motives are presented most concentrated and directly included in the development of the main plot - unhappy love and the death of the main character. In the course of the study, it was found that most of the motives considered in the drama have a unique semantics and are not found in other works of Ostrovsky. As the analysis of the drama “The Dowerless Bride” showed, the key characters in the play, guilty of the death of Larissa Ogudalova, are simultaneously conjoined with several weapon motives: Paratov - gun and pistol, Karandyshev - ax, pistol, dagger, and the final gesture of the heroine who picked up the pistol thrown by her killer, - a sign of her involvement in her own death, an indication of her willingness to share responsibility. The authors come to the conclusion that the interpretation of weapon motives makes it possible to significantly expand the existing understanding of the poetics and characterology of one of Ostrovsky's most famous plays

Comparative study on the implementation of the ECHR at the national level

A Comparative analysis of the application of the European Convention on Human Rights in the national legal framework of several contracting states to the Conventio

Warmer, faster, stronger: Ca2+ cycling in avian myocardium

Birds occupy a unique position in the evolution of cardiac design. Their hearts are capable of cardiac performance on par with, or exceeding that of mammals, and yet the structure of their cardiomyocytes resembles those of reptiles. It has been suggested that birds use intracellular Ca2+ stored within the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) to power contractile function, but neither SR Ca2+ content nor the cross-talk between channels underlying Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) have been studied in adult birds. Here we used voltage clamp to investigate the Ca2+ storage and refilling capacities of the SR and the degree of trans-sarcolemmal and intracellular Ca2+ channel interplay in freshly isolated atrial and ventricular myocytes from the heart of the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). A trans-sarcolemmal Ca2+ current (ICa) was detectable in both quail atrial and ventricular myocytes, and was mediated only by L-type Ca2+ channels. The peak density of ICa was larger in ventricular cells than in atrial cells, and exceeded that reported for mammalian myocardium recorded under similar conditions. Steadystate SR Ca2+ content of quail myocardium was also larger than that reported for mammals, and reached 750.6±128.2 μmol lâ'1 in atrial cells and 423.3±47.2 μmol lâ'1 in ventricular cells at 24°C. We observed SR Ca2+-dependent inactivation of ICa in ventricular myocytes, indicating cross-talk between sarcolemmal Ca2+ channels and ryanodine receptors in the SR. However, this phenomenon was not observed in atrial myocytes. Taken together, these findings help to explain the high-efficiency avian myocyte excitation-contraction coupling with regard to their reptilian-like cellular ultrastructure. © 2020 Company of Biologists Ltd. All rights reserved.The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (19-34-90142 to D.V.A.)

The full catalytic processing of biomass components

In this work, experimental studies aimed at the study of the hydrogenolysis of components of plant biomass with the production of valuable chemical substances have been conducted. Research aimed at the finding of the effective catalytic system allows obtaining a high degree of conversion of the substrate with high selectivity in the processing of all components of the biomass. On the basis of experimental data, it can be concluded that 3% Ru/MN270 catalyst is active in the hydrogenolysis of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, and it can be used in a complex processing of biomass. The catalytic system is also stable — the five-time use in the reaction of hydrogenolysis did not lead to the change of activity