323 research outputs found
Absence of boron aggregates in superconducting silicon confirmed by atom probe tomography
Superconducting boron-doped silicon films prepared by gas immersion laser
doping (GILD) technique are analyzed by atom probe tomography. The resulting
three-dimensional chemical composition reveals that boron atoms are
incorporated into crystalline silicon in the atomic percent concentration
range, well above their solubility limit, without creating clusters or
precipitates at the atomic scale. The boron spatial distribution is found to be
compatible with local density of states measurements performed by scanning
tunneling spectroscopy. These results, combined with the observations of very
low impurity level and of a sharp two-dimensional interface between doped and
undoped regions show, that the Si:B material obtained by GILD is a well-defined
random substitutional alloy endowed with promising superconducting properties.Comment: 4 page
Air quality impact of intelligent transportation system actions used in a decision support system for adaptive traffic management
Subkelvin tunneling spectroscopy showing Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductivity in heavily boron-doped silicon epilayers
Scanning tunneling spectroscopies in the subKelvin temperature range were
performed on superconducting Silicon epilayers doped with Boron in the atomic
percent range. The resulting local differential conductance behaved as expected
for a homogeneous superconductor, with an energy gap dispersion below +/- 10%.
The spectral shape, the amplitude and temperature dependence of the
superconductivity gap follow the BCS model, bringing further support to the
hypothesis of a hole pairing mechanism mediated by phonons in the weak coupling
limit.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
CARBOTRAF: A decision Support system for reducing pollutant emissions by adaptive traffic management
Traffic congestion with frequent “stop & go” situations causes substantial pollutant emissions. Black carbon (BC) is a good indicator of combustion-related air pollution and results in negative health effects. Both BC and CO2 emissions are also known to contribute significantly to global warming. Current traffic control systems are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. The CARBOTRAF system combines real-time monitoring of traffic and air pollution with simulation models for emission and local air quality prediction in order to deliver on-line recommendations for alternative adaptive traffic management. The aim of introducing a CARBOTRAF system is to reduce BC and CO2 emissions and improve air quality by optimizing the traffic flows. The system is implemented and evaluated in two pilot cities, Graz and Glasgow. Model simulations link traffic states to emission and air quality levels. A chain of models combines micro-scale traffic simulations, traffic volumes, emission models and air quality simulations. This process is completed for several ITS scenarios and a range of traffic boundary conditions. The real-time DSS system uses all these model simulations to select optimal traffic and air quality scenarios. Traffic and BC concentrations are simultaneously monitored. In this paper the effects of ITS measures on air quality are analysed with a focus on BC
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Targeted delivery of functionalized PLGA nanoparticles to macrophages by complexation with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Nanoparticles (NPs) are able to deliver a variety of substances into eukaryotic cells. However, their usage is often hampered by a lack of specificity, leading to the undesired uptake of NPs by virtually all cell types. In contrast to this, yeast is known to be specifically taken up into immune cells after entering the body. Therefore, we investigated the interaction of biodegradable surface-modified poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) particles with yeast cells to overcome the unspecificity of the particulate carriers. Cells of different Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were characterized regarding their interaction with PLGA-NPs under isotonic and hypotonic conditions. The particles were shown to efficiently interact with yeast cells leading to stable NP/yeast-complexes allowing to associate or even internalize compounds. Notably, applying those complexes to a coculture model of HeLa cells and macrophages, the macrophages were specifically targeted. This novel nano-in-micro carrier system suggests itself as a promising tool for the delivery of biologically active agents into phagocytic cells combining specificity and efficiency
A dust component 2 kpc above the plane in NGC 891
The halo of NGC 891 has been the subject of studies for more than a decade.
One of its most striking features is the large asymmetry in H emission.
In this letter, we will take a quantitative look at this asymmetry at different
wavelengths for the first time. We suggest that NGC 891 is intrinsically almost
symmetric and the large asymmetry in H emission is mostly due to dust
attenuation. We will quantify the additional optical depth needed to cause the
observed asymmetry in this model. By comparing large strips on the North East
side of the galaxy with strips covering the same area in the South West we can
quantify and analyze the asymmetry in the different wavelengths. From the 24
m emission we find that the intrinsic asymmetry in star formation in NGC
891 is small i.e., . The additional asymmetry in H is modeled
as additional symmetric dust attenuation which extends up to 40\arcsec
(1.9 kpc) above the plane of the galaxy with a mid-plane value of =0.8
and a scale height of 0.5 kpcComment: A&A in press. 5 pages, 3 figure
Air quality impact of a decision support system for reducing pollutant emissions: CARBOTRAF
Traffic congestion with frequent “stop & go” situations causes substantial pollutant emissions. Black carbon (BC) is a good indicator of combustion-related air pollution and results in negative health effects. Both BC and CO2 emissions are also known to contribute significantly to global warming. Current traffic control systems are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. The CARBOTRAF system combines real-time monitoring of traffic and air pollution with simulation models for emission and local air quality prediction in order to deliver on-line recommendations for alternative adaptive traffic management. The aim of introducing a CARBOTRAF system is to reduce BC and CO2 emissions and improve air quality by optimizing the traffic flows. The system is implemented and evaluated in two pilot cities, Graz and Glasgow. Model simulations link traffic states to emission and air quality levels. A chain of models combines micro-scale traffic simulations, traffic volumes, emission models and air quality simulations. This process is completed for several ITS scenarios and a range of traffic boundary conditions. The real-time DSS system uses these off-line model simulations to select optimal traffic and air quality scenarios. Traffic and BC concentrations are simultaneously monitored. In this paper the effects of ITS measures on air quality are analysed with a focus on BC
The dynamics and high-energy emission of conductive gas clouds in supernova-driven galactic superwinds
In this paper we present high-resolution hydrodynamical models of warm
ionized clouds embedded in a superwind, and compare the OVI and soft X-ray
properties to the existing observational data. These models include thermal
conduction, which we show plays an important role in shaping both the dynamics
and radiative properties of the resulting wind/cloud interaction. Heat
conduction stabilizes the cloud by inhibiting the growth of K-H and R-T
instabilities, and also generates a shock wave at the cloud's surface that
compresses the cloud. This dynamical behaviour influences the observable
properties. We find that while OVI emission and absorption always arises in
cloud material at the periphery of the cloud, most of the soft X-ray arises in
the region between the wind bow shock and the cloud surface, and probes either
wind or cloud material depending on the strength of conduction and the relative
abundances of the wind with respect to the cloud. In general only a small
fraction (<1%) of the wind mechanical energy intersecting a cloud is radiated
away at UV and X-ray wavelengths, with more wind energy going into accelerating
the cloud. Models with heat conduction at Spitzer-levels are found to produce
observational properties closer to those observed in superwinds than models
with no thermal conduction, in particular in terms of the OVI-to-X-ray
luminosity ratio, but cloud life times are uncomfortably short (<1Myr) compared
to the dynamical ages of real winds. We experimented with reducing the thermal
conductivity and found that even when we reduced conduction by a factor of 25
that the simulations retained the beneficial hydrodynamical stability and low
O{\sc vi}-to-X-ray luminosity ratio found in the Spitzer-level conductive
models, while also having reduced evaporation rates.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures (4 in color), MNRAS accepte
The Circumnuclear Molecular Gas in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC4945
We have mapped the central region of NGC 4945 in the transition of
CO, CO, and CO, as well as the continuum at 1.3 mm, at an
angular resolution of 5\farc \times 3\farc with the Submillimeter Array. The
relative proximity of NGC 4945 (distance of only 3.8 Mpc) permits a detailed
study of the circumnuclear molecular gas and dust in a galaxy exhibiting both
an AGN (classified as a Seyfert 2) and a circumnuclear starburst in an inclined
ring with radius 2\farcs5 (50 pc). We find that all three molecular
lines trace an inclined rotating disk with major axis aligned with that of the
starburst ring and large-scale galactic disk, and which exhibits solid-body
rotation within a radius of 5\farc (95 pc). We infer an inclination
for the nuclear disk of , somewhat smaller than the
inclination of the large-scale galactic disk of . The
continuum emission at 1.3 mm also extends beyond the starburst ring, and is
dominated by thermal emission from dust. If it traces the same dust emitting in
the far-infrared, then the bulk of this dust must be heated by star-formation
activity rather than the AGN. We discover a kinematically-decoupled component
at the center of the disk with a radius smaller than 1\farcs4 (27 pc), but
which spans approximately the same range of velocities as the surrounding disk.
This component has a higher density than its surroundings, and is a promising
candidate for the circumnuclear molecular torus invoked by AGN unification
models.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures,accepted by Ap
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