1,269 research outputs found
Observed Effects of a Changing Step-Edge Density on Thin-Film Growth Dynamics
We grew SrTiO3 on SrTiO3 [001] by pulsed laser deposition, while observing
x-ray diffraction at the (0 0 .5) position. The drop dI in the x-ray intensity
following a laser pulse contains information about plume-surface interactions.
Kinematic theory predicts dI/I = -4sigma(1-sigma), so that dI/I depends only on
the amount of deposited material sigma. In contrast, we observed experimentally
that |dI/I| < 4sigma(1-sigma), and that dI/I depends on the phase of x-ray
growth oscillations. The combined results suggest a fast smoothing mechanism
that depends on surface step-edge density.Comment: 4 figure
Ecological Parameters of Coluber constrictor etheridgei, with Comparisons to Other Coluber constrictor Subspecies
In 1998, we conducted a radio-telemetry study of Coluber constrictor etheridgei (Tan Racer) in the Angelina National Forest in eastern Texas. Individuals were located once daily from 12 June to 14 August. We determined home-range size, movement distances, movement frequency, and habitat use for this short-term study. We also determined food habits of this population by examination of fecal samples. We compared these parameters to other Racer taxa in Utah (C. c. mormon [Western Yellow-bellied Racer]), Kansas (C. c. fl aviventris [Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer]), and South Carolina (C.c. priapus [Southern Black Racer]). Compared to these populations, Texas Racers exhibited larger home ranges and greater movement frequency and distances during the summer than Utah or Kansas populations, but approximately equal to those of the South Carolina population. Available data on food habits suggests that all populations are consumers of invertebrate and vertebrate prey. We hypothesize that the basic diet of C. constrictor is composed of invertebrates captured by active foraging in areas of abundant herbaceous vegetation, that differences in home-range size and movement distances result from variations in patchiness of suitable foraging habitat across populations, and that the proportion of vertebrate prey in the diet of Coluber populations increases as home-range size and movement distances increase due to increasing patchiness of foraging habitat, resulting in increasing encounters with vertebrate prey
Multiple Time Scales in Diffraction Measurements of Diffusive Surface Relaxation
We grew SrTiO3 on SrTiO3 (001) by pulsed laser deposition, using x-ray
scattering to monitor the growth in real time. The time-resolved small angle
scattering exhibits a well-defined length scale associated with the spacing
between unit cell high surface features. This length scale imposes a discrete
spectrum of Fourier components and rate constants upon the diffusion equation
solution, evident in multiple exponential relaxation of the "anti-Bragg"
diffracted intensity. An Arrhenius analysis of measured rate constants confirms
that they originate from a single activation energy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Nearly strain-free heteroepitaxial system for fundamental studies of pulsed laser deposition: EuTiO3 on SrTiO3
High quality epitaxial thin-films of EuTiO3 have been grown on the (001)
surface of SrTiO3 using pulsed laser deposition. In situ x-ray reflectivity
measurements reveal that the growth is two-dimensional and enable real-time
monitoring of the film thickness and roughness during growth. The film
thickness, surface mosaic, surface roughness, and strain were characterized in
detail using ex situ x-ray diffraction. The thicnkess and composition were
confirmed with Rutherford Backscattering. The EuTiO3 films grow
two-dimensionally, epitaxially, pseudomorphically, with no measurable in-plane
lattice mismatch.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Diel activity patterns of the Louisiana pine snakes (Pituophis ruthveni) in eastern Texas
This study examined the diel activity patterns of six Louisiana pine snakes in eastern Texas using radio-telemetry. snakes were monitored for 44 days on two study areas from May to October 1996. Louisana pine snakes were primarily diurnal with moderate crepuscular activity, spending the night within pocket gopher burrows or inactive on the surface. During daylight hours, snakes spent approximately 59% of their time underground within gopher burrows, burned out/rotten stumps, or nine-branded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) burrows. Remaining time was spent on the surface either close to subteranean refuge, or in long distance movements that generally terminet at another pocket gopher burrow system. Long distance movements occurred on 45% of the days snakes were monitored and averaged 163 m/movement. When snakes were active, movements related to ambientair temperature; 82% of these movements occurred between 1000 and 1800 hours. These resutls confirm that Louisiana pine snakes are diurnal and closely associated with Baird\u27s pocket gophers and their burrow systems, and have provided new insight on the ecology of this rare snake
X-ray scattering from surfaces: discrete and continuous components of roughness
Incoherent surface scattering yields a statistical description of the
surface, due to the ensemble averaging over many independently sampled volumes.
Depending on the state of the surface and direction of the scattering vector
relative to the surface normal, the height distribution is discrete,
continuous, or a combination of the two. We present a treatment for the
influence of multimodal surface height distributions on Crystal Truncation Rod
scattering. The effects of a multimodal height distribution are especially
evident during in situ monitoring of layer-by-layer thin-film growth via Pulsed
Laser Deposition. We model the total height distribution as a convolution of
discrete and continuous components, resulting in a broadly applicable
parameterization of surface roughness which can be applied to other scattering
probes, such as electrons and neutrons. Convolution of such distributions could
potentially be applied to interface or chemical scattering. Here we find that
this analysis describes accurately our experimental studies of SrTiO3
annealing and homoepitaxial growth.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Dilute ferrimagnetic semiconductors in Fe-substituted spinel ZnGaO
Solid solutions of nominal composition
[ZnGaO][FeO], of the semiconducting spinel
ZnGaO with the ferrimagnetic spinel FeO have been prepared with
= 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15. All samples show evidence for long-range magnetic
ordering with ferromagnetic hysteresis at low temperatures. Magnetization as a
function of field for the = 0.15 sample is S-shaped at temperatures as high
as 200 K. M\"ossbauer spectroscopy on the = 0.15 sample confirms the
presence of Fe, and spontaneous magnetization at 4.2 K. The magnetic
behavior is obtained without greatly affecting the semiconducting properties of
the host; diffuse reflectance optical spectroscopy indicates that Fe
substitution up to = 0.15 does not affect the position of the band edge
absorption. These promising results motivate the possibility of dilute
ferrimagnetic semiconductors which do not require carrier mediation of the
magnetic moment.Comment: 9 pages and 6 figure
Integration of professional judgement and decision-making in high-level adventure sports coaching practice
This study examined the integration of professional judgement and decision-making processes in adventure sports coaching. The study utilised a thematic analysis approach to investigate the decision-making practices of a sample of high-level adventure sports coaches over a series of sessions. Results revealed that, in order to make judgements and decisions in practice, expert coaches employ a range of practical and pedagogic management strategies to create and opportunistically use time for decision-making. These approaches include span of control and time management strategies to facilitate the decision-making process regarding risk management, venue selection, aims, objectives, session content, and differentiation of the coaching process. The implication for coaches, coach education, and accreditation is the recognition and training of the approaches that“create time” for the judgements in practice, namely“creating space to think”. The paper concludes by offering a template for a more expertise-focused progression in adventure sports coachin
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