Nanomechanical morphology of amorphous, transition, and crystalline domains in phase change memory thin films

In the search for phase change materials (PCM) that may rival traditional random access memory, a complete understanding of the amorphous to crystalline phase transition is required. For the well-known Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) and GeTe (GT) chalcogenides, which display nucleation and growth dominated crystallization kinetics, respectively, this work explores the nanomechanical morphology of amorphous and crystalline phases in 50 nm thin films. Subjecting these PCM specimens to a lateral thermal gradient spanning the crystallization temperature allows for a detailed morphological investigation. Surface and depth-dependent analyses of the resulting amorphous, transition and crystalline regions are achieved with shallow angle cross-sections, uniquely implemented with beam exit Ar ion polishing. To resolve the distinct phases, ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) with simultaneous topography is implemented revealing a relative stiffness contrast between the amorphous and crystalline phases of 14% for the free film surface and 20% for the cross-sectioned surface. Nucleation is observed to occur preferentially at the PCM-substrate and free film interface for both GST and GT, while fine subsurface structures are found to be sputtering direction dependent. Combining surface and cross-section nanomechanical mapping in this manner allows 3D analysis of microstructure and defects with nanoscale lateral and depth resolution, applicable to a wide range of materials characterization studies where the detection of subtle variations in elastic modulus or stiffness are required

A review of wildland fire spread modelling, 1990-present, 1: Physical and quasi-physical models

In recent years, advances in computational power and spatial data analysis (GIS, remote sensing, etc) have led to an increase in attempts to model the spread and behaviour of wildland fires across the landscape. This series of review papers endeavours to critically and comprehensively review all types of surface fire spread models developed since 1990. This paper reviews models of a physical or quasi-physical nature. These models are based on the fundamental chemistry and/or physics of combustion and fire spread. Other papers in the series review models of an empirical or quasi-empirical nature, and mathematical analogues and simulation models. Many models are extensions or refinements of models developed before 1990. Where this is the case, these models are also discussed but much less comprehensively.Comment: 31 pages + 8 pages references + 2 figures + 5 tables. Submitted to International Journal of Wildland Fir

Fido, a Novel AMPylation Domain Common to Fic, Doc, and AvrB

BACKGROUND:The Vibrio parahaemolyticus type III secreted effector VopS contains a fic domain that covalently modifies Rho GTPase threonine with AMP to inhibit downstream signaling events in host cells. The VopS fic domain includes a conserved sequence motif (HPFx[D/E]GN[G/K]R) that contributes to AMPylation. Fic domains are found in a variety of species, including bacteria, a few archaea, and metazoan eukaryotes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We show that the AMPylation activity extends to a eukaryotic fic domain in Drosophila melanogaster CG9523, and use sequence and structure based computational methods to identify related domains in doc toxins and the type III effector AvrB. The conserved sequence motif that contributes to AMPylation unites fic with doc. Although AvrB lacks this motif, its structure reveals a similar topology to the fic and doc folds. AvrB binds to a peptide fragment of its host virulence target in a similar manner as fic binds peptide substrate. AvrB also orients a phosphate group from a bound ADP ligand near the peptide-binding site and in a similar position as a bound fic phosphate. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The demonstrated eukaryotic fic domain AMPylation activity suggests that the VopS effector has exploited a novel host posttranslational modification. Fic domain-related structures give insight to the AMPylation active site and to the VopS fic domain interaction with its host GTPase target. These results suggest that fic, doc, and AvrB stem from a common ancestor that has evolved to AMPylate protein substrates

Identification of the Acyltransferase that Octanoylates Ghrelin, an Appetite-Stimulating Peptide Hormone

SummaryGhrelin is a 28 amino acid, appetite-stimulating peptide hormone secreted by the food-deprived stomach. Serine-3 of ghrelin is acylated with an eight-carbon fatty acid, octanoate, which is required for its endocrine actions. Here, we identify GOAT (Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase), a polytopic membrane-bound enzyme that attaches octanoate to serine-3 of ghrelin. Analysis of the mouse genome revealed that GOAT belongs to a family of 16 hydrophobic membrane-bound acyltransferases that includes Porcupine, which attaches long-chain fatty acids to Wnt proteins. GOAT is the only member of this family that octanoylates ghrelin when coexpressed in cultured endocrine cell lines with prepro-ghrelin. GOAT activity requires catalytic asparagine and histidine residues that are conserved in this family. Consistent with its function, GOAT mRNA is largely restricted to stomach and intestine, the major ghrelin-secreting tissues. Identification of GOAT will facilitate the search for inhibitors that reduce appetite and diminish obesity in humans

A review of wildland fire spread modelling, 1990-present 2: Empirical and quasi-empirical models

In recent years, advances in computational power and spatial data analysis (GIS, remote sensing, etc) have led to an increase in attempts to model the spread and behaviour of wildland fires across the landscape. This series of review papers endeavours to critically and comprehensively review all types of surface fire spread models developed since 1990. This paper reviews models of an empirical or quasi-empirical nature. These models are based solely on the statistical analysis of experimentally obtained data with or without some physical framework for the basis of the relations. Other papers in the series review models of a physical or quasi-physical nature, and mathematical analogues and simulation models. The main relations of empirical models are that of wind speed and fuel moisture content with rate of forward spread. Comparisons are made of the different functional relationships selected by various authors for these variables.Comment: 22 pages + 7 pages references + 2 pages tables + 2 pages figures. Submitted to International Journal of Wildland Fir

РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЕ РЫНКА ЛЕКАРСТВЕННЫХ СРЕДСТВ: ЗАРУБЕЖНЫЙ ОПЫТ

In article the question of regulation of the market of medicines in approaches of foreign scientists is considered. Three main lines of such regulation are named: the political tasks regulating institutes and ways of regulation, from which tasks and ways of regulation are most fully studied. В статье рассмотрен вопрос о регулировании рынка лекарственных средств в подходах иностранных ученых. Именуются три основных направления такого регулирования: политические задачи, регулирующие институты и способы регулирования, из которых наиболее полно исследованы задачи и способы регулировани

Two-Stage Atomizer for Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry: Dynamics of the Spatial Temperature Distribution

A two-stage atomizer for atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. Its distinctive feature is the introduction of an extra stage of the fractional condensation of analyte atoms and the carrying out of the analytical cycle by a vaporization-condensation-atomization scheme. A special computer-driven power supply unit allows the heating of the upper and lower parts of the graphite furnace to be controlled independently. The dynamics of the temperature of the inner surface of the furnace for various temperature programs is studied. Using aqueous solutions of lead as an example, it is shown that one can control the processes of condensation-revaporization of elements to be determined proceeding in the atomizer volume

Taking into account physical and instrumental parameters in atomic absorption spectroscopy with a continuous radiation source

We present a detailed analysis of the dependences of the absorption contours and concentration curves on various parameters in atomic absorption spectrometry with a continuous radiation source. We have developed a multifunctional application software package allowing us to calculate the emission and absorption line profiles for different elements under different physical conditions. We take into account Doppler and collisional broadening of the absorption lines, which have a complex structure as a result of the isotopic shift, hyperfine splitting of the components, and also instrumental distortion of these lines. We consider two different procedures for calculating the absorbance and do a comparative analysis of the two procedures. For all the listed cases, we can plot concentration curves and find the absorbance within the classical definition and plot the concentration curve using only a portion of the spectral width of the profile rather than the entire width. We have modeled the instrumental distortions of the spectral profile due to spectral selection, and we have analyzed their effect on the shape of the absorption contour. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc

Collective and fractal properties of pion jets in the four-velocity space at intermediate energies

Experimental results are presented for study of collective and fractal properties of soft pion jets in the space of relative four-dimensional velocities. Significant decreasing is obtained for mean square of second particle distances from jet axis for pion-proton interactions at initial energies $\sim 3$ GeV in comparison with hadron-nuclear collisions at close energies. The decreasing results in power dependence of distance variable on collision energy for range $\sim 2 - 4$ GeV. The observation allows us to estimate the low boundary of manifestation of color degree of freedom in pion jet production. Cluster dimension values were deduced for pion jets in various reactions. Fractional values of this dimension indicate on the manifestation of fractal-like properties by pion jets. Changing of mean kinetic energy of jet particles and fractal dimension with initial energy increasing is consistent with suggestion for presence of color degrees of freedom in pion jet production at intermediate energies.Comment: The conference "Physics of fundamental interactions". ITEP, Moscow, Russia. November 23 - 27, 200