515 research outputs found
High-Temperature Stable Operation of Nanoribbon Field-Effect Transistors
We experimentally demonstrated that nanoribbon field-effect transistors can be used for stable high-temperature applications. The on-current level of the nanoribbon FETs decreases at elevated temperatures due to the degradation of the electron mobility. We propose two methods of compensating for the variation of the current level with the temperature in the range of 25â150°C, involving the application of a suitable (1) positive or (2) negative substrate bias. These two methods were compared by two-dimensional numerical simulations. Although both approaches show constant on-state current saturation characteristics over the proposed temperature range, the latter shows an improvement in the off-state control of up to five orders of magnitude (â5.2 Ă 10â6)
Platinum Assisted VaporâLiquidâSolid Growth of ErâSi Nanowires and Their Optical Properties
We report the optical activation of erbium coated silicon nanowires (ErâSiNWs) grown with the assist of platinum (Pt) and gold (Au), respectively. The NWs were grown on Si substrates by using a chemical vapor transport process using SiCl4 and ErCl4 as precursors. Pt as well as Au worked successfully as vaporâliquidâsolid (VLS) catalysts for growing SiNWs with diameters of ~100 nm and length of several micrometers, respectively. The SiNWs have coreâshell structures where the Er-crystalline layer is sandwiched between silica layers. Photoluminescence spectra analyses showed the optical activity of SiNWs from both Pt and Au. A stronger Er3+ luminescence of 1,534 nm was observed from the SiNWs with Pt at room- and low-temperature (25 K) using the 488- and/or 477-nm line of an Ar laser that may be due to the uniform incorporation of more Er ions into NWs with the exclusion of the formation of catalyst-induced deep levels in the band-gap. Pt would be used as a VLS catalyst for high performance optically active ErâSiNWs
Quantum dynamics in strong fluctuating fields
A large number of multifaceted quantum transport processes in molecular
systems and physical nanosystems can be treated in terms of quantum relaxation
processes which couple to one or several fluctuating environments. A thermal
equilibrium environment can conveniently be modelled by a thermal bath of
harmonic oscillators. An archetype situation provides a two-state dissipative
quantum dynamics, commonly known under the label of a spin-boson dynamics. An
interesting and nontrivial physical situation emerges, however, when the
quantum dynamics evolves far away from thermal equilibrium. This occurs, for
example, when a charge transferring medium possesses nonequilibrium degrees of
freedom, or when a strong time-dependent control field is applied externally.
Accordingly, certain parameters of underlying quantum subsystem acquire
stochastic character. Herein, we review the general theoretical framework which
is based on the method of projector operators, yielding the quantum master
equations for systems that are exposed to strong external fields. This allows
one to investigate on a common basis the influence of nonequilibrium
fluctuations and periodic electrical fields on quantum transport processes.
Most importantly, such strong fluctuating fields induce a whole variety of
nonlinear and nonequilibrium phenomena. A characteristic feature of such
dynamics is the absence of thermal (quantum) detailed balance.Comment: review article, Advances in Physics (2005), in pres
ALMA Long Baseline Observations of the Strongly Lensed Submillimeter Galaxy HATLAS J090311.6+003906 at z=3.042
We present initial results of very high resolution Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the =3.042
gravitationally lensed galaxy HATLAS J090311.6+003906 (SDP.81). These
observations were carried out using a very extended configuration as part of
Science Verification for the 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign, with baselines
of up to 15 km. We present continuum imaging at 151, 236 and 290 GHz, at
unprecedented angular resolutions as fine as 23 milliarcseconds (mas),
corresponding to an un-magnified spatial scale of ~180 pc at z=3.042. The ALMA
images clearly show two main gravitational arc components of an Einstein ring,
with emission tracing a radius of ~1.5". We also present imaging of CO(10-9),
CO(8-7), CO(5-4) and H2O line emission. The CO emission, at an angular
resolution of ~170 mas, is found to broadly trace the gravitational arc
structures but with differing morphologies between the CO transitions and
compared to the dust continuum. Our detection of H2O line emission, using only
the shortest baselines, provides the most resolved detection to date of thermal
H2O emission in an extragalactic source. The ALMA continuum and spectral line
fluxes are consistent with previous Plateau de Bure Interferometer and
Submillimeter Array observations despite the impressive increase in angular
resolution. Finally, we detect weak unresolved continuum emission from a
position that is spatially coincident with the center of the lens, with a
spectral index that is consistent with emission from the core of the foreground
lensing galaxy.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures and 3 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Display of Bombyx mori Alcohol Dehydrogenases on the Bacillus subtilis Spore Surface to Enhance Enzymatic Activity under Adverse Conditions
Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) are oxidoreductases catalyzing the reversible oxidation of alcohols to corresponding aldehydes or ketones accompanied by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) as coenzyme. ADHs attract major scientific and industrial interest for the evolutionary perspectives, afforded by their wide occurrence in nature, and for their use in industrial synthesis. However, the low activity of ADHs under extremes of pH and temperature often limits their application. To obtain ADH with high activity, in this study, we used Bombyx mori alcohol dehydrogenases (BmADH) as foreign gene and constructed a recombinant integrative plasmid pJS700-BmADH. This pJS700-BmADH was transformed into Bacillus subtilis by double cross-over and produced an amylase inactivated mutant. The fusion protein containing BmADH was expressed on the spore surface and recognized by BmADH-specific antibody. We also assayed the alcohol dehydrogenase activity of the fusion protein together with the native BmADH at different pH and temperature levels, which indicated the recombinant enzyme exhibits activity over wider ranges of temperature and pH than its native form, perhaps due to the resistance properties of B. subtilis spores against adverse conditions
Impacts of climate change on plant diseases â opinions and trends
There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases in the coming decades. This review addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies on the impacts of climate change on plant health. Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Californian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronicity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and predicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Prediction and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertainty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to interdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in mountain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (including our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycorrhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods
Evaluation of Methods for the Analysis of Untreated and Processed Lignocellulosic Biomasses
The overall efficiency of the transformation of lignocellulosic materials to usable
products as chemicals and fuels must be governed by adequate analysis of products
before and after treatments. Using some promising technologies, lignocelluloses which
are biomasses from marine plant and trees, grains, food and non-food crops, and woodbased
can give products as fuel alcohol and other chemicals. Various methods of
transformation from feedstock to valuable end products are discussed in the scientific
literature. Therefore, yields must justify methods used for biomass transformations. As
a result, adequate compositional analysis of these processing stages is needed. In this
chapter, standard common methods such as gravimetric, chromatography,
spectroscopic and their variations for analysis on both untreated and treated
lignocelluloses are highlighted. The ease of the use and challenges with
recommendations to their applicability to quantifying lignocelluloses fractionations for
reproducibility and to be representative are discussed. With biomass technology,
virtually all and even more products that can be produced from fossil energy can also
be produced from biomass energy. Adequate analysis is therefore necessary
Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at = 2.76 TeV
The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb
collisions at TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is
presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the
longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The
pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than
those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12,
published version, figures at
http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388
Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube
We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles
moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root
relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped
pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of
a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production
associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational
probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Deciphering the Complex Distribution of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Subtypes among Different Cohorts in Northern Tanzania.
Increased understanding of the genetic diversity of HIV-1 is challenging but important in the development of an effective vaccine. We aimed to describe the distribution of HIV-1 subtypes in northern Tanzania among women enrolled in studies preparing for HIV-1 prevention trials (hospitality facility-worker cohorts), and among men and women in an open cohort demographic surveillance system (Kisesa cohort). The polymerase encompassing partial reverse transcriptase was sequenced and phylogenetic analysis performed and subtype determined. Questionnaires documented demographic data. We examined factors associated with subtype using multinomial logistic regression, adjusted for study, age, and sex. Among 140 individuals (125 women and 15 men), subtype A1 predominated (54, 39%), followed by C (46, 33%), D (25, 18%) and unique recombinant forms (URFs) (15, 11%). There was weak evidence to suggest different subtype frequencies by study (for example, 18% URFs in the Kisesa cohort versus 5-9% in the hospitality facility-worker cohorts; adjusted relative-risk ratio (aRR)â=â2.35 [95% CI 0.59,9.32]; global pâ=â0.09). Compared to men, women were less likely to have subtype D versus A (aRRâ=â0.12 [95% CI 0.02,0.76]; global pâ=â0.05). There was a trend to suggest lower relative risk of subtype D compared to A with older age (aRRâ=â0.44 [95% CI 0.23,0.85] per 10 years; global pâ=â0.05). We observed multiple subtypes, confirming the complex genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains circulating in northern Tanzania, and found some differences between cohorts and by age and sex. This has important implications for vaccine design and development, providing opportunity to determine vaccine efficacy in diverse HIV-1 strains
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