1,803 research outputs found
Direct composition profiling in III-V nanostructures by cross-sectional STM
Using cross-sectional STM we have studied the local composition in III–V nanostructures such as GaAs/InGaAs quantum wells, InGaNAs/InP quantum wells and quantum dots, and InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots. We are able to determine the local composition by either simply counting the constituent atoms, measuring the local lattice constant or measuring the relaxation of the cleaved surface due to the elastic field of the buried strained nanostructures
Isolation and characterization of novel microsatellite markers and their application for diversity assessment in cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)
Background
Cultivated peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is the fourth most important oilseed crop in the world, grown mainly in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate climates. Due to its origin through a single and recent polyploidization event, followed by successive selection during breeding efforts, cultivated groundnut has a limited genetic background. In such species, microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are very informative and useful for breeding applications. The low level of polymorphism in cultivated germplasm, however, warrants a need of larger number of polymorphic microsatellite markers for cultivated groundnut.
Results
A microsatellite-enriched library was constructed from the genotype TMV2. Sequencing of 720 putative SSR-positive clones from a total of 3,072 provided 490 SSRs. 71.2% of these SSRs were perfect type, 13.1% were imperfect and 15.7% were compound. Among these SSRs, the GT/CA repeat motifs were the most common (37.6%) followed by GA/CT repeat motifs (25.9%). The primer pairs could be designed for a total of 170 SSRs and were optimized initially on two genotypes. 104 (61.2%) primer pairs yielded scorable amplicon and 46 (44.2%) primers showed polymorphism among 32 cultivated groundnut genotypes. The polymorphic SSR markers detected 2 to 5 alleles with an average of 2.44 per locus. The polymorphic information content (PIC) value for these markers varied from 0.12 to 0.75 with an average of 0.46. Based on 112 alleles obtained by 46 markers, a phenogram was constructed to understand the relationships among the 32 genotypes. Majority of the genotypes representing subspecies hypogaea were grouped together in one cluster, while the genotypes belonging to subspecies fastigiata were grouped mainly under two clusters.
Conclusion
Newly developed set of 104 markers extends the repertoire of SSR markers for cultivated groundnut. These markers showed a good level of PIC value in cultivated germplasm and therefore would be very useful for germplasm analysis, linkage mapping, diversity studies and phylogenetic relationships in cultivated groundnut as well as related Arachis species
Microscopic investigation of subsurface initiated damage of wind turbine gearbox bearings
Wind turbine gearbox bearings experience premature failures by White Structure Flaking (WSF), often occurs much earlier than their designed life of 20 to 25 years. This results in increased operational and maintenance costs due to unplanned maintenance and early replacement. The main causes and damage initiation mechanism of this premature failure are not fully understood; despite extensive research and investigation in recent years. In this paper, two planetary bearings from a failed gearbox of a multi-megawatt wind turbine are destructively investigated to characterize the subsurface microstructural damage and to understand damage initiation mechanism leading to surface WSF. The results show that the non-metallic inclusions are not the only initiator of subsurface damage. The microcracks are also initiated in the subsurface to form macrocracks which then propagate or connect to other macrocracks to reach the rolling contact surface causing WSF. The characterization of different forms of subsurface microstructural damage shows a close correlation of the maximum shear stress with the damage initiation. Butterfly wings are found to initiate from the compound type of non-metallic inclusions with low aspect ratio and to be associated with inclusion internal cracking in a direction approximately parallel to the axis of the maximum wing length
Early stage morphology of quench condensed Ag, Pb and Pb/Ag hybrid films
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) has been used to study the morphology of
Ag, Pb and Pb/Ag bilayer films fabricated by quench condensation of the
elements onto cold (T=77K), inert and atomically flat Highly Oriented Pyrolytic
Graphite (HOPG) substrates. All films are thinner than 10 nm and show a
granular structure that is consistent with earlier studies of QC films. The
average lateral diameter, , of the Ag grains, however, depends on
whether the Ag is deposited directly on HOPG ( = 13 nm) or on a Pb
film consisting of a single layer of Pb grains ( = 26.8 nm). In
addition, the critical thickness for electrical conduction () of Pb/Ag
films on inert glass substrates is substantially larger than for pure Ag films.
These results are evidence that the structure of the underlying substrate
exerts an influence on the size of the grains in QC films. We propose a
qualitative explanation for this previously unencountered phenomenon.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures and one tabl
Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-square Law
Motivated by a variety of theories that predict new effects, we tested the
gravitational 1/r^2 law at separations between 10.77 mm and 137 microns using
two different 10-fold azimuthally symmetric torsion pendulums and rotating
10-fold symmetric attractors. Our work improves upon other experiments by up to
a factor of about 100. We found no deviation from Newtonian physics at the 95%
confidence level and interpret these results as constraints on extensions of
the Standard Model that predict Yukawa or power-law forces. We set a constraint
on the largest single extra dimension (assuming toroidal compactification and
that one extra dimension is significantly larger than all the others) of R <=
160 microns, and on two equal-sized large extra dimensions of R <= 130 microns.
Yukawa interactions with |alpha| >= 1 are ruled out at 95% confidence for
lambda >= 197 microns. Extra-dimensions scenarios stabilized by radions are
restricted to unification masses M >= 3.0 TeV/c^2, regardless of the number of
large extra dimensions. We also provide new constraints on power-law potentials
V(r)\propto r^{-k} with k between 2 and 5 and on the gamma_5 couplings of
pseudoscalars with m <= 10 meV/c^2.Comment: 34 pages, 38 figure
Three-Particle Correlations from Parton Cascades in Au+Au Collisions
We present a study of three-particle correlations among a trigger particle
and two associated particles in Au + Au collisions at = 200 GeV
using a multi-phase transport model (AMPT) with both partonic and hadronic
interactions. We found that three-particle correlation densities in different
angular directions with respect to the triggered particle (`center', `cone',
`deflected', `near' and `near-away') increase with the number of participants.
The ratio of `deflected' to `cone' density approaches to 1.0 with the
increasing of number of participants, which indicates that partonic Mach-like
shock waves can be produced by strong parton cascades in central Au+Au
collisions.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures; Final version to appear in Physics Letters
New evidence for strong nonthermal effects in Tycho's supernova remnant
For the case of Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) we present the relation
between the blast wave and contact discontinuity radii calculated within the
nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. It is
demonstrated that these radii are confirmed by recently published Chandra
measurements which show that the observed contact discontinuity radius is so
close to the shock radius that it can only be explained by efficient CR
acceleration which in turn makes the medium more compressible. Together with
the recently determined new value erg of the SN
explosion energy this also confirms our previous conclusion that a TeV
gamma-ray flux of erg/(cms) is to be expected from
Tycho's SNR. Chandra measurements and the HEGRA upper limit of the TeV
gamma-ray flux together limit the source distance to kpc.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and
Space Science, Proc. of "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy
Gamma-ray Sources (Third Workshop on the Nature of Unidentified High-Energy
Sources)", Barcelona, July 4-7, 200
Di-hadron azimuthal correlation and Mach-like cone structure in parton/hadron transport model
In the framework of a multi-phase transport model (AMPT) with both partonic
and hadronic interactions, azimuthal correlations between trigger particles and
associated scattering particles have been studied by the mixing-event
technique. The momentum ranges of these particles are
GeV/ and GeV/ (soft), or 4
GeV/ and GeV/ (hard) in Au + Au collisions at
= 200 GeV. A Mach-like structure has been observed in
correlation functions for central collisions. By comparing scenarios with and
without parton cascade and hadronic rescattering, we show that both partonic
and hadronic dynamical mechanisms contribute to the Mach-like structure of the
associated particle azimuthal correlations. The contribution of hadronic
dynamical process can not be ignored in the emergence of Mach-like correlations
of the soft scattered associated hadrons. However, hadronic rescattering alone
cannot reproduce experimental amplitude of Mach-like cone on away-side, and the
parton cascade process is essential to describe experimental amplitude of
Mach-like cone on away-side. In addition, both the associated multiplicity and
the sum of decrease, whileas the increases, with the impact
parameter in the AMPT model including partonic dynamics from string melting
scenario.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures; Physics Letters B 641, 362-367 (2006
Does routine uniportal thoracoscopy during rib fixation identify more injuries and impact outcomes?
Background: Flail chest and severely displaced rib fractures due to blunt trauma can be associated with intrathoracic injuries. At our institution, two thoracic surgeons perform all surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF): one performs routine uniportal thoracoscopy (R-VATS) at the time of SSRF and the other for only select cases (S-VATS). In this pilot study, we hypothesized that R-VATS at the time of SSRF identifies and addresses intrathoracic injuries not seen on imaging and may impact patient outcomes. Methods: A retrospective review of all patients who underwent SSRF from 2013-2019 at our institution was performed for severely displaced rib fractures or flail chest. Data collected included demographics, imaging results, treatment strategy, and operative findings. Results: Ninety-nine patients underwent SSRF. Uniportal thoracoscopy was performed on 69% of these patients. When thoracoscopy was performed, 31 additional injuries were identified. R-VATS identified 23 additional intrathoracic findings at time of thoracoscopy not seen on CT scan compared to 8 findings in the S-VATS group (P=0.367). At 3 months follow-up, one empyema and one diaphragmatic hernia required reoperation-neither of which underwent thoracoscopy at time of SSRF. There were no differences in LOS, operative times, and overall mortality between the SSRF/thoracoscopy and SSRF only groups. Conclusions: R-VATS at the time of SSRF did not identify a statistically significant greater number of occult intrathoracic injuries compared to S-VATS. R-VATS was not associated with increased operative time, LOS, and mortality. Further study is needed to determine if there is benefit to R-VATS in patients meeting requirements for rib fracture repair
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