292 research outputs found

    The Wisdom of Older Technology (Non-)Users

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    Older adults consistently reject digital technology even when designed to be accessible and trustworthy

    Plasmonic coupling in closed-packed ordered gallium nanoparticles

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    Plasmonic gallium (Ga) nanoparticles (NPs) are well known to exhibit good performance in numerous applications such as surface enhanced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy or biosensing. However, to reach the optimal optical performance, the strength of the localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) must be enhanced particularly by suitable narrowing the NP size distribution among other factors. With this purpose, our last work demonstrated the production of hexagonal ordered arrays of Ga NPs by using templates of aluminium (Al) shallow pit arrays, whose LSPRs were observed in the VIS region. The quantitative analysis of the optical properties by spectroscopic ellipsometry confirmed an outstanding improvement of the LSPR intensity and full width at half maximum (FWHM) due to the imposed ordering. Here, by engineering the template dimensions, and therefore by tuning Ga NPs size, we expand the LSPRs of the Ga NPs to cover a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum from the UV to the IR regions. More interestingly, the factors that cause this optical performance improvement are studied with the universal plasmon ruler equation, supported with discrete dipole approximation simulations. The results allow us to conclude that the plasmonic coupling between NPs originated in the ordered systems is the main cause for the optimized optical responseThe research is supported by the MINECO (CTQ2014-53334-C2-2-R, CTQ2017-84309-C2-2-R and MAT201676824-C3-1-R) and Comunidad de Madrid (P2018/NMT4349 and S2018/NMT-4321 NANOMAGCOST) projects. ARC acknowledges Ramón y Cajal program (under contract number RYC-2015-18047

    Proposals for Innovation and Improvement of the Quality of Life in Caprine Pastoralist Communities of Subsistence in the Monte Desert, Argentina

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    In a satisfactory alliance between the main environmental policy organizations and the academy, the National Observatory on Land Degradation and Desertification (ONDTyT) is created. The ONDTyD provides information regarding status and trends of land degradation/desertification in order to promote prevention and mitigation measures used for advising public and private decision-makers in Argentina. It is based in the development of 17 Pilot Sites that constitutes the local level network, providing bio-physical and socio-economic indicators of land degradation. In this network the pilot site of the Monte, the largest dry region of Argentina (Lavalle desert, Mendoza), aims to improve the living conditions of native communities dedicated to subsistence goat farming, located below the poverty line. Precipitation ranges from 80-100 mm/year, strongly affecting productive activities. The proposal includes innovative traits in an area whose natural resources have been devastated. It is framed within a conception of rural territory development generating sustainable development strategies of rural indigenous communities, improve the status of the ecosystem through an integral management of natural and cultural resources, and improve socioeconomic conditions of inhabitants, compatibilizing ecosystem regeneration with investment in infrastructure and services, diversification of productive activities and generation of employment. An interdisciplinary group designed the proposal and the integrated desertification assessment in the fields with active community participation through their knowledge, land and livestock. The pilot case can be replicated throughout the territory. The work combines participatory and integrated methodologies, showing that the Observatory is a successful example of partnership building between the political and scientific-technological sectors in Argentina

    Direct observation of transverse and vortex metastable magnetic domains in cylindrical nanowires

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    We present experimental evidence of transverse magnetic domains, previously observed only in nanostrips, in CoNi cylindrical nanowires with designed crystal symmetry and tailored magnetic anisotropy. The transverse domains are found together with more conventional vortex domains along the same cylindrical nanowire, denoting a bistable system with similar energies. The surface and the inner magnetization distribution in both types of domains are analyzed by photoemission electron microscopy with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism contrast, and hysteresis loop in individual nanowires are measured by magneto-optical Kerr effect. These experimental data are understood and compared with complementary micromagnetic simulations

    Aeolian Remobilisation of Volcanic Ash: Outcomes of a Workshop in the Argentinian Patagonia

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    During explosive volcanic eruptions, large quantities of tephra can be dispersed and deposited over wide areas. Following deposition, subsequent aeolian remobilisation of ash can potentially exacerbate primary impacts on timescales of months to millennia. Recent ash remobilisation events (e.g., following eruptions of Cordón Caulle 2011; Chile, and Eyjafjallajökull 2010, Iceland) have highlighted this to be a recurring phenomenon with consequences for human health, economic sectors, and critical infrastructure. Consequently, scientists from observatories and Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs), as well as researchers from fields including volcanology, aeolian processes and soil sciences, convened at the San Carlos de Bariloche headquarters of the Argentinian National Institute of Agricultural Technology to discuss the ?state of the art? for field studies of remobilised deposits as well as monitoring, modeling and understanding ash remobilisation. In this article, we identify practices for field characterisation of deposits and active processes, including mapping, particle characterisation and sediment traps. Furthermore, since forecast models currently rely on poorly-constrained dust emission schemes, we call for laboratory and field measurements to better parameterise the flux of volcanic ash as a function of friction velocity. While source area location and extent are currently the primary inputs for dispersion models, once emission schemes become more sophisticated and better constrained, other parameters will also become important (e.g., source material volume and properties, effective precipitation, type and distribution of vegetation cover, friction velocity). Thus, aeolian ash remobilisation hazard and associated impact assessment require systematic monitoring, including the development of a regularly-updated spatial database of resuspension source areas.Fil: Jarvis, Paul A.. Universidad de Ginebra. Facultad de Ciencias. Sección de Ciencias de la Tierra; SuizaFil: Bonadonna, Costanza. Universidad de Ginebra. Facultad de Ciencias. Sección de Ciencias de la Tierra; SuizaFil: Dominguez, Lucia. Universidad de Ginebra. Facultad de Ciencias. Sección de Ciencias de la Tierra; SuizaFil: Forte, Pablo Brian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Frischknecht, Corine. Universidad de Ginebra. Facultad de Ciencias. Sección de Ciencias de la Tierra; SuizaFil: Bran, Donaldo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Aguilar, Rigoberto. No especifíca;Fil: Beckett, Frances. No especifíca;Fil: Elissondo, Manuela. Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Gillies, John. Desert Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Kueppers, Ulrich. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Merrison, Jonathan. University Aarhus. Institut for Fysik Og Astronomi; DinamarcaFil: Varley, Nick. Universidad de Colima; MéxicoFil: Wallace, Kristi L.. United States Geological Survey; Estados Unido

    Toward Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnets: A Combinatorial Approach Exploiting the Possibilities of Modeling, Shape Anisotropy in Elongated Nanoparticles, and Combinatorial Thin-Film Approach

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    The objective of the rare-earth free permanent magnets (REFREEPM) project is to develop a new generation of high-performance permanent magnets (PMs) without rare earths. Our approach is based on modeling using a combinatorial approach together with micromagnetic modeling and the realization of the modeled systems (I) by using a novel production of high-aspect-ratio (>5) nanostructrures (nanowires, nanorods, and nanoflakes) by exploiting the magnetic shape anisotropy of the constituents that can be produced via chemical nanosynthesis polyol process or electrodeposition, which can be consolidated with novel processes for a new generation of rare-earth free PMs with energy product in the range of 60 kJ/m3 < (BH)max < 160 kJ/m3 at room temperature, and (II) by using a high-throughput thin-film synthesis and high-throughput characterization approach to identify promising candidate materials that can be stabilized in a tetragonal or hexagonal structure by epitaxial growth on selected substrates, under various conditions of pressure, stoichiometry, and temperature. In this article, we report the progress so far in selected phases.This work is supported by European Commission (REFREEPERMAG project) grant number GA-NMP3-SL-2012-280670

    Domain Wall Propagation and Pinning Induced by Current Pulses in Cylindrical Modulated Nanowires

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    The future developments of three-dimensional magnetic nanotechnology require the control of domain wall dynamics by means of current pulses. While this has been extensively studied in planar magnetic strips (planar nanowires), few reports exist in cylindrical geometry, where Bloch point domain walls are expected to have intriguing properties. Here we report this investigation in cylindrical magnetic Ni nanowires with geometrical notches. Experimental work based on synchrotron X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) combined with photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) indicates that large current densities induce domain wall nucleation while smaller currents move domain walls preferably against the current direction. In the region where no pinning centers are present we found domain wall velocity of about 1 km/s. The domain wall motion along current was also detected in the vicinity of the notch region. Pinning of domain walls has been observed not only at geometrical constrictions but also outside of them. Thermal modelling indicates that large current densities temporarily raise the temperature in the nanowire above the Curie temperature leading to nucleation of domain walls during the system cooling. Micromagnetic modelling with spin-torque effect shows that for intermediate current densities Bloch point domain walls with chirality parallel to the Oersted field propagate antiparallel to the current direction. In other cases, domain walls can be bounced from the notches and/or get pinned outside their positions. We thus find that current is not only responsible for the domain wall propagation but is also a source of pinning due to the Oersted field action

    Radial Star Formation Histories in 32 Nearby Galaxies

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    The spatially resolved star formation histories are studied for 32 normal star-forming galaxies drawn from the the Spitzer Extended Disk Galaxy Exploration Science survey. At surface brightness sensitivities fainter than 28 mag arcsec2^{-2}, the new optical photometry is deep enough to complement archival ultraviolet and infrared imaging and to explore the properties of the emission well beyond the traditional optical extents of these nearby galaxies. Fits to the spectral energy distributions using a delayed star formation history model indicate a subtle but interesting average radial trend for the spiral galaxies: the inner stellar systems decrease in age with increasing radius, consistent with inside-out disk formation, but the trend reverses in the outermost regions with the stellar age nearly as old as the innermost stars. These results suggest an old stellar outer disk population formed through radial migration and/or the cumulative history of minor mergers and accretions of satellite dwarf galaxies. The subset of S0 galaxies studied here show the opposite trend compared to what is inferred for spirals: characteristic stellar ages that are increasingly older with radius for the inner portions of the galaxies, and increasingly younger stellar ages for the outer portions. This result suggests that either S0 galaxies are not well modeled by a delayed-τ\tau model, and/or that S0 galaxies have a more complicated formation history than spiral galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1511.0328
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