3,165 research outputs found
Importance of tetrahedral coordination for high-valent transition metal oxides: YCrO as a model system
We have investigated the electronic structure of the high oxidation state
material YCrO within the framework of the Zaanen-Sawatzky-Allen phase
diagram. While Cr-based compounds like SrCrO/CaCrO and CrO
can be classified as small-gap or metallic negative-charge-transfer systems, we
find using photoelectron spectroscopy that YCrO is a robust insulator
despite the fact that its Cr ions have an even higher formal valence state of
5+. We reveal using band structure calculations that the tetrahedral
coordination of the Cr ions in YCrO plays a decisive role, namely to
diminish the bonding of the Cr states with the top of the O valence
band. This finding not only explains why the charge-transfer energy remains
effectively positive and the material stable, but also opens up a new route to
create doped carriers with symmetries different from those of other
transition-metal ions.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
GUARDIANS final report part 1 (draft): a robot swarm assisting a human fire fighter
Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire fighters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist re ghters in searching a
large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting re ghters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the fire fighters we explored how
the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings
Intrinsic Optical and Electronic Properties from Quantitative Analysis of Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanocrystal Ensemble Optical Extinction
The optical extinction spectra arising from localized surface plasmon
resonance in doped semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have intensities and
lineshapes determined by free charge carrier concentrations and the various
mechanisms for damping the oscillation of those free carriers. However, these
intrinsic properties are convoluted by heterogeneous broadening when measuring
spectra of ensembles. We reveal that the traditional Drude approximation is not
equipped to fit spectra from a heterogeneous ensemble of doped semiconductor
NCs and produces fit results that violate Mie scattering theory. The
heterogeneous ensemble Drude approximation (HEDA) model rectifies this issue by
accounting for ensemble heterogeneity and near-surface depletion. The HEDA
model is applied to tin-doped indium oxide NCs for a range of sizes and doping
levels but we expect it can be employed for any isotropic plasmonic particles
in the quasistatic regime. It captures individual NC optical properties and
their contributions to the ensemble spectra thereby enabling the analysis of
intrinsic NC properties from an ensemble measurement. Quality factors for the
average NC in each ensemble are quantified and found to be notably higher than
those of the ensemble. Carrier mobility and conductivity derived from HEDA fits
matches that measured in the bulk thin film literature
A Rare Case of an Intramedullary Metastasis of a Myxopapillary Ependymoma
Background: Myxopapillary ependimoma (MPE) is a benign slow-growing tumor, and it has been designated histologically as a Grade I neoplasm according to the 2016 World Health Organization classification. Despite the benign character, dissemination and metastasis have occasionally been reported. The retrograde dissemination to other levels of the neuraxis is extremely rare, being more frequent to the intracranial compartment.
Case description: We hereby present a case of medullary metastasis of cauda equina MPE, with a history of having undergone a subtotal resection and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy. The patient presents complaints of night dorsal pain attributable to intradural metastasis twenty-one years after the first surgical intervention.
Conclusion: The case reported highlights the importance of long follow-up in patients with MPE, since the possibility of secondary seeding to distant craniospinal sites or local spinal sites after surgery, and radiotherapy should be considered in metastatic disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A Morphometric Analysis of the Santolina chamaecyparissus Complex (Asteraceae)
The genus Santolina (Asteraceae, Anthemideae) includes 26 species of aromatic evergreen shrubs endemic to the western Mediterranean Basin. Santolina is widely used as ornamental plant, in xerigardening, and in ethnobotany. The Santolina chamaecyparissus complex, including about half of the known species diversity, has been properly investigated on systematic and taxonomic grounds only recently, and a complete morphometric study is still missing. Here we provide a morphometric characterization and comparison of all the 14 species of this complex, using both univariate and multivariate analyses. Our results suggest that species of this complex can be distinguished using combinations of quantitative and qualitative character-states, mostly related to the leaf morphology. The analysis of S. villosa, a tetraploid/hexaploid Spanish endemic, showed that the two cytotypes cannot be safely identified based on morphology. Coupling this evidence with available phylogenetic information, we conclude that there is no reason to split the two cytotypes of S. villosa in two distinct taxa. An identification key for all the species of the complex is presented
Harvest index, a parameter conditioning responsiveness of wheat plants to elevated CO2
The expansion of the world’s population requires the development of high production agriculture. For this purpose, it is essential to identify target points conditioning crop responsiveness to predicted [CO2]. The aim of this study was to determine the relevance of ear sink strength in leaf protein and metabolomic profiles and its implications in photosynthetic activity and yield of durum wheat plants exposed to elevated [CO2]. For this purpose, a genotype with high harvest index (HI) (Triticum durum var. Sula) and another with low HI (Triticum durum var. Blanqueta) were exposed to elevated [CO2] (700 µmol mol–1 versus 400 µmol mol–1 CO2) in CO2 greenhouses. The obtained data highlighted that elevated [CO2] only increased plant growth in the genotype with the largest HI; Sula. Gas exchange analyses revealed that although exposure to 700 µmol mol–1 depleted Rubisco content, Sula was capable of increasing the light-saturated rate of CO2 assimilation (Asat) whereas, in Blanqueta, the carbohydrate imbalance induced the down-regulation of Asat. The specific depletion of Rubisco in both genotypes under elevated [CO2], together with the enhancement of other proteins in the Calvin cycle, revealed that there was a redistribution of N from Rubisco towards RuBP regeneration. Moreover, the down-regulation of N, NO3 –, amino acid, and organic acid content, together with the depletion of proteins involved in amino acid synthesis that was detected in Blanqueta grown at 700 µmol mol–1 CO2, revealed that inhibition of N assimilation was involved in the carbohydrate imbalance and consequently with the down-regulation of photosynthesis and growth in these plants
General Relativistic Dynamics of Irrotational Dust: Cosmological Implications
The non--linear dynamics of cosmological perturbations of an irrotational
collisionless fluid is analyzed within General Relativity. Relativistic and
Newtonian solutions are compared, stressing the different role of boundary
conditions in the two theories. Cosmological implications of relativistic
effects, already present at second order in perturbation theory, are studied
and the dynamical role of the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor is elucidated.Comment: 12 pages , DFPD 93/A/6
Cosmological entropy and generalized second law of thermodynamics in theory of gravity
We consider a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker space time
and investigate the second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics
for apparent horizon in generalized modified Gauss Bonnet theory of gravity
(whose action contains a general function of Gauss Bonnet invariant and the
Ricci scalar: ). By assuming that the apparent horizon is in thermal
equilibrium with the matter inside it, conditions which must be satisfied by
are derived and elucidated through two examples: a quasi-de Sitter
space-time and a universe with power law expansion.Comment: 10 pages, minor changes, typos corrected, accepted for publication in
Europhysics Letter
Plane-symmetric inhomogeneous Brans-Dicke cosmology with an equation of state
We present a new exact solution in Brans-Dicke theory. The solution describes
inhomogeneous plane-symmetric perfect fluid cosmological model with an equation
of state . Some main properties of the solution are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, Late
- …