56 research outputs found

    Electron paramagnetic resonance study of Eu2+ centers in melt-grown CsBr single crystals

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    The structure of Eu2+ monomer centers in CsBr single crystals is investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. These centers are produced by heating the melt-grown crystals above 600 K in vacuum followed by a rapid quench to room temperature (RT) or 77 K. The angular dependence of their EPR spectrum demonstrates that these centers have cubic symmetry. At RT the EPR spectrum decays by aggregation of the Eu2+ ions. This strongly contrasts with the situation for CsBr:Eu needle image plates synthesized by physical vapor deposition, where the Eu2+-related EPR spectrum was observed to exhibit long-term stability at RT

    Stress-strain analysis of oriented polyethylene

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    Temperature responses in a subarctic springtail from two geothermally warmed habitats

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    Common-garden experiments with populations sampled along natural thermal gradients help to reveal local adaptation, disentangle environmental and genetic effects, and ultimately predict, by analogy, future biotic responses to climate change. In this regard, geothermal habitats are useful model systems as they exhibit dramatic changes in soil temperature. The springtail Protaphorura pseudovanderdrifti has apparently coped with such local geothermal warming in Iceland, as this species occurs along a more than half-century-old geothermal gradient in a grassland and persists along a newly emerged temperature gradient in a previously non-geothermal planted spruce forest. We measured thermal reaction norms for development and walking speed and acute cold shock tolerance of P. pseudovanderdrifti originating from the grassland and forest geothermal gradients. Temperature-dependent juvenile development showed little variation among subpopulations from the recently warmed forest, probably due to insufficient evolutionary time, but springtails from the warmed grassland plots had significantly steeper reaction norms than their counterparts from the corresponding unwarmed plot. In contrast, cold tolerance and locomotory activity showed no conclusive clinal pattern despite significant within-habitat variation. There appeared to be significant differences between habitats, as springtails from the forest had more temperature-sensitive developmental rate and locomotory activity, walked faster, and exhibited more variable cold tolerance than grassland springtails did. The planting of a forest, therefore, seems to have exerted a stronger effect on the thermal phenotype of P. pseudovanderdrifti than the emergence of a geothermal gradient. Thus, habitat properties may be no less important in shaping thermal reaction norms than the mean temperature. These local-scale findings suggest that, in addition to warming per se, global transformation of communities may drive the evolution of thermal phenotypes to an extent comparable with the effect of rising environmental temperature

    Electronic and structural properties of vacancies on and below the GaP(110) surface

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    We have performed total-energy density-functional calculations using first-principles pseudopotentials to determine the atomic and electronic structure of neutral surface and subsurface vacancies at the GaP(110) surface. The cation as well as the anion surface vacancy show a pronounced inward relaxation of the three nearest neighbor atoms towards the vacancy while the surface point-group symmetry is maintained. For both types of vacancies we find a singly occupied level at mid gap. Subsurface vacancies below the second layer display essentially the same properties as bulk defects. Our results for vacancies in the second layer show features not observed for either surface or bulk vacancies: Large relaxations occur and both defects are unstable against the formation of antisite vacancy complexes. Simulating scanning tunneling microscope pictures of the different vacancies we find excellent agreement with experimental data for the surface vacancies and predict the signatures of subsurface vacancies.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev. B, Other related publications can be found at http://www.rz-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

    Digital chest radiography: an update on modern technology, dose containment and control of image quality

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    The introduction of digital radiography not only has revolutionized communication between radiologists and clinicians, but also has improved image quality and allowed for further reduction of patient exposure. However, digital radiography also poses risks, such as unnoticed increases in patient dose and suboptimum image processing that may lead to suppression of diagnostic information. Advanced processing techniques, such as temporal subtraction, dual-energy subtraction and computer-aided detection (CAD) will play an increasing role in the future and are all targeted to decrease the influence of distracting anatomic background structures and to ease the detection of focal and subtle lesions. This review summarizes the most recent technical developments with regard to new detector techniques, options for dose reduction and optimized image processing. It explains the meaning of the exposure indicator or the dose reference level as tools for the radiologist to control the dose. It also provides an overview over the multitude of studies conducted in recent years to evaluate the options of these new developments to realize the principle of ALARA. The focus of the review is hereby on adult applications, the relationship between dose and image quality and the differences between the various detector systems

    Analysis of the 1 Year Outdoor Performance of Quantum Dot Luminescent Solar Concentrators

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    Three quantum dot luminescent solar concentrators (QDLSCs) are constructed to assess their performance in an outdoor environment over an entire year. The QDLSCs have a (Formula presented.) PMMA-Kraton-PMMA sandwich structure with either InP/ZnSe/ZnS, (Formula presented.), or CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell quantum dots incorporated in the Kraton interlayer. Furthermore, two reference LSCs are included: one using Lumogen F Red 305 as the luminophore and one without a luminophore in the Kraton layer. The power conversion efficiency is assessed for a cloudy and a sunny day, showing the influence of diffuse and direct irradiance. Moreover, the influence of mounting orientation and direct irradiance is analyzed for individual solar strips attached to the sides. Long-term results show an efficiency increase of (Formula presented.) and InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDLSC while the CdSe/CdS/ZnS QDLSCs and the Lumogen LSC show a pronounced drop in efficiency in the first 3 months. Photodegradation studies under continuous white light exposure for 420 h are performed on smaller pieces cut from the QDLSCs before their assembly outdoors and show similar trends to those observed in the 1 year outdoor study. Future research will focus on the postmortem analysis of the QDLSCs and increasing the efficiencies

    Pesan Moral Islami Dalam Film Le Grand Voyage Karya Ismael Ferroukhi: Sebuah Tinjauan Struktural

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    Kata kunci : Film, sastra, struktural, pesan moral, Islam.Film merupakan produk budaya yang tidak hanya menjadi hiburan di masyarakat, tetapi juga sebagai sarana penyampaian pesan moral yang mengarifkan. Salah satufilm Perancis yang dianggap menginspirasi adalah film berjudul Le grand voyageyang ditulis dan disutradarai oleh Ismaël Ferroukhi. Film ini bercerita tentang perjalanan seorang muslim keturunan Maroko dan anaknya yang bernama Reda.Mereka menempuh jarak ribuan mil dari Perancis menuju ke kota Makah untukmelaksanakan haji hanya dengan mengendarai sebuah mobil tua. Penelitian inibertujuan untuk mengetahui pesan moral islami apa saja yang terkandung dalamfilm Le grand voyage dan bagaimana pesan tersebut dimunculkan dalam film.Penelitian ini menggunakan teori Struktural untuk menjawab rumusan masalah.Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan menggunakan teknik studipustaka serta dokumentasi sebagai metode pengumpulan data, dan teknikdeskriptif dalam proses analisis data.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini, terdapat 13 pesan moral islami yang terkandungdalam film Le grand voyage. Semua pesan moral tersebut mengacu pada sebuahproses perbaikan moral dan spiritual antara manusia dengan manusia dan alam,serta antara manusia dengan TuhanPenulis menyarankan pada penelitian selanjutnya untuk meneliti film Le grandvoyage menggunakan pendekatan sosiologi sastra yang nantinya dapat mengupashal apa saja yang melatarbelakangi pembuatan film ini dan tujuan sebenarnyayang ingin dicapai oleh pembuat film Le grand voyage

    The handbook for standardised field and laboratory measurements in terrestrial climate-change experiments and observational studies

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    Climate change is a worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystem structure, functioning, and services. To understand the underlying drivers and mechanisms, and to predict the consequences for nature and people, we urgently need better understanding of the direction and magnitude of climate‐change impacts across the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum. An increasing number of climate‐change studies is creating new opportunities for meaningful and high‐quality generalisations and improved process understanding. However, significant challenges exist related to data availability and/or compatibility across studies, compromising opportunities for data re‐use, synthesis, and upscaling. Many of these challenges relate to a lack of an established “best practice” for measuring key impacts and responses. This restrains our current understanding of complex processes and mechanisms in terrestrial ecosystems related to climate change
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