Ion implantation and low-temperature epitaxial regrowth of GaAs

Channeling and transmission electron microscopy have been used to investigate the parameters that govern the extent of damage in ion‐implanted GaAs and the crystal quality following capless furnace annealing at low temperature (∼400 °C). The implantation‐induced disorder showed a strong dependence on the implanted ion mass and on the substrate temperature during implantation. When the implantation produced a fully amorphous surface layer the main parameter governing the regrowth was the amorphous thickness. Formation of microtwins after annealing was observed when the initial amorphous layer was thicker than 400 Å. Also, the number of extended residual defects after annealing increased linearly with the initial amorphous thickness and extrapolation of that curve predicts good regrowth of very thin (<400 Å) GaAs amorphous layers produced by ion implantation. A model is presented to explain the observed features of the low‐temperature annealing of GaAs

Epitaxial regrowth of thin amorphous GaAs layers

Channeling and transmission electron microscopy have been used to investigate the parameters that govern the crystal quality following capless funace annealing at low temperature (~ 400 °C) in ion-implanted GaAs. From the results obtained, we concluded that the crystal quality after annealing depends strongly on the thickness of the amorphous layer generated by ion implantation and the number of residual defects increases linearly with the thickness of the implanted layer. Single-crystal regrowth free of defects detectable by megaelectron volt He + channeling was achieved for a very thin amorphous layer (<~ 400 Å)

Strong mass effect on ion beam mixing in metal bilayers

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the mechanism of ion beam mixing in metal bilayers. We are able to explain the ion induced low-temperature phase stability and melting behavior of bilayers using only a simple ballistic picture up to 10 keV ion energies. The atomic mass ratio of the overlayer and the substrate constituents seems to be a key quantity in understanding atomic mixing. The critical bilayer mass ratio of $\delta < 0.33$ is required for the occurrence of a thermal spike (local melting) with a lifetime of $\tau > 0.3$ ps at low-energy ion irradiation (1 keV) due to a ballistic mechanism. The existing experimental data follow the same trend as the simulated values.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, preprin

Pharmacology of DB844, an orally active aza analogue of pafuramidine, in a monkey model of second stage human African trypanosomiasis

Novel drugs to treat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) are still urgently needed despite the recent addition of nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT) to WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines against second stage HAT, where parasites have invaded the central nervous system (CNS). The pharmacology of a potential orally available lead compound, N-methoxy-6-{5-[4-(N-methoxyamidino) phenyl]-furan-2-yl}-nicotinamidine (DB844), was evaluated in a vervet monkey model of second stage HAT, following promising results in mice. DB844 was administered orally to vervet monkeys, beginning 28 days post infection (DPI) with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense KETRI 2537. DB844 was absorbed and converted to the active metabolite 6-[5-(4-phenylamidinophenyl)-furanyl-2-yl]-nicotinamide (DB820), exhibiting plasma C(max) values of 430 and 190 nM for DB844 and DB820, respectively, after the 14th dose at 6 mg/kg qd. A 100-fold reduction in blood trypanosome counts was observed within 24 h of the third dose and, at the end of treatment evaluation performed four days post the last drug dose, trypanosomes were not detected in the blood or cerebrospinal fluid of any monkey. However, some animals relapsed during the 300 days of post treatment monitoring, resulting in a cure rate of 3/8 (37.5%) and 3/7 (42.9%) for the 5 mg/kg×10 days and the 6 mg/kg×14 days dose regimens respectively. These DB844 efficacy data were an improvement compared with pentamidine and pafuramidine both of which were previously shown to be non-curative in this model of CNS stage HAT. These data show that synthesis of novel diamidines with improved activity against CNS-stage HAT was possible

Characterization of structural changes in modern and archaeological burnt bone: Implications for differential preservation bias

Structural and thermodynamic factors which may influence burnt bone survivorship in archaeological contexts have not been fully described. A highly controlled experimental reference collection of fresh, modern bone burned in temperature increments 100–1200˚C is presented here to document the changes to bone tissue relevant to preservation using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Specific parameters investigated here include the rate of organic loss, amount of bone mineral recrystallization, and average growth in bone mineral crystallite size. An archaeological faunal assemblage ca. 30,000 years ago from Tolbor-17 (Mongolia) is additionally considered to confirm visibility of changes seen in the modern reference sample and to relate structural changes to commonly used zooarchaeological scales of burning intensity. The timing of our results indicates that the loss of organic components in both modern and archaeological bone burnt to temperatures up to 700˚C are not accompanied by growth changes in the average crystallite size of bone mineral bioapatite, leaving the small and reactive bioapatite crystals of charred and carbonized bone exposed to diagenetic agents in depositional contexts. For bones burnt to temperatures of 700˚C and above, two major increases in average crystallite size are noted which effectively decrease the available surface area of bone mineral crystals, decreasing reactivity and offering greater thermodynamic stability despite the mechanical fragility of calcined bone. We discuss the archaeological implications of these observations within the context of Tolbor-17 and the challenges of identifying anthropogenic fire

Texas STATEMAP Program Summary, FY19 (2019–2020)

Five geologic maps have been completed at a 1:24,000 scale in four project areas with support from STATEMAP and the Bureau of Economic Geology's State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery program (STARR). Three of these maps were on the Texas Coastal Plain, including one (the Lake Stephenson quadrangle) on the upper Texas Coastal Plain in the Galveston Bay area and two (the Bloomington and Olivia quadrangles) on the middle Texas Coastal Plain in the Matagorda Bay area. These maps continue efforts to: 1. Better understand the evolution of the coastal plain in response to sea-level changes associated with numerous Quaternary glacial and interglacial cycles. 2. Develop more effective methods to map low-relief coastal deposits using high-resolution topographic maps produced from airborne lidar data and near-surface geophysical methods. High-resolution topography and geophysical methods both aid in the identification of stratal units and their distribution in areas where exposures are poor or nonexistent. Mineral-resource mapping produced one map (the Katemcy quadrangle) to extend recent mapping of an industrial sand resource area in central Texas. This map facilitates the development of mineral resources of the state, emphasizing those that will help meet the demand for industrial sand for hydraulic fracturing and construction. The detailed map can be used to evaluate and explore the mineral-resource potential of the area. Mapping in the central Texas urban growth corridor northeast of Austin produced one map (the Taylor quadrangle) that extends previous mapping in this critical urban growth and transportation corridor. This map addresses the ongoing need for planning and managing groundwater, surface water, land use, and construction projects where rapid population growth and suburban development have caused an increased demand for water and earth resources.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Efficient computation of high index Sturm-Liouville eigenvalues for problems in physics

Finding the eigenvalues of a Sturm-Liouville problem can be a computationally challenging task, especially when a large set of eigenvalues is computed, or just when particularly large eigenvalues are sought. This is a consequence of the highly oscillatory behaviour of the solutions corresponding to high eigenvalues, which forces a naive integrator to take increasingly smaller steps. We will discuss some techniques that yield uniform approximation over the whole eigenvalue spectrum and can take large steps even for high eigenvalues. In particular, we will focus on methods based on coefficient approximation which replace the coefficient functions of the Sturm-Liouville problem by simpler approximations and then solve the approximating problem. The use of (modified) Magnus or Neumann integrators allows to extend the coefficient approximation idea to higher order methods

Ab initio many-body calculations on infinite carbon and boron-nitrogen chains

In this paper we report first-principles calculations on the ground-state electronic structure of two infinite one-dimensional systems: (a) a chain of carbon atoms and (b) a chain of alternating boron and nitrogen atoms. Meanfield results were obtained using the restricted Hartree-Fock approach, while the many-body effects were taken into account by second-order M{\o}ller-Plesset perturbation theory and the coupled-cluster approach. The calculations were performed using 6-31$G^{**}$ basis sets, including the d-type polarization functions. Both at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and the correlated levels we find that the infinite carbon chain exhibits bond alternation with alternating single and triple bonds, while the boron-nitrogen chain exhibits equidistant bonds. In addition, we also performed density-functional-theory-based local density approximation (LDA) calculations on the infinite carbon chain using the same basis set. Our LDA results, in contradiction to our HF and correlated results, predict a very small bond alternation. Based upon our LDA results for the carbon chain, which are in agreement with an earlier LDA calculation calculation [ E.J. Bylaska, J.H. Weare, and R. Kawai, Phys. Rev. B 58, R7488 (1998).], we conclude that the LDA significantly underestimates Peierls distortion. This emphasizes that the inclusion of many-particle effects is very important for the correct description of Peierls distortion in one-dimensional systems.Comment: 3 figures (included). To appear in Phys. Rev.

Signaling, Polyubiquitination, Trafficking, and Inclusions: Sequestosome 1/p62's Role in Neurodegenerative Disease

Aggregated misfolded proteins are hallmarks of most neurodegenerative diseases. In a chronic disease state, including pathologic situations of oxidative stress, these proteins are sequestered into inclusions. Accumulation of aggregated proteins can be prevented by chaperones, or by targeting their degradation to the UPS. If the accumulation of these proteins exceeds their degradation, they may impair the function of the proteasome. Alternatively, the function of the proteasome may be preserved by directing aggregated proteins to the autophagy-lysosome pathway for degradation. Sequestosome 1/p62 has recently been shown to interact with polyubiquitinated proteins through its UBA domain and may direct proteins to either the UPS or autophagosome. P62 is present in neuronal inclusions of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, we review p62's role in signaling, aggregation, and inclusion formation, and specifically as a possible contributor to Alzheimer's disease. The use of p62 as a potential target for the development of therapeutics and as a disease biomarker is also discussed