531 research outputs found
Submicron full- color LED pixels for microdisplays and micro- LED main displays
We demonstrate a bottom- up approach to the construction of micro- LEDs as small as 150 nm in lateral dimension. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is used to fabricate such nanostructured LEDs from InGaN, from the blue to red regions of the spectrum, providing a single material set useful for an entire RGB display.We demonstrate a bottom- up approach to the construction of micro- LEDs as small as 150 nm in lateral dimension. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is used to fabricate such nanostructured LEDs from InGaN, from the blue to red regions of the spectrum, providing a single material set useful for an entire RGB display. We then consider collective effects of arrays of such LEDs.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155468/1/jsid899_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155468/2/jsid899.pd
WRF-Chem model predictions of the regional impacts of N2O5 heterogeneous processes on night-time chemistry over north-western Europe
Abstract. Chemical modelling studies have been conducted over north-western Europe in summer conditions, showing that night-time dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) heterogeneous reactive uptake is important regionally in modulating particulate nitrate and has a~modest influence on oxidative chemistry. Results from Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model simulations, run with a detailed volatile organic compound (VOC) gas-phase chemistry scheme and the Model for Simulating Aerosol Interactions and Chemistry (MOSAIC) sectional aerosol scheme, were compared with a series of airborne gas and particulate measurements made over the UK in July 2010. Modelled mixing ratios of key gas-phase species were reasonably accurate (correlations with measurements of 0.7â0.9 for NO2 and O3). However modelled loadings of particulate species were less accurate (correlation with measurements for particulate sulfate and ammonium were between 0.0 and 0.6). Sulfate mass loadings were particularly low (modelled means of 0.5â0.7 ÎŒg kgâ1air, compared with measurements of 1.0â1.5 ÎŒg kgâ1air). Two flights from the campaign were used as test cases â one with low relative humidity (RH) (60â70%), the other with high RH (80â90%). N2O5 heterogeneous chemistry was found to not be important in the low-RH test case; but in the high-RH test case it had a strong effect and significantly improved the agreement between modelled and measured NO3 and N2O5. When the model failed to capture atmospheric RH correctly, the modelled NO3 and N2O5 mixing ratios for these flights differed significantly from the measurements. This demonstrates that, for regional modelling which involves heterogeneous processes, it is essential to capture the ambient temperature and water vapour profiles. The night-time NO3 oxidation of VOCs across the whole region was found to be 100â300 times slower than the daytime OH oxidation of these compounds. The difference in contribution was less for alkenes (Ă 80) and comparable for dimethylsulfide (DMS). However the suppression of NO3 mixing ratios across the domain by N2O5 heterogeneous chemistry has only a very slight, negative, influence on this oxidative capacity. The influence on regional particulate nitrate mass loadings is stronger. Night-time N2O5 heterogeneous chemistry maintains the production of particulate nitrate within polluted regions: when this process is taken into consideration, the daytime peak (for the 95th percentile) of PM10 nitrate mass loadings remains around 5.6 ÎŒg kgâ1air, but the night-time minimum increases from 3.5 to 4.6 ÎŒg kgâ1air. The sustaining of higher particulate mass loadings through the night by this process improves model skill at matching measured aerosol nitrate diurnal cycles and will negatively impact on regional air quality, requiring this process to be included in regional models.
This work was supported by the NERC RONOCO project NE/F004656/1.
S. Archer-Nicholls was supported by a NERC quota studentship.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared at http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/15/1385/2015/acp-15-1385-2015.pd
Search for Exotic Strange Quark Matter in High Energy Nuclear Reactions
We report on a search for metastable positively and negatively charged states
of strange quark matter in Au+Pb reactions at 11.6 A GeV/c in experiment E864.
We have sampled approximately six billion 10% most central Au+Pb interactions
and have observed no strangelet states (baryon number A < 100 droplets of
strange quark matter). We thus set upper limits on the production of these
exotic states at the level of 1-6 x 10^{-8} per central collision. These limits
are the best and most model independent for this colliding system. We discuss
the implications of our results on strangelet production mechanisms, and also
on the stability question of strange quark matter.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Nuclear Physics A (Carl Dover
memorial edition
Rapid Environmental Change over the Past Decade Revealed by Isotopic Analysis of the California Mussel in the Northeast Pacific
The anthropogenic input of fossil fuel carbon into the atmosphere results in increased carbon dioxide (CO2) into the oceans, a process that lowers seawater pH, decreases alkalinity and can inhibit the production of shell material. Corrosive water has recently been documented in the northeast Pacific, along with a rapid decline in seawater pH over the past decade. A lack of instrumentation prior to the 1990s means that we have no indication whether these carbon cycle changes have precedence or are a response to recent anthropogenic CO2 inputs. We analyzed stable carbon and oxygen isotopes (ÎŽ13C, ÎŽ18O) of decade-old California mussel shells (Mytilus californianus) in the context of an instrumental seawater record of the same length. We further compared modern shells to shells from 1000 to 1340 years BP and from the 1960s to the present and show declines in the ÎŽ13C of modern shells that have no historical precedent. Our finding of decline in another shelled mollusk (limpet) and our extensive environmental data show that these ÎŽ13C declines are unexplained by changes to the coastal food web, upwelling regime, or local circulation. Our observed decline in shell ÎŽ13C parallels other signs of rapid changes to the nearshore carbon cycle in the Pacific, including a decline in pH that is an order of magnitude greater than predicted by an equilibrium response to rising atmospheric CO2, the presence of low pH water throughout the region, and a record of a similarly steep decline in ÎŽ13C in algae in the Gulf of Alaska. These unprecedented changes and the lack of a clear causal variable underscores the need for better quantifying carbon dynamics in nearshore environments
Search for Strange Quark Matter Produced in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
We present the final results from Experiment 864 of a search for charged and
neutral strange quark matter produced in interactions of 11.5 GeV/c per nucleon
Au beams with Pt or Pb targets. Searches were made for strange quark matter
with A>4. Approximately 30 billion 10% most central collisions were sampled and
no strangelet states with A<100 were observed. We find 90% confidence level
upper limits of approximately 10^{-8} per central collision for both charged
and neutral strangelets. These limits are for strangelets with proper lifetimes
greater than 50 ns. Also limits for H^{0}-d and pineut production are given.
The above limits are compared with the predictions of various models. The
yields of light nuclei from coalescence are measured and a penalty factor for
the addition of one nucleon to the coalescing nucleus is determined. This is
useful in gauging the significance of our upper limits and also in planning
future searches for strange quark matter.Comment: 35 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of âs = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pTâ„20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60â€pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2â€{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration
Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets
containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The
measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1.
The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary
decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from
the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is
used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive
b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the
range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet
cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the
range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets
and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are
compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed
between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG +
Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet
cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive
cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse
momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version published in European Physical Journal
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Medicinal plants used by women in Mecca: urban, Muslim and gendered knowledge
Background: This study explores medicinal plant knowledge and use among Muslim women in the city of Mecca,
Saudi Arabia. Ethnobotanical research in the region has focused on rural populations and male herbal healers in
cities, and based on these few studies, it is suggested that medicinal plant knowledge may be eroding. Here, we
document lay, female knowledge of medicinal plants in an urban centre, interpreting findings in the light of the
growing field of urban ethnobotany and gendered knowledge and in an Islamic context.
Methods: Free-listing, structured and semi-structured interviews were used to document the extent of medicinal
plant knowledge among 32 Meccan women. Vernacular names, modes of preparation and application, intended
therapeutic use and emic toxicological remarks were recorded. Women were asked where they learnt about
medicinal plants and if and when they preferred using medicinal plants over biomedical resources. Prior informed consent was always obtained. We compared the list of medicinal plants used by these Meccan women with medicinal plants previously documented in published literature.
Results: One hundred eighteen vernacular names were collected, corresponding to approximately 110 plants, including one algae. Of these, 95 were identified at the species level and 39 (41%) had not been previously cited in Saudi Arabian medicinal plant literature. Almost one half of the plants cited are food and flavouring plants. Meccan women interviewed learn about medicinal plants from their social network, mass media and written sources, and combine biomedical and medicinal plant health care. However, younger women more often prefer biomedical resources and learn from written sources and mass media.
Conclusions: The fairly small number of interviews conducted in this study was sufficient to reveal the singular body of medicinal plant knowledge held by women in Mecca and applied to treat common ailments. Plant availability in local shops and markets and inclusion in religious texts seem to shape the botanical diversity used by the Meccan women interviewed, and the use of foods and spices medicinally could be a global feature of urban ethnobotany. Ethnobotanical knowledge among women in Islamic communities may be changing due to access to mass media and biomedicine. We recognise the lack of documentation of the diversity of medicinal plant knowledge in the Arabian Peninsula and an opportunity to better understand gendered urban and rural knowledge
Simulating organic aerosol in Delhi with WRF-Chem using the volatility-basis-set approach: exploring model uncertainty with a Gaussian process emulator
The nature and origin of organic aerosol in the atmosphere remain unclear. The gasâparticle partitioning of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that constitute primary organic aerosols (POAs) and the multigenerational chemical aging of SVOCs are particularly poorly understood. The volatility basis set (VBS) approach, implemented in air quality models such as WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry), can be a useful tool to describe emissions of POA and its chemical evolution. However, the evaluation of model uncertainty and the optimal model parameterization may be expensive to probe using only WRF-Chem simulations. Gaussian process emulators, trained on simulations from relatively few WRF-Chem simulations, are capable of reproducing model results and estimating the sources of model uncertainty within a defined range of model parameters. In this study, a WRF-Chem VBS parameterization is proposed; we then generate a perturbed parameter ensemble of 111 model runs, perturbing 10 parameters of the WRF-Chem model relating to organic aerosol emissions and the VBS oxidation reactions. This allowed us to cover the model's uncertainty space and to compare outputs from each run to aerosol mass spectrometer observations of organic aerosol concentrations and O:C ratios measured in New Delhi, India. The simulations spanned the organic aerosol concentrations measured with the aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). However, they also highlighted potential structural errors in the model that may be related to unsuitable diurnal cycles in the emissions and/or failure to adequately represent the dynamics of the planetary boundary layer. While the structural errors prevented us from clearly identifying an optimized VBS approach in WRF-Chem, we were able to apply the emulator in the following two periods: the full period (1â29 May) and a subperiod period of 14:00â16:00âhâLT (local time) on 1â29 May. The combination of emulator analysis and model evaluation metrics allowed us to identify plausible parameter combinations for the analyzed periods. We demonstrate that the methodology presented in this study can be used to determine the model uncertainty and to identify the appropriate parameter combination for the VBS approach and hence to provide valuable information to improve our understanding of OA production
The inverse-trans-influence in tetravalent lanthanide and actinide bis(carbene) complexes
Across the periodic table the trans-influence operates, whereby tightly bonded ligands selectively lengthen mutually trans metalâligand bonds. Conversely, in high oxidation state actinide complexes the inverse-trans-influence operates, where normally cis strongly donating ligands instead reside trans and actually reinforce each other. However, because the inversetrans-influence is restricted to high-valent actinyls and a few uranium(V/VI) complexes, it has had limited scope in an area with few unifying rules. Here we report tetravalent cerium, uranium and thorium bis(carbene) complexes with trans CÂŒMÂŒC cores where experimental and theoretical data suggest the presence of an inverse-trans-influence. Studies of hypothetical praseodymium(IV) and terbium(IV) analogues suggest the inverse-trans-influence may extend to these ions but it also diminishes significantly as the 4f orbitals are populated. This work suggests that the inverse-trans-influence may occur beyond high oxidation state 5f metals and hence could encompass mid-range oxidation state actinides and lanthanides. Thus, the inverse-trans-influence might be a more general f-block principle
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