Mg-Ni-H films as selective coatings: tunable reflectance by layered hydrogenation

Unlike other switchable mirrors, Mg2NiHx films show large changes in reflection that yield very low reflectance (high absorptance) at different hydrogen contents, far before reaching the semiconducting state. The resulting reflectance patterns are of interference origin, due to a self-organized layered hydrogenation mechanism that starts at the substrate interface, and can therefore be tuned by varying the film thickness. This tunability, together with the high absorptance contrast observed between the solar and the thermal energies, strongly suggests the use of these films in smart coatings for solar applications.Comment: Three two-column pages with 3 figures embedded; RevTE

Joining up health and bioinformatics: e-science meets e-health

CLEF (Co-operative Clinical e-Science Framework) is an MRC sponsored project in the e-Science programme that aims to establish methodologies and a technical infrastructure forthe next generation of integrated clinical and bioscience research. It is developing methodsfor managing and using pseudonymised repositories of the long-term patient histories whichcan be linked to genetic, genomic information or used to support patient care. CLEF concentrateson removing key barriers to managing such repositories ? ethical issues, informationcapture, integration of disparate sources into coherent ?chronicles? of events, userorientedmechanisms for querying and displaying the information, and compiling the requiredknowledge resources. This paper describes the overall information flow and technicalapproach designed to meet these aims within a Grid framework

3-D seismic exploration for the Victorio Peak treasure

In January of 1994, we conducted an extensive seismic experiment to find caverns under Victorio Peak, a bioherm reef structure located approximately 80 miles northeast of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Within Victorio Peak there is reputed to be an extensive network of caverns, tunnels and fissures that contain a large and varied treasure consisting of gold bars, Spanish armor, jewels, coins, and human skeletons. We used an array of seismic sources that included a sledgehammer on the surface of the mountain, a sledgehammer impacting on the walls of two deep fissures within the mountain, as well as blasting caps located in boreholes drilled into the mountain. Approximately 2,000 source positions were recorded by 120 receiver channels consisting of geophones cemented into fissure walls and hydrophones deployed in a deep horizontal borehole drilled at the base of the mountain. The data analysis consisted of measuring reduced traveltime and amplitude of the direct arrival and isolating those source/receiver pairs that exhibited anomalously large direct arrival traveltimes and/or low amplitudes. We have currently identified and located a major amplitude anomaly under the peak that will be drilled and explored during the summer of 1994

Entry in the ADHD drugs market: Welfare impact of generics and me-toos

Recent decades have seen a growth in treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) including many branded and generic drugs. In the early 2000's, new drug entry dramatically altered market shares. We estimate a demand system for ADHD drugs and assess the welfare impact of new drugs. We find that entry induced large welfare gains by reducing prices of substitute drugs, and by providing alternative delivery mechanisms for existing molecules. Our results suggest that the success of follow-on patented drugs may come from unanticipated innovations like delivery mechanisms, a factor ignored by proposals to retard new follow-on drug approvals

Effect of the strong metal-support interaction on hydrogen sorption kinetics of Pd-capped switchable mirrors

The morphology and electronic structure of Pd clusters grown on oxidized yttrium surfaces are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The hydrogen sorption mediated by the Pd clusters is determined from the optically monitored switching kinetics of the underlying yttrium film. A strong thickness dependence of the hydrogen uptake is found. The electronic structure of the as-grown Pd clusters depends only weakly on their size. Strong changes of the photoemission spectra are found after hydrogenation, in particular the oxide peak shifts and the Pd peaks vanish. Both phenomena are due to a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) state, characterized by a complete encapsulation of the clusters by a reduced yttrium oxide layer. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy confirms the SMSI state of small Pd clusters after hydrogen exposure. The SMSI effect is less important with increasing Pd thickness. This explains the critical thickness for the catalyzed hydrogen uptake by the Pd/Y

Variable Star Candidates in an ACS Field of M31

A search for variable stars is performed using two epochs of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) imaging data for a 9.28 square arcminute portion of M31. This data set reveals 254 sources that vary by at least 4-sigma between epochs. The positions and 2-epoch B-band (equivalent) photometry of these sources are presented. The photometry suggests that this catalog includes most of the RR Lyrae population of this portion of M31.Comment: 22 pages, 3 tables, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A