Influence of defects on the electronic and magnetic properties of half-metallic CrAs, CrSe and CrSb zinc-blende compounds

We present an extended study of single impurity atoms and atomic swaps in half-metallic CrAs, CrSb and CrSe zinc-blende compounds. Although the perfect alloys present a rather large gap in the minority-spin band, all defects under study, with the exception of void impurities at Cr and sp sites and Cr impurities at sp sites (as long as no swap occurs), induce new states within the gap. The Fermi level can be pinned within these new minority states depending on the lattice constant used for the calculations and the electronegativity of the sp atoms. Although these impurity states are localized in space around the impurity atoms and very fast we regain the bulk behavior, their interaction can lead to wide bands within the gap and thus loss of the half-metallic character

Super-diffusive Transport Processes in Porous Media

The basic assumption of models for the transport of contaminants through soil is that the movements of solute particles are characterized by the Brownian motion. However, the complexity of pore space in natural porous media makes the hypothesis of Brownian motion far too restrictive in some situations. Therefore, alternative models have been proposed. One of the models, many times encountered in hydrology, is based in fractional differential equations, which is a one-dimensional fractional advection diffusion equation where the usual second-order derivative gives place to a fractional derivative of order α, with 1 < α ≤ 2. When a fractional derivative replaces the second-order derivative in a diffusion or dispersion model, it leads to anomalous diffusion, also called super-diffusion. We derive analytical solutions for the fractional advection diffusion equation with different initial and boundary conditions. Additionally, we analyze how the fractional parameter α affects the behavior of the solutions

Envisioning the future of aquatic animal tracking: Technology, science, and application

Electronic tags are significantly improving our understanding of aquatic animal behavior and are emerging as key sources of information for conservation and management practices. Future aquatic integrative biology and ecology studies will increasingly rely on data from electronic tagging. Continued advances in tracking hardware and software are needed to provide the knowledge required by managers and policymakers to address the challenges posed by the world's changing aquatic ecosystems. We foresee multiplatform tracking systems for simultaneously monitoring the position, activity, and physiology of animals and the environment through which they are moving. Improved data collection will be accompanied by greater data accessibility and analytical tools for processing data, enabled by new infrastructure and cyberinfrastructure. To operationalize advances and facilitate integration into policy, there must be parallel developments in the accessibility of education and training, as well as solutions to key governance and legal issues

Colossal dielectric constants in transition-metal oxides

Many transition-metal oxides show very large ("colossal") magnitudes of the dielectric constant and thus have immense potential for applications in modern microelectronics and for the development of new capacitance-based energy-storage devices. In the present work, we thoroughly discuss the mechanisms that can lead to colossal values of the dielectric constant, especially emphasising effects generated by external and internal interfaces, including electronic phase separation. In addition, we provide a detailed overview and discussion of the dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 and related systems, which is today's most investigated material with colossal dielectric constant. Also a variety of further transition-metal oxides with large dielectric constants are treated in detail, among them the system La2-xSrxNiO4 where electronic phase separation may play a role in the generation of a colossal dielectric constant.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. for publication in the Special Topics volume "Cooperative Phenomena in Solids: Metal-Insulator Transitions and Ordering of Microscopic Degrees of Freedom

Single Spin Asymmetry ANA_N in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at s=200\sqrt{s}=200 GeV

We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry $A_N$ at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV in elastic proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $A_N$ was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared $t$ range $0.003 \leqslant |t| \leqslant 0.035$ \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of $A_N$ and its $t$-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this $\sqrt{s}$, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Approximate relativistic bound state solutions of the Tietz-Hua rotating oscillator for any -state

Approximate analytic solutions of the Dirac equation with Tietz-Hua (TH) potential are obtained for arbitrary spin-orbit quantum number using the Pekeris approximation scheme to deal with the spin-orbit coupling terms In the presence of exact spin and pseudo-spin (pspin) symmetric limitation, the bound state energy eigenvalues and associated two-component wave functions of the Dirac particle moving in the field of attractive and repulsive TH potential are obtained using the parametric generalization of the Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. The cases of the Morse potential, the generalized Morse potential and non-relativistic limits are studied.Comment: 19 pages; 7 figures; Few-Body Systems (2012) (at press

School-based prevention for adolescent Internet addiction: prevention is the key. A systematic literature review

Adolescents’ media use represents a normative need for information, communication, recreation and functionality, yet problematic Internet use has increased. Given the arguably alarming prevalence rates worldwide and the increasingly problematic use of gaming and social media, the need for an integration of prevention efforts appears to be timely. The aim of this systematic literature review is (i) to identify school-based prevention programmes or protocols for Internet Addiction targeting adolescents within the school context and to examine the programmes’ effectiveness, and (ii) to highlight strengths, limitations, and best practices to inform the design of new initiatives, by capitalizing on these studies’ recommendations. The findings of the reviewed studies to date presented mixed outcomes and are in need of further empirical evidence. The current review identified the following needs to be addressed in future designs to: (i) define the clinical status of Internet Addiction more precisely, (ii) use more current psychometrically robust assessment tools for the measurement of effectiveness (based on the most recent empirical developments), (iii) reconsider the main outcome of Internet time reduction as it appears to be problematic, (iv) build methodologically sound evidence-based prevention programmes, (v) focus on skill enhancement and the use of protective and harm-reducing factors, and (vi) include IA as one of the risk behaviours in multi-risk behaviour interventions. These appear to be crucial factors in addressing future research designs and the formulation of new prevention initiatives. Validated findings could then inform promising strategies for IA and gaming prevention in public policy and education

Strategies for Controlled Placement of Nanoscale Building Blocks

The capability of placing individual nanoscale building blocks on exact substrate locations in a controlled manner is one of the key requirements to realize future electronic, optical, and magnetic devices and sensors that are composed of such blocks. This article reviews some important advances in the strategies for controlled placement of nanoscale building blocks. In particular, we will overview template assisted placement that utilizes physical, molecular, or electrostatic templates, DNA-programmed assembly, placement using dielectrophoresis, approaches for non-close-packed assembly of spherical particles, and recent development of focused placement schemes including electrostatic funneling, focused placement via molecular gradient patterns, electrodynamic focusing of charged aerosols, and others

Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study

A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4