Nanostructured thermoelectric generator for energy harvesting

This paper presents the development processes towards a new generation of nanostructured thermoelectric generators for power harvesting from small temperature gradients by using a combination of traditional silicon microfabrication techniques, electroplating and submicron ion-track nanolithography. Polyimide nanotemplates with pore diameters ranging from 30nm to 120 nm were fabricated. Preliminary results for Bi2Te3 nanowires (50 and 120 nm diameter) electroplated into polycarbonate ion-track commercial membranes are presented. Bi2Te3 nanowires of R ̄ 3m structure, with preferential orientation in the (015) and (110) crystallographic plans with nearly stoichiometric composition were electroplated. The fine-grained observed microstructure (6-10 nm) and (110) crystalline orientation appear extremely promising for improving thermoelectric material properties

Exponential ergodicity of the jump-diffusion CIR process

In this paper we study the jump-diffusion CIR process (shorted as JCIR), which is an extension of the classical CIR model. The jumps of the JCIR are introduced with the help of a pure-jump L\'evy process $(J_t, t \ge 0)$. Under some suitable conditions on the L\'evy measure of $(J_t, t \ge 0)$, we derive a lower bound for the transition densities of the JCIR process. We also find some sufficient condition guaranteeing the existence of a Forster-Lyapunov function for the JCIR process, which allows us to prove its exponential ergodicity.Comment: 14 page

Strategies for Foreign Construction-Related Consultancy Firms to Improve Performance in China

© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers. With China being a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), more foreign construction-related consultancy firms (foreign firms) are expected to operate in China. The aim of this research is to identify critical strategies and important practices that would improve a foreign firm's project performance. The results show foreign firms need to adopt a combination of both Western (differentiation, cost leadership) and Eastern strategies (risk responsiveness, swiftness) in order to achieve a higher level of performance in China. Foreign firms may assess their likely performance using the developed and validated models. Some instruments/practices to improve performance in China are also offered

Thermal annealing of InGaN/GaN strained-layer quantum well

Quantum well (QW) material engineering has attracted a considerable amount of interest from many people because of its ability to produce a number of optoelectronic devices. QW composition intermixing is a thermal induced interdiffusion of the constituent atoms through the hetero-interface. The intermixing process is an attractive way to achieve the modification of the QW band structure. It is known that the band structure is a fundamental determinant for such electronic and optical properties of materials as the optical gain, the refractive index and the absorption. During the process, the as-grown square-QW compositional profile is modified to a graded profile, thereby altering the confinement profile and the subband structure in the QW. The blue-shifting of the wavelength in the intermixed QW structure is found in this process. In recent years, III-nitride semiconductors have attracted much attention. This is mainly due to their large bandgap range from 1.89eV (wurtzite InN) to 3.44eV (wurtzite GaN). InGaN/GaN quantum well structures have been used to achieve high lumens blue and green light emitting diodes. Such structures also facilitate the production of full colour LED displays by complementing the colour spectrum of available LEDs. In this paper, the effects of thermal annealing on the strained-layer InGaN/GaN QW will be presented. The effects of intermixing on the confinement potential of InGaN/GaN QWs have been theoretically analysed, with sublattices interdiffusion as the basis. This process is described by Fick's law, with constant diffusion coefficients in both the well and the barrier layers. The diffusion coefficients depend on the annealing temperature, time and the activation energy of constituent atoms. The optical properties of intermixed InGaN/GaN QW structure of different interdiffusion rates have been theoretically analyzed for applications of novel optical devices. The photoluminescence studies and the intermixed QW modeling have been used to understand the effects of intermixing.published_or_final_versio

Targeted Assembly of Short Sequence Reads

As next-generation sequence (NGS) production continues to increase, analysis is becoming a significant bottleneck. However, in situations where information is required only for specific sequence variants, it is not necessary to assemble or align whole genome data sets in their entirety. Rather, NGS data sets can be mined for the presence of sequence variants of interest by localized assembly, which is a faster, easier, and more accurate approach. We present TASR, a streamlined assembler that interrogates very large NGS data sets for the presence of specific variants, by only considering reads within the sequence space of input target sequences provided by the user. The NGS data set is searched for reads with an exact match to all possible short words within the target sequence, and these reads are then assembled strin-gently to generate a consensus of the target and flanking sequence. Typically, variants of a particular locus are provided as different target sequences, and the presence of the variant in the data set being interrogated is revealed by a successful assembly outcome. However, TASR can also be used to find unknown sequences that flank a given target. We demonstrate that TASR has utility in finding or confirming ge-nomic mutations, polymorphism, fusion and integration events. Targeted assembly is a powerful method for interrogating large data sets for the presence of sequence variants of interest. TASR is a fast, flexible and easy to use tool for targeted assembly

Ketamine abuse and apoptosis in the cortex in monkeys and mice

International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008, v. 11, suppl. 1, p. 236-237, abstract no. P-06.11published_or_final_versionThe 26th CINP Congress, Munich, Germany, 13-17 July 2008

Extended wavelength infrared photodetectors

Extension of the wavelength threshold of an infrared detector beyond λt=hc/Δ is demonstrated, without reducing the minimum energy gap (Δ) of the material. Specifically, a photodetector designed with Δ=0.40  eV, and a corresponding λt=3.1  μm, was shown to have an extended threshold of ∼45  μm at 5.3 K, at zero bias. Under negative and positive applied bias, this range was further extended to ∼60 and ∼68  μm, respectively, with the photoresponse becoming stronger at increased biases, but the spectral threshold remained relatively constant. The observed wavelength extension arises from an offset between the two potential barriers in the device. Without the offset, another detector with Δ=0.30  eV showed a photoresponse with the expected wavelength threshold of ∼4  μm