CL study of blue and UV emissions in ß-Ga_2O_3 nanowires grown by thermal evaporation of GaN

We report a cathodoluminescence (CL) study of ß-Ga_2O_3 nanowires grown by thermal evaporation of GaN on Si(100) and Au/Si(00) substrates. Condensation and subsequent oxidation of metallic Ga is suggested as the growth mechanism of ß-Ga_2O_3 nanowires. The ß-Ga_2O_3 nanowires grown on Si(100) show multiple bends or undulations, together with a strong UV emission at 3.31 eV and a weak blue emission centered at 2.8 eV as a band component. The ß-Ga_2O_3 nanowires grown on Au/Si(100) substrates recorded a lower CL intensity of a well-defined blue emission of 2.8 eV. A thermal treatment on these samples produced an increase of the UV emission and quenching of the blue band. Thermal annealing of oxygen vacancies is proposed as the responsible mechanism for the observed behavior of these samples

Electron Wave Function in Armchair Graphene Nanoribbons

By using analytical solution of a tight-binding model for armchair nanoribbons, it is confirmed that the solution represents the standing wave formed by intervalley scattering and that pseudospin is invariant under the scattering. The phase space of armchair nanoribbon which includes a single Dirac singularity is specified. By examining the effects of boundary perturbations on the wave function, we suggest that the existance of a strong boundary potential is inconsistent with the observation in a recent scanning tunneling microscopy. Some of the possible electron-density superstructure patterns near a step armchair edge located on top of graphite are presented. It is demonstrated that a selection rule for the G band in Raman spectroscopy can be most easily reproduced with the analytical solution.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Why Are Outcomes Different for Registry Patients Enrolled Prospectively and Retrospectively? Insights from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF).

Background: Retrospective and prospective observational studies are designed to reflect real-world evidence on clinical practice, but can yield conflicting results. The GARFIELD-AF Registry includes both methods of enrolment and allows analysis of differences in patient characteristics and outcomes that may result. Methods and Results: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and ≥1 risk factor for stroke at diagnosis of AF were recruited either retrospectively (n = 5069) or prospectively (n = 5501) from 19 countries and then followed prospectively. The retrospectively enrolled cohort comprised patients with established AF (for a least 6, and up to 24 months before enrolment), who were identified retrospectively (and baseline and partial follow-up data were collected from the emedical records) and then followed prospectively between 0-18 months (such that the total time of follow-up was 24 months; data collection Dec-2009 and Oct-2010). In the prospectively enrolled cohort, patients with newly diagnosed AF (≤6 weeks after diagnosis) were recruited between Mar-2010 and Oct-2011 and were followed for 24 months after enrolment. Differences between the cohorts were observed in clinical characteristics, including type of AF, stroke prevention strategies, and event rates. More patients in the retrospectively identified cohort received vitamin K antagonists (62.1% vs. 53.2%) and fewer received non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (1.8% vs . 4.2%). All-cause mortality rates per 100 person-years during the prospective follow-up (starting the first study visit up to 1 year) were significantly lower in the retrospective than prospectively identified cohort (3.04 [95% CI 2.51 to 3.67] vs . 4.05 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.63]; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Interpretations of data from registries that aim to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF must take account of differences in registry design and the impact of recall bias and survivorship bias that is incurred with retrospective enrolment. Clinical Trial Registration: - URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362)

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Overview of the instrumentation for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) embarked on an ambitious 5 yr survey in 2021 May to explore the nature of dark energy with spectroscopic measurements of 40 million galaxies and quasars. DESI will determine precise redshifts and employ the baryon acoustic oscillation method to measure distances from the nearby universe to beyond redshift z > 3.5, and employ redshift space distortions to measure the growth of structure and probe potential modifications to general relativity. We describe the significant instrumentation we developed to conduct the DESI survey. This includes: a wide-field, 3.°2 diameter prime-focus corrector; a focal plane system with 5020 fiber positioners on the 0.812 m diameter, aspheric focal surface; 10 continuous, high-efficiency fiber cable bundles that connect the focal plane to the spectrographs; and 10 identical spectrographs. Each spectrograph employs a pair of dichroics to split the light into three channels that together record the light from 360–980 nm with a spectral resolution that ranges from 2000–5000. We describe the science requirements, their connection to the technical requirements, the management of the project, and interfaces between subsystems. DESI was installed at the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and has achieved all of its performance goals. Some performance highlights include an rms positioner accuracy of better than 0.″1 and a median signal-to-noise ratio of 7 of the [O ii] doublet at 8 × 10−17 erg s−1 cm−2 in 1000 s for galaxies at z = 1.4–1.6. We conclude with additional highlights from the on-sky validation and commissioning, key successes, and lessons learned

Underpotential deposition of Cu on iodine-modified Au(111): an in situ scanning tunneling microscopy study

The electrochemical deposition of Cu on iodine-modified Au(111) surfaces has been investigated by in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) in sulfuric acid solutions. In situ ECSTM studies reveal different iodine adlayer structures before and during the process of copper underpotential deposition (UPD). At the beginning of the cathodic scan and for potentials higher than the onset of UPD a c(p x root 3R-30 degrees) iodine structure is observed on wide terraces. For lower potentials this iodine structure transforms to a more compact (3 x 3) structure characterized by two different structural variations (symmetric and asymmetric) sometimes observed coexisting in the same terrace. Charge transfer analysis from CV measurements reveals that the amount of copper deposited at these potentials is not sufficient to account for this structure in the framework of a hard-ball structural model. During the UPD process itself other iodine structures are also observed as a function of copper deposition, together with an additional compression of the iodine adlayer associated with the formation of a Cul bilayer, in agreement with previously reported X-ray diffraction data. At the end of the UPD process a Cu(1 x 1) monolayer is formed with a lattice parameter equal to that of Au(111). The same course of structural changes was also observed during the anodic scan where stripping of the copper layer takes place, returning to the initial iodine c(p x root 3R-30 degrees) structure. Our results strongly suggest that the iodine adlayer is constantly present as the top layer during the process of electrodeposition and stripping of Cu with no noticeable loss of iodine in the process. The observed structures are discussed in terms of iodine-copper interactions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved