3,112 research outputs found
Nectria galligena as the cause of a collar rot disease in organically grown Topaz apple trees
Symptoms resembling collar rot were detected in organically managed Topaz trees aged 3-10 years, occur-ring one to several years after planting of the orchard. Trees were killed within the same growing season in which symptoms were first observed. The disease commonly progressed as a complete covered canker at the base of the tree trunk. Isolation attempts were negative for Phytophthora and other Oomycetes, but con-sistently yielded Nectria galligena. The possibility of latent (endophytic) infections of N. galligena as the cause of delayed collar rot symptoms is briefly discussed
Handwriting analysis for diagnosis and prognosis of Parkinson’s disease
At present, there are no quantitative, objective methods for diagnosing the Parkinson disease. Existing methods of quantitative analysis by myograms suffer by inaccuracy and patient strain; electronic tablet analysis is limited to the visible drawing, not including the writing forces and hand movements. In our paper we show how handwriting analysis can be obtained by a new electronic pen and new features of the recorded signals. This gives good results for diagnostics. Keywords: Parkinson diagnosis, electronic pen, automatic handwriting analysi
Simulation of Cu-Mg metallic glass: Thermodynamics and Structure
We have obtained effective medium theory (EMT) interatomic potential
parameters suitable for studying Cu-Mg metallic glasses. We present
thermodynamic and structural results from simulations of such glasses over a
range of compositions. We have produced low-temperature configurations by
cooling from the melt at as slow a rate as practical, using constant
temperature and pressure molecular dynamics. During the cooling process we have
carried out thermodynamic analyses based on the temperature dependence of the
enthalpy and its derivative, the specific heat, from which the glass transition
temperature may be determined. We have also carried out structural analyses
using the radial distribution function (RDF) and common neighbor analysis
(CNA). Our analysis suggests that the splitting of the second peak, commonly
associated with metallic glasses, in fact has little to do with the glass
transition itself, but is simply a consequence of the narrowing of peaks
associated with structural features present in the liquid state. In fact the
splitting temperature for the Cu-Cu RDF is well above . The CNA also
highlights a strong similarity between the structure of the intermetallic
alloys and the amorphous alloys of similar composition. We have also
investigated the diffusivity in the supercooled regime. Its temperature
dependence indicates fragile-liquid behavior, typical of binary metallic
glasses. On the other hand, the relatively low specific heat jump of around
indicates apparent strong-liquid behavior, but this can
be explained by the width of the transition due to the high cooling rates.Comment: 12 pages (revtex, two-column), 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Spatially resolved quantum plasmon modes in metallic nano-films from first principles
Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) can be used to probe plasmon
excitations in nanostructured materials with atomic-scale spatial resolution.
For structures smaller than a few nanometers quantum effects are expected to be
important, limiting the validity of widely used semi-classical response models.
Here we present a method to identify and compute spatially resolved plasmon
modes from first principles based on a spectral analysis of the dynamical
dielectric function. As an example we calculate the plasmon modes of 0.5-4 nm
thick Na films and find that they can be classified as (conventional) surface
modes, sub-surface modes, and a discrete set of bulk modes resembling standing
waves across the film. We find clear effects of both quantum confinement and
non-local response. The quantum plasmon modes provide an intuitive picture of
collective excitations of confined electron systems and offer a clear
interpretation of spatially resolved EELS spectra.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Plasmons on the edge of MoS2 nanostructures
Using ab initio calculations we predict the existence of one-dimensional
(1D), atomically confined plasmons at the edges of a zigzag MoS2 nanoribbon.
The strongest plasmon originates from a metallic edge state localized on the
sulfur dimers decorating the Mo edge of the ribbon. A detailed analysis of the
dielectric function reveals that the observed deviations from the ideal 1D
plasmon behavior result from single-particle transitions between the metallic
edge state and the valence and conduction bands of the MoS2 sheet. The Mo and S
edges of the ribbon are clearly distinguishable in calculated spatially
resolved electron energy loss spectrum owing to the different plasmonic
properties of the two edges. The edge plasmons could potentially be utilized
for tuning the photocatalytic activity of MoS2 nanoparticles
Fixed Point Actions for Lattice Fermions
The fixed point actions for Wilson and staggered lattice fermions are
determined by iterating renormalization group transformations. In both cases a
line of fixed points is found. Some points have very local fixed point actions.
They can be used to construct perfect lattice actions for asymptotically free
fermionic theories like QCD or the Gross-Neveu model. The local fixed point
actions for Wilson fermions break chiral symmetry, while in the staggered case
the remnant symmetry is preserved. In addition, for
Wilson fermions a nonlocal fixed point is found that corresponds to free chiral
fermions. The vicinity of this fixed point is studied in the Gross-Neveu model
using perturbation theory.Comment: 6 pages, figures 1 and 4 included, figures 2,3,5,6,7 can be obtained
from [email protected]
A local Bayesian optimizer for atomic structures
A local optimization method based on Bayesian Gaussian Processes is developed
and applied to atomic structures. The method is applied to a variety of systems
including molecules, clusters, bulk materials, and molecules at surfaces. The
approach is seen to compare favorably to standard optimization algorithms like
conjugate gradient or BFGS in all cases. The method relies on prediction of
surrogate potential energy surfaces, which are fast to optimize, and which are
gradually improved as the calculation proceeds. The method includes a few
hyperparameters, the optimization of which may lead to further improvements of
the computational speed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Linear density response function in the projector-augmented wave method: Applications to solids, surfaces, and interfaces
We present an implementation of the linear density response function within
the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method with applications to the linear
optical and dielectric properties of both solids, surfaces, and interfaces. The
response function is represented in plane waves while the single-particle
eigenstates can be expanded on a real space grid or in atomic orbital basis for
increased efficiency. The exchange-correlation kernel is treated at the level
of the adiabatic local density approximation (ALDA) and crystal local field
effects are included. The calculated static and dynamical dielectric functions
of Si, C, SiC, AlP and GaAs compare well with previous calculations. While
optical properties of semiconductors, in particular excitonic effects, are
generally not well described by ALDA, we obtain excellent agreement with
experiments for the surface loss function of the Mg(0001) surface with plasmon
energies deviating by less than 0.2 eV. Finally, we apply the method to study
the influence of substrates on the plasmon excitations in graphene. On
SiC(0001), the long wavelength plasmons are significantly damped although
their energies remain almost unaltered. On Al(111) the plasmon is
completely quenched due to the coupling to the metal surface plasmon.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, articl
Signatures of nonadiabatic O2 dissociation at Al(111): First-principles fewest-switches study
Recently, spin selection rules have been invoked to explain the discrepancy
between measured and calculated adsorption probabilities of molecular oxygen
reacting with Al(111). In this work, we inspect the impact of nonadiabatic spin
transitions on the dynamics of this system from first principles. For this
purpose the motion on two distinct potential-energy surfaces associated to
different spin configurations and possible transitions between them are
inspected by means of the Fewest Switches algorithm. Within this framework we
especially focus on the influence of such spin transitions on observables
accessible to molecular beam experiments. On this basis we suggest experimental
setups that can validate the occurrence of such transitions and discuss their
feasibility.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
- …