Conductive-probe atomic force microscopy characterization of silicon nanowire

The electrical conduction properties of lateral and vertical silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were investigated using a conductive-probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Horizontal SiNWs, which were synthesized by the in-plane solid-liquid-solid technique, are randomly deployed into an undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Local current mapping shows that the wires have internal microstructures. The local current-voltage measurements on these horizontal wires reveal a power law behavior indicating several transport regimes based on space-charge limited conduction which can be assisted by traps in the high-bias regime (> 1 V). Vertical phosphorus-doped SiNWs were grown by chemical vapor deposition using a gold catalyst-driving vapor-liquid-solid process on higly n-type silicon substrates. The effect of phosphorus doping on the local contact resistance between the AFM tip and the SiNW was put in evidence, and the SiNWs resistivity was estimated.     

Fast pyrolysis of palm kernel cake using a fluidized bed reactor: Design of experiment and characteristics of bio-oil

In this study, the central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was employed to investigate the effects of the feedstock feed rate, biomass particle size, pyrolysis temperature, and residence time on the fast pyrolysis of palm kernel cake. A mathematical model for the liquid product yield was developed and applied to obtain a maximum yield of 49.5 wt%. The GC–MS analyses of the bio-oils at the two different temperatures of 400 and 500 °C showed that they were a complex mixture composed of mostly oxygenated compounds including β-D-allose, derivatives of furan and phenol, and a considerable amount of fatty acids.     

Milling contour error control using multilevel fuzzy controller

Machining contour error plays important roles in product quality. This paper presents an implementation of multilevel fuzzy controller in controlling contour errors while maintaining the desired feed rate of milling processes. The orthogonal global task frame was used to transform the tool positions from the Cartesian coordinate system to the curvilinear coordinate system. Contour error and tracking lag error calculated from the curvilinear coordinate system were used by the multilevel fuzzy controller to drive the machining axis on the Mazak VQC-15/40 vertical machining center. The contour error of the machined work piece measured by the coordinate measuring machine showed that the contour error were significantly reduced and the feed rate were regulated at the desired speed.     

Construction of the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale.

This study describes the construction and initial validation of the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale (FCS) with 3 samples of Asian American college students. The scale consists of 10 typical Asian American family conflicts that are rated for likelihood of occurrence (FCS-Likelihood) and seriousness of conflict (FCS-Seriousness). In Study 1, FCS-Likelihood and FCS-Seriousness had sound internal reliability, stability, and construct validity. In Study 2, FCS-Likelihood correlated with socioeconomic and cultural orientation variables. Ethnic, generation, and language differences, as well as the parent–child acculturation gap hypothesis, also were confirmed for FCS-Likelihood. In Study 3, FCS-Likelihood correlated with measures of family cohesion, adaptability, and parent-child communication. Although further validation is necessary, FCS-Likelihood in particular is a potentially useful research and clinical instrument for assessing the quality of Asian American parent–child relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Large-scale phenotypic analysis reveals identical contributions to cell functions of known and unknown yeast genes.

Sequencing of the yeast genome has shown that about one-third of the yeast ORFs code for unknown proteins. Many other have similarity to known genes, but still the cellular functions of the gene products are unknown. The aim of the B1 Consortium of the EUROFAN project was to perform a qualitative phenotypic analysis on yeast strains deleted for functionally orphan genes. To this end we set up a simple approach to detect growth defects of a relatively large number of strains in the presence of osmolytes, ethanol, high temperature, inhibitory compounds or drugs affecting protein biosynthesis, phosphorylation level or nucleic acids biosynthesis. We have now developed this procedure to a semi-quantitative level, we have included new inhibitors, such as hygromycin B, benomyl, metals and additional drugs interfering with synthesis of nucleic acids, and we have performed phenotypic analysis on the deleted strains of 564 genes poorly characterized in respect to their cellular functions. About 30% of the deleted strains showed at least one phenotype: many of them were pleiotropic. For many gene deletions, the linkage between the deletion marker and the observed phenotype(s) was studied by tetrad analysis and their co-segregation was demonstrated. Co-segregation was found in about two-thirds of the analysed strains showing phenotype(s).     

Cardiovascular responses mediated by protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) and thrombin receptor (PAR-1) are distinguished in mice deficient in PAR-2 or PAR-1

We developed mice deficient in protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) or PAR-1 to explore the pathophysiological functions of these receptors. In this report, we evaluated mean arterial pressure and heart rate (HR) changes in response to PAR-1 or PAR-2 activation in anesthetized wild-type (WT), PAR-1-deficient (PAR-1(-/-)), and PAR-2-deficient (PAR-2(-/-)) mice. In WT mice, TFLLRNPNDK, a PAR-1 selective activating peptide, caused hypotension and HR decreases at 1 micromol/kg. TFLLRNPNDK also caused secondary hypertension following L-NAME pretreatment. These responses were absent in PAR-1(-/-) mice. In WT mice, SLIGRL, a PAR-2 selective activating peptide, caused hypotension without changing HR at 0.3 micromol/kg. SLIGRL did not induce hypertension following Nomega-nitrol-arginine-methyl ester-HCl (L-NAME). The response to SLIGRL was absent in PAR-2(-/-) mice. SFLLRN, a nonselective receptor activating peptide caused hypotension and HR decreases in WT mice at 0.3 micromol/kg, as well as secondary hypertension following L-NAME. SFLLRN still induced hypotension in PAR-1(-/-) mice, but HR decrease and secondary hypertension following L-NAME were absent. The hypotensive and bradycardic responses to SFLLRN and TFLLRNPNDK in PAR-2(-/-) mice were accentuated compared with WT mice. By using mouse strains deficient in either PAR-1 or PAR-2, we confirmed the in vivo specificity of TFLLRNPNDK and SLIGRL as respective activating peptides for PAR-1 and PAR-2, and the distinct hemodynamic responses mediated by activation of PAR-1 or PAR-2. Moreover, the accentuated response to PAR-1 activation in PAR-2-deficient mice suggests a compensatory response and potential receptor cross-talk.     

SPMD programming in Java

We consider the suitability of the Java concurrent constructs for writing high-performance SPMD code for parallel machines. More specifically, we investigate implementing a financial application in Java on a distributed-memory parallel machine. Despite the fact that Java was not expressly targeted to such applications and architectures per se, we conclude that efficient implementations are feasible. Finally, we propose a library of Java methods to facilitate SPMD programming. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scalable Functionalization of Optical Fibers Using Atomically Thin Semiconductors

Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides are highly promising for integrated optoelectronic and photonic systems due to their exciton-driven linear and nonlinear interactions with light. Integrating them into optical fibers yields novel opportunities in optical communication, remote sensing, and all-fiber optoelectronics. However, the scalable and reproducible deposition of high-quality monolayers on optical fibers is a challenge. Here, the chemical vapor deposition of monolayer MoS₂ and WS₂ crystals on the core of microstructured exposed-core optical fibers and their interaction with the fibers’ guided modes are reported. Two distinct application possibilities of 2D-functionalized waveguides to exemplify their potential are demonstrated. First, the excitonic 2D material photoluminescence is simultaneously excited and collected with the fiber modes, opening a novel route to remote sensing. Then it is shown that third-harmonic generation is modified by the highly localized nonlinear polarization of the monolayers, yielding a new avenue to tailor nonlinear optical processes in fibers. It is anticipated that the results may lead to significant advances in optical-fiber-based technologies.