徜徉花海

早春三月，花花草草从沉睡中醒来，带给我们无限惊喜，在我们的幻想世界中，人们都佩戴着美丽的首饰，其外表能够与毛莨，勿忘我，矢车菊和其它花朵相媲美，黎明，从花朵到露珠润湿的叶片，无不散发着隐藏的魔力。     

MOCVD Growth of Doped GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Heterostructures

The influences of growth techniques of AP-MOCVD GaAs/AlGaAs silicon-doped multi-quantum wells(MQWs), heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs), double barrier resonant tunneling diodes(DBRTDs) ontheir structures and performances were studied. Continuously grown MQWs, that is, no growth interruption atthe heterointerfaces, shown blue-shifted, narrower and stronger photoluminescence(PL) compared withinterruptedly grown ones.TEM examination of the interrupted interfaces revealed a bright line correspondingto the compositional fluctuation and impurity adsorption, and indicated noncommutative structures ofAlGaAs/GaAs and GaAs/AlGaAs interfaces. High performance HBTs and DBRTDs were obtained bycontinuously grown method while growth interruption caused performance degradation. It was concluded thatgrowth interruption may cause accumulation of residua1 impurities in the ambient as well as compositionalfluctuation while continuous growth at very low growth rates can overcome such problems.     

Quantitative mass spectrometry for colorectal cancer proteomics

This review documents the uses of quantitative MS applied to colorectal cancer (CRC) proteomics for biomarker discovery and molecular pathway profiling. Investigators are adopting various labeling and label-free MS approaches to quantitate differential protein levels in cells, tumors, and plasma/serum. We comprehensively review recent uses of this technology to examine mouse models of CRC, CRC cell lines, their secretomes and subcellular fractions, CRC tumors, CRC patient plasma/serum, and stool samples. For biomarker discovery these approaches are uncovering proteins with potential diagnostic and prognostic utility, while in vitro cell culture experiments are characterizing proteomic and phosphoproteomic responses to disrupted signaling pathways due to mutations or to inhibition of drugable enzymes.     

Fluorinated Phosphorene: Electrochemical Synthesis,Atomistic Fluorination,and Enhanced Stability

Phosphorene has attracted great interest due to its unique electronic and optoelectronic properties owing to its tunable direct and moderate band‐gap in association with high carrier mobility. However, its intrinsic instability in air seriously hinders its practical applications, and problems of technical complexity and in‐process degradation exist in currently proposed stabilization strategies. A facile pathway in obtaining and stabilizing phosphorene through a one‐step, ionic liquid‐assisted electrochemical exfoliation and synchronous fluorination process is reported in this study. This strategy enables fluorinated phosphorene (FP) to be discovered and large‐scale, highly selective few‐layer FP (3?6 atomic layers) to be obtained. The synthesized FP is found to exhibit unique morphological and optical characteristics. Possible atomistic fluorination configurations of FP are revealed by core‐level binding energy shift calculations in combination with spectroscopic measurements, and the results indicate that electrolyte concentration significantly modulates the fluorination configurations. Furthermore, FP is found to exhibit enhanced air stability thanks to the antioxidation and antihydration effects of the introduced fluorine adatoms, and demonstrate excellent photothermal stability during a week of air exposure. These findings pave the way toward real applications of phosphorene‐based nanophotonics.     

Visualization of diversity in large multivariate data sets

Understanding the diversity of a set of multivariate objects is an important problem in many domains, including ecology, college admissions, investing, machine learning, and others. However, to date, very little work has been done to help users achieve this kind of understanding. Visual representation is especially appealing for this task because it offers the potential to allow users to efficiently observe the objects of interest in a direct and holistic way. Thus, in this paper, we attempt to formalize the problem of visualizing the diversity of a large (more than 1000 objects), multivariate (more than 5 attributes) data set as one worth deeper investigation by the information visualization community. In doing so, we contribute a precise definition of diversity, a set of requirements for diversity visualizations based on this definition, and a formal user study design intended to evaluate the capacity of a visual representation for communicating diversity information. Our primary contribution, however, is a visual representation, called the Diversity Map, for visualizing diversity. An evaluation of the Diversity Map using our study design shows that users can judge elements of diversity consistently and as or more accurately than when using the only other representation specifically designed to visualize diversity.     

Facilitation of consumer loyalty toward branded applications: The dual-route perspective

Although many brands develop mobile applications (apps) to build relationships with consumers, most branded apps fail to retain consumers’ loyalty. This study examines the facilitation of consumer loyalty toward branded apps (continuance intention, in-app purchase intention, and word-of-mouth intention) from the dual-route perspective. One route is the affective (relationship) route, where brand benefits (functional benefits, experiential benefits, symbolic benefits, and monetary benefits) drive parasocial interactions between consumers and the brand, which, in turn, influences branded app loyalty. The other route is the utility route, where system characteristics (system quality and information quality) affect perceived usefulness, which, in turn, facilitates branded app loyalty. An online survey was conducted, and the research model was empirically tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings support the dual-route perspective according to which both affective and utilitarian paths facilitate branded app loyalty. The key theoretical contribution of this study is that it moves beyond the utilitarian path and finds the affective (relationship) path to give a more complete picture of the facilitation of consumer loyalty in the branded app context. A strategy is provided to suggest to practitioners how to design branded apps to facilitate consumer loyalty.     

Limits and potentials to deliberative engagement in highly regulated planning systems: Norm development within fixed rules

Planning practice requires ongoing interaction between regulatory “facts” and deliberative “norms”. Played out in local and strategic developments, “norms” are the agreed values and positions developed by advancing deliberative engagement of residents; while “facts” are the more rigid statutory procedures through which planning decisions are typically made. However, conflict arises between residents' groups and local government decision-makers when deliberative norms, now a key tenet of strategic planning processes, struggle to gain traction in the factual spaces provided by statutory planning regulations. A contentious planning process in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia (concerning the redevelopment of a car park into a commercial and public space) highlights the challenges to deliberative engagement in highly-regulatory planning systems. Drawing on this contested case, this paper examines how the broader formal and relatively fixed framework of regulatory-based decision-making fails to support participatory principles, undermining both the desired communicative ethos and enduring collaborative outcomes and norm development. Specifically, the paper problematises tensions between residents' growing expectations for greater transparency and participation in planning, arising from a growing regard for deliberation in strategic planning, and the hegemonic nature of statutory planning that preserves planning control within the formal domain of government and the private sector.