Analysis of high-frequency wind-driven ambient noise in shallow brackish water

Ambient noise spectra in a shallow brackish water environment were found to be steeper than expected at frequencies above 10 kHz. The high-frequency behavior of the spectra was resolved by modeling dispersion and noise in bubbly water. Bubble size distributions fitted to the brackish water spectra exhibit a distinctive maximum in the radius range 0.1-0.3 mm, and a substantial drop in bubble density below a radius of 0.1 mm. The brackish water distributions were tied to an oceanic spectrum with a spectral slope of 5.7 dB/octave obtained with a -3 / 2 power law dependence of bubble size density on radius.     

Dislocation-pairing transitions in hot grain boundaries

We report the finding of a novel grain-boundary structural phase transition in both molecular-dynamics and phase-field-crystal simulations of classical models of bcc Fe. This transition is characterized by pairing of individual dislocations with mixed screw and edge components. We demonstrate that this type of transition is driven by a combination of factors including elastic softening, core interaction, and core disordering. At high homologous temperatures the occurrence of this transition is shown to prevent premelting at misorientation angles where it would otherwise be expected.     

Quantum-confined electronic states in atomically well-defined graphene nanostructures

Despite the enormous interest in the properties of graphene and the potential of graphene nanostructures in electronic applications, the study of quantum-confined states in atomically well-defined graphene nanostructures remains an experimental challenge. Here, we study graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with well-defined edges in the zigzag direction, grown by chemical vapor deposition on an Ir(111) substrate by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We measure the atomic structure and local density of states of individual GQDs as a function of their size and shape in the range from a couple of nanometers up to ca. 20 nm. The results can be quantitatively modeled by a relativistic wave equation and atomistic tight-binding calculations. The observed states are analogous to the solutions of the textbook "particle-in-a-box" problem applied to relativistic massless fermions.     

Characterization of chemically deposited ZnSe/SnO2/glass films: Influence of annealing in Ar atmosphere on physical properties

The Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) thin films have been deposited on SnO₂/glass substrates by a simple and inexpensive chemical bath deposition (CBD). The structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnSe films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX), optical absorption spectroscopy, and four point probe techniques, respectively. The films have been subjected to different annealing temperature in Argon (Ar) atmosphere. An increase in annealing temperature does not cause a complete phase transformation whereas it affects the crystallite size, dislocation density and strain. The optical band gap (E_g) of the as-deposited film is estimated to be 3.08 eV and decreases with increasing annealing temperature down to 2.43 eV at 773 K. The as-deposited and annealed films show typical semiconducting behaviour, dρ/dT > 0. Interestingly, the films annealed at 373 K, 473 K, and 573 K show two distinct temperature dependent regions of electrical resistivity; exponential region at high temperature, linear region at low temperature. The temperature at which the transition takes place from exponential to linear region strongly depends on the annealing temperature.     

On the adaptive control of a class of partially observed Markov decision processes

This paper is concerned with the adaptive control problem, over the infinite horizon, for partially observable Markov decision processes whose transition functions are parameterized by an unknown vector. We treat finite models and impose relatively mild assumptions on the transition function. Provided that a sequence of parameter estimates converging in probability to the true parameter value is available, we show that the certainty equivalence adaptive policy is optimal in the long-run average sense.     

Raman amplification with reduced polarization impairments in the fibre with tailored spin profile

By using two-section fibre where the first section has no spin and the second one is periodically spun, we demonstrate reduced polarization dependent gain and polarization mode dispersion (0.3 dB and 0.0072 ps·km^−1/2 correspondently) in a distributed fibre Raman amplifier.     

Intimate interplay of theory and experiments in model catalysis

We briefly summarize our joint effort to understand catalytic reactions on the model catalyst RuO₂(1 1 0) on the atomic scale, applying state-of-the-art density functional theory calculations and surface chemical characterizations in parallel. This intimate theory/experiment interplay allows us to gain new and deep insights into a catalytic system under investigation and to save recourses such as experimental and computing time as well as (wo)man power. Here we illustrate the utility of this intimate theory/experiment approach with a variety of recent examples related to the extraordinary activity of RuO₂. The identification of RuO₂(1 1 0) as the catalytically active state in the oxidation of CO on Ru(0 0 0 1) (Science 287 (2000) 1474) triggered a paradigm shift in model catalysis from the view of a rigid catalyst towards a structural and chemically flexible catalyst which adapts itself to the reaction conditions.     

Modeling polarization-dependent gain in fiber Raman amplifiers with randomly varying birefringence

We report a new stochastic model for studying the polarization-dependent gain in Raman fiber amplifiers with randomly varying birefringence as a function of the pump state of polarization and the polarization mode dispersion parameter. Our theoretical results agree with the previously obtained experimental data.     

Floating Electrode Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma in Air Promoting Apoptotic Behavior in Melanoma Skin Cancer Cell Lines

Initiation of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an important issue in cancer treatment as cancer cells frequently have acquired the ability to block apoptosis and thus are more resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs. Targeted and perhaps selective destruction of cancerous tissue is desirable for many reasons, ranging from the enhancement of or aid to current medical methods to problems currently lacking a solution, i.e., lung cancer. Demonstrated in this publication is the inactivation (killing) of human Melanoma skin cancer cell lines, in vitro, by Floating Electrode Dielectric Barrier Discharge (FE-DBD) plasma. Not only are these cells shown to be killed immediately by high doses of plasma treatment, but low doses are shown to promote apoptotic behavior as detected by TUNEL staining and subsequent flow cytometry. It is shown that plasma acts on the cells directly and not by “poisoning” the solution surrounding the cells, even through a layer of such solution. Potential mechanisms of interaction of plasma with cells are discussed and further steps are proposed to develop an understanding of such systems.