The changing information environment for nanotechnology: online audiences and content

The shift toward online communication in all realms, from print newspapers to broadcast television, has implications for how the general public consumes information about nanotechnology. The goal of this study is threefold: to investigate who is using online sources for information and news about science and nanotechnology, to examine what the general public is searching for online with regards to nanotechnology, and to analyze what they find in online content of nanotechnology. Using survey data, we find those who report the Internet as their primary source of science and technology news are diverse in age, more knowledgeable about science and nanotechnology, highly educated, male, and more diverse racially than users of other media. In a comparison of demographic data on actual visits by online users to general news and science Web sites, science sites attracted more male, non-white users from the Western region of the United States than news sites did. News sites, on the other hand, attracted those with a slightly higher level of education. Our analysis of published estimates of keyword searches on nanotechnology reveals people are turning to the Internet to search for keyword searches related to the future, health, and applications of nanotechnology. A content analysis of online content reveals health content dominates overall. Comparisons of content in different types of sites—blogs, government, and general sites—are conducted.     

Sources of electrical conductivity in SnO2

SnO2 is widely used as a transparent conductor and sensor material. Better understanding and control of its conductivity would enhance its performance in existing applications and enable new ones, such as in light emitters. Using density functional theory, we show that the conventional attribution of n-type conductivity to intrinsic point defects is incorrect. Unintentional incorporation of hydrogen provides a consistent explanation of experimental observations. Most importantly, we find that SnO2 offers excellent prospects for p-type doping by incorporation of acceptors on the Sn site. Specific strategies for optimizing acceptor incorporation are presented.     

Observation of the Bc meson in the exclusive decay Bc-->J/psipi

A fully reconstructed Bc-->J/psipi signal is observed with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron pp[over] collider using 1.3 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. The signal consists of 54+/-12 candidates with a significance that exceeds 5 standard deviations, and confirms earlier observations of this decay. The measured mass of the Bc meson is 6300+/-14(stat)+/-5(syst) MeV/c2.     

Bose fluids above T(c): incompressible vortex fluids and "supersolidity"

This Letter emphasizes that nonlinear rotational or diamagnetic susceptibility is characteristic of Bose fluids above their superfluid T(C)'s. For sufficiently slow rotation or, for superconductors, weak B fields, this amounts to an incompressible response to vorticity. The cause is that there are terms missing in the conventionally accepted model Hamiltonian for quantized vortices in the Bose fluid. The resulting susceptibility can account for recent observations of Chan et al. [Nature (London) 427, 225 (2004); Science 305, 1941 (2004)] on solid He and Ong et al. [Europhys. Lett. 72, 451 (2005) on cuprate superconductors.     

Measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production

We present the first measurement of the integrated forward-backward charge asymmetry in top-quark-top-antiquark pair (tt) production in proton-antiproton (pp) collisions in the lepton+jets final state. Using a b-jet tagging algorithm and kinematic reconstruction assuming tt + X production and decay, a sample of 0.9 fb(-1) of data, collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, is used to measure the asymmetry for different jet multiplicities. The result is also used to set upper limits on tt+X production via a Z' resonance.     

First observation of the sigma(*+)(c) baryon and a new measurement of the sigma(*+)(c) mass

Using data recorded with the CLEO II and CLEO II.V detector configurations at the Cornell Electron Storage Rings, we report the first observation and mass measurement of the Sigma(*+)(c) charmed baryon, and an updated measurement of the mass of the Sigma(+)(c) baryon. We find M(Sigma(*+)(c))-M(Lambda(+)(c)) = (231.0+/-1.1+/-2.0) MeV, and M(Sigma(+)(c))-M(Lambda(+)(c)) = (166.4+/-0.2+/-0.3) MeV, where the errors are statistical and systematic, respectively.     

Measuring hearing in the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina): comparison of behavioral and auditory brainstem response techniques

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) and standard behavioral methods were compared by measuring in-air audiograms for an adult female harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). Behavioral audiograms were obtained using two techniques: the method of constant stimuli and the staircase method. Sensitivity was tested from 0.250 to 30 kHz. The seal showed good sensitivity from 6 to 12 kHz [best sensitivity 8.1 dB (re 20 microPa2 x s) RMS at 8 kHz]. The staircase method yielded thresholds that were lower by 10 dB on average than the method of constant stimuli. ABRs were recorded at 2, 4, 8, 16, and 22 kHz and showed a similar best range (8-16 kHz). ABR thresholds averaged 5.7 dB higher than behavioral thresholds at 2, 4, and 8 kHz. ABRs were at least 7 dB lower at 16 kHz, and approximately 3 dB higher at 22 kHz. The better sensitivity of ABRs at higher frequencies could have reflected differences in the seal's behavior during ABR testing and/or bandwidth characteristics of test stimuli. These results agree with comparisons of ABR and behavioral methods performed in other recent studies and indicate that ABR methods represent a good alternative for estimating hearing range and sensitivity in pinnipeds, particularly when time is a critical factor and animals are untrained.     

Molecular orbital study of co chemisorption and oxidation on a Pt(111) surface

A molecular orbital study was made, using an atom superposition and electron delocalization (ASED) technique, of the structures and energy levels of CO on Pt(111) surface. CO is predicted to be preferentially adsorbed at a height of 2.05 Å from the surface at a 1-fold position with the carbon end down. The calculated binding energy (1.7 eV) is in good agreement with the recent experimental result (1.5 eV) of Campbell et al. Calculated binding energies for bridging (1.3 eV) and high coordinate (1.1 eV) sites are predicted to be smaller in magnitude. Calculated results are used to discuss the ordering of energy levels of adsorbed CO. The interaction between CO (adsorbed) and O (adsorbed) has been studied to estimate the energy of activation for the oxidation of CO on Pt(111) surface. The calculated activation energy (1.6 eV) is in reasonable agreement with the recent experimental result (1 eV) of Campbell et al. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism is found to be favored. We predict CO₂ bonds vertically.     

On the statistical mechanics of the traveling salesman problem

We consider the statistical mechanics of the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and develop some representations to study it. In one representation the mean field theory has a simple form and brings out some of the essential features of the problem. It shows that the system has spontaneous symmetry breaking at any nonzero temperature. In general the phase progressively changes as one decreases the temperature. At low temperatures the mean field theory solution is very sensitive to any small perturbations, due to the divergence of some local susceptibilities. This critical region extends down to zero temperature. We perform the quenched average for a nonmetric TSP in the second representation and the resulting problem is more complicated than the infinite-range spin-glass problem, suggesting that the free energy landscape may be more complex. The role played by frustration in this problem appears explicitly through the localization property of a random matrix, which resembles the tight binding matrix of an electron in a random lattice.