Preparation of Zn(Cd)O:Ga–SiO2 composite scintillating materials

Composite material consisting of highly luminescent Zn(Cd)O:Ga powder embedded in the silica matrix was prepared. It was found out that ZnO:Ga with less developed crystals (i.e. annealed at lower temperatures) is more prone to interact with the SiO₂ matrix and form zinc silicates, which in turn resulted in the decrease in the excitonic emission. Pre-annealing of the powders at temperatures above 600 °C prevented the interaction with the SiO₂ matrix. ZnO:Ga with well-developed crystals at such a high temperatures was not affected by the matrix and retained its properties, i.e. high radioluminescence intensity and ultrafast sub nanosecond photoluminescence decay. Introducing Cd into the ZnO lattice caused observable red shift in the excitonic luminescence, without negatively affecting the total intensity or the decay.     

Global existence and time decay estimate of solutions to the Keller–Segel system

We consider the chemotaxis‐Navier–Stokes system 1.1-1.4 (Keller–Segel system) in the whole space, which describes the motion of oxygen‐driven bacteria, eukaryotes, in a fluid. We proved the global existence and time decay estimate of solutions to the Cauchy problem 1.1-1.2 in with the small initial data. Moreover, when the fluid motion is described by the Stokes equations, we established the global weak solutions to 1.3-1.4 in with the potential function ? is small and the initial density n₀(x) has finite mass.     

Partial widths and branching ratios for the emitted electron resulting from interatomic Coulombic decay in quantum wells heterostructure

Interatomic coulomb decay (ICD) is a decay process relying on the Coulombic interaction between neighbouring atoms, molecules or nanostructures. Due to this process, an electron is emitted into the continuum. We study the ICD process in a system of the double quantum well heterostructure and investigate how we can manipulate the structure's parameters such that a better detection of the ICD's emitted electron is achieved. For this purpose, we calculated the partial widths (PWs) and branching ratios (BRs) of the ICD's emitted electron to the left and right asymptotes of the heterostructure; these will give an estimation of the detection current. We manipulated the structure's parameters and took into account the repulsion from the electron in the ground state located in the left well. By introducing two small barriers in the vicinity of the right QW, we observed a BR three times larger than in the structure without the barriers. We also investigate the effect of repulsion due to the second electron. This work gives a better understanding of the dynamics of the scattered ICD's electron, and realisation of better design rules for future experimental observation of ICD in nanostructures.     

Synthesis,characterization, and thermal properties of novel silicon 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinate derivatives and use as single-source chemical vapor deposition precursors

A series of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursors have been synthesized by a single-step reaction of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine and a variety of silicon chlorides. The structures of the 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinate-based compounds were verified by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, XPS, EI-MS, and elemental analysis. The thermal stability, transport behavior, and vapor pressures of these compounds were evaluated by simultaneous thermal analyses (STA). These compounds are highly stable and those in liquid form are very volatile. Silicon carbonitride (SiCN) thin films were prepared by using bis (tetramethylguanidine)-dimethyl-silane as the precursor in helicon wave plasma chemical vapor deposition (HWP-CVD). The properties of the films were investigated by SEM, AFM, and XPS. The results showed that the films have good uniformities, low friction coefficient, and high hardness, enabling the films for fabrication of semiconductor devices.     

Two- and three-dimensional restricted geometry case of luminescence quenching

We present general analytical expression for two and three-dimensional cases of static energy transfer kinetics in doped nanoparticles (of round, spherical and cylindrical shape). A series of numerical experiments has been performed using Monte-Carlo simulation. The analytical expressions have shown very good coincidence with the computer simulation.     

Environmental effects on nuclear decay rates

The possible change of nuclear decay rates in different environments has long been an interesting topic due to its importance not only in nuclear physics but also in astrophysics, geological dating, condensed matter physics, etc. The progress in the investigation of variations in nuclear decay rates are reviewed.     

一个奇摄动微分方程非线性混合边值问题

研究了一个三阶半线性微分方程的奇摄动非线性混合边值问题.利用边界层函数法构造了该问题的形式渐近解,并采用微分不等式理论证明了解的存在性,给出了渐近解的误差估计,最后得出了边界层函数指数型衰减的结论.     

Rheological Behavior of Dope Solutions of Poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐itaconic acid) in N,N‐dimethylformamide: Effect of Polymer Molar Mass

The rheological behavior of dope solutions of poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐itaconic acid) or poly(AN‐co‐IA) is important from the point of view of deriving the spinning conditions for good quality special acrylic fibers. The viscosity of the resin dope is dictated by the polymer concentration, molar mass, temperature and shear force. The dynamic shear rheology of concentrated poly(AN‐co‐IA) polymer dope solutions in N, N‐dimethylformamide, in the molar mass (M¯_v) range of 1×10⁵ to 1×10⁶ g/mol, was investigated in the shear rate (γ′) range of 1×10¹ to 5×10⁴ min^?1. An empirical relation between η and M¯_v was found to exist at constant shear rate. The dope viscosity was dependent on the molar mass and the shear rate at a given temperature (T) and concentration. The polymer molar mass index of dope viscosity (m) was calculated as functions of concentration (c), shear rate and temperature. The m values increased with shear rate and temperature. A master equation relating m, with shear rate and temperature was derived for a given dope concentration. At higher shear rates, m tends to the value of 3.4, which is close to the molar mass index of viscosity reported for molten thermoplastics. m increased significantly with shear rate and nominally with temperature, while an increase in concentration decreased it. The onset of shear thinning of the dope shifted to a lower shear rate regime with an increase in polymer concentration and the molar mass. For a given value of molar mass, the increase in viscosity of the dope solution with polymer concentration was dependent on the shear rate.     

Contralaterally transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursor cells (ENStem-A) migrate and improve brain functions in stroke-damaged rats

The transplantation of neural precursor cells (NPCs) is known to be a promising approach to ameliorating behavioral deficits after stroke in a rodent model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Previous studies have shown that transplanted NPCs migrate toward the infarct region, survive and differentiate into mature neurons to some extent. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of NPC migration following transplantation into stroke animals have yet to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the fates of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived NPCs (ENStem-A) for 8 weeks following transplantation into the side contralateral to the infarct region using 7.0T animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). T2- and T2*-weighted MRI analyses indicated that the migrating cells were clearly detectable at the infarct boundary zone by 1 week, and the intensity of the MRI signals robustly increased within 4 weeks after transplantation. Afterwards, the signals were slightly increased or unchanged. At 8 weeks, we performed Prussian blue staining and immunohistochemical staining using human-specific markers, and found that high percentages of transplanted cells migrated to the infarct boundary. Most of these cells were CXCR4-positive. We also observed that the migrating cells expressed markers for various stages of neural differentiation, including Nestin, Tuj1, NeuN, TH, DARPP-32 and SV38, indicating that the transplanted cells may partially contribute to the reconstruction of the damaged neural tissues after stroke. Interestingly, we found that the extent of gliosis (glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells) and apoptosis (TUNEL-positive cells) were significantly decreased in the cell-transplanted group, suggesting that hESC-NPCs have a positive role in reducing glia scar formation and cell death after stroke. No tumors formed in our study. We also performed various behavioral tests, including rotarod, stepping and modified neurological severity score tests, and found that the transplanted animals exhibited significant improvements in sensorimotor functions during the 8 weeks after transplantation. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that hESC-NPCs have the capacity to migrate to the infarct region, form neural tissues efficiently and contribute to behavioral recovery in a rodent model of ischemic stroke.     

Coherent Vibrational Dynamics and High-resolution Nonlinear Spectroscopy： A Comparison with the Air/DMSO Liquid Interface

We present a comparative study on the C-H stretching vibrations at air/DMSO （dimethyl sulfoxide） interface with both the free-induction decay （FID） coherent vibrational dynamics and the sub-wavenumber high resolution sum-frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy measurements. In principle the frequency-domain and time-domain spectroscopic measurements should generate identical information for a given molecular system. However, when the molecular systems are with several coupled or overlapping vibrational modes, obtain- ing detailed spectroscopic and coherent dynamics information is not as straightforward and rather difficult from either the time-domain or the frequency domain measurements. For the case of air/DMSO interface that is with moderately complex vibrational spectra, we show that the frequency-domain measurement with sub-wavenumber high-resolution sum-frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy is probably more advantageous than the time- domain measurement in obtaining quantitative understanding of the structure and coherent dynamics of the molecular interface.