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Crystallographic structure, total energy, electronic structure, and the most important elastic properties of struvite, NH(4)MgPO(4).6H(2)O, the main component of infectious urinary stones, are presented. The calculations were performed using ab initio full-electron calculations within the density functional theory-generalized gradient approximation (DFT-GGA) framework. The obtained crystallographic symmetry and the calculated lattice parameters and also the elastic constants are in good agreement with the experimental data. The elastic properties are essential for establishing an optimal response of urinary stones during shock-wave lithotripsy. The calculated electronic charge distribution confirms the layered structure of the struvite crystals. The polar character of the crystal, well-known from crystal growth experiments, was also confirmed by the magnitude of spontaneous polarization which was obtained from direct determination of the electrical dipole density. The calculated value of spontaneous polarization is equal to -8.8 microC cm(-2). This feature may play a key role in struvite crystallization, electrically binding the charged active impurities and other active species, and consequently determining urinary stone formation. We also present the results of our own experiment of the mineralization of struvite induced to growth by Proteus bacteria which are mainly isolated from infectious urinary stones.

GaN (0001) surface in an ammonia-rich vapor ambient, typical for ammonia annealing, metalo-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) or hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) was considered. It was shown that, in these three cases, the stationary state of the surface corresponds to condition far from equilibrium. The chemical potential of nitrogen and hydrogen at the surface was determined using kinetic arguments, i.e., derived form the magnitude of flux of ammonia. For HVPE and MOVPE growth, the chemical potential of gallium depends on the distance from the steps. Thus, only far distance from the step value of the gallium chemical potential at the GaN(0001) surface could be determined in similar way. In the alternative case of GaN annealing in ammonia atmosphere, gallium chemical potential at the surface remains undetermined (the surface is in a metastable state). Additionally, using thermodynamic arguments, the limits for the chemical potential of gallium (upper) and nitrogen (lower) were formulated for the case of vapor growth, and expressed as functions of temperature and pressure. The results, regarding the atomic processes on the GaN(0001) surface, were obtained using the SIESTA, density functional theory based code, and consequently employed in the comparable thermodynamic and kinetic analysis of the state of GaN(0001) surface.