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Continents are formed by the amalgamation of numerous micro-terranes and island arcs, so they have spatially varying lithosphere strengths. The crème brûlée (CB) model and the jelly sandwich (JS) model have been commonly used to describe continental lithosphere strength–depth variations. Depending on the strength of the continental lower crust, the CB and JS models can be further subdivided into two subclasses in which the I subclass (CB-I and JS-I) and II subclass (CB-II and JS-II), respectively, have a strong or weak lower crust. During the continental collision, lithosphere deformation is the byproduct of the comprehensive interaction of multiple terranes. Here we used 2-D thermomechanical numerical models that contain three continental terranes to systematically explore the effects of terranes with various strengths on continental deformation and studied the effects of different rheological assumptions on terrane deformation. We found four types of lithosphere deformation patterns: collision, subduction, thickening and delamination, and replacement. These simulation patterns are seen in observed deformation patterns and structures in East Asia, suggesting they are likely to be naturally occurring modes of intracontinental orogenesis.

The mechanism of the charge density wave transition in quasi one-dimensional blue bronzes is still debated. Here, the authors report evidence of a Luttinger liquid in the normal state of blue bronzes and Holstein polarons below the transition temperature, revealing the important role of electron-phonon coupling in the transition.

Topological superconductors are potentially important for future quantum computation, but they are very rare in nature. Here, the authors observe topological surface states acquiring a nodeless superconducting gap with similar magnitude as that of the bulk states in 2M-WS2, suggesting an intrinsic topological superconductor.

The intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi_{2}Te_{4} exhibits rich topological effects such as quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion electrodynamics. Here, by combining the use of synchrotron and laser light sources, we carry out comprehensive and high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies on MnBi_{2}Te_{4} and clearly identify its topological electronic structure. In contrast to theoretical predictions and previous studies, we observe topological surface states with diminished gap forming a characteristic Dirac cone. We argue that the topological surface states are mediated by multidomains of different magnetization orientations. In addition, the temperature evolution of the energy bands clearly reveals their interplay with the magnetic phase transition by showing interesting differences between the bulk and surface states, respectively. The investigation of the detailed electronic structure of MnBi_{2}Te_{4} and its temperature evolution provides important insight into not only the exotic properties of MnBi_{2}Te_{4}, but also the generic understanding of the interplay between magnetism and topological electronic structure in magnetic topological quantum materials.

The effects of naturally acidified seawater on shell traits were quantified through the comparison of dove snails (Family: Columbellidae) Anachis misera from vent environments with Euplica sp. from non-vent sites in northeastern Taiwan. Samples of A. misera were collected around a shallow vent (24.8341° N, 121.96191° E), which included the east, south, southwest, and northwest sites. An absence of Anachis snails was found in the most acidic north site (pH 7.19–7.25). Based on the similarities of protein expression profiles, the Anachis snails were classified into two groups, i.e., V-South (pH 7.78–7.82) and V-Rest (pH 7.31–7.83). Comparing their shell traits to the non-vent Euplica sp. from Da-xi (DX) and Geng-fang (GF) (pH 8.1–8.2), a difference in shell shape (shell width : shell length) was found, with the populations having more globular shells than the non-vent ones. The means of shell width were significantly different among sites (p < 0.01), with a descending order of GF > DX > V-South and V-Rest. The relationships of shell length to total weight were curvilinear for both Anachis and Euplica snails. The logarithmically transformed slopes differed significantly among sites, and the mean body weight of the GF population was greater than that of the others (p < 0.01). Positive correlations between shell length and shell thickness of body whorl (T1) and penultimate whorl (T2) were only observed in non-vent GF and DX populations. Anachis snails from vent sites were thinner in T1 and T2 compared to the Euplica snails from non-vent sites (p < 0.05). Within each vent group, shell thickness between T1 and T2 was insignificantly different. Between vent groups, T1 and T2 from V-Rest showed a decrease of 10.6 and 10.2%, respectively, compared to V-South ones. The decrease of T1 and T2 between vent Anachis snails and non-vent Euplica snails was as great as 55.6 and 29.0%, respectively. This was the first study to compare snail's morphological traits under varying shallow-vent stresses with populations previously classified by biochemical responses. Overall, the shallow-vent-based findings provide additional information from subtropics on the effects of acidified seawater on gastropod snails in natural environments.

In this letter, we demonstrate for the first time a growth of monoclinic phase ZrO2 nanocrytals based on a sol-gel method, compared to the ordinary sol-gel procedure, our method decreases the synthesized temperature from ∼1000 °C to ∼800 °C. In addition, it is found that Er3+ in monoclinic phase ZrO2 nanocrystals have greatly enhanced upconversion emissions under infrared LD excitation due to its lower environmental symmetry.

This study presents a compound optical film to improve luminance and uniformity to apply in side-LED (light-emitting diode) backlight module. LIGA (lithographie galvanoformung abformung) technology, soft lithography, and homemade gray scale mask were combined to fabricate microlens array. Optical film with variable size microlens array embedded with microvoids was designed and manufactured. FRED software was used to simulate optical performance. Microvoids were quantitatively embedded in the PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) optical film. Under the quantitative control of air pressure, those microvoids inside the optical film can cause light diffusion. The compound optical film with embedded microvoids, multiaspect ratio, and variable size microlens array can be fabricated quickly without substrate. Luminance colorimeter BM-7A from TOPCON was used to carry out the optical measurement. According to the measured data, the compound optical film with embedded microvoids can enhance the luminance up to 5% and the uniformity up to 6.5% ~ 8.4%. The optical efficiency can be improved via the compound optical film.

The chemical inventory of protoplanetary midplanes is the basis for forming planetesimals. Among them, solid-state reactions based on CO/CO _2 toward molecular complexity on interstellar dust grains have been studied in theoretical and laboratory work. The physicochemical interactions between ice, constituted mainly of H _2 O, and dust surfaces are limited to a few experimental studies focusing on vacuum ultraviolet and cosmic-ray processing. In this work, the erosion of C dust grains induced by X-ray irradiation of H _2 O ice was systematically investigated for the first time. The work aims to provide a better understanding of the reaction mechanism using selectively isotope-labeled oxygen/carbon species in kinetic analysis. Ultrahigh vacuum experiments were performed to study the interstellar ice analog on submicron, thick C dust at ∼13 K. H _2 O or O _2 ice was deposited on the presynthesized amorphous C dust and exposed to soft X-ray photons (250–1250 eV). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor in situ the newly formed species as a function of the incident photon fluence. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to monitor the morphological changes of (non-)eroded carbon samples. The X-ray processing of the ice/dust interface leads to the formation of CO _2 , which further dissociates and forms CO. Carbonyl groups are formed by oxygen addition to grain surfaces and are confirmed as intermediate species in the formation process. The yields of CO and CO _2 were found to be dependent on the thickness of the carbon layer. The astronomical relevance of the experimental findings is discussed.

We develop a formalism for photoionization (PI) and potential energy curves (PECs) of Rydberg atoms in ponderomotive optical lattices and apply it to examples covering several regimes of the optical-lattice depth. The effect of lattice-induced PI on Rydberg-atom lifetime ranges from noticeable to highly dominant when compared with natural decay. The PI behavior is governed by the generally rapid decrease of the PI cross sections as a function of angular-momentum ( ℓ ), lattice-induced ℓ -mixing across the optical-lattice PECs, and interference of PI transition amplitudes from the lattice-mixed into free-electron states. In GHz-deep lattices, ℓ -mixing leads to a rich PEC structure, and the significant low- ℓ PI cross sections are distributed over many lattice-mixed Rydberg states. In lattices less than several tens-of-MHz deep, atoms on low- ℓ PECs are essentially ℓ -mixing-free and maintain large PI rates, while atoms on high- ℓ PECs trend towards being PI-free. Characterization of PI in GHz-deep Rydberg-atom lattices may be beneficial for optical control and quantum-state manipulation of Rydberg atoms, while data on PI in shallower lattices are potentially useful in high-precision spectroscopy and quantum-computing applications of lattice-confined Rydberg atoms.

Grit – passion and perseverance for long-term goals – has been empirically shown to be a positive predictor of success across multiple contexts. The current study developed a new framework of grit within a framework of self-regulatory behaviours. Here, a qualitative approach was assumed to obtain interview data from chief innovation officers and chief information officers within technologically intensive industries. Empirical evidence was used to inductively determine the underlying cognitive-affective processing that influences gritty behaviour. Overall, six strategies were identified: temporal perspective, perpetual evaluation, motivational orientation, strength and resource gathering, system thinking and framing. Organisations may utilise the grit model developed here to enhance the grittiness of their innovation leaders by building effective cognitive-affective strategies.

An attempt is made to investigate the thermal effects of heated magnetic disk on the slider in heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). The maximum slider temperature increase of about 3.5 degrees Celsius caused by the locally heated recording disk was observed, when the media net temperature increase is 85 degrees Celsius at 2000 rpm rotation speed.

Currently, there exists an urgent need to investigate the anti-cancer effects of lidocaine on gastric cancer cells. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the anti-tumor effects and the underlying mechanisms of lidocaine in gastric cancer cells. Our results indicated that lidocaine significantly suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependently manner in human gastric cancer cells. In addition, our data shown that the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased and the level of Bax was increased by lidocaine treatment. Furthermore, we found that lidocaine altered the protein expression of the MAPK pathway. p-p38 was also increased simultaneously, while the level of p38 was not changed. In summary, lidocaine has a prominent anti-tumor activity on gastric cancer cells and is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of gastric cancer (Fig. 4, Ref. 32). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Dust grains in cold circumstellar regions and dark-cloud interiors at 10-20 K are covered by ice mantles. A nonthermal desorption mechanism is invoked to explain the presence of gas-phase molecules in these environments, such as the photodesorption induced by irradiation of ice due to secondary ultraviolet photons. To quantify the effects of ice photoprocessing, an estimate of the photon absorption in ice mantles is required. In a recent work, we reported the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) absorption cross sections of nonpolar molecules in the solid phase. Aims. The aim was to estimate the VUV-absorption cross sections of nonpolar molecular ice components, including CH4, CO2, N2, and O2. Methods. The column densities of the ice samples deposited at 8 K were measured in situ by infrared spectroscopy in transmittance. VUV spectra of the ice samples were collected in the 120-160 nm (10.33-7.74 eV) range using a commercial microwave-discharged hydrogen flow lamp. Results. We found that, as expected, solid N2 has the lowest VUV-absorption cross section, which about three orders of magnitude lower than that of other species such as O2, which is also homonuclear. Methane (CH4) ice presents a high absorption near Ly-α (121.6 nm) and does not absorb below 148 nm. Estimating the ice absorption cross sections is essential for models of ice photoprocessing and allows estimating the ice photodesorption rates as the number of photodesorbed molecules per absorbed photon in the ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using mirrors with specially designed transmissions in a diode end-pumped hemispherical cavity, laser oscillations except for 1580 nm were suppressed and an enhanced pulse performance of an acousto-optic Q-switched laser at a single wavelength of 1580 nm was realized for Er:Yb:RAl3(BO3)4 crystals. When the absorbed pump power was 13.5 W and the pulse repetition frequency was 1 kHz, 250 μJ Q-switched pulse energy with a width of 215 ns and 350 μJ Q-switched pulse energy with a width of 125 ns were achieved in Er:Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 and Er:Yb:LuAl3(BO3)4 crystals, respectively. The pulsed laser performances of both the crystals were also compared and investigated in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The groundwater fluctuations affected by tidal variations at an observation well in a coastal aquifer can be used to determine the tidal characteristics and aquifer parameters without conducting an aquifer test. In this study, a method, comprised of Jeng et al.'s solution (2005) and simulated annealing (SA) algorithm, is developed to determine the coastal aquifer parameters (namely, hydraulic diffusivity, beach slope, and aquifer thickness) as well as the tidal characteristics (namely, bichromatic-tide amplitudes, bichromatic-tide wave frequencies, and tidal phase lag) from the analysis of the tide-induced well-water-level (WWL) data. Two data sets, i.e., synthetic WWL data generated from Jeng et al.'s solution (2005) with assumed parameter values and field data obtained from Barrenjoey beach in Australia, are analyzed. The estimated parameter values obtained from analyzing synthetic WWL data by the present method show good agreements with the previously assumed parameter values. The parameter estimation procedure may however fail in the case of a large shallow-water parameter which in fact violates the constraint on the use of Jeng et al.'s solution (2005). In the analysis of field WWL data, the results indicate that the estimated aquifer parameters from the present method are significantly different from those given in Nielsen (1990). Inspecting the observed WWL data and the WWL data predicted from Jeng et al.'s solution (2005) reveals that the present method may provide better estimations for the aquifer parameters than those given in Nielsen (1990). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the output tracking and almost disturbance decoupling problem for some class of nonlinear control systems with mismatch uncertainties. The main contribution of this study is to construct a controller, under appropriate conditions, such that the resulting closed-loop system is valid for any initial condition and bounded tracking signal with the following characteristics: input-to-state stability with respect to disturbance inputs and almost disturbance decoupling, that is, the influence of disturbances on the L2 norm of the output tracking error can be arbitrarily attenuated by increasing some adjustable parameters. The fundamental theoretical approaches are the differential geometry approach and the composite Lyapunov approach. One example, which cannot be solved by the first paper on the almost disturbance decoupling problem, is proposed in this paper to exploit the fact that the tracking and almost disturbance decoupling performances are easily achieved by the proposed approach. To demonstrate the practical applicability, this paper has successfully derived tracking and almost disturbance decoupling controller for a famous ball and beam system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to develop and optimize a simple and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of rifampicin (RIF), isoniazid (INH), and pyrazinamide (PZA) in a fixed-dose combination. The method is developed and optimized using an artificial neural network (ANN) for data modeling. Retention times under different experimental conditions (solvent, buffer type, and pH) and using four different column types (referred to as the input and testing data) are used to train, validate, and test the ANN model. The developed model is then used to maximize HPLC performance by optimizing separation. The sensitivity of the separation (retention time) to the changes in column type, concentration, and type of solvent and buffer in the mobile phase are investigated. Acetonitrile (ACN) as a solvent and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (tBAH), used to adjust pH, have the greatest influence on the chromatographic separation of PZA and INH and are used for the final optimization. The best separation and reasonably short retention times are produced on the µ-bondapak C18, 4.6 × 250-mm column, 10 µm/125 Å using ACN–tBAH (42.5:57.5, v/v) (0.0002M) as the mobile phase, and optimized at a final pH of 3.10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic bipolar coagulation of uterine vessels (LBCUV) has been employed for women with symptomatic uterine myomas, but its effect on subsequent pregnancy has not been characterized. METHODS: Four-hundred and twenty-three women entered the study between March 1999 and December 2001. Of these, 142 women (33.6%) were under the age of 40 years at the time of LBCUV, 36 of whom (36/142, 25.3%) were sexually active without contraception. In a prospective study of 142 patients (<40 years old) undergoing LBCUV for symptomatic myomas, 15 women became pregnant (17 total pregnancies) and were evaluated by physical and ultrasound examinations. RESULTS: The volume of the dominant myoma was 117.4 ± 118.4 and 36.8 ± 56.8 cm3 before and after LBCUV respectively. Volume of the dominant myoma after pregnancy was 46.2 ± 76.7 cm3 (mean ± SD). There was a significant difference in myoma volume before and after LBCUV (P = 0.002), but no significant difference in myoma volume when comparing post-partum size with post-LBCUV size (P = 0.269). Pregnancy outcomes included seven miscarriages in the first trimester and one premature rupture of membrane (PPROM). Although the other pregnancies were regarded as uncomplicated, only two women were delivered of normal neonates as the other seven pregnancies were terminated secondary to patient request. CONCLUSIONS: The pregnancy and term pregnancy rates in sexually active women without contraception were 41.6% (15/36) and 5.6% (2/36) respectively. Because a relatively high rate (7/17, 41.2%) of early miscarriages was observed, we recommend that this procedure be employed only for women who do not desire additional children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-reorientation transition (SRT) was observed when Ag overlayers deposited on Fe/Pt(111) by magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements. The easy axis of the magnetization changes completely from the in-plane to out-of-plane direction after the coverage of Ag is 1 ML. The polar Kerr intensity and its coercivity as a function of Ag coverage are investigated during SRT. The easy axis of magnetization can be reversed back to the in-plane direction after the Ag overlayers are removed by sputtering. The chemical compositions of the interfaces are measured by Auger electron spectroscopy. The mechanism of SRT induced by Ag is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous stability analysis of NSTX equilibrium with lithium-conditioning demonstrates that enhanced resistivity due to the increased effective charge number Zeff (i.e. increased impurity level) can provide a stabilizing effect on low-n edge localized modes (Banerjee et al 2017 Nucl. Fusion24 054501). This paper extends the resistivity stabilizing effect to the intermediate-n peeling-ballooning (PB) instabilities with the linear stability analysis of EAST high-confinement mode equilibria in NIMROD two-fluid calculations. However, the resistivity stabilizing effect on PB instabilities in the EAST tokamak appears weaker than that found in NSTX. This work may provide better insight into the physical mechanism behind the beneficial effects of impurities on pedestal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substrate integrated slot array antenna with a prescribed radiation pattern is investigated in this paper. To meet the requirement of a certain standard radiation pattern envelope, the array configuration and the element excitation coefficient should be considered together. An efficient and systematic method is proposed to determine the element number and element weights in a planar array. After that, the geometrical dimension of the substrate integrated slot array can be synthesized. As an example, a K-band 16 × 22 slot array antenna based on the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is designed, fabricated, and measured. Its radiation pattern can meet the class 3 antenna radiation pattern envelope of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard pattern. Experimental results are in good agreement with simulated ones.

We study high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from atoms with different ionization potentials by solving numerically the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. A numerical scheme is used which allows us to resolve the contributions of only the short electron trajectory to HHG. With increasing laser wavelengths and reducing laser intensities, the calculated short-trajectory HHG spectra show an energy region near the threshold, where the HHG yields are suppressed strikingly. The width of the region depends on the ionization potential of the target. We show that this suppression can be attributed to the effect of tunnel exit, by providing a distinct HHG feature for studying tunneling. It also provides a chance for exploring other HHG mechanisms beyond tunneling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conical conformal leaky-wave antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. This antenna conforms to a conical shape surface with the angle of 40°. It has a narrow beam that scans from 80° to 97° with varying frequency (34 GHz~37 GHz). Both conformal and nonconformal antennas are fabricated through the standard PCB process. Their performances are compared within the desired frequency.

One challenge in long-pulse and high performance tokamak operation is to control the edge localized modes (ELMs) to reduce the transient heat load on plasma facing components. Minute-scale discharges in H-mode have been achieved repeatedly on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) since the 2016 campaign and understanding the characteristics of the ELMs in these discharges can be helpful for effective ELM control in long-pulse discharges. The kinetic profile diagnostics recently developed on EAST make it possible to perform the pedestal stability analysis quantitatively. Pedestal stability calculation of a typical long-pulse discharge with ELITE code is presented. The ideal linear stability results show that the ELM is dominated by toroidal mode number n around 10–15 and the most unstable mode structure is mainly localized in the steep pressure gradient region, which is consistent with experimental results. Compared with a typical type-I ELM discharge with larger total plasma current (Ip = 600 kA), pedestal in the long-pulse H-mode discharge (Ip = 450 kA) is more stable in peeling-ballooning instability and its critical peak pressure gradient is evaluated to be 65% of the former. Two important features of EAST tokamak in the long-pulse discharge are presented by comparison with other tokamaks, including a wider pedestal correlated with the poloidal pedestal beta and a smaller inverse aspect ratio and their effects on the pedestal stability are discussed. The effects of uncertainties in measurements on the linear stability results are also analyzed, including the edge electron density profile position, the separatrix position and the line-averaged effective ion charge value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach for wideband energy harvesting together with power enhancement is proposed by integrating multiple piezoelectric oscillators with mixed parallel-series connection. This gives rise to the feasibility of shifting the operation frequency band to the dominant frequency domain of ambient excitations. There are two types of connection patterns discussed here: the p-type (s-type) is the parallel (series) connection of all sets of oscillators where some of them may be connected in series (parallel). In addition, the standard interface circuit used for electric rectification is adopted here. The analytic estimates of output power are derived and explicitly expressed in terms of different matrix formulations for these two connection patterns. They are subsequently validated and are found in good agreement with numerical simulations and experimental observations. Finally, the experimental results from the mixed connection of 4 piezoelectric oscillators show that the peak power of each array is about 3.4 times higher than that generated by a single piezoelectric oscillator. In addition, the bandwidth of the array capable of switching connection patterns is around 2.8 times wider than that based on a single array configuration. Hence, the effective bandwidth is enlarged without the loss of peak power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-spin level structures in neutron-rich 141Xe nucleus have been reinvestigated by measuring the triple fold and four-fold γ coincidence data obtained in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf. Several new levels and transitions are identified. The previously proposed octupole bands have been significatively updated and expanded. The systematic characteristics of the octupole deformation and octupole correlations are discussed. Reflection asymmetric shell model calculations for the octupole bands of 141Xe are in good agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-harmonic spectroscopy (HHS) is an emerging tool for probing the structure of molecules in ultrafast timescale. Here, through numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, we show that the present procedures in HHS cannot be directly applied to molecular ions such as with large internuclear distances R. For the latter, besides the ground state, the excited state of the system also contributes importantly to the harmonic emission. A simple model based on developed strong-field approximations and quantum-orbit theory is proposed, which allows us to extract the structural and dynamical information of molecular ions with large R from the harmonic spectra obtained with considering only the contributions of the short trajectory. Our work gives suggestions on tracing the bond length of a molecular orbital in a chemical reaction as the molecule is stretched to large R. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the influence of pulse duration on high harmonic generation (HHG) by exploring a wide laser-parameter region theoretically. Previous studies have shown that for high laser intensities close to saturation ionization intensity, the HHG inversion efficiency is higher for shorter pulses since the ground-state depletion is weaker in short pulses. Our simulations show that this high efficiency also appears for a moderate laser intensity at which the ionization is not very strong. A classical effect relating to shorter travel distances of the rescattering electron in shorter pulses is shown to contribute importantly to this high efficiency. The effect can be amplified significantly if a two-color laser field is used, suggesting a potential approach to increasing the HHG yield and generating short and bright attosecond pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from aligned molecules by varying the laser wavelength from 400 to 2300 nm. Our simulations show that the wavelength dependence of the integrated HHG yield is influenced significantly by the molecular orientation. Our analyses reveal that the electronic dynamics and the interference effect relating to the molecular structure and orientation play a dominating role in the wavelength-orientation-dependent HHG yield. The wavelength scaling of the HHG yield associated with long and short electron trajectories is also addressed. We find the contribution of short trajectory scales vary differently for short and long laser wavelengths, which provides important suggestions for the experimental study of the HHG scaling law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report a lateral shift of the read/write head due to thermal actuated protrusion by heating currents as well as writing currents as experimentally observed by atomic force microscopy. It was found that the shift amplitude is approximately proportional to the heating power within working range before saturation, which is consistent with the relationship between reduction of flying height and heating power. Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) was further used to measure the magnitude of temperature change before and after thermal activation as well as the localized temperature distribution around the active region. The measured temperature change as large as [?]66 K by SThM gave a reasonable explanation for the observed significant lateral shift for non-flying conditions (as large as [?]758 nm along the down-track direction and [?]347 nm along the cross-track direction for heater power [?]16 mW). The asymmetry in fabricated head structures/heating profiles of the working head is proposed to be the cause of the observed lateral shift. The thermal activation induced off-track and down-track effect and the asymmetry may need to be considered in the design of thermal actuated flying height control and in accurate positioning control as areal density of disks increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the design, simulation, fabrication, and test of the in-plane microgenerator to obtain a high-power output. The microgenerator comprises multilayer planar silver (Ag) microcoil of low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) and multipole hard magnet of NdFeB(neodymium, iron, and boron). The LTCC process is an approach that saves costs and time to fabricate the microcoil. The multipole hard magnet of NdFeBprovides the large magnetic energy product to contribute to the power. Finite element simulations have been carried out using COMSOL Multiphysics® to observe electromagnetic information. The induced voltages of coils in different basic geometric shapes, including square-shaped coils, circle-shaped coils, and sector-shaped coils, are simulated separately in this study. A prototype of the microgenerator is <1 cm3in volume size. The simulated result can be compared to the experimental one. The results of simulation reveal that this microgenerator with a sector-shaped microcoil generates a maximum effective value of the induced voltage of 232.7 mVand the power of 2.5 mW. And the 1-mgap between the microcoil and the magnet achieved is the value that is mentioned above. Experimental measurement shows close agreement with finite element simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quiz concerning a 73-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital because of abdominal pain in the epigastric area, nausea, and bilious vomiting for half a day is presented.

We explored a very interesting gold nanoparticle system--pegylated gold in colloidal solution--and analyzed its uptake by mice colorectal adenocarcinoma CT26 tumor cells and the impact on the cell's response to x-ray irradiation. We found that exposure to polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified ('pegylated') 4.7 ± 2.6 nm gold nanoparticles synthesized by a novel synchrotron-based method enhances the response of CT26 cells to x-ray irradiation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal microscopy revealed that substantial amounts of such nanoparticles are taken up and absorbed by the cells and this conclusion is supported by quantitative induced coupled plasma (ICP) results. Standard tests indicated that the internalized particles are highly biocompatible but strongly enhance the cell damage induced by x-ray irradiation. Synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectromicroscopy analyzed the chemical aspects of this phenomenon: the appearance of C = O stretching bond spectral features could be used as a marker for cell damage and confirmed the enhancement of the radiation-induced toxicity for cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]