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Abstract In scientifically intriguing and technologically important multifunctional ABO3 perovskite oxides, oxygen vacancies are most common defects. They cause lattice expansion and can alter the key functional properties. Here, it is demonstrated that contrary to weak isotropic expansion in bulk samples, oxygen vacancies produce strong anisotropic strain in epitaxial thin films. This anisotropic chemical strain is explained by preferential orientation of elastic dipoles of the vacancies. Elastic interaction of the dipoles with substrate-imposed misfit strain is suggested to define the dipolar orientation. Such elastic behavior of oxygen vacancies is anticipated to be general for perovskite films and have critical impacts on the film synthesis and response functions.
Despite a large number of articles about synthesis methods, structure, morphology and electrochemical properties of polypyrrole, none of these works reports the relationships between polypyrrole synthetic conditions, the electronic states of atoms in the polymer chains and its electrochemical properties in various electrolytes. Our work is dedicated to filling part of this gap. This work is focused on the effect of the synthetic medium used for polypyrrole synthesis on their atomic and electronic structure and morphology as well as investigation of the influence of these on the electrochemical characteristics of polypyrrole in aqueous electrolytes with different ions and pH values within a supercapacitor setup. It is shown that synthetic medium does not affect polymer particle shapes but changes particle sizes. Using oxygen functional groups containing synthetic medium based on water and ethanol leads to a decrease in C:N ratio, increase in C:O ratio, increase in the concentration of positively charged nitrogen-species and formation of linear-structured polymer chains. Contrary, acetonitrile-based synthetic medium without oxygen-containing functional groups leads to an increase in C:N ratio and concentration of neutrally charged nitrogen species, decrease in C:O ratio and formation of branched-structured polymer chains. Electrochemical properties of polypyrrole depend on the nature of the electrolyte, then nitrogen species and oxygen-containing functional groups in polypyrrole structure, and the size of polypyrrole particles. The favorable electrolyte for using polypyrrole in supercapacitors is neutral. The specific capacitance of polypyrrole produced in acetonitrile is shown to reach the value of ~ 385 F g −1 which is stable for more than 10,000 cycles in 1M KCl aqueous solution.
Abstract A significant increase in conductivity under an applied magnetic field or large negative magnetoresistance up to several percent is observed at low temperatures in epitaxial perovskite NdNiO3 films. The (20–100 nm) strained films are grown on compressive (001)LaAlO3 and tensile (001)(La0.3Sr0.7)(Al0.65Ta0.35)O3 substrates. The negative magnetoresistance is found in the insulating phase, where the hopping mechanism of conductivity is revealed. It is shown that the presence and Zeeman splitting of localized states are responsible for conductivity and magnetoresistance. The localized states are suggested to emerge due to thermally induced local disorder in the Ni-O bond disproportionation. Such disorder can also lead to a phase coexistence in a broad temperature range.
Abstract Control of lattice strain in epitaxial films of ABO3 perovskite oxides is crucial for modern understanding and applications of these scientifically and technologically important materials. Here, we show that oxygen vacancies have unique impacts on lattice strain in such films. We suggest that in the presence of substrate-imposed misfit in epitaxial or highly oriented films, the crystallographic alignment of anisotropic elastic dipole tensors of oxygen vacancies is energetically favorable. The dipolar alignment leads to an enhanced above-misfit magnitude of maximal lattice strain and to increased inhomogeneous strain or strain gradients. The vacancy-induced remarkably strong elastic effects are experimentally validated by varying the misfit strain and oxygen content in thin films of perovskite niobate (ANbO3) and titanate (ATiO3) ferroelectrics. It is anticipated that elastic effects of oxygen vacancies are relevant for controlling strain in epitaxial films of a broad range of functional oxides.
We present a delayed stochastic model of transcription at the single nucleotide level. The model accounts for the promoter open complex formation and includes alternative pathways to elongation, namely pausing, arrest, misincorporation and editing, pyrophosphorolysis, and premature termination. We confront the dynamics of this detailed model with a single-step multi-delayed stochastic model and with measurements of expression of a repressed gene at the single molecule level. At low expression rates both models match the experiments but, at higher rates the two models differ significantly, with consequences to cell-to-cell phenotypic variability. The alternative pathway reactions, due to, for example, causing polymerases to collide more often on the template, are the cause for the difference in dynamical behaviors. Next, we confront the model with measurements of the transcriptional dynamics at the single RNA level of an induced gene and show that RNA production, besides its bursting dynamics, also exhibits pulses (2 or more RNAs produced in intervals smaller than the smallest interval between initiations). The distribution of occurrences and amplitudes of pulses match the experimental measurements. This pulsing and the noise at the elongation stage are shown to play a role in the dynamics of a genetic switch.
A large-scale fatigue testing machine based on the rotating beam method in a four-point bending configuration was designed and built. With the device, high-strength metal specimens with a 32-mm gauge diameter and a 100-mm gauge length can be tested at a cyclic frequency of up to 48 Hz. In this work, particular attention was paid to evaluating the spatial and temporal uniformity of the loading within the large specimen; methods for quantitative evaluation of these effects were developed. The developed test methodology allows for the fatigue testing of specimens with size, microstructure, and surface conditions that are similar to actual machine parts.
Abstract Single-crystal epitaxial films of technologically important and scientifically intriguing multifunctional ABO3 perovskite-type metal oxides are essential for advanced applications and understanding of these materials. In such films, a film-substrate misfit strain enables unprecedented crystal phases and unique properties that are not available in their bulk counterparts. However, the prerequisite growth of strained epitaxial films is fundamentally restricted by misfit relaxation. Here we demonstrate that introduction of a small oxygen deficiency concurrently stabilizes epitaxy and increases lattice strain in thin films of archetypal perovskite oxide SrTiO3. By combining experimental and theoretical methods, we found that lattice distortions around oxygen vacancies lead to anisotropic local stresses, which interact with the misfit strain in epitaxial films. Consequently, specific crystallographic alignments of the stresses are energetically favorable and can facilitate epitaxial growth of strained films. Because anisotropic oxygen-vacancy stresses are inherent to perovskite-type and many other oxides, we anticipate that the disclosed phenomenon of epitaxial stabilization by oxygen vacancies is relevant for a very broad range of functional oxides.
Abstract Multiple strong impacts of anion doping Λ (Λ = oxygen vacancy, nitrogen, or hydrogen) on the optical properties in the near-infrared to vacuum ultraviolet spectral range are experimentally revealed in cube-on-cube-type epitaxial perovskite BaTiO3−δΛδ films (δ ≤ 0.01) grown on (001)SrTiO3 substrates. Compared to the reference undoped films and bulk crystal, the anion-doped films exhibit massive changes of the index of refraction in the transparency range Δn of ∼0.1 to 0.2, a profound bandgap widening ΔEg of ∼0.3 eV to 0.4 eV, a dopant-specific near-edge absorption, and doping-induced interband transitions. Both the conduction-band uplift and the changes in the index of refraction are ascribed to the internal stress and electric field, which result from epitaxially controlled dopant locations in the [Ba–O](001) planes. The dopant-induced in-gap states are responsible for the near-edge absorption, whereas the dopant-induced conduction-band states are suggested to modify the interband transitions and the intrinsic elasto- and electro-optic coefficients.
Abstract Single-crystal-type epitaxial films of perovskite oxide ferroelectrics are attractive for integrated photonic applications because of the remarkable optical properties and effects in ferroelectrics. The properties of the films may be influenced by epitaxial strain arising from the film-substrate mismatch. Here, dramatic strain-induced changes of the absorption and refraction are experimentally detected by spectroscopic ellipsometry in epitaxial films of archetypical ferroelectric PbTiO3. Comparison of the properties of a tensile-strained film with those of reference films and crystals reveals that epitaxial tension produces blueshifts of the primary above-bandgap absorption peaks by 1 eV and a decrease in the refractive index by 0.5 in the transparent spectral range. The obtained quadratic electrooptic and effective elastooptic coefficients exceed the bulk values by orders of magnitude. The experimental observations prove that epitaxy is a powerful tool for engineering unprecedented optical properties that may enable future photonics innovations.
Abstract Purpose: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring with computed tomography (CT) has been proposed as a screening tool for coronary artery disease, but concerns remain regarding the radiation dose of CT CAC scoring. Photon counting detectors and iterative reconstruction (IR) are promising approaches for patient dose reduction, yet the preservation of CAC scores with IR has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of IR for quantification of CAC using a photon counting flat-detector. Approach: We imaged a cardiac rod phantom with calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) inserts with different noise levels using an experimental photon counting flat-detector CT setup to simulate the clinical CAC scoring protocol. We applied filtered back projection (FBP) and two IR algorithms with different regularization strengths. We compared the air kerma values, image quality parameters [noise magnitude, noise power spectrum, modulation transfer function (MTF), and contrast-to-noise ratio], and CaHA quantification accuracy between FBP and IR. Results: IR regularization strength influenced CAC scores significantly (p < 0.05). The CAC volumes and scores between FBP and IRs were the most similar when the IR regularization strength was chosen to match the MTF of the FBP reconstruction. Conclusion: When the regularization strength is selected to produce comparable spatial resolution with FBP, IR can yield comparable CAC scores and volumes with FBP. Nonetheless, at the lowest radiation dose setting, FBP produced more accurate CAC volumes and scores compared to IR, and no improved CAC scoring accuracy at low dose was demonstrated with the utilized IR methods.
This paper presents the lumped parameter thermal network of high power salient pole synchronous machine. For this purpose, the multi-model planes approach is implemented. Accordingly, the active machine parts divided into three planes, and to model the end windings, two other planes are added to model the driven and non-driven end-windings regions of the machine. In addition, it describes the challenges and provides solutions to dominate them during thermal modeling of the electrical machine by the multi-model planes approach. Finally, the proposed method is validated experimentally on open self-ventilated salient pole synchronous machine, and good correspondence between the analytical and experimental results is obtained.
Abstract Ferroelectric films may lose polarization as their thicknesses decrease to a few nanometers because of the depolarizing field that opposes the polarization therein. The depolarizing field is minimized when electrons or ions in the electrodes or the surface/interface layers screen the polarization charge or when peculiar domain configuration is formed. Here, we demonstrate ferroelectric phase transitions using thermooptical studies in ∼5-nm-thick epitaxial Pb0.5Sr0.5TiO3 films grown on different insulating substrates. By comparing theoretical modeling and experimental observations, we show that ferroelectricity is stabilized through redistribution of charge carriers (electrons or holes) inside ultrathin films. The related high-density of screening carriers is confined within a few-nanometers-thick layer in the vicinity of the insulator, thus resembling a two-dimensional carrier gas.
Abstract This report presents the result of SOLOGS-project (Low carbon logistics in local social and health care services) that was carried between May 2018 and September 2020. The project aims to develop carbon efficiency of social and healthcare service network by bringing new knowledge about reasonable service locations and efficient patient and material logistics. As subtasks, the project develops the entity of social and healthcare services in Northern Ostrobothnia region from the viewpoints of customer accessibility, market potential and logistics service network. New solutions for thin material flows within long distances are sought through transport integration. Also, the project develops opportunities for geographically mobile services in the region. The project supports Northern Ostrobothnia’s aims in energy efficiency and carbon neutrality. Methodologically both interviews and focus-group discussions as well as location based geographic information systems (GIS) based network analysis are used in finding the new solutions. The results show that the health centres in the region are optimally located. Thus, the accessibility can be enhanced for the most part by adding more service points or developing public transport system. Both carbon dioxide emissions and costs can be reduced in health care material logistics through centralized and coordinated warehouse and delivery system. Mobile services can offer environmental efficiency. Even better efficiency in accessibility and carbon dioxide emissions could potentially be gained by offering some special health care services in the selected health centres in the region. Overall carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by managing health services more accessible and ensuring smooth flow of the material deliveries.
Global magnetic fields of active solar-like stars are, nowadays, routinely detected with spectropolarimetric measurements and are mapped with Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI). However, due to the cancellation of opposite field polarities, polarimetry only captures a tiny fraction of the magnetic flux and cannot assess the overall stellar surface magnetic field if it is dominated by a small-scale component. The analysis of Zeeman broadening in high-resolution intensity spectra can reveal these hidden complex magnetic fields. Historically, there were very few attempts to obtain such measurements for G dwarf stars due to the difficulty of disentangling the Zeeman effect from other broadening mechanisms affecting spectral lines. Here, we developed a new magnetic field diagnostic method based on relative Zeeman intensification of optical atomic lines with different magnetic sensitivity. By using this technique, we obtained 78 field strength measurements for 15 Sun-like stars, including some of the best-studied young solar twins. We find that the average magnetic field strength Bf drops from 1.3-2.0 kG in stars younger than about 120 Myr to 0.2-0.8 kG in older stars. The mean field strength shows a clear correlation with the Rossby number and with the coronal and chromospheric emission indicators. Our results suggest that magnetic regions have roughly the same local field strength B ≈ 3.2 kG in all stars, with the filling factor f of these regions systematically increasing with stellar activity. In comparing our results with the spectropolarimetric analyses of global magnetic fields in the same stars, we find that ZDI recovers about 1% of the total magnetic field energy in the most active stars. This figure drops to just 0.01% for the least active targets.
Abstract In this paper we present a wide locking range (14.6 GHz–19.2 GHz and 12.65 GHz–20.6 GHz, -3 db and -6 dB, respectively) injection locked frequency doubler implemented with 45 nm CMOS SOI technology. The doubler is designed and optimized for a 5G sliding-IF transceiver architecture. It exploits a digitally tunable LC tank to enhance the frequency range. Measured results show 36–55 dBc fundamental and 40–54 dBc 3rd harmonic suppression as well as 10 dB peak conversion gain. Phase noise performance of the doubler has also been measured. The power consumption varies from 5 mW to 11 mW. The core size is 270 μm x 450 μm.
Abstract Moving differential and dynamic window moving averaging are simple and well-known signal processing algorithms. However, the most common methods of obtaining sufficient signal-to-noise ratios in distributed acoustic sensing use expensive and precise equipment such as laser sources, photoreceivers, etc., and neural network postprocessing, which results in an unacceptable price of an acoustic monitoring system for potential customers. This paper presents the distributed fiber-optic acoustic sensors data processing and noise suppression techniques applied both to raw data (spatial and temporal amplitude distributions) and to spectra obtained after the Fourier transform. The performance of algorithms’ individual parts in processing distributed acoustic sensor’s data obtained in laboratory conditions for an optical fiber subjected to various dynamic impact events is studied. A comparative analysis of these parts’ efficiency was carried out, and for each type of impact event, the most beneficial combinations were identified. The feasibility of existing noise reduction techniques performance improvement is proposed and tested. Presented algorithms are undemanding for computation resources and provide the signal-to-noise ratio enhancement of up to 13.1 dB. Thus, they can be useful in areas requiring the distributed acoustic monitoring systems’ cost reduction as maintaining acceptable performance while allowing the use of cheaper hardware.
Objective: To investigate the impact of uterine contractile activity on the outcome of trial of labour after caesarean section (TOLAC). Design: Secondary, blinded analyses of a prospective TOLAC cohort. Setting: Two labour wards, one in a university tertiary hospital and the other in a central hospital. Population: A total of 194 TOLAC parturients with intrauterine tocodynamometry during labour. Methods: Analysis of intrauterine pressure, frequency of contractions and baseline tonus of uterine muscle in 30-minute periods for 4 hours before birth. Main outcome measures: Primary outcome: uterine contractile activity during TOLAC. Secondary aims: contributors associated with failed TOLAC and uterine rupture. Results: TOLAC succeeded in 74% of cases. Uterine contractile activity, expressed as intrauterine pressure, was significantly higher in successful TOLAC compared with failed TOLAC (210 versus 170 Montevideo units). The statistically significant risk factors of failed TOLAC, after multivariate regression analysis, were prolonged gestational age, reduced cervical dilatation at admission and lower mean intrauterine pressure. In cases of uterine rupture, contractile activity did not differ from that in failed TOLAC. Cervical ripening with a Foley catheter appeared to be a risk factor for uterine rupture, as well as cervical dilatation <3 cm at admission. The incidence of total uterine rupture was 2.6% (n = 5). Conclusions: Women with successful vaginal birth had higher uterine contractile activity than those experiencing failed TOLAC or uterine rupture despite similar use of oxytocin. Induction of labour with a Foley catheter turned out to be a risk factor for uterine rupture during TOLAC among parturients with no previous vaginal delivery. Tweetable abstract: During VBAC the response to oxytocin, assessed as intrauterine pressure, is greater and adequate, in contrast to failed TOLAC.