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An energy analyzing transmission electron microscope of the Möllenstedt type was used to measure the electron energy loss spectra given by various layer structures to a spatial resolution of 100Å. The technique is an important, method of microanalysis and has been used to identify secondary phases in alloys and impurity particles incorporated into epitaxial Si films.
Layers Formed by the Epitaxial Growth of Ge on Si Substrates Following studies of the epitaxial growth of Ge on (111) Si substrates by vacuum evaporation, it was important to investigate the possible mixing of these two elements in the grown layers. These layers consisted of separate growth centres which were often triangular and oriented in the same sense, as shown in Fig. 1.
Neuroprotective effects of lithium have been well documented in tissue cultures and animal models. The evidence for lithium related neuroprotection in human subjects is limited and inconsistent, likely due to methodological heterogeneity.
Aims
To investigate the effects of lithium on brain chemistry and structure, we recruited bipolar patients selected for substantial illness burden and varied the exposure to lithium by using strict inclusion criteria.
Methods
We obtained 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging data from 27 bipolar patients with at least 2 years of ongoing lithium treatment (Li group), 16 subjects with < 3 months lifetime exposure to lithium >2 years ago (non-Li group) and 21 healthy controls. Patient groups had to have at least 10 years of illness and 5 episodes.
Results
The non-Li group had significantly lower hippocampal volumes (t = 4.68,corrected p < 0.05) and prefrontal cortex N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) levels (t = −2.91,corrected p < 0.05) than controls, who showed comparable hippocampal volumes and NAA levels to the Li treated subjects. Duration of illness was negatively associated with NAA levels only in the non-Li, but not the Li group.
Conclusions
Among patients selected for substantial illness burden, only those with no or minimal lifetime Li exposure had significantly lower prefrontal NAA levels and hippocampal volumes than controls. Patients with at least 2 years of ongoing Li treatment showed no such changes, despite substantial burden of illness. These findings provide indirect support for neuroprotective effects of lithium and negative effects of illness burden on brain chemistry and structure in patients with bipolar disorders.
The present paper provides an approach for the design and analysis of variety trials that are used to obtain quality trait data. These trials are multi-phase in nature, comprising a field phase followed by one or more laboratory phases. Typically the laboratory phases are costly relative to the field phase and this imposes a limit on the number of samples that can be tested. Historically, this has been achieved by sacrificing field replication, either by testing a single replicate plot for each variety or a single composite sample, obtained by combining material from several field replicates. An efficient statistical analysis cannot be applied to such data so that valid inference and accurate prediction of genetic effects may be precluded. A solution that has appeared recently in the literature is the use of partial replication, in which some varieties are tested using multiple field replicates and the remainder as single replicates only. In the present paper, an approach is proposed in which some varieties are tested using individual field replicate samples and others as composite samples. Replication in the laboratory is achieved by splitting a relatively small number of field samples into sub-samples for separate processing. It is shown that, if necessary, some of the composite samples may be split for this purpose. It is also shown that, given a choice of field compositing and laboratory replication strategy, an efficient design for a laboratory phase may be obtained using model-based techniques. The methods are illustrated using two examples. It is demonstrated that the approach provides more accurate variety predictions compared with the partial replication approach and that the gains can be substantial if the field variation is large relative to the laboratory variation.
Prime lamb live weight response to lime application on pasture was measured in a grazing experiment in the high rainfall zone of the southwestern slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The pastures were limed every 6 years over 15 years. First cross South African Meat Merino lambs were used as test animals. Pre- and post-grazing pasture dry matter (DM) yield, botanical composition, feed quality and lamb live weight were monitored over 12 weeks in 2007. Results showed that liming significantly increased pasture DM yield of high quality species and improved overall pasture quality due to increased digestibility and metabolic energy content. As a result, the limed perennial and annual pastures carried 24.0% (3.6 lambs ha−1) and 29.0% (4.4 lambs ha−1) more stock than the unlimed perennial and annual pastures, respectively. Averaged across pasture types, the limed pastures produced 30.6% (131 kg ha−1) more lamb live weight gain than the unlimed pastures over 12 weeks. The live weight gain varied between grazing cycles depending on the availability of feed-on-offer and feed quality, which were closely related to the rainfall pattern. The perennial pastures did not show any advantage in animal production over annual pastures during the experimental period due to lack of moisture in the deep soil profile because of severe drought in the previous year. More seasons with normal or above average rainfall are needed to compare animal production on perennial pastures and annual pastures to investigate the advantage of perennial pastures in animal production.
We propose a tight-binding model for the polarization that considers direct and dipole contributions and employs microscopic quantities that can be calculated by first-principles methods, e.g. by employing Density Functional Theory (DFT). Applying our model to InxGa1-xAs alloys allows us to settle discrepancies between the values of e14 as obtained from experiments and from linear interpolations between the values of InAs and GaAs. Our calculated piezoelectric coefficient is in very good agreement with photo current measurements of InAs/GaAs(111) quantum well samples.
Increasing crop competitiveness using higher seeding rates is a possible technique for weed management in low input and organic farming systems or when herbicide resistance develops in weeds. A range of wheat seeding rates were sown and resulted in crop densities between 50–400 plants/m2 (current recommendations are 100–150 plants/m2) in the presence and absence of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) in three wheat cultivars at nine experiments in southern Australia. Wheat densities of at least 200 plants/m2 were required to suppress L. rigidum and to a lesser extent increase crop yield across a wide range of environments (seasonal rainfall between 200–420 mm) and weed densities (50–450 L. rigidum plants/m2). Doubling crop density of all cultivars from 100 to 200 plants/m2 halved L. rigidum dry weight (averaged over all experiments) from 100 g/m2 to about 50 g/m2. Higher crop densities gave diminishing marginal reductions in weed biomass, while cultivar differences in weed suppression were small. Grain yields ranged from 0·5 t/ha to over 5 t/ha depending on site and season. Maximum yields in the weed-free plots (averaged over environments and cultivars) were at 200 crop plants/m2, and yield declined only slightly by 4–5% at densities up to 425 plants/m2. In the weedy plots grain yield continued to increase up to the highest density but at a slower rate. The percentage yield loss from weed competition was of a smaller magnitude than the suppression of L. rigidum by wheat. For example, 100 wheat plants/m2 led to an average 23% yield loss compared with 17% at 200 plants/m2, and the probability of reduced crop grain size and increased proportion of small seeds was negligible at these densities. Cultivar differences in yield loss from weed competition were small compared with differences due to crop density. Adoption of higher wheat seed rates as part of integrated weed management is now strongly promoted to farmers.
Photocurrent spectroscopy of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots, studied as a function of applied electric field, is used to probe the nature of the confined electronic states. A field asymmetry of the quantum confined Stark effect is observed, consistent with the dots possessing a permanent dipole moment. The sign of this dipole indicates that for zero field the hole wavefunction lies above that of the electron, in disagreement with the predictions of all recent calculations. Comparison with a theoretical model demonstrates that the experimentally determined alignment of the electron and hole can only be explained if the dots contain a nonzero and non-uniform Ga content. The role of two different carrier escape mechanisms, tunneling and thermal excitation, is studied.
The latest transmission electron microscopes with field emission guns and imaging filters now provide much of the microanalysis and imaging necessary in applications such as ULSI device development. The installation and operating environment of the instruments are critical to their successful operation. Information from two such installations is presented here, one in a purpose built facility and the other in an existing building. Ground vibration, acoustic noise, stray electromagnetic fields, air flow and temperature variation are considered, and the measures implemented to achieve desirable levels of each parameter are discussed. The physical layout of an installation is also shown.
We present observations of the eclipsing binary V471 Tauri by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and the Very Large Array (VLA). The EUV spectrum is dominated by the continuum of the hot white dwarf and the time-averaged spectrum is fitted by a 33.1 ± 0.5 × 103 K pure hydrogen white dwarf atmosphere assuming log g = 8.5. An ISM hydrogen column density of 1.5 ± 0.4 × 1018 cm−2 is required to explain the attenuation of the white dwarf spectrum thus setting the HI column in the line of sight of the Hyades cluster. The He II λ304 Å line is in emission and varies over the orbital period of V471 Tauri following a sinusoidal modulation with the maximum reached when the K star is at inferior conjunction. Transient dips are detected at orbital phase −0.12 in the SW and MW spectrometers integrated lightcurves but are notably absent in the LW lightcurve indicating the occulting material is ionized. The VLA observation suggest the presence of a K star coronal magnetic loop between the two stars reconnecting with the white dwarf magnetic field. Such a structure could be the occulting source needed to explain the dips seen in the lightcurves of V471 Tauri in the EUV.
The use of spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) to characterise the effects of rapid thermal annealing on Si implanted with phosphorous and phosphorous with fluorine are presented. Variations in the measured SE spectra with anneal temperature and presence/absence of fluorine are clearly observed. Spectra are successfully modelled using refractive indices which are graded with depth. Comparison with cross-sectional transmission-electron microscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy show that the results can be correlated with both the crystallinity and impurity distribution in the poly-Si.
Luminescent oxidised porous Si is produced by rapid thermal annealing of the anodised material in a dry oxygen ambient. Its light-emitting properties are studied by both photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence methods. The structure of the oxidised material is examined by transmission electron microscopy, while its oxygen content is determined by X-ray microanalysis. These investigations show that crystalline Si nanostructures remain in the oxidised porous material and account for its luminescence properties. The work demonstrates that the speculated importance of either Si-based amorphous phases or the interesting material, siloxene, in this regard is unrealistic.
The growth of strained, continuous Si1-xGex epitaxial alloy layers on Si can, under certain conditions, result in the occurrence of marked, small-scale layer thickness fluctuations in the form of crystallographically-aligned, interlocking ripple arrays. In the present work, combined transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope studies are employed to reveal the detailed nature of these surface ripples. TEM contrast studies demonstrate that well-defined, oscillatory strain variations accompany these ripple structures, the presence of which is shown to be associated with partial elastic strain-relief and lowering of the energy of die strained-layer system.
Bombardment damage produced by Si+ ions in AlxGa1−xAs/GaAs layer structures has been studied using transmission electron microscopy and ion channeling and backscattering spectrometry. The damage resistance of A1xGa1−xAs alloy layers increases with Al concentration. In particular, by comparison of complementary Si+ ion doses yielding similar nuclear displacement densities at 150keV and 2MeV bombardment energies, it is demonstrated for the first time that the local concentration of implanted Si impurity is likely to be a significant factor in controlling lattice damage build-up, especially for the highest Si+ ion implantation doses. It is also shown that, in a manner analogous to A1As, the alloy layers can confer a significant protection from ion damage upon adjacent, epitaxially-bonded narrow zones of crystalline GaAs.
This detailed electron microscope study of porous silicon compares the different structures of macro-, meso- and microporous material. Mesoporous silicon of high porosity (∼-80%) exhibits efficient red photoluminescence at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy provides strong direct evidence that this visible luminescence arises from dramatic carrier confinement in quantum-size, crystalline silicon structures. Images of undulating, interconnected ‘quantum wires’ of widths <3nm are shown.
The material-dependent manner in which ion damage occurs in AlAs/GaAs heteroepitaxial structures is demonstrated using conventional and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Both 150keV and 2MeV Si+ ion implants are employed over a wide range of ion doses. Under conditions which yield rapid build-up of lattice damage in GaAs, the AlAs is found to be relatively resistant to structure breakdown. Indeed, the crystalline AlAs exerts a novel protective effect on immediately adjacent regions of the GaAs layers. For high implantation doses amorphous-crystal superlattices are formed in multilayer structures. For the highest ion doses the AlAs lattice begins to be disrupted by a characteristic, boundary-dependent, heterogeneous mechanism. These observations suggest that mobile point defects play a significant role in AlAs in situ restructuring processes.