bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Template-assisted colloidal self-assembly of macroscopic magnetic metasurfaces
Authors: Mayer Martin , Tebbe Moritz , Kuttner Christian , Schnepf Max J. , König Tobias A. F. , Fery Andreas
Published: February 2016

We demonstrate a template-assisted colloidal self-assembly approach for magnetic metasurfaces on macroscopic areas. The choice of anisotropic colloidal particle geometry, assembly pattern and metallic film is based on rational design criteria, taking advantage of mirror-charge effects for gold nanorods placed on gold film. Monodisperse gold nanorods prepared utilizing wet-chemistry are arranged with high precision on wrinkled templates to form linear array-type assemblies and subsequently transferred to a thin gold film. Due to the obtained particle-to-film distance of 1.1 nm, the plasmonic mode of the nanorod is able to couple efficiently with the supporting metallic film, giving rise to a magnetic mode in the visible spectrum (721 nm). Conventional UV-vis-NIR measurements in close correlation with electromagnetic simulations provide evidence for the presence of a magnetic resonance on the macroscopic area. The herein presented scalable lithography-free fabrication process paves the road towards colloidal functional metasurfaces with an optical response in the effective magnetic permeability.
Catalyst-free thiolation of indoles with sulfonyl hydrazides for the synthesis of 3-sulfenylindoles in water
Authors: Yang Yu , Zhang Sheng , Tang Lin , Hu Yanbin , Zha Zhenggen , Wang Zhiyong
Published: February 2016

A water promoted thiolation of indoles with sulfonyl hydrazides has been developed under mild conditions in water.
Some chemical speculation on the biosynthesis of corallidictyals A–D
Authors: Markwell-Heys Adrian W. , George Jonathan H.
Published: February 2016

The efficient conversion of siphonodictyal B into the spirocyclic natural products corallidictyals A–D has been achieved via oxidative and acid catalyzed cyclizations.
New potent αvβ3 integrin ligands based on azabicycloalkane (γ,α)-dipeptide mimics
Authors: Pilkington-Miksa M. , Araldi E. M. V. , Arosio D. , Belvisi L. , Civera M. , Manzoni L.
Published: February 2016

A novel promising integrin ligand based on an azabicycloalkane scaffold is able to inhibit both cell adhesion and migration without evidence of toxicity.
Ruthenium photoredox-triggered phospholipid membrane formation
Authors: Hardy M. D. , Konetski D. , Bowman C. N. , Devaraj N. K.
Published: February 2016

As more methodologies for generating and manipulating biomimetic cellular systems are developed, opportunities arise for combining different methods to create more complex synthetic biological constructs.
Towards sustainable polymeric nano-carriers and surfactants: facile low temperature enzymatic synthesis of bio-based amphiphilic copolymers in scCO2
Authors: Curia S. , Howdle S. M.
Published: February 2016

We demonstrate that useful bio-based amphiphilic polymers can be produced enzymatically at a mild temperature, in a solvent-free system and using renewably sourced monomers, by exploiting the unique properties of supercritical CO2(scCO2).
CdSe (quantum dots)–graphene oxide system for thiophene polymerization: a new strategy, a new material
Authors: Rusen Edina , Diacon Aurel , Mocanu Alexandra , Gavrilă Raluca , Nistor Leona Cristina , Dinescu Adrian
Published: February 2016

This study presents a novel method for the oxidative polymerization of thiophene (T) by employing cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots and CdSe–graphene oxide (GO) as activators of the polymerization system.
Solvent-free catalytic synthesis and optical properties of super-hard phase ultrafine carbon nitride nanowires with abundant surface active sites
Authors: Wang Jilin , Zhang Lulu , Long Fei , Wang Weimin , Gu Yunle , Mo Shuyi , Zou Zhengguang , Fu Zhengyi
Published: February 2016

Hot-melt reduction solvent-free catalytic synthesis and optical property of ultrafine α/β-C3N4 nanowires with abundant surface active sites.
A cascade reaction for the new and direct synthesis of indolofuroquinoxalines
Authors: Nikumbh Satish P. , Raghunadh Akula , Rao T. Srinivasa , Murthy V. Narayana , Joseph Suju C. , Murthy Y. L. N. , Pal Manojit
Published: February 2016

A cascade reaction has been developed for the direct and one-pot synthesis of 7H-indolo[3′,2′:4,5]furo[2,3-b]quinoxaline derivatives.
Enhanced durability of Li–O2 batteries employing vertically standing Ti nanowire array supported cathodes
Authors: Zhao Guangyu , Zhang Li , Niu Yanning , Sun Kening , Rooney David
Published: February 2016

Enhanced durability of Li–O2 batteries (more than 500 cycles) based on Ti nanowire array supported cathodes.
Nano-engineered electro-responsive drug delivery systems
Authors: Zhao Yi , Tavares Ana C. , Gauthier Marc A.
Published: February 2016

Nano-engineering is exploited to address the slow drug release and low drug loading of electro-responsive drug delivery systems.
A folic acid conjugated polyethylenimine-modified PEGylated nanographene loaded photosensitizer: photodynamic therapy and toxicity studies in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Zeng Yi-Ping , Luo Sheng-Lin , Yang Zhang-You , Huang Jia-Wei , Li Hong , Liu Cong , Wang Wei-Dong , Li Rong
Published: February 2016

A novel nanographene-based tumor-targeting delivery system has high photodynamic therapy efficacy with no obvious toxicity and could potentially be utilized in biomedicine.
Compact multichannel demultiplexer for WDM‐POF networks based on spatially overlapped FBGs
Authors: Sáez‐Rodríguez D. , Nielsen K. , Bang O. , Ortega B.
Published: February 2016

The fabrication of spatially overlapped fibre Bragg gratings over microstructured polymer optical fibre allows to demonstrate low‐cost and compact multichannel wavelength division demultiplexers. Coarse and dense wavelengths in high‐capacity optical systems have been demonstrated for reduced size environments with the advantages of polymer fibres.
Encoding of quantisation partitions optimised for distributed estimation
Authors: Kim Y.H.
Published: February 2016

A novel algorithm of designing independently operating quantisers at each node that optimise the system‐wide metric (i.e. estimation error) for distributed estimation systems is presented. Assuming that each node can collect only its local measurement, the quantisation partitions constructed based on minimisation of the estimation error are not independently encodable at each node. To ensure a perfect independent encoding, a new concept of assigning multiple codewords to each partition is introduced and a simple iterative algorithm that generates a set of such codewords for each partition is proposed and demonstrated through experiments to achieve a significant performance improvement over typical designs and distributed novel designs recently published. Furthermore, the codeword set optimisation rules are suggested to reduce the cardinality of the sets for practical applications.
Fibre probe for tumour laser thermotherapy with integrated temperature measuring capabilities
Authors: Liu Y. , Gassino R. , Braglia A. , Vallan A. , Perrone G.
Published: February 2016

The development and preliminary characterisation of a novel fibre probe for laser thermotherapy of solid tumours are presented. The probe introduces two innovative features: the tailoring of the laser irradiation pattern to adapt it also for larger tumour applications, and the all‐optical real time evaluation of the induced temperature increase. These features are simultaneously obtained by integrating in a single capillary tube a laser delivery fibre with properly micro‐structured tip surface together with some fibre Bragg gratings. Preliminary validation examples in human liver phantoms have demonstrated the viability of the proposed approach for the development of a whole set of new probes for laser ablation in medical applications.
Improved IIP3 double‐pole double‐throw switch with body and gate floated multi‐stack resonator in 65 nm CMOS for WiGig applications
Authors: Kim J.‐S. , Shin G.‐S. , Oh H.‐M. , Choi S. , Byeon C.W. , Son J. , Lee J.H. , Kim C.‐Y.
Published: February 2016

A 60 GHz improved IIP3 double‐pole double‐throw (DPDT) switch using body and gate floated multi‐stack resonator implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology is presented. To improve the IIP3, multi‐stack and resistive body‐floating techniques are used. To decrease the insertion loss, the resistive body‐floating, gate‐floating and resonant inductor techniques are used. This DPDT switch is designed to have effective size using body and gate floated multi‐stack resonator. IIP3 is better than 27.5 dBm in 58.8–65.3 GHz. Insertion loss is <3.3 dB in 57–66 GHz. Return loss is better than 10 dB in 49–68 GHz.
Coordination of DC power flow controllers and AC/DC converters on optimising the delivery of wind power
Authors: Wang Sheng , Guo Jingli , Li Chuanyue , Balasubramaniam Senthooran , Zheng Rui , Liang Jun
Published: February 2016

The generation of offshore wind power is less predictable. This can cause the overload of offshore DC transmission system and thus requires the curtailment of wind power. To reduce the amount of wind power curtailment, a method of optimising DC power flow using DC power flow controller (DC‐PFC) is proposed. The analytical expression of coordinating DC‐PFCs and converters in controlling the power flow of the DC system has been created. Method has been developed to optimise the power flow of DC grids within which control setting changes automatically in different wind conditions to reduce both the power curtailment and power losses. The proposed method has been demonstrated and validated on a 9‐port DC system. It is concluded that both the curtailment of wind power and power losses are effectively reduced by inserting DC‐PFCs into DC grids.
A dynamic photo voltaic emulator using dSPACE controller with high accuracy solar photo voltaic characteristics
Authors: Sudhakar Babu T. , Mohammed Azharuddin S. , Nishant B. , Rajasekar N.
Published: February 2016

An alternative method of testing maximum power point tracking and solar Photo Voltaic (PV) system performance with a solar PV emulator is presented in this paper. Solar PV emulators are Hardware-in-Loop setup, which mimics the characteristics of a PV panel. Further, these emulators are supplementary to strenuous field testing and commercial solar PV training systems available for research prototyping. In this paper, a solar PV emulator built using a DC-DC Buck Converter and dSPACE ds1104 controller is proposed. In addition, MATLAB/SIMULINK Environment is used to construct the Mathematical Model of Solar PV Module. The proposed Solar PV Emulator has the following features: (1) ease in interfacing with faster dynamic response, (2) ability to monitor and control in real-time using a control desk, (3) higher bandwidth DC-DC buck converter, (4) stable output with lower response time, (5) lower output voltage and current ripple, and (6) capability to reproduce near accurate static and dynamic characteristics of any solar PV module. To illustrate the performance of the proposed emulator, the I-V characteristics of a shell SP70 PV panel are obtained. To further understand the dynamic and steady state behaviour of the system, experimentations are done at different operating conditions. Finally, to know the suitability of the proposed emulator for maximum power point tracking, the Perturb & Observe algorithm is tested for uniform and partial shading conditions.
Fast resonant target vibrating wire scanner for photon beam
Authors: Arutunian S. G. , Chung M. , Harutyunyan G. S. , Margaryan A. V. , Lazareva E. G. , Lazarev L. M. , Shahinyan L. A.
Published: February 2016

We propose a new type of wire scanner for beam profile measurements, based on the use of a vibrating wire as a scattering target. Synchronous measurements with the wire oscillation allow to detect only the signal coming from the scattering of the beam on the wire. This resonant method enables fast beam profiling in the presence of a high level of background. The developed wire scanner, called resonant target vibrating wire scanner, is applied to photon beam profiling, in which the photons reflected on the wire are measured by a fast photodiode. In addition, the proposed measurement principle is expected to monitor other types of beams as well, such as neutrons, protons, electrons, and ions.
Visualizing competing intersystem crossing and internal conversion with a complementary measurement
Authors: Liu Yuzhu , Gerber Thomas , Qin Chaochao , Jin Feng , Knopp Gregor
Published: February 2016

A complementary measurement method based on a home-built double-sided velocity map imaging setup is introduced. This method can simultaneously obtain time-resolved photoelectron imaging and fragment ion imaging. It has been successfully applied to investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the second singlet electronically excited state (S2) in m-xylene. Time-resolved photoelectron and ion signals derived from the initial populated S2 state are tracked following two-photon absorption of a pump pulse. Time-of-flight mass spectra (TOFMS) show that there are dominant parent ions and one fragment ions with methyl loss during such a process. According to the measured photoelectron images and fragment ions images, transient kinetic energy distributions and angular distributions of the generated photoelectrons and fragments are obtained and analyzed. Compared to stand-alone photoelectron imaging, the obtained fragment ion imaging is powerful for further understanding the mechanisms especially when the dissociation occurs during the pump-probe ionization. Two competing channels intersystem crossing T3←S2 and internal conversion S1←S2 are attributed to the deactivation of the S2 state. A lifetime of ∼50 fs for the initially excited S2 state, of ∼276 fs for the secondary populated S1 state, and of 5.76 ps for the T3 state is inferred.
Stability of a current carrying single nanowire of tungsten (W) deposited by focused ion beam
Authors: Mandal Pabitra , Das Bipul , Raychaudhuri A. K.
Published: February 2016

We report an investigation on the stability of single W nanowire (NW) under direct current stressing. The NW of width ≈ 80 nm and thickness ≈ 100 nm was deposited on a SiO2/Si substrate by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) of Ga ions using W(CO)6 as a precursor. Such nanowires, used as interconnects in nanoelectronics, contain C and Ga in addition to W. The stability studies, done for the first time in such FIB deposited NWs, show that under current stressing these NWs behave very differently from that observed in conventional metal NWs or interconnects. The failure of such FIB deposited NW occurs at a relatively low current density (∼1011 A/m2) which is an order or more less than that seen in conventional metal NWs. The failure accompanies with formation of voids and hillocks, suggesting ionic migration as the cause of failure. However, the polarities of void and hillock formations are opposite to those observed in conventional metal interconnects. This observation along with preferential agglomeration of Ga ions in hillocks suggests that the ionic migration in such NWs is dominated by direct force as opposed to the migration driven by electron wind force in conventional metal interconnects.
All-back-Schottky-contact thin-film photovoltaics
Authors: Nardone Marco
Published: February 2016

The concept of All-Back-Schottky-Contact (ABSC) thin-film photovoltaic (TFPV) devices is introduced and evaluated using 2D numerical simulation. Reach-through Schottky junctions due to two metals of different work functions in an alternating, side-by-side pattern along the non-illuminated side generate the requisite built-in field. It is shown that our simulation method quantitatively describes existing data for a recently demonstrated heterojunction thin-film cell with interdigitated back contacts (IBCs) of one metal type. That model is extended to investigate the performance of ABSC devices with bimetallic IBCs within a pertinent parameter space. Our calculations indicate that 20% efficiency is achievable with micron-scale features and sufficient surface passivation. Bimetallic, micron-scale IBCs are readily fabricated using photo-lithographic techniques and the ABSC design allows for optically transparent surface passivation layers that need not be electrically conductive. The key advantages of the ABSC-TFPV architecture are that window layers, buffer layers, heterojunctions, and module scribing are not required because both contacts are located on the back of the device.
Entropy-based complexity measures for gait data of patients with Parkinson's disease
Authors: Afsar Ozgur , Tirnakli Ugur , Kurths Juergen
Published: February 2016

Shannon, Kullback-Leibler, and Klimontovich's renormalized entropies are applied as three different complexity measures on gait data of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy control group. We show that the renormalized entropy of variability of total reaction force of gait is a very efficient tool to compare patients with respect to disease severity. Moreover, it is a good risk predictor such that the sensitivity, i.e., the percentage of patients with PD who are correctly identified as having PD, increases from 25% to 67% while the Hoehn-Yahr stage increases from 2.5 to 3.0 (this stage goes from 0 to 5 as the disease severity increases). The renormalized entropy method for stride time variability of gait is found to correctly identify patients with a sensitivity of 80%, while the Shannon entropy and the Kullback-Leibler relative entropy can do this with a sensitivity of only 26.7% and 13.3%, respectively.
Superconducting microwave parametric amplifier based on a quasi-fractal slow propagation line
Authors: Adamyan A. A. , de Graaf S. E. , Kubatkin S. E. , Danilov A. V.
Published: February 2016

Quantum limited amplifiers are sought after for a wide range of applications within quantum technologies and sensing. One promising candidate is the travelling wave parametric amplifier which exploits the non-linear kinetic inductance of a superconducting transmission line. This type of microwave amplifier promises to deliver a high gain, a quantum limited noise performance over several GHz bandwidth, and a high dynamic range. However, practical realizations of this type of device have so far been limited by fabrication defects, since the length of the superconducting transmission line required for achieving substantial parametric gain is on the order of ∼1 m. Here, we report on a design for a microwave traveling wave amplifier based on a slow propagation line comprising a central strip with high kinetic inductance and quasi-fractal line-to-ground capacitors. Due to an enhanced per unit length inductance (73 nH cm−1) and capacitance (15 pF cm−1), the line has a microwave propagation velocity as low as 9.8 × 108 cm s−1. This translates into parametric gain up to 0.5 dB cm−1 and a total gain of 6 dB for just a ∼10 cm long transmission line. Moreover, the flexibility of the presented design allows balancing the line inductance and capacitance in order to keep the characteristic impedance close to 50 Ω and to suppress standing waves, both factors being essential in order to implement a practical parametric amplifier in the microwave domain.
Low-noise AlInAsSb avalanche photodiode
Authors: Woodson Madison E. , Ren Min , Maddox Scott J. , Chen Yaojia , Bank Seth R. , Campbell Joe C.
Published: February 2016

We report low-noise avalanche gain from photodiodes composed of a previously uncharacterized alloy, Al0.7In0.3As0.3Sb0.7, grown on GaSb. The bandgap energy and thus the cutoff wavelength are similar to silicon; however, since the bandgap of Al0.7In0.3As0.3Sb0.7 is direct, its absorption depth is 5 to 10 times shorter than indirect-bandgap silicon, potentially enabling significantly higher operating bandwidths. In addition, unlike other III-V avalanche photodiodes that operate in the visible or near infrared, the excess noise factor is comparable to or below that of silicon, with a k-value of approximately 0.015. Furthermore, the wide array of absorber regions compatible with GaSb substrates enable cutoff wavelengths ranging from 1 μm to 12 μm.
Temperature dependence of dielectric, elastic, and piezoelectric constants of [001]c poled Mn-doped 0.24Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.46Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.30PbTiO3 single crystal
Authors: Tang Liguo , Tian Hua , Zhang Yu , Cao Wenwu
Published: February 2016

In order to simulate the performance of electromechanical devices at elevated temperatures, full tensor properties of piezoelectric materials at high temperatures are needed. Such data are extremely difficult to get for relaxor-based single crystals because their properties are determined by domain structures, which are strongly geometry dependent. We report here the temperature dependence of full tensor material constants of [001]c poled Mn-doped 0.24Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.46Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.30PbTiO3 single crystals from 25 °C to 55 °C, which were determined by the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. Because only one sample was used, high degree of self-consistency was achieved for the tensor constants at all measured temperatures.
Enhancement of spin-torque diode sensitivity in a magnetic tunnel junction by parametric synchronization
Authors: Tiwari Dhananjay , Sisodia Naveen , Sharma Raghav , Dürrenfeld P. , Åkerman J. , Muduli P. K.
Published: February 2016

We demonstrate enhanced radio frequency (RF) detection sensitivity in a magnetic tunnel junction based spin torque oscillator (STO) using parametric synchronization. The parametric synchronization is observed above the auto-oscillation threshold of the STO and enhances the RF sensitivity at 2f0, where f0 is the auto-oscillation frequency. The maximum RF sensitivity for parametric synchronization at 2f0≃9 GHz is 16 mV/mW, while the maximum RF sensitivity at f0≃4.5 GHz without parametric synchronization is 12 mV/mW. Macrospin simulations corroborate the experimental results.
Gain recovery time in a terahertz quantum cascade laser
Authors: Bacon David R. , Freeman Joshua R. , Mohandas Reshma A. , Li Lianhe , Linfield Edmund H. , Davies A. Giles , Dean Paul
Published: February 2016

The gain recovery time of a bound-to-continuum terahertz frequency quantum cascade laser, operating at 1.98 THz, has been measured using broadband terahertz-pump-terahertz-probe spectroscopy. The recovery time is found to reduce as a function of current density, attaining a value of 18 ps as the laser is brought close to threshold. We attribute this reduction to improved coupling efficiency between the injector state and the upper lasing level as the active region aligns.
Pulsed KrF excimer laser dopant activation in nanocrystal silicon in a silicon dioxide matrix
Authors: Zhang Tian , Simonds Brian , Nomoto Keita , Puthen Veettil Binesh , Lin Ziyun , Perez Wurfl Ivan , Conibeer Gavin
Published: February 2016

We demonstrate that a pulsed KrF excimer laser (λ = 248 nm, τ = 22 ns) can be used as a post-furnace annealing method to greatly increase the electrically active doping concentration in nanocrystal silicon (ncSi) embedded in SiO2. The application of a single laser pulse of 202 mJ/cm2 improves the electrically active doping concentration by more than one order of magnitude while also improving the conductivity. It is confirmed that there is no film ablation or significant change in ncSi structure by atomic force microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. We propose that the increase in free-carrier concentration is the result of interstitial P/B dopant activation, which are initially inside the Si crystallites. Evidence of mobility limited carrier transport and degenerate doping in the ncSi are measured with temperature-dependent conductivity.
Spatial/temporal photocurrent and electronic transport in monolayer molybdenum disulfide grown by chemical vapor deposition
Authors: Yang Zhengfeng , Grassi Roberto , Freitag Marcus , Lee Yi-Hsien , Low Tony , Zhu Wenjuan
Published: February 2016

We systematically investigate the spatial/temporal photocurrent in photodetectors and electronic transport in transistors/Hall-bar devices based on monolayer MoS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). We found that the maximum photocurrent occurs when the laser spot is close to the metal/MoS2 contact and is tunable by the applied drain voltage, which can be explained by the modulation of the local electric field at the Schottky barrier, consistent with predictions from our quantum transport simulation. We observed that the maximum photocurrent at drain contact is much larger than the one at the source contact, and the DC currents show rectifying behavior. These phenomena can be explained by the different Schottky barrier heights at the two contacts. By measuring Hall-bar structure at various temperatures from 100 K to 400 K, we extracted the barrier heights at the source and drain contacts, separately. We found that the barrier height at drain contact is about 50 mV larger than the one at the source contact, consistent with the photocurrent and DC current observations. We measured the photocurrent at various powers, and a photoresponsivity of 3.07 mA/W was extracted at low powers. When the power increases above 20 μW, the photocurrent starts to saturate. Temporal response of the photocurrent is also dependent on the laser power. At high laser powers, photocurrent overshoot was observed. The photocurrent saturation at high powers and the overshoot in temporal photocurrent are likely due to the same mechanism: an accumulation of electrons in the channel, flattening out the band structure, since the laser spot is located near the drain contact in these measurements. These studies of photocurrents and electronic transport in CVD MoS2 highlight the importance of the contacts in the electronic/optoelectronic devices and reveal the physical mechanism of the photocurrent/electronic transport in these devices.
High room temperature optical polarization due to spin-valley coupling in monolayer WS2
Authors: Hanbicki A. T. , McCreary K. M. , Kioseoglou G. , Currie M. , Hellberg C. S. , Friedman A. L. , Jonker B. T.
Published: February 2016

We prepare single-layer WS2 films such that the photoluminescence is from either the neutral exciton or the negatively charged trion. While the neutral exciton emission has zero polarization at room temperature, we observe a room temperature optical polarization in excess of 40% for the trion. Using an applied gate voltage, we can modulate the electron density, and subsequently the polarization of the trion emission continuously from 20-40%. Both the polarization and the emission energy monotonically track the gate voltage with the emission energy increasing by 45 meV. We discuss the role electron capture by the exciton has on suppressing the intervalley scattering process.
Terahertz time-domain-spectroscopy system based on 1.55 μm fiber laser and photoconductive antennas from dilute bismides
Authors: Urbanowicz A. , Pačebutas V. , Geižutis A. , Stanionytė S. , Krotkus A.
Published: February 2016

We describe a terahertz time-domain-spectroscopy system that is based on photoconductive components fabricated from (GaIn)(AsBi) epitaxial layers and activated by femtosecond 1.55 μm pulses emitted by an Er-doped fiber laser. (GaIn)(AsBi) alloy grown on GaAs substrates contained 12.5%In and 8.5%Bi – a composition corresponding to a symmetrical approach of the conduction and valence band edges to each other. The layers were photosensitive to 1.55 μm wavelength radiation, had relatively large resistivities, and subpicosecond carrier lifetimes – a set of material parameters necessary for fabrication of efficient ultrafast photoconductor devices. The frequency limit of this system was 4.5 THz, its signal-to-noise ratio 65 dB. These parameters were comparable to their typical values for much bulkier solid-state laser based systems.
Determination of the electric field induced anisotropy change in sub-100 nm perpendicularly magnetized devices
Authors: Huang Jiancheng , Tran Michael , Lim Sze Ter , Huang Aihong , Yang Chuyi , Yap Qi Jia , Han Guchang
Published: February 2016

We measure the voltage or electric field (EF) modulated change in anisotropy using two methods on the same nanometer sized device: 1) Directly using the area of the hard axis magnetization loop and 2) Indirectly using the switching field distribution method. Both methods yield similar values of efficiency. With the indirect method, the efficiency derived from the thermal stability was found to be more consistent than that from the anisotropy field. Our data also suggests that memory devices that rely solely on EF effects may benefit from larger device sizes.
Effects of high-strain-rate deformation on magnetic hysteresis in high-tensile steels
Authors: Morita Ryo , Kobayashi Satoru , Odeshi Akindele G. , Szpunar Jerzy A. , Miura Kodai , Kamada Yasuhiro
Published: February 2016

We have studied a relationship between magnetic hysteresis and microstructures on high-tensile AISI 4340 steels after impact loading with a strain rate up to 2100 s−1 We find that coercivity, and minor-loop coefficient which is deduced from a power-law scaling between minor-loop parameters increase with strain rate, show a maximum at around a strain rate of 1400 s−1, followed by a decrease at a higher strain rate, associated with magnetic anisotropy with respect to impact direction. These observations are explained from the viewpoints of heat generation and heterogeneous microstructures characteristic to steels subjected to high strain rate deformation.
Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for the decontamination of water polluted with cesium
Authors: Helal Ahmed S. , Decorse Philippe , Perruchot Christian , Novak Sophie , Lion Claude , Ammar Souad , El Hage Chahine Jean-Michel , Hémadi Miryana
Published: February 2016

Magnetic nanoparticles are attracting considerable interest because of their potential applications in practically all fields of science and technology, including the removal of heavy metals from contaminated waters. It is, therefore, of great importance to adapt the surfaces of these nanoparticles according to the application. In this work advanced nanoparticles (NPs) with well-tailored surface functionalities were synthesized using the polyol method. The efficiency of a chelating agent, succinyl-β-cyclodextrin (SBCD), was first investigated spectrophotometrically and by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC). SBCD was then grafted onto nanoparticles previously functionalized with 3-aminopropyl triethoxsilane (NP-APTES). The resulting NP-SBCD system was then incubated with a solution of cesium. After magnetic separation, the solid residue was removed from the supernatant and characterized by X-Ray Photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry. These characterizations show the presence of cesium in the solid residue, which indicates Cs uptake by the NP-SBCD system. This nanohybrid system constitutes a promising model for heavy metal decontamination.
Cloning and function analysis of BAG family genes in wheat
Authors: Ge Shiming , Kang Zhen , Li Ying , Zhang Fuzhen , Shen Yinzhu , Ge Rongchao , Huang Zhanjing
Published: February 2016

By analysing the cDNA microarray of the salt tolerant mutant of wheat RH8706–49 under salinity stress, our results showed an expressed sequence tag fragment and acquired an unknown gene (designated as TaBAG) with a BAG conserved domain through electronic cloning and RT–PCR technology. The gene was registered into GenBank (No. FJ599765). After homologous alignment analysis, electronic cloning, and amplifying with RT–PCR, the other gene with a BAG conserved domain, TaBAG2, was obtained and registered into GenBank (No. GU471210). Quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that TaBAG2 expression was induced by saline and heat stress. TaBAG gene expression under salinity stress increased remarkably but showed an insignificant response to heat stress. The adversity stress detection results showed that Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG and TaBAG2 exhibited an obvious salt tolerance increase. Under heat stress, Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG2 showed increased heat tolerance; however, the heat tolerance of Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG did not vary significantly under heat stress. Subcellular localisation results demonstrated that TaBAGs were mainly located in the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus. We applied fluorescence complementation and yeast two-hybrid technique to prove that TaBAG2 can obviously bond with TaHsp70 and TaCaMs. After the respective mutation of aspartic acid (D) and arginine (R) at high conservation in BAG domain of TaBAG2, the bonding interaction between TaBAG2 and TaHsp70 disappeared, indicating that the two amino acids were the key loci for the interaction between TaBAG2 and TaHsp70. Heat tolerance detection results demonstrated that the heat tolerance of Arabidopsis overexpressing and cotransfected with TaBAG2 and TaHsp70 was much higher than that of Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG2 and Arabidopsis overexpressing TaHSP70. This finding implies that the synergistic use of TaBAG2 and TaHSP70 can improve heat tolerance of plants.
Towards a situated view of language
Authors: Spivey Michael J. , Huette Stephanie
Published: February 2016

By examining a brief history of psycholinguistics and its various approaches to research on sentence processing, we point to a general convergence toward evidence that multiple different linguistic constraints interact in real-time to allow for successful comprehension of a sentence.  While some traditions emphasized the unique importance syntactic structure and others emphasized semantic content, a consensus appears to be forming that sentence processing may be best characterized as involving fluid interaction among a wide variety of information formats, including acoustic-phonetic processing, lexical statistics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and even visual environments, action affordances, and social contexts.  Rather than searching for the “cognitive architecture” of the language system in the form of a box-an-arrow diagram that displays which processing module becomes operative before which other processing modules, this extensive array of findings suggests that the field of sentence processing may find clearer success by treating the process as a dynamical system composed of interactive processes, rather than domain-specific processors.
Attention and eye movement metrics in visual world eye tracking
Authors: Pyykkönen-Klauck Pirita , Crocker Matthew W.
Published: February 2016

This chapter introduces the visual world paradigm, with the aim of identifying both the opportunities and challenges researchers are presented with when using overt visual attention as an index of the cognitive processes and mechanisms involved in a variety of language processing tasks. The chapter also provides an overview of the linking hypotheses that underlie the coordination of visual and linguistic information. Finally, the chapter discusses key properties of the eye-movement metrics used in the visual world studies – and different approaches to their analysis – in order to support sound interpretations with respect to the underlying theories of visually situated language comprehension that these studies are used to investigate.
Coordinating action and language
Authors: Farmer Thomas A. , Anderson Sarah E. , Freeman Jonathan B. , Dale Rick
Published: February 2016

The overarching aim of this chapter is to highlight the strong interfacing between linguistic and motor systems, focusing especially on the degree to which manipulations of a visual context interact with linguistic manipulations in order to modulate the properties of manual movements elicited in response to a linguistic signal. First, we provide a review of recent work in the domain of embodied cognition that highlights the engagement of motor systems during language comprehension, including gestures, eye movements, and postural sway. In the context of this body of work, we then focus on the notion that continuous and non-ballistic computer-mouse movement trajectories can serve as a viable motoric index of various aspects of language processing. The results of studies that have recorded mouse-movement trajectories in visual-world displays will be reviewed, with the goal of highlighting the methodological benefits of data contained in the recorded trajectories, along with their theoretical consequences. New data will be presented from a study in which both eye- and hand-movements were simultaneously recorded, speaking to the relationship between the two movement-related dependent measures. Finally, we will highlight the degree to which mouse-movements around a visual display can be informative for domains other than syntactic processing, focusing on new data from research designed to investigate the processing of verbal aspect.
“Crime” of interpreting
Authors: Lan Shi-chi Mike
Published: February 2016

After WWII, 173 Taiwanese who had served in the Japanese army were
convicted as war criminals. Among the 21 executed Taiwanese, at least 13
were convicted for crimes committed while working as interpreters, formal or
informal, during the war. In addition, a handful of Taiwanese interpreters were
sentenced to various prison terms. In the Australian, British, Chinese, Dutch,
and US courts established in Asian regions, most of those Taiwanese interpreters
were prosecuted for crimes against local civilians and prisoners of war. Some
were originally recruited as laborers, but they were assigned to ad hoc interpreting
duty because of their unique language proficiency and forced into situations
where war crimes occurred. They took the responsibility of the Japanese
military and suffered the consequences.
Jespersen cycles in the Mayan, Quechuan and Maipurean languages*
Authors: van der Auwera Johan , Vossen Frens
Published: February 2016

This study looks for evidence for the Jespersen Cycle, which is typically the development from one single negator to another one via a strengthening stage in which both are present, in the Mayan, Quechuan and Maipurean languages. For Mayan and Quechuan languages the evidence is solid, and what is particularly interesting is that the strengthening would seem to have happened twice and that in both families an irrealis marker served to make the negation emphatic. In Maipurean languages the most important development is the extension of a prenominal privative marker (‘without’) to clausal negation, which if it shows up preverbally to a verb that already has postverbal negation, would show us a Jespersen Cycle which, untypically, operates from right to left.
The diachrony of pronominal agreement
Authors: Givón T.
Published: February 2016

This paper examines Ute clitic pronouns and contrasts them with other reference-coding devices, such as demonstratives, independent pronouns, zero anaphora, and flexible word-order. It concludes that most independent pronouns are used in contexts of referential discontinuity and most zero and clitic pronouns show extreme referential continuity–a one-clause anaphoric gap. This shows evidence of a typical cycle having taken place: as pronouns weaken into clitics and affixes, they lose referential independence which then needs to be expressed by demonstratives. In addition, the fronting of pronouns and nominal groups is strongly associated with referential or thematic discontinuity whereas the post-posing of pronouns and nominals goes with referential continuity. The chapter also contributes to structural questions: why do pronouns cliticize to verbs and why do they do so in certain positions.
The degree cycle
Authors: Wood Johanna L.
Published: February 2016

The grammaticalization of the demonstratives this, that and thus is investigated with respect to their functions as degree adverbs using empirical data from dictionaries and historical and modern corpora. It is first argued that thus participates in the CP cycle. With respect to this and that, data relevant to the development of the degree adverb function is presented and possible relevant constructions identified. It is argued that the degree adverb function of that possibly occurs later than the historical dictionaries indicate. The degree adverb function of this is challenging to trace due to the apparent overlap with thus.
Modality and gradation
Authors: Gergel Remus
Published: February 2016

This paper focuses on some effects and possible causes in the concatenation of two micro-developments undergone by words like rather. While the first one maps its semantics from an original temporal-based comparison to modal meanings, the second takes it from modal ordering to the modification of gradable predicates. A comparison is drawn with the parallel sequel of developments observed in the case of German eher (‘sooner, rather’) especially with respect to the apparently distinct flavors of modal ordering available in the two items.
All you need is another ‘Need’
Authors: Jędrzejowski Łukasz
Published: February 2016

In this chapter, I will examine the verbal NPI cycle in the history of German including three NPIs: dürfen, bedürfen and brauchen. In doing so, I will illustrate that dürfen used to function as an NPI in older stages and that it lost its NPI status due to a semantic change. The received wisdom has it that dürfen was then replaced by brauchen (cf. Bech 1951; Kolb 1964; Lenz 1996; Paul 1897). I will challenge this view and provide evidence illustrating that dürfen was first replaced by bedürfen, while bedürfen has being replaced by brauchen in the last three centuries. In my view, bedürfen builds a bridge between dürfen and brauchen. Remarkably, as there is no need to preserve both predicates in Modern German, bedürfen as NPI is about to disappear giving way to brauchen. In what follows, I argue that dürfen, bedürfen and brauchen constitute a linguistic cycle in the sense claimed by van Gelderen (2009, 2011, this volume) and illustrate, both synchronically and diachronically, that although these three predicates have a lot in common, they differ in several respects. Their differences, however, do not weaken the cycle analysis. Quite the opposite, they provide direct evidence for typical hallmarks of a linguistic cycle, whereby “toward the end of the cycle, similar events start again, but they are (slightly) different and happen at a difference pace” (van Gelderen 2011: 3). As it will turn out, these properties hold for the NPI cycle in German as well.
The grammaticalization of 要 Yao and the future cycle from Archaic Chinese to Modern Mandarin*
Authors: Santana LaBarge Robert
Published: February 2016

In this paper, I argue that the grammaticalization of the Chinese word 要 yāo/yào shows an instance of the future cycle. Similar to English will, 要 yāo/yào has developed new functional meanings apart from its earlier semantic meanings of Compulsion and Volition, including deontic and future time uses. I adopt the theory of Late Merge (van Gelderen 2004) as a descriptive account to argue that while full verb 要 yāo/yào is in the VP, the deontic and future time uses are in the Aspect Phrase and Mood Phrase respectively. I present evidence of scope differences in Modern Mandarin to support this thesis, and also briefly suggest that a “Problems of Projection” approach (Chomsky 2013, 2014) to grammaticalization may motivate the Late Merge phenomenon. Lastly, I show that although the older uses of 要 yāo/yào still exist in Modern Mandarin, they are increasingly likely to be replaced by renewed forms, as predicted in the cycle framework.
Chapter 3. Neurolinguistic view into narrative processing
Authors: Büttner Julia
Published: February 2016

The chapter addresses the crucial question of what narrativity is all about from a neurolinguistic perspective. The argument outlined derives from a clinical investigation of patients with executive dysfunctions which have delayed abilities in planning actions, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Linked with that, they often show a lack of coherence in the processing of narrative texts. In this respect, the neurolinguistic investigation of the patients’ comprehension and production of core propositions and inferences in narratives allows for insights in the cognitive prerequisites of narrativity. The results provide strong evidence that the communicative impairments reflect a specific deficit in verbal planning at the interface between linguistic and cognitive processing. This supports the claim that sequentiality, which is considered to be the core principle in many linguistic definitions of narrativity, is clearly not a sufficient criterion to characterize the basic principles of narrativity. Instead, it has been shown that it is the ability of perspectivization and macro-structural planning that should be seen as one of the major neurolinguistic preconditions for processing coherent narrative structures.
Chapter 4. The double-layered structure of narrative discourse and complex strategies of perspectivization
Authors: Igl Natalia
Published: February 2016

This chapter aims to illustrate the dynamic functioning of the recursive double-layered structure – which this volume sets as constitutive for the narrative discourse – by means of exemplary analysis of complex strategies of perspectivization in narrative texts. The focus of the chapter thus lies on the narrative macro-structure on the one hand and the relation between narrative micro- and macro-structure on the other.The key premise here is the assumption that meta-discursive strategies reveal the underlying double structure of narrative discourse, since they are based on the constitutive distance between the narrator- and character-level (cf. Chapter 1 in this volume). In order to make obvious the recursive embedding of perspectives and the crucial function of the narrator as a dynamic instance of mediation, evaluation, and perception, the chapter introduces a three-staged model of narrative communication. This model builds the foundation for two exemplary analyses of narrative texts which show a very distinct presence and manner of their respective narrator: E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Romantic-era novella The Golden Pot (orig. Der goldne Topf, 1814) and Wolf Haas’ contemporary series of detective novels.
Chapter 5. Narrator and narrative space in Middle High German epic poetry (Parzival, Ehescheidungsgespräch, Prosalancelot)
Authors: Wagner Silvan
Published: February 2016

An in-depth observation of the historical beginnings of German literature in the Middle Ages reveals that the modern comprehension of the narrator is not as natural as is seems. In current medieval studies, there are even positions which make the case for avoiding the concept ‘narrator’ completely with respect to medieval literature. Nevertheless, in this chapter I apply the concept ‘narrator’ to German epic poetry of the 13th century. One necessary precondition is to systematically historicize its fundamental determinations. First of all, the ‘narrator’ as a personalized entity and the narrator’s activity of perspectivization should be understood in a more literal sense. This is the consequence of the exceptional literary-historical position of courtly literature: German epic poetry of the 13th century is situated after one generation of written and many generations of oral storytelling. As the chapter will illustrate, the specific form of storytelling which has developed on this foundation implies a semi-theatrical narrative situation: the role of the narrator is manifested in form of a ‘real’ story-teller, who tells his or her story (from memory or a book) to a collective audience. Through this connection, perspectivization by the narrator initially entails directing an audience’s attention to one specific point in a room, thereby turning the latter into a narrative space. On the one hand, the narrator in medieval epic poetry is comparable to that in modern epics – he or she perspectivizes the story and mediates it to the recipient. On the other hand, however, the existence of the medieval narrator between body and script, between the real person of a story-teller and a fictional concept leads to the fact that you cannot talk about the courtly narrator without talking about the space of narration.