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At least 307 records · Page 17

Effective electrostatic interactions among charged thermo-responsive microgels immersed in a simple electrolyte

This work explores the nature and thermodynamic behavior of the effective electrostatic interactions among charged microgels immersed in a simple electrolyte, taking special interest in the effects due to the thermally induced variation of the microgel size while the remaining parameters (microgel charge and concentration, plus the amount of added salt) are kept constant. To this end, the rigorous approach obtained from applying the precise methodology of the dressed ion theory to the proper definition of the effective direct correlation functions, which emerge from tracing-out the degrees of freedom of the microscopic ions, is employed to provide an exact description of the parameters characterizing such interactions: screening length, effective permittivity, and renormalized charges. A model solution with three components is assumed: large permeable anionic spheres for the microgels, plus small charged hard spheres of equal size for the monovalent cations and anions. The two-body correlations among the components of this model suspension, used as the input for the determination of the effective interaction parameters, are here calculated by using the hyper-netted chain approximation. It is then found that at finite microgel concentrations the values of these parameters change as the microgel size increases, even though the ionic strength of the supporting electrolyte and the bare charge of the microgels remain fixed during this process. The variation of the screening length, as well as that of the effective permittivity, is rather small, but still interesting in view of the fact that the corresponding Debye length stays constant. The renormalized charges, in contrast, increase markedly as the microgels swell. The ratio of the renormalized charge to the corresponding analytic result obtained in the context of an extended linear response theory allows us to introduce an effective charge that accounts for the non-linear effects induced by the short-ranged association of microions to the microgels. The behavior of these effective charges as a function of the amount of added salt and the macroion charge, size, and concentration reveals the interplay among all these system parameters.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Quantifying the sQGP - Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC

This is the closeout for DE-FG02-86ER40271 entitled Quantifying the sQGP - Heavy Ion Collisions at the RHIC. Two major things were accomplished. The first, is the physics planning, design, approval, construction, and commissioning of the MPC-EX. The MPC-EX is an electromagnetic calorimeter covering a rapidity of 3<|eta|<4, which was added to the PHENIX detector. Its primary aim is to measure low-x gluons, in order to understand the suppression seen in a variety of signatures, such as the J/Psi. A candidate to explain this phenomena is the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) A second task was to look at collisions of asymmetric species, in particularly Cu+Au. The signature was the suppression of J/Psi mesons at forward and backward rapidity, where a stronger suppression was seen in the copper going direction. While the blue of the suppression is due to hot nuclear matter effects (e.g. screening) the increase in suppression on the Au side was consistent with cold nuclear matter effects seen in d+Au collisions. A major candidate for the explanation of this phenomena is the aforementioned CGC. Finally the work on sPHENIX, particularly an extension to the forward region, called fsPHENIX is described.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Effect of sintering temperatures and screen printing types on TiO{sub 2} layers in DSSC applications

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) is a candidate solar cell, which has a big potential in the future due to its eco-friendly material. This research is conducted to study the effect of sintering temperature and the type of screen-printing toward the characteristics of TiO{sub 2} layer as a working electrode in DSSC. TiO{sub 2} layers were fabricated using a screen-printing method with a mesh size of T-49, T-55, and T-61. TiO{sub 2} layers were sintered at temperatures of 600°C and 650°C for 60 min. DSSC structure was composed of TiO{sub 2} as semiconductors, ruthenium complex as dyes, and carbon as counter electrodes. The morphology of TiO{sub 2} layer was observed by using Nikon E2 Digital Camera Microscopy. The efficiencies of DSSC were calculated from the I-V curves. The highest efficiency is 0.015% at TiO{sub 2} layer fabricated with screen type T-61 and at a sintering temperature of 650°C.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Hydrogen Bonding Inside Anionic Polymeric Brush Layer: Machine Learning-Driven Exploration of the Relative Roles of the Polymer Steric Effect, Charging, and Type of Screening Counterions

This paper employs a combination of all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and unsupervised machine learning (ML) for studying the water-water hydrogen bonds (HBs) inside the anionic poly-acrylic acid (PAA) brushes modeled using all-atom MD simulations. PAA brush layer with different charge fraction (f), namely f=0, f=0.25, and f=1, is considered. Water-water interactions, both inside and outside the brush layer, are represented through distinct clusters of tupules of variables representing distances associated with the interacting water molecules. While clusters representing the HBs are present for water inside and outside the brushes, several clusters representing the long-range water-water interactions are missing for the water molecules inside the highly charged (f=1) PAA brushes. More importantly, inside highly charged brushes, the edge of the clusters representing the water-water HBs is progressively shortened, as compared to that in the bulk. Both these results stem from the presence of the PAA brushes imparting the steric effect and the charge effect, or the effect associated with enhanced interactions of water molecules with PE charges and counterions, thereby disrupting the water connectivity. This water-charged-species interaction also increases the water-water HB angle, i.e., makes the water-water HBs less stable inside the highly charged PAA brush layer. The narrowing of the clusters representing the HBs and the alteration of the angle characterizing the HBs confirm that the conditions defining the water-water HBs change inside the PAA brush layer as a function of the charges on the PAA brush layer. Furthermore, we show that the use of the generic definition of HBs, as compared to using our simulation-motivated modified definition of water-water HBs, overpredict the number of water-water HBs inside the PAA brush layer. Finally, we employ this all-atom-MD-ML framework to quantify the effect of other types of screening counterions (Li + , Ca 2+ , and Y 3+ ions) in determining the water-water interactions and water-water HB properties inside the PAA brush layer. Furthermore, the findings of the present study, confirming the weakening of water-water HBs inside the PAA brush layer, points to the possibility that the water molecules will be more available for hydrating the brush layer and counterions, thereby leading to a more pronounced wetting of the PAA brush layer.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Machine learning to accelerate screening for Marcus reorganization energies

Understanding and predicting the charge transport properties of π-conjugated materials is an important challenge for designing new organic electronic devices, such as solar cells, plastic transistors, light-emitting devices, and chemical sensors. A key component of the hopping mechanism of charge transfer in these materials is the Marcus reorganization energy which serves as an activation barrier to hole or electron transfer. While modern density functional methods have proven to accurately predict trends in intramolecular reorganization energy, such calculations are computationally expensive. In this work, we outline active machine learning methods to predict computed intramolecular reorganization energies of a wide range of polythiophenes and their use toward screening new compounds with low internal reorganization energies. Our models have an overall root mean square error (RMSE) of ±0.113 eV, but a much smaller RMSE of only ±0.036 eV on the new screening set. Since the larger error derives from high-reorganization energy compounds, the new method is highly effective to screen for compounds with potentially efficient charge transport parameters.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

An integrated approach for the knowledge discovery in computer simulation models with a multi-dimensional parameter space

In production industries, parameter identification, sensitivity analysis and multi-dimensional visualization are vital steps in the planning process for achieving optimal designs and gaining valuable information. Sensitivity analysis and visualization can help in identifying the most-influential parameters and quantify their contribution to the model output, reduce the model complexity, and enhance the understanding of the model behavior. Typically, this requires a large number of simulations, which can be both very expensive and time consuming when the simulation models are numerically complex and the number of parameter inputs increases. There are three main constituent parts in this work. The first part is to substitute the numerical, physical model by an accurate surrogate model, the so-called metamodel. The second part includes a multi-dimensional visualization approach for the visual exploration of metamodels. In the third part, the metamodel is used to provide the two global sensitivity measures: i) the Elementary Effect for screening the parameters, and ii) the variance decomposition method for calculating the Sobol indices that quantify both the main and interaction effects. The application of the proposed approach is illustrated with an industrial application with the goal of optimizing a drilling process using a Gaussian laser beam.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Effect of Vibration on Retention Characteristics of Screen Acquisition Systems

An analytical and experimental investigation of the effect of vibration on the retention characteristics of screen acquisition systems was performed. The functioning of surface tension devices using fine-mesh screens requires that the pressure differential acting on the screen be less than its pressure retention capability. When exceeded, screen breakdown will occur and gas-free expulsion of propellant will no longer be possible. An analytical approach to predicting the effect of vibration was developed. This approach considers the transmission of the vibration to the screens of the device and the coupling of the liquid and the screen in establishing the screen response. A method of evaluating the transient response of the gas/liquid interface within the screen was also developed.

Tegart, J. R.↗

Effects of Polar Stratospheric Clouds in the Nimbus 7 LIMS Version 6 Data Set

The historic Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) measurements of 1978-1979 from the Nimbus 7 satellite were re-processed with Version 6 (V6) algorithms and archived in 2002. The V6 data set employs updated radiance registration methods, improved spectroscopic line parameters, and a common vertical resolution for all retrieved parameters. Retrieved profiles are spaced about every 1.6 of latitude along orbits and include the additional parameter of geopotential height. Profiles of O3 are sensitive to perturbations from emissions of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). This work presents results of implementing a first-order screening for effects of PSCs using simple algorithms based on vertical gradients of the O3 mixing ratio. Their occurrences are compared with the co-located, retrieved temperatures and related to the temperature thresholds needed for saturation of H2O and/or HNO3 vapor onto PSC particles. Observed daily locations where the major PSC screening criteria are satisfied are validated against PSCs observed with the Stratospheric Aerosol Monitor (SAM) II experiment also on Nimbus 7. Remnants of emissions from PSCs are characterized for O3 and HNO3 following the screening. PSCs may also impart a warm bias in the co-located LIMS temperatures, but by no more than 1-2K at the altitudes of where effects of PSCs are a maximum in the ozone; thus, no PSC screening was applied to the V6 temperatures. Minimum temperatures vary between 187 and 194K and often occur 1 to 2 km above where PSC effects are first identified in the ozone (most often between about 21 and 28 hPa). Those temperature-pressure values are consistent with conditions for the existence of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) mixtures and to a lesser extent of super-cooled ternary solution (STS) droplets. A local, temporary uptake of HNO3 vapor of order 1-3 ppbv is indicated during mid-January for the 550K surface. Seven-month time series of the distributions of LIMS O3 and HNO3 are shown based on their gridded Level 3 data following the PSC screening. Zonal coefficients of both species are essentially free of effects from PSCs on the 550K surface, based on their average values along PV contours and in terms of equivalent latitude. Remnants of PSCs are still present in O3 on the 450K surface during mid- January. It is judged that the LIMS Level 3 data are of good quality for analyzing the larger-scale, stratospheric chemistry and transport processes during the Arctic winter of 1978- 1979.

Remsberg, Ellis↗

Modeling sequential context effects in diagnostic interpretation of screening mammograms

Prior research has shown that physicians’ medical decisions can be influenced by sequential context, particularly in cases where successive stimuli exhibit similar characteristics when analyzing medical images. This type of systematic error is known to psychophysicists as sequential context effect as it indicates that judgments are influenced by features of and decisions about the preceding case in the sequence of examined cases, rather than being based solely on the peculiarities unique to the present case. We determine if radiologists experience some form of context bias, using screening mammography as the use case. To this end, we explore correlations between previous perceptual behavior and diagnostic decisions and current decisions. We hypothesize that a radiologist’s visual search pattern and diagnostic decisions in previous cases are predictive of the radiologist’s current diagnostic decisions. To test our hypothesis, we tasked 10 radiologists of varied experience to conduct blind reviews of 100 four-view screening mammograms. Eye-tracking data and diagnostic decisions were collected from each radiologist under conditions mimicking clinical practice. Perceptual behavior was quantified using the fractal dimension of gaze scanpath, which was computed using the Minkowski–Bouligand box-counting method. To test the effect of previous behavior and decisions, we conducted a multifactor fixed-effects ANOVA. Further, to examine the predictive value of previous perceptual behavior and decisions, we trained and evaluated a predictive model for radiologists’ current diagnostic decisions. ANOVA tests showed that previous visual behavior, characterized by fractal analysis, previous diagnostic decisions, and image characteristics of previous cases are significant predictors of current diagnostic decisions. Additionally, predictive modeling of diagnostic decisions showed an overall improvement in prediction error when the model is trained on additional information about previous perceptual behavior and diagnostic decisions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Controlling potential barrier height by changing V-shaped pit size and the effect on optical and electrical properties for InGaN/GaN based light-emitting diodes

The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with blue light emission was improved by inserting an InGaN/GaN superlattice (SL) beneath the MQWs. While the SL technique is useful for improving the light-emitting diode (LED) performance, its effectiveness from a multilateral point of view requires investigation. V-shaped pits (V-pits), which generate a potential barrier and screen the effect of the threading dislocation, are one of the candidates for increasing the light emission efficiency of LEDs exceptionally. In this research, we investigated the relationship between the V-pit and SL and revealed that the V-pit diameter is strongly correlated with the IQE by changing the number of SL periods. Using scanning near-field optical microscopy and photoluminescence measurements, we demonstrated the distinct presence of the potential barrier formed by the V-pits around the dislocations. The relationship between the V-pit and the number of SL periods resulted in changing the potential barrier height, which is related to the V-pit diameter determined by the number of SL periods. In addition, we made an attempt to insert pit expansion layers (PELs) composed of combination of SL and middle temperature grown GaN layer instead of only SL structure. As a result of the evaluation of LEDs using SL or PEL, the EL intensity was strongly related to pit diameter regardless of the structures to form the V-pits. In addition, it was clear that larger V-pits reduce the efficiency droop, which is considered to be suppression of the carrier loss at high injection current.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Competition between Kondo effect and RKKY physics in graphene magnetism

The cooperative behavior of quantum impurities on two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and bilayer graphene, is characterized by a nontrivial competition between screening (Kondo effect) and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) magnetism. In addition, due to the small density of states at the Fermi level, impurities may not couple to the conduction electrons at all, behaving as free moments. Employing a recently developed exact numerical method to study multi-impurity lattice systems, we obtain nonperturbative results that dramatically depart from expectations based on the conventional RKKY theory. At half filling and for weak coupling, impurities remain in the local moment regime when they are on opposite sublattices, up to a critical value of the interactions when they start coupling antiferromagnetically with correlations that decay very slowly with interimpurity distance. At finite doping, away from half filling, ferromagnetism is completely absent and the physics is dominated by a competition between antiferromagnetism and Kondo effect. In bilayer graphene, impurities on opposite layers behave as free moments, unless the interaction is of the order of the hopping or larger.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Surface and finite size effects impact on the phase diagrams, polar, and dielectric properties of (Sr,Bi)Ta{sub 2}O{sub 9} ferroelectric nanoparticles

In the framework of the thermodynamic approach Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) combined with the equations of electrostatics, we investigated the effect of polarization surface screening on finite size effects of the phase diagrams, polar, and dielectric properties of ferroelectric nanoparticles of different shapes. We obtained and analyzed the analytical results for the dependences of the ferroelectric phase transition temperature, critical size, spontaneous polarization, and thermodynamic coercive field on the shape and size of the nanoparticles. The pronounced size effect of these characteristics on the scaling parameter, the ratio of the particle characteristic size to the length of the surface screening, was revealed. Also our modeling predicts a significant impact of the flexo-chemical effect (that is a joint action of flexoelectric effect and chemical pressure) on the temperature of phase transition, polar, and dielectric properties of nanoparticles when their chemical composition deviates from the stoichiometric one. We showed on the example of the stoichiometric nanosized SrBi{sub 2}Ta{sub 2}O{sub 9} particles that except the vicinity of the critical size, where the system splitting into domains has an important role, results of analytical calculation of the spontaneous polarization have a little difference from the numerical ones. We revealed a strong impact of the flexo-chemical effect on the phase transition temperature, polar, and dielectric properties of Sr{sub y}Bi{sub 2+x}Ta{sub 2}O{sub 9} nanoparticles when the ratio Sr/Bi deviates from the stoichiometric value of 0.5 within the range from 0.35 to 0.65. From the analysis of experimental data, we derived the parameters of the theory, namely, the coefficients of expansion of the LGD functional, the contribution of flexo-chemical effect, and the length of the surface screening.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

An effective “three-in-one” screening assay for testing drug and nanoparticle toxicity in human endothelial cells

Evaluating nanoparticle (NP) toxicity in human cell systems is a fundamental requirement for future NP biomedical applications. In this study, we have designed a screening assay for assessing different types of cell death induced by NPs in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) culture. This assay consists of WST-8, LDH and Hoechst 33342 staining, all performed in one well, which enables an evaluation of cell viability, necrosis and apoptosis, respectively, in the same cell sample. The 96-well format and automated processing of fluorescent images enhances the assay rapidity and reproducibility. After testing the assay functionality with agents that induced different types of cell death, we investigated the endothelial toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs, 8 nm), silica nanoparticles (SiNPs, 7–14 nm) and carboxylated multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTCOOHs, 60 nm). Our results indicated that all the tested NP types induced decreases in cell viability after 24 hours at a concentration of 100 μg/ml. SPIONs caused the lowest toxicity in HUVECs. By contrast, SiNPs induced pronounced necrosis and apoptosis. A time course experiment showed the gradual toxic effect of all the tested NPs. CNTCOOHs inhibited tetrazolium derivatives at 100 μg/ml, causing false negative results from the WST-8 and LDH assay. In summary, our data demonstrate that the presented “three-in-one” screening assay is capable of evaluating NP toxicity effectively and reliably. Due to its simultaneous utilization of two different methods to assess cell viability, this assay is also capable of revealing, if NPs interfere with tetrazolium salts.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A comparative study of transport properties of monolayer graphene and AlGaN-GaN heterostructure

The electronic transport properties of monolayer graphene are presented with an Ensemble Monte Carlo method where a rejection technique is used to account for the occupancy of the final states after scattering. Acoustic and optic phonon scatterings are considered for intrinsic graphene and in addition, ionized impurity and surface roughness scatterings are considered for the case of dirty graphene. The effect of screening is considered in the ionized impurity scattering of electrons. The time dependence of drift velocity of carriers is obtained where overshoot and undershoot effects are observed for certain values of applied field and material parameters for intrinsic graphene. The field dependence of drift velocity of carriers showed negative differential resistance and disappeared as acoustic scattering becomes dominant for intrinsic graphene. The variation of electron mobility with temperature is calculated for intrinsic (suspended) and dirty monolayer graphene sheets separately and they are compared. These are also compared with the mobility of two dimensional electrons at an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. It is observed that interface roughness may become very effective in limiting the mobility of electrons in graphene.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Renormalization screening and collision-induced quantum interference in dense plasmas

The influence of renormalization screening and collision-induced quantum interference in electron-electron collisions is investigated in partially ionized dense hydrogen plasmas. The effective interaction potential with the total spin-states of the collision system is considered to obtain the differential electron-electron scattering cross section. The results show that the renormalization plasma screening effect suppresses the electron-electron scattering cross section, including the quantum interference effect, especially, except for the forward and backward scattering directions. It is also shown that the renormalization plasma screening effect on the scattering cross section decreases with increasing collision energy. However, the renormalization screening effect is found to be important for the forward directions in the scattering cross section neglecting the quantum interference effect. The variations of the renormalization screening and collision-induced quantum interference effects are also discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Dielectric screening at TMD:hBN interfaces: Monolayer-to-bulk transition, local-field effect, and spatial dependence

The dielectric effects of a substrate have been shown to be important for modulating the electronic properties of an adsorbate, especially in van der Waals heterostructures. Here, using the first-principles dielectric embedding GW approach within the framework of many-body perturbation theory, we perform a case study on the dielectric screening effects of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on various transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). We consider three systems, monolayer MoS 2 , bilayer MoS 2 , and a mixed WS 2 /MoS 2 bilayer adsorbed on hBN, and examine three aspects of the substrate dielectric screening: (i) the thickness dependence and the monolayer-to-bulk transition, for which we consider the effects of one-, two-, three-, and four-layer hBN; (ii) the local-field effect, for which we numerically assess a common approximation of neglecting the in-plane local-field components of the substrate polarizability; and (iii) the spatial dependence, for which we consider the mixed WS 2 /MoS 2 bilayer adsorbed on hBN with either side facing the substrate. Finally, our results provide quantitative insight into how the substrate screening effects can be leveraged for band structure engineering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Considerations for the installation of honeycomb and screens to reduce wind-tunnel turbulence

Tests were conducted on a half-scale model representing a 0.914-m (3.0-ft) square stream tube of the flow through the fourth corner and settling chamber of the Langley 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel. The model included the tube cooler 45 degree turning vanes, and the turbulence reduction screens and honeycomb, which were the subject of the tests. Hot-wire measurements of the turbulence reduction for various combinations of screens and honeycomb were made at various duct speeds. Of the four sizes of honeycomb cells tested, none were found to have a superior performance advantage. The effectiveness of screens and honeycomb in reducing turbulence is greatly affected by relatively minor physical damage; therefore, extreme care must be exercised in installing and maintaining honeycomb or screens if the turbulence reduction performance is to be maintained.

Scheiman, J.↗

Acoustic phonon assisted free-carrier optical absorption in an n-type monolayer MoS{sub 2} and other transition-metal dichalcogenides

The theory of free-carrier absorption (FCA) is given for monolayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides, particularly for molybdenum disulphide (MoS{sub 2}), when carriers are scattered by phonons. Explicit expressions for the absorption coefficient α are obtained and discussed for acoustic phonon scattering via screened deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling taking polarization of the radiation in the plane of the layer. It is found that α monotonously decreases with the increasing photon frequency Ω, increases with the increasing temperature T, and linearly depends on two-dimensional electron concentration n{sub s}. Effect of screening, which is ignored in all the earlier FCA studies, is found to reduce α significantly, attributing to the larger effective mass of the electrons. Results are also obtained in the classical and quantum limit giving the power laws α ∼ Ω{sup −2} and T. Comparison of the results is made with those in bulk semiconductors and semiconductor quantum wells.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗