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Cluster-MLP: An Active Learning Genetic Algorithm Framework for Accelerated Discovery of Global Minimum Configurations of Pure and Alloyed Nanoclusters
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MIxS-BE: a MIxS extension defining a minimum information standard for sequence data from the built environment
The composition of indoor microbial communities has the potential to profoundly affect human health. A number of factors within a building or room can alter the microbial abundance and diversity, such as occupancy, temperature and humidity, which in turn impacts indoor air quality.
Corrigendum: Minimum information about a single amplified genome (MISAG) and a metagenome-assembled genome (MIMAG) of bacteria and archaea.
© 2018 Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved. In the version of this article initially published, the author A. Murat Eren was listed as A.M. Eren. The corresponding affiliation was given as the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, rather than Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article as of 29 November 2017. In the version of this article initially published, the following acknowledgment was omitted: A.L. was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant number 14-50-00069). The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article as of 7 December 2017.
Corrigendum: Minimum information about a single amplified genome (MISAG) and a metagenome-assembled genome (MIMAG) of bacteria and archaea (Nature Biotechnology (2017) 35 (725-731) DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3893)
© 2018 Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved. In the version of this article initially published, the author A. Murat Eren was listed as A.M. Eren. The corresponding affiliation was given as the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, rather than Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article as of 29 November 2017. In the version of this article initially published, the following acknowledgment was omitted: A.L. was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant number 14-50-00069). The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article as of 7 December 2017.
Minimum conditions for accurate modeling of urea production via co-electrolysis
Co-electrolysis of carbon oxides and nitrogen oxides promise to simultaneously help restore the balance of the C and N cycles while producing valuable chemicals such as urea. However, co-electrolysis processes are still largely inefficient and numerous knowledge voids persist. Here, we provide a solid thermodynamic basis for modelling urea production via co-electrolysis. First, we determine the energetics of aqueous urea produced under electrochemical conditions based on experimental data, which enables an accurate assessment of equilibrium potentials and overpotentials. Next, we use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to model various co-electrolysis reactions producing urea. The calculated reaction free energies deviate significantly from experimental values for well-known GGA, meta-GGA and hybrid functionals. These deviations stem from errors in the DFT-calculated energies of molecular reactants and products. In particular, the error for urea is approximately -0.25 ± 0.10 eV. Finally, we show that all these errors introduce large inconsistencies in the calculated free-energy diagrams of urea production via co-electrolysis, such that gas-phase corrections are strongly advised.
Minimum GHG emissions and energy consumption of U.S. PET and polyolefin packaging supply chains in a circular economy
There is a wide agreement on the urgency of transforming linear management of plastics towards a circular economy model. However, no clear pathways exist as to required recycling technologies involved and system-wide environmental impacts. This study explores such pathways in the U.S. for the most commonly used packaging plastics through a combination of mechanical and emerging advanced recycling technologies. A system optimization model aimed at minimizing environmental impacts was developed to determine optimal end-of-life (EOL) management and locations of existing and emerging U.S. recycling infrastructures. Our study includes material flows from virgin resin production through semi-manufacturing processes to existing EOL disposal and recycling processes. An optimized circular plastics packaging system achieved greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings of up to 28% and cumulative energy demand (CED) savings of up to 46%, compared to the linear economy. Moreover, these savings of GHG emissions and CED impacts represent a reduction of 0.16% and 0.49% compared to annual U.S. GHG emissions and energy consumption in 2022, respectively. The optimal recycling rates and systems-level circularity ranged from 78–99% and 57–75%, respectively. Increased energy savings led to increased GHG emissions showing a potential trade-off between GHG emissions and energy. Analysis of 40 scenarios showed the importance of material collection distances, blend limit of mechanically recycled resins, process yields, and mandated recycling rates for achieving a sustainable circular economy of plastics.
Minimum energy states of the cylindrical plasma pinch in single-fluid and Hall magnetohydrodynamics
Relaxed states of a plasma column are found analytically in single-fluid and Hall magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We perform complete minimization of the energy with constraints imposed by invariants inherent in the corresponding models. It is shown that the relaxed state in Hall MHD is a force-free magnetic field with uniform axial flow and/or rigid azimuthal rotation. In contrast, the relaxed states in single-fluid MHD are more complex due to the coupling between velocity and magnetic field. Cylindrically and helically symmetric relaxed states are considered for both models. Helical states may be time dependent and analogous to helical waves, propagating on a cylindrically symmetric background. Application of our results to reversed-field pinches (RFP) is discussed. The radial profile of the parallel momentum predicted by the single-fluid MHD relaxation theory is shown to be in reasonable agreement with experimental observation from the Madison symmetric torus RFP experiment.
Synergetic effect in a mixture of noble gases around the Paschen minimum
DC and pulse breakdown in the He-Ar gas mixture are investigated for small pressures and inter-electrode gaps. Expressions for calculating the breakdown voltage of a gas mixture are derived, assuming that breakdown occurs by way of the Townsend breakdown mechanism and that Maxwell spectrum can be used for the free electron gas. The parameters considered in experiments have been chosen so as to be of interest in designing gas-filled surge arresters. The obtained results demonstrate that the derived breakdown voltage expressions are correct, and that a suitable choice of parameters can produce a positive synergetic effect with regard to gas-filled surge arrester design. The latter issue is especially interesting for lowering the dc breakdown voltage of unconditioned electrodes.
High-speed adaptive contact-mode atomic force microscopy imaging with near-minimum-force
In this paper, an adaptive contact-mode imaging approach is proposed to replace the traditional contact-mode imaging by addressing the major concerns in both the speed and the force exerted to the sample. The speed of the traditional contact-mode imaging is largely limited by the need to maintain precision tracking of the sample topography over the entire imaged sample surface, while large image distortion and excessive probe-sample interaction force occur during high-speed imaging. In this work, first, the image distortion caused by the topography tracking error is accounted for in the topography quantification. Second, the quantified sample topography is utilized in a gradient-based optimization method to adjust the cantilever deflection set-point for each scanline closely around the minimal level needed for maintaining stable probe-sample contact, and a data-driven iterative feedforward control that utilizes a prediction of the next-line topography is integrated to the topography feeedback loop to enhance the sample topography tracking. The proposed approach is demonstrated and evaluated through imaging a calibration sample of square pitches at both high speeds (e.g., scan rate of 75 Hz and 130 Hz) and large sizes (e.g., scan size of 30 μm and 80 μm). The experimental results show that compared to the traditional constant-force contact-mode imaging, the imaging speed can be increased by over 30 folds (with the scanning speed at 13 mm/s), and the probe-sample interaction force can be reduced by more than 15% while maintaining the same image quality.
Communication: Global minimum search of Ag{sub 10}{sup +} with molecular beam optical spectroscopy
The present study is focused on the optical properties of the Ag{sub 10}{sup +} cluster in the photon energy range ℏω = 1.9–4.4 eV. Absorption spectra are recorded by longitudinal molecular beam depletion spectroscopy and compared to optical response calculations using time-dependent density functional theory. Several cluster isomers obtained by the new pool-based parallel implementation of the Birmingham Cluster Genetic Algorithm, coupled with density functional theory, are used in excited state calculations. The experimental observations, together with additional simulations of ion mobilities for the several geometries found within this work using different models, clearly identify the ground state isomer of Ag{sub 10}{sup +} to be composed of two orthogonal interpenetrating pentagonal bipyramids, having overall D{sub 2d} symmetry.
Size dependent compressibility of nano-ceria: Minimum near 33 nm
We report the crystallite-size-dependency of the compressibility of nanoceria under hydrostatic pressure for a wide variety of crystallite diameters and comment on the size-based trends indicating an extremum near 33 nm. Uniform nano-crystals of ceria were synthesized by basic precipitation from cerium (III) nitrate. Size-control was achieved by adjusting mixing time and, for larger particles, a subsequent annealing temperature. The nano-crystals were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and standard ambient x-ray diffraction (XRD). Compressibility, or its reciprocal, bulk modulus, was measured with high-pressure XRD at LBL-ALS, using helium, neon, or argon as the pressure-transmitting medium for all samples. As crystallite size decreased below 100 nm, the bulk modulus first increased, and then decreased, achieving a maximum near a crystallite diameter of 33 nm. We review earlier work and examine several possible explanations for the peaking of bulk modulus at an intermediate crystallite size.
Atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition reactor for 100 mm wafers, optimized for minimum contamination at low gas flow rates
Gas discharge plasmas used for thinfilm deposition by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) must be devoid of contaminants, like dust or active species which disturb the intended chemical reaction. In atmospheric pressure plasma systems employing an inert gas, the main source of such contamination is the residual air inside the system. To enable the construction of an atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) system with minimal contamination, we have carried out fluid dynamic simulation of the APP chamber into which an inert gas is injected at different mass flow rates. On the basis of the simulation results, we have designed and built a simple, scaled APP system, which is capable of holding a 100 mm substrate wafer, so that the presence of air (contamination) in the APP chamber is minimized with as low a flow rate of argon as possible. This is examined systematically by examining optical emission from the plasma as a function of inert gas flow rate. It is found that optical emission from the plasma shows the presence of atmospheric air, if the inlet argon flow rate is lowered below 300 sccm. That there is minimal contamination of the APP reactor built here, was verified by conducting an atmospheric pressure PECVD process under acetylene flow, combined with argon flow at 100 sccm and 500 sccm. The deposition of a polymer coating is confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that the polymer coating contains only 5% of oxygen, which is comparable to the oxygen content in polymer deposits obtained in low-pressure PECVD systems.
A collimated focused ultrasound beam of high acoustic transmission and minimum diffraction achieved by using a lens with subwavelength structures
An acoustic focusing lens incorporated with periodically aligned subwavelength grooves corrugated on its spherical surface has been developed. It is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that acoustic focusing achieved by using the lens can suppress the relative side-lobe amplitudes, enhance the focal gain, and minimize the shifting of the focus. Use of the lens coupled with a planar ultrasound transducer can generate an ultrasound beam with enhanced acoustic transmission and collimation effect, which offers the capability of improving the safety, efficiency, and accuracy of targeted surgery implemented by high intensity focused ultrasound.
Exactly solvable problems in the momentum space with a minimum uncertainty in position
A new approach in solution of simple quantum mechanical problems in deformed space with minimal length is presented. We propose the generalization of Schrödinger equation in momentum representation on the case of deformed Heisenberg algebra with minimal length. Assuming that the kernel of potential energy operator does not change in the case of deformation, we obtain exact solution of eigenproblem of a particle in delta potential as well as double delta potential. Particle in Coulomb like potential is revisited and the problem of inversibility and hermicity of inverse coordinate operator is solved.
An efficient algorithm for finding the minimum energy path for cation migration in ionic materials
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