Ion‐Beam‐Induced Chemical Mixing at a Nanocrystalline CeO2–Si Interface

Thin films of nanocrystalline ceria deposited onto a silicon substrate have been irradiated with 3 MeV Au⁺ ions to a total dose of 34 displacements per atom to examine the film/substrate interfacial response upon displacement damage. Under irradiation, a band of contrast is observed to form that grows under further irradiation. Scanning and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging and analysis suggest that this band of contrast is a cerium silicate phase with an approximate Ce:Si:O composition ratio of 1:1:3 in an amorphous nature. The slightly nonstoichiometric composition arises due to the loss of mobile oxygen within the cerium silicate phase under the current irradiation condition. This nonequilibrium phase is formed as a direct result of ion‐beam‐induced chemical mixing caused by ballistic collisions between the incoming ion and the lattice atoms. This may hold promise in ion beam engineering of cerium silicates for microelectronic applications e.g., the fabrication of blue LEDs.     

How 14- and 18-month-olds know what others have experienced.

Fourteen- and 18-month-old infants observed an adult experiencing each of 2 objects (experienced objects) and then leaving the room; the infant then played with a 3rd object while the adult was gone (unexperienced object). The adult interacted with the 2 experienced objects in 1 of 3 ways: by (a) sharing them with the infant in an episode of joint engagement, (b) actively manipulating and inspecting them on his or her own as the infant watched (individual engagement), or (c) looking at them from a distance as the infant played with them (onlooking). As evidenced in a selection task, infants of both ages knew which objects had been experienced by the adult in the joint engagement condition, only the 18-month-olds knew this in the individual engagement condition, and infants at neither age knew this in the onlooking condition. These results suggest that infants are 1st able to determine what adults know (have experienced) on the basis of their direct, triadic engagements with them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real-time high-energy physics applications on DECPeRLe-1 programmable active memory

The future Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to be built at CERN¹ by the turn of the millenium, provides an ample source of challenging real-time computational problems. We report here some results from a collaboration between CERN EAST² (RD-11) group and DEC-PRL PAM³ team. We present implementations of the four foremost LHC algorithms on DECPeRLe-1 [1]. Our machine is the only one which presently meets the requirements from CERN (100 kHz event rate), except for another dedicated FPGA-based machine built for just one of the algorithms [2]. All other implementations based on single and multiprocessor general purpose computing systems fall short either of computing power, or of I/O resources or both.This work was done while Laurent Moll, Jean Vuillemin and Philippe Boucard were employees of Digital Equipment Corporation, Paris Research Laboratory, Rueil-Malmaison, France.     

Micro-structural evolution of cubic zirconia irradiated with swift heavy ions

This article deals with the study of the micro-structural properties of cubic zirconia irradiated with swift heavy ions, based on the combination of complementary analysis techniques (TEM, AFM, XRD, RBS/C). At low irradiation fluences, cross-sectional TEM observations show the creation of latent tracks in the wake of incident ions by electronic excitation processes. The melt matter flowing from ion tracks leads to the formation of large hillocks at the surface of samples revealed by AFM. At high irradiation fluences, the overlapping of tracks results in the subdivision of crystals into slightly disoriented nano-crystallites detected by XRD. RBS/C data analyzed with a Monte-Carlo simulation code confirm the occurrence of this peculiar micro-structural transformation.     

Future investment in landscape change in southern Australia

Future investment in Australia's countryside will greatly influence the appearance of the landscape, and the ecosystem services provided. Primarily, landowners will undertake this investment. Government investment in revegetation programs is likely to be relatively small. This paper is about research conducted on grazing properties in south-eastern Australia, and extrapolated to the region as a whole. Four strategies are reported: they involve increasing the perennial component of the pastures, fine-tuning grazing management, encouraging natural regeneration and more targeted application of fertiliser. Three of the strategies are profitable and also contribute substantially to the condition of native vegetation and to the ecosystem services it provides. The strategies are not as profitable as traditional pasture improvement, historically the main source of increased wealth. However, the availability of alternative strategies greatly reduces the opportunity cost of not pursuing the traditional pasture improvement approach. This means that incentives to adopt the alternative strategies may make good public policy sense.     

Lithium-niobate-silicon surface-wave convoluter

A large figure of merit M has been measured for a lithiumniobate-silicon acoustic-surface-wave convoluter. A theoretical expression for M is presented, which is in good agreement with the measured value.     

ASPECTS OF ADJUNCT FERMENTATION: II. COST CALCULATIONS FOR LAGER BREWERIES

The application of the adjunct fermentation method (see previous paper) to the fermentation of lager beer leads to potential savings in capital cost. These are calculated in detail for the case of a new brewery construction and for the case when, in an existing brewery, its capacity is to be increased by using adjunct fermentation. The results show that the procedure would be more profitable than conventional fermentation when applied to the new construction, and extremely so when used to increase production from an existing brewery.