There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

다중혈관 관상동맥 환자에서 y-문합을 이용하여 양쪽 내흉동맥만을 사용한 우회술의 조기 성적

抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

[신간의 별자리x] 우리/미술, 그리고 ‘슬픔의 박물관’

Many potential applications have been proposed for carbon nanotubes, including conductive and high-strength composites; energy storage and energy conversion devices; sensors; field emission displays and radiation sources; hydrogen storage media; and nanometer-sized semiconductor devices, probes, and interconnects. Some of these applications are now realized in products. Others are demonstrated in early to advanced devices, and one, hydrogen storage, is clouded by controversy. Nanotube cost, polydispersity in nanotube type, and limitations in processing and assembly methods are important barriers for some applications of single-walled nanotubes.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/297/5582/787.full.pdf

Carbon Nanotubes--the Route Toward Applications

A ZrCoBi-based p-type half-Heusler material can have a formula: ZrCoBi1-x-ySnxSby, where x can vary between 0.01 and 0.25, and y can vary between 0 and 0.2. An average dimensionless figure-of-merit (ZT) for the material can be greater than or equal to about 0.80 as calculated by an integration method for temperatures between 300 and 973 K. A ZrCoBi-based n-type half-Heusler material can have a formula: ZrCo1-xNixBi1-ySby, where x can vary between 0.01 and 0.25, and y can vary between 0 and 0.3. The material has an average dimensionless figure-of-merit (ZT) is greater than or equal to about 0.65 as calculated by an integration method for temperatures between 300 and 973 K.

ZrCoBi BASED HALF HEUSLERS WITH HIGH THERMOELECTRIC CONVERSION EFFICIENCY

Contacts for Skutterudites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown on Ni- and Fe-coated SiO 2 /Si substrates in a laser oven apparatus. The grown CNTs were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. It is speculated that the CNTs grow out from the metal nanoparticle after laser-ablated carbon clusters have been dissolved in it. In a range of oven temperatures between 800 and 1100°C, growth of CNTs was achieved at a temperature ≥ 1000°C. The thickness of the Ni film controlled the CNTs diameter.

Carbon nanotube growth on metal-catalyzed substrates in a laser oven apparatus

Irradiation can precisely control defects in, and improve the superconducting properties of, REBa2Cu3O7−δ (REBCO, RE: rare earth) coated conductors (CCs). Here we report an effective approach for enhancing the in-field performance of GdBCO CCs. The critical current density (J c) of GdBCO films was significantly improved through cooperative defects created by co-irradiation with O ions and protons, especially at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. Surprisingly, the in-field J c of commercial CCs can be nearly doubled. The cooperative irradiation-induced defects are uniformly distributed throughout the GdBCO layer, which promotes the overall performance of the CC. Moreover, the dimensions of these irradiation-induced defects closely match the coherence length of REBCO. This simple and efficient method is a practical post-production solution to improve the in-field performance of commercial REBCO CCs.

High-field critical current density enhancement in GdBCO coated conductors by cooperative defects

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are among the candidates for atomic force microscopy probes for use in high aspect ratio critical dimension metrology (CDM). Their mechanical strength at small diameters makes them ideal probes for narrow and deep features. The synthesis of CNT has been making great progress in recent years. The use of CNT in scanning probe microscopy, however, has been limited due to a number of problems. While the CNT probes generally appear to be long lasting, the manufacture of precisely aligned CNT of defined length, diameter and number of walls poses a number of challenges. Yet, such precisely defined CNT probes seem to be required if the cantilevers are to be used for CDM. Our result demonstrate, for example, that the attachment angle of CNT with respect to the cantilever beam is crucial for their application in CDM. We report about our efforts to overcome these problems by growing well-defined CNT on standard Si cantilevers using chemical vapor deposition in combination with focused ion-beam machining techniques.

Zhifeng Ren

Papers

ZrCoBi BASED HALF HEUSLERS WITH HIGH THERMOELECTRIC CONVERSION EFFICIENCY

Contacts for Skutterudites

Carbon nanotube growth on metal-catalyzed substrates in a laser oven apparatus

High-field critical current density enhancement in GdBCO coated conductors by cooperative defects

Using Carbon Nanotube Cantilevers in Scanning Probe Metrology