Ce travail est porté sur les propriétés structurales et optiques de structures à boîtes quantiques III-nitrures dopées avec des terres rares réalisées par épitaxie à jets moléculaires.<br />Pendant la croissance, les terres rares ont une influence drastique sur les boîtes, expliquée par les propriétés surfactantes des atomes de terres rares.<br />La caractérisation optique et structurale montre que les boîtes sont dopées efficacement avec les ions de Eu, Tm et Tb. D'autres localisations des terres rares ont été trouvées, par exemple, pour le Tm, à l'interface du GaN des boîtes et de l'AlN.<br />Ce travail s'intéresse aussi à la dynamique d'excitation de boîtes quantiques dopées aux terres rares. La photoluminescence de couleurs intéressantes est stable de la température de l'hélium liquide jusque la température ambiante.<br />Des structures à boîtes quantiques plus complexes sont aussi abordées : des boîtes InGaN:Eu QDs et des boîtes GaN co-dopées, importante pour la réalisation de composants.<br />Une attention particulière a été mise sur les couches de GaN dopé Eu, où différents sites pour l'Eu ont été mis en évidence près de surface et à l'intérieur de matériau.

<p>This thesis is focused on the synthesis and structural determination of a series of quasicrystal approximants in the <i>RE</i>₁₃Zn_~58 (<i>RE</i> = Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu), Ce₁₃Cd_~58and <i>RE</i>Cd₆ (<i>RE</i> = Tb, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu) systems. Structural studies were performed by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods.</p><p>The <i>RE</i>Cd₆ phases are 1/1 cubic approximants to the stable icosahedral quasicrystals. The structure of quasicrystals cannot be solved by conventional crystallography due to the lack of periodicity in three-dimensional space. On the other hand, quasicrystal approximants exhibit long-range order, which makes their structural determination possible by standard methods. Since they are believed to display the same local arrangement as the quasicrystals, the structures of the quasicrystal approximants play a key role in understanding quasicrystals.</p><p>The <i>RE</i>₁₃Zn_~58 and Ce₁₃Cd_~58 quasicrystal approximants show measurable compositional variations coupled to subtle structural differences. The crystal structures are generally rather more complex than previously reported, and exhibit a number of different ordering and disordering modes.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-202).

This dissertation focuses on the synthetic exploratory synthesis of molybdenum chalcogenides and rare earth metal-rich ternary tellurides as a part of an effort to produce molecular building blocks of molybdenum chalcogenide clusters and to explore their structural relationships with solid state cluster networks. The tightly cross-linked Mo3nSe3n+2(n = 2, 3, ...∞) clusters and chain compounds react with alkali metal cyanide or cyanide salt mixtures at temperatures of 450-675 °C to yield reduced, cyanide-terminated molybdenum chalcogenide clusters that are thermodynamically stable. At temperatures of 650-675 °C, linear chain compounds I6[Mo6Se8(CN)4(CN)2/2] (MI = K, Cs) were prepared from reactions of Mo6Se8 or elemental starting materials, Mo and Se with excess molten cyanide (KCN, CsCN). These are the first known compounds to feature linking of Mo6Se8 clusters via cyanide bridges. Magnetic susceptibility and EPR measurements indicate that there is one unpaired electron per cluster. A new reduced molecular octahedral complex, Na8[Mo6Se8(CN)6]•20H2O was prepared by the reduction of [Mo6Se8(CN)6]7-with Zn in an aqueous NaCN solution. Single crystal structure was determined. Cyclic voltammetric measurements in basic aqueous media show multiple reversible redox waves corresponding to [Mo6Se8(CN)6]6-/7-, [Mo6Se8(CN)6]7-/8-, [Mo6Se8(CN)6]8-/9-redox couples with half-wave potentials of E1/2 = -0.442 V, -0.876 V, and 11.369 V respectively versus the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE). UV-Vis studies support the presence of the reduced cluster compound. New reduced molecular tetrahedral complexes, K7Na[Mo4Se4(CN)12]•5H2O•MeOH, Na4Cs7[Mo4Se4(CN)12]Cl3, Na8[Mo4Se4(CN)12], and Na4K4[Mo4Se4(CN)12]•12H2O were prepared. Preparation of Na8[Mo4Se4(CN)12] is an improved method for the synthesis of the Mo4Se4 core. Half-wave potentials of E1/2 for the [Mo4Se4(CN)12]6-/7-and [Mo4Se4(CN)12]7-/8-couples are 0.233 V, and -0.422 V respectively versus SHE. The molecular cubane clusters [Mo4Se4(CN)12]7-/8-play an essential role in the process by which the discrete [Mo6Se8(CN)6]6-and [Mo6Se8(CN)6]are excised from the CN-linked chain compound, K6Mo6Se8(CN)5. A new rare-earth telluride compound with the empirical composition of Gd4NiTe2 was synthesized from a high-temperature solid-state reaction. Gd4MTe2 (M = Ni) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma. This unprecedented structure consists of a cluster condensation of Ni-centered gadolinium tricapped trigonal prisms along the rectangular faces of the trigonal prism such that the Ni atoms act as two of the caps to the trigonal prisms.

This thesis is focused on the synthesis and structural determination of a series of quasicrystal approximants in the RE13Zn~58 (RE = Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu), Ce13Cd~58 and RECd6 (RE = Tb, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu) systems. Structural studies were performed by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The RECd6 phases are 1/1 cubic approximants to the stable icosahedral quasicrystals. The structure of quasicrystals cannot be solved by conventional crystallography due to the lack of periodicity in three-dimensional space. On the other hand, quasicrystal approximants exhibit long-range order, which makes their structural determination possible by standard methods. Since they are believed to display the same local arrangement as the quasicrystals, the structures of the quasicrystal approximants play a key role in understanding quasicrystals. The RE13Zn~58 and Ce13Cd~58 quasicrystal approximants show measurable compositional variations coupled to subtle structural differences. The crystal structures are generally rather more complex than previously reported, and exhibit a number of different ordering and disordering modes.

Cell detection using image sensors is a novel and promising technique that can be used for diagnostic applications in medicine. For this purpose, cell detection studies with shadowing method are performed with yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) using an 32&times / 32 complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor that is sensitive to optical illumination. Cells that are placed zero distance from the sensor surface are detected using the image sensor which is illuminated with four fixed leds to maintain fixed illumination levels in each test. Cells are transferred to the sensor surface with drying the medium they are in, which is phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution. Yeast cells that are zero distance from the surface are detected with a detection rate of 72%. Then, MCF-7 (breast cancer) cells are detected with the same sensor when the PBS solution is about to dry. To investigate the detection capability of the sensor while the cells are in the PBS solution, the sensor surface is coated with gold in order to immobilize the surface with antibodies. With immobilizing antibodies, cells are thought to be bound to the surface achieving zero distance to the sensor surface. After coating gold, antibodies are immobilized, and same tests are done with MCF-7 cells. In the PBS solution, no sufficient results are obtained with the shadowing technique, but sufficient results are obtained when the solution is about to dry. After achieving cell detection with the image sensor, a similar but large format image sensor is designed. The designed CMOS image sensor has 160&times / 128 pixel array with 15&micro / m pitch. The pixel readout allows capacitive and optical detection. Thus, both DNA and cell detection are possible with this image sensor. The rolling line shutter mode is added for reducing further leakage at pixel readout. Addressing can be done which means specific array points can be investigated, and also array format can be changed for different size cells. The frame rate of the sensor can be adjusted allowing the detection of the fast moving cell samples. All the digital inputs of the sensor can be adjusted manually for the sake of flexibility. A large number of cells can be detected with using this image sensor due to its large format.

Retinoic acid (RA) has been recognized as a chemotherapeutic agent for various malignances such as lung, skin as well as cervical cancers. It binds to retinoid receptors heterodimers and consequently activates several RA-responsive genes which are involved in many biological processes including vertebrate development, bone growth, vision, haematopoiesis, cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis. These genes are under the control of numerous regulators to ensure their timely ordered activities. Among these regulators, we focused here on the 26S proteasome and ubiquitination. It has been reported that the activity of the ubiquitin/proteasome system (UPS) plays a fundamental role in retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-regulated transactivation. The mechanisms underlying this role, however, remain to be established. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays in our study demonstrated that the 26S proteasome activity is important for preserving the occupancy of a TATA box-containing RA-responsive promoters by liganded retinoid receptors and thus by their coactivators. Additionally, by using coimmunoprecipitation assays and by measuring the half-life of retinoid receptors, we found that the non-proteolytic function of the proteasome is required for ligand-dependent association between DNA-free RAR-α and both DNA-free RXR-α and coactivators. Moreover, using immunofluorescent staining and in vivo ubiquitination assays, a proteasome inhibition-dependent cytoplasmic localization of RAR-α as well as ligand-enhanced ubiquitination and stabilization of RAR-α were shown. Our findings therefore, define novel mechanisms by which the UPS controls RAR-regulated genes. Furthermore, we shed new light on the regulators of retinoid receptors ubiquitination and subcellular localization.

In May 2010, Johann Ernst Hanxleden’s Grammatica Grandonica was rediscovered in Montecompatri (Lazio, Rome). Although historiographers attached much weight to the nearly oldest western grammar of Sanskrit, the precious manuscript was lost for several decades. The first aim of the present digital publication is to offer a photographical reproduction of the manuscript. This facsimile is accompanied by a double edition: a facing diplomatic edition with the Sanskrit in Malayāḷam script, followed by a transliterated established text.

The Mimulus washingtonensis complex is a group of morphologically similar species centered in the Pacific Northwest. All are rare, and most are under consideration for listing as endangered. Morphometric and pollination data were used in developing a revised taxonomy for the group. Five species and two varieties are recognized. Mimulus pulsiferae Gray is the most widespread, occurring from southern Washington to northern California. Mimulus hymenophyllus Meinke and M. jungermannioides Suksd. are cliff species endemic to river drainages in northern Oregon. Mimulus washingtonensis Gand. occurs in east-central Oregon and western Idaho, represented by the var. washingtonensis and var. ampliatus (Grant) Meinke comb. et stat. nov., respectively. Mimulus patulus Pennell is resurrected from synonymy and differentiated from M. washingtonensis on the basis of morphology, distribution, and pollination biology. This autogamous species includes var. patulus, occurring in the Snake River drainage, and var. montanus Meinke var. nov., primarily from the northern Rocky Mountains. Mimulus evanescens Meinke sp. nov. is described from an extant population in Lassen County, California, and historic collections from widely scattered stations in Oregon and Idaho. The new species is morphologically intermediate between M. breviflorus Piper and M. latidens (Gray) Greene. Calyx and leaf morphology also suggest an affinity to M. grayi Grant, M. inconspicuus Gray, and M. acutidens Greene, of cismontane California. Mimulus evanescens should be considered critically endangered, because of its limited numbers and habitat degradation. Mimulus washingtonensis is pollinated by small native bees, primarily two species of Dialictus (Halictidae). These bees were specific to Mimulus flowers but did not distinguish between flowers of M. washingtonensis and M. guttatus DC., a related species that increases with habitat disturbance. Experiments showed that mixed pollen loads diminish seed set in M. washingtonensis, since the thigmotropic stigma of that species closes permanently after any amount of conspecific pollen is applied. Although M. washingtonensis has a low pollen/ovule ratio (29.9), it is considered facultatively xenogamous based on floral morphology, stigma sensitivity, and autogamous seed set levels. Populations occurred in small, edaphically restricted patches, and they exhibited seed set reductions related to outcrossing distance. Substrate disturbance may limit reproduction in M. washingtonensis by changing population structure, threatening pollinators, and increasing competition for pollination by promoting growth and flowering of M. guttatus. / Graduation date: 1992

Methods of efficient Monte-Carlo simulation when rare events are involved have been studied for several decades. Rare events are very important in the context of evaluating high quality computer/communication systems. Meanwhile, the efficient simulation of systems involving rare events poses great challenges. A simulation method is said to be efficient if the number of replicas required to get accurate estimates grows slowly, compared to the rate at which the probability of the rare event approaches zero. Despite the great success of the two mainstream methods, importance sampling (IS) and importance splitting, either of them can become inefficient under certain conditions, as reported in some recent studies. The purpose of this study is to look for possible enhancement of fast simulation methods. I focus on the ``level/phase process', a Markov process in which the level and the phase are two state variables. Furthermore, changes of level and phase are induced by events, which have rates that are independent of the level except at a boundary. For such a system, the event of reaching a high level occurs rarely, provided the system typically stays at lower levels. The states at those high levels constitute the rare event set. Though simple, this models a variety of applications involving rare events. In this setting, I have studied two efficient simulation methods, the rate tilting method and the adaptive splitting method, concerning their efficiencies. I have compared the efficiency of rate tilting with several previously used similar methods. The experiments are done by using queues in tandem, an often used test bench for the rare event simulation. The schema of adaptive splitting has not been described in literature. For this method, I have analyzed its efficiency to show its superiority over the (conventional) splitting method. The way that a system approaches a designated rare event set is called the system's large deviation behavior. Toward the end of gaining insight about the relation of system behavior and the efficiency of IS simulation, I quantify the large deviation behavior and its complexity. This work indicates that the system's large deviation behavior has a significant impact on the efficiency of a simulation method.