Coluccio Salutati, along with Petrarch, is generally looked upon as one of the principal founders of Italian humanism and the Renaissance movement. Professor Berthold Ullman states in his excellent and latest work on Salutati that the renowned chancellor of Florence ‘was second to Petrarch in the humanistic movement, but not far behind'; he points out that Coluccio was the acknowledged leader of this movement for some thirty-two years, from the time of Petrarch's death in 1374 until the chancellor's own in 1406. Vergerio hails Salutati as the leading philosopher of the age; for Antonio Loschi he was the outstanding Latin writer of his time. His reputation as a Latin stylist and moralist, already in the fourteenth century, had spread far beyond the borders of Italy.

We report the discovery in the Greenland ice sheet of a discrete layer of free nanodiamonds (NDs) in very high abundances, implying most likely either an unprecedented influx of extraterrestrial (ET) material or a cosmic impact event that occurred after the last glacial episode. From that layer, we extracted n-diamonds and hexagonal diamonds (lonsdaleite), an accepted ET impact indicator, at abundances of up to about 5×106 times background levels in adjacent younger and older ice. The NDs in the concentrated layer are rounded, suggesting they most likely formed during a cosmic impact through some process similar to carbon-vapor deposition or high-explosive detonation. This morphology has not been reported previously in cosmic material, but has been observed in terrestrial impact material. This is the first highly enriched, discrete layer of NDs observed in glacial ice anywhere, and its presence indicates that ice caps are important archives of ET events of varying magnitudes. Using a preliminary ice chronology based on oxygen isotopes and dust stratigraphy, the ND-rich layer appears to be coeval with ND abundance peaks reported at numerous North American sites in a sedimentary layer, the Younger Dryas boundary layer (YDB), dating to 12.9 ± 0.1 ka. However, more investigation is needed to confirm this association.

Several outbreaks of hepatitis A in men who have sex with men (MSM) were reported in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia and other countries. An effective hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccine has been available in Australia since 1994 and is recommended for high-risk groups including MSM. No outbreaks of hepatitis A in Australian MSM have been reported since 1996. In this study, we aimed to estimate HAV transmissibility in MSM populations in order to inform targets for vaccine coverage in such populations. We used mathematical models of HAV transmission in a MSM population to estimate the basic reproduction number (R 0) and the probability of an HAV epidemic occurring as a function of the immune proportion. We estimated a plausible range for R 0 of 1·71–3·67 for HAV in MSM and that sustained epidemics cannot occur once the proportion immune to HAV is greater than ~70%. To our knowledge this is the first estimate of R 0 and the critical population immunity threshold for HAV transmission in MSM. As HAV is no longer endemic in Australia or in most other developed countries, vaccination is the only means of maintaining population immunity >70%. Our findings provide impetus to promote HAV vaccination in high-risk groups such as MSM.

The Antillean Cenozoic fossil record of asteroids comprises mainly dissociated ossicles. Most common among isolates from upper Oligocene deposits of Jamaica and Antigua are marginal ossicles of an extinct, indeterminate species of Pycinaster. This is the youngest known occurrence of the genus and the first from beyond Europe. A number of relatively complete fossils have been assigned to Pycinaster and (sub)familial status proposed for it together with Phocidaster. The latter proposition is based solely on a few marginals, but available diagnoses are judged insufficient to justify such recognition. The taxon Pycinasteridae is here synonymized with the Goniasteridae, although future study of added features (such as the ventral surface) might justify recognition at a higher taxonomic level. In addition to ossicles assigned to Pycinaster, many marginals are tentatively assigned to the surviving goniasterid Nymphaster. Numerous generic and many species names have been based on asteroid isolates, but the practice demands assumptions that are not readily justified. Linkage of discrete isolates under a single taxon name assumes derivation from a single source, an inference that can be verified only rarely (if ever), therefore reducing names to the single holotype ossicle. Availability of only isolates encourages comparison with extant taxa and biogeography, biasing interpretations with a Holocene overlay. Because of these constraints, a new nominal species of Pycinaster is not justified and assignment of ossicles to Nymphaster is tentative. However, given the importance of asteroids in marine communities, we emphasize the significance, largely ignored, of their presence in Cenozoic deposits of the wider Caribbean.

Human milk (HM) is rich in oligosaccharides (HMO) that exert prebiotic and anti-infective activities. HM feeding reduces the incidence of rotavirus (RV) infection in infants. Herein, the anti-RV activity of oligosaccharides was tested in an established in vitro system for assessing cellular binding and viral infectivity/replication, and also tested in a newly developed, acute RV infection, in situ piglet model. For the in vitro work, crude HMO isolated from pooled HM, neutral HMO (lacto-N-neotetraose, LNnT; 2′-fucosyllactose) and acidic HMO (aHMO, 3′-sialyllactose, 3′-SL; 6′-sialyllactose, 6′-SL) were tested against the porcine OSU strain and human RV Wa strain. The RV Wa strain was not inhibited by any oligosaccharides. However, the RV OSU strain infectivity was dose-dependently inhibited by sialic acid (SA)-containing HMO. 3′-SL and 6′-SL concordantly inhibited 125I-radiolabelled RV cellular binding and infectivity/replication. For the in situ study, a midline laparotomy was performed on 21-d-old formula-fed piglets and six 10 cm loops of ileum were isolated in situ. Briefly, 2 mg/ml of LNnT, aHMO mixture (40 % 6′-SL/10 % 3′-SL/50 % SA) or media with or without the RV OSU strain (1 × 107 focus-forming units) were injected into the loops and maintained for 6 h. The loops treated with HMO treatments+RV had lower RV replication, as assessed by non-structural protein-4 (NSP4) mRNA expression, than RV-treated loops alone. In conclusion, SA-containing HMO inhibited RV infectivity in vitro; however, both neutral HMO and SA with aHMO decreased NSP4 replication during acute RV infection in situ.

The resistance and magnetoresistance of Gd/W Multilayers have been measured at temperatures between 300K and 4K and in fields of up to 7 Tesla. The temperature coefficent of resistance is strongly influenced by the thickness of the Gd layers, becoming negative at a Gd layer thickness of 0.8nm. The Magnetoresistance is dominated by the Gd below about 100K. Multilayers which show reduced saturation magnetisation at 4K also have an unusual form of magnetoresistance around 100K. We suggest that this may be due to antiferromagnetic alignment of the Gd and W Moments at low applied fields.

Control of composition and phase of a series of MoNx thin films has been accomplished by reactive pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Molybdenum foil targets were ablated in a background gas of N2/H2 (10%) at pressures ranging from 40 to 120 mTorr. the MoNx films were deposited simultaneously onto (100) MgO and fused silica substrates. the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-dependent resistivity, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). the composition, phase, and electronic transport properties were found to depend on N2/H2 pressure, substrate temperature, and substrate orientation. the highest superconducting transition temperature (Tc ) was observed in a hexagonal Mo2N film where Tc (onset) ≈ 8 K. IN general, Tc was observed to correlate most closely with the N/Mo ratio. as the ratio of N/Mo increased above optimal M02N composition, Tc decreased. Films grown on MgO generally had higher N/Mo ratios and hence lower Tc values than films deposited on silic A.

In this paper, we have reported our investigations related to the growth of high temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) and colossal magnetoresistive La0.7MnxO3-δ (LMO) thin films in presence of silver. The films were grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) techniques and characterized using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Squid magnetometer. The focus of our work is on the realization of significant improvement in microstructural and physical properties of these films by the addition of a common material (silver) to the films during their in-situ formation. Optical emission studies of plumes emanating from Ag target have been carried out to find the role of Ag acting as additional source of oxygen-supply to oxide lattices during film-growth.

Damage introduction in III-V nitrides during dry etching can be simulated by exposingthe samples to pure Ar plasmas for study of the physical (ion-bombardment) effects.Changes in conductivity of InN, In0.5Ga 0.5N and In0.5Al0.5N layers exposed to Ar plasmasunder both Electron Cyclotron Resonance and reactive ion etching conditions have beenmeasured as a function of rfpower, pressure and exposure time. The combination of highmicrowave and high rf powers produces large increases (10-_104 times) in sheet resistanceof the nitrides, but conditions more typical of real etching processes (rf power < 150W) donot change the bulk electrical properties. The nitrides are more resistant to damageintroduction than other III-V semiconductors. The removal of damage-related trapsoccurs with an activation energy of ∼2.7eV. High ion currents during ECR etching canproduce substantial conductivity changes, whereas the lower currents under RIEconditions do not affect the nitrides. It is difficult to avoid preferential loss of N in thenear-surface of these materials, which leads to leakage currents in rectifying metal contactsdeposited on these surfaces.

Crack propagation in columnar saline and freshwater ice has been investigated with high-speed photography, acoustic emission detection and the resistance method. High-speed photography was found to be a single reliable technique. The resistance method proved effective for freshwater ice samples, but not for saline ice samples due to the presence of conductive fluid inclusions. Acoustic emissions pinpointed the moment of crack initiation, but did not correspond to the crack propagation time. Crack velocity has been characterized over a temperature range of -5°C to -30 °C for freshwater and saline ice. Freshwater ice exhibited an overall average velocity of 198 m/s, and did not vary with temperature. Crack velocity in saline ice demonstrated temperature dependence, increasing from an average of 86 m/s in the -5°C to -20°C range, to 131 m/s at -30°C. The crack velocity was also shown to have a general dependence on fracture toughness K' of the material, however, the microstructural variation between samples is also shown to influence significantly the crack behavior in both saline and freshwater ice. Nonuniform crack tip advance and crack reorientation were observed as crack slowing mechanisms in freshwater ice, while in saline ice fracture crack tip blunting on voids greatly reduced average crack velocities.

Thin films (∼1000 Å) of LaxCa1−xMnOδ (x=0.67) were deposited onto LaA1O3 (100) substrates at of 600 and 700°C. Varying the oxygen deposition pressure between 15 and 400 mTorr systematically changed the oxygen concentrations in the as deposited films. Asdeposited films exhibited an orthorhombic structure with an oxygen pressure dependent lattice parameter. The films were highly oriented as characterized by narrow x-ray ω-scans (FWHM ≤ 0.16 −0.70°). At low pressures, the films were preferentially (202) oriented while at high pressures deposited films had a (040) preferred orientation. A 900°C anneal in flowing oxygen for a film deposited at low oxygen pressures resulted in a decrease in the lattice parameter (associated with an increase in δ) and a change in the preferred orientation from (202) to (040). The resistivity as a function of temperature (R(T)) showed a significant variation as a function of growth conditions. At 600°C, the peak in the resistivity curve (Tm) varied between 73 and 93 K for P(O2) = 15 to 400 mTorr, while at 700°C, Tm was ∼150 K. For films deposited at 600°C, the resistivity was reduced by a factor of 103 for H = 9T and Tm was shifted to 150 K. The activation energy associated with the semiconducting phase was approximately the same for all as-deposited films (∼100 meV).

Thick films (0.6 and 2.0 μm) of the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) material, La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO), have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The films were grown from single-phase LCMO targets in 100 mTorr 02 pressures and the material deposited on (100) LaAlO3 substrates at deposition temperatures of 800°C. The deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetic field-dependent resistivity, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The LCMO films were shown by XRD to adopt an orthorhombic structure. Brief post-deposition annealing led to ~50,000% and ~12,000% MR effect in the 0.6 μm and 2.0 μm films, respectively.

InN has been grown in a gas-source MBE system using an RF nitrogen plasma source and standard TMI, solution TMI and solid In. Both solid and solution TMI produce InN with electron and carbon concentrations ≥ 1020 cm−3. Solution TMI-derived material, however, contains significantly less oxygen (8 × 1018 cm−3 vs. ≥ 1020 cm−3 for solid TMI). While the amine used to liquefy the TMI helps to displace the ether believed to be responsible for the oxygen contamination, it also appears to interfere with the growth, resulting in poorer morphology than for standard TMI. While solid In produced the lowest carrier concentration (≤ mid-1018 cm−3), it also produced the worst morphology of the sources examined, presumably due to poor surface mobility. Based on this data, it appears that carbon can play a significant role in the electrical properties of InN, and that the In source is critical in determining the structural quality.

Reproducible fabrication of high performance metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) from compound semiconductors will require both good interfacial electrical characteristics and good thermal stability. While dielectrics such as SiO2, AIN, and GdGaOx have demonstrated low to moderate interface state densities, questions remain about their thermal stability and reliability, particularly for use in high power or high temperature widebandgap devices. In this paper we will compare the utility of two potential gate dielectric materials: GdOx and GaOx. GdOx has been found to produce layers with excellent surface morphologies as evidenced by surface roughness of less than I nm. Stoichiometric films can be easily obtained over a range of deposition conditions, though deposition temperatures of 500°C appear to offer the optimum interfacial electrical quality. By contrast GaOx films are quite rough, polycrystalline and show poor thermal stability. Further they exhibit a range of stoichiometries depending upon deposition temperature, Ga flux and oxygen flux. This paper will describe the relationship between deposition conditions and film characteristics for both materials, and will present electrical characterization of capacitors fabricated from GdOx on Si.

Etch rates up to 7,000Å/min. for GaN are obtained in Cl2/H2/Ar or BCl3/Ar ECR discharges at 1–3mTorr and moderate dc biases. Typical rates with HI/H2 are about a factor of three lower under the same conditions, while CH4/H2 produces maximum rates of only ˜2000Å/min. The role of additives such as SF6, N2, H2 or Ar to the basic chlorine, bromine, iodine or methane-hydrogen plasma chemistries are discussed. Their effect can be either chemical ( in forming volatile products with N) or physical ( in breaking bonds or enhancing desorption of the etch products). The nitrides differ from conventional III-V's in that bondbreaking to allow formation of the etch products is a critical factor. Threshold ion energies for the onset of etching of GaN, InGaN and InAlN are ≥75eV.

Transient thermal processing is employed for implant activation, contact alloying, implant isolation and dehydrogenation during III-nitride device fabrication. We have compared use of InN, AlN and GaN powder as methods for providing a N2 overpressure within a graphite susceptor for high temperature annealing of GaN, InN, A1N and InAlN. The AlN powder provides adequate surface protection to temperatures of ∼1100°C for AlN, > 1050°C for GaN, ∼600°C for InN and ∼800°C for the ternary alloy. While the InN powder provides a higher N2 partial pressure than AlN powder, at temperatures above ∼750°C the evaporation of In is sufficiently high to produce condensation of In droplets on the surfaces of the annealed samples. GaN powder achieved better surface protection than the other two cases.