A MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE INTEGRATED ACTIVE COOLING CHANNEL FOR DNA AMPLIFICATION

This paper presents a novel flow-through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chip with active water cooling characteristics. A micro-reactor comprising two heating blocks and a cooling channel for three temperature zones and a fluidic chip with serpentine microchannels is integrated. One important feature of this system is the temperature of the annealing zone is controlled by the flow rate of the fluid inside a water cooling channel under the glass chip. Commercial software is utilized to determine the chip materials and flow rates in the cooling channel those are responsible for creating the denaturation, annealing and extension temperature zones within the chip. DNA fragments with three different lengths are successfully amplified with the device.

Thermal history of the Podhale Basin in the internal Western Carpathians from the perspective of apatite fission track analyses

The thermal history of the Paleogene Podhale Basin was studied by the apatite fission track (AFT) method. Twenty four Eocene-Oligocene sandstone samples yielded apparent ages from 13.8 ± 1.6 to 6.1 ± 1.4 Ma that are significantly younger than their stratigraphic age and thus point to a post-depositional resetting. The thermal event responsible for the age resetting is interpreted as a combination of heating associated with mid-Miocene volcanism and variable thickness of Oligocene and potentially also Miocene sediments. Extending the mid-Miocene thermal event found in the Inner Carpathians into the Podhale Basin as a likely heat source suggests that the amount of denudation in the Podhale Basin determined only on the basis of heat related to the thickness of sedimentary sequence might have be significantly overestimated. Two samples from the western part of the basin that yielded 31.0 ± 4.3 and 26.9 ± 4.7 Ma are interpreted as having mixed ages resulting from partial resetting in temperature conditions within the AFT partial annealing zone. This observation agrees very well with reported vitrinite reflectance and illite-smectite thermometry, which indicate a systematic drop of the maximum paleotemperatures towards the western side of the basin.

Provenance and post-depositional low-temperature evolution of the James Ross Basin sedimentary rocks (Antarctic Peninsula) based on fission track analysis

Zircon and apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology was applied to the James Ross Basin sedimentary rocks from James Ross and Seymour islands. The probable sources of these sediments were generated in Carboniferous to Early Paleogene times (∼315 to 60 Ma). The total depths of individual James Ross Basin formations are discussed. The AFT data were modelled, and the thermal history model was reconstructed for samples from Seymour Island. The first stage after a period of total thermal annealing (when the samples were above 120°C) involved Late Triassic cooling (∼230 to 200 Ma) and is followed by a period of steady cooling through the whole apatite partial annealing zone (PAZ, 60–120°C) to minimum temperature in Paleocene/Early Eocene. The next stage was the maximum burial of sedimentary rocks in the Eocene (∼35 Ma, 1.1–1.8 km) and the final cooling and uplift of Seymour Island sedimentary rocks at ∼35 to 20 Ma.

Post-Implantation Annealing in a Silane Ambient Using Hot-Wall CVD

Post-implant annealing of Al implanted 4H-SiC has been performed in the temperature range from 1600°C to 1750°C. Annealing was conducted in a hot-wall CVD reactor using a silanerich ambient. Ar was used as the carrier gas to deliver the silane to the annealing zone where the sample was heated via RF induction. The resulting annealed surfaces exhibited a step-bunch free, smooth morphology when viewed on SEM and AFM. The maximum surface roughness as measured via AFM was 0.65 nm RMS for the sample annealed at 1750°C.

Evidence for post-early Eocene tectonic activity in southeastern Ireland

The role played by Cenozoic deformation in denudation and landscape development in Ireland has historically been difficult to assess because of the lack of widespread pre-glacial Cenozoic deposits onshore. Here we combine analysis of apatite fission-track data and geomorphic observations to place constraints on the timing, kinematics and magnitude of onshore deformation in southeastern Ireland. Relationships between apatite fission-track central age and elevation for samples from the Wicklow and Blackstairs Mountains and Tullow Lowland suggest that these rocks record an exhumed apatite partial annealing zone, which after cooling was dismembered by differential vertical displacements of up to several hundred metres. We use inverted models of sample thermal history to show that samples across the region experienced very similar thermal histories up to and including a cooling event in late Paleocene or early Eocene time. This effectively rules out strongly spatially heterogeneous denudation, and implies that differential rock uplift occurred in post-early Eocene time. The central age–elevation relationships define at least three spatial domains with internally consistent apatite fission-track data, separated by known faults or topographic escarpments. Geomorphic analysis of these structures shows that patterns of catchment incision and sinuosity, as well as the presence of antecedent drainage, are best explained by differential vertical displacements at or near the domain boundaries. The kinematics and magnitudes of these displacements are consistent with those implied by the apatite fission-track results, and are compatible with other examples of known Cenozoic deformation from Ireland and the adjacent continental margin.

Ge Nanocrystal Formed Directly by High-Dose-Ion-Implantation and the Related UV-VIS Photoluminescence

ABSTRACTThe investigation of nanocrystalline Ge (nc-Ge) directly prepared with high dose Ge ion implantation of 1×1016, 1×1017, 5×1017 and 1×1018cm-2 respectively without subsequent annealing is presented in this paper. The specimens were measured by means of GIXRD, LRS and PL. The results show the nc-Ge, which possesses strong compressive stress, can be fabricated when the implanting dose of Ge ions is over the threshold dose∼1×1017cm-2. The content and size of nc-Ge will enlarge with increasing dose. The nc-Ge formation mechanism may be the Ge atoms in the amorphous Ge (a-Ge) clusters, which are formed through the aggregation of implanted Ge ions, obtain energy from the instant local annealing zone induced by the incident Ge ion and reconstruct to nc-Ge existing in a-Ge clusters. The PL results indicate the strong PL peaks centered at about 295, 400 and 570 nm can be observed in implanted samples. The intensity of these PL peaks increases with increasing dose. The related PL mechanism in Ge-ion-implanted SiO2 film has also been discussed.