This thesis presents and discusses recent optical low-temperature experiments on disordered NbN, granular Al thin-films, and the heavy-fermion compound CeCoIn5, offering a unified picture of quantum-critical superconductivity. It provides a concise introduction to the respective theoretical models employed to interpret the experimental results, and guides readers through in-depth calculations supplemented with supportive figures in order to both retrace the interpretations and span the bridge between experiment and state-of-the art theory.

In Climate Change and Marine and Freshwater Toxins the editors have assembled contributions from a team of international experts to expand the framework for an appropriate assessment of climate change impacts on aquatic toxins. While the production of toxins by microalgae has been known for decades, establishing a factual link supported by scientific evidence is a very complex endeavor. The increasing frequency and distribution of toxic blooms for example continue to raise serious concerns regarding seafood and drinking water safety. This book compiles current evidence on the influence of climate change on the spreading of toxin producing species in aquatic systems. The chemistry and biology of toxin production is revised and an outlook on control and prevention of the toxin's impact on human and animal health is given. * Compelling quantitative evidence of complex interactions from primary toxin producers and along the food chain. * Latest advances on prediction and prevention of water toxin threats to human and animal health. * A must read for insights into aquatic toxins and their modification by climatic conditions. About the Editors Luis M. Botana Is a full Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Santiago, from 2004-2012 director of the Department of Pharmacology and former Fogarty Fellow at the School of Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University. He has been director of the European Reference Laboratory for Marine Toxins from 2004 to 2009. He is author of 25 international patents, over 300 scientific papers and editor of 10 international books. M. Carmen Louzao Is a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Santiago de Compostela since 1997. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) from 1994 to 1995. She is author of over 70 scientific publications in the field of Toxicology, Biochemistry, and Immunology and 20 reviews and book chapters. Natalia Vilarino Currently teaches Pharmacology to Veterinary Medicine students and participates actively in the research activities of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Santiago de Compostela, since 2005. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center for 4 years. She is author of over 50 scientific papers in the fields of Toxicology, Analytical Chemistry and Immunology.

This book deals with the study of superconductivity in systems with coexisting wide and narrow bands. It has been previously suggested that superconductivity can be enhanced in systems with coexisting wide and narrow bands when the Fermi level is near the narrow band edge. In this book, the authors study two problems concerning this mechanism in order to: (a) provide a systematic understanding of the role of strong electron correlation effects, and (b) propose a realistic candidate material which meets the ideal criteria for high-Tc superconductivity. Regarding the role of strong correlation effects, the FLEX+DMFT method is adopted. Based on systematic calculations, the pairing mechanism is found to be indeed valid even when the strong correlation effect is considered within the formalism. In the second half of the book, the authors propose a feasible candidate material by introducing the concept of the "hidden ladder" electronic structure, arising from the combination of the bilayer lattice structure and the anisotropic orbitals of the electrons. As such, the book contributes a valuable theoretical guiding principle for seeking unknown high-Tc superconductors.

This 8-volume set provides a systematic description on 8,350 active marine natural products from 3,025 various kinds of marine organisms. The diversity of structures, biological resources and pharmacological activities are discussed in detail. Molecular structural classification system with 264 structural types are developed. The 6th volume illustrates the molecular formula and structures of aliphatic metabolites.

This book reviews the development, characterization and applications of aptamers in different areas of biotechnology ranging from therapeutics to diagnostics and protein purification. Hailed as chemical antibodies, these single-stranded nucleic acid receptors were predicted to supersede antibodies in traditional assays, such as ELISA, within a short time. While this has yet to happen, readers will find in this book a deep insight into the progress of aptamer technology and a critical discussion about the limitations that need to be overcome in order to find wider acceptance and use outside of the still relatively small aptamer-community. This book covers all aspects of aptamer generation and application for the aptamer-experienced reader and curious novice alike, with the addition of an industry perspective on the future of aptamer-use in biotechnology.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the methods and variety of Kelvin probe force microscopy, including technical details. It also offers an overview of the recent developments and numerous applications, ranging from semiconductor materials, nanostructures and devices to sub-molecular and atomic scale electrostatics. In the last 25 years, Kelvin probe force microscopy has developed from a specialized technique applied by a few scanning probe microscopy experts into a tool used by numerous research and development groups around the globe. This sequel to the editors' previous volume "Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy: Measuring and Compensating Electrostatic Forces," presents new and complementary topics. It is intended for a broad readership, from undergraduate students to lab technicians and scanning probe microscopy experts who are new to the field.

Solid State Physics: An Introduction to Theory presents an intermediate quantum approach to the properties of solids. Through this lens, the text explores different properties, such as lattice, electronic, elastic, thermal, dielectric, magnetic, semiconducting, superconducting and optical and transport properties, along with the structure of crystalline solids. The work presents the general theory for most of the properties of crystalline solids, along with the results for one-, two- and three-dimensional solids in particular cases. It also includes a brief description of emerging topics, such as the quantum hall effect and high superconductivity. Building from fundamental principles and requiring only a minimal mathematical background, the book includes illustrative images and solved problems in all chapters to support student understanding.

State-of-the-art tools and applicationsfor food safety and food science research

Atomic spectroscopy and mass spectrometry are important tools for identifying and quantifying trace elements in food products--elements that may be potentially beneficial or potentially toxic. The Determination of Chemical Elements in Food: Applications for Atomic and Mass Spectrometry teaches the reader how to use these advanced technologies for food analysis. With chapters written by internationally renowned scientists, it provides a detailed overview of progress in the field and the latest innovations in instrumentation and techniques, covering:

Fundamentals and method development, selected applications, and speciation analysis

Applications of atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Applications to foods of animal origin and applications to foods of vegetable origin

Foreseeable developments of instrumental spectrometric techniques that can be exploited to better protect consumers' health, with a full account of the most promising trends in spectrometric instrumentation and ancillary apparatuses

Applicable laws and regulations at the national and international levels

This is a core reference for scientists in food laboratories in the public andprivate sectors and academia, as well as members of regulatory bodies that deal with food safety.

The present volume contains the written versions of most of the invited talks of the Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Physics section of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft held from March 25 to 29, 2002 in Regensburg, Germany. Also contained are those talks presented as part of the Symposia most of which were organized by several divisions in collaboration and covered a fascinating selection of topics of current interest. Thus this volume reflects the status of condensed matter physics in Germany in the year 2002. In particular, one notes a slight change in paradigms: from quantum dots and wires to spin transport and soft matter systems in the broadest sense. This seems to reflect the present general trend in physics. Nevertheless, a large portion of the invited papers concentrate on nanostructured matter.

Potentiometric Water Analysis Second Edition Derek Midgley and Kenneth Torrance, National Power plc, Technology and Environmental Centre, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK This volume is a thoroughly revised and updated version of the very successful first edition. It provides, in one single volume, a comprehensive survey of the theoretical and practical aspects of potentiometry and ion-selective electrodes applied to the analysis of water. The first part of the book describes the basic theory of electrodes, the statistical treatment of results, titrimetric methods and general guidance on procedures. Useful information is given on the types of electrodes available, together with the apparatus required for laboratory and industrial use. For this second edition, the authors include details on microprocessor-based instruments, new electrodes and techniques that have recently been developed, as well as updating the variations on established procedures and their performance characteristics. The second part of the book gives detailed analytical methods for identifying a variety of determinands. Worked examples with discussions of sources of error and likely accuracy are also included. The book is designed to give sufficiently detailed procedures so that the reader can use the methods without recourse to the primary literature. With its emphasis on the practical aspects of potentiometric water analysis, this book will be a valuable tool for analysts working in the field.

This volume compiles and discusses the fundamental and multidisciplinary knowledge on adsorption and separation processes using zeolites as adsorbents. Over the last decade, a large amount of research has been carried out for the development of zeolites as adsorbents. However, there is still a growing interest to increase the understanding of such selective adsorbents. Therefore, synthesis strategies and new approaches for developing new selective zeolite adsorbents for gas separation are presented in the first chapter. In addition, a chapter focused on adsorption characterization techniques of microporous materials is included. This will be helpful for advanced readers, since the new IUPAC recommendations for microporous characterization are not still widely employed by the zeolite community. Experimental and theoretical aspects of economically and environmentally relevant separations, which have been successfully carried out with zeolites, are discussed in detail in subsequent chapters. Finally, industrial zeolite based adsorption and separation processes as well as current perspectives for new zeolite based separations, and improvements of current technologies are presented.

This thesis reports on essential experimental work in the field of novel two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals beyond graphene. It especially describes three new 2D crystal materials, namely germanene, hafnene, and monolayer PtSe2 fabricated experimentally for the first time, using an ultra-high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy (UHV-MBE) system. Multiple characterization techniques, including scanning tunneling microscope (STM), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), combined with theoretical studies reveal the materials' atomic and electronic structures, which allows the author to further investigate their physical properties and potential applications. In addition, a new epitaxial growth method for transition metal dichalcogenides involving direct selenization of metal supports is developed. These studies represent a significant step forward in expanding the family of 2D crystal materials and exploring their application potentials in future nanotechnology and related areas.

Chemometrics in Spectroscopy, Second Edition, provides the reader with the methodology crucial to apply chemometrics to real world data. It allows scientists using spectroscopic instruments to find explanations and solutions to their problems when they are confronted with unexpected and unexplained results. Unlike other books on these topics, it explains the root causes of the phenomena that lead to these results. While books on NIR spectroscopy sometimes cover basic chemometrics, they do not mention many of the advanced topics this book discusses. In addition, traditional chemometrics books do not cover spectroscopy to the point of understanding the basis for the underlying phenomena. The second edition has been expanded with 50% more content covering advances in the field that have occurred in the last 10 years, including calibration transfer, units of measure in spectroscopy, principal components, clinical data reporting, classical least squares, regression models, spectral transfer, and more.

Principles and Applications of Clinical Mass Spectrometry: Small Molecules, Peptides, and Pathogens is a concise resource for quick implementation of mass spectrometry methods in clinical laboratory work. Focusing on the practical use of these techniques, the first half of the book covers principles of chromatographic separations, principles and types of mass spectrometers, and sample preparation for analysis; the second half outlines the main applications of this technology within clinical laboratory settings, including determination of small molecules and peptides, as well as pathogen identification. A thorough yet succinct guide to using mass spectrometry technology in the clinical laboratory, Principles and Applications of Clinical Mass Spectrometry: Small Molecules, Peptides, and Pathogens is an essential resource for chemists, pharmaceutical and biotech researchers, certain government agencies, and standardization groups.

This book focuses on the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), a phenomenon that reveals the complex behavior of all strongly correlated Fermi systems, such as heavy fermion metals, quantum spin liquids, quasicrystals, and two-dimensional systems, considering these as a new state of matter. The book combines theoretical evaluations with arguments based on experimental grounds demonstrating that the entirety of very different strongly correlated Fermi systems demonstrates a universal behavior induced by FCQPT. In contrast to the conventional quantum phase transition, whose physics in the quantum critical region are dominated by thermal or quantum fluctuations and characterized by the absence of quasiparticles, the physics of a Fermi system near FCQPT are controlled by a system of quasiparticles resembling the Landau quasiparticles. The book discusses the modification of strongly correlated systems under the action of FCQPT, representing the "missing" instability, which paves the way for developing an entirely new approach to condensed matter theory; and presents this physics as a new method for studying many-body objects. Based on the authors' own theoretical investigations, as well as salient theoretical and experimental studies conducted by others, the book is well suited for both students and researchers in the field of condensed matter physics.

This book presents fundamental experimental data and experiment-based theoretical conclusions on, as well as physico-chemical models of, the natural hydrothermal, metasomatic, metamorphic, magmatic and ore-producing processes in the Earth's crust, upper mantle, transition zone and lower mantle. The topics discussed concern the interactions of oil and aqueous fluids as revealed by aqueous-hydrocarbonic inclusions in synthetic quartz and applied to the natural evolution of oil; determining the solubility and inter-phase partitioning of trace and strategic elements and their components; and experimentally validating physico-chemical mechanisms in the ultrabasic-basic evolution of deep-mantle magmatic and diamond-forming systems. In addition, the book presents experimental studies on the physico-chemical properties of supercritical water and hydrothermal fluids, viscosity of acidic ultramafic magmatic materials melts, peculiarities of metamorphism in basic rocks, kinetics of mineral nucleation in silicate melts and hydrothermal solutions, and influence of complex H2O-CO2-HCl fluids on melting relations in mantle-crust rocks, together with novel results and conclusions. Given its scope, the book will be of great interest to all Earth scientists, lecturers and students specialized in experimental and genetic mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry.

This book aims to give state of the art in several domains of cultural heritage in which Nanosciences allow fundamental breakthrough. The first part of the book concerns nanostructured materials in ancient artifacts. Understanding their nature and formation processes bring new insight in the apprehension of technical level of ancient societies but can also inspire the design of new materials. The second part is dedicated to the understanding of materials. This crucial issue in material science today, for cultural heritage, needs to perform specific characterization techniques and technologies, but also to create tailored analytical strategies. Part three presents new methods, processes and materials at nano levels that can bring innovative solutions to conservation and restoration issues, linked with the understanding of the alteration processes involved at different scales.

Over-pumping of aquifers is a worldwide problem, mainly caused by agricultural water use. Among its consequences are the falling dry of streams and wetlands, soil subsidence, die-off of phreatophytic vegetation, saline water intrusion, increased pumping cost and loss of storage needed for drought relief. Stopping or reversing the trend requires management interventions. The North China Plain serves as an example. A management system is set up for a typical county. It contains three components: monitoring, decision support based on modelling, and implementation in the field. Besides all monitoring data, the decision support module contains an irrigation calculator, a box model, and a distributed groundwater model to project the outcomes of different water allocation scenarios. In view of grain security, a solution combines an adaptation of the cropping system with imports of surface water from the South. The Open Access book does not only describe the problem and the path to its solution. It also gives access to nine manuals concerning methods used. They include computer programs and the game Save the Water. The Chinese experience should be of considerable interest to other regions in the world which suffer from over-pumping of aquifers.

Although originally invented and employed by physicists, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has proven to be a very efficient technique for studying a wide range of phenomena in many fields, such as chemistry, biochemistry, geology, archaeology, medicine, biotechnology, and environmental sciences. Acknowledging that not all studies require the same level of understanding of this technique, this book thus provides a practical treatise clearly oriented toward applications, which should be useful to students and researchers of various levels and disciplines. In this book, the principles of continuous wave EPR spectroscopy are progressively, but rigorously, introduced, with emphasis on interpretation of the collected spectra. Each chapter is followed by a section highlighting important points for applications, together with exercises solved at the end of the book. A glossary defines the main terms used in the book, and particular topics, whose knowledge is not required for understanding the main text, are developed in appendices for more inquisitive readers.

This book offers a complete and well-organized review of the latest advances made in developing ultra-weak chemiluminescence techniques for analytical applications. It systematically introduces the current theories, mechanisms, instruments, technologies, and real applications of ultra-weak chemiluminescence. Compared to books devoted to the normal chemiluminescence and bioluminescence, this book covers a wide range of ultra-weak chemiluminescence based on inorganic chemical reactions and nanotechnology from a principle and practical point of view. This book is intended for readers who are interested in expanding their knowledge of chemiluminescence and employing ultra-weak chemiluminescence techniques to develop new detection methods for analytical applications.

Modern Vibrational Spectroscopy and Micro-Spectroscopy: Theory, Instrumentation and Biomedical Applications unites the theory and background of conventional vibrational spectroscopy with the principles of microspectroscopy. It starts with basic theory as it applies to small molecules and then expands it to include the large biomolecules which are the main topic of the book with an emphasis on practical experiments, results analysis and medical and diagnostic applications. This book is unique in that it addresses both the parent spectroscopy and the microspectroscopic aspects in one volume. Part I covers the basic theory, principles and instrumentation of classical vibrational, infrared and Raman spectroscopy. It is aimed at researchers with a background in chemistry and physics, and is presented at the level suitable for first year graduate students. The latter half of Part I is devoted to more novel subjects in vibrational spectroscopy, such as resonance and non-linear Raman effects, vibrational optical activity, time resolved spectroscopy and computational methods. Thus, Part 1 represents a short course into modern vibrational spectroscopy. Part II is devoted in its entirety to applications of vibrational spectroscopic techniques to biophysical and bio-structural research, and the more recent extension of vibrational spectroscopy to microscopic data acquisition. Vibrational microscopy (or microspectroscopy) has opened entirely new avenues toward applications in the biomedical sciences, and has created new research fields collectively referred to as Spectral Cytopathology (SCP) and Spectral Histopathology (SHP). In order to fully exploit the information contained in the micro-spectral datasets, methods of multivariate analysis need to be employed. These methods, along with representative results of both SCP and SHP are presented and discussed in detail in Part II.

This book provides an introduction to fundamental concepts of solid mechanics for the uninitiated. It also includes a concise review of fundamentals for those who have been away from the field for a time or are studying for a final exam or engineering license exam. The coverage ranges from fundamental definitions through constitutive equations, axial loading, torsion, bending, thermal effects, stability, pressure vessels, plates and shells, computational mechanics, and fibrous composite materials.

This thesis reports a rare combination of experiment and theory on the role of geometry in materials science. It is built on two significant findings: that curvature can be used to guide crack paths in a predictive way, and that protected topological order can exist in amorphous materials. In each, the underlying geometry controls the elastic behavior of quasi-2D materials, enabling the control of crack propagation in elastic sheets and the control of unidirectional waves traveling at the boundary of metamaterials. The thesis examines the consequences of this geometric control in a range of materials spanning many orders of magnitude in length scale, from amorphous macroscopic networks and elastic continua to nanoscale lattices.

Solid-State NMR Characterization of Heterogeneous Catalysts and Catalytic Reactions provides a comprehensive account of state-of-the-art solid-state NMR techniques and the application of these techniques in heterogeneous catalysts and related catalytic reactions. It includes an introduction to the basic theory of solid-state NMR and various frequently used techniques. Special emphasis is placed on characterizing the framework and pore structure, active site, guest-host interaction, and synthesis mechanisms of heterogeneous catalysts using multinuclear one- and two-dimensional solid-sate NMR spectroscopy. Additionally, various in-situ solid-state NMR techniques and their applications in investigation of the mechanism of industrially important catalytic reactions are also discussed. Both the fundamentals and the latest research results are covered, making the book suitable as a reference guide for both experienced researchers in and newcomers to this field. Feng Deng is a Professor at Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.