@article{357, abstract = {Near-resonant Raman scattering measurements of zinc sulfide nanoparticles and thin films have been made and correlated to grain and particle size, respectively, using a 325 nm wavelength excitation source. The area ratios between the first, second, and third order peaks of ZnS identified as the T 2(LO) mode decrease with increasing ZnS grain size. This is an effect attributed to changes in the bandgap energy from quantum confinement due to the varying grain size between the films/particles, as noted by a shift in the room temperature photoluminescence emission corresponding to the free exciton emission energy. While Raman scattering spectroscopy is typically limited to identification of phases and their crystalline properties, it is possible to attain more than such straightforward information by calibrating the spectral features to variations between sets of samples. These results open the possibility of making a quantitative grain size estimation in ZnS thin films and nanostructures, as well as in other material systems where ZnS may be expected as a secondary phase, such as Cu2ZnSnS4. Additionally, more commonly used excitation wavelengths for Raman scattering, such as 514 and 532 nm, are shown to be of limited use in characterizing ZnS thin films due to the extremely low Raman scattering efficiency of ZnS in films with sub-micron thicknesses. }, author = {Fairbrother, Andrew and Izquierdo Roca, Victor and Fontané, Xavier and Ibáñez, Maria and Cabot, Andreu and Saucedo, Edgardo and Pérez Rodríguez, Alejandro}, journal = {CrystEngComm}, number = {20}, pages = {4120 -- 4125}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, title = {{ZnS grain size effects on near-resonant Raman scattering: Optical non-destructive grain size estimation}}, doi = {10.1039/c3ce42578a}, volume = {16}, year = {2014}, } @article{359, abstract = {An appropriate way of realizing property nanoengineering in complex quaternary chalcogenide nanocrystals is presented for Cu2Cd xSnSey(CCTSe) polypods. The pivotal role of the polarity in determining morphology, growth, and the polytypic branching mechanism is demonstrated. Polarity is considered to be responsible for the formation of an initial seed that takes the form of a tetrahedron with four cation-polar facets. Size and shape confinement of the intermediate pentatetrahedral seed is also attributed to polarity, as their external facets are anion-polar. The final polypod extensions also branch out as a result of a cation-polarity-driven mechanism. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy is used to identify stannite cation ordering, while ab initio studies are used to show the influence of cation ordering/distortion, stoichiometry, and polytypic structural change on the electronic band structure.}, author = {Zamani, Reza and Ibáñez, Maria and Luysberg, Martina and García Castelló, Nuria and Houben, Lothar and Prades, Joan and Grillo, Vincenzo and Dunin Borkowski, Rafal and Morante, Joan and Cabot, Andreu and Arbiol, Jordi}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {3}, pages = {2290 -- 2301}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Polarity-driven polytypic branching in Cu-based quaternary chalcogenide nanostructures}}, doi = {10.1021/nn405747h}, volume = {8}, year = {2014}, } @article{2852, abstract = {A robust combiner for hash functions takes two candidate implementations and constructs a hash function which is secure as long as at least one of the candidates is secure. So far, hash function combiners only aim at preserving a single property such as collision-resistance or pseudorandomness. However, when hash functions are used in protocols like TLS they are often required to provide several properties simultaneously. We therefore put forward the notion of robust multi-property combiners and elaborate on different definitions for such combiners. We then propose a combiner that provably preserves (target) collision-resistance, pseudorandomness, and being a secure message authentication code. This combiner satisfies the strongest notion we propose, which requires that the combined function satisfies every security property which is satisfied by at least one of the underlying hash function. If the underlying hash functions have output length n, the combiner has output length 2 n. This basically matches a known lower bound for black-box combiners for collision-resistance only, thus the other properties can be achieved without penalizing the length of the hash values. We then propose a combiner which also preserves the property of being indifferentiable from a random oracle, slightly increasing the output length to 2 n+ω(log n). Moreover, we show how to augment our constructions in order to make them also robust for the one-wayness property, but in this case require an a priory upper bound on the input length.}, author = {Fischlin, Marc and Lehmann, Anja and Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z}, journal = {Journal of Cryptology}, number = {3}, pages = {397 -- 428}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Robust multi-property combiners for hash functions}}, doi = {10.1007/s00145-013-9148-7}, volume = {27}, year = {2014}, } @article{348, abstract = {Bi2S3-xTex bulk nanocomposites with crystal domain sizes in the range from 50 nm to 100 nm were obtained from the reaction of Bi2S3 nanorods with Te powder. The thermoelectric properties of the obtained nanocomposites were analysed in the temperature range from 0°C to 300°C. We observed how the thermoelectric properties of the material improved with the annealing temperature, being a spark plasma sintering process needed to maintain the material nanostructuration while maximising its electrical properties. Finally thermoelectric dimensionless figures of merit ZT up to 0.42 were obtained before any charge carrier concentration optimisation. Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. }, author = {Cadavid, Doris and Ibáñez, Maria and Anselmi Tamburini, Umberto and Durá, Oscar and De La Torre, Marco and Cabot, Andreu}, journal = {International Journal of Nanotechnology}, number = {9-11}, pages = {773 -- 784}, publisher = {Inderscience Enterprises Limited }, title = {{Thermoelectric properties of bottom up assembled Bi2S 3-xTex nanocomposites}}, doi = {10.1504/IJNT.2014.063787}, volume = {11}, year = {2014}, } @article{350, abstract = {Herein, a colloidal synthetic route to produce highly monodisperse Cu2HgGeSe4 (CHGSe) nanoparticles (NPs) is presented in detail. The high yield of the developed procedure allowed the production of CHGSe NPs at the gram scale. A thorough analysis of their structural and optical properties is shown. CHGSe NPs displayed poly-tetrahedral morphology and narrow size distributions with average size in the range of 10–40 nm and size dispersions below 10 %. A 1.6 eV optical band gap was measured by mean of UV–Vis. By adjusting the cation ratio, an effective control of their electrical conductivity is achieved. The prepared NPs are used as building blocks for the production of CHGSe bulk nanostructured materials. The thermoelectric properties of CHGSe nanomaterials are studied in the temperature range from 300 to 730 K. CHGSe nanomaterials reached electrical conductivities up to 5 × 104 S m−1, Seebeck coefficients above 100 μV K−1, and thermal conductivities below 1.0 W m−1 K−1 which translated into thermoelectric figures of merit up to 0.34 at 730 K.}, author = {Li, Wenhua and Ibáñez, Maria and Cadavid, Doris and Zamani, Reza and Rubio Garcia, Javier and Gorsse, Stéphane and Morante, Joan and Arbiol, Jordi and Cabot, Andreu}, journal = {Journal of Nanoparticle Research}, number = {3}, publisher = {Kluwer}, title = {{Colloidal synthesis and functional properties of quaternary Cu based semiconductors: Cu2HgGeSe4}}, doi = {10.1007/s11051-014-2297-2}, volume = {16}, year = {2014}, } @article{356, abstract = {Cu2ZnSnS4, based on abundant and environmental friendly elements and with a direct band gap of 1.5 eV, is a main candidate material for solar energy conversion through both photovoltaics and photocatalysis. We detail here the synthesis of quasi-spherical Cu 2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles with unprecedented narrow size distributions. We further detail their use as seeds to produce CZTS-Au and CZTS-Pt heterostructured nanoparticles. Such heterostructured nanoparticles are shown to have excellent photocatalytic properties toward degradation of Rhodamine B and hydrogen generation by water splitting.}, author = {Yu, Xuelian and Shavel, Alexey and An, Xiaoqiang and Luo, Zhishan and Ibáñez, Maria and Cabot, Andreu}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, number = {26}, pages = {9236 -- 9239}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Cu2ZnSnS4-Pt and Cu2ZnSnS4-Au heterostructured nanoparticles for photocatalytic water splitting and pollutant degradation}}, doi = {10.1021/ja502076b}, volume = {136}, year = {2014}, } @article{358, abstract = {Monodispersed Pt3Sn nanoparticles were prepared through a mild thermal synthesis in the presence of surfactants. The performance of Pt3Sn for the electrooxidation of ethanol and adsorbed carbon monoxide (COad) in acid medium was studied by a combination of electrochemical and insitu spectroscopic methods, namely, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS), and the results were compared to those obtained with the use of Pt black. The formation of the Pt3Sn solid solution promoted the oxidation of COad at less-positive potentials than those required for Pt black. Also, the electrooxidation of ethanol, especially at lower potentials, was more favorable with Pt3Sn, as deduced from the higher faradaic currents recorded during the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). However, the distribution of products as deduced by DEMS analysis suggested that the formation of C1 products, CO2 inclusive, is less significant on Pt3Sn than on Pt. In fact, the higher faradaic current recorded with the former catalyst can be attributed to the greater amounts of acetaldehyde and acetic acid formed. After the EOR, the surface of both Pt and Pt3Sn remained covered by ethanol adsorbates. Whereas C2 fragments were the main adsorbates at the surface of Pt3Sn after the EOR, both C1 and C2 species remained adsorbed at Pt black.}, author = {Herranz, Tirma and Ibáñez, Maria and Gómez De La Fuente, José and Pérez Alonso, Francisco and Peña, Miguel and Cabot, Andreu and Rojas, Sergio}, journal = {ChemElectroChem}, number = {5}, pages = {885 -- 895}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, title = {{In situ study of ethanol electrooxidation on monodispersed Pt inf 3 inf Sn nanoparticles}}, doi = {10.1002/celc.201300254}, volume = {1}, year = {2014}, } @article{451, abstract = {We introduce algorithms for the computation of homology, cohomology, and related operations on cubical cell complexes, using the technique based on a chain contraction from the original chain complex to a reduced one that represents its homology. This work is based on previous results for simplicial complexes, and uses Serre’s diagonalization for cubical cells. An implementation in C++ of the introduced algorithms is available at http://www.pawelpilarczyk.com/chaincon/ together with some examples. The paper is self-contained as much as possible, and is written at a very elementary level, so that basic knowledge of algebraic topology should be sufficient to follow it.}, author = {Pawel Pilarczyk and Real, Pedro}, journal = {Advances in Computational Mathematics}, number = {1}, pages = {253 -- 275}, publisher = {Kluwer}, title = {{Computation of cubical homology, cohomology, and (co)homological operations via chain contraction}}, doi = {10.1007/s10444-014-9356-1}, volume = {41}, year = {2014}, } @article{468, abstract = {Invasive alien parasites and pathogens are a growing threat to biodiversity worldwide, which can contribute to the extinction of endemic species. On the Galápagos Islands, the invasive parasitic fly Philornis downsi poses a major threat to the endemic avifauna. Here, we investigated the influence of this parasite on the breeding success of two Darwin's finch species, the warbler finch (Certhidea olivacea) and the sympatric small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus), on Santa Cruz Island in 2010 and 2012. While the population of the small tree finch appeared to be stable, the warbler finch has experienced a dramatic decline in population size on Santa Cruz Island since 1997. We aimed to identify whether warbler finches are particularly vulnerable during different stages of the breeding cycle. Contrary to our prediction, breeding success was lower in the small tree finch than in the warbler finch. In both species P. downsi had a strong negative impact on breeding success and our data suggest that heavy rain events also lowered the fledging success. On the one hand parents might be less efficient in compensating their chicks' energy loss due to parasitism as they might be less efficient in foraging on days of heavy rain. On the other hand, intense rainfalls might lead to increased humidity and more rapid cooling of the nests. In the case of the warbler finch we found that the control of invasive plant species with herbicides had a significant additive negative impact on the breeding success. It is very likely that the availability of insects (i.e. food abundance) is lower in such controlled areas, as herbicide usage led to the removal of the entire understory. Predation seems to be a minor factor in brood loss.}, author = {Cimadom, Arno and Ulloa, Angel and Meidl, Patrick and Zöttl, Markus and Zöttl, Elisabet and Fessl, Birgit and Nemeth, Erwin and Dvorak, Michael and Cunninghame, Francesca and Tebbich, Sabine}, journal = {PLoS One}, number = {9}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Invasive parasites habitat change and heavy rainfall reduce breeding success in Darwin's finches}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0107518}, volume = {9}, year = {2014}, } @inproceedings{475, abstract = {First cycle games (FCG) are played on a finite graph by two players who push a token along the edges until a vertex is repeated, and a simple cycle is formed. The winner is determined by some fixed property Y of the sequence of labels of the edges (or nodes) forming this cycle. These games are traditionally of interest because of their connection with infinite-duration games such as parity and mean-payoff games. We study the memory requirements for winning strategies of FCGs and certain associated infinite duration games. We exhibit a simple FCG that is not memoryless determined (this corrects a mistake in Memoryless determinacy of parity and mean payoff games: a simple proof by Bj⋯orklund, Sandberg, Vorobyov (2004) that claims that FCGs for which Y is closed under cyclic permutations are memoryless determined). We show that θ (n)! memory (where n is the number of nodes in the graph), which is always sufficient, may be necessary to win some FCGs. On the other hand, we identify easy to check conditions on Y (i.e., Y is closed under cyclic permutations, and both Y and its complement are closed under concatenation) that are sufficient to ensure that the corresponding FCGs and their associated infinite duration games are memoryless determined. We demonstrate that many games considered in the literature, such as mean-payoff, parity, energy, etc., satisfy these conditions. On the complexity side, we show (for efficiently computable Y) that while solving FCGs is in PSPACE, solving some families of FCGs is PSPACE-hard. }, author = {Aminof, Benjamin and Rubin, Sasha}, booktitle = {Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, EPTCS}, location = {Grenoble, France}, pages = {83 -- 90}, publisher = {Open Publishing Association}, title = {{First cycle games}}, doi = {10.4204/EPTCS.146.11}, volume = {146}, year = {2014}, }