The present work focuses on a qualitative analysis of localised I-V characteristics based on the nanostructure morphology of highly dense arrays of p-type NiO nano-pillars (NiO-NPs). Vertically aligned NiO-NPs have been grown on different substrates by using a glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. The preferred orientation of as grown NiO-NPs was controlled by the deposition pressure. The NiO-NPs displayed a polar surface with a microscopic dipole moment along the (111) plane (Tasker's type III). Consequently, the crystal plane dependent surface electron accumulation layer and the lattice disorder at the grain boundary interface showed a non-uniform current distribution throughout the sample surface, demonstrated by a conducting AFM technique (c-AFM). The variation in I-V for different points in a single current distribution grain (CD-grain) has been attributed to the variation of Schottky barrier height (SBH) at the metal-semiconductor (M-S) interface. Furthermore, we observed that the strain produced during the NiO-NPs growth can modulate the SBH. Inbound strain acts as an external field to influence the local electric field at the M-S interface causing a variation in SBH with the NPs orientation. This paper shows that vertical arrays of NiO-NPs are potential candidates for nanoscale devices because they have a great impact on the local current transport mechanism due to its nanostructure morphology.

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The enzymatic (tyrosinase) and chemical (NaIO4, Ag2O or Fremys's salt) oxidation of biologically relevant catecholamines, such as dopamine (DA), N-acetyldopamine (NADA) and the Ecstasy metabolites (alpha-MeDA and N-Me-alpha-MeDA) generates the corresponding o-quinone which can be trapped with nitrogen bionucleophiles such as N-acetyl-histidine and imidazole in a regioselective reaction that takes place predominantly at the 6-position of the catecholamine. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theoretical transition energies and probabilities for He-, Li and Be-like Praseodymium ions are calcu- lated in the framework of the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method (MCDF), including QED corrections. These calculated values are compared to recent experimental data obtained in the Livermore SuperEBIT electron beam ion trap facility [1].

A new expression for the total K-shell ionization cross section by electron impact based on the rela- tivistic extension of the binary encounter Bethe (RBEB) model, valid from ionization threshold up to relativistic energies, is proposed. The new MRBEB expression is used to calculate the K-shell ionization cross sections by electron impact for the selenium atom. Comparison with all, to our knowledge, available experimental data shows good agreement.

The lifetime of the 1s22s3p 3P0 level of selected Be-like ions, from Z = 5 to Z = 92, is calculated using the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method including QED corrections. Full correlation up to the 4f subshell in both initial and final levels for all possible decay modes was included. The results are in reasonable agreement with the scarce existing experimental and theoretical data.

Tuberculosis remains one of the most serious infectious diseases worldwide requiring new tools to circumvent current molecular diagnostics limitations. Nanodiagnostics, i.e. nanotechnology based diagnostics, may do just that by decreasing the time needed for the molecular characterisation of the infecting agent, and allowing for miniaturisation and portability for point-of-need adapted to remote regions without suitable lab equipment.