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    The effect of surface preparation on the protective properties of Al2O3 and HfO2 thin films deposited on cp-titanium by atomic layer deposition

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    Atomic layer deposition (ALD), a method that allows the formation of thin and conformal films on substrates of interest, was employed to prepare thin films of alumina (Al2O3) and hafnia (HfO2), with the aim of protecting the surface of the commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) used in biomedical applications. Prior to deposition, cp-Ti specimens have been prepared in two ways – grinding and grinding followed by polishing. Such surfaces have been denoted as rough and smooth, respectively. The thickness, composition, morphology and topography of alumina and hafnia films have been determined using ellipsometry, focused ion beam microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and 3D profilometry. A homogeneous stoichiometric composition of alumina and hafnia was obtained with a layer thickness of ca. 150 nm. The anti-corrosive properties of ALD thin films were measured in simulated body fluid solution, using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization curves. The roughness of the cp-Ti surface plays an important role in the protective properties of these films, especially those of hafnia. In general, when deposited on a smooth surface, ALD films with better anti-corrosive properties were obtained, as evidenced by EIS long-term, 40-day tests. ALD films showed very low porosity, calculated from electrochemical parameters, and significantly lower corrosion current densities, compared with those from bare cp-Ti specimens. Lower porosity and slightly better protective properties were provided by films of hafnia. On the other hand, according to EIS long-term tests, alumina retained slightly greater impedance values than hafnia. Since both alumina and hafnia are biocompatible materials, this study confirms the possibility of their use to reduce the risk of failure of medical implants made of cp-Ti, in the human body environment

    Al2O3and HfO2Atomic Layers Deposited in Single and Multilayer Configurations on Titanium and on Stainless Steel for Biomedical Applications

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    Thin films of alumina and hafnia were prepared by atomic layer deposition, with the aim of investigating the use of such films in biomedical applications. Films were deposited on commercially pure titanium and on medical stainless steel. Two configurations were prepared: single alumina films, 20 nm and 60 nm thick, and a multilayer film, 60 nm thick, consisting of alumina/hafnia/alumina layers, each 20 nm thick. The morphology, structure and composition of the coated alloys were characterized using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy coupled with scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy, were used to study the thickness and the topography with surface potential properties. An improvised method, involving the Vickers hardness test, was applied to assess the delamination of the deposited films. Coated specimens, as well as bare substrates, were tested at 37 C in simulated body fluid, using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as techniques for assessing corrosion susceptibility. In general, single and multilayer thin films possess excellent barrier properties and are worth investigating further for biomedical applications. The degree of protection is dependent mainly on film thickness and on the type of substrate, and less on configuration

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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