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This document contains the Texas Estates Code and the Texas Trusts Code (and related Property Code provisions) showing all changes made by the Regular Session of the 2021 Texas Legislature. The changes, most of which take effect on September 1, 2021, are shown in red-lined format for easy comparison of the prior and new versions of the statutes. Also included are charts converting Probate Code to Estates Code sections and Estates Code to Probate Code sections. I have included commentary entitled Statutes in Context to many sections. These annotations provide background information, explanations, and citations to key cases which should assist you in identifying the significance of the statutes and how they operate.

This article reviews the highlights of the legislation enacted by the 2021 Texas Legislature relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, guardianship, and other estate planning matters.

This article discusses recent judicial developments (first quarter of 2021) relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

This article discusses recent judicial developments (second and third quarters of 2021) relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

Our professional and personal lives have been changed, temporarily and perhaps permanently, due to COVID-19. Estate planners have engaged in considerable discussion of the estate planning interface between the coronavirus stay-at-home orders and the imposition of social distancing. This article summarizes how you may wish proceed in light of these challenging circumstances to represent your estate planning clients and have their documents validly executed.

Less than a few decades ago, technology had a minor impact on the legal profession. Today, a wide range of technology may be central to a lawyer’s practice, changing the way we plan for the future. While the integration of technology in the legal world has had its many benefits, keeping up with the wide array of rapidly changing technology now available is a dubious task for many practicing lawyers. To stay ahead of the curve in your estate planning practice and lessen potential frustration and expense, it is important to understand and leverage the latest estate planning technology. This article will serve to inform estates and trusts lawyers of the available technology tools along with their benefits and disadvantages, with a special discussion of cryptocurrency and electronic wills.

Clients are excited to make specific gifts in their wills. For some, the goal is to pass treasured family heirlooms and other property with significant emotional attachment to the appropriate family members. Others seek instead to transfer assets of value to family members, friends, and charities so the recipients may keep or, more likely, sell the property to gain funds they desire for their needs. This article discusses the variety of issues that arise with specific gifts with the aim of making it easier for an estate planner to structure them to effectuate their clients’ intentions.

This document contains the Texas Estates Code and the Texas Trusts Code (and related Property Code provisions) showing all changes made by the Regular Session of the 2019 Texas Legislature. The changes, most of which take effect on September 1, 2019, are shown in red-lined format for easy comparison of the prior and new versions of the statutes. Also included are charts converting Probate Code to Estates Code sections and Estates Code to Probate Code sections. I have included commentary entitled Statutes in Context to many sections. These annotations provide background information, explanations, and citations to key cases which should assist you in identifying the significance of the statutes and how they operate.

Less than a decade ago, if an estate planner asked clients whether they owned any cryptocurrency, the most likely response would be, “You mean, money to buy a crypt?” Now, due to the widespread media coverage of Bitcoin, the most famous of all cryptocurrencies, most clients will have some basic idea about what the estate planner is inquiring. The use of cryptocurrency is increasing at a rapid pace. As of December 31, 2018, there were approximately 17.5 million Bitcoins in circulation worth over $67 billion. Although only a few cryptocurrencies in addition to Bitcoin are well-known outside the cryptocurrency community (e.g., XRP, Ethereum, EOS, and Stellar), over 2,000 different virtual currencies are actively traded. These other cryptocurrencies are sometimes referred to as altcoins, meaning that they are an alternative to Bitcoin. A recent survey revealed that 25% of individuals between the ages of 24 and 38 who either had $50,000 of investable assets or earned $100,000 or more per year own cryptocurrency. A growing number of mainstream businesses already accept Bitcoin such as Microsoft, Subway, KFC Canada, many Etsy vendors, Whole Foods, Dish Network, and Expedia. In addition, some law firms are already accepting Bitcoin in payment of legal services. This article starts by building a basic foundation about virtual currencies and how they operate. The article then reviews the estate planning and administration issues that arise with owning cryptocurrency and concludes with recommendations for how to address virtual currency in your practice.

This article discusses recent judicial developments (last half of 2019) relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

Highly crystalline microcrystalline silicon carbide (μc-SiC:H) with excellent optoelectronic material properties is a promising candidate as highly transparent doped layer in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. These high quality materials are usually produced using hot wire chemical vapor deposition under aggressive growth conditions giving rise to the removal of the underlying passivation layer and thus the deterioration of the crystalline silicon (c-Si) surface passivation. In this work, we introduced the n-type μc-SiC:H/n-type μc-SiO x :H/intrinsic a-SiO x :H stack as a front layer configuration for p-type SHJ solar cells with the μc-SiO x :H layer acting as an etch-resistant layer against the reactive deposition conditions during the μc-SiC:H growth. We observed that the unfavorable expansion of micro-voids at the c-Si interface due to the in-diffusion of hydrogen atoms through the layer stack might be responsible for the deterioration of surface passivation. Excellent lifetime values were achieved under deposition conditions which are needed to grow high quality μc-SiC:H layers for SHJ solar cells.

With the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana in almost half of the states, practitioners need to be aware of the interface between marijuana and estate planning. This Article provides a discussion of the major issues that arise in this context. After bringing readers current with the history of legalized marijuana, the Article focuses on how marijuana use may impact a user’s capacity to execute a will and other estate planning documents. The Article then examines other estate planning concerns such as will and trust provisions conditioning benefits on the non-use of “illegal drugs” and the impact of marijuana use on life insurance policies. The Article wraps up with a discussion of how an estate planner may deal with marijuana-based assets when planning an estate and how to value those assets after the owner has died.

Die Verminderung der entzundlichen Krankheitsaktivitat allein ist aus Sicht von Menschen mit rheumatischen Krankheiten kein ausreichendes Behandlungsziel. Vielmehr mussen die funktionale Gesundheit und Teilhabe verbessert werden. Dabei sind auch die betroffenen Patienten von Beginn an zum eigenverantwortlichen Krankheitsmanagement zu befahigen. Deshalb ist die etablierte Treat-to-Target-Strategie um die funktionelle Dimension im Sinne von „Treat to Participation“ zu erweitern. Das Positionspapier der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Rheumatologie (DGRh) fasst relevante Handlungsfelder der vielfach dazu erforderlichen multimodalen Versorgung zusammen. Dazu gehoren der Erwerb funktionsorientierter Kompetenzen in der Aus-, Weiter- und Fortbildung und deren regelhafte Anwendung in der rheumatologischen Versorgungspraxis. Weiterhin sieht die DGRh Bedarf in der Forschung zu funktionellen und sozialmedizinischen Folgen rheumatischer Krankheiten sowie zu funktionsorientierten Einzelinterventionen und deren Kombination in komplexen Programmen der ambulanten und stationaren rheumatologischen Versorgung.

A carefully prepared estate plan often contains personal property which passes outside of the probate process such as beneficiary designations on bank accounts, life insurance, and retirement accounts. With regard to real property (often the family home), inter vivos trusts serve as the traditional non-probate transfer mechanism. Although this technique has many advantages, it adds complexity and cost to the estate planning process, especially for individuals with limited resources. Alternatively, estate planners may decide to use a life estate deed where the client retains a life estate and transfers the remainder interest to the desired recipient. A life estate deed, however, can not be changed after execution, creating problems if the client later wishes to undo the action or change the remainder beneficiary. Modern law now provides two alternatives to inter vivos trusts and life estate deeds: Lady Bird Deeds and Transfer on Death Deeds.

This article discusses judicial developments (mid-2018 to mid-2019) relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly appeals in the past, probate judges can reduce the likelihood of appeals and their success and estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

The Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act is designed to protect family members who receive land via intestacy or a will and own that property as tenants in common with other family members. The goals of the Act are laudable. However, a prudent estate planner must be aware that the UPHPA may apply in situations where at first glance it would appear that no compliance with the statute would be necessary. For example, if just two of ten cotenants are related, compliance with the UPHPA may be required. In addition, the UPHPA is highly complex containing many technical steps with rigid time requirements. Accordingly, practitioners must tread carefully when representing a plaintiff in a partition action. Likewise, judges must be vigilant as they maneuver the UPHPA to assure they are in compliance. This article provides an overview of the workings of the UPHPA.

The electronic will is here…almost. The last two years have seen rapid development in the area of electronic wills. As of September 2018, several states either have enacted electronic will statutes or are in the process of considering such legislation. This article provides the history of e-wills and reviews e-will statutes, both enacted and proposed, along with the Summer 2018 draft of the Electronic Wills Act.

Malignant gliomas are a devastating brain tumor disease with very poor prognosis. Stereotactic biopsy sampling is routinely used in larger neurosurgical centers to confirm the diagnosis of a suspected brain tumor. This procedure is associated with risk of blood vessel rupture as well as false-negative results. Recent investigations suggest a potential of light-based techniques to improve both therapy and diagnosis of GBM. Optical guidance can be utilized to improve the biopsy sampling procedure in terms of safety, reliability, and efficacy. Recording of optical signals (transmission, remission, fluorescence) can be potentially integrated into a biopsy needle for providing optical detection of tumor tissue and blood vessel recognition during the biopsy sampling. Optical signals can also be used for monitoring purposes during photodynamic therapy. Here, fluorescence signals recorded before the treatment indicate the presence and accumulation level of photosensitizer, while photobleaching of the photosensitizer fluorescence during the treatment can be used as a measure of the effectiveness of the therapy. Finally, transmitted light can reveal problematic tissue-optical conditions as well as changes of the optical properties of the treated tissue, which may be relevant with regard to treatment prognosis and strategy. Different optical concepts for interstitial PDT monitoring and optical tissue property assessment are presented.

The influence of implanted hydrogen (up to a concentration level of 3 at. %) on the microstructure of silicon (Si) materials is investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as by effusion of hydrogen and of (low dose) implanted helium. Three materials of low original hydrogen concentration, crystalline Si, electron beam evaporated amorphous Si, and plasma-deposited hydrogenated amorphous Si (using high deposition temperature) were investigated. Significant differences between crystalline and amorphous materials were observed. In crystalline Si, implanted hydrogen is found to generate multivacancies that trap diffusing helium while this is not the case in amorphous Si. Accordingly, cavities where hydrogen is located in amorphous Si must be smaller than divacancies. Those cavities in amorphous Si, present from the growth process, that trap helium tend to disappear when the implanted hydrogen concentration increases. Annealing of the materials up to temperatures of 575 °C was also studied. No significant change in the density of voids (trapping helium) occur but in case of crystalline Si the bonding sites of hydrogen as well as the diffusion paths of helium change.

In aktuellen Leitlinien der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Rheumatologie (DGRh) wird eine koordinierte multiprofessionelle Behandlung und Rehabilitation von Patienten mit entzundlich-rheumatischen Krankheiten gefordert. In der Realitat sind Rehabilitationsleistungen der Deutschen Rentenversicherung (DRV) bei diesen Patienten von 2000 bis 2012 bundesweit zuruckgegangen, am deutlichsten bei Mannern mit ankylosierender Spondylitis (AS) um fast ein Drittel. Daruber hinaus zeigen sich fur stationare Rehabilitationsleistungen der DRV wegen rheumatoider Arthritis (RA) zwischen den Bundeslandern Unterschiede um den Faktor 2,6. Rehabilitationsleistungen wegen RA oder AS werden von der DRV bis zu 14-mal haufiger durchgefuhrt als von einer der grosten Krankenkassen, die gesetzlich fur die Rehabilitation jenseits des Erwerbslebens zustandig sind. Die Struktur- und Prozessqualitat sind in Rehabilitationseinrichtungen mit hohen Zahlen von Patienten mit entzundlich-rheumatischen Krankheiten deutlich erhoht. Unter den RA-Patienten in deutschen Rheumazentren sind im Jahr 2011 noch 40 % von mittelgradigen bis erheblichen Alltagseinschrankungen (Funktionsfragebogen Hannover [FFBH] ≤ 70) betroffen. Dennoch halbierten sich nach den Daten der Kerndokumentation von 1995 bis 2011 die stationaren Rehabilitationsleistungen fur RA-Patienten mit FFBH ≤ 70 um etwa die Halfte. In ambulanter rheumatologischer Versorgung erhielten nach eigenen Angaben innerhalb der letzten 12 Monate 38 % der RA-Kranken mit FFBH

This article discusses recent judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

This article reviews the highlights of the legislation enacted by the 2017 Texas Legislature relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters.

Prudent professionals must address digital assets in all estates they plan or administer. The 2017 Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act as Chapter 2001 of the Estates Code which adds clarity to the steps you need to take when planning and administering estates. This article aims to provide the information you need to be well-informed about the cyberspace-estate planning interface.

An important property of thin film silicon and related materials is the microstructure which may involve the presence of interconnected and isolated voids. We report on effusion measurements of implanted helium (He) to detect such voids. Several series of hydrogenated and unhydrogenated amorphous silicon films prepared by the methods of plasma deposition, hot wire deposition and vacuum evaporation were investigated. The results show common features like a He effusion peak at low temperatures attributed to He out-diffusion through a compact material or through interconnected voids, and a He effusion peak at high temperatures attributed to He trapped in isolated voids. While undoped plasma-grown device-grade hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films show a rather low concentration of such isolated voids, its concentration can be rather high in doped a-Si:H, in unhydrogenated evaporated material and others.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpesvirus family, is one of the most common human viruses affecting more than 90% of the world's population. The most common manifestation of primary infection is a self-limited clinical syndrome that most frequently affects adolescents and young adults. The incidence of clinical infectious mononucleosis is not well documented because reporting is not obligatory in most states. The available data have been derived from special surveys such as the community survey in Olmstead County, Minnesota, which includes the Mayo Clinic, where a rate of 200 per 100,000 patients had a positive heterophile test.1 Once a diagnosis of mononucleosis is confirmed, treatment is supportive because there is no specific treatment for the disease. Mononucleosis is rarely fatal but some complications include central nervous system involvement, splenic rupture, upper airway obstruction, and bacterial super infections. The following clinical case is of a patient diagnosed with acute infectious mononucleosis with Staphylococcus aureus pharyngitis co-infection.

Da eine Ubersicht zu verschiedenen sozialmedizinischen Folgen entzundlich-rheumatischer Krankheiten fur Deutschland bisher nicht vorliegt, wurden Daten der letzten 10 Jahre fur die rheumatoide Arthritis (RA), Spondylitis ankylosans, Psoriasisarthritis, systemische Sklerose, den systemischen Lupus erythematodes und M. Wegener zusammengestellt. Neben Ergebnissen vor allem klinischer Studien sind die Kerndokumentation der Regionalen Kooperativen Rheumazentren sowie Statistiken der Gesetzlichen Kranken- und Rentenversicherung wichtige Datenquellen.

Perhaps the most difficult thought to ponder is one’s own mortality. Many people avoid confronting the grim reality that they and their loved ones will eventually die. Estate planners must sensitively urge their clients to face the inevitability of death to obtain well-reasoned dispositions of their property. Many clients are also very concerned with the final disposition of their bodies. For example, some individuals want to be buried while others prefer to be cremated.An estate planner needs to take steps to help insure that a client’s body will be handled after death in accordance with the client’s wishes. The estate planner must also work to reduce the chances of those wishes being frustrated either by lack of information to the individuals making disposition arrangements or by individuals surviving the client who are unhappy with the deceased’s disposition requests.Unfortunately, many estate planners ignore or deal superficially with their clients’ body disposition concerns. Accordingly, this article details the techniques which Texas estate planners may use to assist their clients to receive the body disposition they desire.

The 2015 Texas Legislature enacted a “Texasized” version of the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act joining over a dozen other states that have already done so. Transfer on death deeds (hereinafter “TODDs”) were previously authorized under Estates Code § 111.052 (recodifying Probate Code § 450) which validates “any provision in a...conveyance of property...stating that...property that is the subject of the instrument shall pass, to a person designated by the decedent in the instrument.” However, this “bare-bones” provision provided little guidance with regard to the myriad of issues that these type of deeds could raise. Passage of this legislation was designed to bring greater clarity to this technique. This article discusses the operation of the new statute.

This article discusses recent judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

Der Aufgabenbereich des TC 57 umfasst nicht einzelne Komponenten wie etwa Schalter, Trenner, Schutzfunktionen etc., sondern ein vernetztes System von der Uberwachung und Steuerung der Primartechnik in Unterstationen bis in die ubergeordnete Netzleitstelle mit internem Informationsaustausch sowie Schnittstellen zu externen Systemen.

The commission "Rehabilitation" of the German Society of Rheumatology compiled a data set for a routine report of the rehabilitation system for muskuloskeletal diseases. More than 250 rehabilitation hospitals offer inpatient rehabilitation for patients with musculoskeletal diseases. The prevalence of inpatient rehabilitation decreased due to new legislative rules in 1997, increased again thereafter but has not reached the former level. The prevalence of inpatient rehabilitation during the preceding year in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases treated by rheumatologists amounts to 12% with higher figures in men than in women and lower figures in the area of the former German Democratic Republic. The prevalence of outpatient rehabilitation increased during the last few years but, currently, does not exceed 5% of the entire rehabilitation procedures.

BACKGROUND Modern patient based outcome measures like the SMFA-D (German Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire) are able to detect the impairment and functional capacity of patients with musculoskeletal extremity disorders. The SMFA-D was successfully evaluated in several cohorts treated operatively for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, rotator cuff tears and rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of the SMFA-D in patients with conservative treatment for hip osteoarthritis. PATIENTS AND METHODS 69 patients with osteoarthritis of the hip were enrolled in a prospective controlled clinical trial. All patients completed the SMFA-D, SF-36, WOMAC, FFbH-OA. A standardized test of walking speed and the functional status of the patient as judged by the physician were recorded. Statistical analysis were done for the following: re-test reliability (ICC), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), validity and responsiveness. RESULTS Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was alpha = 0.89 and alpha = 0.97 for the SMFA-D scales. The retest reliability (ICC, unjust, mixed effect) was 0.91 (p < 0.001) for the function index and 0.73 (p < 0.001) for the bother index. Both indices correlated significantly with the FFbH-OA (r = 0.66 to r = 0.84), the WOMAC (r = 0.55 to r = 0.86) and the scales of the SF-36 (r = - 0.34 to r = - 0.85) on all three time points, which supports construct validity. There was mainly a significant correlation between the SMFA-D scales and the functional status of the patient (r = 0.21 to r = 0.44), pain reported by the patient (r = 0.43 to = 0.54) and the self selected walking speed (r = 0.28 to r = 0.51), which supports external validity. We were able to differentiate operatively and conservatively treated patients (discriminant construct validity). At the end of the rehabilitation program we were able to demonstrate small to medium treatment effects in SMFA-D and SF-36. The WOMAC and FFbH-OA were not able to demonstrate these treatment effects. CONCLUSION Even in patients with conservative treatment of hip osteoarthritis the SMFA-D represents a reliable, valid and responsive measure. The use of the SMFA-D can be recommended as a patient based outcome measure.

Es wird ein Uberblick uber die Probleme, die mit den Bioterrorismusdrohungen in Deutschland auftraten, gegeben, und es werden Masnahmen aufgezeigt, die im Vorfeld einer zukunftigen Bedrohungslage ergriffen werden sollten. Diese betreffen die Sicherstellung von professionellem Handeln am Ort des Geschehens, die Logistik des Probentransports und der diagnostischen Aufarbeitung der Proben sowie Masnahmen zum Erwerb und Erhalt einer entsprechenden diagnostischen Sachkompetenz in einem Netzwerk von speziell geschulten und einheitlich ausgerusteten Untersuchungslaboratorien. Es werden einige wichtige epidemiologische Erkenntnisse aus den Anschlagen in den USA zusammengefasst dargestellt und Hinweise zur Diagnostik von Bacillus anthracis aus Verdachtsproben gegeben.

Eine ganzheitliche Rehabilitation bedarf eines multidisziplinaren Behandlungsansatzes. Dazu stehen eine Vielzahl von therapeutischen Ansatrzen und Methoden zur Verfugung. Das folgende Kapitel stellt die Basismethoden in der orthopadisch-traumatologischen Rehabilitation vor. Die sbeinhaltet die Methoden der Krankengymnastik, der Ergo-, Sport- und Bewegungstherapie, die breite Palette der physikalischen Therapie (Massagen, Thermo-, Hydro- und Balneotherapie, Elektrotherapie und Traktionsbehandlung), der manuellen Therapie, die arztlichen Behandlungsverfahren der orthopadischen Schmerztherapie( man. Medizin, medikamentose und interventionelle Schmerztherapie, Akupunktur, technische Orthopadie), sowei die Verfahren der psychosomatischen Behandlungen und das wichtige Kapitel der Patientenschulung und Sozialberatung und - medizin dar.

This document contains the Texas Estates Code showing all changes made by the 2015 Texas Legislature. The changes, most of which take effect on September 1, 2015, are shown in red-lined format for easy comparison of the prior and new versions of the statutes. I have included commentary entitled Statutes in Context to many sections. These annotations provide background information, explanations, and citations to key cases which should assist you in identifying the significance of the statutes and how they operate.

Inert-gas diffusion in DLC–Si films was studied by thermal effusion experiments. It is shown that the motion of inert gases in the films is controlled by diffusion, greatly depending on the size of the diffusing species. The results provide qualitative information on the microstructure size in agreement with the doorway diffusion model, in which the mechanical stiffness of the material and the doorway radius are the important parameters that govern the diffusion process. Maximum effusion temperature is found to increase as the silicon content of the samples is increased, indicating smaller openings and/or increasing rigidity of the network. Analysis of inert-gas diffusion in annealed films suggests that the diffusion process cannot be directly related to carbon bonding and hydrogen content in the films. Network reconstruction effects are found to play an important role in the case of DLC–Si films.

The structure of a-Si:H, deposited at rates in excess of 100 A/s by the hot wire chemical vapor deposition technique, has been examined by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, H evolution, and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). The films examined in this study were chosen to have roughly the same bonded H content CH as probed by infrared spectroscopy. As the film deposition rate Rd is increased from 5 to >140 A/s, we find that the short range order (from Raman), the medium range order (from XRD), and the peak position of the H evolution peak are invariant with respect to deposition rate, and exhibit structure consistent with a state-of-the-art, compact a-Si:H material deposited at low deposition rates. The only exception to this behavior is the SAXS signal, which increases by a factor of ∼100 over that for our best, low H content films deposited at ∼5 A/s. We discuss the invariance of the short and medium range order in terms of growth models available in the literature, and relate changes in th...