264 research outputs found
Coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in the hybrid ruthenate-cuprate compound RuSr_2GdCu_2O_8 studied by muon spin rotation (\mu SR) and DC-magnetization
We have investigated the magnetic and the superconducting properties of the
hybrid ruthenate-cuprate compound RuSr_{2}GdCu_{2}O_{8} by means of zero-field
muon spin rotation- (ZF-SR) and DC magnetization measurements. The
DC-magnetisation data establish that this material exhibits ferromagnetic order
of the Ru-moments () below T_{Curie} = 133 K and
becomes superconducting at a much lower temperature T_c = 16 K. The ZF-SR
experiments indicate that the ferromagnetic phase is homogeneous on a
microscopic scale and accounts for most of the sample volume. They also suggest
that the magnetic order is not significantly modified at the onset of
superconductivity.Comment: improved version submitted to Phys. Rev.
Motor skills in children affected by strabismus
Objectives: To compare motor skills in patients with infantile strabismus and age and sex-matched control subjects aged 5–11 years. Methods: Motor performances were assessed by the Italian version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ) in children with infantile strabismus and age and sex-matched control subjects. Patients affected by specific neurological, cognitive and behavioural disorders were excluded from the study. Results: There were 43 patients included in the study, 23 in the strabismus group (14 males, 9 females, mean age 7.5 ± 2.0 years) and 24 in the control group (14 males and 10 females, mean age 7.2 ± 1.7 years. The overall DCDQ score was significantly lower in children with strabismus compared with control subjects (58.7 ± 11.3 vs. 74.2 ± 1.5; P < 0.001). Children with strabismus and no stereopsis showed a lower DCDQ score compared with those with normal stereopsis (50.8 ± 9.5 vs. 67.3 ± 4.8; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Motor skills are reduced in children with strabismus compared with control subjects. Strabismus and lack of binocular vision are factors potentially contributing to developmental coordination disorder
Actuators based on intrinsic conductive polymers/carbon nanoparticles nanocompositesElectroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013
New polyaniline (PANi) synthesis was performed starting from non-toxic N-phenil-p-phenylenediamine (aniline dimer) using reverse addition of monomer to oxidizing agent, the synthesis allows to produce highly soluble PANi. Several types of doped PANi were prepared to be used on electromechanical active actuators. Different techniques were used to include carbon nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. Bimorph solid state ionic actuators were prepared with these novel nanocomposites using a variety of supporting polymer
The magnetic phase of the perovskite CaCrO studied with SR
We investigated the magnetic phase of the perovskite CaCrO by using the
muon spin relaxation technique accompanied by susceptibility measurements. A
thermal hysteresis loop is identified with a width of about 1 K at the
transition temperature. Within the time scale of the muon lifetime, a static
antiferromagnetic order is revealed with distinct multiple internal fields
which are experienced in the muon interstitial sites below the phase-transition
temperature, . Above , lattice deformations are indicated by
transverse-field muon-spin rotation and relaxation suggesting a magneto-elastic
mechanism.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in PR
Redox Centers Evolution in Phospho-Olivine Type (LiFe0. 5Mn0. 5 PO4) Nanoplatelets with Uniform Cation Distribution
Accepted Version of the publication: Nano Lett. 2014, 14, 3, 1477–1483. Publication Date: February 24, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl4046697
© 2014 American Chemical Society.
In phospho-olivine type structures with mixed cations (LiM1M2PO4), the octahedral M1 and M2 sites that dictate the degree of intersites order/disorder play a key role in determining their electrochemical redox potentials. In the case of LiFexMn1−xPO4, for example, in micrometer-sized particles synthesized via hydrothermal route, two separate redox centers corresponding to Fe2+/Fe3+ (3.5 V vs Li/Li+) and Mn2+/Mn3+ (4.1 V vs Li/Li+), due to the collective Mn−O−Fe interactions in the olivine lattice, are commonly observed in the electrochemical measurements. These two redox processes are directly reflected as two distinct peak potentials in cyclic voltammetry (CV) and equivalently as two voltage plateaus in their standard charge/discharge characteristics (in Li ion batteries). On the contrary, we observed a single broad peak in CV from LiFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 platelet-shaped (∼10 nm thick) nanocrystals that we are reporting in this work. Structural and compositional analysis showed that in these nanoplatelets the cations (Fe, Mn) are rather homogeneously distributed in the lattice, which is apparently the reason for a synergetic effect on the redox potentials, in contrast to LiFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 samples obtained via hydrothermal routes. After a typical carbon-coating process in a reducing atmosphere (Ar/H2), these LiFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 nanoplatelets undergo a rearrangement of their cations into Mn-rich and Fe-rich domains. Only after such cation rearrangement (via segregation) in the nanocrystals, the redox processes evolved at two distinct potentials, corresponding to the standard Fe2+/Fe3+ and Mn2+/Mn3+ redox centers. Our experimental findings provide new insight into mixed-cation olivine structures in which the degree of cations mixing in the olivine lattice directly influences the redox potentials, which in turn determine their charge/discharge characteristics
Two dimensionality in quasi one-dimensional cobalt oxides
By means of muon spin rotation and relaxation (SR) techniques, we have
investigated the magnetism of quasi one-dimensional (1D) cobalt oxides
CoO (=Ca, Sr and Ba, =1, 2, 3, 5 and
), in which the 1D CoO chain is surrounded by six equally spaced
chains forming a triangular lattice in the -plane, using polycrystalline
samples, from room temperature down to 1.8 K. For the compounds with =1 - 5,
transverse field SR experiments showed the existence of a magnetic
transition below 100 K. The onset temperature of the transition () was found to decrease with ; from 100 K for =1 to 60 K for
=5. A damped muon spin oscillation was observed only in the sample with
=1 (CaCoO), whereas only a fast relaxation obtained even at 1.8
K in the other three samples. In combination with the results of susceptibility
measurements, this indicates that a two-dimensional short-range
antiferromagnetic (AF) order appears below for all
compounds with =1 - 5; but quasi-static long-range AF order formed only in
CaCoO, below 25 K. For BaCoO (=), as decreased
from 300 K, 1D ferromagnetic (F) order appeared below 53 K, and a sharp 2D AF
transition occurred at 15 K.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, and 2 table
Live Wire - A Low-Complexity Body Channel Communication System for Landmark Identification
This paper presents a robust simplex Body Channel Communication (BCC) system aimed at providing an interactive infrastructure solution for visually impaired people. Compared to existing BCC solutions, it provides high versatility, weara- bility and installability in an environment in a low complexity hardware-software solution. It operates with a ground referred transmitter (TX) and it is based on an asynchronous thresh- old receiver (RX) architecture. Synchronization, demodulation and packetizing and threshold control are completely software defined and implemented using MicroPython. The RX includes Bluetooth® (BT) radio connectivity and a cell-phone application provides push text-to-speech notifications to a smartphone. The hardware achieves a Packet Error Rate (PER) of ∼0.1 at 550 kHz pulse center frequency, Synchronized-On Off Keying (S- OOK) modulation and 1 kbps data rate, for an average current consumption of 44mA
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