1,191 research outputs found
Observation of asymmetric solitons in waveguide arrays with refractive index gradient
We study light propagation in waveguide arrays made in Kerr nonlinear media
with a transverse refractive index gradient, and we find that the presence of
the refractive index gradient leads to the appearance of a number of new
soliton families. The effective coupling between the solitons and the localized
linear eigenmodes of the lattice induces a drastic asymmetry in the soliton
shapes and the appearance of long tails at the soliton wings. Such unusual
solitons are found to be completely stable under propagation, and we report
their experimental observation in fs-laser written waveguide arrays with
focusing Kerr nonlinearity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Optics Letter
Superconducting Electrometer Based on the Resistively Shunted Bloch Transistor
We have fabricated the Bloch transistor shunted on-chip by a small-sized Cr
resistor with Rs about 1 kOhm. The Bloch transistor normally consists of two
small Josephson junctions connected in series, which in our case have been
replaced by two superconducting interferometer loops, each with two junctions
in parallel. A capacitively coupled gate is supplied to control the induced
charge of the small intermediate electrode (island) of the transistor. The
measured I-V curves show no hysteresis and correspond to the operation of a
effective Josephson junction at the high-damping and strong-noise limits. The
critical current of the system was found to be close to its nominal value, that
is in accordance with the electromagnetic environment theory. The I-V curves
were modulated by the gate with a period of e and a maximum swing of about 2
/mu_V. Such rather moderate modulation results from the Josephson-to- charging
energies ratio, Ej/Ec about 9, in our sample being far from its optimum value
of 0.3 up to 1.Comment: To be published in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity,
June 199
Synchronized single electron emission from dynamical quantum dots
We study synchronized quantized charge pumping through several dynamical
quantum dots (QDs) driven by a single time modulated gate signal. We show that
the main obstacle for synchronization being the lack of uniformity can be
overcome by operating the QDs in the decay cascade regime. We discuss the
mechanism responsible for lifting the stringent uniformity requirements. This
enhanced functionality of dynamical QDs might find applications in
nanoelectronics and quantum metrology.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to AP
Impact of loss on the wave dynamics in photonic waveguide lattices
We analyze the impact of loss in lattices of coupled optical waveguides and
find that in such case, the hopping between adjacent waveguides is necessarily
complex. This results not only in a transition of the light spreading from
ballistic to diffusive, but also in a new kind of diffraction that is caused by
loss dispersion. We prove our theoretical results with experimental
observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in PRL, 5+8 pages (Paper + Supplemental
material), 4 figure
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Health through human settlements: Investigating policymakers’ perceptions of human settlement action for population health improvement in urban South Africa
Magnetization reversal of an individual exchange biased permalloy nanotube
We investigate the magnetization reversal mechanism in an individual
permalloy (Py) nanotube (NT) using a hybrid magnetometer consisting of a
nanometer-scale SQUID (nanoSQUID) and a cantilever torque sensor. The Py NT is
affixed to the tip of a Si cantilever and positioned in order to optimally
couple its stray flux into a Nb nanoSQUID. We are thus able to measure both the
NT's volume magnetization by dynamic cantilever magnetometry and its stray flux
using the nanoSQUID. We observe a training effect and temperature dependence in
the magnetic hysteresis, suggesting an exchange bias. We find a low blocking
temperature K, indicating the presence of a thin
antiferromagnetic native oxide, as confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy
on similar samples. Furthermore, we measure changes in the shape of the
magnetic hysteresis as a function of temperature and increased training. These
observations show that the presence of a thin exchange-coupled native oxide
modifies the magnetization reversal process at low temperatures. Complementary
information obtained via cantilever and nanoSQUID magnetometry allows us to
conclude that, in the absence of exchange coupling, this reversal process is
nucleated at the NT's ends and propagates along its length as predicted by
theory.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Riociguat for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.
BACKGROUND: Riociguat, a member of a new class of compounds (soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators), has been shown in previous clinical studies to be beneficial in the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: In this phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we randomly assigned 261 patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or persistent or recurrent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy to receive placebo or riociguat. The primary end point was the change from baseline to the end of week 16 in the distance walked in 6 minutes. Secondary end points included changes from baseline in pulmonary vascular resistance, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level, World Health Organization (WHO) functional class, time to clinical worsening, Borg dyspnea score, quality-of-life variables, and safety. RESULTS: By week 16, the 6-minute walk distance had increased by a mean of 39 m in the riociguat group, as compared with a mean decrease of 6 m in the placebo group (least-squares mean difference, 46 m; 95% confidence interval [CI], 25 to 67; P<0.001). Pulmonary vascular resistance decreased by 226 dyn · sec · cm-5in the riociguat group and increased by 23 dyn · sec · cm-5in the placebo group (least-squares mean difference, -246 dyn · sec · cm-5; 95% CI, -303 to -190; P<0.001). Riociguat was also associated with significant improvements in the NT-proBNP level (P<0.001) and WHO functional class (P = 0.003). The most common serious adverse events were right ventricular failure (in 3% of patients in each group) and syncope (in 2% of the riociguat group and in 3% of the placebo group). CONCLUSIONS: Riociguat significantly improved exercise capacity and pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. (Funded by Bayer HealthCare; CHEST-1 and CHEST-2 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00855465 and NCT00910429, respectively.) Copyright © 2013 Massachusetts Medical Society
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