2,447 research outputs found
Lande g-tensor in semiconductor nanostructures
Understanding the electronic structure of semiconductor nanostructures is not
complete without a detailed description of their corresponding spin-related
properties. Here we explore the response of the shell structure of InAs
self-assembled quantum dots to magnetic fields oriented in several directions,
allowing the mapping of the g-tensor modulus for the s and p shells. We found
that the g-tensors for the s and p shells show a very different behavior. The
s-state in being more localized allows the probing of the confining potential
details by sweeping the magnetic field orientation from the growth direction
towards the in-plane direction. As for the p-state, we found that the g-tensor
modulus is closer to that of the surrounding GaAs, consistent with a larger
delocalization. These results reveal further details of the confining
potentials of self-assembled quantum dots that have not yet been probed, in
addition to the assessment of the g-tensor, which is of fundamental importance
for the implementation of spin related applications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Critical boron-doping levels for generation of dislocations in synthetic diamond
Defects induced by boron doping in diamond layers were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The existence of a critical boron doping level above which defects are generated is reported. This level is found to be dependent on the CH4
/H2 molar ratios and on growth directions. The critical boron concentration lied in the 6.5–17.0 X 10 20 at/cm3 range in the direction and at 3.2 X 1021 at/cm
3 for the one. Strain related effects induced by the doping are shown not to
be responsible. From the location of dislocations and their Burger vectors, a model is proposed, together with their generation mechanism.6 page
Autosuficiencia energética en la vivienda
Resumen
Los edificios, junto al transporte suponen más de la mitad del consumo energético actual de combustible
y de la contaminación a este asociada, de difícil solución por la dispersión de los procesos de combustión
en poblaciones o carreteras. Esta distribución en la edificación de la demanda favorece el uso de energía
solar, el recurso renovable más abundante y de fácil acceso sobre la superficie terrestre, especialmente
adecuado en nuestro clima. El uso de tecnología solar requiere procesos de acumulación que garanticen
la disponibilidad del calor excesivo del verano durante las frías noches de invierno así como la iluminación
o las comunicaciones durante la noche en base a la radiación recibida en las horas de radiación solar. El
trabajo describe la posibilidad de captura térmica en la cubierta con almacenamiento selectivo en el subsuelo
capaz de satisfacer la demanda de energía para climatización de la vivienda a lo largo del año a un
coste ,muy bajo. La energía eléctrica de "alta calidad" se genera y acumulé1localmente en forma de hidrógeno
para alimentar según demanda mediante una pila de combustible. Con la tecnología actual, aún en
pleno desarrollo, el balance es claramente positivo lo que significa la posibilidad de autosuficiencia energética
para una parte considerable de las viviendas.El MEC ha financiado el desarrollo de
nuevos dispositivos de hidrógeno en el proyecto "Diseño y realización de una nueva Pila de
Combustible polimérica de bajo coste y alta eficacia" MCYT- ENE2005-09124-C04-02/ALT. y el
CSIC ha financiado la generación de hidrógeno a partir de residuos orgánicos. El P.S.E. INVISO
para industrialización de la vivienda sostenible financia el desarrollo integral de estos sistemas.Peer reviewe
Sample-Efficient Multi-Objective Learning via Generalized Policy Improvement Prioritization
Multi-objective reinforcement learning (MORL) algorithms tackle sequential
decision problems where agents may have different preferences over (possibly
conflicting) reward functions. Such algorithms often learn a set of policies
(each optimized for a particular agent preference) that can later be used to
solve problems with novel preferences. We introduce a novel algorithm that uses
Generalized Policy Improvement (GPI) to define principled, formally-derived
prioritization schemes that improve sample-efficient learning. They implement
active-learning strategies by which the agent can (i) identify the most
promising preferences/objectives to train on at each moment, to more rapidly
solve a given MORL problem; and (ii) identify which previous experiences are
most relevant when learning a policy for a particular agent preference, via a
novel Dyna-style MORL method. We prove our algorithm is guaranteed to always
converge to an optimal solution in a finite number of steps, or an
-optimal solution (for a bounded ) if the agent is limited
and can only identify possibly sub-optimal policies. We also prove that our
method monotonically improves the quality of its partial solutions while
learning. Finally, we introduce a bound that characterizes the maximum utility
loss (with respect to the optimal solution) incurred by the partial solutions
computed by our method throughout learning. We empirically show that our method
outperforms state-of-the-art MORL algorithms in challenging multi-objective
tasks, both with discrete and continuous state and action spaces.Comment: Accepted to AAMAS 202
Altered thiol chemistry in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-linked mutants of superoxide dismutase 1
Neurodegenerative diseases share a common characteristic, the presence of intracellular or extracellular deposits of protein aggregates in nervous tissues. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a severe and fatal neurodegenerative disorder, which affects preferentially motoneurons. Changes in the redox state of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) are associated with the onset and development of familial forms of ALS. In human SOD1 (hSOD1), a conserved disulfide bond and two free cysteine residues can engage in anomalous thiol/disulfide exchange resulting in non-native disulfides, a hallmark of ALS that is related to protein misfolding and aggregation. Because of the many competing reaction pathways, traditional bulk techniques fall short at quantifying individual thiol/disulfide exchange reactions. Here, we adapt recently developed single-bond chemistry techniques to study individual disulfide isomerization reactions in hSOD1. Mechanical unfolding of hSOD1 leads to the formation of a polypeptide loop held by the disulfide. This loop behaves as a molecular jump rope that brings reactive Cys-111 close to the disulfide. Using force-clamp spectroscopy, we monitor nucleophilic attack of Cys-111 at either sulfur of the disulfide and determine the selectivity of the reaction. Disease-causing mutations G93A and A4V show greatly altered reactivity patterns, which may contribute to the progression of familial ALS
Physics and Technology Research for Liquid-Metal Divertor Development, Focused on a Tin-Capillary Porous System Solution, at the OLMAT High Heat-Flux Facility
The operation of the Optimization of Liquid Metal Advanced Targets (OLMAT) facility began in April 2021 with the scientific objective of exposing liquid-metal plasma facing components (PFCs) to the particle and power fluxes provided by one of the hydrogen neutral beam injectors of the TJ-II stellarator. The system can deliver heat fluxes from 5 to 58 MW m−2 of high energy hydrogen neutral particles (≤ 33 keV) with fluxes up to 1022m2s−1 (containing an ion fraction ≤ 33% in some instances), pulsed operation of 30–150 ms duration and repetition rates up to 2 min−1. These characteristics enable OLMAT as a high heat flux (HHF) facility for PFC evaluation in terms of power exhaust capabilities, thermal fatigue and resilience to material damage. Additionally, the facility is equipped with a wide range of diagnostics that includes tools for analyzing the thermal response of the targets as well as for monitoring atomic/plasma physics phenomena. These include spectroscopy, pyrometry, electrical probing and visualization (fast and IR cameras) units. Such particularities make OLMAT a unique installation that can combine pure technological PFC research with the investigation of physical phenomena such as vapor shielding, thermal sputtering, the formation/characterization of plasma plumes with significant content of evaporated metal and the detection of impurities in front of the studied targets. Additionally, a myriad of surface characterization techniques as SEM/EDX for material characterization of the exposed PFC prototypes are available at CIEMAT. In this article, first we provide an overview of the current facility upgrade in which a high-power CW laser, that can be operated in continuous and pulsed modes (0.2–10 ms), dump and electrical (single Langmuir) probe embedded on the target surface have been installed. This laser operation will allow simulating more relevant heat loading scenarios such as nominal steady-state divertor heat fluxes (10–20 MW m−2 in continuous mode) and transients including ELM loading and disruption-like events (ms time scales and power densities up to GW m−2 range). The work later focuses on the more recent experimentation (2022 fall campaign) where a 3D printed Tungsten (W) Capillary Porous System (CPS) target, with approximated 30 μm pore size and a 37% porosity and filled with liquid tin. This porous surface was a mock-up of the PFC investigated in the ASDEX Upgrade divertor manipulator. The target composed with this element was eventually exposed to a sequence of shots with the maximum heat flux that OLMAT provides (58 ± 14 MWm−2). Key questions as resilience to dry-out and particle ejection of the liquid metal layer, its refilling, the induced damage/modification of the porous W matrix and the global performance of the component are addressed, attempting to shed light on the issues encountered with the PFC at tokamak scale testing.</p
Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and Slow Light with Optomechanics
Controlling the interaction between localized optical and mechanical
excitations has recently become possible following advances in micro- and
nano-fabrication techniques. To date, most experimental studies of
optomechanics have focused on measurement and control of the mechanical
subsystem through its interaction with optics, and have led to the experimental
demonstration of dynamical back-action cooling and optical rigidity of the
mechanical system. Conversely, the optical response of these systems is also
modified in the presence of mechanical interactions, leading to strong
nonlinear effects such as Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) and
parametric normal-mode splitting. In atomic systems, seminal experiments and
proposals to slow and stop the propagation of light, and their applicability to
modern optical networks, and future quantum networks, have thrust EIT to the
forefront of experimental study during the last two decades. In a similar
fashion, here we use the optomechanical nonlinearity to control the velocity of
light via engineered photon-phonon interactions. Our results demonstrate EIT
and tunable optical delays in a nanoscale optomechanical crystal device,
fabricated by simply etching holes into a thin film of silicon (Si). At low
temperature (8.7 K), we show an optically-tunable delay of 50 ns with
near-unity optical transparency, and superluminal light with a 1.4 microseconds
signal advance. These results, while indicating significant progress towards an
integrated quantum optomechanical memory, are also relevant to classical signal
processing applications. Measurements at room temperature and in the analogous
regime of Electromagnetically Induced Absorption (EIA) show the utility of
these chip-scale optomechanical systems for optical buffering, amplification,
and filtering of microwave-over-optical signals.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Hepatitis A virus in urban sewage from two Mediterranean countries.
Molecular methods for the detection and typing of hepatitis A virus (HAV) strains in sewage were applied to determine its distribution in Cairo and Barcelona. The study revealed the occurrence of different patterns of hepatitis A endemicity in each city. The circulating strains characterized, whether in Cairo or Barcelona, were genotype IB. The effects of a child vaccination programme and the increase in the immigrant population on the overall hepatitis A occurrence in Barcelona were evaluated. While vaccination contributed to a significant decrease in the number of clinical cases, the huge recent immigration flow has probably been responsible for the re-emergence of the disease in the last year of study, in the form of small outbreaks among the non-vaccinated population
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