3,020 research outputs found
Experimental observation of the crystallization of a paired holon state
A new excitation is observed at 201 meV in the doped-hole ladder cuprate
SrCuO, using ultraviolet resonance Raman scattering with
incident light at 3.7 eV polarized along the direction of the rungs. The
excitation is found to be of charge nature, with a temperature independent
excitation energy, and can be understood via an intra-ladder pair-breaking
process. The intensity tracks closely the order parameter of the charge density
wave in the ladder (CDW), but persists above the CDW transition
temperature (), indicating a strong local pairing above .
The 201 meV excitation vanishes in LaCaCuO,
and LaCaCuO which are samples with no holes in the
ladders. Our results suggest that the doped holes in the ladder are composite
bosons consisting of paired holons that order below .Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters (4 figures
Electron-hole and plasmon excitations in 3d transition metals: Ab initio calculations and inelastic x-ray scattering measurements
We report extensive all-electron time-dependent density-functional
calculations and nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements of the
dynamical structure factor of 3d transition metals. For small wave vectors, a
plasmon peak is observed which is well described by our calculations. At large
wave vectors, both theory and experiment exhibit characteristic low-energy
electron-hole excitations of d character which correlate with the presence of d
bands below and above the Fermi level. Our calculations, which have been
carried out in the random-phase and adiabatic local-density approximations, are
found to be in remarkable agreement with the measured dynamical structure
factor of Sc and Cr at energies below the semicore onset energy (M-edge) of
these materials.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Are higher-order life values antecedents of students' learning engagement and adaptive learning outcomes? The case of materialistic vs. intrinsic life values
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Materialistic values have been shown to have a negative effect on learning. As intrinsic life values such as self-acceptance are orthogonaltomaterialisticvalues,theymaycounteracttheeffectsofmaterialismandbenefitthelearningprocessbyencouraging a focus on the actual learning task itself, as opposed to emphasizing the rewards associated with learning (e.g., school grades). Therefore, we tested the hypotheses positing these two higher order life values as antecedents of engagement with the learning process, and of important learning outcomes, including actual academic performance. A total of 345 university students of Chinese ethnicity (211 females; mean age=18.89, SD =1.35) participated in two studies that utilized a three-wave longitudinal design over a three-month period. The main variables tested were materialistic values, intrinsic life values, engagement with learning, and actual performance (in a writing task in Study 1, and in a formal assessment, i.e., final exam, in Study 2). Results showed that materialistic values were longitudinally and negatively related with exam performance, but not with engagement withlearning.Incontrast,intrinsic life valueslongitudinallypredictedengagementwithlearning,andhad apositivedirecteffect on performance on the writing task (Study 1), and a positive indirect effect on final exam performance (Study 2). The results highlight an important, if underutilized method of improving the learning process
Exchange coupling in Eu monochalcogenides from first principles
Using a density functional method with explicit account for strong Coulomb
repulsion within the 4f shell, we calculate effective exchange parameters and
the corresponding ordering temperatures of the (ferro)magnetic insulating Eu
monochalcogenides (EuX; X=O,S,Se,Te) at ambient and elevated pressure
conditions. Our results provide quantitative account of the many-fold increase
of the Curie temperatures with applied pressure and reproduce well the
enhancement of the tendency toward ferromagnetic ordering across the series
from telluride to oxide, including the crossover from antiferromagnetic to
ferromagnetic ordering under pressure in EuTe and EuSe. The first and second
neighbor effective exchange are shown to follow different functional
dependencies. Finally, model calculations indicate a significant contribution
of virtual processes involving the unoccupied f states to the effective
exchange.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
HbA(1c) levels in non-diabetic older adults No J-shaped associations with primary cardiovascular events, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality after adjustment for confounders in a meta-analysis of individual participant data from six cohort studies
Background
To determine the shape of the associations of HbA1c with mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in non-diabetic individuals and explore potential explanations.
Methods
The associations of HbA1c with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and primary cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were assessed in non-diabetic subjects ≥50 years from six population-based cohort studies from Europe and the USA and meta-analyzed. Very low, low, intermediate and increased HbA1c were defined as <5.0, 5.0 to <5.5, 5.5 to <6.0 and 6.0 to <6.5 % (equals <31, 31 to <37, 37 to <42 and 42 to <48 mmol/mol), respectively, and low HbA1c was used as reference in Cox proportional hazards models.
Results
Overall, 6,769 of 28,681 study participants died during a mean follow-up of 10.7 years, of whom 2,648 died of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, 2,493 experienced a primary cardiovascular event. A linear association with primary cardiovascular events was observed. Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors explained about 50 % of the excess risk and attenuated hazard ratios (95 % confidence interval) for increased HbA1c to 1.14 (1.03–1.27), 1.17 (1.00–1.37) and 1.19 (1.04–1.37) for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events, respectively. The six cohorts yielded inconsistent results for the association of very low HbA1c levels with the mortality outcomes and the pooled effect estimates were not statistically significant. In one cohort with a pronounced J-shaped association of HbA1c levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (NHANES), the following confounders of the association of very low HbA1c levels with mortality outcomes were identified: race/ethnicity; alcohol consumption; BMI; as well as biomarkers of iron deficiency anemia and liver function. Associations for very low HbA1c levels lost statistical significance in this cohort after adjusting for these confounders.
Conclusions
A linear association of HbA1c levels with primary cardiovascular events was observed. For cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, the observed small effect sizes at both the lower and upper end of HbA1c distribution do not support the notion of a J-shaped association of HbA1c levels because a certain degree of residual confounding needs to be considered in the interpretation of the results
Non-Coding Keratin Variants Associate with Liver Fibrosis Progression in Patients with Hemochromatosis
Background: Keratins 8 and 18 (K8/K18) are intermediate filament proteins that protect the liver from various forms of injury. Exonic K8/K18 variants associate with adverse outcome in acute liver failure and with liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection or primary biliary cirrhosis. Given the association of K8/K18 variants with endstage liver disease and progression in several chronic liver disorders, we studied the importance of keratin variants in patients with hemochromatosis. Methods: The entire K8/K18 exonic regions were analyzed in 162 hemochromatosis patients carrying homozygous C282Y HFE (hemochromatosis gene) mutations. 234 liver-healthy subjects were used as controls. Exonic regions were PCRamplified and analyzed using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and DNA sequencing. Previouslygenerated transgenic mice overexpressing K8 G62C were studied for their susceptibility to iron overload. Susceptibility to iron toxicity of primary hepatocytes that express K8 wild-type and G62C was also assessed. Results: We identified amino-acid-altering keratin heterozygous variants in 10 of 162 hemochromatosis patients (6.2%) and non-coding heterozygous variants in 6 additional patients (3.7%). Two novel K8 variants (Q169E/R275W) were found. K8 R341H was the most common amino-acid altering variant (4 patients), and exclusively associated with an intronic KRT8 IVS7+10delC deletion. Intronic, but not amino-acid-altering variants associated with the development of liver fibrosis. I
Orbital textures and charge density waves in transition metal dichalcogenides
Low-dimensional electron systems, as realized naturally in graphene or
created artificially at the interfaces of heterostructures, exhibit a variety
of fascinating quantum phenomena with great prospects for future applications.
Once electrons are confined to low dimensions, they also tend to spontaneously
break the symmetry of the underlying nuclear lattice by forming so-called
density waves; a state of matter that currently attracts enormous attention
because of its relation to various unconventional electronic properties. In
this study we reveal a remarkable and surprising feature of charge density
waves (CDWs), namely their intimate relation to orbital order. For the
prototypical material 1T-TaS2 we not only show that the CDW within the
two-dimensional TaS2-layers involves previously unidentified orbital textures
of great complexity. We also demonstrate that two metastable stackings of the
orbitally ordered layers allow to manipulate salient features of the electronic
structure. Indeed, these orbital effects enable to switch the properties of
1T-TaS2 nanostructures from metallic to semiconducting with technologically
pertinent gaps of the order of 200 meV. This new type of orbitronics is
especially relevant for the ongoing development of novel, miniaturized and
ultra-fast devices based on layered transition metal dichalcogenides
Saturated Ferromagnetism and Magnetization Deficit in Optimally Annealed (Ga,Mn)As Epilayers
We examine the Mn concentration dependence of the electronic and magnetic
properties of optimally annealed Ga1-xMnxAs epilayers for 1.35% < x < 8.3%. The
Curie temperature (Tc), conductivity, and exchange energy increase with Mn
concentration up to x ~ 0.05, but are almost constant for larger x, with Tc ~
110 K. The ferromagnetic moment per Mn ion decreases monotonically with
increasing x, implying that an increasing fraction of the Mn spins do not
participate in the ferromagnetism. By contrast, the derived domain wall
thickness, an important parameter for device design, remains surprisingly
constant.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted for Rapid Communication in Phys Rev
Magneto-electrodynamics at high frequencies in the antiferromagnetic and superconducting states of DyNi_2B_2C
We report the observation of novel behaviour in the radio frequency (rf) and
microwave response of DyNi_2B_2C over a wide range of temperature (T) and
magnetic field (H) in the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and superconducting (SC)
states. At microwave frequencies of 10 GHz, the T dependence of the surface
impedance Z_s=R_s+iX_s was measured which yields the T dependence of the
complex conductivity \sigma_1-i\sigma_2 in the SC and AFM states. At radio
frequencies (4 MHz), the H and T dependence of the penetration depth
\lambda(T,H) were measured. The establishment of antiferromagnetic order at
T_N=10.3 K results in a marked decrease in the scattering of charge carriers,
leading to sharp decreases in R_s and X_s. However, R_s and X_s differ from
each other in the AFM state. We show that the results are consistent with
conductivity relaxation whence the scattering rate becomes comparable to the
microwave frequency. The rf measurements yield a rich dependence of the
scattering on the magnetic field near and below T_N. Anomalous decrease of
scattering at moderate applied fields is observed at temperatures near and
above T_N, and arises due to a crossover from a negative magnetoresistance
state, possibly associated with a loss of spin disorder scattering at low
fields, to a positive magnetoresistance state associated with the metallic
nature. The normal state magnetoresistance is positive at all temperatures for
\mu_0H>2T and at all fields for T>15K. Several characteristic field and
temperature scales associated with metamagnetic transitions (H_M1(T), H_M2(T))
and onset of spin disorder H_D(T), in addition to T_c, T_N and H_c2(T) are
observed in the rf measurements.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, Uses REVTeX, This and related publications also
available at http://sagar.physics.neu.edu/ Submitted to Phys. Rev.
The classical limit for a class of quantum baker's maps
We show that the class of quantum baker's maps defined by Schack and Caves
have the proper classical limit provided the number of momentum bits approaches
infinity. This is done by deriving a semi-classical approximation to the
coherent-state propagator.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
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