5,357 research outputs found
Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in direct and indirect band gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment
The spin structure and spin dynamics of excitons in an ensemble of
(In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with type-I band alignment, containing both
direct and indirect band gap dots, are studied. Time-resolved and spectral
selective techniques are used to distinguish between the direct and indirect
QDs. The exciton fine structure is studied by means of optical alignment and
optical orientation techniques in magnetic fields applied in the Faraday or
Voigt geometries. A drastic difference in emission polarization is found for
the excitons in the direct QDs involving a -valley electron and the
excitons in the indirect QDs contributed by an -valley electron. We show
that in the direct QDs the exciton spin dynamics is controlled by the
anisotropic exchange splitting, while in the indirect QDs it is determined by
the hyperfine interaction with nuclear field fluctuations. The anisotropic
exchange splitting is determined for the direct QD excitons and compared with
model calculations
The association between general practitioner participation in joint teleconsultations and rates of referral: a discrete choice experiment.
Background: Joint consultations - such as teleconsultations - provide opportunities for continuing education of general practitioners (GPs). It has been reported this form of interactive case-based learning may lead to fewer GP referrals, yet these studies have relied on expert opinion and simple frequencies, without accounting for other factors known to influence referrals. We use a survey-based discrete choice experiment of GPs' referral preferences to estimate how referral rates are associated with participation in joint teleconsultations, explicitly controlling for a number of potentially confounding variables. Methods: We distributed questionnaires at two meetings of the Portuguese Association of General Practice. GPs were presented with descriptions of patients with dermatological lesions and asked whether they would refer based on the waiting time, the distance to appointment, and pressure from patients for a referral. We analysed GPs' responses to multiple combinations of these factors, coupled with information on GP and practice characteristics, using a binary logit model. We estimated the probabilities of referral of different lesions using marginal effects. Results: Questionnaires were returned by 44 GPs, giving a total of 721 referral choices. The average referral rate for the 11 GPs (25%) who had participated in teleconsultations was 68.1% (range 53-88%), compared to 74.4% (range 47-100%) for the remaining physicians. Participation in teleconsultations was associated with reductions in the probabilities of referral of 17.6% for patients presenting with keratosis (p = 0.02), 42.3% for psoriasis (p <0.001), 8.4% for melanoma (p = 0.14), and 5.4% for naevus (p = 0.19). Conclusions: The results indicate that GP participation in teleconsultations is associated with overall reductions in referral rates and in variation across GPs, and that these effects are robust to the inclusion of other factors known to influence referrals. The reduction in range, coupled with different effects for different clinical presentations, may suggest an educational effect. However, more research is needed to establish whether there are causal relationships between participation in teleconsultations, continuing education, and referral rates. © 2015 Cravo Oliveira et al.; licensee BioMed Central
Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in direct and indirect band gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment
The spin structure and spin dynamics of excitons in an ensemble of
(In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with type-I band alignment, containing both
direct and indirect band gap dots, are studied. Time-resolved and spectral
selective techniques are used to distinguish between the direct and indirect
QDs. The exciton fine structure is studied by means of optical alignment and
optical orientation techniques in magnetic fields applied in the Faraday or
Voigt geometries. A drastic difference in emission polarization is found for
the excitons in the direct QDs involving a -valley electron and the
excitons in the indirect QDs contributed by an -valley electron. We show
that in the direct QDs the exciton spin dynamics is controlled by the
anisotropic exchange splitting, while in the indirect QDs it is determined by
the hyperfine interaction with nuclear field fluctuations. The anisotropic
exchange splitting is determined for the direct QD excitons and compared with
model calculations
Nanoscale Weibull Statistics
In this paper a modification of the classical Weibull Statistics is developed
for nanoscale applications. It is called Nanoscale Weibull Statistics. A
comparison between Nanoscale and classical Weibull Statistics applied to
experimental results on fracture strength of carbon nanotubes clearly shows the
effectiveness of the proposed modification. A Weibull's modulus around 3 is,
for the first time, deduced for nanotubes. The approach can treat (also) a
small number of structural defects, as required for nearly defect free
structures (e.g., nanotubes) as well as a quantized crack propagation (e.g., as
a consequence of the discrete nature of matter), allowing to remove the
paradoxes caused by the presence of stress-intensifications
Donaldson-Thomas invariants and wall-crossing formulas
Notes from the report at the Fields institute in Toronto. We introduce the
Donaldson-Thomas invariants and describe the wall-crossing formulas for
numerical Donaldson-Thomas invariants.Comment: 18 pages. To appear in the Fields Institute Monograph Serie
Coherent strong-field control of multiple states by a single chirped femtosecond laser pulse
We present a joint experimental and theoretical study on strong-field
photo-ionization of sodium atoms using chirped femtosecond laser pulses. By
tuning the chirp parameter, selectivity among the population in the highly
excited states 5p, 6p, 7p and 5f, 6f is achieved. Different excitation pathways
enabling control are identified by simultaneous ionization and measurement of
photoelectron angular distributions employing the velocity map imaging
technique. Free electron wave packets at an energy of around 1 eV are observed.
These photoelectrons originate from two channels. The predominant 2+1+1
Resonance Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization (REMPI) proceeds via the strongly
driven two-photon transition , and subsequent
ionization from the states 5p, 6p and 7p whereas the second pathway involves
3+1 REMPI via the states 5f and 6f. In addition, electron wave packets from
two-photon ionization of the non-resonant transiently populated state 3p are
observed close to the ionization threshold. A mainly qualitative five-state
model for the predominant excitation channel is studied theoretically to
provide insights into the physical mechanisms at play. Our analysis shows that
by tuning the chirp parameter the dynamics is effectively controlled by dynamic
Stark-shifts and level crossings. In particular, we show that under the
experimental conditions the passage through an uncommon three-state "bow-tie"
level crossing allows the preparation of coherent superposition states
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