914 research outputs found
Interacting many-body systems in quantum wells: Evidence for exciton-trion-electron correlations
We report on the nonlinear optical dynamical properties of excitonic
complexes in CdTe modulation-doped quantum wells, due to many-body interactions
among excitons, trions and electrons. These were studied by time and spectrally
resolved pump-probe experiments. The results reveal that the nonlinearities
induced by trions differ from those induced by excitons, and in addition they
are mutually correlated. We propose that the main source of these subtle
differences comes from the Pauli exclusion-principle through phase-space
filling and short-range fermion exchange.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. accepted for publications in Phys. Rev.
Light dressed-excitons in an incoherent-electron sea: Evidence for Mollow-triplet and Autler-Townes doublet
We demonstrate that the interaction between excitons and a sea of incoherent
electrons does not preclude excitons dressing by light. We investigate the role
of exciton-electron scattering in the light dressing by measuring the dynamical
absorption spectrum of a modulation-doped CdTe quantum well, which shows a
clear evidence for significant electron scattering of the excitonic states. We
show the occurrence of dressed and correlated excitons by detecting quantum
coherent interferences through excitonic Autler-Townes doublet and ac Stark
splitting, which evolves to Mollow triplet with gain. We also evidence the
partial inhibition of the electron-exciton scattering by exciton-light
coupling
Concept of Formation Length in Radiation Theory
The features of electromagnetic processes are considered which connected with
finite size of space region in which final particles (photon, electron-positron
pair) are formed. The longitudinal dimension of the region is known as the
formation length. If some external agent is acting on an electron while
traveling this distance the emission process can be disrupted. There are
different agents: multiple scattering of projectile, polarization of a medium,
action of external fields, etc. The theory of radiation under influence of the
multiple scattering, the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect, is presented.
The probability of radiation is calculated with an accuracy up to "next to
leading logarithm" and with the Coulomb corrections taken into account. The
integral characteristics of bremsstrahlung are given, it is shown that the
effective radiation length increases due to the LPM effect at high energy. The
LPM effect for pair creation is also presented. The multiple scattering
influences also on radiative corrections in a medium (and an external field
too) including the anomalous magnetic moment of an electron and the
polarization tensor as well as coherent scattering of a photon in a Coulomb
field. The polarization of a medium alters the radiation probability in soft
part of spectrum. Specific features of radiation from a target of finite
thickness include: the boundary photon emission, interference effects for thin
target, multi-photon radiation. The experimental study of LPM effect is
described. For electron-positron colliding beams following items are discussed:
the separation of coherent and incoherent mechanisms of radiation, the
beam-size effect in bremsstrahlung, coherent radiation and mechanisms of
electron-positron creation.Comment: Revised review paper, 96 pages, 28 figures. Description of SLAC E-146
experiment removed, discussion of CERN SPS experiment adde
Insulin secretion from human beta cells is heterogeneous and dependent on cell-to-cell contacts
Aims/hypothesis: We assessed the heterogeneity of insulin secretion from human isolated beta cells and its regulation by cell-to-cell contacts. Methods: Insulin secretion from single and paired cells was assessed by a reverse haemolytic plaque assay. The percentage of plaque-forming cells, the mean plaque area and the total plaque development were evaluated after 1h of stimulation with different secretagogues. Results: Not all beta cells were surrounded by a haemolytic plaque under all conditions tested. A small fraction of the beta cell population (20%) secreted more than 90% and 70% of total insulin at 2.2 and 22.2mmol/l glucose, respectively. Plaque-forming cells, mean plaque area and total plaque development were increased at 12.2 and 22.2 compared with 2.2mmol/l glucose. Insulin secretion of single beta cells was similar at 12.2 and 22.2mmol/l glucose. Insulin secretion of beta cell pairs was increased compared with that of single beta cells and was higher at 22.2 than at 12.2mmol/l glucose. Insulin secretion of beta cells in contact with alpha cells was also increased compared with single beta cells, but was similar at 22.2 compared with 12.2mmol/l glucose. Delta and other non-beta cells did not increase insulin secretion of contacting beta cells compared with that of single beta cells. Differences in insulin secretion between 22.2 and 12.2mmol/l glucose were observed in murine but not in human islets. Conclusions/interpretation: Human beta cells are highly heterogeneous in terms of insulin secretion so that a small fraction of beta cells contributes to the majority of insulin secreted. Homologous and heterologous intercellular contacts have a significant impact on insulin secretion and this could be related to the particular architecture of human islet
Prospective study of 310 patients: can early CT predict the severity of acute pancreatitis?
Background: This study was designed to determine the most important early CT parameters predictive of acute pancreatitis severity. Methods: Three hundred and seventy-one consecutive patients with acute abdominal pain and hyperamylasemia were enrolled. Three hundred and ten of the 371 patients met our inclusion criteria. Acute pancreatitis severity was evaluated using the 1992 Atlanta criteria. Different CT parameters were reported from the admission abdominal CT by two radiologists blinded from any clinical parameter, but the patients' age and gender. These variables were fitted in a binary logistic regression model. Results: Acute pancreatitis was mild in 80% cases, severe in 20% cases and lethal in 12.69% cases. The following CT parameters were significantly associated with the severity of acute pancreatitis: the objective size of the pancreas (P=0.001), the peripancreatic fat abnormalities (P=0.001) and the extent of necrosis (P=0.007). Moreover, the age of the patient revealed itself a highly significant (P=0.001) indicator of disease severity. The association of the four CT criteria eventually showed a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 81% to predict acute pancreatitis severity. Conclusion: Although these criteria correlated with disease severity, our study identified that morphological CT criteria cannot be used to triage patients with severe and mild acute pancreatiti
Direct measure of the exciton formation in quantum wells from time resolved interband luminescence
We present the results of a detailed time resolved luminescence study carried
out on a very high quality InGaAs quantum well sample where the contributions
at the energy of the exciton and at the band edge can be clearly separated. We
perform this experiment with a spectral resolution and a sensitivity of the
set-up allowing to keep the observation of these two separate contributions
over a broad range of times and densities. This allows us to directly evidence
the exciton formation time, which depends on the density as expected from
theory. We also evidence the dominant contribution of a minority of excitons to
the luminescence signal, and the absence of thermodynamical equilibrium at low
densities
Proliferation of sorted human and rat beta cells
Aims/hypothesis: The aim of the study was to determine whether purified beta cells can replicate in vitro and whether this is enhanced by extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors. Methods: Human beta cells were purified by FACS by virtue of their high zinc content using Newport Green, and excluding ductal and dead cells. Rat beta cells were sorted by autofluorescence or using the same method developed for human cells. Cells were plated on poly-l-lysine or ECMs from rat or human bladder carcinoma cells or bovine corneal ECM and incubated in the presence of BrdU with or without growth factors. Results: The newly developed method for sorting human beta cells yields a population containing 91.4 ± 2.8% insulin-positive cells with a low level of spontaneous apoptosis and a robust secretory response to glucose. Beta cells from 8-week-old rats proliferated in culture and this was increased by ECM. Among growth factors, only human growth hormone (hGH) and the glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue liraglutide enhanced proliferation of rat beta cells, with a significant increase on both poly-l-lysine and ECM. By contrast, sorted adult human beta cells from 16 donors aged 48.9 ± 14.3years (range 16-64years) failed to replicate demonstrably in vitro regardless of the substratum or growth factors used. Conclusions/interpretation: These findings indicate that, in our conditions, the fully differentiated human adult insulin-producing beta cell was unable to proliferate in vitro. This has important implications for any attempt to expand cells from pancreases of donors of this age group. By contrast, the rat beta cells used here were able to divide in vitro, and this was enhanced by ECM, hGH and liraglutid
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