460 research outputs found
Diaspora remittances and investment : a derivation and measurement
This paper provides a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for assessing the impact
remittances have on investment, saving, the interest and exchange rates in a small, open
economy. The model shows that remittance inflows result in a currency that appreciates as the
interest rate decreases, while the evidence confirms that remittances have a positive impact on
investment. A poor business environment, the lack of corruption control and the absence of the
rule of law can decrease investment. Commonwealth countries have a propensity to save and
invest at relatively higher levels than other countries in the study; and political stability and the
rule of law enhance this process. Remittances, however, reduce savings, making the country
more remittance-dependent. Policy makers should therefore provide incentives that increase the
use of remittances in investments that emphasize employment opportunities, and offer attractive
medium and long term saving instruments to forestall the impact of a currency-appreciation.peer-reviewe
Photo-induced dynamics of the heme centers in cytochrome bc 1
The ultrafast response of cytochrome bc1 is investigated for the first time, via transient absorption
spectroscopy. The distinct redox potentials of both c1- and b-hemes allow for a clear differentiation of
their respective signals. We find that while the c1-heme photo-product exhibits the characteristics of a
5-coordinated species, the b-hemes presumably undergo photo-oxidation at a remarkably high
quantum yield. The c1-heme iron–ligand recombination time is 5.4 ps, in agreement with previous
reports on homologous cytochromes. The suggested photo-oxidized state of the b-hemes has a lifetime
of 6.8 ps. From this short life-time we infer that the electron acceptor must be within van der Walls
contact with the heme, which points to the fact that the axial histidine residue is the electron acceptor.
The different heme-responses illustrate the flexibility of the c1-heme ligation in contrast to the more
rigid b-heme binding, as well as the higher electronic reactivity of the b-hemes within the bc1 complex.
This study also demonstrates the remarkable connection between the heme local environment and its
dynamics and, therefore, biological functio
Effective index of refraction, optical rotation, and circular dichroism in isotropic chiral liquid crystals
This paper concerns optical properties of the isotropic phase above the
isotropic-cholesteric transition and of the blue phase BP III. We introduce an
effective index, which describes spatial dispersion effects such as optical
rotation, circular dichroism, and the modification of the average index due to
the fluctuations. We derive the wavelength dependance of these spatial
dispersion effects quite generally without relying on an expansion in powers of
the chirality and without assuming that the pitch of the cholesteric is
much shorter than the wavelength of the light , an approximation which
has been made in previous studies of this problem. The theoretical predictions
are supported by comparing them with experimental spectra of the optical
activity in the BP III phase.Comment: 15 pages and 7 figures. Submitted to PR
Upper critical fields and thermally-activated transport of Nd(O_0.7F_0.3)FeAs single crystal
We present measurements of the resistivity and the upper critical field H_c2
of Nd(O_0.7F_0.3)FeAs single crystals in strong DC and pulsed magnetic fields
up to 45 T and 60 T, respectively. We found that the field scale of H_c2 is
comparable to ~100 T of high T_c cuprates. H_c2(T) parallel to the c-axis
exhibits a pronounced upward curvature similar to what was extracted from
earlier measurements on polycrystalline samples. Thus this behavior is indeed
an intrinsic feature of oxypnictides, rather than manifestation of vortex
lattice melting or granularity. The orientational dependence of H_c2 shows
deviations from the one-band Ginzburg-Landau scaling. The mass anisotropy
decreases as T decreases, from 9.2 at 44K to 5 at 34K. Spin dependent
magnetoresistance and nonlinearities in the Hall coefficient suggest
contribution to the conductivity from electron-electron interactions modified
by disorder reminiscent that of diluted magnetic semiconductors. The Ohmic
resistivity measured below T_c but above the irreversibility field exhibits a
clear Arrhenius thermally activated behavior over 4-5 decades. The activation
energy has very different field dependencies for H||ab and H\perp ab. We
discuss to what extent different pairing scenarios can manifest themselves in
the observed behavior of H_{c2}, using the two-band model of superconductivity.
The results indicate the importance of paramagnetic effects on H_c2(T),which
may significantly reduce H_c2(0) as compared toH_c2(0)~200-300 T based on
extrapolations of H_c2(T) near T_c down to low temperatures.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figure
Electron doped Ca10(Pt3As8)(Fe2As2)5 and Ca10(Pt4As8)(Fe2As2)5 - High Tc superconductors with skutterudite intermediary layers
It has been argued that the very high transition temperatures of the highest
Tc cuprate superconductors are facilitated by enhanced CuO2 plane coupling
through the (Bi,Tl,Hg)-O intermediary layers. Whether enhanced coupling through
intermediary layers can also influence Tc in the iron arsenide superconductors
has never been tested due the lack of appropriate systems for study. Here we
report the crystal structures and properties of two iron arsenide
superconductors, Ca10(Pt3As8)(Fe2As2)5 (the 10-3-8 phase) and
Ca10(Pt4As8)(Fe2As2)5 (the 10-4-8 phase). Based on -Ca-(PtnAs8)-Ca-Fe2As2-
layer stacking, the most important difference in the structures lies in the
structural and electronic characters of the intermediary platinum arsenide
layers. Electron doping through partial substitution of Pt for Fe in the Fe2As2
layers leads to Tc of 11 K in the 10-3-8 phase and 25 K in the 10-4-8 phase.
Using the chemical concepts of Zintl ion electron counting and the stability of
Pt in the 5d8 configuration we argue that the dramatic difference in Tc arises
because the intermediary layer is semiconducting in the 10-3-8 phase but
metallic in the 10-4-8 phase, leading to enhanced interlayer coupling in the
10-4-8 phase. The results suggest that metallic intermediary layers may offer a
new road to higher Tc in iron arsenide superconductors
Systematic Study on Fluorine-doping Dependence of Superconducting and Normal State Properties in LaFePO1-xFx
We have investigated the fluorine-doping dependence of lattice constants,
transports and specific heat for polycrystalline LaFePO1-xFx. F doping slightly
and monotonically decreases the in-plane lattice parameter. In the normal
state, electrical resistivity at low temperature is proportional to the square
of temperature and the electronic specific heat coefficient has large value,
indicating the existence of moderate electron-electron correlation in this
system. Hall coefficient has large magnitude, and shows large temperature
dependence, indicating the low carrier density and multiple carriers in this
system. Temperature dependence of the upper critical field suggests that the
system is a two gap superconductor. The F-doping dependence of these properties
in this system are very weak, while in the FeAs system (LaFeAsO), the F doping
induces the large changes in electronic properties. This difference is probably
due to the different F-doping dependence of the lattice in these two systems.
It has been revealed that a pure effect of electron doping on electronic
properties is very weak in this Fe pnictide compound.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Influence of substitutional disorder on the electrical transport and the superconducting properties of FeTeSeS
We have carried out an investigation of the structural, magnetic, transport
and superconducting properties of FeTeSeS ceramic
compounds, for and some specific Se (0 x 0.5) and S (0
y 0.12) contents. The incorporation of Se and S to the FeTe
structure produces a progressive reduction of the crystallographic parameters
as well as different degrees of structural disorder associated with the
differences of the ionic radius of the substituting cations. In the present
study, we measure transport properties of this family of compounds and we show
the direct influence of disorder in the normal and superconductor states. We
notice that the structural disorder correlates with a variable range hopping
conducting regime observed at temperatures 200 K. At lower temperatures,
all the samples except the one with the highest degree of disorder show a
crossover to a metallic-like regime, probably related to the transport of
resilient-quasi-particles associated with the proximity of a Fermi liquid state
at temperatures below the superconducting transition. Moreover, the
superconducting properties are depressed only for that particular sample, in
accordance to the condition that superconductivity is affected by disorder when
the electronic localization length becomes smaller than the coherence
length .Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure
Alcohol use and mental health conditions among Black college males: Do those attending postsecondary minority institutions fare better than those at primarily White institutions?
While there is a sizeable body of research examining the association between alcohol use and mental health conditions among college students, there are sparse investigations specifically focusing on these associations among Black college students. This is concerning given Black college students face different stressors compared with their non-Black peers. Black males appear especially at risk, exhibiting increased susceptibility to mental health issues and drinking in greater quantities and more frequently than Black females. This investigation examined the association between alcohol consumption and mental health conditions among Black men attending institutions of higher education in the United States and sought to determine differences between Black men attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs) compared with those attending postsecondary minority institutions. Final sample included 416 Black men, 323 of which attended a PWI. Data were from the National College Health Assessment. Black men attending a PWI reported significantly greater levels of alcohol consumption and significantly more mental health conditions. Attendance at a minority-serving institution was associated with fewer mental health conditions among Black men. Future studies should seek to replicate these findings and conduct culturally sensitive and gender-specific research examining why Black men at PWIs report greater alcohol consumption and more mental health conditions than their peers attending postsecondary minority institutions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163991/1/Barry et al_Alcohol Use and Mental Health.pdfDescription of Barry et al_Alcohol Use and Mental Health.pdf : Main articl
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