668 research outputs found
Measurement of minority carrier lifetimes in semiconductors
The bulk lifetimes of minority ,carriers in n-type l :germanium, in both n and p-type silicon and in n-type magnesium germanide have been investigated at room temperature. The sample was illuminated with periodic light ·flashes produced by a spark gap. The transient change in conductance of the sample after illumination gave the lifetime. In germanium and silicon the measured bulk lifetimes had values from 15 to 140 microseconds with estimated errors of 4 to 15 per cent, respectively. It was not possible to measure the lifetime in magnesium germanide because the particular sample used in this experiment was not sufficiently pure. The general solution of the equation of continuity for the minority carriers in a .rectangular sample has been obtained. The particular solution for the boundary and initial conditions of this experiment is discussed
Optimizing Germination of Papaya Seeds
Field germination of papaya seeds can be greatly improved by soaking them before planting in an aqueous solution of potassium nitrate (KNO3). Germination percentage of both fresh and dried seeds can be increased with this method. The time to germination after the soaking treatment is reduced, and maximum germination is achieved sooner than when untreated seeds are planted
Quasiparticles and Energy Scaling in BiSrCaCuO (=1-3): Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) has been performed on the
single- to triple-layered Bi-family high-{\it T} superconductors
(BiSrCaCuO, =1-3). We found a sharp
quasiparticle peak as well as a pseudogap at the Fermi level in the
triple-layered compound. Comparison among three compounds has revealed a
universal rule that the characteristic energies of superconducting and
pseudogap behaviors are scaled with the maximum {\it T}.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Physics of Ultra-Peripheral Nuclear Collisions
Moving highly-charged ions carry strong electromagnetic fields that act as a
field of photons. In collisions at large impact parameters, hadronic
interactions are not possible, and the ions interact through photon-ion and
photon-photon collisions known as {\it ultra-peripheral collisions} (UPC).
Hadron colliders like the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the Tevatron
and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce photonuclear and two-photon
interactions at luminosities and energies beyond that accessible elsewhere; the
LHC will reach a energy ten times that of the Hadron-Electron Ring
Accelerator (HERA). Reactions as diverse as the production of anti-hydrogen,
photoproduction of the , transmutation of lead into bismuth and
excitation of collective nuclear resonances have already been studied. At the
LHC, UPCs can study many types of `new physics.'Comment: 47 pages, to appear in Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Scienc
Photon Exchange in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
The strong electromagnetic fields in peripheral heavy ion collisions give
rise to photon-photon and photon-nucleus interactions. I present a general
survey of the photon-photon and photon-hadron physics accessible in these
collisions. Among these processes I discuss the nuclear fragmentation through
the excitation of giant resonances, the Coulomb dissociation method for
application in nuclear astrophysics, and the production of particles.Comment: 51 pages, 16 figure
Muon Physics: A Pillar of the Standard Model
Since its discovery in the 1930s, the muon has played an important role in
our quest to understand the sub-atomic theory of matter. The muon was the first
second-generation standard-model particle to be discovered, and its decay has
provided information on the (Vector -Axial Vector) structure of the weak
interaction, the strength of the weak interaction, G_F, and the conservation of
lepton number (flavor) in muon decay. The muon's anomalous magnetic moment has
played an important role in restricting theories of physics beyond the standard
standard model, where at present there is a 3.4 standard-deviation difference
between the experiment and standard-model theory. Its capture on the atomic
nucleus has provided valuable information on the modification of the weak
current by the strong interaction which is complementary to that obtained from
nuclear beta decay.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Invited paper for the Journal of Physical Society
in Japan (JPSJ), Special Topics Issue "Frontiers of Elementary Particle
Physics, The Standard Model and beyond
Anti-prion drug mPPIg5 inhibits PrP(C) conversion to PrP(Sc).
Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. The 'protein only hypothesis' advocates that PrP(Sc), an abnormal isoform of the cellular protein PrP(C), is the main and possibly sole component of prion infectious agents. Currently, no effective therapy exists for these diseases at the symptomatic phase for either humans or animals, though a number of compounds have demonstrated the ability to eliminate PrPSc in cell culture models. Of particular interest are synthetic polymers known as dendrimers which possess the unique ability to eliminate PrP(Sc) in both an intracellular and in vitro setting. The efficacy and mode of action of the novel anti-prion dendrimer mPPIg5 was investigated through the creation of a number of innovative bio-assays based upon the scrapie cell assay. These assays were used to demonstrate that mPPIg5 is a highly effective anti-prion drug which acts, at least in part, through the inhibition of PrP(C) to PrP(Sc) conversion. Understanding how a drug works is a vital component in maximising its performance. By establishing the efficacy and method of action of mPPIg5, this study will help determine which drugs are most likely to enhance this effect and also aid the design of dendrimers with anti-prion capabilities for the future
The Transcription Factor NF-ATc1 Regulates Lymphocyte Proliferation and Th2 Cytokine Production
AbstractNF-ATc1 is a member of a family of genes that encodes the cytoplasmic component of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT). In activated T cells, nuclear NF-AT binds to the promoter regions of multiple cytokine genes and induces their transcription. The role of NF-ATc1 was investigated in recombination activating gene-1 (RAG-1)–deficient blastocyst complementation assays using homozygous NF-ATc1−/− mutant ES cell lines. NF-ATc1−/−/RAG-1−/− chimeric mice showed reduced numbers of thymocytes and impaired proliferation of peripheral lymphocytes, but normal production of IL-2. Induction in vitro of Th2 responses, as demonstrated by a decrease in IL-4 and IL-6 production, was impaired in mutant T cells. These data indicate that NF-ATc1 plays roles in the development of T lymphocytes and in the differentiation of the Th2 response
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