1,573 research outputs found
Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report
This report, written by Abt Associates and MDRC and published by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, finds that Reading First increased the amount of time that teachers spent on the five essential components of reading instruction, as defined by the National Reading Panel. While Reading First did not improve students' reading comprehension on average, there are some indications that some sites had impacts on both instruction and reading comprehension. An overview puts these interim findings in context
Correlation of tellurium inclusions and carrier lifetime in detector grade cadmium zinc telluride
Carrier lifetimes and telluriuminclusion densities in detector grade cadmiumzinc telluride crystals grown by the high pressure Bridgman method were optically measured using pulsed laser microwavecavity perturbation and infrared microscopy. Excess carriers were produced in the material using a pulsed laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm and pulse width of 7 ns, and the electronic decay was measured at room temperature. Spatial mapping of lifetimes and defect densities in cadmiumzinc telluride was performed to determine the relationship between telluriumdefect density and trapping. A strong correlation was found between the volume fraction of telluriuminclusions and the carrier trapping time
Spin relaxation in a germanium nanowire
We report experimental study of spin transport in nanowirespin valve structures consisting of three layers—cobalt, germanium, and nickel. The spin diffusion length in the Ge is estimated to be about 400nm at 1.9K and the corresponding spin relaxation time is about 4ns. At 100K, the spin diffusion length drops to 180nm and the relaxation time is about 0.81ns. These short relaxation times, which depend weakly on temperature, are caused by strong surface roughness scattering that causes rapid spin relaxation via the Elliott-Yafet mode [Elliott, Phys. Rev.96, 266 (1954)]
Thermal-structural design study of an airframe-integrated Scramjet
The development and evaluation of a design concept for the cooled structures assembly for the Scramjet engine is discussed. Development concepts for engine subsystems and design concepts for the aircraft/engine interface are included. A thermal protection system was defined which makes it possible to attain a life of 100 hr and 1000 cycles, the specified goal. The coolant equivalence ratio at the Mach 10 maximum thermal loading condition is 0.6, indicating a capacity for airframe cooling. The mechanical design is feasible for manufacture using conventional materials. For the cooled structures in a six module engine, the mass per unit capture area is 1256 kg/sq m. The total mass of a six module engine assembly including the fuel system is 1502 kg
Controlled lasing from active optomechanical resonators
Planar microcavities with distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) host, besides
confined optical modes, also mechanical resonances due to stop bands in the
phonon dispersion relation of the DBRs. These resonances have frequencies in
the sub-terahertz (10E10-10E11 Hz) range with quality factors exceeding 1000.
The interaction of photons and phonons in such optomechanical systems can be
drastically enhanced, opening a new route toward manipulation of light. Here we
implemented active semiconducting layers into the microcavity to obtain a
vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Thereby three resonant
excitations -photons, phonons, and electrons- can interact strongly with each
other providing control of the VCSEL laser emission: a picosecond strain pulse
injected into the VCSEL excites long-living mechanical resonances therein. As a
result, modulation of the lasing intensity at frequencies up to 40 GHz is
observed. From these findings prospective applications such as THz laser
control and stimulated phonon emission may emerge
The gustin (CA6) gene polymorphism, rs2274333 (A/G), as a mechanistic link between PROP tasting and fungiform taste papilla density and maintenance
Taste sensitivity to PROP varies greatly among individuals and is associated with polymorphisms in the bitter receptor gene TAS2R38, and with differences in fungiform papilla density on the anterior tongue surface. Recently we showed that the PROP non-taster phenotype is strongly associated with the G variant of polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G) of the gene that controls the salivary trophic factor, gustin. The aims of this study were 1) to investigate the role of gustin gene polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G), in PROP sensitivity and fungiform papilla density and morphology, and 2) to investigate the effect of this gustin gene polymorphism on cell proliferation and metabolic activity. Sixty-four subjects were genotyped for both genes by PCR techniques, their PROP sensitivity was assessed by scaling and threshold methods, and their fungiform papilla density, diameter and morphology were determined. In vitro experiments examined cell proliferation and metabolic activity, following treatment with saliva of individuals with and without the gustin gene mutation, and with isolated protein, in the two iso-forms. Gustin and TAS2R38 genotypes were associated with PROP threshold (p=0.0001 and p=0.0042), but bitterness intensity was mostly determined by TAS2R38 genotypes (p<0.000001). Fungiform papillae densities were associated with both genotypes (p<0.014) (with a stronger effect for gustin; p=0.0006), but papilla morphology was a function of gustin alone (p<0.0012). Treatment of isolated cells with saliva from individuals with the AA form of gustin or direct application of the active iso-form of gustin protein increased cell proliferation and metabolic activity (p<0.0135). These novel findings suggest that the rs2274333 polymorphism of the gustin gene affects PROP sensitivity by acting on fungiform papilla development and maintenance, and could provide the first mechanistic explanation for why PROP super-tasters are more responsive to a broad range of oral stimul
Giant increase in the metal-enhanced fluorescence of organic molecules in nanoporous alumina templates and large molecule-specific red/blue shift of the fluorescence peak
The fluorescence of organic fluorophore molecules is enhanced when they are
placed in contact with certain metals (Al, Ag, Cu, Au, etc.) whose surface
plasmon waves couple into the radiative modes of the molecules and increase the
radiative efficiency. Here, we report a hitherto unknown size dependence of
this metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effect in the nanoscale. When the
molecules are deposited in nanoporous anodic alumina films with exposed
aluminum at the bottom of the pores, they form organic nanowires standing on
aluminum nanoparticles whose plasmon waves have much larger amplitudes. This
increases the MEF strongly, resulting in several orders of magnitude increase
in the fluorescence intensity of the organic fluorophores. The increase in
intensity shows an inverse super-linear dependence on nanowire diameter because
the nanowires also act as plasmonic 'waveguides' that concentrate the plasmons
and increase the coupling of the plasmons with the radiative modes of the
molecules. Furthermore, if the nanoporous template housing the nanowires has
built-in electric fields due to space charges, a strong molecule-specific red-
or blue-shift is induced in the fluorescence peak owing to a renormalization of
the dipole moment of the molecule. This can be exploited to detect minute
amounts of target molecules in a mixture using their optical signature
(fluorescence) despite the presence of confounding background signals. It can
result in a unique new technology for bio- and chemical-sensing
Mapping assessments instruments for headache disorders against the icf biopsychosocial model of health and disability
Headache disorders have a strong impact on sufferers’ lives. However, the “content” of assessment instruments addressing concepts, such as disability and quality of life (QoL), has not comprehensively been addressed. We searched SCOPUS for research papers in which outcome measures were used in adult populations of patients with migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), and cluster headache (CH). The content of single instruments was then mapped against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. A total of 150 papers and 26 instruments were included: 15 addressed disability or impact, two addressed work-related difficulties, and nine addressed QoL. Few instruments were commonly used across the conditions and covered domains of functioning were impact on daily life activities, homework, school, and work-related tasks, leisure time, informal and family relations, pain, emotional difficulties, energy level, and impulse control. Most of the research is based on instruments that were developed for migraine, which is critical for CH, and the impact of headache disorders on work-related activities is poorly acknowledged. Further research is needed to expand the scope of headaches impact on daily life activities, and on environmental factors relevant to headache disorders to raise knowledge on the less represented areas, e.g., TTH impact
Analytic Representation of The Dirac Equation
In this paper we construct an analytical separation (diagonalization) of the
full (minimal coupling) Dirac equation into particle and antiparticle
components. The diagonalization is analytic in that it is achieved without
transforming the wave functions, as is done by the Foldy-Wouthuysen method, and
reveals the nonlocal time behavior of the particle-antiparticle relationship.
We interpret the zitterbewegung and the result that a velocity measurement (of
a Dirac particle) at any instant in time is, as reflections of the fact that
the Dirac equation makes a spatially extended particle appear as a point in the
present by forcing it to oscillate between the past and future at speed c. From
this we infer that, although the form of the Dirac equation serves to make
space and time appear on an equal footing mathematically, it is clear that they
are still not on an equal footing from a physical point of view. On the other
hand, the Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation, which connects the Dirac and square
root operator, is unitary. Reflection on these results suggests that a more
refined notion (than that of unitary equivalence) may be required for physical
systems
Quantitative assessment of chronic lung disease of infancy using computed tomography
The aims of this study were to determine whether infants and toddlers with chronic lung disease of infancy (CLDI) have smaller airways and lower lung density compared with full-term healthy controls. Multi-slice computed tomography (CT) chest scans were obtained at elevated lung volumes during a brief respiratory pause in sedated infants and toddlers;38 CLDI were compared with 39 full-term controls. For CLDI subjects, gestational age at birth ranged from 25 to 29 weeks. Airway size was measured for the trachea and the next three to four generations into the right lower lobe;lung volumes and tissue density were also measured. The relationship between airway size and airway generation differed between the CLDI and full-term groups;the sizes of the first and second airway generations were larger in the shorter CLDI than in the shorter full-term subjects. The increased size in the airways in the CLDI subjects was associated with increasing mechanical ventilation time in the neonatal period. CLDI subjects had a greater heterogeneity of lung density compared with full-term subjects. Our results indicate that quantitative analysis of multi-slice CT scans at elevated volumes provides important insights into the pulmonary pathology of infants and toddlers with CLDI
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