2,742 research outputs found
Correlation effects in quasi one dimensional electron wires
We explore the role of electron correlation in quasi one dimensional quantum
wires as the range of the interaction potential is changed and their thickness
is varied by performing exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations at various
electronic densities. In the case of unscreened interactions with a long range
1/x tail there is a crossover from a liquid to a quasi Wigner crystal state as
the density decreases. When this interaction is screened, quasi long range
order is prevented from forming, although a significant correlation with 4 k_F
periodicity is still present at low densities. At even lower electron
concentration, exchange is suppressed and the spin-dependent interactions
become negligible, making the electrons behave like spinless fermions. We show
that this behavior is shared by the long range and screened interactions by
studying the spin and charge excitations of the system in both cases. Finally,
we study the effect of electron correlations in the double quantum wire
experiment [Steinberg et al., Phys. Rev. B 77, 113307 (2006)], by introducing
an accurate model for the screening in the experiment and explicitly including
the finite length of the system in our simulations. We find that decreasing the
electron density drives the system from a liquid to a state with quite strong 4
k_F correlations. This crossover takes place around , the
density where the electron localization occurs in the experiment. The charge
and spin velocities are also in remarkable agreement with the experimental
findings in the proximity of the crossover. We argue that correlation effects
play an important role at the onset of the localization transition.Comment: minor improvements, 13 pages, 12 figure
Electromagnetic analysis and performance comparison of fully 3D-printed antennas
In this work, the possibility of directly prototyping antennas by exploiting additive manufacturing 3D-printing technology is investigated. In particular, the availability of printable filaments with interesting conductive properties allows for printing of even the antenna conductive elements. Three samples of a 2.45 GHz microstrip patch antenna have been 3D-printed by using different approaches and materials, and their performance evaluated and compared. In particular, the same dielectric substrate printed in polylactic acid (PLA) has been adopted in all cases, whilst copper tape and two different conductive filaments have been used to realize the conductive parts of the three antenna samples, respectively. Even if an expected radiation efficiency reduction has been observed for the conductive filament case, the comparative analysis clearly demonstrates that 3D-printing technology can be exploited to design working fully-printed antennas, including the conductive parts
TMS-evoked long-lasting artefacts: A new adaptive algorithm for EEG signal correction
OBJECTIVE:
During EEG the discharge of TMS generates a long-lasting decay artefact (DA) that makes the analysis of TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs) difficult. Our aim was twofold: (1) to describe how the DA affects the recorded EEG and (2) to develop a new adaptive detrend algorithm (ADA) able to correct the DA.
METHODS:
We performed two experiments testing 50 healthy volunteers. In experiment 1, we tested the efficacy of ADA by comparing it with two commonly-used independent component analysis (ICA) algorithms. In experiment 2, we further investigated the efficiency of ADA and the impact of the DA evoked from TMS over frontal, motor and parietal areas.
RESULTS:
Our results demonstrated that (1) the DA affected the EEG signal in the spatiotemporal domain; (2) ADA was able to completely remove the DA without affecting the TEP waveforms; (3). ICA corrections produced significant changes in peak-to-peak TEP amplitude.
CONCLUSIONS:
ADA is a reliable solution for the DA correction, especially considering that (1) it does not affect physiological responses; (2) it is completely data-driven and (3) its effectiveness does not depend on the characteristics of the artefact and on the number of recording electrodes.
SIGNIFICANCE:
We proposed a new reliable algorithm of correction for long-lasting TMS-EEG artifacts
GPS-based monitoring of land subsidence in the Po Plain (Northern Italy)
We use regional and local networks of continuously-operating GPS stations (CGPS) distributed in the northern–central part of the Italian peninsula to investigate the subsidence phenomenon of the Po plain sedimentary basin and vertical movements of the surrounding areas. The observations of 146 scientific and commercial stations are analyzed and compared, adopting analytical techniques widely used to study GPS coordinate time series. The use of simple antenna supports in commercial installations, instead of a more rigorous geodetic monument, does not seem to induce significant differences in the noise characteristics and in the amplitudes of annual and semi-annual periodic signals.
The vertical velocity field deduced from 129 sites with observation time spans greater than one year, located in the Central–Northern Italian Peninsula, indicates the presence of two mainly subsidence areas: the Po Plain and the Arno Plain, while the sites located in the Alps and Apennine domains show relatively low uplift.
The areas of the Po Plain monitored by GPS seem to indicate that the subsidence rate is constant or, in some cases, decreasing with respect to the values obtained from the last measurements, performed up to 2006 by means of both SAR and levelling techniques. Only the central part of the eastern Po Plain close to the Apennine border (Modena city area) is characterized by a peak in subsidence consisting in a velocity of about 15 mm/yr
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Neuroimaging Coregistration
The development of neuroimaging techniques is one of the most impressive advancements in neuroscience. The main reason for the widespread use of these instruments lies in their capacity to provide an accurate description of neural activity during a cognitive process or during rest. This important advancement is related to the possibility to selectively detect changes of neuronal activity in space and time by means of different biological markers. Specifically, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS) use metabolic markers of ongoing neuronal activity to provide an accurate description of the activation of specific brain areas with high spatial resolution. Similarly, electroencephalography (EEG) is able to detect electric markers of neuronal activity, providing an accurate description of brain activation with high temporal resolution. The application of these techniques during a cognitive task allows important inferences regarding the relation between the detected neural activity, the cognitive process involved in an ongoing task, and behaviour: this is known as a \u201ccorrelational approach\u201d
Dynamical screening in strongly correlated metal SrVO3
The consequences of dynamical screening of Coulomb interaction among
correlated electrons in realistic materials have not been widely considered
before. In this letter we try to incorporate a frequency dependent Coulomb
interaction into the state-of-the-art ab initio electronic structure computing
framework of local density approximation plus dynamical mean-field theory, and
then choose SrVO3 as a prototype material to demonstrate the importance of
dynamical screening effect. It is shown to renormalise the spectral weight near
the Fermi level, to increase the effective mass, and to suppress the t2g
quasiparticle band width apparently. The calculated results are in accordance
with very recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments and Bose
factor ansatz calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1107.312
Insights into the Structure of Dot@Rod and Dot@Octapod CdSe@CdS Heterostructures
CdSe@CdS dot@rods with diameter around 6 nm and length of either
20, 27, or 30 nm and dot@octapods with pod diameters of ?15 nm and lengths of ?50
nm were investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. These heterostructures are
prepared by seed-mediated routes, where the structure, composition, and morphology of
the CdSe nanocrystals used as a seed play key roles in directing the growth of the second
semiconducting domain. The local structural environment of all the elements in the
CdSe@CdS heterostructures was investigated at the Cd, S, and Se K-edges by taking
advantage of the selectivity of X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and was compared to pure
reference compounds. We found that the structural features of dot@rods are
independent of the size of the rods. These structures can be described as made of a
CdSe dot and a CdS rod, both in the wurtzite phase with a high crystallinity of both the
core and the rod. This result supports the effectiveness of high temperature colloidal
synthesis in promoting the formation of core@shell nanocrystals with very low
defectivity. On the other hand, data on the CdSe@CdS with octapod morphology suggest the occurrence of a core composed of
a CdSe cubic sphalerite phase with eight pods made of CdS wurtzite phase. Our findings are compared to current models
proposed for the design of functional heterostructures with controlled nanoarchitecture
The Ultrasonic Field of Focused Trandsucers Through a Liquid-Solid Interface
This paper presents theoretical and experimental results on the ultrasonic field of focused immersion transducers. The French Atomic Energy Commission (C.E.A.) has developed a software which calculates the ultrasonic field produced by a focused (or unfocused) transducer through a liquid-solid interface at normal or oblique incidence. The radiation of the transducer is formulated by the method of the Rayleigh integral, extended to take into account the liquid-solid interface. Firstly we describe this model, then we present measurements of the ultrasonic field produced by focused transducers in steel blocks. Experiments have been made using, at low frequencies, an electrodynamic probe, and, at high frequencies, an optical probe
The production of FAHFA is enhanced when Haematococcus pluvialis is grown in CO2
Microalgae are considered as a potential source of bioactive compounds to be used in different fields including food and pharmaceutical industry. In this context, fatty acid esters of hydroxy-fatty acids (FAHFA) are emerging as a new class of compounds with anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties. An existing gap in the field of algal research is the limited knowledge regarding the production of these compounds. Our research questions aimed to determine whether the microalga H. pluvialis can synthesize FAHFA and whether the production levels of these compounds are increased when cultivated in a CO2-rich environment. To answer these questions, we used a LC-QTOF/MS method for the characterization of FAHFA produced by H. pluvialis while an LC-MS/MS method was used for their quantitation. The cultivation conditions of H. pluvialis, which include the utilization of CO2, can result in a 10–50-fold increase in FAHFA production
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