356 research outputs found

    Effect of multilayer barriers on the optical properties of GaInNAs single quantum-well structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

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    We report on the effects of combined strain-compensating and strain-mediating layers of various widths on the optical properties of 1.3 μm GaInNAs∕GaAs single quantum well structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). While the emission wavelength of GaInNAs∕GaAs quantum wells can be redshifted by the adoption of strain-compensated GaNAs layers, the material quality is degraded by the increased stress at the well∕barrier interface. This detrimental effect can be cured by inserting a strain-mediating InGaAs layer between them. Contrary to what is expected, however, the emission wavelength is blueshifted by the insertion of the InGaAs layer, which is attributed to the reduced N incorporation due to the improved interface quality. Our results indicate that the optical properties of MOVPE-grown GaInNAs∕GaAs quantum wells can be optimized in quantum efficiency and emission wavelength by combination of strain-compensating and strain-mediating layers with suitable characteristics

    Spectroscopic characterization of 1.3µm GaInNAs quantum-well structures grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy

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    We report optical studies of high-quality 1.3 μm strain-compensated GaInNAs/GaAs single-quantum-well structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy shows clearly the electronic structure of the two-dimensional quantum well. The transition energies between quantized states of the electrons and holes are in agreement with theoretical calculations based on the band anti-crossing model in which the localized N states interact with the extended states in the conduction band. We also investigated the polarization properties of the luminescence by polarized edge-emission measurements. Luminescence bands with different polarization characters arising from the electron to heavy-hole and light-hole transitions, respectively, have been identified and verify the transition assignment observed in the PLE spectrum

    Participation of women and children in hunting activities in Sierra Leone and implications for control of zoonotic infections

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    The emergence of infectious diseases of zoonotic origin highlights the need to understand social practices at the animal-human interface. This study provides a qualitative account of interactions between humans and wild animals in predominantly Mende villages of southern Sierra Leone. We conducted fieldwork over 4 months including participant and direct observations, semi-structured interviews (n = 47), spontaneously occurring focus group discussions (n = 12), school essays and informal interviews to describe behaviours that may serve as pathways for zoonotic infection. In this region, hunting is the primary form of contact with wild animals. We describe how these interactions are shaped by socio-cultural contexts, including opportunities to access economic resources and by social obligations and constraints. Our research suggests that the potential for exposure to zoonotic pathogens is more widely distributed across different age, gender and social groups than previously appreciated. We highlight the role of children in hunting, an age group that has previously not been discussed in the context of hunting. The breadth of the "at risk" population forces reconsideration of how we conceptualize, trace and monitor pathogen exposure

    Manganese-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Takotsubo Syndrome

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    Acknowledgments The authors thank the Edinburgh Imaging Facility. Sources of Funding This work and T. Singh, S. Joshi, and Drs Dweck and Newby are supported by the British Heart Foundation (grants FS/17/19/32641, CS/17/1/32445, RG/16/10/32375, RE/18/5/34216, FS/ICRF/20/26002, and FS/SCRF/21/32010). T. Singh is supported by the Medical Research Council (grant MR/T029153/1). Dr Newby is the recipient of a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (WT103782AIA). Dr McCann is supported by an NIHR Research Professorship (08-2017-ST2-007). The Edinburgh Clinical Research Facilities and Edinburgh Imaging Facility are supported by the National Health Service Research Scotland through the National Health Service Lothian Health Board.Peer reviewe

    QCD Corrections to t anti-b H^- Associated Production in e^+ e^- Annihilation

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    We calculate the QCD corrections to the cross section of e^+ e^- -> t anti-b H^- and its charge-conjugate counterpart within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. This process is particularly important if m_t b H^+ and e^+ e^- -> H^+ H^- are not allowed kinematically. Large logarithmic corrections that arise in the on-mass-shell scheme of quark mass renormalization, especially from the t anti-b H^- Yukawa coupling for large values of tan(beta), are resummed by adopting the modified minimal-subtraction scheme, so that the convergence behavior of the perturbative expansion is improved. The inclusion of the QCD corrections leads to a significant reduction of the theoretical uncertainties due to scheme and scale dependences.Comment: 21 pages (Latex), 8 figures (Postscript); detailed discussion of scheme and scale dependences adde

    Charged Higgs production from SUSY particle cascade decays at the LHC

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    We analyze the cascade decays of the scalar quarks and gluinos of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, which are abundantly produced at the Large Hadron Collider, into heavier charginos and neutralinos which then decay into the lighter ones and charged Higgs particles, and show that they can have substantial branching fractions. The production rates of these Higgs bosons can be much larger than those from the direct production mechanisms, in particular for intermediate values of the parameter tanβ\tan \beta, and could therefore allow for the detection of these particles. We also discuss charged Higgs boson production from direct two-body top and bottom squark decays as well as from two- and three-body gluino decays.Comment: 30 pages with 10 figures, latex. Uses axodraw.sty and epsfig.st

    Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Infectivity in Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)

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    Of all the species exposed naturally to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent, the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), a nondomesticated bovine from Africa, appears to be the most susceptible to the disease. We present the results of mouse bioassay studies to show that, contrary to findings in cattle with BSE in which the tissue distribution of infectivity is the most limited recorded for any of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), infectivity in greater kudu with BSE is distributed in as wide a range of tissues as occurs in any TSE. BSE agent was also detected in skin, conjunctiva, and salivary gland, tissues in which infectivity has not previously been reported in any naturally occurring TSE. The distribution of infectivity in greater kudu with BSE suggests possible routes for transmission of the disease and highlights the need for further research into the distribution of TSE infectious agents in other host species

    Schwinger-Dyson approach to non-equilibrium classical field theory

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    In this paper we discuss a Schwinger-Dyson [SD] approach for determining the time evolution of the unequal time correlation functions of a non-equilibrium classical field theory, where the classical system is described by an initial density matrix at time t=0t=0. We focus on λϕ4\lambda \phi^4 field theory in 1+1 space time dimensions where we can perform exact numerical simulations by sampling an ensemble of initial conditions specified by the initial density matrix. We discuss two approaches. The first, the bare vertex approximation [BVA], is based on ignoring vertex corrections to the SD equations in the auxiliary field formalism relevant for 1/N expansions. The second approximation is a related approximation made to the SD equations of the original formulation in terms of ϕ\phi alone. We compare these SD approximations as well as a Hartree approximation with exact numerical simulations. We find that both approximations based on the SD equations yield good agreement with exact numerical simulations and cure the late time oscillation problem of the Hartree approximation. We also discuss the relationship between the quantum and classical SD equations.Comment: 36 pages, 5 figure

    Heavy-quark mass dependence in global PDF analyses and 3- and 4-flavour parton distributions

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    We study the sensitivity of our recent MSTW 2008 NLO and NNLO PDF analyses to the values of the charm- and bottom-quark masses, and we provide additional public PDF sets for a wide range of these heavy-quark masses. We quantify the impact of varying m_c and m_b on the cross sections for W, Z and Higgs production at the Tevatron and the LHC. We generate 3- and 4-flavour versions of the (5-flavour) MSTW 2008 PDFs by evolving the input PDFs and alpha_S determined from fits in the 5-flavour scheme, including the eigenvector PDF sets necessary for calculation of PDF uncertainties. As an example of their use, we study the difference in the Z total cross sections at the Tevatron and LHC in the 4- and 5-flavour schemes. Significant differences are found, illustrating the need to resum large logarithms in Q^2/m_b^2 by using the 5-flavour scheme. The 4-flavour scheme is still necessary, however, if cuts are imposed on associated (massive) b-quarks, as is the case for the experimental measurement of Z b bbar production and similar processes.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures. Grids can be found at http://projects.hepforge.org/mstwpdf/ and in LHAPDF V5.8.4. v2: version published in EPJ
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