Pacific Ocean Forcing and Atmospheric Variability are the Dominant Causes of Spatially Widespread Droughts in the Contiguous United States

The contributions of oceanic and atmospheric variability to spatially widespread summer droughts in the contiguous United States (hereafter, pan-CONUS droughts) are investigated using 16-member ensembles of the Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3) forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from 1856 to 2012. The employed SST forcing fields are either (i) global or restricted to the (ii) tropical Pacific or (iii) tropical Atlantic to isolate the impacts of these two ocean regions on pan-CONUS droughts. Model results show that SST forcing of pan-CONUS droughts originates almost entirely from the tropical Pacific because of atmospheric highs from the northern Pacific to eastern North America established by La Nia conditions, with little contribution from the tropical Atlantic. Notably, in all three model configurations, internal atmospheric variability influences pan-CONUS drought occurrence by as much or more than the ocean forcing and can alone cause pan-CONUS droughts by establishing a dominant high centered over the US montane West. Similar results are found for the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Model results are compared to the observational record, which supports model-inferred contributions to pan-CONUS droughts from La Nias and internal atmospheric variability. While there may be an additional association with warm Atlantic SSTs in the observational record, this association is ambiguous due to the limited number of observed pan-CONUS. The ambiguity thus opens the possibility that the observational results are limited by sampling over the 20th-century and not at odds with the suggested dominance of Pacific Ocean forcing in the model ensembles

Hybridization-driven gap in U3Bi4Ni3: a 209Bi NMR/NQR study

We report 209Bi NMR and NQR measurements on a single crystal of the Kondo insulator U3Bi4Ni3. The 209Bi nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate ($T_1^{-1}$) shows activated behavior and is well-fit by a spin gap of 220 K. The 209Bi Knight shift (K) exhibits a strong temperature dependence arising from 5f electrons, in which K is negative at high temperatures and increases as the temperature is lowered. Below 50 K, K shows a broad maximum and decreases slightly upon further cooling. Our data provide insight into the evolution of the hyperfine fields in a fully gapped Kondo insulator based on 5f electron hybridization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Green/Yellow Solid State Lighting via Radiative and Nonradiative Energy Transfer Involving Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Cataloged from PDF version of article.LEDs made of In(x)Ga(1-x)N and (Al(x)Ga(1-x))(1-y)In(y)P suffer from significantly reduced quantum efficiency and luminous efficiency in the green/yellow spectral ranges. To address these problems, we present the design, growth, fabrication, hybridization, and characterization of proof-of-concept green/yellow hybrid LEDs that utilize radiative and nonradiative [Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)] energy transfers in their colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) integrated on near-UV LEDs. In our first NC-LED, we realize a color-converted LED that incorporate green-emitting CdSe/ZnS core/shell NCs (lambda(PL) = 548 nm) on near-UV InGaN/GaN LEDs (lambda(EL) = 379 nm). In our second NC-LED, we implement a color-converted FRET-enhanced LED. For that, we hybridize a custom-design assembly of cyan-and green-emitting CdSe/ZnS core/shell NCs (lambda(PL) = 490 and 548 nm) on near-UV LEDs. Using a proper mixture of differently sized NCs, we obtain a quantum efficiency enhancement of 9% by recycling trapped excitons via FRET. With FRET-NC-LEDs, we show that it is possible to obtain a luminous efficacy of 425 lm/W(opt) and a luminous efficiency of 94 lm/W, using near-UV LEDs with a 40% external quantum efficiency. Finally, we investigate FRET-converted light-emitting structures that use nonradiative energy transfer directly from epitaxial quantum wells to colloidal NCs. These proof-of-concept demonstrations show that FRET-based NC-LEDs hold promise for efficient solid-state lighting in green/yellow

Electric field dependent radiative decay kinetics of polar InGaN/GaN quantum heterostructures at low fields

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Electric field dependent photoluminescence decay kinetics and its radiative component are studied in polar InGaN/GaN quantum heterostructures at low fields. Under externally applied electric field lower than polarization fields, spectrally and time resolved photoluminescence measurements are taken to retrieve internal quantum efficiencies and carrier lifetimes as a function of the applied field. Subsequently, relative behavior of radiative recombination lifetimes is obtained in response to the applied field. In these characterizations of polar InGaN/GaN structures, we observe that both the carrier lifetime and the radiative recombination lifetime decrease with increasing external electric field, with the radiative component exhibiting weaker field dependence

Uncovering the Hidden Order in URu2Si2 by Impurity Doping

We report the use of impurities to probe the hidden order parameter of the strongly correlated metal URu_2Si_2 below the transition temperature T_0 ~ 17.5 K. The nature of this order parameter has eluded researchers for more than two decades, but is accompanied by the development of a partial gap in the single particle density of states that can be detected through measurements of the electronic specific heat and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate. We find that impurities in the hidden order phase give rise to local patches of antiferromagnetism. An analysis of the coupling between the antiferromagnetism and the hidden order reveals that the former is not a competing order parameter but rather a parasitic effect of the latter.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Transdiagnostic treatment of bipolar disorder and comorbid anxiety using the Unified Protocol for Emotional Disorders: A pilot feasibility and acceptability trial

BACKGROUND Comorbid anxiety in bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with greater illness severity, reduced treatment response, and greater impairment. Treating anxiety in the context of BD is crucial for improving illness course and outcomes. The current study examined the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the Unified Protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy, as an adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy for BD and comorbid anxiety disorders. METHODS Twenty-nine patients with BD and at least one comorbid anxiety disorder were randomized to pharmacotherapy treatment-as-usual (TAU) or TAU with 18 sessions of the UP (UP+TAU). All patients completed assessments every four weeks to track symptoms, functioning, emotion regulation and temperament. Linear mixed-model regressions were conducted to track symptom changes over time and to examine the relationship between emotion-related variables and treatment response. RESULTS Satisfaction ratings were equivalent for both treatment groups. Patients in the UP+TAU group evidenced significantly greater reductions over time in anxiety and depression symptoms (Cohen's d's>0.80). Baseline levels of neuroticism, perceived affective control, and emotion regulation ability predicted magnitude of symptom change for the UP+TAU group only. Greater change in perceived control of emotions and emotion regulation skills predicted greater change in anxiety related symptoms. LIMITATIONS This was a pilot feasibility and acceptability trial; results should be interpreted with caution. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with the UP+TAU was rated high in patient satisfaction, and resulted in significantly greater improvement on indices of anxiety and depression relative to TAU. This suggests that the UP may be a feasible treatment approach for BD with comorbid anxiety.This work was supported by a Postdoctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health [F32 MH098490] to K. Ellard. (F32 MH098490 - Postdoctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health)Accepted manuscrip