13,984 research outputs found
Double Inverse Stochastic Resonance with Dynamic Synapses
We investigate the behavior of a model neuron that receives a
biophysically-realistic noisy post-synaptic current based on uncorrelated
spiking activity from a large number of afferents. We show that, with static
synapses, such noise can give rise to inverse stochastic resonance (ISR) as a
function of the presynaptic firing rate. We compare this to the case with
dynamic synapses that feature short-term synaptic plasticity, and show that the
interval of presynaptic firing rate over which ISR exists can be extended or
diminished. We consider both short-term depression and facilitation.
Interestingly, we find that a double inverse stochastic resonance (DISR), with
two distinct wells centered at different presynaptic firing rates, can appear.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Drinking patterns among Korean adults: results of the 2009 Korean community health survey.
ObjectivesIn Korea, the proportion of deaths due to alcohol is estimated at 8.9%, far exceeding the global estimate of 3.8%. Therefore, this study was performed to examine the factors associated with low-risk, moderate-risk, and high-risk drinking patterns in Korean adults and to identify target populations for prevention and control of alcohol-related diseases and deaths.MethodsWe analyzed data from 230 715 Korean adults aged 19 years and older who participated in the 2009 Korean Community Health Survey. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between socio-demographic and health-related factors and patterns of alcohol use.ResultsA substantially larger proportion of men than women engaged in high risk (21.2% vs. 3.4%) and moderate-risk alcohol use (15.5% vs. 8.2%). In both sexes, moderate- and high-risk uses were associated with younger age, higher income, being currently employed, smoking, being overweight/obese, and good self-rated health.ConclusionsGiven the large proportion of the population that is engaging in moderate- and high-risk drinking and given the social norms that support this behavior, public health policies and campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption targeting the entire population are indicated
Reactively sputtered RuO2 diffusion barriers
The thermal stability of reactively sputtered RuO2 films is investigated from the point of view of their application as diffusion barriers in silicon contact metallizations with an Al overlayer. Backscattering spectra of Si/RuO2/Al samples and electrical measurements on shallow junction diodes with Si/TiSi2.3/RuO2/Al contacts both show that RuO2 films are effective diffusion barriers between Al and Si for 30-min annealing at temperatures as high as 600°C
Gravitational energy in a small region for the modified Einstein and Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensors
The purpose of the classical Einstein and Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensors is
for determining the gravitational energy. Neither of them can guarantee a
positive energy in holonomic frames. In the small sphere approximation, it has
been required that the quasilocal expression for the gravitational
energy-momentum density should be proportional to the Bel-Robinson tensor
. However, we propose a new tensor
which is the sum of certain tensors
and , it has certain properties
so that it gives the same gravitational "energy-momentum" content as
does. Moreover, we show that a modified Einstein
pseudotensor turns out to be one of the Chen-Nester quasilocal expressions,
while the modified Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensor becomes the Papapetrou
pseudotensor; these two modified pseudotensors have positive gravitational
energy in a small region.Comment:
WxN1–x alloys as diffusion barriers between Al and Si
Reactively sputtered tungsten nitride (WxN1–x) layers are investigated as diffusion barriers between Al overlayers and Si shallow n + -p junctions. Both amorphous W80 N20 and polycrystalline W60 N40 films were found to be very effective in preserving the integrity of the n + -p diodes for 30-min vacuum annealing up to 575 °C. Diode failure at higher temperatures is caused by localized penetration of Al into through the WxN1–x barriers. The effectiveness of the barrier decreases for polycrystalline W90 N10 and is worse for pure W
Exact Results for the Kuramoto Model with a Bimodal Frequency Distribution
We analyze a large system of globally coupled phase oscillators whose natural
frequencies are bimodally distributed. The dynamics of this system has been the
subject of long-standing interest. In 1984 Kuramoto proposed several
conjectures about its behavior; ten years later, Crawford obtained the first
analytical results by means of a local center manifold calculation.
Nevertheless, many questions have remained open, especially about the
possibility of global bifurcations. Here we derive the system's complete
stability diagram for the special case where the bimodal distribution consists
of two equally weighted Lorentzians. Using an ansatz recently discovered by Ott
and Antonsen, we show that in this case the infinite-dimensional problem
reduces exactly to a flow in four dimensions. Depending on the parameters and
initial conditions, the long-term dynamics evolves to one of three states:
incoherence, where all the oscillators are desynchronized; partial synchrony,
where a macroscopic group of phase-locked oscillators coexists with a sea of
desynchronized ones; and a standing wave state, where two counter-rotating
groups of phase-locked oscillators emerge. Analytical results are presented for
the bifurcation boundaries between these states. Similar results are also
obtained for the case in which the bimodal distribution is given by the sum of
two Gaussians.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. E Added comment
Thermal stability and nitrogen redistribution in the〈Si〉/Ti/W–N/Al metallization scheme
Backscattering spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy, and x‐ray diffraction have been used to monitor the thin‐film reactions and nitrogen redistribution in the 〈Si〉/Ti/W–N/Al metallization system. It is found that nitrogen in the W–N layer redistributes into Ti after annealing at temperatures above 500 °C. As a consequence of this redistribution of nitrogen, a significant amount of interdiffusion between Al and the underlayers is observed after annealing at 550 °C. This result contrasts markedly with that for the 〈Si〉/W–N/Al system, where no interdiffusion can be detected after the same thermal treatment. We attribute this redistribution of nitrogen to the stronger affinity of Ti for nitrogen than W. If the Ti layer is replaced by a sputtered TiSi_(2.3) film, no redistribution of nitrogen or reactions can be detected after annealing at 550 °C for 30 min
Design of a continuous-wave tunable terahertz source using waveguide-phase-matched GaAs
A novel source of continuous-wave terahertz radiation based on difference frequency generation (DFG) in GaAs crystal is proposed. Phase matching is provided using integration of appropriate optical and terahertz waveguides based on dispersive properties of GaAs. The output frequency can be tuned between 0–3.5 THz by tuning the incident wavelengths in the range of 1.5–1.6 µm
Topological superconductivity and Majorana fermions in hybrid structures involving cuprate high-T_c superconductors
The possibility of inducing topological superconductivity with cuprate
high-temperature superconductors (HTSC) is studied for various
heterostructures. We first consider a ballistic planar junction between a HTSC
and a metallic ferromagnet. We assume that inversion symmetry breaking at the
tunnel barrier gives rise to Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the barrier and
allows equal-spin triplet superconductivity to exist in the ferromagnet.
Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations are obtained by explicitly modeling the barrier,
and taking account of the transport anisotropy in the HTSC. By making use of
the self-consistent boundary conditions and solutions for the barrier and HTSC
regions, an effective equation of motion for the ferromagnet is obtained where
Andreev scattering at the barrier is incorporated as a boundary condition for
the ferromagnetic region. For a ferromagnet layer deposited on a (100) facet of
the HTSC, triplet p-wave superconductivity is induced. For the layer deposited
on a (110) facet, the induced gap does not have the p-wave orbital character,
but has an even orbital symmetry and an odd dependence on energy. For the layer
on the (001) facet, an exotic f-wave superconductivity is induced. We also
consider the induced triplet gap in a one-dimensional half-metallic nanowire
deposited on a (001) facet of a HTSC. We find that for a wire axis along the
a-axis, a robust triplet p-wave gap is induced. For a wire oriented 45 degrees
away from the a-axis the induced triplet p-wave gap vanishes. For the
appropriately oriented wire, the induced p-wave gap should give rise to
Majorana fermions at the ends of the half-metallic wire. Based on our result,
topological superconductivity in a semi-conductor nanowire may also be possible
given that it is oriented along the a-axis of the HTSC.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
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