3,850 research outputs found
Longitudinal spin-relaxation in nitrogen-vacancy centers in electron irradiated diamond
We present systematic measurements of longitudinal relaxation rates ()
of spin polarization in the ground state of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color
center in synthetic diamond as a function of NV concentration and magnetic
field . NV centers were created by irradiating a Type 1b single-crystal
diamond along the [100] axis with 200 keV electrons from a transmission
electron microscope with varying doses to achieve spots of different NV
center concentrations. Values of () were measured for each spot as a
function of .Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
The Primordial Abundance of He4: An Update
We include new data in an updated analysis of helium in low metallicity
extragalactic HII regions with the goal of deriving the primordial abundance of
He4 (Y_P). We show that the new observations of Izotov et al (ITL) are
consistent with previous data. However they should not be taken in isolation to
determine (Y_P) due to the lack of sufficiently low metallicity points. We use
the extant data in a semi-empirical approach to bounding the size of possible
systematic uncertainties in the determination of (Y_P). Our best estimate for
the primordial abundance of He4 assuming a linear relation between He4 and O/H
is Y_P = 0.230 \pm 0.003 (stat) based on the subset of HII regions with the
lowest metallicity; for our full data set we find Y_P = 0.234 \pm 0.002 (stat).
Both values are entirely consistent with our previous results. We discuss the
implications of these values for standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN),
particularly in the context of recent measurements of deuterium in high
redshift, low metallicity QSO absorption-line systems.Comment: 26 pages, latex, 6 ps figure
Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction
Multiple use / Models / Water productivity / Research projects / Water supply / Domestic water / Irrigation water / Water governance / Poverty / Gender / Rural areas / Wells / Water harvesting / Runoff / Water storage / Water purification / Appropriate technology / Costs / Local government / Non governmental organizations / Case studies / Ehiopia / Nepal / Zimbabwe / Bolivia / India / Colombia / Thailand / South Africa
Radiation-Resistant Solar Cells - A Panel Discussion
Radiation resistant silicon cells for solar energy conversio
The He abundance in the metal-deficient blue compact dwarf galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65
We present high-quality Keck telescope spectroscopic observations of the two
metal-deficient blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65.
These data are used to derive the heavy-element and helium abundances. We find
that the oxygen abundances in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are the same,
12+logO/H=7.54+/-0.01, or Zsun/24, despite the different ionization conditions
in these galaxies. The nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance ratio in both galaxies is
logN/O=-1.64+/-0.02 and lies in the narrow range found for the other most
metal-deficient BCDs. We use the five strongest HeI emission lines 3889, 4471,
5876, 6678 and 7065, to correct self-consistently their intensities for
collisional and fluorescent enhancement mechanisms and to derive the He
abundance. Underlying stellar absorption is found to be important for the HeI
4471 emission line in both galaxies, being larger in Tol 65. The weighted He
mass fractions in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are respectively Y=0.2458+/-0.0039
and 0.2410+/-0.0050 when the three HeI emission lines, 4471, 5876 and 6678, are
used, and are, respectively, 0.2466+/-0.0043 and 0.2463+/-0.0057 when the HeI
4471 emission line is excluded. These values are in very good agreement with
recent measurements of the He mass fraction in others of the most
metal-deficient BCDs by Izotov and coworkers. We find that the combined effect
of the systematic uncertainties due to the underlying HeI stellar absorption
lines, ionization and temperature structure of the HII region and collisional
excitation of the hydrogen emission lines is likely small, not exceeding ~2%
(the error is 2sigma). Our results support the validity of the standard big
bang model of nucleosynthesis.Comment: 22 pages, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Enhancement of psychosocial treatment with D-cycloserine: models, moderators, and future directions
Advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of fear extinction have resulted in the development of d-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist, as an augmentation strategy for exposure treatment. We review a decade of research that has focused on the efficacy of DCS for augmenting the mechanisms (e.g., fear extinction) and outcome of exposure treatment across the anxiety disorders. Following a series of small-scale studies offering strong support for this clinical application, more recent larger-scale studies have yielded mixed results, with some showing weak or no effects. We discuss possible explanations for the mixed findings, pointing to both patient and session (i.e., learning experiences) characteristics as possible moderators of efficacy, and offer directions for future research in this area. We also review recent studies that have aimed to extend the work on DCS augmentation of exposure therapy for the anxiety disorders to DCS enhancement of learning-based interventions for addiction, anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia, and depression. Here, we attend to both DCS effects on facilitating therapeutic outcomes and additional therapeutic mechanisms beyond fear extinction (e.g., appetitive extinction, hippocampal-dependent learning).F31 MH103969 - NIMH NIH HHS; K24 DA030443 - NIDA NIH HHS; R34 MH099309 - NIMH NIH HHS; R34 MH086668 - NIMH NIH HHS; R21 MH102646 - NIMH NIH HHS; R34 MH099318 - NIMH NIH HH
The effect of collisional enhancement of Balmer lines on the determination of the primordial helium abundance
This paper describes a new determination of the primordial helium abundance
(Y_P), based on the abundance analysis of five metal-poor extragalactic HII
regions. For three regions of the sample (SBS 0335-052, I Zw 18, and H29) we
present tailored photoionization models based on improved calculations with
respect to previous models. In particular, we use the photoionization models to
study quantitatively the effect of collisional excitation of Balmer lines on
the determination of the helium abundance (Y) in the individual regions. This
effect is twofold: first, the intensities of the Balmer lines are enhanced with
respect to the pure recombination value, mimicking a higher hydrogen abundance;
second, the observed reddening is larger than the true extinction, due to the
differential effect of collisions on different Balmer lines. In addition to
these effects, our analysis takes into account the following features of HII
regions: (i) the temperature structure, (ii) the density structure, (iii) the
presence of neutral helium, (iv) the collisional excitation of the HeI lines,
(v) the underlying absorption of the HeI lines, and (vi) the optical thickness
of the HeI lines. The object that shows the highest increase in Y after the
inclusion of collisional effects in the analysis is SBS 0335-052, whose helium
abundance has been revised by Delta Y = +0.0107. The revised Y values for the
five objects in our sample yield an increase of +0.0035 in Y_P, giving Y_P =
0.2391 +/- 0.0020.Comment: 59 pages, 8 figures. AAS Latex. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Supra-oscillatory critical temperature dependence of Nb-Ho bilayers
We investigate the critical temperature Tc of a thin s-wave superconductor
(Nb) proximity coupled to a helical rare earth ferromagnet (Ho). As a function
of the Ho layer thickness, we observe multiple oscillations of Tc superimposed
on a slow decay, that we attribute to the influence of the Ho on the Nb
proximity effect. Because of Ho inhomogeneous magnetization, singlet and
triplet pair correlations are present in the bilayers. We take both into
consideration when solving the self consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations,
and we observe a reasonable agreement. We also observe non-trivial transitions
into the superconducting state, the zero resistance state being attained after
two successive transitions which appear to be associated with the magnetic
structure of Ho.Comment: Main article: 5 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary materials: 4 pages, 5
figure
- …