12,395 research outputs found
Confinement of two-dimensional excitons in a non-homogeneous magnetic field
The effective Hamiltonian describing the motion of an exciton in an external
non-homogeneous magnetic field is derived. The magnetic field plays the role of
an effective potential for the exciton motion, results into an increment of the
exciton mass and modifies the exciton kinetic energy operator. In contrast to
the homogeneous field case, the exciton in a non-homogeneous magnetic field can
also be trapped in the low field region and the field gradient increases the
exciton confinement. The trapping energy and wave function of the exciton in a
GaAs two-dimensional electron gas for specific circular magnetic field
configurations are calculated. The results show than excitons can be trapped by
non-homogeneous magnetic fields, and that the trapping energy is strongly
correlated with the shape and strength of the non-homogeneous magnetic field
profile.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure
Exciton trapping in magnetic wire structures
The lateral magnetic confinement of quasi two-dimensional excitons into wire
like structures is studied. Spin effects are take into account and two
different magnetic field profiles are considered, which experimentally can be
created by the deposition of a ferromagnetic stripe on a semiconductor quantum
well with magnetization parallel or perpendicular to the grown direction of the
well. We find that it is possible to confine excitons into one-dimensional (1D)
traps. We show that the dependence of the confinement energy on the exciton
wave vector, which is related to its free direction of motion along the wire
direction, is very small. Through the application of a background magnetic
field it is possible to move the position of the trapping region towards the
edge of the ferromagnetic stripe or even underneath the stripe. The exact
position of this 1D exciton channel depends on the strength of the background
magnetic field and on the magnetic polarisation direction of the ferromagnetic
film.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, to be published in J. Phys: Condens. Matte
Experimental demonstration of a mu=-1 metamaterial lens for magnetic resonance imaging
In this work a mu=-1 metamaterial (MM) lens for magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) is demonstrated. MRI uses surface coils to detect the radiofrequency(RF)
energy absorbed and emitted by the nuclear spins in the imaged object. The
proposed MM lens manipulates the RF field detected by these surface coils, so
that the coil sensitivity and spatial localization is substantially improved.
Beyond this specific application, we feel that the reported results are the
experimental confirmation of a new concept for the manipulation of RF field in
MRI, which paves the way to many other interesting applications.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Domain wall description of superconductivity
In the present work we shall address the issue of electrical conductivity in
superconductors in the perspective of superconducting domain wall solutions in
the realm of field theory. We take our set up made out of a dynamical complex
scalar field coupled to gauge field to be responsible for superconductivity and
an extra scalar real field that plays the role of superconducting domain walls.
The temperature of the system is interpreted through the fact that the soliton
following accelerating orbits is a Rindler observer experiencing a thermal
bath.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Latex. Version to appear in PL
The Timing of Nine Globular Cluster Pulsars
We have used the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to time nine previously
known pulsars without published timing solutions in the globular clusters M62,
NGC 6544, and NGC 6624. We have full timing solutions that measure the spin,
astrometric, and (where applicable) binary parameters for six of these pulsars.
The remaining three pulsars (reported here for the first time) were not
detected enough to establish solutions. We also report our timing solutions for
five pulsars with previously published solutions, and find good agreement with
past authors, except for PSR J1701-3006B in M62. Gas in this system is probably
responsible for the discrepancy in orbital parameters, and we have been able to
measure a change in the orbital period over the course of our observations.
Among the pulsars with new solutions we find several binary pulsars with very
low mass companions (members of the so-called "black widow" class) and we are
able to place constraints on the mass-to-light ratio in two clusters. We
confirm that one of the pulsars in NGC 6624 is indeed a member of the rare
class of non-recycled pulsars found in globular clusters. We also have measured
the orbital precession and Shapiro delay for a relativistic binary in NGC 6544.
If we assume that the orbital precession can be described entirely by general
relativity, which is likely, we are able to measure the total system mass
(2.57190(73) M_sun) and companion mass (1.2064(20) M_sun), from which we derive
the orbital inclination [sin(i) = 0.9956(14)] and the pulsar mass (1.3655(21)
M_sun), the most precise such measurement ever obtained for a millisecond
pulsar. The companion is the most massive known around a fully recycled pulsar.Comment: Published in ApJ; 33 pages, 5 figures, 7 table
Constraining the relative inclinations of the planets B and C of the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12
We investigate on the relative inclination of the planets B and C orbiting
the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in connection with potential violations of the
equivalence principle (Abridged).Comment: LaTex2e, 10 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, 17 references. Small stylistic
changes. Version to appear in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (JAA
Translocating the blood-brain barrier using electrostatics
Copyright © 2012 Ribeiro,Domingues,
Freire,Santos and Castanho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.Mammalian cell membranes regulate homeostasis, protein activity, and cell signaling. The charge at the membrane surface has been correlated with these key events. Although mammalian cells are known to be slightly anionic, quantitative information on the membrane charge and the importance of electrostatic interactions in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics remain elusive. Recently, we reported for the first time that brain endothelial cells (EC) are more negatively charged than human umbilical cord cells, using zeta-potential measurements by dynamic light scattering. Here, we hypothesize that anionicity is a key feature of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and contributes to select which compounds cross into the brain. For the sake of comparison, we also studied the membrane surface charge of blood components—red blood cells (RBC), platelets, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).To further quantitatively correlate the negative zeta-potential values with membrane charge density, model membranes with different percentages of anionic lipids were also evaluated. From all the cells tested, brain cell membranes are the most anionic and those having their lipids mostly exposed, which explains why lipophilic cationic compounds are more prone to cross the blood-brain barrier.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia — Ministério da Educação e Ciência (FCT-MEC, Portugal) is acknowledged for funding (including fellowships SFRH/BD/42158/2007 to Marta M.B. Ribeiro, SFRH/BD/41750/2007 to Marco M. Domingues and SFRH/BD/70423/2010 to João M. Freire) and project PTDC/QUI-BIQ/119509/2010. Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (European Commission) is also acknowledged for funding (FP7-PEOPLE-2007-3-1-IAPP, Project 230654)
The role of organizational climate, and work–family conflict in burnout: The case of teachers
Burnout is a major concern for the scientific and educational community, as it leads to harmful consequences, both at a personal and organizational level. Several studies showed that burnout is influenced by multiple factors, including organizational climate and work–family conflict. However, studies analyzing these three variables together in the educational sector are scarce. Thus, this study aimed to analyze whether the organizational climate influenced burnout through work–family conflict. We collected data in two-time points with 253 teachers. The results showed that only the organizational climate dimensions of involvement, control, autonomy, task orientation, and physical comfort were associated with burnout. Plus, only the physical comfort and autonomy climates significantly reduced burnout via the decreases in work–family conflict. Thus, these organizational climates’ dimensions seem to be essential factors to reduce not only work–family conflict but also burnout in the educational sector. This study tested the mediating role of work–family conflict on the link between organizational climate and burnout, with a group of teachers. Additionally, the data was collected during the pandemic crisis of COVID-19.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Active split-ring metamaterial slabs for magnetic resonance imaging
In this work, it is analyzed the ability of split-ring metamaterial slabs
with zero/high permeability to reject/confine the radiofrequency magnetic field
in magnetic resonance imaging systems. Using an homogenization procedure,
split-ring slabs have been designed and fabricated to work in a 1.5T system.
Active elements consisting of pairs of crossed diodes are inserted in the
split-rings. With these elements, the permeability of the slabs can be
automatically switched between a unity value when interacting with the strong
excitation field of the transmitting body coil, and zero or high values when
interacting with the weak field produced by protons in tissue. Experiments are
shown for different configurations where these slabs can help to locally
increase the signal-to-noise-ratio.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
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