393 research outputs found
Associations between BMI, Body Composition, Sleep and Physical Activity in College Students
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Spin relaxation of two-dimensional holes in strained asymmetric SiGe quantum wells
We analyze spin splitting of the two-dimensional hole spectrum in strained
asymmetric SiGe quantum wells (QWs). Based on the Luttinger Hamiltonian, we
obtain expressions for the spin-splitting parameters up to the third order in
the in-plane hole wavevector. The biaxial strain of SiGe QWs is found to be a
key parameter that controls spin splitting. Application to SiGe field-effect
transistor structures indicates that typical spin splitting at room temperature
varies from a few tenth of meV in the case of Si QW channels to several meV for
the Ge counterparts, and can be modified efficiently by gate-controlled
variation of the perpendicular confining electric field. The analysis also
shows that for sufficiently asymmetric QWs, spin relaxation is due mainly to
the spin-splitting related D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism. In strained Si QWs, our
estimation shows that the hole spin relaxation time can be on the order of a
hundred picoseconds at room temperature, suggesting that such structures are
suitable for p-type spin transistor applications as well
Regression models for linking patterns of growth to a later outcome:Infant growth and childhood overweight
Abstract Background Regression models are widely used to link serial measures of anthropometric size or changes in size to a later outcome. Different parameterisations of these models enable one to target different questions about the effect of growth, however, their interpretation can be challenging. Our objective was to formulate and classify several sets of parameterisations by their underlying growth pattern contrast, and to discuss their utility using an expository example. Methods We describe and classify five sets of model parameterisations in accordance with their underlying growth pattern contrast (conditional growth; being bigger v being smaller; becoming bigger and staying bigger; growing faster v being bigger; becoming and staying bigger versus being bigger). The contrasts are estimated by including different sets of repeated measures of size and changes in size in a regression model. We illustrate these models in the setting of linking infant growth (measured on 6 occasions: birth, 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months) in weight-for-height-for-age z-scores to later childhood overweight at 8y using complete cases from the Norwegian Childhood Growth study (n = 900). Results In our expository example, conditional growth during all periods, becoming bigger in any interval and staying bigger through infancy, and being bigger from birth were all associated with higher odds of later overweight. The highest odds of later overweight occurred for individuals who experienced high conditional growth or became bigger in the 3 to 6 month period and stayed bigger, and those who were bigger from birth to 24 months. Comparisons between periods and between growth patterns require large sample sizes and need to consider how to scale associations to make comparisons fair; with respect to the latter, we show one approach. Conclusion Studies interested in detrimental growth patterns may gain extra insight from reporting several sets of growth pattern contrasts, and hence an approach that incorporates several sets of model parameterisations. Co-efficients from these models require careful interpretation, taking account of the other variables that are conditioned on
Resonance-like electrical control of electron spin for microwave measurement
We demonstrate that the spin-polarized electron current can interact with a
microwave electric field in a resonant manner. The spin-orbit interaction gives
rise to an effective magnetic field proportional to the electric current. In
the presence of both dc and ac electric field components, electron spin
resonance occurs if the ac frequency matches with the spin precession frequency
that is controlled by the dc field. In a device consisting of two
spin-polarized contacts connected by a two-dimensional channel, this mechanism
allows electrically tuned detection of the ac signal frequency and amplitude.
For GaAs, such detection is effective in the frequency domain around tens of
gigahertz.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Effects of external radiation on biased Aharonov-Bohm rings
We consider the currents flowing in a solid-state interferometer under the
effect of both an Aharonov-Bohm phase and a bias potential. Expressions are
obtained for these currents, allowing for electronic or electron-boson
interactions, which may take place solely on a quantum dot placed on one of the
interferometer arms. The boson system can be out of equilibrium. The results
are used to obtain the transport current through the interferometer, and the
current circulating around it under the effect of the Aharonov-Bohm flux. The
modifications of both currents, brought about by coupling the quantum dot to an
incoherent sonic or electromagnetic source, are then analyzed. By choosing the
appropriate range of the boson source intensity and its frequency, the
magnitude of the interference-related terms of both currents can be controlled.Comment: 18 pages, one figur
Parent Body Influences on Amino Acids in the Tagish Lake Meteorite
The Tagish Lake meteorite is a primitive C2 carbonaceous chondrite with a mineralogy, oxygen isotope, and bulk chemical. However, in contrast to many CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites, the Tagish Lake meteorite was reported to have only trace levels of indigenous amino acids, with evidence for terrestrial L-amino acid contamination from the Tagish Lake meltwater. The lack of indigenous amino acids in Tagish Lake suggested that they were either destroyed during parent body alteration processes and/or the Tagish Lake meteorite originated on a chemically distinct parent body from CI and CM meteorites where formation of amino acids was less favorable. We recently measured the amino acid composition of three different lithologies (11h, 5b, and 11i) of pristine Tagish Lake meteorite fragments that represent a range of progressive aqueous alteration in order 11h < 5b < 11i as inferred from the mineralogy, petrology, bulk isotopes, and insoluble organic matter structure. The distribution and enantiomeric abundances of the one- to six-carbon aliphatic amino acids found in hot-water extracts of the Tagish Lake fragments were determined by ultra performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection and time of flight mass spectrometry coupled with OPA/NAC derivatization. Stable carbon isotope analyses of the most abundant amino acids in 11h were measured with gas chromatography coupled with quadrupole mass spectrometry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Electron-phonon interaction via Pekar mechanism in nanostructures
We consider an electron-acoustic phonon coupling mechanism associated with
the dependence of crystal dielectric permittivity on the strain (the so-called
Pekar mechanism) in nanostructures characterized by strong confining electric
fields. The efficiency of Pekar coupling is a function of both the absolute
value and the spatial distribution of the electric field. It is demonstrated
that this mechanism exhibits a phonon wavevector dependence similar to that of
piezoelectricity and must be taken into account for electron transport
calculations in an extended field distribution. In particular, we analyze the
role of Pekar coupling in energy relaxation in silicon inversion layers.
Comparison with the recent experimental results is provided to illustrate its
potential significance
Low-temperature heat transfer in nanowires
The new regime of low-temperature heat transfer in suspended nanowires is
predicted. It takes place when (i) only ``acoustic'' phonon modes of the wire
are thermally populated and (ii) phonons are subject to the effective elastic
scattering. Qualitatively, the main peculiarities of heat transfer originate
due to appearance of the flexural modes with high density of states in the wire
phonon spectrum. They give rise to the temperature dependence of the
wire thermal conductance. The experimental situations where the new regime is
likely to be detected are discussed.Comment: RevTex file, 1 PS figur
Distribution of Amino Acids in Lunar Regolith
One of the most eagerly studied questions upon initial return of lunar samples was whether significant amounts of organic compounds, including amino acids, were present. Analyses during the 1970s produced only tentative and inconclusive identifications of indigenous amino acids. Those analyses were hampered by analytical difficulties including relative insensitivity to certain compounds, the inability to separate chiral enantiomers, and the lack of compound-specific isotopic measurements, which made it impossible to determine whether the detected amino acids were indigenous to the lunar samples or the results of contamination. Numerous advances have been made in instrumentation and methodology for amino acid characterization in extraterrestrial samples in the intervening years, yet the origin of amino acids in lunar regolith samples has been revisited only once for a single lunar sample, (3) and remains unclear. Here, we present initial data from the analyses of amino acid abundances in 12 lunar regolith samples. We discuss these abundances in the context of four potential amino acid sources: (1) terrestrial biological contamination; (2) contamination from lunar module (LM) exhaust; (3) derivation from solar windimplanted precursors; and (4) exogenous delivery from meteorites
Domain Engineering of Physical Vapor Deposited Two-Dimensional Materials
Physical vapor deposited two-dimensional (2D) materials span larger areas compared to exfoliated flakes, but suffer from very small grain or domain sizes. In this letter, we fabricate freestanding molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and amorphous boron nitride (BN) specimens to expose both surfaces. We performed in situ heating in a transmission electron microscope to observe the domain restructuring in real time. The freestanding MoS2 specimens showed up to 100× increase in domain size, while the amorphous BN transformed in to polycrystalline hexagonal BN (h-BN) at temperatures around 600 °C much lower than the 850–1000 °C range cited in the literature
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