323 research outputs found
Temperature dependent resistivity of spin-split subbands in GaAs 2D hole system
We calculate the temperature dependent resistivity in spin-split subbands
induced by the inversion asymmetry of the confining potential in GaAs 2D hole
systems. By considering both temperature dependent multisubband screening of
impurity disorder and hole-hole scattering we find that the strength of the
metallic behavior depends on the symmetry of the confining potential (i.e.,
spin-splitting) over a large range of hole density. At low density above the
metal-insulator transition we find that effective disorder reduces the
enhancement of the metallic behavior induced by spin-splitting. Our theory is
in good qualitative agreement with existing experiments
Mechanism of Action and Structural Requirements of Constrained Peptide Inhibitors of RGS Proteins
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66199/1/j.1747-0285.2006.00373.x.pd
Metallicity and its low temperature behavior in dilute 2D carrier systems
We theoretically consider the temperature and density dependent transport
properties of semiconductor-based 2D carrier systems within the RPA-Boltzmann
transport theory, taking into account realistic screened charged impurity
scattering in the semiconductor. We derive a leading behavior in the transport
property, which is exact in the strict 2D approximation and provides a zeroth
order explanation for the strength of metallicity in various 2D carrier
systems. By carefully comparing the calculated full nonlinear temperature
dependence of electronic resistivity at low temperatures with the corresponding
asymptotic analytic form obtained in the limit, both within the
RPA screened charged impurity scattering theory, we critically discuss the
applicability of the linear temperature dependent correction to the low
temperature resistivity in 2D semiconductor structures. We find quite generally
that for charged ionized impurity scattering screened by the electronic
dielectric function (within RPA or its suitable generalizations including local
field corrections), the resistivity obeys the asymptotic linear form only in
the extreme low temperature limit of . We point out the
experimental implications of our findings and discuss in the context of the
screening theory the relative strengths of metallicity in different 2D systems.Comment: We have substantially revised this paper by adding new materials and
figures including a detailed comparison to a recent experimen
Collisional Velocities and Rates in Resonant Planetesimal Belts
We consider a belt of small bodies around a star, captured in one of the
external or 1:1 mean-motion resonances with a massive perturber. The objects in
the belt collide with each other. Combining methods of celestial mechanics and
statistical physics, we calculate mean collisional velocities and collisional
rates, averaged over the belt. The results are compared to collisional
velocities and rates in a similar, but non-resonant belt, as predicted by the
particle-in-a-box method. It is found that the effect of the resonant lock on
the velocities is rather small, while on the rates more substantial. The
collisional rates between objects in an external resonance are by about a
factor of two higher than those in a similar belt of objects not locked in a
resonance. For Trojans under the same conditions, the collisional rates may be
enhanced by up to an order of magnitude. Our results imply, in particular,
shorter collisional lifetimes of resonant Kuiper belt objects in the solar
system and higher efficiency of dust production by resonant planetesimals in
debris disks around other stars.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures (some of them heavily compressed to fit into
arxiv-maximum filesize), accepted for publication at "Celestial Mechanics and
Dynamical Astronomy
Image labeling and grouping by minimizing linear functionals over cones
We consider energy minimization problems related to image labeling, partitioning, and grouping, which typically show up at mid-level stages of computer vision systems. A common feature of these problems is their intrinsic combinatorial complexity from an optimization pointof-view. Rather than trying to compute the global minimum - a goal we consider as elusive in these cases - we wish to design optimization approaches which exhibit two relevant properties: First, in each application a solution with guaranteed degree of suboptimality can be computed. Secondly, the computations are based on clearly defined algorithms which do not comprise any (hidden) tuning parameters. In this paper, we focus on the second property and introduce a novel and general optimization technique to the field of computer vision which amounts to compute a sub optimal solution by just solving a convex optimization problem. As representative examples, we consider two binary quadratic energy functionals related to image labeling and perceptual grouping. Both problems can be considered as instances of a general quadratic functional in binary variables, which is embedded into a higher-dimensional space such that sub optimal solutions can be computed as minima of linear functionals over cones in that space (semidefinite programs). Extensive numerical results reveal that, on the average, sub optimal solutions can be computed which yield a gap below 5% with respect to the global optimum in case where this is known
Is aristolochic acid nephropathy a widespread problem in developing countries? A case study of Aristolochia indica L. in Bangladesh using an ethnobotanical - phytochemical approach
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Species of Aristolochia are associated with aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN), a renal interstitial fibrosis and upper urinary tract cancer (UUC). Aristolochic acid nephropathy has been reported in ten countries but its true incidence is unknown and most likely underestimated. By combining an ethnobotanical and phytochemical approach we provide evidence for the risk of AAN occurring in Bangladesh. More specifically, we assess the intra-specific variation of aristolochic acid analogues in medicinally used A. indica samples from Bangladesh.
Materials and Methods: Ethnobotanical information was collected from 16 kavirajes (traditional healers) in different study locations in Bangladesh. Plant samples were obtained from native habitats, botanical gardens, herbal markets and pharmaceutical companies. The samples were extracted using 70% methanol and were analysed using LC-DAD-MS and 1H-NMR.
Results: Roots as well as leaves are commonly used for symptoms such as snake bites and sexual problems. Among the informants knowledge about toxicity or side effects is very limited and A. indica is often administered in very high doses. Replacement of A. indica with other medicinal plants such as Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz was common. A. indica samples contained a variety of aristolochic acid analogues such as aristolochic acid I, aristolochic acid II, cepharadione A and related compounds.
Conclusions: AAN cases are likely to occur in Bangladesh and more awareness needs to be raised about the health risks associated with the use of A. indica and other species of Aristolochia as herbal medicines
T2 relaxation times of knee cartilage in 109 patients with knee pain and its association with disease characteristics
Background and purpose â Quantitative T2 mapping MRI of cartilage has proven value for the assessment of early osteoarthritis changes in research. We evaluated knee cartilage T2 relaxation times in a clinical population with knee complaints and its association with patients and disease characteristics and clinical symptoms. Patients and methods â In this cross-sectional study, T2 mapping knee scans of 109 patients with knee pain who were referred for an MRI by an orthopedic surgeon were collected. T2 relaxation times were calculated in 6 femoral and tibial regions of interest of full-thickness tibiofemoral cartilage. Its associations with age, sex, BMI, duration of complaints, disease onset (acute/chronic), and clinical symptoms were assessed with multivariate regression analysis. Subgroups were created of patients with abnormalities expected to cause predominantly medial or lateral tibiofemoral cartilage ch
Detection of knee synovitis using non-contrast-enhanced qDESS compared with contrast-enhanced MRI
Background: To assess diagnostic accuracy of quantitative double-echo in steady-state (qDESS) MRI for detecting synovitis in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Patients with different degrees of radiographic knee OA were included prospectively. All underwent MRI with both qDESS and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI). A linear combination of the two qDESS images can be used to create an image that displays contrast between synovium and the synovial fluid. Synovitis on both qDESS and CE-MRI was assessed semi-quantitatively, using a whole-knee synovitis sum score, indicating no/equivocal, mild, moderate, and severe synovitis. The correlation between sum scores of qDESS and CE-MRI (reference standard) was determined using Spearmanâs rank correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient for absolute agreement. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of qDESS for detecting different degrees of synovitis, with CE-MRI as reference standard. Results: In the 31 patients included, very strong correlation was found between synovitis sum scores on qDESS and CE-MRI (Ï = 0.96, p < 0.001), with high absolute agreement (0.84 (95%CI 0.14â0.95)). Mean sum score (SD) values on qDESS 5.16 (3.75) were lower than on CE-MRI 7.13 (4.66), indicating systematically underestimated synovitis severity on qDESS. For detecting mild synovitis or higher, high sensitivity and specificity were found for qDESS (1.00 (95%CI 0.80â1.00) and 0.909 (0.571â1.00), respectively). For detecting moderate synovitis or higher, sensitivity and specificity were good (0.727 (95%CI 0.393â0.927) and 1.00 (0.800â1.00), respectively). Conclusion: qDESS MRI is able to, however with an underestimation, detect synovitis in patients with knee OA
Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory
Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for
anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The
exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly
larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support
previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an
upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic
Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from
Sagittarius . Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and
fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing
accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not
show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio
Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density,
affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic
rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air
showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The
rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find
that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects
associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the
longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere
radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is
validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric
profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
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