247 research outputs found
Electronic structure of superconducting graphite intercalate compounds: The role of the interlayer state
Although not an intrinsic superconductor, it has been long--known that, when
intercalated with certain dopants, graphite is capable of exhibiting
superconductivity. Of the family of graphite--based materials which are known
to superconduct, perhaps the most well--studied are the alkali metal--graphite
intercalation compounds (GIC) and, of these, the most easily fabricated is the
CK system which exhibits a transition temperature K. By increasing the alkali metal concentration (through high pressure
fabrication techniques), the transition temperature has been shown to increase
to as much as K in CNa. Lately, in an important recent
development, Weller \emph{et al.} have shown that, at ambient conditions, the
intercalated compounds \cyb and \cca exhibit superconductivity with transition
temperatures K and K respectively, in excess
of that presently reported for other graphite--based compounds. We explore the
architecture of the states near the Fermi level and identify characteristics of
the electronic band structure generic to GICs. As expected, we find that charge
transfer from the intercalant atoms to the graphene sheets results in the
occupation of the --bands. Yet, remarkably, in all those -- and only
those -- compounds that superconduct, we find that an interlayer state, which
is well separated from the carbon sheets, also becomes occupied. We show that
the energy of the interlayer band is controlled by a combination of its
occupancy and the separation between the carbon layers.Comment: 4 Figures. Please see accompanying experimental manuscript
"Superconductivity in the Intercalated Graphite Compounds C6Yb and C6Ca" by
Weller et a
Contribution to the understanding of tribological properties of graphite intercalation compounds with metal chloride
Intrinsic tribological properties of lamellar compounds are usually attributed to the presence of van der Waals gaps in their structure through which interlayer interactions are weak. The controlled variation of the distances and interactions between graphene layers by intercalation of electrophilic species in graphite is used in order to explore more deeply the friction reduction properties of low-dimensional compounds. Three graphite intercalation compounds with antimony pentachloride, iron trichloride and aluminium trichloride are studied. Their tribological properties are correlated to their structural parameters, and the interlayer interactions are deduced from ab initio bands structure calculations
Search for an annual modulation of dark-matter signals with a germanium spectrometer at the Sierra Grande Laboratory
Data collected during three years with a germanium spectrometer at the Sierra
Grande underground laboratory have been analyzed for distinctive features of
annual modulation of the signal induced by WIMP dark matter candidates. The
main motivation for this analysis was the recent suggestion by the DAMA/NaI
Collaboration that a yearly modulation signal could not be rejected at the 90%
confidence level when analyzing data obtained with a high-mass low-background
scintillator detector. We performed two different analyses of the data: First,
the statistical distribution of modulation-significance variables (expected
from an experiment running under the conditions of Sierra Grande) was compared
with the same variables obtained from the data. Second, the data were analyzed
in energy bins as an independent check of the first result and to allow for the
possibility of a crossover in the expected signal. In both cases no
statistically significant deviation from the null result was found, which could
support the hypothesis that the data contain a modulated component. A plot is
also presented to enable the comparison of these results to those of the DAMA
collaboration.Comment: New version accepted by Astroparticle Physics. Changes suggested by
the referee about the theoretical prediction of rates are included.
Conclusions remain unaffected. 14 pages, LaTeX, 7 figures. Uses epsfig macr
Analysis of acoustic emission during the melting of embedded indium particles in an aluminum matrix: a study of plastic strain accommodation during phase transformation
Acoustic emission is used here to study melting and solidification of
embedded indium particles in the size range of 0.2 to 3 um in diameter and to
show that dislocation generation occurs in the aluminum matrix to accommodate a
2.5% volume change. The volume averaged acoustic energy produced by indium
particle melting is similar to that reported for bainite formation upon
continuous cooling. A mechanism of prismatic loop generation is proposed to
accommodate the volume change and an upper limit to the geometrically necessary
increase in dislocation density is calculated as 4.1 x 10^9 cm^-2 for the
Al-17In alloy. Thermomechanical processing is also used to change the size and
distribution of the indium particles within the aluminum matrix. Dislocation
generation with accompanied acoustic emission occurs when the melting indium
particles are associated with grain boundaries or upon solidification where the
solid-liquid interfaces act as free surfaces to facilitate dislocation
generation. Acoustic emission is not observed for indium particles that require
super heating and exhibit elevated melting temperatures. The acoustic emission
work corroborates previously proposed relaxation mechanisms from prior internal
friction studies and that the superheat observed for melting of these
micron-sized particles is a result of matrix constraint.Comment: Presented at "Atomistic Effects in Migrating Interphase Interfaces -
Recent Progress and Future Study" TMS 201
Medical students’ knowledge and attitudes towards shared decision-making: results from a multinational cross-sectional survey
Introduction: We aimed to conduct a multinational cross-sectional online survey of medical students' attitudes towards, knowledge of, and experience with shared decision-making (SDM).
Methods: We conducted the survey from September 2016 until May 2017 using: 1) a convenience sample of students from four medical schools each in Canada, the US, and the Netherlands (n=12), and 2) all medical schools in the UK through the British Medical School Council (n=32). We also distributed the survey through social media.
Results: 765 students read the information sheet and 619 completed the survey. Average age was 24, 69% were female. Mean SDM knowledge score was 83.6% (range:18.8%-100%; 95% CI 82.8%-84.5%). US students had the highest knowledge scores (86.2%, 95% CI 84.8%-87.6%). The mean risk communication score was 57.4% (range: 0%-100%; 95% CI 57.4%-60.1%). Knowledge did not vary with age, race, gender, school, or school year. Attitudes were positive, except 46% believed SDM could only be done with higher educated patients and 80.9% disagreed that physician payment should be linked to SDM performance (increased with years in training, p<.05). Attitudes did not vary due to any tested variable. Students indicated they were more likely than experienced clinicians to practice SDM (72.1% vs. 48.8%). 74.7% reported prior SDM training and 82.8% were interested in learning more about SDM.
Discussion: SDM knowledge is high among medical students in all four countries. Risk communication is less well-understood. Attitudes indicate that further research is needed to understand how medical schools deliver and integrate SDM training into existing curricula
Photoperiod affects the phenotype of mitochondrial complex I mutants
Plant mutants for genes encoding subunits of mitochondrial Complex I (CI, NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase), the first enzyme of the respiratory chain, display various phenotypes depending on growth conditions. Here, we examined the impact of photoperiod, a major environmental factor controlling plant development, on two Arabidopsis thaliana CI mutants: a new insertion mutant interrupted in both ndufs8.1 and ndufs8.2 genes encoding the NDUFS8 subunit, and the previously characterized ndufs4 CI mutant. In long day (LD) condition, both ndufs8.1 and ndufs8.2 single mutants were indistinguishable from Col-0 at phenotypic and biochemical levels, whereas the ndufs8.1 ndufs8.2 double mutant was devoid of detectable holo-CI assembly/activity, showed higher AOX content/activity and displayed a growth-retardation phenotype similar to that of the ndufs4 mutant. Although growth was more affected in ndufs4 than ndufs8.1 ndufs8.2 under short day (SD) condition, both mutants displayed a similar impairment of growth acceleration after transfer to LD as compared to the WT. Untargeted and targeted metabolomics showed that overall metabolism was less responsive to the SD-to-LD transition in mutants than in the WT. The typical LD acclimation of carbon, nitrogen-assimilation and redox-related parameters was not observed in ndufs8.1 ndufs8. Similarly, NAD(H) content, that was higher in SD condition in both mutants than in Col-0, did not adjust under LD. We propose that altered redox homeostasis and NAD(H) content/redox state control the phenotype of Complex I mutants and photoperiod acclimation in Arabidopsis
Inducible NAD overproduction in Arabidopsis alters metabolic pools and gene expression correlated with increased salicylate content and resistance to Pst-AvrRpm1
Plant development and function are underpinned by redox reactions that depend on co-factors such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). NAD has recently been shown to be involved in several signalling pathways that are associated with stress tolerance or defence responses. However, the mechanisms by which NAD influences plant gene regulation, metabolism and physiology still remain unclear. Here, we took advantage of Arabidopsis thaliana lines that overexpressed the nadC gene from E. coli, which encodes the NAD biosynthesis enzyme quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase (QPT). Upon incubation with quinolinate, these lines accumulated NAD and were thus used as inducible systems to determine the consequences of an increased NAD content in leaves. Metabolic profiling showed clear changes in several metabolites such as aspartate-derived amino acids and NAD-derived nicotinic acid. Large-scale transcriptomic analyses indicated that NAD promoted the induction of various pathogen-related genes such as the salicylic acid (SA)-responsive defence marker PR1. Extensive comparison with transcriptomic databases further showed that gene expression under high NAD content was similar to that obtained under biotic stress, eliciting conditions or SA treatment. Upon inoculation with the avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Pst-AvrRpm1, the nadC lines showed enhanced resistance to bacteria infection and exhibited an ICS1-dependent build-up of both conjugated and free SA pools. We therefore concluded that higher NAD contents are beneficial for plant immunity by stimulating SA-dependent signalling and pathogen resistance
The Swarm Initial Field Model for the 2014 geomagnetic field
Data from the first year of ESA's Swarm constellation mission are used to derive the Swarm Initial Field Model (SIFM), a new model of the Earth's magnetic field and its time variation. In addition to the conventional magnetic field observations provided by each of the three Swarm satellites, explicit advantage is taken of the constellation aspect by including east-west magnetic intensity gradient information from the lower satellite pair. Along-track differences in magnetic intensity provide further information concerning the north-south gradient. The SIFM static field shows excellent agreement (up to at least degree 60) with recent field models derived from CHAMP data, providing an initial validation of the quality of the Swarm magnetic measurements. Use of gradient data improves the determination of both the static field and its secular variation, with the mean misfit for east-west intensity differences between the lower satellite pair being only 0.12 nT
Cosmic dust grains strike again
A detailed simulation of air showers produced by dust grains has been
performed by means of the {\sc aires} Monte Carlo code with the aim of
comparing with experimental data. Our analysis indicates that extensive dust
grain air showers must yet be regarded as highly speculative but they cannot be
completely ruled out.Comment: Improved revised version with comments by an anonymous referee.
Accepted for publication in Physical review
Use of Ørsted scalar data in evaluating the pre-Ørsted main field candidate models for the IGRF 2000
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