2,759 research outputs found
Fabrication of high performance MgB2 wires by an internal Mg diffusion process
We succeeded in the fabrication of high-Jc MgB2/Fe wires applying the
internal Mg diffusion (IMD) process with pure Mg core and SiC addition. A pure
Mg rod with 2 mm diameter was placed at the center of a Fe tube, and the space
between Mg and Fe tube was filled with B powder or the powder mixture of
B-(5mol%)SiC. The composite was cold worked into 1.2mm diameter wire and
finally heat treated at temperatures above the melting point of Mg(~650oC).
During the heat treatment liquid Mg infiltrated into B layer and reacted with B
to form MgB2. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the major phase in the
reacted layer is MgB2. SEM analysis shows that the density of MgB2 layer is
higher than that of usual powder-in-tube(PIT) processed wires. The wires with
5mol% SiC addition heat treated at 670oC showed Jc values higher than 105A/cm2
in 8T and 41,000A/cm2 in 10T at 4.2K. These values are much higher than those
of usual PIT processed wires even compared to the ones with SiC addition.
Higher density of MgB2 layer obtained by the diffusion reaction is the major
cause of this excellent Jc values.Comment: 7page, 6figure
Time-reversal symmetry breaking in circuit-QED based photon lattices
Breaking time-reversal symmetry is a prerequisite for accessing certain
interesting many-body states such as fractional quantum Hall states. For
polaritons, charge neutrality prevents magnetic fields from providing a direct
symmetry breaking mechanism and similar to the situation in ultracold atomic
gases, an effective magnetic field has to be synthesized. We show that in the
circuit QED architecture, this can be achieved by inserting simple
superconducting circuits into the resonator junctions. In the presence of such
coupling elements, constant parallel magnetic and electric fields suffice to
break time-reversal symmetry. We support these theoretical predictions with
numerical simulations for realistic sample parameters, specify general
conditions under which time-reversal is broken, and discuss the application to
chiral Fock state transfer, an on-chip circulator, and tunable band structure
for the Kagome lattice.Comment: minor revisions, version published in PRA; 19 pages, 13 figures, 2
table
Bureaucratic structures and organizational commitment: findings from a comparative study of 20 European countries
Do civil servants in some countries have higher organizational commitment? Is there any substantial cross-national variation in the form and degree of commitment? Good governance studies show a positive link between Weberian bureaucracy and favourable macro-level outcomes. However, previous comparative research is silent regarding cross-national differences of individual bureaucrats’ attitudes and their relationship with national bureaucratic structures. Employing social exchange theory, we argue that closed civil service systems produce higher commitment in senior public officials than open systems do. Using two large data sets in 20 European countries, we find closed systems are associated with continuance and normative commitment.The politics and administration of institutional chang
Potential identity of multi-potential cancer stem-like subpopulation after radiation of cultured brain glioma
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most frequently encountered brain cancer. Although the existence of cancer stem cells in GBM has been previously established, there is little evidence to explain the difference between cancer stem cells and radio-resistant cells in GBM. In an effort to increase our understanding of whether cellular radio-resistance is a characteristic associated with cancer stem cells, we developed a dissociated cell system of subpopulations derived from GBM, and demonstrated radiotherapy resistance therein.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The radio-resistant cancer cell subpopulations of GBM abundantly express CD133, CD117, CD71, and CD45 surface markers, and these radio-resistant cancer cell subpopulations have the capacity for extensive proliferation, self-renewal, and pluripotency. These radio-resistant cancer subpopulations have been shown to initiate tumorigenesis when transplanted into SCID mouse brains. Moreover, these tumors evidenced highly peculiar nest-like shapes harboring both vascular and cancerous tissue structures, which expressed the blood vessel specific marker, the von Willebrand factor. Accordingly, subpopulations of radio-resistant cells in GBM have been shown to be very similar to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the circulating blood. This similarity may contribute to increased tumor growth and GBM recurrence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of the present study provide further evidence for radio resistant subpopulations of cancer stem cells in GBM. Also, our results will assist in the identification and characterization of cancer stem cell populations in glioma, and will help to improve the therapeutic outcomes of GBM.</p
Energy exchange during stimulated Raman scattering of a relativistic laser in a plasma
Energy exchange between pump and daughter waves during the stimulated Raman scattering process in a plasma is investigated, including the effect of a damping coefficient of electron-ion collision at different initial three-wave phases. To obey the energy and momentum conservations, the resonance conditions are satisfied at an optimal initial phase difference between the interacting waves. The amplitudes of the interacting waves exhibit behaviors such as a parametric oscillator. The variations in initial three-wave phase difference generate a phase mismatch, which enhances the rate of the amplitude variations of the interacting waves. The relativistic mass effect modifies the dispersion relations of the interacting waves, and consequently the energy exchange during the stimulated Raman scattering is affected. The collisional damping in the plasma is shown to have an important effect on the evolution of the interacting waves.open91
Onset of stimulated Raman scattering of a laser in a plasma in the presence of hot drifting electrons
Stimulated Raman scattering of a laser in plasmas with energetic drifting electrons was investigated by analyzing the growth of interacting waves during the Raman scattering process. The Langmuir wave and scattered electromagnetic sideband wave grow initially and are dampened after attaining a maximum level that indicates a periodic exchange of energy between the pump wave and the daughter waves. The presence of energetic drifting electrons in the laser-produced plasma influences the stimulated Raman scattering process. The plasma wave generated by Raman scattering may be influenced by the energetic electrons, which enhance the growth rate of the instability. Our results show that the presence of energetic (hot) drifting electrons in a plasma has an important effect on the evolution of the interacting waves. This phenomenon is modeled via two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the propagation and interaction of the laser under Raman instability. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLCopen
Effective thermodynamics of strongly coupled qubits
Interactions between a quantum system and its environment at low temperatures
can lead to violations of thermal laws for the system. The source of these
violations is the entanglement between system and environment, which prevents
the system from entering into a thermal state. On the other hand, for two-state
systems, we show that one can define an effective temperature, placing the
system into a `pseudo-thermal' state where effective thermal laws are upheld.
We then numerically explore these assertions for an n-state system inspired by
the spin-boson environment.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
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