327 research outputs found
Nano Electro Mechanical Devices for Physical and Chemical Sensing
The emergence of MEMS in consumer applications has dramatically increased market perspectives but also puts very strong constraints on cost and integration issues. Addressing these issues through further size reduction is not always relevant as it does not allow maintaining a correct signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the ubiquitous capacitive MEMS sensors. Different solutions are presented here according to the nature of the signal to be sensed: For physical sensors a new concept mixing a micron sized proof mass and a nano-sized detection structure is described. For chemical sensors, the reduction in size actually presents some advantages in terms of high resonant frequency, reduced gas damping, and high sensitivity to applied forces or added mass. Application of nano-resonators to gaz sensing is depicted. Developed originally at the end of the 80's, Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have by now given rise to a mature industry generating this year almost a 10 billion US$ turnover: Silicon micromachining techniques made possible the realisation of ultra-miniature and low cost sensors that allowed the deployment of airbags in cars (MEMS accelerometers are used there to measure the deceleration related to an accident), and more recently, new functions in smart phones. This deployment in large volume applications has triggered interest from large semiconductor industries (STM, TI, FreescaleâŠ) and a strong competition towards lower cost and higher integration: The new Grail of the industry is the realization of a 9 Degrees of Freedom sensor, combining the measurement in the 3 directions of space of acceleration, rotation speed and earth magnetic field. As inspired by the semiconductor industry, an obvious answer to these needs is to further decrease the size of the sensors, from Micro to Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS). However, even taking apart the technological challenges, this is not that simple as physics laws are not always in favour of scaling down: A simple homothetic size reduction does not allow maintaining a correct signal to noise ratio (SNR). As it will be seen here, different types of sensors require different approaches. Nano size detection for physical sensors. As mentioned before, inertial sensors are becoming one of the most ubiquitous sensor today, with applications in industrial, automotive or consumer applications. Further miniaturization is highly sought, as it allows both to decrease the cost (proportional to the surface of silicon) and increase integration (mandatory in portable applications such as smartphones, tabletsâŠ). However simple reduction of the seismic mass affects the sensitivity and reduces the nominal capacitance (95% of commercial MEM
Chain-Boundary Excitations in the Haldane Phase of 1D Systems
The chain-boundary excitations occurring in the Haldane phaseof
antiferromagnetic spin chains are investigated. The bilinear-biquadratic
hamiltonian is used to study these excitations as a function of the strength of
the biquadratic term, , between . At the AKLT point,
, we show explicitly that these excitations are localized at the
boundaries of the chain on a length scale equal to the correlation length
, and that the on-site magnetization for the first site is
. Applying the density matrixrenormalization group we show that
the chain-boundaryexcitations remain localized at the boundaries for
. As the two critical points are approached the
size of the objects diverges and their amplitude vanishes.Comment: 4 Pages, 4 eps figures. Uses RevTeX 3.0. Submitted to PR
Childrenâs, parentsâ and educatorsâ understandings and experiences of digital resilience: A systematic review and meta-ethnography
Supporting children to be digitally resilient when facing online adversity is an increasingly important developmental task. However, conceptual knowledge underpinning digital resilience and how this operates among children and across their home, community and societal contexts is embryonic. A systematic review and meta-ethnography of research focusing on the understandings and experiences of digital resilience of children aged 8â12, their parents and educators identified 11 studies conducted since 2011 across 14 countries. Four main themes, âUsing connective technologiesâ, âRisky online experiencesâ, âMediation strategiesâ (comprised of sub-themes âProactive copingâ and âReactive copingâ), and âRisk and protective factorsâ were constructed from our translation of first- and second-order constructs, with the overarching theme âConstant balancingâ cross-cutting these themes. We argue one cannot have risky online experiences without the potential to develop digital resilience and vice versa. Insofar as current conceptualisations of digital resilience underestimate the role played by wider contexts, important knowledge gaps are highlighted
Magnetization profiles and NMR spectra of doped Haldane chains at finite temperatures
Open segments of S=1 antiferromagnetic spin chains are studied at finite
temperatures and fields using continuous time Quantum Monte Carlo techniques.
By calculating the resulting magnetization profiles for a large range of chain
lengths with fixed field and temperature we reconstruct the experimentally
measured NMR spectrum of impurity doped YBaNiMgO. For
temperatures above the gap the calculated NMR spectra are in excellent
agreement with the experimental results, confirming the existence of
excitations at the end of open S=1 chain segments. At temperatures below the
gap, neglecting inter chain couplings, we still find well defined peaks in the
calculated NMR spectra corresponding to the chain end excitations. At
low temperatures, inter chain couplings could be important, resulting in a more
complicated phase.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, minor correction
Comparison of S=0 and S=1/2 Impurities in Haldane Chain Compound,
We present the effect of Zn (S=0) and Cu (S=1/2) substitution at the Ni site
of S=1 Haldane chain compound . Y NMR allows us to
measure the local magnetic susceptibility at different distances from the
defects. The Y NMR spectrum consists of one central peak and several
less intense satellite peaks. The shift of the central peak measures the
uniform susceptibility, which displays a Haldane gap 100 K and it
corresponds to an AF coupling J260 K between the near-neighbor Ni spins.
Zn or Cu substitution does not affect the Haldane gap. The satellites, which
are evenly distributed on the two sides of the central peak, probe the
antiferromagnetic staggered magnetization near the substituted site, which
decays exponentially. Its extension is found identical for both impurities and
corresponds accurately to the correlation length (T) determined by Monte
Carlo (QMC) simulations for the pure compound. In the case of non-magnetic Zn,
the temperature dependence of the induced magnetization is consistent with a
Curie law with an "effective" spin S=0.4 on each side of Zn, which is well
accounted by Quantum Monte Carlo computations of the spinless-defect-induced
magnetism. In the case of magnetic Cu, the similarity of the induced magnetism
to the Zn case implies a weak coupling of the Cu spin to the nearest- neighbor
Ni spins. The slight reductionin the induced polarization with respect to Zn is
reproduced by QMC computations by considering an antiferromagnetic coupling of
strength J'=0.1-0.2 J between the S=1/2 Cu-spin and nearest-neighbor Ni-spin.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Evaluation of rare earth doped silica sub-micrometric spheres as optically controlled temperature sensors
We report on the evaluation of rare earth (Er3ĂŸ, Eu3ĂŸ, and Tb3ĂŸ ions) SiO2 sub-micrometric
spheres as potential optically controllable temperature sensors. Details about fabrication, optical
manipulation and spectroscopic characterization of the sub-micrometric spheres are presented.
The fluorescence properties of the micros-spheres in the biological range (25â60 C) have been
systematically investigated. From this systematic study, the thermal resolution potentially
achieved in each case has been determined and compared to previous works
Density-Matrix Renormalization-Group Analysis of Quantum Critical Points: I. Quantum Spin Chains
We present a simple method, combining the density-matrix
renormalization-group (DMRG) algorithm with finite-size scaling, which permits
the study of critical behavior in quantum spin chains. Spin moments and
dimerization are induced by boundary conditions at the chain ends and these
exhibit power-law decay at critical points. Results are presented for the
spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet; an analytic calculation shows that
logarithmic corrections to scaling can sometimes be avoided. We also examine
the spin-1 chain at the critical point separating the Haldane gap and dimerized
phases. Exponents for the dimer-dimer and the spin-spin correlation functions
are consistent with results obtained from bosonization.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, new results and added references, to appear in
PR
Liver PPARα is crucial for whole-body fatty acid homeostasis and is protective against NAFLD.
OBJECTIVE: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is a nuclear receptor expressed in tissues with high oxidative activity that plays a central role in metabolism. In this work, we investigated the effect of hepatocyte PPARα on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
DESIGN: We constructed a novel hepatocyte-specific PPARα knockout (Pparα(hep-/-)) mouse model. Using this novel model, we performed transcriptomic analysis following fenofibrate treatment. Next, we investigated which physiological challenges impact on PPARα. Moreover, we measured the contribution of hepatocytic PPARα activity to whole-body metabolism and fibroblast growth factor 21 production during fasting. Finally, we determined the influence of hepatocyte-specific PPARα deficiency in different models of steatosis and during ageing.
RESULTS: Hepatocyte PPARα deletion impaired fatty acid catabolism, resulting in hepatic lipid accumulation during fasting and in two preclinical models of steatosis. Fasting mice showed acute PPARα-dependent hepatocyte activity during early night, with correspondingly increased circulating free fatty acids, which could be further stimulated by adipocyte lipolysis. Fasting led to mild hypoglycaemia and hypothermia in Pparα(hep-/-) mice when compared with Pparα(-/-) mice implying a role of PPARα activity in non-hepatic tissues. In agreement with this observation, Pparα(-/-) mice became overweight during ageing while Pparα(hep-/-) remained lean. However, like Pparα(-/-) mice, Pparα(hep-/-) fed a standard diet developed hepatic steatosis in ageing.
CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, these findings underscore the potential of hepatocyte PPARα as a drug target for NAFLD
Fusarium and allied fusarioid taxa (FUSA). 1
Seven Fusarium species complexes are treated, namely F. aywerte species complex (FASC) (two species), F. buharicum species complex (FBSC) (five species), F. burgessii species complex (FBURSC) (three species), F. camptoceras species complex (FCAMSC) (three species), F. chlamydosporum species complex (FCSC) (eight species), F. citricola species complex (FCCSC) (five species) and the F. concolor species complex (FCOSC) (four species). New species include Fusicolla elongata from soil (Zimbabwe), and Neocosmospora geoasparagicola from soil associated with Asparagus officinalis (Netherlands). New combinations include Neocosmospora akasia, N. awan, N. drepaniformis, N. duplosperma, N. geoasparagicola, N. mekan, N. papillata, N. variasi and N. warna. Newly validated taxa include Longinectria gen. nov., L. lagenoides, L. verticilliforme, Fusicolla gigas and Fusicolla guangxiensis. Furthermore, Fusarium rosicola is reduced to synonymy under N. brevis. Finally, the genome assemblies of Fusarium secorum (CBS 175.32), Microcera coccophila (CBS 310.34), Rectifusarium robinianum (CBS 430.91), Rugonectria rugulosa (CBS 126565), and Thelonectria blattea (CBS 952.68) are also announced her
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