3,640 research outputs found
Quantum limited particle sensing in optical tweezers
Particle sensing in optical tweezers systems provides information on the
position, velocity and force of the specimen particles. The conventional
quadrant detection scheme is applied ubiquitously in optical tweezers
experiments to quantify these parameters. In this paper we show that quadrant
detection is non-optimal for particle sensing in optical tweezers and propose
an alternative optimal particle sensing scheme based on spatial homodyne
detection. A formalism for particle sensing in terms of transverse spatial
modes is developed and numerical simulations of the efficacy of both quadrant
and spatial homodyne detection are shown. We demonstrate that an order of
magnitude improvement in particle sensing sensitivity can be achieved using
spatial homodyne over quadrant detection.Comment: Submitted to Biophys
Structural, optical, magnetic and electrical properties of Zn1-x Co (x) O thin films
Despite a considerable effort aiming at elucidating the nature of
ferromagnetism in ZnO-based magnetic semiconductor, its origin still remains
debatable. Although the observation of above room temperature ferromagnetism
has been reported frequently in the literature by magnetometry measurement, so
far there has been no report on correlated ferromagnetism in magnetic, optical
and electrical measurements. In this paper, we investigate systematically the
structural, optical, magnetic and electrical properties of Zn1-x Co (x) O:Al
thin films prepared by sputtering with x ranging from 0 to 0.33. We show that
correlated ferromagnetism is present only in samples with x > 0.25. In
contrast, samples with x < 0.2 exhibit weak ferromagnetism only in magnetometry
measurement which is absent in optical and electrical measurements. We
demonstrate, by systematic electrical transport studies that carrier
localization indeed occurs below 20-50 K for samples with x < 0.2; however,
this does not lead to the formation of ferromagnetic phase in these samples
with an electron concentration in the range of 6 x 10(19) cm(-3) 1 x 10(20)
cm(-3). Detailed structural and optical transmission spectroscopy analyses
revealed that the anomalous Hall effect observed in samples with x > 0.25 is
due to the formation of secondary phases and Co clusters.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
Preoperative Kidney Function linked to mortality and readmission outcomes at Day 90 and 30 in Older Emergency Surgical Patients
Grants were received from British Geriatric Society and The Renal Association to support Louis EvansPeer reviewedPublisher PD
Performance characterization of a PCM storage tank
This paper presents the experimental results of a versatile latent heat storage tank capable of working with organic phase-change materials within a temperature range from -10 °C to 100 °C. The tank contains a paraffin with a phase-change temperature between 3 °C and 8 °C. Firstly, this study focuses on explaining the design criteria which were followed to build the tank. Secondly, a full experimental characterization of the performance has been carried out. The enthalpy temperature curve, the specific heat and density have been measured for the tested paraffin. The performance of the tank has been analyzed in terms of the vertical stratification within the PCM, the effectiveness, the reacted fraction and the total heat transfer of the tank. The results indicate that up to 78% of the maximum capacity is reached within 4 h. The performance is mainly controlled by the supply temperature and the effect of the mass flow rate is almost negligible given that all the tests are in laminar flow.The authors from the Polytechnic University of Valencia gratefully acknowledge ACCIONA Infraestructuras for the funding of the LHTS installation. The authors from University of Zaragoza would like to thank the Spanish Government for the partial funding of this work within the framework of research projects ENE2008-06687-C02-02 and ENE2011-28269-C03-01.López Navarro, A.; Biosca Taronger, J.; Corberán Salvador, JM.; Peñalosa, C.; Lázaro, A.; Dolado, P.; Payá Herrero, J. (2014). Performance characterization of a PCM storage tank. Applied Energy. 119:151-162. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.12.041S15116211
Reconnaissance Survey of Arsenic Concentration in Ground-water in South-eastern Ghana
Arsenic (As) analysis of 150 boreholes in the south-eastern part of Ghana (Accra, Eastern and Volta regions) revealed low to medium concentrations in the range of 2-39 mg l-1, with only 2% of boreholes tested having arsenic concentration exceeding 10
mg l-1 of the WHO (2004) maximum permissible level of arsenic in drinking water. The measurements were carried out in the field using the Wagtech Arsenator field test kit (Wag-We 100500) equipment, which gives direct readout of arsenic concentration in the critical range 2-100 mg l-1. Arsenic concentrations were in the range < 2–39 mg l-1 with mean (< 2 mg l-1) and median (< 2 mg l-1). Out of 150 samples analysed, 147 had As concentration below 10 mg l-1. Three boreholes in the Recent Sand Formation in southern Volta Region at Atitekpo, Mafi Devime and Woe Aklorbordzi had arsenic concentrations of 28 mg l-1, 19 mg l-1 and 39 mg l-1, respectively. Though the sample of boreholes tested was only approximately 10% of the total number of boreholes in the study, the distribution within the sample makes the generalization that the risk of arsenic contamination of rural water supply in southeastern Ghana is generally low plausible. In spite of this assertion, boreholes in the Recent Sandy Formation have to be critically assessed to determine the extent of arsenic contamination and, if possible, monitored.West African Journal of Applied Ecology Vol. 13 2008: pp. 16-2
Combinatorial models of rigidity and renormalization
We first introduce the percolation problems associated with the graph
theoretical concepts of -sparsity, and make contact with the physical
concepts of ordinary and rigidity percolation. We then devise a renormalization
transformation for -percolation problems, and investigate its domain of
validity. In particular, we show that it allows an exact solution of
-percolation problems on hierarchical graphs, for . We
introduce and solve by renormalization such a model, which has the interesting
feature of showing both ordinary percolation and rigidity percolation phase
transitions, depending on the values of the parameters.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Selective interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between the Cu spins in YBa Cu O grown on top of La Ca MnO
Studies to date on ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor heterostructures focus
mainly on the effects at or near the interfaces while the response of bulk
properties to heterostructuring is overlooked. Here we use resonant soft x-ray
scattering spectroscopy to reveal a novel c-axis ferromagnetic coupling between
the in-plane Cu spins in YBa Cu O (YBCO) superconductor when it
is grown on top of ferromagnetic La Ca MnO (LCMO) manganite
layer. This coupling, present in both normal and superconducting states of
YBCO, is sensitive to the interfacial termination such that it is only observed
in bilayers with MnO_2but not with La Ca interfacial
termination. Such contrasting behaviors, we propose, are due to distinct
energetic of CuO chain and CuO plane at the La Ca and
MnO terminated interfaces respectively, therefore influencing the transfer
of spin-polarized electrons from manganite to cuprate differently. Our findings
suggest that the superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayers with proper interfacial
engineering can be good candidates for searching the theorized
Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state in cuprates and studying the
competing quantum orders in highly correlated electron systems.Comment: Please note the change of the title. Text might be slightly different
from the published versio
The relationship between maternal characteristics and carotid intima-media thickness using an automated ultrasound technique
Objective: To investigate CIMT and its relationship with maternal demographic characteristics in healthy pregnancy. Methods: CIMT was measured using an au. Results: CIMT showed no relationship with gestational age (rho=−0.124, p=0.335), parity (Z=−0.055, p=0.960) and MAP (rho=0.110, p=0.393). A relationship was found between CIMT and maternal age (rho=0.277, p=0.028), booking BMI (rho=0.278, p=0.027), and BMI at time of study (rho=0.287, p=0.023). CIMT ranged from 0.30-0.80mm, the 97.5th percentile was 0.63 mm. Conclusion: In healthy pregnancy, we reported CIMT was related to BMI and maternal age but not parity or gestational age
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