224 research outputs found

    Photovoltage Detection of Edge Magnetoplasmon Oscillations and Giant Magnetoplasmon Resonances in A Two-Dimensional Hole System

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    In our high mobility p-type AlGaAs/GaAs two-dimensional hole samples, we originally observe the B-periodic oscillation induced by microwave (MW) in photovoltage (PV) measurements. In the frequency range of our measurements (5 - 40 GHz), the period ({\Delta}B) is inversely proportional to the microwave frequency (f). The distinct oscillations come from the edge magnetoplasmon (EMP) in the high quality heavy hole system. In our hole sample with a very large effective mass, the observation of the EMP oscillations is in neither the low frequency limit nor the high frequency limit, and the damping of the EMP oscillations is very weak under high magnetic fields. Simultaneously, we observe the giant plasmon resonance signals in our measurements on the shallow two-dimensional hole system (2DHS)

    Chibby functions in Xenopus ciliary assembly, embryonic development, and the regulation of gene expression

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    AbstractWnt signaling and ciliogenesis are core features of embryonic development in a range of metazoans. Chibby (Cby), a basal-body associated protein, regulates β-catenin-mediated Wnt signaling in the mouse but not Drosophila. Here we present an analysis of Cby׳s embryonic expression and morphant phenotypes in Xenopus laevis. Cby RNA is supplied maternally, negatively regulated by Snail2 but not Twist1, preferentially expressed in the neuroectoderm, and regulates β-catenin-mediated gene expression. Reducing Cby levels reduced the density of multiciliated cells, the number of basal bodies per multiciliated cell, and the numbers of neural tube primary cilia; it also led to abnormal development of the neural crest, central nervous system, and pronephros, all defects that were rescued by a Cby-GFP chimera. Reduction of Cby led to an increase in Wnt8a and decreases in Gli2, Gli3, and Shh RNA levels. Many, but not all, morphant phenotypes were significantly reversed by the Wnt inhibitor SFRP2. These observations extend our understanding of Cby׳s role in mediating the network of interactions between ciliogenesis, signaling systems and tissue patterning

    Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of NdMn2−xTixSi2 compounds

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    The structural and magnetic properties of the intermetallic compounds NdMn2−xTixSi2(x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) have been studied by x-ray and high resolution neutron powder diffraction, specific heat, dc magnetization, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements over the temperature range 3–450 K. The Curie temperature and Néel temperature of NdMn2Si2 decrease from TC = 36 K and TN = 380 K to TC = 14 K and TN = 360 K, respectively, on substitution of Ti (x = 0.3) for Mn. The magnetocaloric effect at the first order ferromagnetic phase transition at TC, has been investigated in detail. Under a change of magnetic field of 0–5 T, the maximum value of the magnetic entropy change is 27 J kg−1 K−1 at x = 0, reducing to 15.3 J kg−1 K−1 at x = 0.1 and 10 J kg−1 K−1 at x = 0.3; importantly, no thermal or field hysteresis losses occur (eliminated from 0.3 K and 28.5 J kg−1 at x = 0 around TC) with increase in Ti concentration. Combined with the lack of any hysteresis effects, these findings indicate that NdMn1.9Ti0.1Si2 compound offers potential as a candidate for magnetic refrigerator applications in the temperature region below 35 K

    Preferred Features of E-Mental Health Programs for Prevention of Major Depression in Male Workers: Results From a Canadian National Survey

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    Background: Major depression is a prevalent mental disorder and imposes considerable burden on health and productivity. Men are not immune to major depression, yet they often delay seeking help because of perceived stigma and gender norms. E-mental health programs hold potential for early prevention of major depression. However, we have little knowledge about men\u27s preferences for design features of e-mental health programs. Objectives: The objective of this study was to (1) estimate and compare the proportions of Internet use for medical information, preferred design features, and likely use of e-mental health programs; (2) examine factors associated with the likely use of e-mental health programs; and (3) understand potential barriers to the use of e-mental health programs among Canadian working men, who were at high risk of a major depressive episode (MDE). Methods: A cross-sectional survey in 10 Canadian provinces was conducted between March and December 2015. Random digit dialing method was used through household landlines and cell phones to collect data from 511 working men who were at high risk of having an MDE and 330 working men who were at low risk of having an MDE. Results: High-risk men were more likely to endorse the importance of accessing health resources on the Internet than low-risk men (83.4% vs 75.0%, respectively; P=.01). Of the 17 different features assessed, the top three features most likely to be used by high-risk men were: information about improving sleep hygiene (61.3%), practice and exercise to help reduce symptoms of stress and depression (59.5%), and having access to quality information and resources about work stress issues (57.8%). Compared with men at low risk for MDE, men at high risk for MDE were much more likely to consider using almost every one of the different design features. Differences in preferences for the design features by age among men at high risk of MDE were found only for 3 of 17 features. Differences in preferences for design features between English- and French-speaking participants were found only for 4 out of the 17 features. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that privacy issues, perceived stigma, ease of navigation, personal relevance, and lack of personal interaction, time, and knowledge were identified as barriers to the use of e-mental health programs in working men who were at high risk of MDE. Conclusion: E-mental health programs may be a promising strategy for prevention of depression in working men. Development of e-mental health programs should consider men\u27s preferences and perceived barriers to enhance the acceptability of this approach

    Trajectories of self-rated health in people with diabetes: Associations with functioning in a prospective community sample

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    © 2013 Schmitz et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Self-rated health (SRH) is a single-item measure that is one of the most widely used measures of general health in population health research. Relatively little is known about changes and the trajectories of SRH in people with chronic medical conditions. The aims of the present study were to identify and describe longitudinal trajectories of self-rated health (SRH) status in people with diabetes. Methods: A prospective community study was carried out between 2008 and 2011. SRH was assessed at baseline and yearly at follow-ups (n=1288). Analysis was carried out through trajectory modeling. The trajectory groups were subsequently compared at 4 years follow-up with respect to functioning. Results: Four distinct trajectories of SRH were identified: 1) 72.2% of the participants were assigned to a persistently good SRH trajectory; 2) 10.1% were assigned to a persistently poor SRH trajectory; 3) mean SRH scores changed from good to poor for one group (7.3%); while 4) mean SRH scores changed from poor to medium/good for another group (10.4%). Those with a persistently poor perception of health status were at higher risk for poor functioning at 4 years follow-up than those whose SRH scores decreased from good to poor. Conclusions: SRH is an important predictor for poor functioning in diabetes, but the trajectory of SRH seems to be even more important. Health professionals should pay attention to not only SRH per se, but also changes in SRH over time.This work was supported by Operating Grant MOP-84574 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). GG was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the CIHR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

    A study on the sharp knee and fine structures of cosmic ray spectra

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    The paper investigates the overall and detailed features of cosmic ray (CR) spectra in the knee region using the scenario of nuclei-photon interactions around the acceleration sources. Young supernova remnants can be the physical realities of such kind of CR acceleration sites. The results show that the model can well explain the following problems simultaneously with one set of source parameters: the knee of CR spectra and the sharpness of the knee, the detailed irregular structures of CR spectra, the so-called "component B" of Galactic CRs, and the electron/positron excesses reported by recent observations. The coherent explanation serves as evidence that at least a portion of CRs might be accelerated at the sources similar to young supernova remnants, and one set of source parameters indicates that this portion mainly comes from standard sources or from a single source.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy

    Measurement of the cosmic ray antiproton/proton flux ratio at TeV energies with the ARGO-YBJ detector

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    Cosmic ray antiprotons provide an important probe to study the cosmic ray propagation in the interstellar space and to investigate the existence of dark matter. Acting the Earth-Moon system as a magnetic spectrometer, paths of primary antiprotons are deflected in the opposite sense with respect to those of the protons in their way to the Earth. This effect allows, in principle, the search for antiparticles in the direction opposite to the observed deficit of cosmic rays due to the Moon (the so-called `Moon shadow'). The ARGO-YBJ experiment, located at the Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet, P.R. China, 4300 m a.s.l., 606 g/cm2^2), is particularly effective in measuring the cosmic ray antimatter content via the observation of the cosmic rays shadowing effect due to: (1) good angular resolution, pointing accuracy and long-term stability; (2) low energy threshold; (3) real sensitivity to the geomagnetic field. Based on all the data recorded during the period from July 2006 through November 2009 and on a full Monte Carlo simulation, we searched for the existence of the shadow cast by antiprotons in the TeV energy region. No evidence of the existence of antiprotons is found in this energy region. Upper limits to the pˉ/p\bar{p}/p flux ratio are set to 5 % at a median energy of 1.4 TeV and 6 % at 5 TeV with a confidence level of 90%. In the TeV energy range these limits are the lowest available.Comment: Contact authors: G. Di Sciascio ([email protected]) and R. Iuppa ([email protected]), INFN Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Ital

    Observation of TeV gamma rays from the Cygnus region with the ARGO-YBJ experiment

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    We report the observation of TeV gamma-rays from the Cygnus region using the ARGO-YBJ data collected from 2007 November to 2011 August. Several TeV sources are located in this region including the two bright extended MGRO J2019+37 and MGRO J2031+41. According to the Milagro data set, at 20 TeV MGRO J2019+37 is the most significant source apart from the Crab Nebula. No signal from MGRO J2019+37 is detected by the ARGO-YBJ experiment, and the derived flux upper limits at 90% confidence level for all the events above 600 GeV with medium energy of 3 TeV are lower than the Milagro flux, implying that the source might be variable and hard to be identified as a pulsar wind nebula. The only statistically significant (6.4 standard deviations) gamma-ray signal is found from MGRO J2031+41, with a flux consistent with the measurement by Milagro.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

    Observation of TeV gamma-rays from the unidentified source HESS J1841-055 with the ARGO-YBJ experiment

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    We report the observation of a very high energy \gamma-ray source, whose position is coincident with HESS J1841-055. This source has been observed for 4.5 years by the ARGO-YBJ experiment from November 2007 to July 2012. Its emission is detected with a statistical significance of 5.3 standard deviations. Parameterizing the source shape with a two-dimensional Gaussian function we estimate an extension \sigma=(0.40(+0.32,-0.22}) degree, consistent with the HESS measurement. The observed energy spectrum is dN/dE =(9.0-+1.6) x 10^{-13}(E/5 TeV)^{-2.32-+0.23} photons cm^{-2} s^{-1} TeV^{-1}, in the energy range 0.9-50 TeV. The integral \gamma-ray flux above 1 TeV is 1.3-+0.4 Crab units, which is 3.2-+1.0 times the flux derived by HESS. The differences in the flux determination between HESS and ARGO-YBJ, and possible counterparts at other wavelengths are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, have been accepted for publication in Ap
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