Investigation of The Magnetic Properties in Strontium–Borate Vanadate Glasses

To further elucidate the nature of the valence state of V ions in vanadate glasses,magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range of 5 to 300 K have been performed on a series of vanadium–strontium–borate (V2O5+SrO+B2O3) oxide glasses with V2O5 concentrations greater than 50 mol %. The magnetic susceptibility for these oxide glasses is found to consist of a temperature-independentparamagnetic contribution arising from V2O5 and a Curie–Weiss temperature-dependent contribution associated with magnetic V4+ ions being present in concentrations between 2% and 10% of the total V concentration. The negative Curie–Weiss temperatures in the range of 0 to −2.8 K indicate a weak antiferromagneticinteraction between the V4+ ions. These results are consistent with a glass network structure consisting of VO5 polyhedra in which the V4+ would be predominantly isolated species, and any interactions between the V4+ ions would result from superexchange interactions through V–O–V bonds

Investigation of The Magnetic Properties in Strontium–Borate Vanadate Glasses

To further elucidate the nature of the valence state of V ions in vanadate glasses,magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range of 5 to 300 K have been performed on a series of vanadium–strontium–borate (V2O5+SrO+B2O3) oxide glasses with V2O5 concentrations greater than 50 mol %. The magnetic susceptibility for these oxide glasses is found to consist of a temperature-independentparamagnetic contribution arising from V2O5 and a Curie–Weiss temperature-dependent contribution associated with magnetic V4+ ions being present in concentrations between 2% and 10% of the total V concentration. The negative Curie–Weiss temperatures in the range of 0 to −2.8 K indicate a weak antiferromagneticinteraction between the V4+ ions. These results are consistent with a glass network structure consisting of VO5 polyhedra in which the V4+ would be predominantly isolated species, and any interactions between the V4+ ions would result from superexchange interactions through V–O–V bonds

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Magnetization Studies of Iron–Vanadium Phosphate Glasses

Vanadium phosphate glasses containing Fe2O3 with the chemical composition [(Fe2O3)x(V2O5)0.6−x(P2O5)0.4], where x=0.00, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30, have been prepared and investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The core level binding energies of V 2p, Fe 2p, P 2p and P 2s in the Fe2O3–vanadium phosphate glasses have been measured and shifts from the corresponding binding energies measured for V2O5, Fe2O3 and P2O5 powders are accounted for by changes in the next-nearest neighbor environment of these atoms in the P4O10 local structure. The O 1s spectra for the glasses are single, symmetric peaks arising from nearly 95% of the oxygen sites being occupied by non-bridging oxygen atoms. In addition, the broadened V 2p3/2 and Fe 2p3/2 spectra for the glass samples are decomposed into two peaks that are associated with the presence of V5+ and V4+ and Fe3+ and Fe2+, respectively. The magnetic susceptibility data appear to follow a Curie–Weiss behavior (χ=C/(T−θ)) for temperatures above ∼15 K with negative paramagnetic Curie temperatures indicative of antiferromagnetic interactions between the magnetic Fe3+, Fe2+ and V4+ ions. The experimentally determined Curie constants from the susceptibility data are in good agreement with the calculated values based on the Fe3+, Fe2+ and V4+ concentrations determined from the XPS analyses. Other qualitative features in the magnetic susceptibility results can be explained in terms of the formation of various magnetic clusters (single, dimer and trimer) with the introduction of the magnetic ions onto the P sites of the P4O10 structure

Raman satellites in optical scattering from a laser-ablated Mg plume

Raman satellites have been observed in the scattering of a Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) from a laser-ablated Mg plasma plume. We identify them as originating from transitions between the fine-structure components of the metastable 3s3p P-3(0,1,2) level of Mg. We have calculated the cross sections for Raman and Rayleigh scattering from the metastable state. Comparison of the expected ratio of the satellites to the Rayleigh peak indicates the changing population fraction of the metastable states in the plume

Enhanced He-alpha emission from "smoked" Ti targets irradiated with 400nm, 45 fs laser pulses

We present a study of He-like 1s(2)-1s2p line emission from solid and low-density Ti targets under similar or equal to 45 fs laser pulse irradiation with a frequency doubled Ti: Sapphire laser. By varying the beam spot, the intensity on target was varied from 10(15) W/cm(2) to 10(19) W/cm(2). At best focus, low density "smoked" Ti targets yield similar to 20 times more He-alpha than the foil targets when irradiated at an angle of 45 degrees with s-polarized pulses. The duration of He-alpha emission from smoked targets, measured with a fast streak camera, was similar to that from Ti foils

Estimates of electronic interaction parameters for LaMMO3_3 compounds (MM=Ti-Ni) from ab-initio approaches

We have analyzed the ab-initio local density approximation band structure calculations for the family of perovskite oxides, La$M$O$_3$ with $M$=Ti-Ni within a parametrized nearest neighbor tight-binding model and extracted various interaction strengths. We study the systematics in these interaction parameters across the transition metal series and discuss the relevance of these in a many-body description of these oxides. The results obtained here compare well with estimates of these parameters obtained via analysis of electron spectroscopic results in conjunction with the Anderson impurity model. The dependence of the hopping interaction strength, t, is found to be approximately $r^{-3}$.Comment: 18 pages; 1 tex file+9 postscript files (appeared in Phys Rev B Oct 15,1996

Synthesis of YVO4:Eu3+/YBO3Heteronanostructures with Enhanced Photoluminescence Properties

Novel YVO4:Eu3+/YBO3core/shell heteronanostructures with different shell ratios (SRs) were successfully prepared by a facile two-step method. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the heteronanostructures. Photoluminescence (PL) study reveals that PL efficiency of the YVO4:Eu3+nanocrystals (cores) can be improved by the growth of YBO3nanocoatings onto the cores to form the YVO4:Eu3+/YBO3core/shell heteronanostructures. Furthermore, shell ratio plays a critical role in their PL efficiency. The heteronanostructures (SR = 1/7) exhibit the highest PL efficiency; its PL intensity of the5D0–7F2emission at 620 nm is 27% higher than that of the YVO4:Eu3+nanocrystals under the same conditions

Awareness and perceptions of electroconvulsive therapy among psychiatric patients: a cross-sectional survey from teaching hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is shown to be effective in many psychiatric illnesses, but its distorted projection by the Pakistani media and its unregulated use by many physicians across the country have adversely affected its acceptability. Given this situation we aimed to assess the awareness and perceptions regarding ECT as a treatment modality among the psychiatric patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a questionnaire based cross-sectional study carried out at 2 tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We interviewed 190 patients of which 140 were aware of ECT. The study showed that the level of education had a significant impact on the awareness of ECT (p = 0.009). The most common source of awareness was electronic and print media (38%), followed by relatives (24%) and doctors (23%). Physical injuries (42%) and neurological (12%) and cognitive disturbances (11%) were the commonly feared side effects. The most popular belief about ECT was that it was a treatment of last resort (56%). Thirty-nine percent thought that ECT could lead to severe mental and physical illness and 37% considered it inhumane. Patients' willingness to receive ECT was dependant on whether or not they were convinced of its safety (p = 0.001) and efficacy (p = 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We identified a serious lack of dissemination of information regarding ECT by the psychiatrists and the mental health care providers. This may be the result of an inadequate postgraduate training in Pakistan or just a lack of concern about the mentally ill patients. The media seemed to be the major source of information for our patients. We also saw the prevalence of a variety of myths regarding ECT in our society, which we feel may be responsible for the patients' adverse attitudes. Given the widespread applicability of ECT there is a dire need to dispel these misconceptions and improve its acceptability.</p

The role of knowledge, primary care and community engagement to improve breast-screening access for Pakistani women in the United Kingdom: a secondary analysis of a qualitative study

Objective: Breast cancer incidence is rising among Pakistani women in the United Kingdom. However, uptake of breast screening remains low. This study aimed to improve access to breast screening for British-Pakistani women by exploring their knowledge of breast cancer and the role of primary care and community networks to support screening access amongst British-Pakistani women. Methods: We undertook a secondary qualitative analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews with British-Pakistani women from East Lancashire in the United Kingdom. Anonymized transcripts of the interviews were used for a thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified in the interviewees’ responses: (i) ‘Women’s knowledge of breasts and breast cancer’, which described how a cultural taboo exists around Pakistani women’s bodies and around breast cancer; (ii) ‘Role of primary care’, which detailed how General Practitioners can support informed decisions and offer a trusted and valued information source; (iii) ‘Community engagement’, which described the potential to disseminate breast-screening information through the whole community, including primary care providers, all family members and mosques. Conclusions: Our analysis suggested three main targets for future interventions to improve access to breast screening for British-Pakistani women: (i) co-produced strategies to increase knowledge of breasts and breast screening; (ii) greater collaboration with local General Practitioners to support women to make informed choices about screening; and (iii) community engagement involving General Practitioners and community leaders, to inform everyone – not just screening-age women – about breast cancer and screening

Hot dense matter creation in short-pulse laser interaction with tamped foils

The possibility of producing hot dense matter has important applications for the understanding of transport processes in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) [1] and laboratory astrophysics experiments [2]. While the success of ICF requires the correct solution of a complex interaction between laser coupling, equation-of-state, and particle transport problems, the possibility of experimentally recreating conditions found during the ignition phase in a simplified geometry is extremely appealing. In this paper we will show that hot dense plasma conditions found during ICF ignition experiments can be reproduced by illuminating a tamped foil with a high intensity laser. We will show that temperatures on the order of kiloelectronvolts at solid densities can be achieved under controlled conditions during the experiment. Hydrodynamic tamping by surface coatings allows to reach higher density regimes by enabling the diagnosis of matter that has not yet begun to decompress, thus opening the possibility of directly investigating strongly coupled systems [3]. Our experimental diagnostics is based on K-shell spectroscopy coupled to x-ray imaging techniques. Such techniques have recently become prevalent in the diagnosis of hot dense matter [4]. By looking at the presence, and relative strengths, of lines associated with different ionization states, spectroscopy provides considerable insight into plasma conditions. At the same time, curved crystal imaging techniques allow for the spatial resolution of different regions of the target, both allowing for comparison of heating processes with the results of Particle-In-Cell (PIC) and hybrid simulation codes