Optical studies of carrier and phonon dynamics in Ga_{1-x}Mn_{x}As

We present a time-resolved optical study of the dynamics of carriers and phonons in Ga_{1-x}Mn_{x}As layers for a series of Mn and hole concentrations. While band filling is the dominant effect in transient optical absorption in low-temperature-grown (LT) GaAs, band gap renormalization effects become important with increasing Mn concentration in Ga_{1-x}Mn_{x}As, as inferred from the sign of the absorption change. We also report direct observation on lattice vibrations in Ga1-xMnxAs layers via reflective electro-optic sampling technique. The data show increasingly fast dephasing of LO phonon oscillations for samples with increasing Mn and hole concentration, which can be understood in term of phonon scattering by the holes.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures replaced Fig.1 after finding a mistake in previous versio

Flavor Mixing in the Gauge-Higgs Unification

Gauge-Higgs unification is the fascinating scenario solving the hierarchy problem without supersymmetry. In this scenario, the Standard Model (SM) Higgs doublet is identified with extra component of the gauge field in higher dimensions and its mass becomes finite and stable under quantum corrections due to the higher dimensional gauge symmetry. On the other hand, Yukawa coupling is provided by the gauge coupling, which seems to mean that the flavor mixing and CP violation do not arise at it stands. In this talk, we discuss that the flavor mixing is originated from simultaneously non-diagonalizable bulk and brane mass matrices. Then, this mechanism is applied to various flavor changing neutral current (FCNC) processes via Kaluza-Klein (KK) gauge boson exchange at tree level and constraints for compactification scale are obtained.Comment: 5 pages, prepared for the proceedings of the International Workshop on Grand Unified Theories (GUT2012) held at Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, March 15-17 2012, Kyoto, Japa

Diversity and Adaptation in Large Population Games

We consider a version of large population games whose players compete for resources using strategies with adaptable preferences. The system efficiency is measured by the variance of the decisions. In the regime where the system can be plagued by the maladaptive behavior of the players, we find that diversity among the players improves the system efficiency, though it slows the convergence to the steady state. Diversity causes a mild spread of resources at the transient state, but reduces the uneven distribution of resources in the steady state.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Evaluation of Antioxidant, Anti-tyrosinase and Antibacterial Activities of Selected Hibiscus Species

Leaves and flowers of selected Hibiscus species, used in traditional medicine, were evaluated for antioxidant, antityrosinase and antibacterial activities. Information on these species is meagre and this study would contribute new and additional knowledge on the bioactivities of the genus. Antioxidant properties (AOP) of six species assessed were total phenolic content (TPC), total anthocyanin content (TAC), ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant capacity (AEAC), ferric reducing power (FRP), ferrous ion chelating (FIC) ability and lipid peroxidation inhibition (LPI) activity. Antityrosinase and antibacterial activities of four species were assessed using the modified dopachrome and disc diffusion methods, respectively. Leaves and flowers of Hibiscus tiliaceus showed outstanding AOP. Leaves of species with high TPC and AEAC had low FIC ability and vice versa. Red flowers which yielded the highest TAC also displayed high FIC ability and LPI activity. Leaves of H. tiliaceus had the strongest antityrosinase (AT) activity. With very strong AOP and AT activity, leaves of H. tiliaceus have potentials to be developed into functional food and skin care products. At 1 mg extract/disc, leaves of Hibiscus sabdariffa were found to inhibit Gram-positive bacteria of Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus. At 2 mg extract/disc, leaves of H. sabdariffa inhibited both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella choleraesuis. This is the first report of leaf extracts of H. sabdariffa inhibiting Gram-negative bacteria. Adding 1 mM of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) to the agar slightly enhanced the antibacterial activity of leaves of H. sabdariffa on Gram-negative bacteria. With a wide spectrum of inhibition against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, leaves of H. sabdariffa are worthy of further investigation as a natural wide spectrum antibacterial agent

Oral cancer secretome: Identification of cancer-associated proteins

This study aims to identify cancer-associated proteins in the secretome of oral cancer cell lines. We have successfully established four primary cell cultures of normal cells with a limited lifespan without human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) immortalization. The secretome of these primary cell cultures were compared with that of oral cancer cell lines using 2DE. Thirty five protein spots were found to have changed in abundance. Unambiguous identification of these proteins was achieved by MALDI TOF/TOF. In silico analysis predicted that 24 of these proteins were secreted via classical or nonclassical mechanisms. The mRNA expression of six genes was found to correlate with the corresponding protein abundance. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) core analysis revealed that the identified proteins were relevant in, and related to, cancer development with likely involvements in tumor growth, metastasis, hyperproliferation, tumorigenesis, neoplasia, hyperplasia, and cell transformation. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a comparative study of the secretome of cancer versus normal cell lines can be used to identify cancer-associated proteins.Article Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/elps.201300126/abstrac

Finite temperature Casimir pistons for electromagnetic field with mixed boundary conditions and its classical limit

In this paper, the finite temperature Casimir force acting on a two-dimensional Casimir piston due to electromagnetic field is computed. It was found that if mixed boundary conditions are assumed on the piston and its opposite wall, then the Casimir force always tends to restore the piston towards the equilibrium position, regardless of the boundary conditions assumed on the walls transverse to the piston. In contrary, if pure boundary conditions are assumed on the piston and the opposite wall, then the Casimir force always tend to pull the piston towards the closer wall and away from the equilibrium position. The nature of the force is not affected by temperature. However, in the high temperature regime, the magnitude of the Casimir force grows linearly with respect to temperature. This shows that the Casimir effect has a classical limit as has been observed in other literatures.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Journal of Physics

Ultrafast Photoinduced Formation of Metallic State in a Perovskite-type Manganite with Short Range Charge and Orbital Order

Femtosecond reflection spectroscopy was performed on a perovskite-type manganite, Gd0.55Sr0.45MnO3, with the short-range charge and orbital order (CO/OO). Immediately after the photoirradiation, a large increase of the reflectivity was detected in the mid-infrared region. The optical conductivity spectrum under photoirradiation obtained from the Kramers-Kronig analyses of the reflectivity changes demonstrates a formation of a metallic state. This suggests that ferromagnetic spin arrangements occur within the time resolution (ca. 200 fs) through the double exchange interaction, resulting in an ultrafast CO/OO to FM switching.Comment: 4 figure

Removal and transformation of hexavalent chromium in sequencing batch reactor

The objectives of this study are to evaluate the efficiency of removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and to ascertain the fate of Cr(VI) in the treatment process. An SBR was operated with the FILL, REACT, SETTLE, DRAW and IDLE periods in the time ratio of 2:12:2:1.5:6.5 for a cycle time of 24 h. The study was divided into 5 phases with the addition of 0.5, 2.0, 3.0 and 5.0 mg/ℓ of Cr(VI) in Phases II, III, IV and V for a duration of 46, 75, 43 and 16 operational cycles, respectively. The Cr(VI) removal efficiencies for SBR were found to be 79.8, 88.4 and 99.8% in Phases III, IV and V, respectively. The results revealed that Cr(VI) removal efficiency improved with acclimated activated sludge. Determination of Cr in the suspended sludge showed that around 95% of the Cr species were Cr(III). Determination of Cr concentration profiles during the FILL and REACT periods showed that the predominant species was Cr(III) as Cr(VI) was bio-reduced. The proposed Cr(VI) removal mechanism involves bioreduction to Cr(III) which was subsequently precipitated and adsorbed by activated sludge. Precipitation rather than sorption is envisaged to be the main path of removal of Cr(III) from the solution.Keywords: Sequencing batch reactor, hexavalent chromium, removal, transformation, mechanis