Optimizing infrared to near infrared upconversion quantum yield of β-NaYF₄:Er³⁺ in fluoropolymer matrix for photovoltaic devices

The present study reports for the first time the optimization of the infrared (1523 nm) to near-infrared (980 nm) upconversion quantum yield (UC-QY) of hexagonal trivalent erbium doped sodium yttrium fluoride (β-NaYF4:Er3+) in a perfluorocyclobutane (PFCB) host matrix under monochromatic excitation. Maximum internal and external UC-QYs of 8.4% ± 0.8% and 6.5% ± 0.7%, respectively, have been achieved for 1523 nm excitation of 970 ± 43 Wm−2 for an optimum Er3+ concentration of 25 mol% and a phosphor concentration of 84.9 w/w% in the matrix. These results correspond to normalized internal and external efficiencies of 0.86 ± 0.12 cm2 W−1 and 0.67 ± 0.10 cm2 W−1, respectively. These are the highest values ever reported for β-NaYF4:Er3+ under monochromatic excitation. The special characteristics of both the UC phosphor β-NaYF4:Er3+ and the PFCB matrix give rise to this outstanding property. Detailed power and time dependent luminescence measurements reveal energy transfer upconversion as the dominant UC mechanism

Development of novel PVA-based nanoparticles for delivery system for bone cancer applications

Osteosarcoma is one of the most frequent bone cancers with almost 30% of patients developin metastasis [1,2]. Further study is needed to develop new drugs that avoid metastasis. There is experimental evidence that chalcones, small molecule abundant in plants, have anti- cancer activity. Unfortunately, chalcones often show poor pharmacokinetic profile and lack of specificity, which also happens with the doxorubicin (drug widely used in chemotherapy) [3]. Consequently, our purpose is to produce a drug delivery system based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [4] nanoparticles (DDS-PVA), modified with bisphosphonates (bone tumor-seeking molecule), that can simultaneously deliver doxorubicin and chalcone (D14). We believe this chalcone will enhance the anticancer effects of doxorubicin and that DDS-PVA will improves the stability, bioavailability and specificity of doxorubicin and chalcones against osteosarcoma cells

Search for W′→tb→qqbb decays in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for a massive W′ gauge boson decaying to a top quark and a bottom quark is performed with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at the LHC. The dataset was taken at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV and corresponds to 20.3 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. This analysis is done in the hadronic decay mode of the top quark, where novel jet substructure techniques are used to identify jets from high-momentum top quarks. This allows for a search for high-mass W′ bosons in the range 1.5–3.0 TeV. b-tagging is used to identify jets originating from b-quarks. The data are consistent with Standard Model background-only expectations, and upper limits at 95 % confidence level are set on the W′→tb cross section times branching ratio ranging from 0.16pb to 0.33pb for left-handed W′ bosons, and ranging from 0.10pb to 0.21pb for W′ bosons with purely right-handed couplings. Upper limits at 95 % confidence level are set on the W′-boson coupling to tb as a function of the W′ mass using an effective field theory approach, which is independent of details of particular models predicting a W′boson

Measurement of the cross section of high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ production in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports the observation of a high transverse momentum Z→bb̄ signal in proton–proton collisions at √s=8 TeV and the measurement of its production cross section. The data analysed were collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb−¹. The Z→bb̄ decay is reconstructed from a pair of b -tagged jets, clustered with the anti-ktkt jet algorithm with R=0.4R=0.4, that have low angular separation and form a dijet with pT>200 GeVpT>200 GeV. The signal yield is extracted from a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution, with the dominant, multi-jet background mass shape estimated by employing a fully data-driven technique that reduces the dependence of the analysis on simulation. The fiducial cross section is determined to be σZ→bb¯fid=2.02±0.20 (stat.) ±0.25 (syst.)±0.06 (lumi.) pb=2.02±0.33 pb, in good agreement with next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions

Quaternion-Octonion Analyticity for Abelian and Non-Abelian Gauge Theories of Dyons

Einstein- Schroedinger (ES) non-symmetric theory has been extended to accommodate the Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories of dyons in terms of the quaternion-octonion metric realization. Corresponding covariant derivatives for complex, quaternion and octonion spaces in internal gauge groups are shown to describe the consistent field equations and generalized Dirac equation of dyons. It is also shown that quaternion and octonion representations extend the so-called unified theory of gravitation and electromagnetism to the Yang-Mill's fields leading to two SU(2) gauge theories of internal spaces due to the presence of electric and magnetic charges on dyons