3,217 research outputs found
Policies And International Integration: Influences On Trade And Foreign Direct Investment
This paper assesses the importance of border and non-border policies for global economic integration. The focus is on four widely-advocated policies: removing explicit restrictions to trade and FDI; promoting domestic competition; improving the adaptability of labour markets; and ensuring adequate levels of infrastructure capital. The analysis covers FDI and trade in both goods and services, thus aiming to account for the most important channels of globalisation and dealing with most modes of cross-border services supply. It first describes trends in trade, FDI and the four sets of policies using a large set of structural policy indicators recently constructed by the OECD, including the new summary indicators for FDI-specific regulations described in Golub (2003). It then estimates the impact of policies on bilateral trade and bilateral and multilateral FDI. The results highlight that, despite extensive liberalisation over the past two decades, there is scope for further reducing policy barriers to integration of OECD markets. Remaining barriers have a significant impact on trade and FDI, with anticompetitive domestic regulations and restrictive labour market arrangements estimated to curb integration as much as explicit trade and FDI restrictions. Simulating the removal of such barriers suggests that the quantitative effects of further liberalisation of trade, FDI and domestic product and labour markets on global integration could be substantial
Anomalous relaxation kinetics and charge density wave correlations in underdoped BaPb1-xBixO3
Superconductivity often emerges in proximity of other symmetry-breaking
ground states, such as antiferromagnetism or charge-density-wave (CDW) order.
However, the subtle inter-relation of these phases remains poorly understood,
and in some cases even the existence of short-range correlations for
superconducting compositions is uncertain. In such circumstances, ultrafast
experiments can provide new insights, by tracking the relaxation kinetics
following excitation at frequencies related to the broken symmetry state. Here,
we investigate the transient terahertz conductivity of BaPb1-xBixO3 - a
material for which superconductivity is adjacent to a competing CDW phase -
after optical excitation tuned to the CDW absorption band. In insulating BaBiO3
we observed an increase in conductivity and a subsequent relaxation, which are
consistent with quasiparticles injection across a rigid semiconducting gap. In
the doped compound BaPb0.72Bi0.28O3 (superconducting below Tc=7K), a similar
response was also found immediately above Tc. This observation evidences the
presence of a robust gap up to T=40 K, which is presumably associated with
short-range CDW correlations. A qualitatively different behaviour was observed
in the same material fo T>40 K. Here, the photo-conductivity was dominated by
an enhancement in carrier mobility at constant density, suggestive of melting
of the CDW correlations rather than excitation across an optical gap. The
relaxation displayed a temperature dependent, Arrhenius-like kinetics,
suggestive of the crossing of a free-energy barrier between two phases. These
results support the existence of short-range CDW correlations above Tc in
underdoped BaPb1-xBixO3, and provide new information on the dynamical interplay
between superconductivity and charge order.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
Determination of Grain-Size Distributions from Ultrasonic Attenuation
The overall research goal of this project is the nondestructive measurement of grain-size distribution parameters using ultrasonic attenuation. Ultrasonic attenuation α is dependent upon the sound wavelength (λ), the size of the grains (D), and in many cases elastic constants and sound velocities of the material. Assuming that multiple scattering can be ignored, the expression for the wavelength dependence of the attenuation is 1 α(λ)=â«0âN(D)α(λ,D)dD where N(D) is the grain-size distribution. In previous work [1] the sizes were assumed to be distributed following a power-law with exponent Îł: 2 N(D)=KDâÎł,
Magnetic-Field Tuning of Light-Induced Superconductivity in Striped LaBaCuO
Optical excitation of stripe-ordered LaBaCuO has been shown
to transiently enhance superconducting tunneling between the CuO planes.
This effect was revealed by a blue-shift, or by the appearance of a Josephson
Plasma Resonance in the terahertz-frequency optical properties. Here, we show
that this photo-induced state can be strengthened by the application of high
external magnetic fields oriented along the c-axis. For a 7-Tesla field, we
observe up to a ten-fold enhancement in the transient interlayer phase
correlation length, accompanied by a two-fold increase in the relaxation time
of the photo-induced state. These observations are highly surprising, since
static magnetic fields suppress interlayer Josephson tunneling and stabilize
stripe order at equilibrium. We interpret our data as an indication that
optically-enhanced interlayer coupling in LaBaCuO does not
originate from a simple optical melting of stripes, as previously hypothesized.
Rather, we speculate that the photo-induced state may emerge from activated
tunneling between optically-excited stripes in adjacent planes.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figure
Dynamical decoherence of the light induced interlayer coupling in YBaCuO
Optical excitation of apical oxygen vibrations in
YBaCuO has been shown to enhance its c-axis
superconducting-phase rigidity, as evidenced by a transient blue shift of the
equilibrium inter-bilayer Josephson plasma resonance. Surprisingly, a transient
c-axis plasma mode could also be induced above T by the same apical
oxygen excitation, suggesting light activated superfluid tunneling throughout
the pseudogap phase of YBaCuO. However, despite the
similarities between the above T transient plasma mode and the
equilibrium Josephson plasmon, alternative explanations involving high mobility
quasiparticle transport should be considered. Here, we report an extensive
study of the relaxation of the light-induced plasmon into the equilibrium
incoherent phase. These new experiments allow for a critical assessment of the
nature of this mode. We determine that the transient plasma relaxes through a
collapse of its coherence length rather than its carrier (or superfluid)
density. These observations are not easily reconciled with quasiparticle
interlayer transport, and rather support transient superfluid tunneling as the
origin of the light-induced interlayer coupling in
YBaCuO.Comment: 27 pages (17 pages main text, 10 pages supplementary), 5 figures
(main text
Far-infrared absorption and the metal-to-insulator transition in hole-doped cuprates
By studying the optical conductivity of BSLCO and YCBCO, we show that the
metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) in these hole-doped cuprates is driven by
the opening of a small gap at low T in the far infrared. Its width is
consistent with the observations of Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
in other cuprates, along the nodal line of the k-space. The gap forms as the
Drude term turns into a far-infrared absorption, whose peak frequency can be
approximately predicted on the basis of a Mott-like transition. Another band in
the mid infrared softens with doping but is less sensitive to the MIT.Comment: To be published on Physical Review Letter
Pump frequency resonances for light-induced incipient superconductivity in YBaCuO
Optical excitation in the cuprates has been shown to induce transient
superconducting correlations above the thermodynamic transition temperature,
, as evidenced by the terahertz frequency optical properties in the
non-equilibrium state. In YBaCuO this phenomenon has so far
been associated with the nonlinear excitation of certain lattice modes and the
creation of new crystal structures. In other compounds, like
LaBaCuO, similar effects were reported also for excitation at
near infrared frequencies, and were interpreted as a signature of the melting
of competing orders. However, to date it has not been possible to
systematically tune the pump frequency widely in any one compound, to
comprehensively compare the frequency dependent photo-susceptibility for this
phenomenon. Here, we make use of a newly developed optical parametric
amplifier, which generates widely tunable high intensity femtosecond pulses, to
excite YBaCuO throughout the entire optical spectrum (3 - 750
THz). In the far-infrared region (3 - 25 THz), signatures of non-equilibrium
superconductivity are induced only for excitation of the 16.4 THz and 19.2 THz
vibrational modes that drive -axis apical oxygen atomic positions. For
higher driving frequencies (25 - 750 THz), a second resonance is observed
around the charge transfer band edge at ~350 THz. These observations highlight
the importance of coupling to the electronic structure of the CuO planes,
either mediated by a phonon or by charge transfer.Comment: 47 pages, 21 figures, 2 table
Mild behavioral impairment in Parkinson's disease: Data from the Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment study (PACOS)
Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) have been frequently described in Parkinson's disease (PD), even in the earliest stages of the disease. Recently the construct of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) has been proposed as an at-risk state for incident cognitive decline and dementia. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of MBI in PD. Cross-sectional data from 429 consecutive PD patients enrolled in the PArkinson's disease COgnitive impairment Study (PACOS) were included in the study. All subjects underwent neuropsychological assessment, according to the MDS Level II criteria. NPS were evaluated with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate clinical and behavioral characteristics, which are associated with PD-MBI. The latter was ascertained in 361 (84.1%) subjects of whom 155 (36.1%) were newly diagnosed patients (disease duration â„1 year) and 206 (48.0%) had a disease duration <1 year. Furthermore, 68 (15.9%) out of 429 subjects were PDw (without MBI). Across the MBI domains, Impulse Dyscontrol was significantly more prevalent among PD-MBI with disease duration <1 year than newly diagnosed patients. The frequency of Social Inappropriateness and Abnormal Perception significantly increased throughout the entire PD-MBI sample with increasing Hoehn andYahr (H&Y) stages. PD-MBI in newly diagnosed PDwas significantly associated with H&Y stage (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.05-5.24) and marginally with antidepressant drug use (OR 2.94, 95% CI 0.91-9.47), while in patients with a disease duration >1 year was associated with UPDRS-ME (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.41-8.00). The overall MBI frequency in the PACOS sample was 84% and 36% among newly diagnosed patients. The presence of MBI mainly related to motor impairment and disability
Pressure tuning of light-induced superconductivity in K3C60
Optical excitation at terahertz frequencies has emerged as an effective means
to manipulate complex solids dynamically. In the molecular solid K3C60,
coherent excitation of intramolecular vibrations was shown to transform the
high temperature metal into a non-equilibrium state with the optical
conductivity of a superconductor. Here we tune this effect with hydrostatic
pressure, and we find it to disappear around 0.3 GPa. Reduction with pressure
underscores the similarity with the equilibrium superconducting phase of K3C60,
in which a larger electronic bandwidth is detrimental for pairing. Crucially,
our observation excludes alternative interpretations based on a high-mobility
metallic phase. The pressure dependence also suggests that transient, incipient
superconductivity occurs far above the 150 K hypothesised previously, and
rather extends all the way to room temperature.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figures, 2 table
Electrodynamics near the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in V3O5
The electrodynamics near the metal-to-insulator transitions (MIT) induced, in
V3O5 single crystals, by both temperature (T) and pressure (P) has been studied
by infrared spectroscopy. The T- and P-dependence of the optical conductivity
may be explained within a polaronic scenario. The insulating phase at ambient T
and P corresponds to strongly localized small polarons. Meanwhile the T-induced
metallic phase at ambient pressure is related to a liquid of polarons showing
incoherent dc transport, in the P-induced metallic phase at room T strongly
localized polarons coexist with partially delocalized ones. The electronic
spectral weight is almost recovered, in both the T and P induced metallization
processes, on an energy scale of 1 eV, thus supporting the key-role of
electron-lattice interaction in the V3O5 metal-to-insulator transition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
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