2,196 research outputs found
Interplay between shear loading and structural aging in a physical gel
We show that the aging of the mechanical relaxation of a gelatin gel exhibits
the same scaling phenomenology as polymer and colloidal glasses. Besides,
gelatin is known to exhibit logarithmic structural aging (stiffening). We find
that stress accelerates this process. However, this effect is definitely
irreducible to a mere age shift with respect to natural aging. We suggest that
it is interpretable in terms of elastically-aided elementary (coilhelix)
local events whose dynamics gradually slows down as aging increases geometric
frustration
Electronic and Magnetic Structure of LaCuO
The recently-discovered ``ladder'' compound LaCuO has been found to
admit hole doping without altering its structure of coupled copper oxide
ladders. While susceptibility measurements on the parent compound suggest a
spin gap and a spin-liquid state, NMR results indicate magnetic order at low
temperatures. These seemingly contradictory results may be reconciled if in
fact the magnetic state is near the crossover from spin liquid to
antiferromagnet, and we investigate this possibility. From a tight-binding fit
to the valence LDA bandstructure, we deduce that the strength of the
interladder hopping term is approximately half that of intraladder hopping,
showing that the material is three-dimensional in character. A mean-field
treatment of the insulating magnetic state gives a spin-liquid phase whose spin
gap decreases with increasing interladder coupling, vanishing (signalling a
transition to the ordered phase) at a value somewhat below that obtained for
LaCuO. The introduction of an on-site repulsion term, , to the band
scheme causes a transition to an antiferromagnetic insulator for rather small
but finite values of , reflecting the predominance of (one-dimensional)
ladder behavior, and an absence of any special nesting features.Comment: 8 pages + 5 figure
On possible superconductivity in the doped ladder compound La_(1-x)Sr_xCuO_2.5
LaCuO_2.5 is a system of coupled, two-chain, cuprate ladders which may be
doped systematically by Sr substitution. Motivated by the recent synthesis of
single crystals, we investigate theoretically the possibility of
superconductivity in this compound. We use a model of spin fluctuation-mediated
superconductivity, where the pairing potential is strongly peaked at \pi in the
ladder direction. We solve the coupled gap equations on the bonding and
antibonding ladder bands to find superconducting solutions across the range of
doping, and discuss their relevance to the real material.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, 7 figure
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Estimating cost-offsets of new medications: Use of new antipsychotics and mental health costs for schizophrenia
Estimation of the effect of one treatment compared to another in the absence of randomization is a common problem in biostatistics. An increasingly popular approach involves instrumental variables—variables that are predictive of who received a treatment yet not directly predictive of the outcome. When treatment is binary, many estimators have been proposed: method-of-moments estimators using a two-stage least-squares procedure, generalized-method-of-moments estimators using two-stage predictor substitution or two-stage residual inclusion procedures, and likelihood-based latent variable approaches. The critical assumptions to the consistency of two-stage procedures and of the likelihood-based procedures differ. Because neither set of assumptions can be completely tested from the observed data alone, comparing the results from the different approaches is an important sensitivity analysis. We provide a general statistical framework for estimation of the casual effect of a binary treatment on a continuous outcome using simultaneous equations to specify models. A comparison of health care costs for adults with schizophrenia treated with newer atypical antipsychotics and those treated with conventional antipsychotic medications illustrates our methods. Surprisingly large differences in the results among the methods are investigated using a simulation study. Several new findings concerning the performance in terms of precision and robustness of each approach in different situations are obtained. We illustrate that in general supplemental information is needed to determine which analysis, if any, is trustworthy and reaffirm that comparing results from different approaches is a valuable sensitivity analysis
The Effects of Negative Legacies on the Adjustment of Parentally Bereaved Children and Adolescents
This is a report of a qualitative analysis of a sample of bereaved families in which one parent died and in which children scored in the clinical range on the Child Behavior Check List. The purpose of this analysis was to learn more about the lives of these children. They were considered to be at risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems associated with the death. We discovered that many of these “high risk” children had a continuing bond with the deceased that was primarily negative and troubling for them in contrast to a comparison group of children not at risk from the same study. Five types of legacies, not mutually exclusive, were identified: health related, role related, personal qualities, legacy of blame, and an emotional legacy. Coping behavior on the part of the surviving parent seemed to make a difference in whether or not a legacy was experienced as negative
Block orthogonal polynomials: I. Definition and properties
Constrained orthogonal polynomials have been recently introduced in the study
of the Hohenberg-Kohn functional to provide basis functions satisfying particle
number conservation for an expansion of the particle density. More generally,
we define block orthogonal (BO) polynomials which are orthogonal, with respect
to a first Euclidean scalar product, to a given -dimensional subspace of polynomials associated with the constraints. In addition, they are
mutually orthogonal with respect to a second Euclidean scalar product. We
recast the determination of these polynomials into a general problem of finding
particular orthogonal bases in an Euclidean vector space endowed with distinct
scalar products. An explicit two step Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization (G-SO)
procedure to determine these bases is given. By definition, the standard block
orthogonal (SBO) polynomials are associated with a choice of equal
to the subspace of polynomials of degree less than . We investigate their
properties, emphasizing similarities to and differences from the standard
orthogonal polynomials. Applications to classical orthogonal polynomials will
be given in forthcoming papers.Comment: This is a reduced version of the initial manuscript, the number of
pages being reduced from 34 to 2
By design : negotiating flexible learning in the built environment discipline
The term ‘flexible education’ is now firmly entrenched within Australian higher education discourse, yet the term is a contested one imbued with a multiplicity of meanings. This paper describes a process designed to elucidate how the idea of flexible education can be translated into teaching models that are informed by the specific demands of disciplinary contexts. The process uses a flexible learning ‘matching’ tool to articulate the understandings and preferences of students and academics of the Built Environment to bridge the gap between student expectations of flexibility and their teacher’s willingness and ability to provide that flexibility within the limits of the pedagogical context and teaching resources. The findings suggest an informed starting point for educators in the Built Environment and other creative disciplines from which to traverse the complexities inherent in negotiating flexibility in an increasingly digital world
Field- and pressure-induced magnetic quantum phase transitions in TlCuCl_3
Thallium copper chloride is a quantum spin liquid of S = 1/2 Cu^2+ dimers.
Interdimer superexchange interactions give a three-dimensional magnon
dispersion and a spin gap significantly smaller than the dimer coupling. This
gap is closed by an applied hydrostatic pressure of approximately 2kbar or by a
magnetic field of 5.6T, offering a unique opportunity to explore the both types
of quantum phase transition and their associated critical phenomena. We use a
bond-operator formulation to obtain a continuous description of all disordered
and ordered phases, and thus of the transitions separating these. Both
pressure- and field-induced transitions may be considered as the Bose-Einstein
condensation of triplet magnon excitations, and the respective phases of
staggered magnetic order as linear combinations of dimer singlet and triplet
modes. We focus on the evolution with applied pressure and field of the
magnetic excitations in each phase, and in particular on the gapless
(Goldstone) modes in the ordered regimes which correspond to phase fluctuations
of the ordered moment. The bond-operator description yields a good account of
the magnetization curves and of magnon dispersion relations observed by
inelastic neutron scattering under applied fields, and a variety of
experimental predictions for pressure-dependent measurements.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figure
Magnetic properties of (VO)_2P_2O_7: two-plane structure and spin-phonon interactions
Detailed experiments on single-crystal (VO)_2P_2O_7 continue to reveal new
and unexpected features. We show that a model composed of two, independent
planes of spin chains with frustrated magnetic coupling is consistent with
nuclear magnetic resonance and inelastic neutron scattering measurements. The
pivotal role of PO_4 groups in mediating intrachain exchange interactions
explains both the presence of two chain types and their extreme sensitivity to
certain lattice vibrations, which results in the strong magnetoelastic coupling
observed by light scattering. We compute the respective modifications of the
spin and phonon dynamics due to this coupling, and illustrate their observable
consequences on the phonon frequencies, magnon dispersions, static
susceptibility and specific heat.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
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