720 research outputs found
Nanoscale analysis of the oxidation state and surface termination of praseodymium oxide ultrathin films on ruthenium(0001)
The complex structure and morphology of ultrathin praseodymia films deposited on a ruthenium(0001) single crystal substrate by reactive molecular beam epitaxy is analyzed by intensity-voltage low-energy electron microscopy in combination with theoretical calculations within an ab initio scattering theory. A rich coexistence of various nanoscale crystalline surface structures is identified for the as-grown samples, notably comprising two distinct oxygen-terminated hexagonal Pr2O3(0001) surface phases as well as a cubic Pr2O3(111) and a fluorite PrO2(111) surface component. Furthermore, scattering theory reveals a striking similarity between the electron reflectivity spectra of praseodymia and ceria due to very efficient screening of the nuclear charge by the extra 4f electron in the former case
The effect of 5-aminolevulinic acid on cytochrome c oxidase activity in mouse liver
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a precursor of heme that is fundamentally important in aerobic energy metabolism. Among the enzymes involved in aerobic energy metabolism, cytochrome <it>c </it>oxidase (COX) is crucial. In this study, the effect of ALA on cytochrome <it>c </it>oxidase activity was measured.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>c57BL/6N species of mice were administered ALA orally for 15 weeks. After ALA administration, mice were sacrificed and livers were obtained. COX activity in mitochondria from ALA-administered mouse livers was 1.5-fold higher than that in mitochondria from PBS-administered mouse livers (P < 0.05). Furthermore, ATP levels in ALA-administered mouse livers were much higher than those in PBS-administered mouse livers. These data suggest that oral administration of ALA promotes aerobic energy metabolism, especially COX activity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report of a drug that functions in aerobic energy metabolism directly. Since COX activity is decreased in various diseases and aging, the pharmacological effects of ALA will be expanding.</p
The Physics of Hadronic Tau Decays
Hadronic tau decays represent a clean laboratory for the precise study of
quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Observables (sum rules) based on the spectral
functions of hadronic tau decays can be related to QCD quark-level calculations
to determine fundamental quantities like the strong coupling constant,
parameters of the chiral Lagrangian, |V_us|, the mass of the strange quark, and
to simultaneously test the concept of quark-hadron duality. Using the best
available measurements and a revisited analysis of the theoretical framework,
the value alpha_s(m_tau) = 0.345 +- 0.004[exp] +- 0.009[theo] is obtained.
Taken together with the determination of alpha_s(m_Z) from the global
electroweak fit, this result leads to the most accurate test of asymptotic
freedom: the value of the logarithmic slope of 1/alpha_s(s) is found to agree
with QCD at a precision of 4%. In another approach, the tau spectral functions
can be used to determine hadronic quantities that, due to the nonperturbative
nature of long-distance QCD, cannot be computed from first principles. An
example for this is the contribution from hadronic vacuum polarization to
loop-dominated processes like the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. This
article reviews the measurements of nonstrange and strange tau spectral
functions and their phenomenological applications.Comment: 89 pages, 32 figures; final version accepted for publication by
Reviews of Modern Physic
The Landé factors of electrons and holes in lead halide perovskites: universal dependence on the band gap
The LandĂ© or g-factors of charge carriers are decisive for the spin-dependent phenomena in solids and provide also information about the underlying electronic band structure. We present a comprehensive set of experimental data for values and anisotropies of the electron and hole LandĂ© factors in hybrid organic-inorganic (MAPbI3, MAPb(Br0.5Cl0.5)3, MAPb(Br0.05Cl0.95)3, FAPbBr3, FA0.9Cs0.1PbI2.8Br0.2, MA=methylammonium and FA=formamidinium) and all-inorganic (CsPbBr3) lead halide perovskites, determined by pump-probe Kerr rotation and spin-flip Raman scattering in magnetic fields up to 10 T at cryogenic temperatures. Further, we use first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations in combination with tight-binding and kââ
âp approaches to calculate microscopically the LandĂ© factors. The results demonstrate their universal dependence on the band gap energy across the different perovskite material classes, which can be summarized in a universal semi-phenomenological expression, in good agreement with experiment
The Determination of alpha_s from Tau Decays Revisited
We revisit the determination of alpha_s(m_tau) using a fit to inclusive tau
hadronic spectral moments in light of (1) the recent calculation of the
fourth-order perturbative coefficient K_4 in the expansion of the Adler
function, (2) new precision measurements from BABAR of e+e- annihilation cross
sections, which decrease the uncertainty in the separation of vector and
axial-vector spectral functions, and (3) improved results from BABAR and Belle
on tau branching fractions involving kaons. We estimate that the fourth-order
perturbative prediction reduces the theoretical uncertainty, introduced by the
truncation of the series, by 20% with respect to earlier determinations. We
discuss to some detail the perturbative prediction and show that the effect of
the incomplete knowledge of the series is reduced by using the so-called
contour-improved calculation, as opposed to fixed-order perturbation theory
which manifests convergence problems. The corresponding theoretical
uncertainties are studied at the tau and Z mass scales. Nonperturbative
contributions extracted from the most inclusive fit are small, in agreement
with earlier determinations. Systematic effects from quark-hadron duality
violation are estimated with simple models and found to be within the quoted
systematic errors. The fit gives alpha_s(m_tau) = 0.344 +- 0.005 +- 0.007,
where the first error is experimental and the second theoretical. After
evolution to M_Z we obtain alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1212 +- 0.0005 +- 0.0008 +- 0.0005,
where the errors are respectively experimental, theoretical and due to the
evolution. The result is in agreement with the corresponding NNNLO value
derived from essentially the Z width in the global electroweak fit. The
alpha_s(M_Z) determination from tau decays is the most precise one to date.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Measurement Of |V_ub| From Inclusive Charmless Semileptonic B Decays
We present the partial branching fraction for inclusive charmless
semileptonic B decays and the corresponding value of the CKM matrix element
|Vub|, using a multivariate analysis method to access ~90% of the B -> Xu l nu
phase space. This approach dramatically reduces the theoretical uncertainties
from the b-quark mass and non-perturbative QCD compared to all previous
inclusive measurements. The results are based on a sample of 657 million B
-Bbar pairs collected with the Belle detector. We find that Delta BR(B -> Xu l
nu; p^*B_l>1.0 GeV/c=1.963 x (1 +/- 0.088(stat.) +/- 0.081(sys.)) x 10^-3.
Corresponding values of |Vub| are extracted using several theoretical
calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. Published in PR
Physics at the e+ e- Linear Collider
A comprehensive review of physics at an e+e- Linear Collider in the energy
range of sqrt{s}=92 GeV--3 TeV is presented in view of recent and expected LHC
results, experiments from low energy as well as astroparticle physics.The
report focuses in particular on Higgs boson, Top quark and electroweak
precision physics, but also discusses several models of beyond the Standard
Model physics such as Supersymmetry, little Higgs models and extra gauge
bosons. The connection to cosmology has been analyzed as well.Comment: 179 pages, plots and references updated, version to be published at
EPJ
The Standard Model Prediction of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment
This article reviews and updates the Standard Model prediction of the muon
g-2. QED, electroweak and hadronic contributions are presented, and open
questions discussed. The theoretical prediction deviates from the present
experimental value by 2-3 standard deviations, if e+e- annihilation data are
used to evaluate the leading hadronic term.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures. v2: Updated version to appear in J.Phys.G.
Comments and references added, typo corrected in eq.(17
Hadron Spectroscopy: Theory and Experiment
Many new results on hadron spectra have been appearing in the past few years
thanks to improved experimental techniques and searches in new channels. New
theoretical techniques including refined methods of lattice QCD have kept pace
with these developments. Much has been learned about states made of both light
(u, d, and s) and heavy (c, b) quarks. The present review treats light-quark
mesons, glueballs, hybrids, particles with a single c or b quark, charmonium,
and bottomonium states. Some prospects for further study are noted.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Journal of Physics G. Further
updating of reference
Unfolding of differential energy spectra in the MAGIC experiment
The paper describes the different methods, used in the MAGIC experiment, to
unfold experimental energy distributions of cosmic ray particles (gamma-rays).
Questions and problems related to the unfolding are discussed. Various
procedures are proposed which can help to make the unfolding robust and
reliable. The different methods and procedures are implemented in the MAGIC
software and are used in most of the analyses.Comment: Submitted to NIM
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