Temperature and Dimensionality Dependences of Optical Absorption Spectra in Mott Insulators

We investigate the temperature dependence of optical absorption spectra of one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) Mott insulators by using an effective model in the strong-coupling limit of a half-filed Hubbard model. In the numerically exact diagonalization calculations on finite-size clusters, we find that in 1D the energy position of the absorption edge is almost independent of temperature, while in 2D the edge position shifts to lower energy with increasing temperature. The different temperature dependence between 1D and 2D is attributed to the difference of the coupling of the charge and spin degrees of freedom. The implications of the results on experiments are discussed in terms of the dimensionality dependence.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Coherence in parametric fluorescence

We investigate spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM) in a single-channel side-coupled integrated spaced sequence of resonators (SCISSOR). Analytic expressions for the number of photon pairs generated, as well as the biphoton wave function (joint spectral amplitude) describing the pairs, are derived and numerically computed for different pump pulse durations and numbers of ring resonators. In the limit of a long input pump pulse, we show a strong analogy between super-linear scaling of generation efficiency with respect to the number of rings in the structure and Dicke superradiance. More generally, we discuss in detail the factors that influence the shape of the biphoton wave function, as well as the conditions for observing super-SFWM

Resonant Two-Magnon Raman Scattering and Photoexcited States in Two-Dimensional Mott Insulators

We investigate the resonant two-magnon Raman scattering in two-dimensional (2D) Mott insulators by using a half-filled 2D Hubbard model in the strong coupling limit. By performing numerical diagonalization calculations for small clusters, we find that the Raman intensity is enhanced when the incoming photon energy is not near the optical absorption edge but well above it, being consistent with experimental data. The absence of resonance near the gap edge is associated with the presence of background spins, while photoexcited states for resonance are found to be characterized by the charge degree of freedom. The resonance mechanism is different from those proposed previously.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Theoretical study of angle-resolved two-photon photoemission in two-dimensional insulating cuprates

We propose angle-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy (AR-2PPES) as a technique to detect the location of the bottom of the upper Hubbard band (UHB) in two-dimensional insulating cuprates. The AR-2PPES spectra are numerically calculated for small Hubbard clusters. When the pump photon excites an electron from the lower Hubbard band, the bottom of the UHB is less clear, but when an electron in the nonbonding oxygen band is excited, the bottom of the UHB can be identified clearly, accompanied with additional spectra originated from the spin-wave excitation at half filling.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Development of Simple and Cost-effective Treatment System for Municipal Wastewater

This study developed an alternative municipal sewage treatment system based on the pilot- and full-scale experiments. This proposed system consisting of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and trickling filter using a polyurethane sponge as packing material. This aerobic process was originally developed and named as a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS). DHS reactors accomplished high process performance during pilot- and full-scale experiments in Japan and other countries. The effluent quality of the DHS reactors was comparable to that of activated sludge systems. Moreover, advantages of DHS reactors include simple operation and maintenance (O&M), no required oxygen supply, small land requirement, and less excess sludge production. Indeed, the estimated energy requirement and excess sludge production of UASB and DHS systems were found to be approximately 75 and 85 % lower than those of conventional activated sludge systems, respectively. The high process performance can be attributed to the fact that the DHS reactor maintains much of the sludge in the reactor at concentrations 5–10 times higher than activated sludge. This indicates that DHS reactors have the potential for use as reliable, affordable, and efficient treatment systems, and can be used widely including developing countries

Possible role of Krüppel-like factor 5 in the remodeling of small airways and pulmonary vessels in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND: Small airway remodeling is an important cause of the airflow limitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A large population of patients with COPD also have pulmonary hypertension. Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) is a zinc-finger transcription factor that contributes to tissue remodeling in cardiovascular diseases. Here, we evaluate the possible involvement of KLF5 in the remodeling of small airways and pulmonary vessels in COPD. METHODS: Lung tissues were obtained from 23 control never-smokers, 17 control ex-smokers and 24 ex-smokers with COPD. The expression of KLF5 in the lung tissues was investigated by immunohistochemistry. We investigated whether oxidative/nitrosative stress, which is a major cause of the pathogenesis in COPD, could augment the production of KLF5. We examined the role of KLF5 in the stress-mediated tissue remodeling responses. We also investigated the susceptibility of KLF5 expression to nitrosative stress using bronchial fibroblasts isolated from the lung tissues. RESULTS: The expression of KLF5 was up-regulated in the small airways and pulmonary vessels of the COPD patients and it was mainly expressed in bronchial fibroblasts and cells of the pulmonary vessels. The extent of the KLF5 expression in the small airway of the COPD group had a significant correlation with the severity of the airflow limitation. Oxidative/nitrosative stress augmented the production of KLF5 in lung fibroblasts as well as the translocation of KLF5 into the nuclei. Silencing of KLF5 suppressed the stress-augmented differentiation into myofibroblasts, the release of collagens and metalloproteinases. Bronchial fibroblasts from the patients with COPD highly expressed KLF5 compared to those from the control subjects under basal condition and were more susceptible to the induction of KLF5 expression by nitrosative stress compared to those from the control subjects. CONCLUSION: We provide the first evidence that the expression of KLF5 is up-regulated in small airways and pulmonary vessels of patients with COPD and may be involved in the tissue remodeling of COPD

Detailed Measurements of Characteristic Profiles of Magnetic Diffuse Scattering in ErB2_2C2_2

Detailed neutron diffraction measurements on a single crystalline ErB$_2$C$_2$ were performed. We observed magnetic diffuse scattering which consists of three components just above the transition temperatures, which is also observed in characteristic antiferroquadrupolar ordering compounds HoB$_2$C$_2$ and TbB$_2$C$_2$. The result of this experiments indicates that the antiferroquadrupolar interaction is not dominantly important as a origin of the magnetic diffuse scattering.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Investigation of the thermal expansion and heat capacity of the CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

The thermal expansion of the CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics has been measured over a wide temperature range 120–1200 K. The high quality of the samples under study has been confirmed by good agreement of the results of measurements of the heat capacity in the range 2–300 K and in the vicinity of the phase transition of magnetic nature at 25 K with the data for the single crystal. No anomalies in the thermal expansion that can be associated with the phase transition at 726–732 K assumed by other investigators have been found. The influence exerted on the thermal expansion by the heat treatment of the sample in a helium atmosphere and in air has been investigated