3,597 research outputs found
Possible Quantum Diffusion of Polaronic Muons in DyTiO Spin Ice
We interpret recent measurements of the zero field muon relaxation rate in
the frustrated magnetic pyrochlore DyTiO as resulting from the
quantum diffusion of muons in the substance. In this scenario, the plateau
observed at low temperature ( K) in the relaxation rate is due to coherent
tunneling of the muons through a spatially disordered spin state and not to any
magnetic fluctuations persisting at low temperature. Two further regimes either
side of a maximum relaxation rate at K correspond to a crossover
between tunnelling and incoherent activated hopping motion of the muon. Our fit
of the experimental data is compared with the case of muonium diffusion in KCl.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure
Critical slowing down near the multiferroic phase transition in MnWO
By using broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the radiofrequency and
microwave range we studied the magnetoelectric dynamics in the multiferroic
chiral antiferromagnet MnWO. Above the multiferroic phase transition at
K we observe a critical slowing down of the corresponding
magnetoelectric fluctuations resembling the soft-mode behavior in canonical
ferroelectrics. This electric field driven excitation carries much less
spectral weight than ordinary phonon modes. Also the critical slowing down of
this mode scales with an exponent larger than one which is expected for
magnetic second order phase transition scenarios. Therefore the investigated
dynamics have to be interpreted as the softening of an electrically active
magnetic excitation, an electromagnon.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, appendi
Spin dynamics in rare earth single molecule magnets from muSR and NMR in [TbPc] and [DyPc]
The spin dynamics in [TbPc] and [DyPc] single
molecule magnets have been investigated by means of muon and nuclear
spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements. The correlation time for the spin
fluctuations was found to be close to 0.1 ms already at 50 K, about two orders
of magnitude larger than the one previously found in other lanthanide based
single molecule magnets. In [TbPc] two different regimes for the
spin fluctuations have been evidenced: a high temperature activated one
involving spin fluctuations across a barrier separating
the ground and first excited states and a low temperature regime involving
quantum fluctuations within the twofold degenerate ground-state. In
[DyPc] a high temperature activated spin dynamics is also evidenced
which, however, cannot be explained in terms of a single spin-phonon coupling
constant.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Magnetic quantum critical point and superconductivity in UPt3 doped with Pd
Transverse-field muon spin relaxation measurements have been carried out on
the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt3 doped with small amounts of Pd. We find
that the critical Pd concentration for the emergence of the large-moment
antiferromagnetic phase is ~0.6 at.%Pd. At the same Pd content,
superconductivity is completely suppressed. The existence of a magnetic quantum
critical point in the phase diagram, which coincides with the critical point
for superconductivity, provides evidence for ferromagnetic spin-fluctuation
mediated odd-parity superconductivity, which competes with antiferromagnetic
order.Comment: 4 pages (includes 3 figures); postscript fil
Magnetic quantum critical point and superconductivity in UPt3 doped with Pd
Transverse-field muon spin relaxation measurements have been carried out on
the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt3 doped with small amounts of Pd. We find
that the critical Pd concentration for the emergence of the large-moment
antiferromagnetic phase is ~0.6 at.%Pd. At the same Pd content,
superconductivity is completely suppressed. The existence of a magnetic quantum
critical point in the phase diagram, which coincides with the critical point
for superconductivity, provides evidence for ferromagnetic spin-fluctuation
mediated odd-parity superconductivity, which competes with antiferromagnetic
order.Comment: 4 pages (includes 3 figures); postscript fil
A Systemic Review of the Frequency of Animal Leptospirosis in the Southern United States and the Implications for Human Health
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with symptoms in humans and animals, ranging from subclinical to serious and fatal. The disease occurs worldwide, but there is limited recognition of the public and animal health risks it poses in the southern United States. A systematic review of the frequency of animal leptospirosis in 17 states and jurisdictions covering the southern continental United States was performed to advance our understanding of the pathogen's distribution and identify transmission patterns that could be targeted for prevention efforts. Fifty-two articles, spanning >100 years, met the analysis criteria. A wide range of techniques were used to measure seroprevalence and isolate the bacteria. The assessment identified exposure to Leptospira spp and Leptospira spp infection among a diverse range of species, spanning 22 animal families within 14 states, suggesting that the pathogen is distributed throughout the southern region. Disease frequency trends were assessed among animals in various habitats (all habitats, nonwild habitats, and wild habitats). The frequency of Leptospira spp detection in animals in wild habitats increased slightly over time (<0.2%/year). We identified reports of 11 human leptospirosis illness clusters and outbreaks in the southern United States. Exposure to potentially contaminated surface waters were documented for at least seven of the events, and interactions with infected or likely infected animals were documented for at least six of the events. This analysis highlights the need for stronger partnerships across the public and animal health fields to enhance diagnostics, surveillance, and reporting. The early identification of leptospirosis in animals may serve as an indicator of environmental contamination and trigger prevention measures, such as vaccinating companion animals and livestock, use of potable water, and the wearing of waterproof protective clothing near water that may be contaminated
Temporal Trends in Local Public Health Preparedness Capacity
Local health departments (LHDs) are essential to emergency preparedness and response activities. Since 2005, LHD resources for preparedness, including personnel, are declining in the face of continuing gaps and variation in the performance of preparedness activities. The effect of these funding decreases on LHD preparedness performance is not well understood. This study examines the performance of preparedness capacities among NC LHDs and a matched national comparison group of LHDs over three years. We observe significant decreases in five of eight preparedness domains from three years of survey data collected from 2010 through 2012. Most notably, we observe significant decreases in the Surveillance & Investigation domain. Performance decreases may be a result of continued, compounding declines in preparedness funding
Measuring Changes in Local Surveillance and Investigation Capacity
Background: The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa and confirmation of the first cases in the United States highlight the need for robust and responsive public health surveillance system. With a 25% decline in funding since 2007, the impact on local surveillance capacities has not previously been described.
Purpose: The Surveillance & Investigation domain of the Local Health Department Preparedness Capacities Survey (PCAS) was reweighted to reflect the national profile of LHDs. Changes in subdomain performance of capacities and the effect of population size on subdomain capacity performance were examined over time.
Methods: Participating LHDs (n=208) from the PCAS sample were reweighted according to characteristics from the 2010 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile. Overall changes in preparedness capacity across four subdomains from 2010 to 2012 were tested for significant differences using a weighted t-test. A series of weighted least squares regression models were used to determine whether population size may have modified the temporal changes in preparedness capacity.
Results: Significant declines were observed in the preparedness capacity in three of the four subdomains of Surveillance & Investigation. Results suggest that surveillance inputs from various sources, including hospitals, urgent care, poison control, pharmacies, and schools absentee reporting, especially for larger LHDs, may be more sensitive to changes or shifts over time versus others.
Implications: Declines in preparedness capacity may have affected the ability of LHDs, particularly larger ones, to effectively respond to community preparedness needs and, specifically, the detection of highly communicable and novel disease events
Resonance distribution in open quantum chaotic systems
In order to study the resonance spectra of chaotic cavities subject to some
damping (which can be due to absorption or partial reflection at the
boundaries), we use a model of damped quantum maps. In the high-frequency
limit, the distribution of (quantum) decay rates is shown to cluster near a
``typical'' value, which is larger than the classical decay rate of the
corresponding damped ray dynamics. The speed of this clustering may be quite
slow, which could explain why it has not been detected in previous numerical
data.Comment: 4 pages. Compared with version 2, we have slightly modified the
figures, corrected some misprints, and added the values for the fits in
figure
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