516 research outputs found
Low Energy Singlets in the Excitation Spectrum of the Spin Tetrahedra System Cu_2Te_2O_5Br_2
Low energy Raman scattering of the s=1/2 spin tetrahedra system
Cu_2Te_2O_5Br_2 is dominated by an excitation at 18 cm^{-1} corresponding to an
energy E_S=0.6\Delta, with \Delta the spin gap of the compound. For elevated
temperatures this mode shows a soft mode-like decrease in energy pointing to an
instability of the system. The isostructural reference system Cu_2Te_2O_5Cl_2
with a presumably larger inter-tetrahedra coupling does not show such a low
energy mode. Instead its excitation spectrum and thermodynamic properties are
compatible with long range Neel-ordering. We discuss the observed effects in
the context of quantum fluctuations and competing ground states.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, ISSP-Kashiwa 2001, Conference on Correlated
Electron
Magnetism of the LTT phase of Eu doped La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4
The ESR signal of Gd spin probes (0.5 at %) as well as the static normal
state susceptibility of Eu (J(Eu^{3+})=0) doped La_{2-x-y}Sr_xEu_yCuO_4 reveal
pronounced changes of the Cu magnetism at the structural transition from the
orthorhombic to the low temperature tetragonal phase for all
non-superconducting compositions. Both a jumplike decrease of \chi as well as
the ESR data show an increase of the in-plane magnetic correlation length in
the LTT phase. From the Gd^{3+} ESR linewidth we find that for specific Eu and
Sr concentrations in the LTT phase the correlation length increases up to more
than 100 lattice constants and the fluctuation frequency of the CuO_2 spin
system slows down to 10^{10}- 10^{11}sec^{-1}. However, there is no static
order above T ~ 8K in contrast to the LTT phase of Nd doped La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4
with pinned stripe correlations.Comment: 7 pages, RevTex, 3 eps figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the
International Conference "Stripes, Lattice Instabilities and High Tc
Superconductivity", (Rome, Dec. 1996
Technical Note: In silico and experimental evaluation of two leaf-fitting algorithms for MLC tracking based on exposure error and plan complexity.
PURPOSE: Multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking is being clinically pioneered to continuously compensate for thoracic and pelvic motion during radiotherapy. The purpose of this work was to characterize the performance of two MLC leaf-fitting algorithms, direct optimization and piecewise optimization, for real-time motion compensation with different plan complexity and tumor trajectories. METHODS: To test the algorithms, both in silico and phantom experiments were performed. The phantom experiments were performed on a Trilogy Varian linac and a HexaMotion programmable motion platform. High and low modulation VMAT plans for lung and prostate cancer cases were used along with eight patient-measured organ-specific trajectories. For both MLC leaf-fitting algorithms, the plans were run with their corresponding patient trajectories. To compare algorithms, the average exposure errors, i.e., the difference in shape between ideal and fitted MLC leaves by the algorithm, plan complexity and system latency of each experiment were calculated. RESULTS: Comparison of exposure errors for the in silico and phantom experiments showed minor differences between the two algorithms. The average exposure errors for in silico experiments with low/high plan complexity were 0.66/0.88 cm2 for direct optimization and 0.66/0.88 cm2 for piecewise optimization, respectively. The average exposure errors for the phantom experiments with low/high plan complexity were 0.73/1.02 cm2 for direct and 0.73/1.02 cm2 for piecewise optimization, respectively. The measured latency for the direct optimization was 226 ± 10 ms and for the piecewise algorithm was 228 ± 10 ms. In silico and phantom exposure errors quantified for each treatment plan demonstrated that the exposure errors from the high plan complexity (0.96 cm2 mean, 2.88 cm2 95% percentile) were all significantly different from the low plan complexity (0.70 cm2 mean, 2.18 cm2 95% percentile) (P < 0.001, two-tailed, Mann-Whitney statistical test). CONCLUSIONS: The comparison between the two leaf-fitting algorithms demonstrated no significant differences in exposure errors, neither in silico nor with phantom experiments. This study revealed that plan complexity impacts the overall exposure errors significantly more than the difference between the algorithms
Effects of Alcohol and Saccharin Deprivations on Concurrent Ethanol and Saccharin Operant Self-Administration by Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats
Consumption of sweet solutions has been associated with a reduction in withdrawal symptoms and
alcohol craving in humans. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of
EtOH and saccharin (SACC) deprivations on operant oral self-administration. P rats were allowed
to lever press concurrently self-administer EtOH (15% v/v) and SACC (0.0125% g/v) for 8 weeks.
Rats were then maintained on daily operant access (non-deprived), deprived of both fluids (2
weeks), deprived of SACC and given 2 ml of EtOH daily, or deprived of EtOH and given 2 ml of
SACC daily. All groups were then given two weeks of daily operant access to EtOH and SACC,
followed by an identical second deprivation period. P rats responded more for EtOH than SACC.
All deprived groups increased responding on the EtOH lever, but not on the SACC lever. Daily
consumption of 2 ml EtOH decreased the duration of the ADE. Home cage access to 2 ml SACC
also decreased the ADE but to a lesser extent than access to EtOH. A second deprivation period
further increased and prolonged the expression of an ADE. These results show EtOH is a more
salient reinforcer than SACC. With concurrent access to EtOH and SACC, P rats do not display a
saccharin deprivation effect. Depriving P rats of both EtOH and SACC had the most pronounced
effect on the magnitude and duration of the ADE, suggesting that there may be some interactions
between EtOH and SACC in their CNS reinforcing effects
Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya Spin Canting in the LTT Phase of La2-x-yEuySrxCuO4
The Cu spin magnetism in La2-x-yEuySrxCuO4 (x<=0.17; y<=0.2) has been studied
by means of magnetization measurements up to 14 T. Our results clearly show
that in the antiferromagnetic phase Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM)superexchange
causes Cu spin canting not only in the LTO phase but also in the LTLO and LTT
phases. In La1.8Eu0.2CuO4 the canted DM-moment is about 50% larger than in pure
La2CuO4 which we attribute to the larger octahedral tilt angle. We also find
clear evidence that the size of the DM-moment does not change significantly at
the structural transition at T_LT from LTO to LTLO and LTT. The most important
change induced by the transition is a significant reduction of the magnetic
coupling between the CuO2 planes. As a consequence, the spin-flip transition of
the canted Cu spins which is observed in the LTO phase for magnetic field
perpendicular to the CuO2 planes disappears in the LTT phase. The shape of the
magnetization curves changes from the well known spin-flip type to a
weak-ferromagnet type. However, no spontaneous weak ferromagnetism is observed
even at very low temperatures, which seems to indicate that the interlayer
decoupling in our samples is not perfect. Nonetheless, a small fraction (<15%)
of the DM-moments can be remanently magnetized throughout the entire
antiferromagnetically ordered LTT/LTLO phase, i.e. for T<T_LT and x<0.02. It
appears that the remanent DM-moment is perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. For
magnetic field parallel to the CuO2 planes we find that the critical field of
the spin-flop transition decreases in the LTLO phase, which might indicate a
competition between different in-plane anisotropies. To study the Cu spin
magnetism in La2-x-yEuySrxCuO4, a careful analysis of the Van Vleck
paramagnetism of the Eu3+ ions was performed.Comment: 22 pages, 27 figure
Common genetic and environmental contributions to post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence in young women
BACKGROUND: The few genetically informative studies to examine post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD), all of which are based on a male veteran sample, suggest that the co-morbidity between PTSD and AD may be attributable in part to overlapping genetic influences, but this issue has yet to be addressed in females. METHOD: Data were derived from an all-female twin sample (n=3768) ranging in age from 18 to 29 years. A trivariate genetic model that included trauma exposure as a separate phenotype was fitted to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to PTSD and the degree to which they overlap with those that contribute to AD, after accounting for potential confounding effects of heritable influences on trauma exposure. RESULTS: Additive genetic influences (A) accounted for 72 % of the variance in PTSD ; individual-specific environmental (E) factors accounted for the remainder. An AE model also provided the best fit for AD, for which heritability was estimated to be 71 %. The genetic correlation between PTSD and AD was 0.54. CONCLUSIONS: The heritability estimate for PTSD in our sample is higher than estimates reported in earlier studies based almost exclusively on an all-male sample in which combat exposure was the precipitating traumatic event. However, our findings are consistent with the absence of evidence for shared environmental influences on PTSD and, most importantly, the substantial overlap in genetic influences on PTSD and AD reported in these investigations. Additional research addressing potential distinctions by gender in the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences on PTSD is merited
Green Production of Anionic Surfactant Obtained from Pea Protein
A pea protein isolate was hydrolyzed by a double enzyme treatment method in order to obtain short peptide sequences used as raw materials to produce lipopeptides-based surfactants. Pea protein hydrolysates were prepared using the combination of Alcalase and Flavourzyme. The influence of the process variables was studied to optimize the proteolytic degradation to high degrees of hydrolysis. The average peptide chain lengths were obtained at 3–5 amino acid units after a hydrolysis of 30 min with the mixture of enzymes. Then, N-acylation in water, in presence of acid chloride (C12 and C16), carried out with a conversion rate of amine functions of 90%, allowed to obtain anionic surfactant mixtures (lipopeptides and sodium fatty acids). These two steps were performed in water, in continuous and did not generate any waste. This process was therefore in line with green chemistry principles. The surface activities (CMC, foaming and emulsifying properties) of these mixtures were also studied. These formulations obtained from natural renewable resources and the reactions done under environmental respect, could replace petrochemical based surfactants for some applications
Дослідження ефективності управління примежовим шаром на опорній поверхні шляхової структури перспективних транспортних технологій Maglev
Исследованы физические процессы управления пограничным слоем на профилированной поверхности путевой структуры перспективных транспортных технологий. Установлены закономерности влияния параметров управления пограничным слоем на распределение скоростей на путевой структуре.The physical processes of control are investigational by a frontier layer on the profiled surface
of the ground structure of perspective transport technologies. Conformities to law of influence of
control parameters are set by a frontier layer on distribution of speeds on the ground structure
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