Management of patients with chronic kidney disease

Co-operation between primary healthcare workers (clinic staff and general practitioners) and nephrologists is essential and the ability to refer patients timeously should be on a pre-negotiated and organised basis. This article deals with these aspects, including follow-up guidelines and management and treatment strategies, including lifestyle changes where indicated and referral for end-stage renal failure, i.e. for dialysis and transplantation

Local Manipulation of Nuclear Spin in a Semiconductor Quantum Well

The shaping of nuclear spin polarization profiles and the induction of nuclear resonances are demonstrated within a parabolic quantum well using an externally applied gate voltage. Voltage control of the electron and hole wave functions results in nanometer-scale sheets of polarized nuclei positioned along the growth direction of the well. RF voltages across the gates induce resonant spin transitions of selected isotopes. This depolarizing effect depends strongly on the separation of electrons and holes, suggesting that a highly localized mechanism accounts for the observed behavior.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Fowler-Nordheim-like local injection of photoelectrons from a silicon tip

Tunneling between a photo-excited p-type silicon tip and a gold surface is studied as a function of tip bias, tip/sample distance and light intensity. In order to extend the range of application of future spin injection experiments, the measurements are carried out under nitrogen gas at room temperature. It is found that while tunneling of valence band electrons is described by a standard process between the semiconductor valence band and the metal, the tunneling of photoelectrons obeys a Fowler-Nordheim-like process directly from the conduction band. In the latter case, the bias dependence of the photocurrent as a function of distance is in agreement with theoretical predictions which include image charge effects. Quantitative analysis of the bias dependence of the dark and photocurrent spectra gives reasonable values for the distance, and for the tip and metal work functions. For small distances image charge effects induce a vanishing of the barrier and the bias dependence of the photocurrent is exponential. In common with many works on field emission, fluctuations in the tunneling currents are observed. These are mainly attributed to changes in the prefactor for the tunneling photocurrent, which we suggest is caused by an electric-field-induced modification of the thickness of the natural oxide layer covering the tip apex.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Smectic Layering: Landau theory for a complex-tensor order parameter

Composed of microscopic layers that stack along one direction while maintaining fluid-like positional disorder within layers, smectics are excellent systems for exploring topology, defects and geometric memory in complex confining geometries. However, the coexistence of crystalline-like characteristics in one direction and fluid-like disorder within layers makes lamellar liquid crystals notoriously difficult to model—especially in the presence of defects and large distortions. Nematic properties of smectics can be comprehensively described by the Q ̲ ̲ -tensor; however, lamellar order can exist independent of nematic alignment. To capture the features of the smectic layering alone, we develop a phenomenological Landau theory for a complex-tensor order parameter E ̲ ̲ , which is capable of describing the local degree of lamellar ordering, layer displacement, and orientation of the layers. This theory accounts for both parallel and perpendicular elastic contributions. In addition to resolving the potential ambiguities inherent to complex scalar order parameter models, this model reduces to previously employed models of simple smectics, and opens new possibilities for numerical studies on smectics possessing many defects, within complex geometries and under extreme confinement

Linkage analysis of high myopia susceptibility locus in 26 families

Purpose: We conducted a linkage analysis in high myopia families to replicate suggestive results from chromosome 7q36 using a model of autosomal dominant inheritance and genetic heterogeneity. We also performed a genome-wide scan to identify novel loci. Methods: Twenty-six families, with at least two high-myopic subjects (ie. refractive value in the less affected eye of -5 diopters) in each family, were included. Phenotypic examination included standard autorefractometry, ultrasonographic eye length measurement, and clinical confirmation of the non-syndromic character of the refractive disorder. Nine families were collected de novo including 136 available members of whom 34 were highly myopic subjects. Twenty new subjects were added in 5 of the 17 remaining families. A total of 233 subjects were submitted to a genome scan using ABI linkage mapping set LMSv2-MD-10, additional markers in all regions where preliminary LOD scores were greater than 1.5 were used. Multipoint parametric and non-parametric analyses were conducted with the software packages Genehunter 2.0 and Merlin 1.0.1. Two autosomal recessive, two autosomal dominant, and four autosomal additive models were used in the parametric linkage analyses. Results: No linkage was found using the subset of nine newly collected families. Study of the entire population of 26 families with a parametric model did not yield a significant LOD score (>3), even for the previously suggestive locus on 7q36. A non-parametric model demonstrated significant linkage to chromosome 7p15 in the entire population (Z-NPL=4.07, p=0.00002). The interval is 7.81 centiMorgans (cM) between markers D7S2458 and D7S2515. Conclusions: The significant interval reported here needs confirmation in other cohorts. Among possible susceptibility genes in the interval, certain candidates are likely to be involved in eye growth and development

Creation of Entanglement between Two Electron Spins Induced by Many Spin Ensemble Excitations

We theoretically explore the possibility of creating spin entanglement by simultaneously coupling two electronic spins to a nuclear ensemble. By microscopically modeling the spin ensemble with a single mode boson field, we use the time-dependent Fr\"{o}hlich transformation (TDFT) method developed most recently [Yong Li, C. Bruder, and C. P. Sun, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{75}, 032302 (2007)] to calculate the effective coupling between the two spins. Our investigation shows that the total system realizes a solid state based architecture for cavity QED. Exchanging such kind effective boson in a virtual process can result in an effective interaction between two spins. It is discovered that a maximum entangled state can be obtained when the velocity of the electrons matches the initial distance between them in a suitable way. Moreover, we also study how the number of collective excitations influences the entanglement. It is shown that the larger the number of excitation is, the less the two spins entangle each other.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Fine structure and optical pumping of spins in individual semiconductor quantum dots

We review spin properties of semiconductor quantum dots and their effect on optical spectra. Photoluminescence and other types of spectroscopy are used to probe neutral and charged excitons in individual quantum dots with high spectral and spatial resolution. Spectral fine structure and polarization reveal how quantum dot spins interact with each other and with their environment. By taking advantage of the selectivity of optical selection rules and spin relaxation, optical spin pumping of the ground state electron and nuclear spins is achieved. Through such mechanisms, light can be used to process spins for use as a carrier of information

Electronic structure of nuclear-spin-polarization-induced quantum dots

We study a system in which electrons in a two-dimensional electron gas are confined by a nonhomogeneous nuclear spin polarization. The system consists of a heterostructure that has non-zero nuclei spins. We show that in this system electrons can be confined into a dot region through a local nuclear spin polarization. The nuclear-spin-polarization-induced quantum dot has interesting properties indicating that electron energy levels are time-dependent because of the nuclear spin relaxation and diffusion processes. Electron confining potential is a solution of diffusion equation with relaxation. Experimental investigations of the time-dependence of electron energy levels will result in more information about nuclear spin interactions in solids