1,174 research outputs found
High field magneto-transport in high mobility gated InSb/InAlSb quantum well heterostructures
We present high field magneto-transport data from a range of 30nm wide
InSb/InAlSb quantum wells. The low temperature carrier mobility of the samples
studied ranged from 18.4 to 39.5 m2V-1s-1 with carrier densities between
1.5x1015 and 3.28x1015 m-2. Room temperature mobilities are reported in excess
of 6 m2V-1s-1. It is found that the Landau level broadening decreases with
carrier density and beating patterns are observed in the magnetoresistance with
non-zero node amplitudes in samples with the narrowest broadening despite the
presence of a large g-factor. The beating is attributed to Rashba splitting
phenomenon and Rashba coupling parameters are extracted from the difference in
spin populations for a range of samples and gate biases. The influence of
Landau level broadening and spin-dependent scattering rates on the observation
of beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is investigated by simulations
of the magnetoconductance. Data with non-zero beat node amplitudes are
accompanied by asymmetric peaks in the Fourier transform, which are
successfully reproduced by introducing a spin-dependent broadening in the
simulations. It is found that the low-energy (majority) spin up state suffers
more scattering than the high-energy (minority) spin down state and that the
absence of beating patterns in the majority of (lower density) samples can be
attributed to the same effect when the magnitude of the level broadening is
large
Molecular Tracers of Embedded Star Formation in Ophiuchus
In this paper we analyze nine SCUBA cores in Ophiuchus using the
second-lowest rotational transitions of four molecular species (12CO, 13CO,
C18O, and C17O) to search for clues to the evolutionary state and
star-formation activity within each core. Specifically, we look for evidence of
outflows, infall, and CO depletion. The line wings in the CO spectra are used
to detect outflows, spectral asymmetries in 13CO are used to determine infall
characteristics, and a comparison of the dust emission (from SCUBA
observations) and gas emission (from C18O) is used to determine the fractional
CO freeze-out.
Through comparison with Spitzer observations of protostellar sources in
Ophiuchus, we discuss the usefulness of CO and its isotopologues as the sole
indicators of the evolutionary state of each core. This study is an important
pilot project for the JCMT Legacy Survey of the Gould Belt (GBS) and the
Galactic Plane (JPS), which intend to complement the SCUBA-2 dust continuum
observations with HARP observations of 12CO, 13CO, C18O, and C17O J = 3 - 2 in
order to determine whether or not the cold dust clumps detected by SCUBA-2 are
protostellar or starless objects.
Our classification of the evolutionary state of the cores (based on molecular
line maps and SCUBA observations) is in agreement with the Spitzer designation
for six or seven of the nine SCUBA cores. However, several important caveats
exist in the interpretation of these results, many of which large mapping
surveys like the GBS may be able to overcome to provide a clearer picture of
activity in crowded fields.Comment: 43 pages including 19 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
the PAS
Shoulder posture and median nerve sliding
Background: Patients with upper limb pain often have a slumped sitting position and poorshoulder posture. Pain could be due to poor posture causing mechanical changes (stretch; localpressure) that in turn affect the function of major limb nerves (e.g. median nerve). This studyexamines (1) whether the individual components of slumped sitting (forward head position, trunkflexion and shoulder protraction) cause median nerve stretch and (2) whether shoulderprotraction restricts normal nerve movements.Methods: Longitudinal nerve movement was measured using frame-by-frame cross-correlationanalysis from high frequency ultrasound images during individual components of slumped sitting.The effects of protraction on nerve movement through the shoulder region were investigated byexamining nerve movement in the arm in response to contralateral neck side flexion.Results: Neither moving the head forward or trunk flexion caused significant movement of themedian nerve. In contrast, 4.3 mm of movement, adding 0.7% strain, occurred in the forearm duringshoulder protraction. A delay in movement at the start of protraction and straightening of thenerve trunk provided evidence of unloading with the shoulder flexed and elbow extended and thescapulothoracic joint in neutral. There was a 60% reduction in nerve movement in the arm duringcontralateral neck side flexion when the shoulder was protracted compared to scapulothoracicneutral.Conclusion: Slumped sitting is unlikely to increase nerve strain sufficient to cause changes tonerve function. However, shoulder protraction may place the median nerve at risk of injury, sincenerve movement is reduced through the shoulder region when the shoulder is protracted andother joints are moved. Both altered nerve dynamics in response to moving other joints and localchanges to blood supply may adversely affect nerve function and increase the risk of developingupper quadrant pain
Chiminey: Reliable Computing and Data Management Platform in the Cloud
The enabling of scientific experiments that are embarrassingly parallel, long
running and data-intensive into a cloud-based execution environment is a
desirable, though complex undertaking for many researchers. The management of
such virtual environments is cumbersome and not necessarily within the core
skill set for scientists and engineers. We present here Chiminey, a software
platform that enables researchers to (i) run applications on both traditional
high-performance computing and cloud-based computing infrastructures, (ii)
handle failure during execution, (iii) curate and visualise execution outputs,
(iv) share such data with collaborators or the public, and (v) search for
publicly available data.Comment: Preprint, ICSE 201
High field magneto-transport in high mobility gated InSb/InAlSb quantum well heterostructures
We present high field magneto-transport data from a range of 30nm wide InSb/InAlSb quantum wells. The low temperature carrier mobility of the samples studied ranged from 18.4 to 39.5 m2V-1s-1 with carrier densities between 1.5x1015 and 3.28x1015 m-2. Room temperature mobilities are reported in excess of 6 m2V-1s-1. It is found that the Landau level broadening decreases with carrier density and beating patterns are observed in the magnetoresistance with non-zero node amplitudes in samples with the narrowest broadening despite the presence of a large g-factor. The beating is attributed to Rashba splitting phenomenon and Rashba coupling parameters are extracted from the difference in spin populations for a range of samples and gate biases. The influence of Landau level broadening and spin-dependent scattering rates on the observation of beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is investigated by simulations of the magnetoconductance. Data with non-zero beat node amplitudes are accompanied by asymmetric peaks in the Fourier transform, which are successfully reproduced by introducing a spin-dependent broadening in the simulations. It is found that the low-energy (majority) spin up state suffers more scattering than the high-energy (minority) spin down state and that the absence of beating patterns in the majority of (lower density) samples can be attributed to the same effect when the magnitude of the level broadening is large
Band anticrossing in GaNxSb1–x
Fourier transform infrared absorption measurements are presented from the dilute nitride semiconductor GaNSb with nitrogen incorporations between 0.2% and 1.0%. The divergence of transitions from the valence band to E– and E+ can be seen with increasing nitrogen incorporation, consistent with theoretical predictions. The GaNSb band structure has been modeled using a five-band k·p Hamiltonian and a band anticrossing fitting has been obtained using a nitrogen level of 0.78 eV above the valence band maximum and a coupling parameter of 2.6 eV
Chaperone activity and structure of monomeric polypeptide binding domains of GroEL
The chaperonin GroEL is a large complex composed of 14 identical 57-kDa subunits that requires ATP and GroES for some of its activities. We find that a monomeric polypeptide corresponding to residues 191 to 345 has the activity of the tetradecamer both in facilitating the refolding of rhodanese and cyclophilin A in the absence of ATP and in catalyzing the unfolding of native barnase. Its crystal structure, solved at 2.5 A resolution, shows a well-ordered domain with the same fold as in intact GroEL. We have thus isolated the active site of the complex allosteric molecular chaperone, which functions as a "minichaperone." This has mechanistic implications: the presence of a central cavity in the GroEL complex is not essential for those representative activities in vitro, and neither are the allosteric properties. The function of the allosteric behavior on the binding of GroES and ATP must be to regulate the affinity of the protein for its various substrates in vivo, where the cavity may also be required for special functions
The JCMT 12CO(3-2) Survey of the Cygnus X Region: I. A Pathfinder
Cygnus X is one of the most complex areas in the sky. This complicates
interpretation, but also creates the opportunity to investigate accretion into
molecular clouds and many subsequent stages of star formation, all within one
small field of view. Understanding large complexes like Cygnus X is the key to
understanding the dominant role that massive star complexes play in galaxies
across the Universe.
The main goal of this study is to establish feasibility of a high-resolution
CO survey of the entire Cygnus X region by observing part of it as a
Pathfinder, and to evaluate the survey as a tool for investigating the
star-formation process.
A 2x4 degree area of the Cygnus X region has been mapped in the 12CO(3-2)
line at an angular resolution of 15" and a velocity resolution of ~0.4km/s
using HARP-B and ACSIS on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The star formation
process is heavily connected to the life-cycle of the molecular material in the
interstellar medium. The high critical density of the 12CO(3-2) transition
reveals clouds in key stages of molecule formation, and shows processes that
turn a molecular cloud into a star.
We observed ~15% of Cygnus X, and demonstrated that a full survey would be
feasible and rewarding. We detected three distinct layers of 12CO(3-2)
emission, related to the Cygnus Rift (500-800 pc), to W75N (1-1.8 kpc), and to
DR21 (1.5-2.5 kpc). Within the Cygnus Rift, HI self-absorption features are
tightly correlated with faint diffuse CO emission, while HISA features in the
DR21 layer are mostly unrelated to any CO emission. 47 molecular outflows were
detected in the Pathfinder, 27 of them previously unknown. Sequentially
triggered star formation is a widespread phenomenon.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
New Consequences of Induced Transparency in a Double-Lambda scheme: Destructive Interference In Four-wave Mixing
We investigate a four-state system interacting with long and short laser
pulses in a weak probe beam approximation. We show that when all lasers are
tuned to the exact unperturbed resonances, part of the four-wave mixing (FWM)
field is strongly absorbed. The part which is not absorbed has the exact
intensity required to destructively interfere with the excitation pathway
involved in producing the FWM state. We show that with this three-photon
destructive interference, the conversion efficiency can still be as high as
25%. Contrary to common belief,our calculation shows that this process, where
an ideal one-photon electromagnetically induced transparency is established, is
not most suitable for high efficiency conversion. With appropriate
phase-matching and propagation distance, and when the three-photon destructive
interference does not occur, we show that the photon flux conversion efficiency
is independent of probe intensity and can be close to 100%. In addition, we
show clearly that the conversion efficiency is not determined by the maximum
atomic coherence between two lower excited states, as commonly believed. It is
the combination of phase-matching and constructive interference involving the
two terms arising in producing the mixing wave that is the key element for the
optimized FWM generation. Indeed, in this scheme no appreciable excited state
is produced, so that the atomic coherence between states |0> and |2> is always
very small.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. A, 7 pages, 4 figure
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