246 research outputs found
Calculation and spectroscopy of the Landau band structure at a thin and atomically precise tunneling barrier
Two laterally adjacent quantum Hall systems separated by an extended barrier
of a thickness on the order of the magnetic length possess a complex Landau
band structure in the vicinity of the line junction. The energy dispersion is
obtained from an exact quantum-mechanical calculation of the single electron
eigenstates for the coupled system by representing the wave functions as a
superposition of parabolic cylinder functions. For orbit centers approaching
the barrier, the separation of two subsequent Landau levels is reduced from the
cyclotron energy to gaps which are much smaller. The position of the
anticrossings increases on the scale of the cyclotron energy as the magnetic
field is raised. In order to experimentally investigate a particular gap at
different field strengths but under constant filling factor, a GaAs/AlGaAs
heterostructure with a 52 Angstrom thick tunneling barrier and a gate electrode
for inducing the two-dimensional electron systems was fabricated by the cleaved
edge overgrowth method. The shift of the gaps is observed as a displacement of
the conductance peaks on the scale of the filling factor. Besides this effect,
which is explained within the picture of Landau level mixing for an ideal
barrier, we report on signatures of quantum interferences at imperfections of
the barrier which act as tunneling centers. The main features of the recent
experiment of Yang, Kang et al. are reproduced and discussed for different gate
voltages. Quasiperiodic oscillations, similar to the Aharonov Bohm effect at
the quenched peak, are revealed for low magnetic fields before the onset of the
regular conductance peaks.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl
Measurements of higher order noise correlations in a quantum dot with a finite bandwidth detector
We present measurements of the fourth and fifth cumulants of the distribution
of transmitted charge in a tunable quantum dot. We investigate how the measured
statistics is influenced by the finite bandwidth of the detector and by the
finite measurement time. By including the detector when modeling the system, we
use the theory of full counting statistics to calculate the noise levels for
the combined system. The predictions of the finite-bandwidth model are in good
agreement with measured data
Time-resolved charge detection with cross-correlation techniques
We present time-resolved charge sensing measurements on a GaAs double quantum
dot with two proximal quantum point contact (QPC) detectors. The QPC currents
are analyzed with cross-correlation techniques, which enables us to measure dot
charging and discharging rates for significantly smaller signal-to-noise ratios
than required for charge detection with a single QPC. This allows to reduce the
current level in the detector and therefore the invasiveness of the detection
process and may help to increase the available measurement bandwidth in
noise-limited setups.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Spatially resolved manipulation of single electrons in quantum dots using a scanned probe
The scanning metallic tip of a scanning force microscope was coupled
capacitively to electrons confined in a lithographically defined gate-tunable
quantum dot at a temperature of 300 mK. Single electrons were made to hop on or
off the dot by moving the tip or by changing the tip bias voltage owing to the
Coulomb-blockade effect. Spatial images of conductance resonances map the
interaction potential between the tip and individual electronic quantum dot
states. Under certain conditions this interaction is found to contain a
tip-voltage induced and a tip-voltage independent contribution.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Phase coherent transport in (Ga,Mn)As
Quantum interference effects and resulting quantum corrections of the
conductivity have been intensively studied in disordered conductors over the
last decades. The knowledge of phase coherence lengths and underlying dephasing
mechanisms are crucial to understand quantum corrections to the resistivity in
the different material systems. Due to the internal magnetic field and the
associated breaking of time-reversal symmetry quantum interference effects in
ferromagnetic materials have been scarcely explored. Below we describe the
investigation of phase coherent transport phenomena in the newly discovered
ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. We explore universal conductance
fluctuations in mesoscopic (Ga,Mn)As wires and rings, the Aharonov-Bohm effect
in nanoscale rings and weak localization in arrays of wires, made of the
ferromagnetic semiconductor material. The experiments allow to probe the phase
coherence length L_phi and the spin flip length L_SO as well as the temperature
dependence of dephasing.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure
Single electron charging of impurity sites visualized by scanning gate experiments on a quantum point contact
A quantum point contact (QPC) patterned on a two-dimensional electron gas is
investigated with a scanning gate setup operated at a temperature of 300 mK.
The conductance of the point contact is recorded while the local potential is
modified by scanning the tip. Single electron charging of impurities induced by
the local potential is observed as a stepwise conductance change of the
constriction. By selectively changing the state of some of these impurities, it
is possible to observe changes in transmission resonances of the QPC. The
location of such impurities is determined, and their density is estimated to be
below 50 per \mu m^2, corresponding to less than 1 % of the doping
concentration
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Optimizing cranial implant and fixture design using different materials in cranioplasty
Cranial implants are used to secure intracranial structures, reconstruct the skull contour, normalise cerebral hemodynamic, and repair cranial defects. Larger bone defects require intervention for repair from an implant made from autologous bone or other material. To repair such defects using implants, materials necessitate biocompatibility with the natural bone. Patient Specific Implants (PSI) are designed to repair specific cranial defects following standard procedures for implant design, fabrication and cranioplasty. Autologous bone, bone cement comprising HydroxyApatite (HA), Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), Medical Grade Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and Polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), are widely used to fabricate PSI for repairing different types of bone defects. To optimize a PSI for shape, size and weight, it is essential to design the implant using 3D modelling and fabrication techniques. Effective attachment of an implant material with a defective skull is also influenced by the joints and fixture arrangements at the interface, these fixtures can be of various types, materials and have different joining procedures. In this study, a comparative analysis of different cranial implant materials (Autologous Bone, PMMA, PEEK and Ti-6Al-4V) attached to a defective skull with Ti-6Al-4V and PEEK fixture plates has been performed, using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Two types of fixture designs were used as Square 'X' and Linear shapes, which were fixed along the interface between implant and the skull. Four fixture plates were fixed symmetrically along the boundary for maximising stability. The findings suggested that all the implant materials were able to sustain extreme boundary conditions such as external loads of 1780N and IntraCranial Pressure (ICP) of 15mmHg without failures. PEEK implants exhibited 13.5 % to 35% lower von Mises stresses in comparison to autologous bone implants and Square 'X' fixture design provided higher stress relieving results in comparison to Linear fixtures by nearly 18.4% for Ti-6Al-4V fixture material and 10.9% for PEEK fixture material, thereby, encouraging PEEK as an alternative to conventional cranial implant and fixture materials
Multicenter evaluation of a lateral-flow device test for diagnosing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in ICU patients.
Published onlineClinical TrialJournal ArticleMulticenter StudyResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tINTRODUCTION: The incidence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients is increasing, and early diagnosis of the disease and treatment with antifungal drugs is critical for patient survival. Serum biomarker tests for IPA typically give false-negative results in non-neutropenic patients, and galactomannan (GM) detection, the preferred diagnostic test for IPA using bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), is often not readily available. Novel approaches to IPA detection in ICU patients are needed. In this multicenter study, we evaluated the performance of an Aspergillus lateral-flow device (LFD) test for BAL IPA detection in critically ill patients. METHODS: A total of 149 BAL samples from 133 ICU patients were included in this semiprospective study. Participating centers were the medical university hospitals of Graz, Vienna and Innsbruck in Austria and the University Hospital of Mannheim, Germany. Fungal infections were classified according to modified European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group criteria. RESULTS: Two patients (four BALs) had proven IPA, fourteen patients (sixteen BALs) had probable IPA, twenty patients (twenty-one BALs) had possible IPA and ninety-seven patients (one hundred eight BALs) did not fulfill IPA criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value and diagnostic odds ratios for diagnosing proven and probable IPA using LFD tests of BAL were 80%, 81%, 96%, 44% and 17.6, respectively. Fungal BAL culture exhibited a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 85%. CONCLUSION: LFD tests of BAL showed promising results for IPA diagnosis in ICU patients. Furthermore, the LFD test can be performed easily and provides rapid results. Therefore, it may be a reliable alternative for IPA diagnosis in ICU patients if GM results are not rapidly available. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02058316. Registered 20 January 2014.PfizerOesterreichische Nationalbank (Anniversary Fund, project number 15346)
Increased strontium uptake in trabecular bone of ovariectomized calcium-deficient rats treated with strontium ranelate or strontium chloride
Based on clinical trials showing the efficacy to reduce vertebral and non-vertebral fractures, strontium ranelate (SrR) has been approved in several countries for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Hence, it is of special clinical interest to elucidate how the Sr uptake is influenced by dietary Ca deficiency as well as by the formula of Sr administration, SrR versus strontium chloride (SrCl2). Three-month-old ovariectomized rats were treated for 90 days with doses of 25 mg kg-1 d-1 and 150 mg kg-1 d-1 of SrR or SrCl2 at low (0.1% Ca) or normal (1.19% Ca) Ca diet. Vertebral bone tissue was analysed by confocal synchrotron-radiation-induced micro X-ray fluorescence and by backscattered electron imaging. Principal component analysis and k-means clustering of the acquired elemental maps of Ca and Sr revealed that the newly formed bone exhibited the highest Sr fractions and that low Ca diet increased the Sr uptake by a factor of three to four. Furthermore, Sr uptake in bone of the SrCl2-treated animals was generally lower compared with SrR. The study clearly shows that inadequate nutritional calcium intake significantly increases uptake of Sr in serum as well as in trabecular bone matrix. This indicates that nutritional calcium intake as well as serum Ca levels are important regulators of any Sr treatment
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