1,466 research outputs found
Hysteretic properties of a magnetic particle with strong surface anisotropy
We study the influence of surface anisotropy on the zero-temperature
hysteretic properties of a small single-domain magnetic particle, and give an
estimation of the anisotropy constant for which deviations from the
Stoner-Wohlfarth model are observed due to non-uniform reversal of the
particle's magnetisation. For this purpose, we consider a spherical particle
with simple cubic crystalline structure, a uniaxial anisotropy for core spins
and radial anisotropy on the surface. The hysteresis loop is obtained by
solving the local (coupled) Landau-Lifschitz equations for classical spin
vectors. We find that when the surface anisotropy constant is at least of the
order of the exchange coupling, large deviations are observed with respect to
the Stoner-Wohlfarth model in the hysteresis loop and thereby the
limit-of-metastability curve, since in this case the magnetisation reverses its
direction in a non-uniform manner via a progressive switching of spin clusters.
In this case the critical field, as a function of the particle's size, behaves
as observed in experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 15 eps figure
Deposition of aligned bamboo-like carbon nanotubes via microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition
Collection of relevant results obtained with the Skylab images by the Institute for Space Research, INPE
There are no author-identified significant results in this report
Assistive Technology User Groups and Early Childhood Educators
This article explores the potential of User Groups as a professional development venue for early childhood educators in developing operational and functional competence in using hardware and software components of an Assistive Technology (AT) Toolkit. User Groups are composed of varying numbers of participants having an interest in technology, and are led by one or more skilled facilitators who meet with participants across time to help them acquire and demonstrate new technology skill sets. A series of these groups were conducted with seven early education professionals serving young preschool children who were at risk or who had disabilities. The impact of these User Groups was examined using self-reports subsequent to User Group participation. Specific data were collected regarding the types of technologies that had been used, and the types of classroom instructional products that had been created and implemented in classrooms using the technologies. A discussion of the value of User Groups is presented
Bound on Lorentz- and CPT-Violating Boost Effects for the Neutron
A search for an annual variation of a daily sidereal modulation of the
frequency difference between co-located Xe and He Zeeman
masers sets a stringent limit on boost-dependent Lorentz and CPT violation
involving the neutron, consistent with no effect at the level of 150 nHz. In
the framework of the general Standard-Model Extension, the present result
provides the first clean test for the fermion sector of the symmetry of
spacetime under boost transformations at a level of GeV.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Accounting students' IT applicaton skills over a 10-year period
This paper reports on the changing nature of a range of information technology (IT) application skills that students declare on entering an accounting degree over the period from 1996 to 2006. Accounting educators need to be aware of the IT skills students bring with them to university because of the implications this has for learning and teaching within the discipline and the importance of both general and specific IT skills within the practice and craft of accounting. Additionally, IT skills constitute a significant element within the portfolio of employability skills that are increasingly demanded by employers and emphasized within the overall Higher Education (HE) agenda. The analysis of students' reported IT application skills on entry to university, across a range of the most relevant areas of IT use in accounting, suggest that their skills have continued to improve over time. However, there are significant differential patterns of change through the years and within cohorts. The paper addresses the generalizability of these findings and discusses the implications of these factors for accounting educators, including the importance of recognising the differences that are potentially masked by the general increase in skills; the need for further research into the changing nature, and implications, of the gender gap in entrants' IT application skills; and the low levels of entrants' spreadsheet and database skills that are a cause for concern
Macrospin approximation and quantum effects in models for magnetization reversal
The thermal activation of magnetization reversal in magnetic nanoparticles is
controlled by the anisotropy-energy barrier. Using perturbation theory, exact
diagonalization and stability analysis of the ferromagnetic spin-s Heisenberg
model with coupling or single-site anisotropy, we study the effects of quantum
fluctuations on the height of the energy barrier. Opposed to the classical
case, there is no critical anisotropy strength discriminating between reversal
via coherent rotation and via nucleation/domain-wall propagation. Quantum
fluctuations are seen to lower the barrier depending on the anisotropy
strength, dimensionality and system size and shape. In the weak-anisotropy
limit, a macrospin model is shown to emerge as the effective low-energy theory
where the microscopic spins are tightly aligned due to the ferromagnetic
exchange. The calculation provides explicit expressions for the anisotropy
parameter of the effective macrospin. We find a reduction of the
anisotropy-energy barrier as compared to the classical high spin-s limit.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
The binding of L-tryptophan to serum albumins in the presence of non-esterified fatty acids
Finite-Size and surface effects in maghemite nanoparticles: Monte Carlo simulations
Finite-size and surface effects in fine particle systems are investigated by
Monte Carlo simulation of a model of a -FeO (maghemite) single
particle. Periodic boundary conditions have been used to simulate the bulk
properties and the results compared with those for a spherical shaped particle
with free boundaries to evidence the role played by the surface on the
anomalous magnetic properties displayed by these systems at low temperatures.
Several outcomes of the model are in qualitative agreement with the
experimental findings. A reduction of the magnetic ordering temperature,
spontaneous magnetization, and coercive field is observed as the particle size
is decreased. Moreover, the hysteresis loops become elongated with high values
of the differential susceptibility, resembling those from frustrated or
disordered systems. These facts are consequence of the formation of a surface
layer with higher degree of magnetic disorder than the core, which, for small
sizes, dominates the magnetization processes of the particle. However, in
contradiction with the assumptions of some authors, our model does not predict
the freezing of the surface layer into a spin-glass-like state. The results
indicate that magnetic disorder at the surface simply facilitates the thermal
demagnetization of the particle at zero field, while the magnetization is
increased at moderate fields, since surface disorder diminishes ferrimagnetic
correlations within the particle. The change in shape of the hysteresis loops
with the particle size demonstrates that the reversal mode is strongly
influenced by the reduced atomic coordination and disorder at the surface.Comment: Twocolumn RevTex format. 19 pages, 15 Figures included. Submitted to
Phys. Rev.
Quantitative Microscopy of Hepatic Changes Induced by Phenethyl Isothiocyanate in Fischer-344 Rats Fed Either a Cereal-Based Diet or a Purified Diet
Hepatic changes induced by phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) in the liver of rats were determined by quantitative microscopy. Groups of male Fischer-344 rats were fed either a standard, cereal-based diet (Wayne rodent meal) or a purified diet (AIN-76A) containing PEITC at concentrations of 0.75 and 6.0 mmol/kg for 13 wk. Severe hepatic lipidosis was observed in control rats fed the purified diet. Addition of PEITC to the purified diet significantly reduced lipid content in hepatocytes. In contrast, lipid content in the liver of the rats fed the cereal-based diet containing PEITC was greater than in control rats maintained on the same diet. In addition, dose-related reductions in hepatocyte, lipid droplet, peroxisome, and mitochondrial volumes were observed in PEITC-treated rats fed the cereal-based diet. These results indicate that PEITC exerts differential effects on the liver of rats fed either the cereal-based or purified diet.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68493/2/10.1177_019262339502300602.pd
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