2,397 research outputs found
Electrical resistivity and tunneling anomalies in CeCuAs2
The compound CeCuAs2 is found to exhibit negative temperature (T) coefficient
of electrical resistivity (rho) under ambient pressure conditions in the entire
T-range of investigation (45 mK to 300 K), even in the presence of high
magnetic fields. Preliminary tunneling spectroscopic measurements indicate the
existence of a psuedo-gap at least at low temperatures, thereby implying that
this compound could be classified as a Kondo semi-conductor, though rho(T)
interestingly is not found to be of an activated type.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of SCES200
Indoor school environment: easy and low cost to assess inorganic pollutants
Total particulate matter (TPM) was passively collected inside two classrooms of each of five elementary schools in Lisbon, Portugal. TPM was collected in polycarbonate filters with a 47 mm diameter, placed inside of uncovered plastic petri dishes. The sampling period was from 19 May to 22 June 2009 (35 days exposure) and the collected TPM masses varied between 0.2 mg and 0.8 mg. The major elements were Ca, Fe, Na, K, and Zn at μg level, while others were at ng level. Pearson′s correlation coefficients above 0.75 (a high degree of correlation) were found between several elements. Soil-related, traffic soil re-suspension and anthropogenic emission sources could be identified. Blackboard chalk was also identified through Ca large presence. Some of the determined chemical elements are potential carcinogenic. Quality control of the results showed good agreement as confirmed by the application of u-score test
Fungi, bacteria and pollens seasonally quantified at 3 basic schools in Lisbon: evaluation of ventilation need
Nowadays, most individuals spend about 80% of their time indoor and, consequently, the exposure to the indoor environment becomes more relevant than to the outdoor one. Children spend most of their time at home and at school and evaluations of their indoor environment are important for the time-weighted exposure. Due to their airways still in development, children are a sensitive group with higher risk than adults. Larger impact in health and educational performance of children demand indoor air quality studies of schools. The aim of this study was to assess the children exposure to bioaerosols. A methodology based upon passive sampling was applied to evaluate fungi, bacteria and pollens; its procedures and applicability was optimized. An indoor air study by passive sampling represents an easier and cheaper method when comparing with the use of automatic active samplers. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve important quality information without interfering in the classroom activities. The study was conducted in three schools, representative of different environments in the Lisbon urban area, at three different periods of the year to obtain a seasonal variation, to estimate the variability through the city and to understand the underneath causes. Fungi and bacteria were collected indoor and outdoor of the classrooms to determine the indoor/outdoor ratios and to assess the level of outdoor contamination upon the indoor environment. The children's exposure to pollen grains inside the classrooms was also assessed
Generation of spatial antibunching with free propagating twin beams
We propose and implement a novel method to produce a spatial anti-bunched
field with free propagating twin beams from spontaneous parametric
down-conversion. The method consists in changing the spatial propagation by
manipulating the transverse degrees of freedom through reflections of one of
the twin beams. Our method use reflective elements eliminating losses from
absorption by the objects inserted in the beams.Comment: Submitted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Optical Self Energy in Graphene due to Correlations
In highly correlated systems one can define an optical self energy in analogy
to its quasiparticle (QP) self energy counterpart. This quantity provides
useful information on the nature of the excitations involved in inelastic
scattering processes. Here we calculate the self energy of the intraband
optical transitions in graphene originating in the electron-electron
interaction (EEI) as well as electron-phonon interaction (EPI). Although optics
involves an average over all momenta () of the charge carriers, the
structure in the optical self energy is nevertheless found to mirror mainly
that of the corresponding quasiparticles for equal to or near the Fermi
momentum . Consequently plasmaronic structures which are associated with
momenta near the Dirac point at are not important in the intraband
optical response. While the structure of the electron-phonon interaction (EPI)
reflects the sharp peaks of the phonon density of states, the excitation
spectrum associated with the electron-electron interaction is in comparison
structureless and flat and extends over an energy range which scales linearly
with the value of the chemical potential. Modulations seen on the edge of the
interband optical conductivity as it rises towards its universal background
value are traced to structure in the quasiparticle self energies around
of the lower Dirac cone associated with the occupied states.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
Ceruloplasmin is a novel adipokine which is overexpressed in adipose tissue of obese subjects and in obesity-associated cancer cells
Obesity confers an increased risk of developing specific cancer forms. Although the mechanisms are unclear, increased fat cell secretion of specific proteins (adipokines) may promote/facilitate development of malignant tumors in obesity via cross-talk between adipose tissue(s) and the tissues prone to develop cancer among obese. We searched for novel adipokines that were overexpressed in adipose tissue of obese subjects as well as in tumor cells derived from cancers commonly associated with obesity. For this purpose expression data from human adipose tissue of obese and non-obese as well as from a large panel of human cancer cell lines and corresponding primary cells and tissues were explored. We found expression of ceruloplasmin to be the most enriched in obesity-associated cancer cells. This gene was also significantly up-regulated in adipose tissue of obese subjects. Ceruloplasmin is the body's main copper carrier and is involved in angiogenesis. We demonstrate that ceruloplasmin is a novel adipokine, which is produced and secreted at increased rates in obesity. In the obese state, adipose tissue contributed markedly (up to 22%) to the total circulating protein level. In summary, we have through bioinformatic screening identified ceruloplasmin as a novel adipokine with increased expression in adipose tissue of obese subjects as well as in cells from obesity-associated cancers. Whether there is a causal relationship between adipose overexpression of ceruloplasmin and cancer development in obesity cannot be answered by these cross-sectional comparisons
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