510 research outputs found
Ferromagnetic Resonance in Spinor Dipolar Bose--Einstein Condensates
We used the Gross--Pitaevskii equations to investigate ferromagnetic
resonance in spin-1 Bose--Einstein condensates with a magnetic dipole-dipole
interaction. By introducing the dipole interaction, we obtained equations
similar to the Kittel equations used to represent ferromagnetic resonance in
condensed matter physics. These equations indicated that the ferromagnetic
resonance originated from dipolar interaction, and that the resonance frequency
depended upon the shape of the condensate. Furthermore, spin currents driven by
spin diffusions are characteristic of this system.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
Temperature and injection current dependence of electroluminescence intensity in green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diodes
Temperature and injection current dependence of electroluminescence (EL) spectral intensity of the superbright green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well (SQW) light-emitting diodes has been studied over a wide temperature range (T = 15–300 K) and as a function of injection current level (0.1–10 mA). It is found that, when temperature is slightly decreased to 140 K, the EL intensity efficiently increases in both cases, as usually seen due to the improved quantum efficiency. However, with further decrease of temperature down to 15 K, unusual reduction of the EL intensity is commonly observed for both of the two diodes. At low temperatures the integrated EL intensity shows a clear trend of saturation with current, accompanying decreases of the EL differential quantum efficiency. We attribute the EL reduction due to trapping of injected carriers by nonradiative recombination centers. Its dependence on temperature and current shows a striking difference between the green and blue SQW diodes. That is, we find that the blue InGaN SQW diode with a smaller In concentration shows more drastic reduction of the EL intensity at lower temperatures and at higher currents than the green one. This unusual evolution of the EL intensity with temperature and current is due to less efficient carrier capturing by SQW. The carrier capture in the green and blue diodes also shows a keen difference owing to the different In content in the InGaN well. These results are analyzed within a context of rate equation model, assuming a finite number of radiative recombination centers. Importance of the efficient carrier capture processes by localized tail states within SQW at 180–300 K is thus pointed out for explaining the observed enhancement of radiative recombination of injected carriers in the presence of high-density misfit dislocations
Temperature dependence of electroluminescence intensity of green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diodes
Temperature dependence of electroluminescence (EL) spectral intensity of the super-bright green and blue InGaN single-quantum-well (SQW) light-emitting diodes has been studied over a wide temperature range (T=15-300 K) under a weak injection current of 0.1 mA. It is found that when T is slightly decreased to 140 K, the EL intensity efficiently increases, as usually seen due to the improved quantum efficiency. However, with further decrease of T down to 15 K, it drastically decreases due to reduced carrier capture by SQW and trapping by nonradiative recombination centers. This unusual temperature-dependent evolution of the EL intensity shows a striking difference between green and blue SQW diodes owing to the different potential depths of the InGaN well. The importance of efficient carrier capture processes by localized tail states within the SQW is thus pointed out for enhancement of radiative recombination of injected carriers in the presence of the high-density dislocations. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics
Spin echo in spinor dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates
We theoretically propose and numerically realize spin echo in a spinor
Bose--Einstein condensate (BEC). We investigate the influence on the spin echo
of phase separation of the condensate. The equation of motion of the spin
density exhibits two relaxation times. We use two methods to separate the
relaxation times and hence demonstrate a technique to reveal magnetic
dipole--dipole interactions in spinor BECs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Optically tuned dimensionality crossover in photocarrier-doped SrTiO: onset of weak localization
We report magnetotransport properties of photogenerated electrons in undoped
SrTiO single crystals under ultraviolet illumination down to 2 K. By tuning
the light intensity, the steady state carrier density can be controlled, while
tuning the wavelength controls the effective electronic thickness by modulating
the optical penetration depth. At short wavelengths, when the sheet conductance
is close to the two-dimensional Mott minimum conductivity we have observed
critical behavior characteristic of weak localization. Negative
magnetoresistance at low magnetic field is highly anisotropic, indicating
quasi-two-dimensional electronic transport. The high mobility of photogenerated
electrons in SrTiO allows continuous tuning of the effective electronic
dimensionality by photoexcitation.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Ratchet Effect in Surface Electromigration: Smoothing Surfaces by an ac Field
We demonstrate that for surfaces that have a nonzero Schwoebel barrier the
application of an ac field parallel to the surface induces a net electro-
migration current that points in the descending step direction. The magnitude
of the current is calculated analytically and compared with Monte Carlo
simulations. Since a downhill current smoothes the surface, our results imply
that the application of ac fields can aid the smoothing process during
annealing and can slow or eliminate the Schwoebel-barrier-induced mound
formation during growth.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, 4 ps figure
Willingness to pay for municipality hospital services in rural Japan: a contingent valuation study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Japanese healthcare system has undergone reforms to address the struggles that municipality hospitals face. Reform guidelines clearly define criteria for administrative improvement. However, criteria to evaluate the demand for healthcare provisions in rural Japan, including the needs of rural residents for municipality hospitals in particular have not been specified. The purpose of this paper is to measure residents' willingness to pay (WTP) for municipality hospital services using the contingent valuation method, and to evaluate municipality hospital valuation on the basis of WTP. K town, located in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan, was selected as the location for this study. Participants were recruited by a town hall healthcare administrator, hospital and clinic staff, and a local dentist. Participants were asked what amount they would be willing to pay as taxes to continue accessing the services of the municipality hospital for one year by using open-ended questions in face-to-face interviews.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Forty-eight residents were initially recruited, and 40 participants were selected for the study (response rate 83%). As compared to K town's population, this data slanted toward the elderly, although there was no significant difference in frequency among the characteristics. The median WTP was estimated at 39,484 yen (308.95-615.96). Logistic regression revealed no significant factors affecting WTP.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>If the total amount of residents' WTP for the municipality hospital were to be estimated by this result, it would calculate with 129,586,000 yen ($1,439,844). This is approximately equal to the amount of money to be transferred from the general account of the government of K town, more than one-half of the town tax of K town, and about two-fold in comparison to Japan as a whole. This showed that K town's residents placed a high valuation on the municipality hospital, which nearly equalled the amount that the K town government provided to the municipality hospital to cover its annual deficit. K town residents had come to expect not only general clinical practice, but also emergency medical services and night practice provided by their own town's municipality hospital. WTP can be used as a measure of hospital evaluation because it reflects the importance of the hospital to the residents in its region.</p
Solution structure of the inner DysF domain of myoferlin and implications for limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2b
Mutations in the protein dysferlin, a member of the ferlin family, lead to limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B and Myoshi myopathy. The ferlins are large proteins characterised by multiple C2 domains and a single C-terminal membrane-spanning helix. However, there is sequence conservation in some of the ferlin family in regions outside the C2 domains. In one annotation of the domain structure of these proteins, an unusual internal duplication event has been noted where a putative domain is inserted in between the N- and C-terminal parts of a homologous domain. This domain is known as the DysF domain. Here, we present the solution structure of the inner DysF domain of the dysferlin paralogue myoferlin, which has a unique fold held together by stacking of arginine and tryptophans, mutations that lead to clinical disease in dysferlin
The muscle protein dysferlin accumulates in the Alzheimer brain
Dysferlin is a transmembrane protein that is highly expressed in muscle. Dysferlin mutations cause limb-girdle dystrophy type 2B, Miyoshi myopathy and distal anterior compartment myopathy. Dysferlin has also been described in neural tissue. We studied dysferlin distribution in the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and controls. Twelve brains, staged using the Clinical Dementia Rating were examined: 9 AD cases (mean age: 85.9 years and mean disease duration: 8.9 years), and 3 age-matched controls (mean age: 87.5 years). Dysferlin is a cytoplasmic protein in the pyramidal neurons of normal and AD brains. In addition, there were dysferlin-positive dystrophic neurites within Aβ plaques in the AD brain, distinct from tau-positive neurites. Western blots of total brain protein (RIPA) and sequential extraction buffers (high salt, high salt/Triton X-100, SDS and formic acid) of increasing protein extraction strength were performed to examine solubility state. In RIPA fractions, dysferlin was seen as 230–272 kDa bands in normal and AD brains. In serial extractions, there was a shift of dysferlin from soluble phase in high salt/Triton X-100 to the more insoluble SDS fraction in AD. Dysferlin is a new protein described in the AD brain that accumulates in association with neuritic plaques. In muscle, dysferlin plays a role in the repair of muscle membrane damage. The accumulation of dysferlin in the AD brain may be related to the inability of neurons to repair damage due to Aβ deposits accumulating in the AD brain
Tamoxifen induces cellular stress in the nervous system by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis
Background: Tamoxifen (TAM) is an important cancer therapeutic and an experimental tool for effecting genetic recombination using the inducible Cre-Lox technique. Despite its widespread use in the clinic and laboratory, we know little about its effects on the nervous system. This is of significant concern because TAM, via unknown mechanisms, induces cognitive impairment in humans. A hallmark of cellular stress is induction of Activating Transcription Factor 3 (Atf3), and so to determine whether TAM induces cellular stress in the adult nervous system, we generated a knock-in mouse in which Atf3 promoter activity drives transcription of TAM-dependent Cre recombinase (Cre-ERT2); when crossed with tdtomato reporter mice, Atf3 induction results in robust and permanent genetic labeling of cells in which it is up-regulated even transiently.
Results: We found that granular neurons of the olfactory bulb and dentate gyrus, vascular cells and ependymal cells throughout the brain, and peripheral sensory neurons expressed tdtomato in response to TAM treatment. We also show that TAM induced Atf3 up-regulation through inhibition of cholesterol epoxide hydrolase (ChEH): reporter expression was mitigated by delivery in vitamin E-rich wheat germ oil (vitamin E depletes ChEH substrates), and was partially mimicked by a ChEH-specific inhibitor.
Conclusions: This work demonstrates that TAM stresses cells of the adult central and peripheral nervous systems and highlights concerns about clinical and experimental use of TAM. We propose TAM administration in vitamin E-rich vehicles such as wheat germ oil as a simple remedy
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