2,692 research outputs found
Electron-phonon interaction in n-doped cuprates: an Inelastic X-ray Scattering study
Inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) with very high (meV) energy resolution has
become a valuable spectroscopic tool, complementing the well established
coherent inelastic neutron scattering (INS) technique for phonon dispersion
investigations. In the study of crystalline systems IXS is a viable alternative
to INS, especially in cases where only small samples are available. Using IXS,
we have measured the phonon dispersion of Nd_{1.86}Ce_{0.14}CuO_{4+\delta}
along the [x,0,0] and [x,x,0] in-plane directions. Compared to the undoped
parent compound, the two highest longitudinal optical (LO) phonon branches are
shifted to lower energies because of Coulomb-screening effects brought about by
the doped charge carriers. An additional anomalous softening of the highest
branch is observed around q=(0.2,0,0). This anomalous softening, akin to what
has been observed in other compounds, provides evidence for a strong
electron-phonon coupling in the electron-doped high-temperature
superconductors.Comment: Proceedings of the SATT11 conference, Vietri sul Mare - Italy (March
2002); accepted for publication on Int. J. Mod. Phys.
FAIR principles and the IEDB: short-term improvements and a long-term vision of OBO-foundry mediated machine-actionable interoperability.
The Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), at www.iedb.org, has the mission to make published experimental data relating to the recognition of immune epitopes easily available to the scientific public. By presenting curated data in a searchable database, we have liberated it from the tables and figures of journal articles, making it more accessible and usable by immunologists. Recently, the principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability have been formulated as goals that data repositories should meet to enhance the usefulness of their data holdings. We here examine how the IEDB complies with these principles and identify broad areas of success, but also areas for improvement. We describe short-term improvements to the IEDB that are being implemented now, as well as a long-term vision of true 'machine-actionable interoperability', which we believe will require community agreement on standardization of knowledge representation that can be built on top of the shared use of ontologies
High frequency acoustic modes in liquid gallium at the melting point
The microscopic dynamics in liquid gallium (l-Ga) at melting (T=315 K) has
been studied by inelastic x-ray scattering. We demonstrate the existence of
collective acoustic-like modes up to wave-vectors above one half of the first
maximum of the static structure factor, at variance with earlier results from
inelastic neutron scattering data [F.J. Bermejo et al. Phys. Rev. E 49, 3133
(1994)]. Despite the structural (an extremely rich polymorphism and rather
complex phase diagram) and electronic (mixed valence) peculiarity of l-Ga, its
collective dynamics is strikingly similar to the one of Van der Walls and
alkali metals liquids. This result speaks in favor of the universality of the
short time dynamics in monatomic liquids rather than of system-specific
dynamics.Comment: LaTex format, 11 pages, 4 EncapsulatedPostScript figure
Evidence of anomalous dispersion of the generalized sound velocity in glasses
The dynamic structure factor, S(Q,w), of vitreous silica, has been measured
by inelastic X-ray scattering in the exchanged wavevector (Q) region Q=4-16.5
nm-1 and up to energies hw=115 meV in the Stokes side. The unprecedented
statistical accuracy in such an extended energy range allows to accurately
determine the longitudinal current spectra, and the energies of the vibrational
excitations. The simultaneous observation of two excitations in the acoustic
region, and the persistence of propagating sound waves up to Q values
comparable with the (pseudo-)Brillouin zone edge, allow to observe a positive
dispersion in the generalized sound velocity that, around Q=5 nm-1, varies from
6500 to 9000 m/s: this phenomenon was never experimentally observed in a glass.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Elastic constant dishomogeneity and dependence of the broadening of the dynamical structure factor in disordered systems
We propose an explanation for the quadratic dependence on the momentum ,
of the broadening of the acoustic excitation peak recently found in the study
of the dynamic structure factor of many real and simulated glasses. We ascribe
the observed law to the spatial fluctuations of the local wavelength of
the collective vibrational modes, in turn produced by the dishomegeneity of the
inter-particle elastic constants. This explanation is analitically shown to
hold for 1-dimensional disordered chains and satisfatorily numerically tested
in both 1 and 3 dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 5 postscript figure
Acoustic Nature of the Boson Peak in Vitreous Silica
New temperature dependent inelastic x-ray (IXS) and Raman (RS) scattering
data are compared to each other and with existing inelastic neutron scattering
data in vitreous silica (v-SiO_2), in the 300 - 1775 K region. The IXS data
show collective propagating excitations up to Q=3.5 nm^-1. The temperature
behaviour of the excitations at Q=1.6 nm^-1 matches that of the boson peak
found in INS and RS. This supports the acoustic origin of the excess of
vibrational states giving rise to the boson peak in this glass.Comment: 10 pages and 4 figure
Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Levels, Hematocrit Rate and Body Weight Correlations Before and After Hemodialysis Session
PURPOSE: To evaluate alanine aminotransferase levels before and after a hemodialysis session and to correlate these values with the hematocrit rate and weight loss during hemodialysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The serum alanine aminotransferase levels, hematocrit rate and body weight were measured and correlated before and after a single hemodialysis session for 146 patients with chronic renal failure. An receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the serum alanine aminotransferase levels collected before and after hemodialysis was plotted to identify hepatitis C virus-infected patients. RESULTS: The mean weight loss of the 146 patients during hemodialysis was 5.3% (p < 0.001). The mean alanine aminotransferase levels before and after hemodialysis were 18.8 and 23.9 IU/, respectively, denoting a significant 28.1% increase. An equally significant increase of 16.4% in the hematocrit rate also occurred after hemodialysis. The weight loss was inversely correlated with the rise in both the alanine aminotransferase level (r = 0.3; p < 0.001) and hematocrit rate (r = 0.5; p < 0.001). A direct correlation was found between the rise in alanine aminotransferase levels and the hematocrit during the hemodialysis session (r = 0.4; p < 0.001). Based on the ROC curve, the upper limit of the normal alanine aminotransferase level should be reduced by 40% relative to the upper limit of normal if the blood samples are collected before the hemodialysis session or by 60% if blood samples are collected after the session. CONCLUSION: In the present study, significant elevations in the serum alanine aminotransferase levels and hematocrit rates occurred in parallel to a reduction in body weight after the hemodialysis session. These findings suggest that one of the factors for low alanine aminotransferase levels prior to hemodialysis could be hemodilution in patients with chronic renal failure
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