327 research outputs found
A temperature and magnetic field dependence Mössbauer study of ɛ-Fe2O3
ɛ-Fe2O3 was synthesized as nanoparticles by a pre-vacuum heat treatment of yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12) in a silica matrix at 300-C followed by sintering in air at 1,000-C for up to 10 h. It displays complex magnetic properties that are characterized by two transitions, one at 480 K from a paramagnet (P) to canted antiferromagnet (CAF1) and the second at ca. 120 K from the canted antiferromagnet (CAF1) to another canted antiferromagnet (CAF2). CAF2 has a smaller resultant magnetic moment (i.e. smaller canting angle) than CAF1. Analysis of the zero-field Mossbauer spectra at different temperatures shows an associated discontinuity of the hyperfine field around 120 K. In an applied field, the different magnetic sublattices were identified and the directions of their moments were assigned. The moments of the two sublattices are antiparallel and collinear at 160 K but are at right angle to each other at 4.2 K
Surface effects in nanoparticles: application to maghemite -Fe_{2}O_{3}
We present a microscopic model for nanoparticles, of the maghemite (% -FeO) type, and perform classical Monte Carlo simulations of
their magnetic properties. On account of M\"{o}ssbauer spectroscopy and
high-field magnetisation results, we consider a particle as composed of a core
and a surface shell of constant thickness. The magnetic state in the particle
is described by the anisotropic classical Dirac-Heisenberg model including
exchange and dipolar interactions and bulk and surface anisotropy. We consider
the case of ellipsoidal (or spherical) particles with free boundaries at the
surface. Using a surface shell of constant thickness ( nm) we vary
the particle size and study the effect of surface magnetic disorder on the
thermal and spatial behaviors of the net magnetisation of the particle. We
study the shift in the surface ``critical region'' for different
surface-to-core ratios of the exchange coupling constants. It is also shown
that the profile of the local magnetisation exhibits strong temperature
dependence, and that surface anisotropy is reponsible for the non saturation of
the magnetisation at low temperatures.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.
Finite-size versus Surface effects in nanoparticles
We study the finite-size and surface effects on the thermal and spatial
behaviors of the magnetisation of a small magnetic particle. We consider two
systems: 1) A box-shaped isotropic particle of simple cubic structure with
either periodic or free boundary conditions. This case is treated analytically
using the isotropic model of D-component spin vectors in the limit , including the magnetic field. 2) A more realistic particle (-FeO) of ellipsoidal (or spherical) shape with open boundaries.
The magnetic state in this particle is described by the anisotropic classical
Dirac-Heisenberg model including exchange and dipolar interactions, and bulk
and surface anisotropy. This case is dealt with by the classical Monte Carlo
technique. It is shown that in both systems finite-size effects yield a
positive contribution to the magnetisation while surface effects render a
larger and negative contribution, leading to a net decrease of the
magnetisation of the small particle with respect to the bulk system. In the
system 2) the difference between the two contributions is enhanced by surface
anisotropy. The latter also leads to non saturation of the magnetisation at low
temperatures, showing that the magnetic order in the core of the particle is
perturbed by the magnetic disorder on the surface. This is confirmed by the
profile of the magnetisation.Comment: 6 pages of RevTex including 4 Figures, invited paper to 3rd
EuroConference on Magnetic Properties of Fine Nanoparticles, Barcelona,
October 9
Ferromagnetism in Co-doped ZnO films grown by molecular beam epitaxy: magnetic, electrical and microstructural studies
We studied structural, optical and magnetic properties of high-quality 5 and
15% Co-doped ZnO films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on
(0001)-sapphire substrates. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and magnetic
measurements with SQUID magnetometer show clear ferromagnetic behavior of the
films up to room temperature whereas they are antiferromagnetic below 200 K
approximately. Temperature dependence of the carrier mobility was determined
using Raman line shape analysis of the longitudinal-optical-phonon-plasmon
coupled modes. It shows that the microscopic mechanism for ferromagnetic
ordering is coupling mediated by free electrons between spins of Co atoms.
These results bring insight into a subtle interplay between charge carriers and
magnetism in MBE-grown Zn(1-x)CoxO films.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 table
Field dependence of the temperature at the peak of the ZFC magnetization
The effect of an applied magnetic field on the temperature at the maximum of
the ZFC magnetization, , is studied using the recently obtained
analytic results of Coffey et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 80}(1998) 5655) for
the prefactor of the N\'{e}el relaxation time which allow one to precisely
calculate the prefactor in the N\'{e}el-Brown model and thus the blocking
temperature as a function of the coefficients of the Taylor series expansion of
the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The present calculations indicate that even
a precise determination of the prefactor in the N\'{e}el-Brown theory, which
always predicts a monotonic decrease of the relaxation time with increasing
field, is insufficient to explain the effect of an applied magnetic field on
the temperature at the maximum of the ZFC magnetization. On the other hand, we
find that the non linear field-dependence of the magnetization along with the
magnetocrystalline anisotropy appears to be of crucial importance to the
existence of this maximum.Comment: 14 LaTex209 pages, 6 EPS figures. To appear in J. Phys.: Condensed
Matte
Management of emerging multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a low-prevalence setting
AbstractMultidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is an emerging concern in communities with a low TB prevalence and a high standard of public health. Twenty-three consecutive adult MDR TB patients who were treated at our institution between 2007 and 2013 were reviewed for demographic characteristics and anti-TB treatment management, which included surgical procedures and long-term patient follow-up. This report of our experience emphasizes the need for an individualized approach as MDR TB brings mycobacterial disease management to a higher level of expertise, and for a balance to be found between international current guidelines and patient-tailored treatment strategies
Quantitative imaging of concentrated suspensions under flow
We review recent advances in imaging the flow of concentrated suspensions,
focussing on the use of confocal microscopy to obtain time-resolved information
on the single-particle level in these systems. After motivating the need for
quantitative (confocal) imaging in suspension rheology, we briefly describe the
particles, sample environments, microscopy tools and analysis algorithms needed
to perform this kind of experiments. The second part of the review focusses on
microscopic aspects of the flow of concentrated model hard-sphere-like
suspensions, and the relation to non-linear rheological phenomena such as
yielding, shear localization, wall slip and shear-induced ordering. Both
Brownian and non-Brownian systems will be described. We show how quantitative
imaging can improve our understanding of the connection between microscopic
dynamics and bulk flow.Comment: Review on imaging hard-sphere suspensions, incl summary of
methodology. Submitted for special volume 'High Solid Dispersions' ed. M.
Cloitre, Vol. xx of 'Advances and Polymer Science' (Springer, Berlin, 2009);
22 pages, 16 fig
Vessel Shrinkage as a Sign of Atherosclerosis Progression in Type 2 Diabetes : A Serial Intravascular Ultrasound Analysis
OBJECTIVE—The aim of this study was to determine the natural history of vascular remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with type 2 diabetes and the predictors of vessel shrinkage
Maternal Influences on the Transmission of Leukocyte Gene Expression Profiles in Population Samples from Brisbane, Australia
Two gene expression profiling studies designed to identify maternal influences on development of the neonate immune system and to address the population structure of the leukocyte transcriptome were carried out in Brisbane, Australia. In the first study, a comparison of 19 leukocyte samples obtained from mothers in the last three weeks of pregnancy with 37 umbilical cord blood samples documented differential expression of 7,382 probes at a false discovery rate of 1%, representing approximately half of the expressed transcriptome. An even larger component of the variation involving 8,432 probes, notably enriched for Vitamin E and methotrexate-responsive genes, distinguished two sets of individuals, with perfect transmission of the two profile types between each of 16 mother-child pairs in the study. A minor profile of variation was found to distinguish the gene expression profiles of obese mothers and children of gestational diabetic mothers from those of children born to obese mothers. The second study was of adult leukocyte profiles from a cross-section of Red Cross blood donors sampled throughout Brisbane. The first two axes in this study are related to the third and fourth axes of variation in the first study and also reflect variation in the abundance of CD4 and CD8 transcripts. One of the profiles associated with the third axis is largely excluded from samples from the central portion of the city. Despite enrichment of insulin signaling and aspects of central metabolism among the differentially expressed genes, there was little correlation between leukocyte expression profiles and body mass index overall. Our data is consistent with the notion that maternal health and cytokine milieu directly impact gene expression in fetal tissues, but that there is likely to be a complex interplay between cultural, genetic, and other environmental factors in the programming of gene expression in leukocytes of newborn children
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