Luminescence of Tb(3+) doped TeO(2)-ZnO-Na(2)O-PbO glasses containing silver nanoparticles

Luminescence properties of Tb(3+) doped TeO(2)-ZnO-Na(2)O-PbO glasses containing silver nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated. The absorption band due to the surface plasmon resonance in the NPs was observed. Its amplitude increases with the heat treatment of the samples that controls the nucleation of the NPs. Tb(3+) emission bands centered at approximate to 485, approximate to 550, approximate to 585, and approximate to 623 nm were detected for excitation at 377 nm. The whole spectrum is intensified by the appropriate annealing time of the samples. Enhancement by approximate to 200% of the Tb(3+) luminescence at 550 nm was observed for samples annealed at 270 degrees C during 62 h. This enhancement effect is due to the local field amplitude that increases with the amount of silver NPs and their aggregates. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3010867]

Motor Nerve-Conduction Studies in Obstetric Brachial Plexopathy for a Selection of Patients with a Poor Outcome

Background: The criteria and timing for nerve surgery in infants with obstetric brachial plexopathy remain controversial. Our aim was to develop a new method for early prognostic assessment to assist this decision process. Methods: Fifty-four patients with unilateral obstetric brachial plexopathy who were ten to sixty days old underwent bilateral motor-nerve-conduction studies of the axillary, musculocutaneous, proximal radial, distal radial, median, and ulnar nerves. The ratio between the amplitude of the compound muscle action potential of the affected limb and that of the healthy side was called the axonal viability index. The patients were followed and classified in three groups according to the clinical outcome. We analyzed the receiver operating characteristic curve of each index to define the best cutoff point to detect patients with a poor recovery. Results: The best cutoff points on the axonal viability index for each nerve (and its sensitivity and specificity) were <10% (88% and 89%, respectively) for the axillary nerve, 0% (88% and 73%) for the musculocutaneous nerve, <20% (82% and 97%) for the proximal radial nerve, <50% (82% and 97%) for the distal radial nerve, and <50% (59% and 97%) for the ulnar nerve. The indices from the proximal radial, distal radial, and ulnar nerves had better specificities compared with the most frequently used clinical criterion: absence of biceps function at three months of age. Conclusions: The axonal viability index yields an earlier and more specific prognostic estimation of obstetric brachial plexopathy than does the clinical criterion of biceps function, and we believe it may be useful in determining surgical indications in these patients.

Investigation of a magnetohyperthermia system efficacy

This study reports on the successful use of magnetic albumin nanosphere (MAN) with in vivo magnetohyperthermia (MHT) in a mouse Ehrlich tumor. Maghemite nanoparticles (8.9 nm average diameter) were encapsulated within MAN (73.0 nm average diameter). Ehrlich tumor obtained after implantation of tumor cells in the subcutaneous tissue of mice was used as a model throughout this study. MHT was performed with MAN (40 mu L) containing 1.2 x 10(15) particle/mL and 40 Oe amplitude ac magnetic field oscillating at 1 MHz. Animals not treated, treated with MAN, or exposed to the ac field were used as controls. Histopathological analysis was carried out after 2, 5, or 11 days of tumor implantation. We found that the MHT most efficient condition was obtained while applying the ac field protocol twice a day during three consecutive days. Further, in this ac field-treated group no proliferation cells were detected. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3559498]

The CoRoT-7 planetary system: two orbiting super-Earths

We report on an intensive observational campaign carried out with HARPS at the 3.6 m telescope at La Silla on the star CoRoT-7. Additional simultaneous photometric measurements carried out with the Euler Swiss telescope have demonstrated that the observed radial velocity variations are dominated by rotational modulation from cool spots on the stellar surface. Several approaches were used to extract the radial velocity signal of the planet(s) from the stellar activity signal. First, a simple pre-whitening procedure was employed to find and subsequently remove periodic signals from the complex frequency structure of the radial velocity data. The dominant frequency in the power spectrum was found at 23 days, which corresponds to the rotation period of CoRoT-7. The 0.8535 day period of CoRoT-7b planetary candidate was detected with an amplitude of 3.3 m s(-1). Most other frequencies, some with amplitudes larger than the CoRoT-7b signal, are most likely associated with activity. A second approach used harmonic decomposition of the rotational period and up to the first three harmonics to filter out the activity signal from radial velocity variations caused by orbiting planets. After correcting the radial velocity data for activity, two periodic signals are detected: the CoRoT-7b transit period and a second one with a period of 3.69 days and an amplitude of 4 m s(-1). This second signal was also found in the pre-whitening analysis. We attribute the second signal to a second, more remote planet CoRoT-7c. The orbital solution of both planets is compatible with circular orbits. The mass of CoRoT-7b is 4.8 +/- 0.8 (M(circle plus)) and that of CoRoT-7c is 8.4 +/- 0.9 (M(circle plus)), assuming both planets are on coplanar orbits. We also investigated the false positive scenario of a blend by a faint stellar binary, and this may be rejected by the stability of the bisector on a nightly scale. According to their masses both planets belong to the super-Earth planet category. The average density of CoRoT-7b is rho = 5.6 +/- 1.3 g cm(-3), similar to the Earth. The CoRoT-7 planetary system provides us with the first insight into the physical nature of short period super-Earth planets recently detected by radial velocity surveys. These planets may be denser than Neptune and therefore likely made of rocks like the Earth, or a mix of water ice and rocks.

The B0.5IVe CoRoT target HD 49330 I. Photometric analysis from CoRoT data

Context. Be stars undergo outbursts producing a circumstellar disk from the ejected material. The beating of non-radial pulsations has been put forward as a possible mechanism of ejection. Aims. We analyze the pulsational behavior of the early B0.5IVe star HD 49330 observed during the first CoRoT long run towards the Galactical anticenter (LRA1). This Be star is located close to the lower edge of the beta Cephei instability strip in the HR diagram and showed a 0.03 mag outburst during the CoRoT observations. It is thus an ideal case for testing the aforementioned hypothesis. Methods. We analyze the CoRoT light curve of HD 49330 using Fourier methods and non-linear least square fitting. Results. In this star, we find pulsation modes typical of beta Cep stars (p modes) and SPB stars (g modes) with amplitude variations along the run directly correlated with the outburst. These results provide new clues about the origin of the Be phenomenon as well as strong constraints on the seismic modelling of Be stars.

Three-dimensional visualization of human hemoglobin phenotypes with HPLC

Hemoglobinopathies were included in the Brazilian Neonatal Screening Program on June 6, 2001. Automated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was indicated as one of the diagnostic methods. The amount of information generated by these systems is immense, and the behavior of groups cannot always be observed in individual analyses. Three-dimensional (3-D) visualization techniques can be applied to extract this information, for extracting patterns, trends or relations from the results stored in databases. We applied the 3-D visualization tool to analyze patterns in the results of hemoglobinopathy based on neonatal diagnosis by HPLC. The laboratory results of 2520 newborn analyses carried out in 2001 and 2002 were used. The ""Fast"", ""F1"", ""F"" and ""A"" peaks, which were detected by the analytical system, were chosen as attributes for mapping. To establish a behavior pattern, the results were classified into groups according to hemoglobin phenotype: normal (N = 2169), variant (N = 73) and thalassemia (N = 279). 3-D visualization was made with the FastMap DB tool; there were two distribution patterns in the normal group, due to variation in the amplitude of the values obtained by HPLC for the F1 window. It allowed separation of the samples with normal Hb from those with alpha thalassemia, based on a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the mean values of the ""Fast"" and ""A"" peaks, demonstrating the need for better evaluation of chromatograms; this method could be used to help diagnose alpha thalassemia in newborns.

Determination of the parity of the neutral pion via its four-electron decay

We present a new determination of the parity of the neutral pion via the double Dalitz decay pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)e(+)e(-). Our sample, which consists of 30511 candidate decays, was collected from K(L) -> pi(0)pi(0)pi(0) decays in flight at the KTeV-E799 experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We confirm the negative pi(0) parity and place a limit on scalar contributions to the pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)e(+)e(-) decay amplitude of less than 3.3% assuming CPT conservation. The pi(0)gamma(*)gamma(*) form factor is well described by a momentum-dependent model with a slope parameter fit to the final state phase-space distribution. Additionally, we have measured the branching ratio of this mode to be B(pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)e(+)e(-)) = (3.26 +/- 0.18) x 10(-5).

Numerical investigation of the quantum fluctuations of optical fields transmitted through an atomic medium

We have numerically solved the Heisenberg-Langevin equations describing the propagation of quantized fields through an optically thick sample of atoms. Two orthogonal polarization components are considered for the field, and the complete Zeeman sublevel structure of the atomic transition is taken into account. Quantum fluctuations of atomic operators are included through appropriate Langevin forces. We have considered an incident field in a linearly polarized coherent state (driving field) and vacuum in the perpendicular polarization and calculated the noise spectra of the amplitude and phase quadratures of the output field for two orthogonal polarizations. We analyze different configurations depending on the total angular momentum of the ground and excited atomic states. We examine the generation of squeezing for the driving-field polarization component and vacuum squeezing of the orthogonal polarization. Entanglement of orthogonally polarized modes is predicted. Noise spectral features specific to (Zeeman) multilevel configurations are identified.

Precise measurements of direct CP violation, CPT symmetry, and other parameters in the neutral kaon system

We present precise tests of CP and CPT symmetry based on the full data set of K -> pi pi decays collected by the KTeV experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory during 1996, 1997, and 1999. This data set contains 16 x 10(6) K -> pi(0)pi(0) and 69 x 10(6) K -> pi(+)pi(-) decays. We measure the direct CP violation parameter Re(epsilon'/epsilon) = (19.2 +/- 2.1) x 10(-4). We find the K(L) -> K(S) mass difference Delta m = (5270 +/- 12) x 10(6) (h) over tilde s(-1) and the K(S) lifetime tau(S) = (89.62 +/- 0.05) x 10(-12) s. We also measure several parameters that test CPT invariance. We find the difference between the phase of the indirect CP violation parameter epsilon and the superweak phase: phi(epsilon) - phi(SW) =(0.40 +/- 0.56)degrees. We measure the difference of the relative phases between the CP violating and CP conserving decay amplitudes for K -> pi(+)pi(-) (phi(+-)) and for K -> pi(0)pi(0) (phi(00)): Delta phi = (0.30 +/- 0.35)degrees. From these phase measurements, we place a limit on the mass difference between K(0) and (K) over bar (0): Delta M < 4.8 x 10(-19) GeV/c(2) at 95% C.L. These results are consistent with those of other experiments, our own earlier measurements, and CPT symmetry.

Extra phase noise from thermal fluctuations in nonlinear optical crystals

We show theoretically and experimentally that scattered light by thermal phonons inside a second-order nonlinear crystal is the source of additional phase noise observed in optical parametric oscillators. This additional phase noise reduces the quantum correlations and has hitherto hindered the direct production of multipartite entanglement in a single nonlinear optical system. We cooled the nonlinear crystal and observed a reduction in the extra noise. Our treatment of this noise can be successfully applied to different systems in the literature.

Resonance oscillations of magnetoresistance in double quantum wells

We present the experimental and theoretical studies of the magnetoresistance oscillations induced by the resonance transitions of electrons between the tunnel-coupled states in double quantum wells. The suppression of these oscillations with increasing temperature is irrelevant to the thermal broadening of the Fermi distribution and reflects the temperature dependence of the quantum lifetime of electrons. The gate control of the period and amplitude of the oscillations is demonstrated.

Coherent Contributions to Isospin Mixing in the Mirror Pair (67)As and (67)Se

Isospin symmetry breaking has been investigated in mass A = 67 mirror nuclei through the experimental determination of the E1 strengths of analog electromagnetic transitions. Lifetimes of excited states have been measured in (67)Se and (67)As with the centroid shift method. Through the comparison of the B(E1) strengths of the mirror 9/2(+) -> 7/2(-) transitions, the isovector and the isoscalar components of the electromagnetic transition amplitude were extracted. The presence of a large isoscalar component provides evidence for coherent contributions to isospin mixing, probably involving the isovector giant monopole resonance.

Soliton dynamics at an interface between a uniform medium and a nonlinear optical lattice

We study trapping and propagation of a matter-wave soliton through the interface between uniform medium and a nonlinear optical lattice. Different regimes for transmission of a broad and a narrow solitons are investigated. Reflections and transmissions of solitons are predicted as a function of the lattice phase. The existence of a threshold in the amplitude of the nonlinear optical lattice, separating the transmission and reflection regimes, is verified. The localized nonlinear surface state, corresponding to the soliton trapped by the interface, is found. Variational approach predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations for the original Gross-Pitaevskii equation with nonlinear periodic potentials.

Scalar resonances in a unitary pi pi S-wave model for D(+)->pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)

We propose a model for D(+)->pi(+)pi(-)pi(+) decays following experimental results which indicate that the two-pion interaction in the S wave is dominated by the scalar resonances f(0)(600)/sigma and f(0)(980). The weak decay amplitude for D(+)-> R pi(+), where R is a resonance that subsequently decays into pi(+)pi(-), is constructed in a factorization approach. In the S wave, we implement the strong decay R ->pi(+)pi(-) by means of a scalar form factor. This provides a unitary description of the pion-pion interaction in the entire kinematically allowed mass range m(pi pi)(2) from threshold to about 3 GeV(2). In order to reproduce the experimental Dalitz plot for D(+)->pi(+)pi(-)pi(+), we include contributions beyond the S wave. For the P wave, dominated by the rho(770)(0), we use a Breit-Wigner description. Higher waves are accounted for by using the usual isobar prescription for the f(2)(1270) and rho(1450)(0). The major achievement is a good reproduction of the experimental m(pi pi)(2) distribution, and of the partial as well as the total D(+)->pi(+)pi(-)pi(+) branching ratios. Our values are generally smaller than the experimental ones. We discuss this shortcoming and, as a by-product, we predict a value for the poorly known D ->sigma transition form factor at q(2)=m pi(2).

Substrate orientation effect on potential fluctuations in multiquantum wells of GaAs/AlGaAs

The photoluminescence (PL) technique as a function of temperature and excitation intensity was used to study the optical properties of multiquantum wells (MQWs) of GaAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)As grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates oriented in the [100], [311]A, and [311]B directions. The asymmetry presented by the PL spectra of the MQWs with an apparent exponential tail in the lower-energy side and the unusual behavior of the PL peak energy versus temperature (blueshift) at low temperatures are explained by the exciton localization in the confinement potential fluctuations of the heterostructures. The PL peak energy dependence with temperature was fitted by the expression proposed by Passler [Phys. Status Solidi B 200, 155 (1997)] by subtracting the term sigma(2)(E)/k(B)T, which considers the presence of potential fluctuations. It can be verified from the PL line shape, the full width at half maximum of PL spectra, the sigma(E) values obtained from the adjustment of experimental points, and the blueshift maximum values that the samples grown in the [311]A/B directions have higher potential fluctuation amplitude than the sample grown in the [100] direction. This indicates a higher degree of the superficial corrugations for the MQWs grown in the [311] direction. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.