Infrared emission and defect centres in Er and Yb codoped Y(3)Al(5)O(12) phosphors

YAG phosphor powders doped/codoped with Er(3+)/(Er(3+) + Yb(3+)) have been synthesised by using the solution combustion method. The effect of direct pumping into the (4)I(11/2) level under 980 nm excitation of doped/codoped Er(3+)/Yb(3+)-Er(3+) in Y(3)Al(5)O(12) (YAG) phosphor responsible for an infrared (IR) emission peaking at similar to 1.53 mu m corresponding to the (4)I(13/2)->(4)I(15/2) transition has been studied. YAG exhibits three thermally-stimulated luminescence (TSL) peaks at around 140A degrees C, 210A degrees C and 445A degrees C. Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies were carried out to identify the centres responsible for the TSL peaks. The room temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of two distinct centres. One of the centres (centre I) with principal g-value 2.0176 is identified as O(-) ion, while centre II with an isotropic g-factor 2.0020 is assigned to an F(+) centre (singly ionised oxygen vacancy). An additional defect centre is observed during thermal-annealing experiments and this centre (assigned to F(+) centre) seems to originate from an F-centre (oxygen vacancy with two electrons) and these two centres appear to correlate with the observed high-temperature TSL peak in YAG phosphor.

NIR to visible up-conversion, infrared luminescence, thermoluminescence and defect centres in Y(2)O(3) : Er phosphor

Er(3+) doped Y(2)O(3) phosphor was prepared by the solution combustion method and characterized using powder x-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive analysis of x-ray mapping studies. Room temperature near infrared (NIR) to green up-conversion (UC) emissions in the region 520-580 nm {((2)H(11/2), (4)S(3/2)) -> (4)I(15/2)} and red UC emissions in the region 650-700 nm ((4)F(9/2) -> (4)I(15/2)) of Er(3+) ions have been observed upon direct excitation to the (4)I(11/2) level using similar to 972 nm laser radiation of nanosecond pulses. The possible mechanisms for the UC processes have been discussed on the basis of the energy level scheme, the pump power dependence as well as based on the temporal evolution. The excited state absorption is observed to be the dominant mechanism for the UC process. Y(2)O(3) : Er exhibits one thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) peak around 367 degrees C. Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies were carried out to study the defect centres induced in the phosphor by gamma irradiation and also to identify the centres responsible for the TSL peak. Room temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of at least three distinct centres. One of them (centre I) with principal g-values g(parallel to) = 2.0415 and g(perpendicular to) = 2.0056 is identified as O(2)(-) centre while centre II with an isotropic g-factor 2.0096 is assigned to an F(+)-centre (singly ionized oxygen vacancy). Centre III is also assigned to an F(+)-centre with a small g-factor anisotropy (g(parallel to) = 1.974 and g(perpendicular to) = 1.967). Additional defect centres are observed during thermal annealing experiments and one of them appearing around 330 degrees C grows with the annealing temperature. This centre (assigned to an F(+)-centre) seems to originate from an F-centre (oxygen vacancy with two electrons) and the F-centre appears to correlate with the observed TSL peak in Y2O3 : Er phosphor. The trap depth for this peak has been determined to be 0.97 eV from TSL data.

Antineoplasic Drug Methotrexate Redox Mechanism Using a Glassy Carbon Electrode

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Search for pair production of first-generation leptoquarks in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for Pair Production of First-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in pp Collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estudo da série iso-eletrônica do átomo de hélio pelo método hiperesférico

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dissociation and electrooxidation of primaquine diphosphate as an approach to the study of anti-chagas prodrugs mechanism of action

This paper describes the voltammetric behavior of primaquine as a previous support to the further understanding of the delivery and action mechanisms of its respective synthesized prodrugs. There are few papers describing the drug behavior and most of the time no correlation between oxidation process and pH is done. Our results showed that primaquine oxidation is a one-step reaction involving two electrons with the charge transfer process being strongly pH-dependent in acid medium and pH-independent in a weak basic medium, with the neutral form being easily oxidized.This leads to the conclusion that quinoline nitrogen ring neutralization is a determinant step to the formation of the oxidized primaquine form. The existence of a relationship between the primaquine dissociation equilibrium and its electrooxidation process is shown.This work points the importance of voltammetric methodology as a tool for further studies on quantitative relationship studies between chemical structure and biological activity (QSAR) for electroactive drugs. (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. S.A. All rights reserved.

SISTEMAS QUIMILUMINESCENTES COM PEROXIDASE (EC:1.11.1.7) E SUAS APLICACOES EM ANALISES CLINICAS

The enzyme horseradish peroxidase HRP (EC:1.11.1.7), has both acid and basic isoenzymes, catalyses a wide range of reactions (acting as an oxiredutase or an oxidase) and is thought capable of one- or two-electrons oxidations depending on the substrate employed. Today, the methodology for these assay can be chemiluminescent reactions and enhanced chemiluminescent. The enhanced chemiluminescent assay with system HRP, luminol, peroxide and an enhancer has provided the basis for a convenient and sensitive assay for peroxidase and peroxidase conjugates, DNA probe and blotting assay. It is particularly more advantageous than the others, because is very rapid, more sensitive (attomoles), easy to do and technically simple, and is relatively specific for HRP (reduces the effect of the interference).

Absence of Cooper-type bound states in three- and few-electron systems

It is shown that the appearance of a fixed-point singularity in the kernel of the two-electron Cooper problem is responsible for the formation of the Cooper pair for an arbitrarily weak attractive interaction between two electrons. This singularity is absent in the problem of three and few superconducting electrons at zero temperature on the full Fermi sea. Consequently, such three- and few-electron systems on the full Fermi sea do not form Cooper-type bound states for an arbitrarily weak attractive pair interaction.

Neutrinoless double beta decay with and without Majoron-like boson emission in a 3-3-1 model

We consider the contributions to the neutrinoless double beta decays in a SU(3)L⊗U(1)N electroweak model. We show that for a range of parameters in the model there are diagrams involving vector-vector-scalar and trilinear scalar couplings which can be potentially as contributing as the light massive Majorana neutrino exchange one. We use these contributions to obtain constraints upon some mass scales of the model, such as the masses of the new charged vector and scalar bosons. We also consider briefly the decay in which, in addition to the two electrons, a Majoron-like boson is emitted. ©2001 The American Physical Society.

Search for long-lived particles decaying into electron or photon pairs with the D0 detector

In this Letter we report on a search for long-lived particles that decay into final states with two electrons or photons. Such long-lived particles arise in a variety of theoretical models, such as hidden valleys and supersymmetry with gauge-mediated breaking. By precisely reconstructing the direction of the electromagnetic shower we are able to probe much longer lifetimes than previously explored. We see no evidence of the existence of such long-lived particles and interpret this search as a quasi model-independent limit on their production cross section, as well as a limit on a long-lived fourth generation quark. © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Estados de impurezas em semicondutores e nanoesetruturas sob campos externos

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais - FC

Synthesis, characterisation, luminescence and defect centres in solution combustion synthesised CaZrO3:Tb3+ phosphor

Tb3+ doped CaZrO3 has been prepared by an easy solution combustion synthesis method. The combustion derived powder was investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy techniques. A room temperature photoluminescence study showed that the phosphors can be efficiently excited by 251 nm light with a weak emission in the blue and orange region and a strong emission in green light region. CaZrO3:Tb3+ exhibits three thermoluminescence (TL) glow peaks at 126 degrees C, 200 degrees C and 480 degrees C. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) studies were carried out to study the defect centres induced in the phosphor by gamma irradiation and also to identify the centres responsible for the TL peaks. The room temperature ESR spectrum of irradiated phosphor appears to be a superposition of two distinct centres. One of the centres (centre I) with principal g-value 2.0233 is identified as an O- ion. Centre II with an axial symmetric g-tensor with principal values g(parallel to) = 1.9986 and g(perpendicular to) = 2.0023 is assigned to an F+ centre (singly ionised oxygen vacancy). An additional defect centre is observed during thermal annealing experiments and this centre (assigned to F+ centre) seems to originate from an F centre (oxygen vacancy with two electrons). The F centre and also the F+ centre appear to correlate with the observed high temperature TL peak in CaZrO3:Tb3+ phosphor. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Suche nach Endzuständen mit zwei Leptonen und fehlender transversaler Energie in pp-Kollisionen bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von 1.96 TeV

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden Daten aus Proton-Antiproton-Kollisionen analysiert, die im Zeitraum von April 2002 bis März 2004 mit dem DO-Detektor bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV am Tevatron-Beschleuniger am Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory aufgezeichnet wurden. Je nach Analyse entsprechen die verwendeten Datensätze integrierten Luminositäten von 158-252 pb^-1. Die Ereignisse wurden auf die Existenz von Higgs-Bosonen und Charginos und Neutralinos untersucht. Außerdem wurde eine Messung des Wirkungsquerschnittes der Paarproduktion von W-Bosonen durchgeführt. Für die Suchen nach Higgs-Bosonen wurden leptonische Endzustände mit zwei Elektronen bzw. einem Elektron und einem Myon untersucht, wie sie bei Zerfällen von Higgs-Bosonen über zwei W-Bosonen erwartet werden. Wegen des momentan zur Verfügung stehenden geringen Datensatzes ist nur möglich, die Daten auf die Existenz von Higgs-Bosonen zu untersuchen, wie sie innerhalb alternativer Modelle vorhergesagt werden. Aufgrund größerer Produktionswirkungsquerschnitte werden die Higgs-Bosonen mit erhöhter Rate erzeugt und werden somit schon bei niedrigen integrierten Luminositäten zugänglich. Bei der durchgeführten Analyse wurde eine gute Übereinstimmung der beobachteten Ereignisse mit der Erwartung aus Prozessen des Standardmodells gefunden. Da keine Evidenz für die Existenz von Higgs-Bosonen beobachtet wurde, wurden die Ergebnisse verwendet, um mit einem Vertrauensniveau von 95% eine obere Grenze auf den Produktionswirkungsquerschnitt multipliziert mit dem Verzweigungsverhältnis anzugeben. Durch eine Kombination der ee-, emu- und mumu-Endzustände erhält man eine obere Grenze zwischen 5.7 und 40.3 pb im Higgs-Massenbereich von 100-200 GeV. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß auch der hier verwendete Datensatz noch zu klein ist, um auch Higgs-Bosonen im Rahmen der alternativen Modelle zu entdecken bzw. auszuschließen. Um die assoziierte Produktion von Charginos und Neutralinos nachzuweisen, wurden ebenfalls Endzustände mit einem Elektron und einem Myon untersucht. Zur Verbesserung der Sensitivität wurde eine Kombination mit Analysen in ee- und mumu-Endzuständen durchgeführt. Da auch hier eine gute Konsistenz mit der Erwartung der Untergrundprozesse innerhalb des Standardmodells gefunden wurde, wurden ebenso obere Grenzen auf den Produktionswirkungsquerschnitt multipliziert mit dem Verzweigungsverhältnis gesetzt. Die Ergebnisse werden im Rahmen des mSUGRA-Modells interpretiert. Es ergeben sich obere Grenzen zwischen 0.46 und 0.63 pb für Charginomassen im Bereich von 97 GeV bis 114 GeV. Dies stellt eine deutliche Verbesserung der bei früheren Messungen bei DO erhaltenen Ausschlußgrenzen dar. Allerdings ist es wiederum aufgrund des geringen Datensatzes nicht möglich, Punkte im mSUGRA-Parameterraum oberhalb der bei LEP gefundenen Grenzen auszuschließen. Die Ergebnisse können auch verwendet werden, um allgemeinere SUSY-Modelle einzuschränken, die ebenfalls entsprechende Beziehungen zwischen den Chargino- und Neutralino-Massen erfüllen. Den Hauptuntergrund bei diesen Suchen stellt die Paarproduktion von W-Bosonen dar. Es wurde zum ersten Mal im Rahmen des DO-Experimentes eine Messung des Wirkungsquerschnittes der W-Paarproduktion mit einer Signifikanz von mehr als 3 sigma durchgeführt. Es wird eine gute Übereinstimmung mit der Next-to-leading-order-Vorhersage der Theorie gefunden. Kombiniert man die ee-, emu- und mumu-Endzustände, ergibt sich ein Wirkungsquerschnitt von sigma(WW) = 13.35+4.65-3.99(stat) +0.77-1.05(syst) +-0.87(Lum) pb.

The roles of electrostatic charge pairing in the interaction between cytochrome P-450 and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase

The cytochrome P450 enzyme catalysis requires two electrons transferred from NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (reductase) to P450. Electrostatic charge-pairing has been proposed to be one of the major forces in the interaction between P450 and reductase. In order to obtain further insight into the molecular basis for the protein interaction, I used two methods, chemical modification and specific anti-peptide antibodies, to study the involvement and importance of charged amino acid residues. Acetylation of lysine residues of P450c and P450b by acetic anhydride dramatically inhibited the reductase-supported P450c-dependent ethoxycoumarin hydroxylation activity, but P450 activity supported by cumene hydroperoxide is relatively unchanged. The modification of lysine residues of P450c and P450b did not grossly disturb the protein conformation as revealed by several spectral studies. This differential effect of lysine modification on the P450 activity in the system reconstituted with reductase versus the system supported by cumene hydroperoxide suggested an important role for P450 lysine residues in the interaction with reductase. Using $\rm\sp{14}C$-acetic anhydride, P450 lysine residues were labelled and further identified on P450c and P450b. Those lysine residues are at position 97, 271, 279, and 407 for P450c, and 251, 384, 422, 433, and 473 for P450b. Alignment of those identified lysine residues on P450c and P450b with amino acid residues identified in other studies indicated those residues reside in three major sequence areas. Modification of arginine residues of P450b by phenylglyoxal and 2, 3-butanedione have no significant effect on P450 activity either supported by NADPH and reductase or supported by cumene hydroperoxide. Further studies using $\rm\sp{14}C$-phenylglyoxal reveals that no incorporation of phenylglyoxal into P450b was found. These results demonstrated a predominant role of lysine residues of P450 in the electrostatic interaction with reductase. To understand the protein binding sites on each of P450 and reductase, I generated three anti-peptide antibodies against regions on reductase and five anti-peptide antibodies against five putative reductase binding sites on P450c. These anti-peptide antibodies were affinity purified and characterized on ELISA and by Western blot analysis. Inhibition experiments using these antibodies demonstrated that regions 109-120 and 204-220 of reductase are probably the two major binding sites for P450. The association of reductase with cytochromes P450 and cytochrome c may rely on different mechanisms. The data from experiments using anti-peptide (P450c) antibodies supports the important role of P450c lysine residues 271/279 and 458/460 in the interaction with reductase. ^