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| 2. |
- Ekström, Ingrid, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Subjective Olfactory Loss in Older Adults Concurs with Long-Term Odor Identification Decline
- 2019
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Ingår i: Chemical Senses. - Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 44:2, s. 105-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Olfactory impairments may provide early indications of future health outcomes in older adults. Thus, an important question concerns whether these impairments can be self-assessed. Previous findings of cross-sectional studies indicate low correlations between self-reported olfactory function and objective olfactory performance. On the other hand, subjective olfactory impairments predict future dementia and mortality in longitudinal settings. No previous study has assessed the relationship between subjectively and objectively measured decline in olfaction over time. Based on data for 903 older adults derived from the Betula Study, a Swedish population-based prospective study, we tested whether rate-of-change in odor identification could be predicted from subjective olfactory decline over a time span of 10 years during which subjective and objective odor functions were assessed on 2 or 3 test occasions. Indeed, we found that participants who experienced subjective olfactory decline over the study period also had significantly steeper rates of decline in odor identification, even after adjusting for demographic, cognitive, and genetic factors that previously have been associated with performance in odor identification. This association was, however, not present in a subsample with baseline cognitive impairment. We interpret these results as evidence that when asked about whether they have an olfactory impairment or not, older persons are assessing intraindividual olfactory changes, rather than interindividual differences. Our results indicate that subjective olfactory loss reflects objective olfactory decline in cognitively intact older adults. This association might be harnessed to predict health outcomes and highlights the need to develop effective olfactory self-assessments.
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| 3. |
- Fülöp, Attila, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Phase transition of bismuth telluride thin films grown by MBE
- 2014
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Express. - 1882-0786 .- 1882-0778. ; 7:4, s. Art. no. 045503-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A previously unreported phase transition between Bi2Te3 and Bi4Te3 in bismuth telluride grown by molecular beam epitaxy is recorded via XRD, AFM, and SIMS observations. This transition is found to be related to the Te/Bi beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratio. BEP ratios below 17 favor the formation of Bi4Te3 while Bi2Te3 is formed at higher ratios. Transport measurements reveal that Bi2Te3 has higher electron mobility than Bi4Te3.
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| 4. |
- Song, Yuxin, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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MBE growth of Bi2Te3 for Thermoelectrics
- 2013
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Ingår i: Asia Communications and Photonics Conference, ACP. - Washington, D.C. : OSA. - 2162-108X.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular beam epitaxy of Bi2Te3 on various substrates for thermoelectric applications is investigated. Growth conditions were optimized based on Si(111) substrates with two different growth techniques, co-deposition followed by crystallization and direct growth. Growth of Bi 2Te3 on GaAs, GaN, et. al. substrates with different crystal directions and offcut angles were investigated. High quality Bi2Te3 thin films were achieved with very low carrier density and record high carrier mobility.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Gustav, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Electromagnetically Induced Acoustic Transparency with a Superconducting Circuit
- 2020
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114 .- 0031-9007. ; 124:24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the observation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of a mechanical field, where a superconducting artificial atom is coupled to a 1D-transmission line for surface acoustic waves. An electromagnetic microwave drive is used as the control field, rendering the superconducting transmon qubit transparent to the acoustic probe beam. The strong frequency dependence of the acoustic coupling enables EIT in a ladder configuration due to the suppressed relaxation of the upper level. Our results show that superconducting circuits can be engineered to interact with acoustic fields in parameter regimes not readily accessible to purely electromagnetic systems.
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| 6. |
- Aref, Thomas, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Quantum Acoustics with Surface Acoustic Waves
- 2016
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Ingår i: Superconducting Devices in Quantum Optics. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783319240916 ; , s. 217-244
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It has recently been demonstrated that surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can interact with superconducting qubits at the quantum level. SAW resonators in the GHz frequency range have also been found to have low loss at temperatures compatible with superconducting quantum circuits. These advances open up new possibilities to use the phonon degree of freedom to carry quantum information. In this chapter, we give a description of the basic SAW components needed to develop quantum circuits, where propagating or localized SAW-phonons are used both to study basic physics and to manipulate quantum information. Using phonons instead of photons offers new possibilities which make these quantum acoustic circuits very interesting. We discuss general considerations for SAW experiments at the quantum level and describe experiments both with SAW resonators and with interaction between SAWs and a qubit. We also discuss several potential future developments.
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| 7. |
- Ekström, Ingrid, 1988-
(författare)
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Human olfaction : Associations with longitudinal assessment of episodic memory, dementia, and mortality risk
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A declining sense of smell is a common feature in older age. Above and beyond diminished smelling capacity due to normal processes of human aging, impairments in olfactory function have also been linked to numerous ill-health related outcomes, such as cognitive dysfunctions, dementia pathology and even an increased risk of death. Based on population-based data from the Swedish Betula Prospective Cohort Study, the aim of this thesis was to further our understanding regarding the role of olfaction in long-term memory decline, dementia, and mortality. Furthermore, this thesis investigated the predictive utility of self-reported olfactory dysfunction for assessing the risk of conversion to later dementia and to mortality, as well as the predictive utility of long-term subjective olfactory decline for an actual long-term decline in odor function. Study I explored associations of olfactory deficits with memory decline and found that impairments in an odor identification test were related to an ongoing and long-term decline in episodic memory only in carriers of the e4 allele of the Apolipoprotein E, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Study II investigated the predictive utility of olfactory ability for conversion to common forms of dementia in participants with intact baseline cognition during a follow-up time-span of 10 years. The results showed that lower odor identification scores, as well as subjectively assessed odor impairment, were associated with an increased risk for dementia conversion, and that the effects of objective and subjective odor function were cumulative. Study III investigated whether olfactory ability could predict mortality and showed that lower odor identification scores, as well as subjective odor impairments, were associated with an elevated risk of death within a follow-up time-span of approximately 10 years. Crucially, this effect could not be explained by dementia conversion prior to death. Study IV showed that a subjectively assessed long-term and ongoing olfactory decline was predictive of an objectively assessed long-term and ongoing decline in odor function. Subjective olfactory impairments might thus be indicative of an actual olfactory decline in older adults. Overall, the findings of this thesis indicate that sense of smell is closely related to processes of memory decline and dementia as well as mortality in older adults. Furthermore, the results of these investigations shed a new light on the role of subjectively experienced olfactory decline, which might reflect an actual intra-individual change in olfactory ability in older adults.
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| 8. |
- Ekström, Maria, 1988
(författare)
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Quantum acoustics with propagating phonons
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are mechanical vibrations that propagate on the surface of solids while dissipating little power, consequently enabling them to propagate freely over long distances. The speed and wavelength of SAWs are reduced a five order of magnitude compared to when light is used as a carrier at gigahertz frequencies. The unique properties of SAWs combined with the possibility to let them interact with artificial atoms, discovered and shown for the very first time in appended Paper I of this thesis, open up for exploration of new regimes of quantum physics. The appended Paper II is a book chapter providing an overview of many of the new areas of research, as well as going into depth of the method and significance of the results ofthe appended Paper I. The essential interaction between artificial atoms and SAWs was further investigated by using Autler-Townes splitting to achieve fast control of the interactions. The appended Paper IV, shows a transmitted field extinction of 80 %, and provides proof of concept for a SAW router in the quantum regime. In addition, due to the artificial atom's highly frequency dependent coupling to SAWs, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) could be observed in the appended Paper V. Furthermore, the EIT region was distinguished from the Autler-Townes splitting region by a threshold in the applied power. The results produce parallel findings to quantum optics, but are perhaps best described as part of a different field, quantum acoustics. Among the many possible areas of research emerging as an outcome of this work, a variety of potential quantum experiments would benefit greatly from a higher conversion efficiency between electric signals and SAWs. Due to this, focus was put on improving this conversion efficiency by studying superconducting unidirectional transducers (UDTs), making use of advances in classical SAW devices. The appended Paper III shows that 99.4~\% of the acoustic power can be focused in a desired direction and that the conversion between electric signals and SAWs is greatly improved by using UDTs, thereby eliminating the largest source of loss of symmetric inter-digital transducers. There is, however, a trade-off between conversion efficiency and bandwidth. This finding allows tailoring of quantum experiments based on SAWs that may pave the way towards measuring quantum sound.
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| 9. |
- Ekström, Maria, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Surface acoustic wave unidirectional transducers for quantum applications
- 2017
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 110:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The conversion efficiency of electric microwave signals into surface acoustic waves in different types of superconducting transducers is studied with the aim of quantum applications. We compare delay lines containing either conventional symmetric transducers (IDTs) or unidirectional transducers (UDTs) at 2.3 GHz and 10 mK. The UDT delay lines improve the insertion loss with 4.7 dB and a directivity of 22 dB is found for each UDT, indicating that 99.4% of the acoustic power goes in the desired direction. The power lost in the undesired direction accounts for more than 90% of the total loss in IDT delay lines, but only ?3% of the total loss in the floating electrode unidirectional transducer delay lines.
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| 10. |
- Ekström, Maria, 1988
(författare)
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Towards measuring quantum sound
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One of the most fundamental phenomena occurring in nature is the interaction between single atoms and electromagnetic fields. This is studied in quantum optics to probe the quantum nature of the system. In appended Paper I, we demonstrated that an artificial atom can couple to propagating sound, which is the acoustic analogue of quantum optics. This thesis covers experiments where surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are used in superconducting circuits at gigahertz frequencies with the aim for quantum applications.Since SAWs are mechanical vibrations that propagate on the surface of solids and dissipate little power, they can propagate freely over long distances before and after they interact with the artificial atom. Their five order of magnitude slower speed and smaller wavelength than light at gigahertz frequencies, open up for exploring new regimes of quantum physics. In addition, the coupling between the artificial atom and the SAWs is promising for reaching ultrastrong coupling limits, which is hard in other types of systems. Many of the future applications are discussed in appended Paper II, together with a more detailed description of the theory and fabrication of the devices.Although the possibilities are many, a variety of potential experiments would benefit from higher conversion efficiency between electric signals and SAWs. Therefore, improvements of this conversion are studied in appended Paper III, making use of the many advances in classical SAW devices. More specifically, the conversion of unidirectional transducers (UDTs) on lithium niobate is studied and compared to symmetric interdigital transducers (IDTs). The results show that 99.4 % of the acoustic power can be focused in the desired direction and that the conversion between electric signals and SAWs is greatly improved by using UDTs, eliminating the largest contribution to loss of the IDTs. However, there is a trade-off between conversion efficiency and bandwidth. This knowledge allows us to better tailor potential quantum experiments based on SAWs, possibly towards measuring quantum sound.
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