Angular Momentum of a Brane-world Model

In this paper we discuss the properties of the general covariant angular momentum of a five-dimensional brane-world model. Through calculating the total angular momentum of this model, we are able to analyze the properties of the total angular momentum in the inflationary RS model. We show that the space-like components of the total angular momentum of are all zero while the others are non-zero, which agrees with the results from ordinary RS model.Comment: 8 pages; accepted by Chinese Physics

Spontaneous edge-defect formation and defect-induced conductance suppression in graphene nanoribbons

We present a first-principles study of the migration and recombination of edge defects (carbon adatom and/or vacancy) and their influence on electrical conductance in zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs). It is found that at room temperature, the adatom is quite mobile while the vacancy is almost immobile along the edge of ZGNRs. The recombination of an adatom-vacancy pair leads to a pentagon-heptagon ring defect structure having a lower energy than the perfect edge, implying that such an edge-defect can be formed spontaneously. This edge defect can suppresses the conductance of ZGNRs drastically, which provides some useful hints for understanding the observed semiconducting behavior of the fabricated narrow GNRs.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PR

Dirac Fermion in Strongly-Bound Graphene Systems

It is highly desirable to integrate graphene into existing semiconductor technology, where the combined system is thermodynamically stable yet maintain a Dirac cone at the Fermi level. Firstprinciples calculations reveal that a certain transition metal (TM) intercalated graphene/SiC(0001), such as the strongly-bound graphene/intercalated-Mn/SiC, could be such a system. Different from free-standing graphene, the hybridization between graphene and Mn/SiC leads to the formation of a dispersive Dirac cone of primarily TM d characters. The corresponding Dirac spectrum is still isotropic, and the transport behavior is nearly identical to that of free-standing graphene for a bias as large as 0.6 V, except that the Fermi velocity is half that of graphene. A simple model Hamiltonian is developed to qualitatively account for the physics of the transfer of the Dirac cone from a dispersive system (e.g., graphene) to an originally non-dispersive system (e.g., TM).Comment: Apr 25th, 2012 submitte

Dirac Fermion in Strongly-Bound Graphene Systems

It is highly desirable to integrate graphene into existing semiconductor technology, where the combined system is thermodynamically stable yet maintain a Dirac cone at the Fermi level. Firstprinciples calculations reveal that a certain transition metal (TM) intercalated graphene/SiC(0001), such as the strongly-bound graphene/intercalated-Mn/SiC, could be such a system. Different from free-standing graphene, the hybridization between graphene and Mn/SiC leads to the formation of a dispersive Dirac cone of primarily TM d characters. The corresponding Dirac spectrum is still isotropic, and the transport behavior is nearly identical to that of free-standing graphene for a bias as large as 0.6 V, except that the Fermi velocity is half that of graphene. A simple model Hamiltonian is developed to qualitatively account for the physics of the transfer of the Dirac cone from a dispersive system (e.g., graphene) to an originally non-dispersive system (e.g., TM).Comment: Apr 25th, 2012 submitte

Cochlear homeostasis and its role in genetic deafness

AbstractEach component of the human ear performs a specific function in hearing. The actual process of sound transduction takes place in the auditory portion of the inner ear, the fluid-filled cochlea. In the cochlea, the sensitivity and efficiency of sensory apparatus to convert mechanical energy into neural activity, largely depends on the fluidic and ionic environment. In the lateral wall of cochlea, the secretory epithelium stria vascularis plays an important role in the maintenance of fluidic and ionic homeostasis. A variety of gene mutations disturbs the cochlear homeostasis and subsequently leads to hearing impairment. The review covers several aspects of cochlear homeostasis, from cochlear fluid and the functional role of stria vascularis, cochlear K+recycling and its molecular substrates to genetic deafness with abnormal cochlear homeostasis

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) family in arthropods : Cloning and expression analysis of two MIF and one D-dopachrome tautomerase (DDT) homologues in Mud crabs, Scylla paramamosain

Acknowledgements This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31172438 and U1205123), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2012J06008 and 201311180002) and the projects-sponsored by SRF. TW received funding from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPostprin

The deflection of charged massive particles by a 4-Dimensional charged Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet black hole

Based on the Jacobi metric method, this paper studies the deflection of a charged massive particle by a novel 4-dimensional charged Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet black hole. We focus on the weak-filed approximation and consider the deflection angle with finite-distance effects, i.e. the source and observer at finite distances from the black hole. To this end, we use a geometric and topological method, which is to apply the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to the Jacobi-metric surface to calculate the deflection angle. We find that the deflection angle contains a pure gravitational contribution $\delta_g$, a pure electrostatic one $\delta_c$ and a gravitational-electrostatic coupling term $\delta_{gc}$. We also show that the electrostatic contribution $\delta_c$ can also be computed by the Jacobi-metric method using the GB theorem to a charge in a Minkowski flat spacetime background. We find that the deflection angle increases(decreases) if the Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant $\alpha$ is negative(positive). Furthermore, the effects of the BH charge, the particle charge-to-mass ratio and the particle velocity on the deflection angle are analyzed.Comment: 11 pages, 5 Figures; conclusion part improved and reference adde