808 research outputs found
Effect of in-plane line defects on field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition behavior in homogeneous thin film
Field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition (FSIT) behavior in 2D
isotropic and homogeneous thin films is usually accompanied by a nonvanishing
critical resistance at low . It is shown that, in a 2D film including line
defects paralle to each other but with random positions perpendicular to them,
the (apparent) critical resistance in low limit vanishes, as in the 1D
quantum superconducting (SC) transition, under a current parallel to the line
defects. This 1D-like critical resistive behavior is more clearly seen in
systems with weaker point disorder and may be useful in clarifying whether the
true origin of FSIT behavior in the parent superconductor is the glass
fluctuation or the quantum SC fluctuation. As a by-product of the present
calculation, it is also pointed out that, in 2D films with line-like defects
with a long but {\it finite} correlation length parallel to the lines, a
quantum metallic behavior intervening the insulating and SC ones appears in the
resistivity curves.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure
Theoretical Description of Resistive Behavior near a Quantum Vortex-Glass Transition
Resistive behaviors at nonzero temperatures (T > 0) reflecting a quantum
vortex-glass (VG) transition (the so-called field-tuned
superconductor-insulator transition at T=0) are studied based on a quantum
Ginzburg-Landau (GL) action for a s-wave pairing case containing microscopic
details. The ordinary dissipative dynamics of the pair-field is assumed on the
basis of a consistency between the fluctuation conductance terms excluded from
GL approach and an observed negative magnetoresistance. It is shown that the VG
contribution, G_{vg}(B=B_{vg}, T \to 0),to 2D fluctuation conductance at the VG
transition field B_{vg} depends on the strength of a repulsive-interaction
between electrons and takes a universal value only in the ordinary dirty limit
neglecting the electron-repulsion. Available resistivity data near B_{vg} are
discussed based on our results, and extensions to the cases of a d-wave pairing
and of 3D systems are briefly commented on.Comment: Explanation of data in strongly disordered case, as well as Fig.2 and
3, was renewed, and comments on recent publications were added. To appear in
J.Phys.Soc. Jp
Tryptophan Oxidative Metabolism Catalyzed by Geobacillus Stearothermophilus: A Thermophile Isolated from Kuwait Soil Contaminated with Petroleum Hydrocarbons
Tryptophan metabolism has been extensively studied in humans as well as in soil. Its metabolism takes place mainly through kynurenine pathway yielding hydroxylated, deaminated and many other products of physiological significance. However, tryptophan metabolism has not been studied in an isolated thermophilic bacterium. Geobacillus stearothermophilus is a local thermophile isolated from Kuwait desert soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The bacterium grows well at 65 °C in 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 7), when supplied with organic compounds as a carbon source and has a good potential for transformation of steroids and related molecules. In the present study, we used tryptophan ethyl ester as a carbon source for the bacterium to study the catabolism of the amino acid at pH 5 and pH 7. In this endeavor, we have resolved twenty one transformation products of tryptophan by GC/LC and have identified them through their mass spectral fragmentation
The liquid-glass-jamming transition in disordered ionic nanoemulsions
In quenched disordered out-of-equilibrium many-body colloidal systems, there are important distinctions between the glass transition, which is related to the onset of nonergodicity and loss of low-frequency relaxations caused by crowding, and the jamming transition, which is related to the dramatic increase in elasticity of the system caused by the deformation of constituent objects. For softer repulsive interaction potentials, these two transitions become increasingly smeared together, so measuring a clear distinction between where the glass ends and where jamming begins becomes very difficult or even impossible. Here, we investigate droplet dynamics in concentrated silicone oil-in-water nanoemulsions using light scattering. For zero or low NaCl electrolyte concentrations, interfacial repulsions are soft and longer in range, this transition sets in at lower concentrations, and the glass and the jamming regimes are smeared. However, at higher electrolyte concentrations the interactions are stiffer, and the characteristics of the glass-jamming transition resemble more closely the situation of disordered elastic spheres having sharp interfaces, so the glass and jamming regimes can be distinguished more clearly
Effects of Uniaxial Stress on Antiferromagnetic Moment in the Heavy Electron Compound URu_2Si_2
We have performed the elastic neutron scattering experiments under uniaxial
stress \sigma along the tetragonal [100], [110] and [001] directions for
URu2Si2. For \sigma // [100] and [110], the antiferromagnetic moment \mu_o is
strongly enhanced from 0.02 \mu_B (\sigma=0) to 0.22 \mu_B (\sigma=2.5 kbar) at
1.5 K. The rate of increase d\mu_o/d\sigma is roughly estimated to be ~ 0.1
\mu_B/kbar, which is much larger than that for the hydrostatic pressure (~
0.025 \mu_B/kbar). Above 2.5 kbar, \mu_o shows a tendency to saturate similar
to the behavior in the hydrostatic pressure. For \sigma // [001], on the other
hand, \mu_o shows only a slight increase to 0.028 \mu_B (\sigma = 4.6 kbar)
with a rate of ~ 0.002 \mu_B/kbar. The observed anisotropy suggests that the
competition between the hidden order and the antiferromagnetic state in URu2Si2
is strongly coupled with the tetragonal four-fold symmetry and the c/a ratio,
or both.Comment: 3 pages, 3 eps figures, Proceedings of Int. Conf. on Strongly
Correlated Electrons with Orbital Degrees of Freedom (Sendai, Japan,
September 11-14, 2001
A taste of the unfamiliar: understanding the meanings attached to food by international postgraduate students in England
Using findings from semi-structured interviews with international postgraduate students in England, this paper explores the meanings attached to the food they eat in a new culture. Our study, using interviews, aimed to uncover student responses to both the food they eat whilst abroad and to the food they have left behind.
Many students criticised local English food as bland, fattening, and unhealthy; nevertheless, most showed an openness to new foods, trying not only local food but also dishes prepared by their international friends, but this sat alongside a strong attachment to their home country dishes. Eating together was a popular leisure activity, and food of the origin country or region was the most popular cuisine. Eating home country food offered emotional and physical sustenance; students felt comforted by familiar taste, and that their physical health was stabilised by the consumption of healthier food than was available locally. Despite acknowledgement of the importance of food to cultural identity and overall quality of life in the anthropology and nutrition literatures, there is a dearth of research into this aspect of the international student experience; this study, therefore, marks an important beginning
Evolution of Heterogeneous Antiferromagnetic State in URu2Si2: Study of Hydrostatic-Pressure, Uniaxial-Stress and Rh-Dope Effects
We have investigated the nature of the competition between hidden order and
antiferromagnetic (AF) order in URu_2Si_2 by performing the neutron scattering
experiments under hydrostatic-pressure P, uniaxial-stress sigma, and
Rh-substitution conditions. Hidden order observed at ambient pressure in pure
URu_2Si_2 is found to be replaced by the AF order by applying P, sigma along
the tetragonal basal plane, and by doping Rh. We discuss these experimental
results on the basis of the crystalline strain calculations, and suggest that
this phase transition is generated by the 0.1% increase of the tetragonal c/a
ratio. We have also found that the magnetic excitation observed in the hidden
order phase vanishes in the AF phase. We show that this variation can be
qualitatively explained by assuming the hidden order parameter to be
quadrupole.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of workshop on Novel Pressure-Induced
Phenomena In Condensed Matter Systems, 2006 Fukuok
Actin-driven cell dynamics probed by Fourier transform light scattering
We applied the newly developed Fourier transform light scattering (FTLS) to study dynamic light scattering in single live cells, at a temporal scale of seconds to hours. The nanoscale cell fluctuations were measured with and without the active actin contribution. We found experimentally that the spatio-temporal signals rendered by FTLS reveal interesting cytoskeleton dynamics in glial cells (the predominant cell type in the nervous system). The active contribution of actin cytoskeleton was obtained by modulating its dynamic properties via Cytochalasin-D, a drug that inhibits actin polymerization/depolymerization
Resonant X-Ray Scattering from URu_{2}Si_{2}
Based on a localized crystal electric field model for the U^{4+} in the
(5f)^2-configuration, we analyze the resonant x-ray scattering spectra around U
M_{IV} and M_{V} edges in URu_{2}Si_{2}, taking full Coulomb and spin-orbit
interactions into account. We consider two level schemes, a singlet model of
Santini and Amoretti and a doublet model of Ohkawa and Shimizu, and assume the
antiferroquadrupolar order and the antiferromagnetic order as candidates for
the ambient pressure phase and the high pressure phase. It is found that the
spectral shapes as a function of photon energy are independent of the assumed
level scheme, but are quite different between the antiferroquadrupole and
antiferromagnetic phases, This may be useful to determine the character of the
ordered phase.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JPS
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