1,312 research outputs found
Metabolic Effects of Bariatric Surgery in Mouse Models of Circadian Disruption
Background/Objectives:
Mounting evidence supports a link between circadian disruption and metabolic disease. Humans with circadian disruption (for example, night-shift workers) have an increased risk of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases compared with the non-disrupted population. However, it is unclear whether the obesity and obesity-related disorders associated with circadian disruption respond to therapeutic treatments as well as individuals with other types of obesity. Subjects/Methods:
Here, we test the effectiveness of the commonly used bariatric surgical procedure, Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG), in mouse models of genetic and environmental circadian disruption. Results:
VSG led to a reduction in body weight and fat mass in both ClockΔ19 mutant and constant-light mouse models (PP\u3e0.05). Within circadian-disrupted models, VSG also led to improved glucose tolerance and lipid handling (P\u3c0.05). Conclusions:
Together these data demonstrate that VSG is an effective treatment for the obesity associated with circadian disruption, and that the potent effects of bariatric surgery are orthogonal to circadian biology. However, as the effects of bariatric surgery are independent of circadian disruption, VSG cannot be considered a cure for circadian disruption. These data have important implications for circadian-disrupted obese patients. Moreover, these results reveal new information about the metabolic pathways governing the effects of bariatric surgery as well as of circadian disruption
Doping driven magnetic instabilities and quantum criticality of NbFe
Using density functional theory we investigate the evolution of the magnetic
ground state of NbFe due to doping by Nb-excess and Fe-excess. We find
that non-rigid-band effects, due to the contribution of Fe-\textit{d} states to
the density of states at the Fermi level are crucial to the evolution of the
magnetic phase diagram. Furthermore, the influence of disorder is important to
the development of ferromagnetism upon Nb doping. These findings give a
framework in which to understand the evolution of the magnetic ground state in
the temperature-doping phase diagram. We investigate the magnetic instabilities
in NbFe. We find that explicit calculation of the Lindhard function,
, indicates that the primary instability is to finite
antiferromagnetism driven by Fermi surface nesting. Total energy
calculations indicate that antiferromagnetism is the ground
state. We discuss the influence of competing and finite
instabilities on the presence of the non-Fermi liquid behavior in
this material.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Spin-dependent Transparency of Ferromagnet/Superconductor Interfaces
Because the physical interpretation of the spin-polarization of a ferromagnet
determined by point-contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) is non-trivial, we have
carried out parameter-free calculations of PCAR spectra based upon a
scattering-theory formulation of Andreev reflection generalized to
spin-polarized systems and a tight-binding linear muffin tin orbital method for
calculating the corresponding scattering matrices. PCAR is found to measure the
spin-dependent interface transparency rather than the bulk polarization of the
ferromagnet which is strongly overestimated by free electron model fitting.Comment: 4 pages, 1figure. submitte
Writing and Reading antiferromagnetic MnAu: N\'eel spin-orbit torques and large anisotropic magnetoresistance
Antiferromagnets are magnetically ordered materials which exhibit no net
moment and thus are insensitive to magnetic fields. Antiferromagnetic
spintronics aims to take advantage of this insensitivity for enhanced
stability, while at the same time active manipulation up to the natural THz
dynamic speeds of antiferromagnets is possible, thus combining exceptional
storage density and ultra-fast switching. However, the active manipulation and
read-out of the N\'eel vector (staggered moment) orientation is challenging.
Recent predictions have opened up a path based on a new spin-orbit torque,
which couples directly to the N\'eel order parameter. This N\'eel spin-orbit
torque was first experimentally demonstrated in a pioneering work using
semimetallic CuMnAs. Here we demonstrate for MnAu, a good conductor with a
high ordering temperature suitable for applications, reliable and reproducible
switching using current pulses and readout by magnetoresistance measurements.
The symmetry of the torques agrees with theoretical predictions and a large
read-out magnetoresistance effect of more than ~ is reproduced by
ab initio transport calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Leading off-diagonal contribution to the spectral form factor of chaotic quantum systems
We semiclassically derive the leading off-diagonal correction to the spectral
form factor of quantum systems with a chaotic classical counterpart. To this
end we present a phase space generalization of a recent approach for uniformly
hyperbolic systems (M. Sieber and K. Richter, Phys. Scr. T90, 128 (2001); M.
Sieber, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35, L613 (2002)). Our results coincide with
corresponding random matrix predictions. Furthermore, we study the transition
from the Gaussian orthogonal to the Gaussian unitary ensemble.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. (accepted for publication
Chemical ordering and composition fluctuations at the (001) surface of the Fe-Ni Invar alloy
We report on a study of (001) oriented fcc Fe-Ni alloy surfaces which
combines first-principles calculations and low-temperature STM experiments.
Density functional theory calculations show that Fe-Ni alloy surfaces are
buckled with the Fe atoms slightly shifted outwards and the Ni atoms inwards.
This is consistent with the observation that the atoms in the surface layer can
be chemically distinguished in the STM image: brighter spots (corrugation
maxima with increased apparent height) indicate iron atoms, darker ones nickel
atoms. This chemical contrast reveals a c2x2 chemical order (50% Fe) with
frequent Fe-rich defects on Invar alloy surface. The calculations also indicate
that subsurface composition fluctuations may additionally modulate the apparent
height of the surface atoms. The STM images show that this effect is pronounced
compared to the surfaces of other disordered alloys, which suggests that some
chemical order and corresponding concentration fluctuations exist also in the
subsurface layers of Invar alloy. In addition, detailed electronic structure
calculations allow us to identify the nature of a distinct peak below the Fermi
level observed in the tunneling spectra. This peak corresponds to a surface
resonance band which is particularly pronounced in iron-rich surface regions
and provides a second type of chemical contrast with less spatial resolution
but one that is essentially independent of the subsurface composition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Universal spectral form factor for chaotic dynamics
We consider the semiclassical limit of the spectral form factor of
fully chaotic dynamics. Starting from the Gutzwiller type double sum over
classical periodic orbits we set out to recover the universal behavior
predicted by random-matrix theory, both for dynamics with and without time
reversal invariance. For times smaller than half the Heisenberg time
, we extend the previously known -expansion to
include the cubic term. Beyond confirming random-matrix behavior of individual
spectra, the virtue of that extension is that the ``diagrammatic rules'' come
in sight which determine the families of orbit pairs responsible for all orders
of the -expansion.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Cotunneling thermopower of single electron transistors
We study the thermopower of a quantum dot weakly coupled to two reservoirs by
tunnel junctions. At low temperatures the transport through the dot is
suppressed by charging effects (Coulomb blockade). As a result the thermopower
shows an oscillatory dependence on the gate voltage. We study this dependence
in the limit of low temperatures where the transport through the dot is
dominated by the processes of inelastic cotunneling. We also obtain a crossover
formula for intermediate temperatures which connects our cotunneling results to
the known sawtooth behavior in the sequential tunneling regime. As the
temperature is lowered, the amplitude of thermopower oscillations increases,
and their shape changes qualitatively.Comment: 9 pages, including 4 figure
A novel ionic exchange membrane crystallizer to recover magnesium hydroxide from seawater and industrial brines
A novel technology, the ion exchange membrane crystallizer (CrIEM), that combines reactive and membrane crystallization, was investigated in order to recover high purity magnesium hydroxide from multi-component artificial and natural solutions. In particular, in a CrIEM reactor, the presence of an anion exchange membrane (AEM), which separates two-compartment containing a saline solution and an alkaline solution, allows the passage of hydroxyl ions from the alkaline to the saline solution compartment, where crystallization of magnesium hydroxide occurs, yet avoiding a direct mixing between the solutions feeding the reactor. This enables the use of low-cost reactants (e.g., Ca(OH)2) without the risk of co-precipitation of by-products and contamination of the final crystals. An experimental campaign was carried out treating two types of feed solution, namely: (1) a waste industrial brine from the Boles\u142aw \u15amia\u142y coal mine in \u141aziska G\uf3rne (Poland) and (2) Mediterranean seawater, collected from the North Sicilian coast (Italy). The CrIEM was tested in a feed and bleed modality in order to operate in a continuous mode. The Mg2+ concentration in the feed solutions ranges from 0.7 to 3.2 g/L. Magnesium recovery efficiencies from 89 up to 100% were reached, while magnesium hydroxide purity between 94% and 98.8% was obtained
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