197 research outputs found
Optical pumping of the electron spin polarization in bulk CuCl
In CuCl bulk crystal negatively charged excitons (trions ) can be
induced by the resonant optical excitation of extra electrons in conduction
band minimum. In the case of light polarization and due to the top valence band
structure of CuCl only the electrons with spin antiparallel to the direction of
the light propagation contribute to the formation of , while the emerging
can recombine into both possible electron states, with spin parallel and
antiparallel to the direction of light propagation. We propose to use this
mechanism for optical electronic spin pumping. We describe the dynamics of
pumping in terms of density matrix formalism. The coherent pumping laser pulse
propagating through the sample is described by Maxwell wave equation coupled to
the density matrix evolution equations. The results of our approximate simple
model calculations suggest that spin polarization close to 100% can be achieved
in time shorter than 100ps.Comment: new extended version, 7 pages, 4 figure
Study of Interplanetary Magnetic Field with Ground State Alignment
We demonstrate a new way of studying interplanetary magnetic field -- Ground
State Alignment (GSA). Instead of sending thousands of space probes, GSA allows
magnetic mapping with any ground telescope facilities equipped with
spectropolarimeter. The polarization of spectral lines that are pumped by the
anisotropic radiation from the Sun is influenced by the magnetic realignment,
which happens for magnetic field (<1G). As a result, the linear polarization
becomes an excellent tracer of the embedded magnetic field. The method is
illustrated by our synthetic observations of the Jupiter's Io and comet Halley.
Polarization at each point was constructed according to the local magnetic
field detected by spacecrafts. Both spatial and temporal variations of
turbulent magnetic field can be traced with this technique as well. The
influence of magnetic field on the polarization of scattered light is discussed
in detail. For remote regions like the IBEX ribbons discovered at the boundary
of interstellar medium, GSA provides a unique diagnostics of magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 19 figures, published in Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Tracing Magnetic Fields with Ground State Alignment
Observational studies of magnetic fields are vital as magnetic fields play a
crucial role in various astrophysical processes, including star formation,
accretion of matter, transport processes (e.g., transport of heat), and cosmic
rays. We identified a process "ground state alignment" as a new way to
determine the magnetic field direction in diffuse medium. The alignment is due
to anisotropic radiation impinging on the atom/ion, while the magnetic field
induces precession and realign the atom/ion and therefore the polarization of
the emitted or absorbed radiation reflects the direction of the magnetic field.
The atoms get aligned at their low levels and, as the life-time of the
atoms/ions we deal with is long, the alignment induced by anisotropic radiation
is susceptible to weak magnetic fields (G).
Compared to the upper level Hanle effect, atomic realignment is most suitable
for the studies of magnetic field in the diffuse medium, where magnetic field
is relatively weak. In fact, the effects of atomic/ionic alignment, including
the realignment in magnetic field, were studied in the laboratory decades ago,
mostly in relation to the maser research. Recently, the atomic effect has been
already detected in observations from circumstellar medium and this is a
harbinger of future extensive magnetic field studies. A unique feature of the
atomic realignment is that they can reveal the 3D orientation of magnetic
field. In this article, we shall review the basic physical processes involved
in atomic realignment and its applications to interplanetary, circumstellar and
interstellar magnetic fields. In addition, our research reveals that the
polarization of the radiation arising from the transitions between fine and
hyperfine states of the ground level can provide a unique diagnostics of
magnetic fields, including those in the Early Universe.Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures, invited review, JQSRT in press, typos correcte
Selective inhibition of DNA ligase IV provides additional efficacy to the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer.
peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: Although the incidence of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is low (2.5% of thyroid cancer cases), this cancer has a very poor prognosis (survival rates < 5 months) and accounts for 14-39% of deaths. Conventional therapies based on surgery in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy showed limited effectiveness primarily due to the robust and protective DNA damage response in thyroid cancer cells.
METHODS: We used single-cell transcriptomic data from patients with different subtypes of thyroid cancer to study expression of genes involved in homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways. Then, we investigated the mechanisms of DNA damage and repair in anaplastic (C643 and Hth74) and papillary (TPC-1) thyroid cancer cell lines. The effect of caffeine (inhibitor of ATM and ATR) and UCN-01 (CHK1 inhibitor) was evaluated in cell cycle progression of thyroid cancer cells after γ-radiation or doxorubicin treatment. The DNA damage response was monitored after staining of phosphorylated γ-H2AX and 53BP1. Reporter plasmids were used to determine the efficacy of double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) repair by HR and NHEJ in thyroid cancer cells. We evaluated the combination of selective inhibition of the DNA ligase IV by SCR7 and doxorubicin on cellular apoptosis and tumor growth in xenograft murine models of anaplastic thyroid cancer.
RESULTS: Single-cell RNA-Seq showed that NHEJ- and HR-related genes are expressed in ATC and PTC patients. We showed that ATC cells undergo mitosis in the presence of unrepaired DNA damage caused by γ-radiation and doxorubicin treatment. To proliferate and survive, these cells efficiently repair DNA lesions using homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). The combination of SCR7 with doxorubicin, significantly increased apoptosis and impaired ATC tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model compared to doxorubicin monotherapy.
CONCLUSION: This study shows the therapeutic value of the combination of a DNA ligase IV inhibitor and DNA-damaging agents (doxorubicin and/or γ-radiation) for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer
Magnetic Field Measurement with Ground State Alignment
Observational studies of magnetic fields are crucial. We introduce a process
"ground state alignment" as a new way to determine the magnetic field direction
in diffuse medium. The alignment is due to anisotropic radiation impinging on
the atom/ion. The consequence of the process is the polarization of spectral
lines resulting from scattering and absorption from aligned atomic/ionic
species with fine or hyperfine structure. The magnetic field induces precession
and realign the atom/ion and therefore the polarization of the emitted or
absorbed radiation reflects the direction of the magnetic field. The atoms get
aligned at their low levels and, as the life-time of the atoms/ions we deal
with is long, the alignment induced by anisotropic radiation is susceptible to
extremely weak magnetic fields (G). In fact,
the effects of atomic/ionic alignment were studied in the laboratory decades
ago, mostly in relation to the maser research. Recently, the atomic effect has
been already detected in observations from circumstellar medium and this is a
harbinger of future extensive magnetic field studies. A unique feature of the
atomic realignment is that they can reveal the 3D orientation of magnetic
field. In this article, we shall review the basic physical processes involved
in atomic realignment. We shall also discuss its applications to
interplanetary, circumstellar and interstellar magnetic fields. In addition,
our research reveals that the polarization of the radiation arising from the
transitions between fine and hyperfine states of the ground level can provide a
unique diagnostics of magnetic fields in the Epoch of Reionization.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, chapter in Lecture Notes in Physics "Magnetic
Fields in Diffuse Media". arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1203.557
Surfaces roughness effects on the transmission of Gaussian beams by anisotropic parallel plates
Influence of the plate surfaces roughness in precise ellipsometry experiments
is studied. The realistic case of a Gaussian laser beam crossing a uniaxial
platelet is considered. Expression for the transmittance is determined using
the first order perturbation theory. In this frame, it is shown that
interference takes place between the specular transmitted beam and the
scattered field. This effect is due to the angular distribution of the Gaussian
beam and is of first order in the roughness over wavelength ratio. As an
application, a numerical simulation of the effects of quartz roughness surfaces
at normal incidence is provided. The interference term is found to be strongly
connected to the random nature of the surface roughness.Comment: 18 pages, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, volume 36, issue 21,
pages 2697 - 270
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