5,899 research outputs found
Static dielectric response and Born effective charge of BN nanotubes from {\it ab initio} finite electric field calculations
{\it Ab initio} investigations of the full static dielectric response and
Born effective charge of BN nanotubes (BN-NTs) have been performed for the
first time using finite electric field method. It is found that the ionic
contribution to the static dielectric response of BN-NTs is substantial and
also that a pronounced chirality-dependent oscillation is superimposed on the
otherwise linear relation between the longitudinal electric polarizability and
the tube diameter (), as for a thin dielectric cylinderical shell. In
contrast, the transverse dielectric response of the BN-NTs resemble the
behavior of a thin (non-ideal) conducting cylindrical shell of a diameter of
\AA, with a screening factor of 2 for the inner electric field. The
medium principal component of the Born effective charge corresponding
to the transverse atomic displacement tangential to the BN-NT surface, has a
pronounced -dependence (but independent of chirality), while the large
longitudinal component exhibits a clear chirality dependence (but
nearly -independent), suggesting a powerful way to characterize the diameter
and chirality of a BN-NT.Comment: submitted to PR
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Deletion of Gpr27 in vivo reduces insulin mRNA but does not result in diabetes.
Gpr27 is a highly conserved, orphan G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) previously implicated in pancreatic beta cell insulin transcription and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro. Here, we characterize a whole-body mouse knockout of Gpr27. Gpr27 knockout mice were born at expected Mendelian ratios and exhibited no gross abnormalities. Insulin and Pdx1 mRNA in Gpr27 knockout islets were reduced by 30%, but this did not translate to a reduction in islet insulin content or beta cell mass. Gpr27 knockout mice exhibited slightly worsened glucose tolerance with lower plasma insulin levels while maintaining similar insulin tolerance. Unexpectedly, Gpr27 deletion reduced expression of Eif4e3, a neighboring gene, likely by deleting transcription start sites on the anti-sense strand of the Gpr27 coding exon. Our data confirm that loss of Gpr27 reduces insulin mRNA in vivo but has only minor effects on glucose tolerance
Excitons and Many-Electron Effects in the Optical Response of Single-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotubes
We report first-principles calculations of the effects of quasiparticle
self-energy and electron-hole interaction on the optical properties of
single-walled BN nanotubes. Excitonic effects are shown to be even more
important in BN nanotubes than in carbon nanotubes. Electron-hole interactions
give rise to complexes of bright (and dark) excitons, which qualitatively alter
the optical response. Excitons with binding energy larger than 2 eV are found
in the (8,0) BN nanotubes. Moreover, unlike the carbon nanotubes, theory
predicts that these exciton states are comprised of coherent supposition of
transitions from several different subband pairs, giving rise to novel
behaviors.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A Case of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Presenting as Anxiety
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially lethal complication of dopamine antagonist use. A 34-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of feeling anxious for the past several days. He presented with his family who helped provide history as he had become less communicative over the preceding two days. It was revealed that the patient had a recent psychiatric hospitalization for suspected new-onset psychosis and was discharged six days prior to his presentation. It was reported that the patient was discharged with unknown psychiatric medications but stopped taking them two days prior because he felt they were increasing his anxiety. On physical examination, the patient was found to have upper extremity rigidity and appeared tremulous. A review of records revealed that the patient was discharged from inpatient psychiatric treatment on dual antipsychotic therapy. With this information, the patient met the diagnostic criteria for NMS. He was hospitalized and his symptoms resolved following treatment. Without the knowledge of antipsychotic use, the diagnosis of a serious, life-threatening condition may have been missed. Our case highlights an important but occasionally overlooked aspect of evaluating a patient in the emergency department, namely, outside chart and documentation reviewing
First-Principle Description of Correlation Effects in Layered Materials
We present a first-principles description of anisotropic materials
characterized by having both weak (dispersion-like) and strong covalent bonds,
based on the Adiabatic--Connection Fluctuation--Dissipation Theorem within
Density Functional Theory. For hexagonal boron nitride the in-plane and out of
plane bonding as well as vibrational dynamics are well described both at
equilibrium and when the layers are pulled apart. Also bonding in covalent and
ionic solids is described. The formalism allows to ping-down the deficiencies
of common exchange-correlation functionals and provides insight towards the
inclusion of dispersion interactions into the correlation functional.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
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Excitons in boron nitride nanotubes: dimensionality effects
We show that the optical absorption spectra of boron nitride (BN) nanotubes
are dominated by strongly bound excitons. Our first-principles calculations
indicate that the binding energy for the first and dominant excitonic peak
depends sensitively on the dimensionality of the system, varying from 0.7 eV in
bulk hexagonal BN via 2.1 eV in the single sheet of BN to more than 3 eV in the
hypothetical (2,2) tube. The strongly localized nature of this exciton dictates
the fast convergence of its binding energy with increasing tube diameter
towards the sheet value. The absolute position of the first excitonic peak is
almost independent of the tube radius and system dimensionality. This provides
an explanation for the observed "optical gap" constancy for different tubes and
bulk hBN [R. Arenal et al., to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (2005)].Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Transient Thermal Diffusion in Conical Bodies
A numerical solution has been obtained for transient thermal diffusion in a cone in which chemical, electrical or nuclear energy at a constant rate. An implicit method is used to set up the finite difference equations and detailed analysis is carried out to trace the time history of the temperature distribution from the initial stages to the steady state. The effect of the rate of heat generation on the time required to reach steady state thermal distribution has also been depicted
Transient Heat Transfer in Composite Solids with Non-Linear Boundary Condition
Transient heat transfer in composite media with non-linear radiation boundary condition has been studied by implicit finite difference scheme. It is observed that as the diffusivity ratio decreases there is more transfer of heat from radiating surface towards the non-radiating surface
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