696 research outputs found
Dipole-induced vortex ratchets in superconducting films with arrays of micromagnets
We investigate the transport properties of superconducting films with
periodic arrays of in-plane magnetized micromagnets. Two different magnetic
textures are studied: a square array of magnetic bars and a close-packed array
of triangular microrings. As confirmed by MFM imaging, the magnetic state of
both systems can be adjusted to produce arrays of almost point-like magnetic
dipoles. By carrying out transport measurements with ac drive, we observed
experimentally a recently predicted ratchet effect induced by the interaction
between superconducting vortices and the magnetic dipoles. Moreover, we find
that these magnetic textures produce vortex-antivortex patterns, which have a
crucial role on the transport properties of this hybrid system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The baculovirus anti-apoptotic protein Op-IAP does not inhibit Drosophila caspases or apoptosis in Drosophila S2 cells and instead sensitizes S2 cells to virus-induced apoptosis
AbstractThe Op-IAP protein from the baculovirus Orgyia pseudotsugata M nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV) is highly effective at inhibiting apoptosis triggered by a variety of different stimuli in lepidopteran cells as well as in several different mammalian cell types, suggesting that it functions at a highly conserved step in the apoptotic pathway. However, the mechanism by which Op-IAP inhibits apoptosis is unclear. Since some IAP proteins can bind and inhibit caspases, we tested whether Op-IAP could inhibit the activity of caspases from Drosophila melanogaster. We found that recombinant Op-IAP protein was not able to bind or directly inhibit the activity of the Drosophila caspases DRONC, DrICE, or DCP-1 in vitro. In addition, expression of Op-IAP was unable to inhibit apoptosis triggered by either actinomycin D or UV light in D. melanogaster S2 cells. Surprisingly, Op-IAP expression in S2 cells enhanced apoptosis caused by baculovirus infection, but did not cause increased sensitivity to either actinomycin D or UV damage-induced apoptosis. The observation that Op-IAP cannot inhibit these insect caspases suggests that it functions by a mechanism that does not involve direct caspase inhibition
INTERLAYER VORTICES AND EDGE DISLOCATIONS IN HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS
The interaction of an edge dislocation made of half the superconducting plane
with a magnetic interlayer vortex is considered within the framework of the
Lawrence-Doniach model with negative as well as positive Josephson interlayer
coupling. In the first case the binding energy of the vortex and the
dislocation has been calculated by employing a variational procedure. The
current distribution around the bound vortex turns out to be asymmetric. In the
second case the dislocation carries a spontaneous magnetic half-vortex, whose
binding energy with the dislocation turns out to be infinite. The half-vortex
energy has been calculated by the same variational procedure. Implications of
the possible presence of such half-vortices for the properties of high
temperature superconductors are discussed.Comment: 14 Latex pages, 1 figure available upon request
Vortex trapping and expulsion in thin-film YBCO strips
A scanning SQUID microscope was used to image vortex trapping as a function
of the magnetic induction during cooling in thin-film YBCO strips for strip
widths W from 2 to 50 um. We found that vortices were excluded from the strips
when the induction Ba was below a critical induction Bc. We present a simple
model for the vortex exclusion process which takes into account the vortex -
antivortex pair production energy as well as the vortex Meissner and
self-energies. This model predicts that the real density n of trapped vortices
is given by n=(Ba-BK)/Phi0 with BK = 1.65Phi0/W^2 and Phi0 = h/2e the
superconducting flux quantum. This prediction is in good agreement with our
experiments on YBCO, as well as with previous experiments on thin-film strips
of niobium. We also report on the positions of the trapped vortices. We found
that at low densities the vortices were trapped in a single row near the
centers of the strips, with the relative intervortex spacing distribution width
decreasing as the vortex density increased, a sign of longitudinal ordering.
The critical induction for two rows forming in the 35 um wide strip was (2.89 +
1.91-0.93)Bc, consistent with a numerical prediction
Sparsity driven ultrasound imaging
An image formation framework for ultrasound imaging from synthetic transducer arrays based on sparsity-driven regularization functionals using single-frequency Fourier domain data is proposed. The framework involves the use of a physics-based forward model of the ultrasound observation process, the formulation of image formation as the solution of an associated optimization problem, and the solution of that problem through efficient numerical algorithms. The sparsity-driven, model-based approach estimates a complex-valued reflectivity field and preserves physical features in the scene while suppressing spurious artifacts. It also provides robust reconstructions in the case of sparse and reduced observation apertures. The effectiveness of the proposed imaging strategy is demonstrated using experimental data
Magnetocaloric Studies of the Peak Effect in Nb
We report a magnetocaloric study of the peak effect and Bragg glass
transition in a Nb single crystal. The thermomagnetic effects due to vortex
flow into and out of the sample are measured. The magnetocaloric signature of
the peak effect anomaly is identified. It is found that the peak effect
disappears in magnetocaloric measurements at fields significantly higher than
those reported in previous ac-susceptometry measurements. Investigation of the
superconducting to normal transition reveals that the disappearance of the bulk
peak effect is related to inhomogeneity broadening of the superconducting
transition. The emerging picture also explains the concurrent disappearance of
the peak effect and surface superconductivity, which was reported previously in
the sample under investigation. Based on our findings we discuss the
possibilities of multicriticality associated with the disappearance of the peak
effect.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
Vortex Collisions: Crossing or Recombination?
We investigate the collision of two vortex lines moving with viscous dynamics
and driven towards each other by an applied current. Using London theory in the
approach phase we observe a non-trivial vortex conformation producing
anti-parallel segments; their attractive interaction triggers a violent
collision. The collision region is analyzed using the time-dependent
Ginzburg-Landau equation. While we find vortices will always recombine through
exchange of segments, a crossing channel appears naturally through a double
collision process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Influence of Al doping on the critical fields and gap values in magnesium diboride single crystals
The lower () and upper () critical fields of
MgAlB single crystals (for , 0.1 and )
have been deduced from specific heat and local magnetization measurements,
respectively. We show that and are both decreasing with
increasing doping content. The corresponding anisotropy parameter
value also decreases from
in pure MgB samples down to for whereas
remains on the order of 1 in
all samples. The small and large gap values have been obtained by fitting the
temperature dependence of the zero field electronic contribution to the
specific heat to the two gap model for the three Al concentrations. Very
similar values have also been obtained by point contact spectroscopy
measurements. The evolution of those gaps with Al concentration suggests that
both band filling and interband scattering effects are present
Preliminary Feeding Assessments for Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera formosae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Grubs and Adults
The Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera formosae (Brenske) (syn. M. castanea [Arrow]), is an annual white grub species that was unintentionally introduced from east Asia to North America in 1921 in New Jersey, and has since spread to at least 25 states and two Canadian provinces. Grub populations in the Great Lakes region have recently emerged as significant early-season pests of field crops, particularly field corn, grown in sandy soils. Asiatic garden beetle has also recently become established in other regions including Alabama. Prior research on this species was conducted mainly in the 1930s in horticultural and turfgrass systems of New York and New Jersey. In this study, we document Asiatic garden beetle preference and performance on previously un-investigated food resources, in populations from Ohio and Alabama. The objectives of these experiments were to a) understand if grubs show preference to potential diet choices present in a typical Ohio corn-soybean rotation, and gained mass when provided a single diet, and b) to conduct a preliminary assessment on the development, survival, and fecundity of field-collected beetles on different diets present in suburban Alabama. In general, grubs were more likely to be found at corn and marestail and they significantly increased in body mass when subjected to those diets. However, they were also able to survive and gain mass when provided soybean, crop residues or bare soil. Adults consumed more rose flower petals than floral tissue of white clover and Queen Anne’s lace. In no-choice trials, only females that were fed a diet of rose petals laid eggs, and diet consumption rates were similar among males and females. These findings provide insight into the feeding behaviors of Asiatic garden beetle grubs and adults collected from novel environments
Microwave response of vortices in superconducting thin films of Re and Al
Vortices in superconductors driven at microwave frequencies exhibit a
response related to the interplay between the vortex viscosity, pinning
strength, and flux creep effects. At the same time, the trapping of vortices in
superconducting microwave resonant circuits contributes excess loss and can
result in substantial reductions in the quality factor. Thus, understanding the
microwave vortex response in superconducting thin films is important for the
design of such circuits, including superconducting qubits and photon detectors,
which are typically operated in small, but non-zero, magnetic fields. By
cooling in fields of the order of 100 T and below, we have characterized
the magnetic field and frequency dependence of the microwave response of a
small density of vortices in resonators fabricated from thin films of Re and
Al, which are common materials used in superconducting microwave circuits.
Above a certain threshold cooling field, which is different for the Re and Al
films, vortices become trapped in the resonators. Vortices in the Al resonators
contribute greater loss and are influenced more strongly by flux creep effects
than in the Re resonators. This different behavior can be described in the
framework of a general vortex dynamics model.Comment: Published in Physical Review B 79,174512(2009); preprint version with
higher resolution figures available at
http://physics.syr.edu/~bplourde/bltp-publications.ht
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