254 research outputs found
Multifractality of wavefunctions at the quantum Hall transition revisited
We investigate numerically the statistics of wavefunction amplitudes
at the integer quantum Hall transition. It is demonstrated that
in the limit of a large system size the distribution function of is
log-normal, so that the multifractal spectrum is exactly parabolic.
Our findings lend strong support to a recent conjecture for a critical theory
of the quantum Hall transition.Comment: 4 pages Late
Optimization of macroelement concentrations, pH and osmolarity for triacylglycerol accumulation in Rhodococcus opacus strain PD630
The refinement of biodiesel or renewable diesel from bacterial lipids has a great potential to make a contribution for energy production in the future. This study provides new data concerning suitable nutrient concentrations for cultivation of the Gram-positive Rhodococcus opacus PD630, which is able to accumulate large amounts of lipids during nitrogen limitation. Enhanced concentrations of magnesium have been shown to increase the final optical density and the lipid content of the cells. Elevated phosphate concentrations slowed down the onset of the accumulation phase, without a clear effect on the final optical density and the cell’s lipid content. A robust growth of R. opacus was possible in the presence of ammonium concentrations of up to 1.4 g l-1 and sucrose concentrations of up to 240 g l-1, with an optimum regarding growth and lipid storage observed in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 g l-1 ammonium and 20 to 40 g l-1 sucrose, respectively. Moreover, R. opacus showed tolerance to high salt concentrations
High-temperature and melting behaviour of nanocrystalline refractory compounds: an experimental approach applied to thorium dioxide
Liouvillian Approach to the Integer Quantum Hall Effect Transition
We present a novel approach to the localization-delocalization transition in
the integer quantum Hall effect. The Hamiltonian projected onto the lowest
Landau level can be written in terms of the projected density operators alone.
This and the closed set of commutation relations between the projected
densities leads to simple equations for the time evolution of the density
operators. These equations can be used to map the problem of calculating the
disorder averaged and energetically unconstrained density-density correlation
function to the problem of calculating the one-particle density of states of a
dynamical system with a novel action. At the self-consistent mean-field level,
this approach yields normal diffusion and a finite longitudinal conductivity.
While we have not been able to go beyond the saddle point approximation
analytically, we show numerically that the critical localization exponent can
be extracted from the energetically integrated correlation function yielding
in excellent agreement with previous finite-size scaling
studies.Comment: 9 pages, submitted to PR
The 5' Untranslated Region of the EFG1 Transcript Promotes Its Translation To Regulate Hyphal Morphogenesis in Candida albicans
Extensive 5' untranslated regions (UTR) are a hallmark of transcripts determining hyphal morphogenesis in Candida albicans The major transcripts of the EFG1 gene, which are responsible for cellular morphogenesis and metabolism, contain a 5' UTR of up to 1,170 nucleotides (nt). Deletion analyses of the 5' UTR revealed a 218-nt sequence that is required for production of the Efg1 protein and its functions in filamentation, without lowering the level and integrity of the EFG1 transcript. Polysomal analyses revealed that the 218-nt 5' UTR sequence is required for efficient translation of the Efg1 protein. Replacement of the EFG1 open reading frame (ORF) by the heterologous reporter gene CaCBGluc confirmed the positive regulatory importance of the identified 5' UTR sequence. In contrast to other reported transcripts containing extensive 5' UTR sequences, these results indicate the positive translational function of the 5' UTR sequence in the EFG1 transcript, which is observed in the context of the native EFG1 promoter. It is proposed that the 5' UTR recruits regulatory factors, possibly during emergence of the native transcript, which aid in translation of the EFG1 transcript. IMPORTANCE Many of the virulence traits that make Candida albicans an important human fungal pathogen are regulated on a transcriptional level. Here, we report an important regulatory contribution of translation, which is exerted by the extensive 5' untranslated regulatory sequence (5' UTR) of the transcript for the protein Efg1, which determines growth, metabolism, and filamentation in the fungus. The presence of the 5' UTR is required for efficient translation of Efg1, to promote filamentation. Because transcripts for many relevant regulators contain extensive 5' UTR sequences, it appears that the virulence of C. albicans depends on the combination of transcriptional and translational regulatory mechanisms
Skill obsolescence, vintage effects and changing tasks
Human capital is no doubt one of the most important factors for future economic growth and well-being. However, human capital is also prone to becoming obsolete over time. Skills that have been acquired at one point in time may perfectly match the skill requirements at that time but may become obsolete as time goes by. Thus, in the following paper, we study the depreciation processes of the human capital of workers performing different types of tasks with different skill requirements over a period of more than twenty years. We argue that two types of tasks must be distinguished: knowledge-based tasks and experience-based tasks. Knowledge-based tasks demand skills depending on the actual stock of technological knowledge in a society whereas experience-based tasks demand skills depending on personal factors and individual experience values. We show, by applying Mincer regressions on four different cross sections, that the human capital of people performing knowledge-based tasks suffers more from depreciation than the human capital of individuals performing experience-based tasks
Metal-insulator transitions in anisotropic 2d systems
Several phenomena related to the critical behaviour of non-interacting
electrons in a disordered 2d tight-binding system with a magnetic field are
studied. Localization lengths, critical exponents and density of states are
computed using transfer matrix techniques. Scaling functions of isotropic
systems are recovered once the dimension of the system in each direction is
chosen proportional to the localization length. It is also found that the
critical point is independent of the propagation direction, and that the
critical exponents for the localization length for both propagating directions
are equal to that of the isotropic system (approximately 7/3). We also
calculate the critical value of the scaling function for both the isotropic and
the anisotropic system. It is found that the isotropic value equals the
geometric mean of the two anisotropic values. Detailed numerical studies of the
density of states for the isotropic system reveals that for an appreciable
amount of disorder the critical energy is off the band center.Comment: 6 pages RevTeX, 6 figures included, submitted to Physical Review
Effect of Oscillating Landau Bandwidth on the Integer Quantum Hall Effect in a Unidirectional Lateral Superlattice
We have measured activation gaps for odd-integer quantum Hall states in a
unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL) -- a two-dimensional electron gas
(2DEG) subjected to a unidirectional periodic modulation of the electrostatic
potential. By comparing the activation gaps with those simultaneously measured
in the adjacent section of the same 2DEG sample without modulation, we find
that the gaps are reduced in the ULSL by an amount corresponding to the width
acquired by the Landau levels through the introduction of the modulation. The
decrement of the activation gap varies with the magnetic field following the
variation of the Landau bandwidth due to the commensurability effect. Notably,
the decrement vanishes at the flat band conditions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, minor revisio
Resonant scattering in a strong magnetic field: exact density of states
We study the structure of 2D electronic states in a strong magnetic field in
the presence of a large number of resonant scatterers. For an electron in the
lowest Landau level, we derive the exact density of states by mapping the
problem onto a zero-dimensional field-theoretical model. We demonstrate that
the interplay between resonant and non-resonant scattering leads to a
non-analytic energy dependence of the electron Green function. In particular,
for strong resonant scattering the density of states develops a gap in a finite
energy interval. The shape of the Landau level is shown to be very sensitive to
the distribution of resonant scatterers.Comment: 12 pages + 3 fig
Surface acoustic wave attenuation by a two-dimensional electron gas in a strong magnetic field
The propagation of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) on GaAs/AlGaAs
heterostructures is studied in the case where the two-dimensional electron gas
(2DEG) is subject to a strong magnetic field and a smooth random potential with
correlation length Lambda and amplitude Delta. The electron wave functions are
described in a quasiclassical picture using results of percolation theory for
two-dimensional systems. In accordance with the experimental situation, Lambda
is assumed to be much smaller than the sound wavelength 2*pi/q. This restricts
the absorption of surface phonons at a filling factor \bar{\nu} approx 1/2 to
electrons occupying extended trajectories of fractal structure. Both
piezoelectric and deformation potential interactions of surface acoustic
phonons with electrons are considered and the corresponding interaction
vertices are derived. These vertices are found to differ from those valid for
three-dimensional bulk phonon systems with respect to the phonon wave vector
dependence. We derive the appropriate dielectric function varepsilon(omega,q)
to describe the effect of screening on the electron-phonon coupling. In the low
temperature, high frequency regime T << Delta (omega_q*Lambda
/v_D)^{alpha/2/nu}, where omega_q is the SAW frequency and v_D is the electron
drift velocity, both the attenuation coefficient Gamma and varepsilon(omega,q)
are independent of temperature. The classical percolation indices give
alpha/2/nu=3/7. The width of the region where a strong absorption of the SAW
occurs is found to be given by the scaling law |Delta \bar{\nu}| approx
(omega_q*Lambda/v_D)^{alpha/2/nu}. The dependence of the electron-phonon
coupling and the screening due to the 2DEG on the filling factor leads to a
double-peak structure for Gamma(\bar{\nu}).Comment: 17 pages, 3 Postscript figures, minor changes mad
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