362 research outputs found
Ferromagnetic Luttinger Liquids
We study weak itinerant ferromagnetism in one-dimensional Fermi systems using
perturbation theory and bosonization. We find that longitudinal spin
fluctuations propagate ballistically with velocity v_m << v_F, where v_F is the
Fermi velocity. This leads to a large anomalous dimension in the spin-channel
and strong algebraic singularities in the single-particle spectral function and
in the transverse structure factor for momentum transfers q ~ 2 Delta/v_F,
where 2 Delta is the exchange splitting.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Exact Numerical Calculation of the Density of States of the Fluctuating Gap Model
We develop a powerful numerical algorithm for calculating the density of
states rho(omega) of the fluctuating gap model, which describes the low-energy
physics of disordered Peierls and spin-Peierls chains. We obtain rho(omega)
with unprecedented accuracy from the solution of a simple initial value problem
for a single Riccati equation. Generating Gaussian disorder with large
correlation length xi by means of a simple Markov process, we present a
quantitative study of the behavior of rho (omega) in the pseudogap regime. In
particular, we show that in the commensurate case and in the absence of forward
scattering the pseudogap is overshadowed by a Dyson singularity below a certain
energy scale omega^{ast}, which we explicitly calculate as a function of xi.Comment: 4 revtex pages, 3 figure
Exact Results for the Crossover from Gaussian to Non-Gaussian Order Parameter Fluctuations in Quasi One-Dimensional Electronic Systems
The physics of quasi one-dimensional Peierls systems is dominated by order
parameter fluctuations. We present an algorithm which allows for the first time
to exactly calculate physical properties of the electrons gas coupled to
classical order parameter fluctuations. The whole range from the Gaussian
regime dominated by amplitude fluctuations to the non-Gaussian regime dominated
by phase fluctuations is accessible. Our results provide insight into the
'pseudogap' phenomenon occurring in underdoped high-temperature
superconductors, quasi one-dimensional organic conductors and liquid metals.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Morphological features and mucin expression profile of breast carcinomas with signet-ring cell differentiation
Signet-ring cells are relatively common in breast cancers but are frequently overlooked. Although previously defined as a subtype of mucin producing carcinomas, breast carcinomas with signet-ring cell (SRC) differentiation nowadays are not considered a distinct entity.The objective of the present study was to characterize the morphological features and mucin expression profile of breast carcinomas with SRC differentiation. All breast carcinomas diagnosed at Centro Hospitalar S. Joao between 1996 and 2006 in which the pathology report mentioned the presence of SRCs (n= 11) and four mucinous carcinomas were included in the study. The frequency of SRCs and immunohistochemistry expression of MUC1/MUC2/MUC5AC/MUC6 were evaluated.We confirmed that SRC differentiation can occur in different histological types, including ductal, lobular, mucinous and metaplastic carcinomas. The proportion of SRCs was highly variable (range: 8-70%). Tumors encompassed SRCs of intracytoplasmic lumina and goblet-cell type. A higher percentage of SRCs was associated with lymphovascular invasion (p= 0.047). All tumors expressed cytoplasmic and membranous MUC1. Secretory mucins were more frequent in mucinous carcinomas and in carcinomas with extensive SRC differentiation.We conclude that besides the usefulness of mucin immunodetection for the differential diagnosis of carcinomas with SRC differentiation of breast origin, it is important to report SRC differentiation regardless of histological type because of its intrinsic prognostic value.We especially thank Professor Sobrinho-Simões for the careful review of the manuscript. IPATIMUP integrates the i3S Research Unit, which is partially supported by FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE and National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology , under the projects: PEst-C/SAU/LA0003/2013 and PTDC/BBB-EBI/0786/2012
Reconstruction of the Fermi surface in the pseudogap state of cuprates
Reconstruction of the Fermi surface of high-temperature superconducting
cuprates in the pseudogap state is analyzed within nearly exactly solvable
model of the pseudogap state, induced by short-range order fluctuations of
antiferromagnetic (AFM, spin density wave (SDW), or similar charge density wave
(CDW)) order parameter, competing with superconductivity. We explicitly
demonstrate the evolution from "Fermi arcs" (on the "large" Fermi surface)
observed in ARPES experiments at relatively high temperatures (when both the
amplitude and phase of density waves fluctuate randomly) towards formation of
typical "small" electron and hole "pockets", which are apparently observed in
de Haas - van Alfen and Hall resistance oscillation experiments at low
temperatures (when only the phase of density waves fluctuate, and correlation
length of the short-range order is large enough). A qualitative criterion for
quantum oscillations in high magnetic fields to be observable in the pseudogap
state is formulated in terms of cyclotron frequency, correlation length of
fluctuations and Fermi velocity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Effect of endothelial cell heterogeneity on nanoparticle uptake
Endothelial cells exhibit distinct properties in morphology and functions in different organs that can be exploited for nanomedicine targeting. In this work, endothelial cells from different organs, i.e. brain, lung, liver, and kidney, were exposed to plain, carboxylated, and amino-modified silica. As expected, different protein coronas were formed on the different nanoparticle types and these changed when foetal bovine serum (FBS) or human serum were used. Uptake efficiencies differed strongly in the different endothelia, confirming that the cells retained some of their organ-specific differences. However, all endothelia showed higher uptake for the amino modified silica in FBS, but, interestingly, this changed to the carboxylated silica when human serum was used, confirming that differences in the protein corona affect uptake preferences by cells. Thus, uptake rates of fluid phase markers and transferrin were determined in liver and brain endothelium to compare their endocytic activity. Overall, our results showed that endothelial cells of different organs have very different nanoparticle uptake efficiency, likely due to differences in receptor expression, affinity, and activity. A thorough characterization of phenotypic differences in the endothelia lining different organs is key to the development of targeted nanomedicine
Density of states in d-wave superconductors disordered by extended impurities
The low-energy quasiparticle states of a disordered d-wave superconductor are
investigated theoretically. A class of such states, formed via tunneling
between the Andreev bound states that are localized around extended impurities
(and result from scattering between pair-potential lobes that differ in sign)
is identified. Its (divergent) contribution to the total density of states is
determined by taking advantage of connections with certain one-dimensional
random tight-binding models. The states under discussion should be
distinguished from those associated with nodes in the pair potential.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Reproducibility of lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) assessment in endometrial cancer
Aims Lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) in endometrial cancer (EC) is an important prognostic variable impacting on a patient's individual recurrence risk and adjuvant treatment recommendations. Recent work has shown that grading the extent of LVSI further improves its prognostic strength in patients with stage I endometrioid EC. Despite this, there is little information on the reproducibility of LVSI assessment in EC. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate interobserver agreement in discriminating true LVSI from LVSI mimics (Phase I) and reproducibility of grading extent of LVSI (Phase II). Methods and results Scanned haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides of endometrioid EC (EEC) with a predefined possible LVSI focus were hosted on a website and assessed by a panel of six European gynaecological pathologists. In Phase I, 48 H&E slides were included for LVSI assessment and in Phase II, 42 H&E slides for LVSI grading. Each observer was instructed to apply the criteria for LVSI used in daily practice. The degree of agreement was measured using the two-way absolute agreement average-measures intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Reproducibility of LVSI assessment (ICC = 0.64, P < 0.001) and LVSI grading (ICC = 0.62, P < 0.001) in EEC was substantial among the observers. Conclusions Given the good reproducibility of LVSI, this study further supports the important role of LVSI in decision algorithms for adjuvant treatment
Microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended impurities: a real-space renormalization group approach
Using a real-space renormalization group (RSRG) technique, we compute the
microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended
impurities. To do this, we invoke a semiclassical approximation which naturally
accesses the Andreev bound states localized near each impurity. Tunneling
corrections (which are captured using the RSRG) lead to a delocalization of
these quasiparticles and an associated contribution to the microwave
conductivity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. 2 figures added to previous versio
Collective fields in the functional renormalization group for fermions, Ward identities, and the exact solution of the Tomonaga-Luttinger model
We develop a new formulation of the functional renormalization group (RG) for
interacting fermions. Our approach unifies the purely fermionic formulation
based on the Grassmannian functional integral, which has been used in recent
years by many authors, with the traditional Wilsonian RG approach to quantum
systems pioneered by Hertz [Phys. Rev. B 14, 1165 (1976)], which attempts to
describe the infrared behavior of the system in terms of an effective bosonic
theory associated with the soft modes of the underlying fermionic problem. In
our approach, we decouple the interaction by means of a suitable
Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation (following the Hertz-approach), but do not
eliminate the fermions; instead, we derive an exact hierarchy of RG flow
equations for the irreducible vertices of the resulting coupled field theory
involving both fermionic and bosonic fields. The freedom of choosing a momentum
transfer cutoff for the bosonic soft modes in addition to the usual band cutoff
for the fermions opens the possibility of new RG schemes. In particular, we
show how the exact solution of the Tomonaga-Luttinger model emerges from the
functional RG if one works with a momentum transfer cutoff. Then the Ward
identities associated with the local particle conservation at each Fermi point
are valid at every stage of the RG flow and provide a solution of an infinite
hierarchy of flow equations for the irreducible vertices. The RG flow equation
for the irreducible single-particle self-energy can then be closed and can be
reduced to a linear integro-differential equation, the solution of which yields
the result familiar from bosonization. We suggest new truncation schemes of the
exact hierarchy of flow equations, which might be useful even outside the weak
coupling regime.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures; published version, some typos correcte
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