8,765 research outputs found
Detection of early osteogenic commitment in primary cells using Raman spectroscopy
Major challenges in the development of novel implant surfaces for artificial joints include osteoblast heterogeneity and the lack of a simple and sensitive in vitro assay to measure early osteogenic responses. Raman spectroscopy is a label-free, non-invasive and non-destructive vibrational fingerprinting optical technique that is increasingly being applied to detect biochemical changes in cells. In this study Raman spectroscopy has been used to obtain bone cell-specific spectral signatures and to identify any changes therein during osteoblast commitment and differentiation of primary cells in culture. Murine calvarial osteoblasts (COBs) were extracted and cultured and studied by Raman spectroscopy over a 14 day culture period. Distinct osteogenic Raman spectra were identified after 3 days of culture with strong bands detected for mineral: phosphate ν3 (1030 cm−1) and B-type carbonate (1072 cm−1), DNA (782 cm−1) and collagen matrix (CH2 deformation at 1450 cm−1) and weaker phosphate bands (948 and 970 cm−1). Early changes were detected by Raman spectroscopy compared to a standard enzymatic alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and gene expression analyses over this period. Proliferation of COBs was confirmed by fluorescence intensity measurements using the Picogreen dsDNA reagent. Changes in ALP levels were evident only after 14 days of culture and mRNA expression levels for ALP, Col1a1 and Sclerostin remained constant during the culture period. Sirius red staining for collagen deposition also revealed little change until day 14. In contrast Raman spectroscopy revealed the presence of amorphous calcium phosphate (945–952 cm−1) and carbonated apatite (957–962 cm−1) after only 3 days in culture and octacalcium phosphate (970 cm−1) considered a transient mineral phase, was detected after 5 days of COBs culture. PCA analysis confirmed clear separation between time-points. This study highlights the potential of Raman spectroscopy to be utilised for the early and specific detection of proliferation and differentiation changes in primary cultures of bone cells
Effect of inhomogeneity on s-wave superconductivity in the attractive Hubbard model
Inhomogeneous s-wave superconductivity is studied in the two-dimensional,
square lattice attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes
(BdG) mean field approximation. We find that at weak coupling, and for
densities mainly below half-filling, an inhomogeneous interaction in which the
on-site interaction takes on two values, results in a larger
zero temperature pairing amplitude, and that the superconducting can also
be significantly increased, relative to a uniform system with on all
sites. These effects are observed for stripe, checkerboard, and even random
patterns of the attractive centers, suggesting that the pattern of
inhomogeneity is unimportant. Monte Carlo calculations which reintroduce some
of the fluctuations neglected within the BdG approach see the same effect, both
for the attractive Hubbard model and a Hamiltonian with d-wave pairing
symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Variable temperature study of the crystal and magnetic structures of the giant magnetoresistant materials LMnAsO (L=La, Nd)
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Quantum anisotropic Heisenberg chains with superlattice structure: a DMRG study
Using the density matrix renormalization group technique, we study spin
superlattices composed of a repeated pattern of two spin-1/2 XXZ chains with
different anisotropy parameters. The magnetization curve can exhibit two
plateaus, a non trivial plateau with the magnetization value given by the
relative sizes of the sub-chains and another trivial plateau with zero
magnetization. We find good agreement of the value and the width of the
plateaus with the analytical results obtained previously. In the gapless
regions away from the plateaus, we compare the finite-size spin gap with the
predictions based on bosonization and find reasonable agreement. These results
confirm the validity of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid superlattice description
of these systems.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Local origins impart conserved bone type-related differences in human osteoblast behaviour
Osteogenic behaviour of osteoblasts from trabecular, cortical and subchondral bone were examined to determine any bone type-selective differences in samples from both osteoarthritic (OA) and osteoporotic (OP) patients. Cell growth, differentiation; alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) mRNA and activity, Runt-related transcription factor-2 (RUNX2), SP7-transcription factor (SP7), bone sialoprotein-II (BSP-II), osteocalcin/bone gamma-carboxyglutamate (BGLAP), osteoprotegerin (OPG, TNFRSF11B), receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand (RANKL, TNFSF11) mRNA levels and proangiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) mRNA and protein release were assessed in osteoblasts from paired humeral head samples from age-matched, human OA/OP (n = 5/4) patients. Initial outgrowth and increase in cell number were significantly faster (p < 0.01) in subchondral and cortical than trabecular osteoblasts, in OA and OP, and this bone type-related differences were conserved despite consistently faster growth in OA. RUNX2/SP7 levels and TNAP mRNA and protein activity were, however, greater in trabecular than subchondral and cortical osteoblasts in OA and OP. BSP-II levels were significantly greater in trabecular and lowest in cortical osteoblasts in both OA and OP. In contrast, BGLAP levels showed divergent bone type-selective behaviour; highest in osteoblasts from subchondral origins in OA and trabecular origins in OP. We found virtually identical bone type-related differences, however, in TNFRSF11B:TNFSF11 in OA and OP, consistent with greater potential for paracrine effects on osteoclasts in trabecular osteoblasts. Subchondral osteoblasts (OA) exhibited highest VEGF-A mRNA levels and release. Our data indicate that human osteoblasts in trabecular, subchondral and cortical bone have inherent, programmed diversity, with specific bone type-related differences in growth, differentiation and pro-angiogenic potential in vitro
Anomalous Proximity Effect in Underdoped YBaCuO Josephson Junctions
Josephson junctions were photogenerated in underdoped thin films of the
YBaCuO family using a near-field scanning optical microscope.
The observation of the Josephson effect for separations as large as 100 nm
between two wires indicates the existence of an anomalously large proximity
effect and show that the underdoped insulating material in the gap of the
junction is readily perturbed into the superconducting state. The critical
current of the junctions was found to be consistent with the conventional
Josephson relationship. This result constrains the applicability of SO(5)
theory to explain the phase diagram of high critical temperature
superconductors.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
s-wave Superconductivity Phase Diagram in the Inhomogeneous Two-Dimensional Attractive Hubbard Model
We study s-wave superconductivity in the two-dimensional square lattice
attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian for various inhomogeneous patterns of
interacting sites. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) mean field
approximation, we obtain the phase diagram for inhomogeneous patterns in which
the on-site attractive interaction U_i between the electrons takes on two
values, U_i=0 and -U/(1-f) (with f the concentration of non-interacting sites)
as a function of average electron occupation per site n, and study the
evolution of the phase diagram as f varies. In certain regions of the phase
diagram, inhomogeneity results in a larger zero temperature average pairing
amplitude (order parameter) and also a higher superconducting (SC) critical
temperature T_c, relative to a uniform system with the same mean interaction
strength (U_i=-U on all sites). These effects are observed for stripes,
checkerboard, and even random patterns of the attractive centers, suggesting
that the pattern of inhomogeneity is unimportant. The phase diagrams also
include regions where superconductivity is obliterated due to the formation of
various charge ordered phases. The enhancement of T_{c} due to inhomogeneity is
robust as long as the electron doping per site n is less than twice the
fraction of interacting sites [2(1-f)] regardless of the pattern. We also show
that for certain inhomogeneous patterns, when n = 2(1-f), increasing
temperature can work against the stability of existing charge ordered phases
for large f and as a result, enhance T_{c}.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure
Phase separation and pairing in coupled chains and planes
A generalization of the model in a system of two coupled chains or
planes is studied by numerical diagonalization of small clusters. In
particular, the effect of density fluctuations between these one- or
two-dimensional coupled layerson intralayer phase separation and pairing is
analyzed. The most robust signals of superconductivity are found at quarter
filling for couplings just before the fully interlayer phase separated regime.
The possibility of an enhancement of the intralayer superconducting pairing
correlations by the interlayer couplings is investigated.Comment: 13 pages + 3 figures, available upon request, LATEX, preprint
ORNL/CCIP/93/1
Classical Phase Fluctuations in High Temperature Superconductors
Phase fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter play a larger role
in the cuprates than in conventional BCS superconductors because of the low
superfluid density of a doped insulator. In this paper, we analyze an XY model
of classical phase fluctuations in the high temperature superconductors using a
low-temperature expansion and Monte Carlo simulations. In agreement with
experiment, the value of the superfluid density at temperature T=0 is a quite
robust predictor of Tc, and the evolution of the superfluid density with T,
including its T-linear behavior at low temperature, is insensitive to
microscopic details.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Superconductivity of a Metallic Stripe Embedded in an Antiferromagnet
We study a simple model for the metallic stripes found in
: two chain Hubbard ladder embedded in a static
antiferromagnetic environments. We consider two cases: a ``topological
stripe'', for which the phase of the Neel order parameter shifts by
across the ladder, and a ``non-topological stripe'', for which there is no
phase shift across the ladder. We perform one-loop renormalization group
calculations to determine the low energy properties. We compare the results
with those of the isolated ladder and show that for small doping
superconductivity is enhanced in the topological stripe, and suppressed in the
non-topological one. In the topological stripe, the superconducting order
parameter is a mixture of a spin singlet component with zero momentum and a
spin triplet component with momentum . We argue that this mixture is
generic, and is due to the presence of a new term in the quantum
Ginzburg-Landau action. Some consequences of this mixing are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figure
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