415 research outputs found
Stuffed Rare Earth Pyrochlore Solid Solutions
Synthesis and crystal structures are described for the compounds
Ln2(Ti2-xLnx)O7-x/2, where Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and x ranges from 0
to 0.67. Rietveld refinements on X-ray powder diffraction data indicate that in
Tb and Dy titanate pyrochlores, extra Ln3+ cations mix mainly on the Ti4+ site
with little disorder on the original Ln3+ site. For the smaller rare earths
(Ho-Lu), stuffing additional lanthanide ions results in a pyrochlore to defect
fluorite transition, where the Ln3+ and Ti4+ ions become completely randomized
at the maximum (x=0.67). In all of these Ln-Ti-O pyrochlores, the addition of
magnetic Ln3+ in place of nonmagnetic Ti4+ adds edge sharing tetrahedral spin
interactions to a normally corner sharing tetrahedral network of spins. The
increase in spin connectivity in this family of solid solutions represents a
new avenue for investigating geometrical magnetic frustration in the rare earth
titanate pyrochlores.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Solid State Che
The Vlasov limit and its fluctuations for a system of particles which interact by means of a wave field
In two recent publications [Commun. PDE, vol.22, p.307--335 (1997), Commun.
Math. Phys., vol.203, p.1--19 (1999)], A. Komech, M. Kunze and H. Spohn studied
the joint dynamics of a classical point particle and a wave type generalization
of the Newtonian gravity potential, coupled in a regularized way. In the
present paper the many-body dynamics of this model is studied. The Vlasov
continuum limit is obtained in form equivalent to a weak law of large numbers.
We also establish a central limit theorem for the fluctuations around this
limit.Comment: 68 pages. Smaller corrections: two inequalities in sections 3 and two
inequalities in section 4, and definition of a Banach space in appendix A1.
Presentation of LLN and CLT in section 4.3 improved. Notation improve
IgG Fc N-glycosylation translates MHCII haplotype into autoimmune skin disease
The major histocompatibility complex haplotype represents the most prevalent genetic risk factor for the development of autoimmune diseases. However, the mechanisms by which major histocompatibility complex-associated genetic susceptibility translates into autoimmune disease are not fully understood. Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is an autoimmune skin-blistering disease driven by autoantibodies to type VII collagen. Here, we investigated autoantigen-specific plasma cells, CD4(+) T cells, and IgG fraction crystallizable glycosylation in murine epidermolysis bullosa acquisita in congenic mouse strains with the disease-permitting H2s or disease-nonpermitting H2b major histocompatibility complex II haplotypes. Mice with an H2s haplotype showed increased numbers of autoreactive CD4(+) T cells and elevated IL-21 and IFN-gamma production, associated with a higher frequency of IgG autoantibodies with an agalactosylated, proinflammatory N-glycan moiety. Mechanistically, we show that the altered antibody glycosylation leads to increased ROS release from neutrophils, the main drivers of autoimmune inflammation in this model. These results indicate that major histocompatibility complex II-associated susceptibility to autoimmune diseases acuminates in a proinflammatory IgG fraction crystallizable N-glycosylation pattern and provide a mechanistic link to increased ROS release by neutrophils.Proteomic
The upgrade of the ALICE TPC with GEMs and continuous readout
The upgrade of the ALICE TPC will allow the experiment to cope with the high interaction rates foreseen for the forthcoming Run 3 and Run 4 at the CERN LHC. In this article, we describe the design of new readout chambers and front-end electronics, which are driven by the goals of the experiment. Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors arranged in stacks containing four GEMs each, and continuous readout electronics based on the SAMPA chip, an ALICE development, are replacing the previous elements. The construction of these new elements, together with their associated quality control procedures, is explained in detail. Finally, the readout chamber and front-end electronics cards replacement, together with the commissioning of the detector prior to installation in the experimental cavern, are presented. After a nine-year period of R&D, construction, and assembly, the upgrade of the TPC was completed in 2020.publishedVersio
Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology
notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations
The Dynamics of Brane-World Cosmological Models
Brane-world cosmology is motivated by recent developments in string/M-theory
and offers a new perspective on the hierarchy problem. In the brane-world
scenario, our Universe is a four-dimensional subspace or {\em brane} embedded
in a higher-dimensional {\em bulk} spacetime. Ordinary matter fields are
confined to the brane while the gravitational field can also propagate in the
bulk, leading to modifications of Einstein's theory of general relativity at
high energies. In particular, the Randall-Sundrum-type models are
self-consistent and simple and allow for an investigation of the essential
non-linear gravitational dynamics. The governing field equations induced on the
brane differ from the general relativistic equations in that there are nonlocal
effects from the free gravitational field in the bulk, transmitted via the
projection of the bulk Weyl tensor, and the local quadratic energy-momentum
corrections, which are significant in the high-energy regime close to the
initial singularity. In this review we discuss the asymptotic dynamical
evolution of spatially homogeneous brane-world cosmological models containing
both a perfect fluid and a scalar field close to the initial singularity. Using
dynamical systems techniques it is found that, for models with a physically
relevant equation of state, an isotropic singularity is a past-attractor in all
orthogonal spatially homogeneous models (including Bianchi type IX models). In
addition, we describe the dynamics in a class of inhomogeneous brane-world
models, and show that these models also have an isotropic initial singularity.
These results provide support for the conjecture that typically the initial
cosmological singularity is isotropic in brane-world cosmology.Comment: Einstein Centennial Review Article: to appear in CJ
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