Holons on a meandering stripe: quantum numbers

We attempt to access the regime of strong coupling between charge carriers and transverse dynamics of an isolated conducting ``stripe'', such as those found in cuprate superconductors. A stripe is modeled as a partially doped domain wall in an antiferromagnet (AF), introduced in the context of two different models: the t-J model with strong Ising anisotropy, and the Hubbard model in the Hartree-Fock approximation. The domain walls with a given linear charge density are supported artificially by boundary conditions. In both models we find a regime of parameters where doped holes lose their spin and become holons (charge Q=1, spin S_z=0), which can move along the stripe without frustrating AF environment. One aspect in which the holons on the AF domain wall differ from those in an ordinary one-dimensional electron gas is their transverse degree of freedom: a mobile holon always resides on a transverse kink (or antikink) of the domain wall. This gives rise to two holon flavors and to a strong coupling between doped charges and transverse fluctuations of a stripe.Comment: Minor revisions: references update

Spectral and transport properties of doped Mott-Hubbard systems with incommensurate magnetic order

We present spectral and optical properties of the Hubbard model on a two-dimensional square lattice using a generalization of dynamical mean-field theory to magnetic states in finite dimension. The self-energy includes the effect of spin fluctuations and screening of the Coulomb interaction due to particle-particle scattering. At half-filling the quasiparticles reduce the width of the Mott-Hubbard `gap' and have dispersions and spectral weights that agree remarkably well with quantum Monte Carlo and exact diagonalization calculations. Away from half-filling we consider incommensurate magnetic order with a varying local spin direction, and derive the photoemission and optical spectra. The incommensurate magnetic order leads to a pseudogap which opens at the Fermi energy and coexists with a large Mott-Hubbard gap. The quasiparticle states survive in the doped systems, but their dispersion is modified with the doping and a rigid band picture does not apply. Spectral weight in the optical conductivity is transferred to lower energies and the Drude weight increases linearly with increasing doping. We show that incommensurate magnetic order leads also to mid-gap states in the optical spectra and to decreased scattering rates in the transport processes, in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations in doped systems. The gradual disappearence of the spiral magnetic order and the vanishing pseudogap with increasing temperature is found to be responsible for the linear resistivity. We discuss the possible reasons why these results may only partially explain the features observed in the optical spectra of high temperature superconductors.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figure

Dispersion of Ordered Stripe Phases in the Cuprates

A phase separation model is presented for the stripe phase of the cuprates, which allows the doping dependence of the photoemission spectra to be calculated. The idealized limit of a well-ordered array of magnetic and charged stripes is analyzed, including effects of long-range Coulomb repulsion. Remarkably, down to the limit of two-cell wide stripes, the dispersion can be interpreted as essentially a superposition of the two end-phase dispersions, with superposed minigaps associated with the lattice periodicity. The largest minigap falls near the Fermi level; it can be enhanced by proximity to a (bulk) Van Hove singularity. The calculated spectra are dominated by two features -- this charge stripe minigap plus the magnetic stripe Hubbard gap. There is a strong correlation between these two features and the experimental photoemission results of a two-peak dispersion in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$, and the peak-dip-hump spectra in Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$. The differences are suggestive of the role of increasing stripe fluctuations. The 1/8 anomaly is associated with a quantum critical point, here expressed as a percolation-like crossover. A model is proposed for the limiting minority magnetic phase as an isolated two-leg ladder.Comment: 24 pages, 26 PS figure

Pairing and Density Correlations of Stripe Electrons in a Two-Dimensional Antiferromagnet

We study a one-dimensional electron liquid embedded in a 2D antiferromagnetic insulator, and coupled to it via a weak antiferromagnetic spin exchange interaction. We argue that this model may qualitatively capture the physics of a single charge stripe in the cuprates on length- and time scales shorter than those set by its fluctuation dynamics. Using a local mean-field approach we identify the low-energy effective theory that describes the electronic spin sector of the stripe as that of a sine-Gordon model. We determine its phases via a perturbative renormalization group analysis. For realistic values of the model parameters we obtain a phase characterized by enhanced spin density and composite charge density wave correlations, coexisting with subleading triplet and composite singlet pairing correlations. This result is shown to be independent of the spatial orientation of the stripe on the square lattice. Slow transverse fluctuations of the stripes tend to suppress the density correlations, thus promoting the pairing instabilities. The largest amplitudes for the composite instabilities appear when the stripe forms an antiphase domain wall in the antiferromagnet. For twisted spin alignments the amplitudes decrease and leave room for a new type of composite pairing correlation, breaking parity but preserving time reversal symmetry.Comment: Revtex, 28 pages incl. 5 figure

SUGAR-DIP trial: Oral medication strategy versus insulin for diabetes in pregnancy, study protocol for a multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial

Introduction In women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) requiring pharmacotherapy, insulin was the established first-line treatment. More recently, oral glucose lowering drugs (OGLDs) have gained popularity as a patient-friendly, less expensive and safe alternative. Monotherapy with metformin or glibenclamide (glyburide) is incorporated in several international guidelines. In women who do not reach sufficient glucose control with OGLD monotherapy, usually insulin is added, either with or without continuation of OGLDs. No reliable data from clinical trials, however, are available on the effectiveness of a treatment strategy using all three agents, metformin, glibenclamide and insulin, in a stepwise approach, compared with insulin-only therapy for improving pregnancy outcomes. In this trial, we aim to assess the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and patient experience of a stepwise combined OGLD treatment protocol, compared with conventional insulin-based therapy for GDM. Methods The SUGAR-DIP trial is an open-label, multicentre randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. Participants are women with GDM who do not reach target glycaemic control with modification of diet, between 16 and 34 weeks of gestation. Participants will be randomised to either treatment with OGLDs, starting with metformin and supplemented as needed with glibenclamide, or randomised to treatment with insulin. In women who do not reach target glycaemic control with combined metformin and glibenclamide, glibenclamide will be substituted with insulin, while continuing metformin. The primary outcome will be the incidence of large-for-gestational-age infants (birth weight >90th percentile). Secondary outcome measures are maternal diabetes-related endpoints, obstetric complications, neonatal complications and cost-effectiveness analysis. Outcomes will be analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Utrecht University Medical Centre. Approval by the boards of management for all participating hospitals will be obtained. Trial results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals

Is the common 677 C→T mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene a risk factor for neural tube defects? : 14

Contains fulltext : 26143___.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Genetic risk factor for unexplained recurrent early pregnancy loss

Contains fulltext : 25905___.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Sensitivity analysis of methane emissions derived from SCIAMACHY observations through inverse modeling

Satellite observations of trace gases in the atmosphere offer a promising method for global verification of emissions and improvement of global emission inventories. Here, an inverse modelling approach based on fourdimensional variational (4D-var) data assimilation is presented and applied to synthetic measurements of atmospheric methane. In this approach, emissions and initial concentrations are optimised simultaneously, thus allowing inversions to be carried out on time scales of weeks to months, short compared with the lifetime of methane. Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) have been performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the method and to investigate the utility of SCIAMACHY observations for methane source estimation. The impact of a number of parameters on the error in the methane emission field retrieved has been analysed. These parameters include the measurement error, the error introduced by the presence of clouds, and the spatial resolution of the emission field. It is shown that 4D-var is an efficient method to deal with large amounts of satellite data and to retrieve emissions at high resolution. Some important conclusions regarding the SCIAMACHY measurements can be drawn. (i) The observations at their estimated precision of 1.5 to 2% will contribute considerably to uncertainty reduction in monthly, subcontinental ( 500 km) methane source strengths. (ii) Systematic measurement errors well below 1% have a dramatic impact on the quality of the derived emission fields. Hence, every effort should be made to identify and remove such systematic errors. (iii) It is essential to take partly cloudy pixels into account in order to achieve sufficient spatial coverage. (iv) The uncertainty in measured cloud parameters may at some point become the limiting factor for methane emission retrieval, rather than the uncertainty in measured methane itself