911 research outputs found
Electric fields with ultrasoft pseudo-potentials: applications to benzene and anthracene
We present density functional perturbation theory for electric field
perturbations and ultra-soft pseudopotentials. Applications to benzene and
anthracene molecules and surfaces are reported as examples. We point out
several issues concerning the evaluation of the polarizability of molecules and
slabs with periodic boundary conditions.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phy
Voltage from mechanical stress in type-II superconductors: Depinning of the magnetic flux by moving dislocations
Mechanical stress causes motion of defects in solids. We show that in a
type-II superconductor a moving dislocation generates a pattern of current that
exerts the depinning force on the surrounding vortex lattice. Concentration of
dislocations and the mechanical stress needed to produce critical depinning
currents are shown to be within practical range. When external magnetic field
and transport current are present this effect generates voltage across the
superconductor. Thus a superconductor can serve as an electrical sensor of the
mechanical stress.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure
Plausible Mechanisms for Brain Structural and Size Changes in Human Evolution
Encephalization has many contexts and implications. On one hand, it is concerned with the transformation of eating
habits, social relationships and communication, cognitive skills and the mind. Along with the increase in brain size on
the other hand, encephalization is connected with the creation of more complex brain structures, namely in the cerebral
cortex. It is imperative to inquire into the mechanisms which are linked with brain growth and to find out which of these
mechanisms allow it and determine it. There exist a number of theories for understanding human brain evolution which
originate from neurological sciences. These theories are the concept of radial units, minicolumns, mirror neurons, and
neurocognitive networks. Over the course of evolution, it is evident that a whole range of changes have taken place in regards
to heredity. These changes include new mutations of genes in the microcephalin complex, gene duplications, gene
co-expression, and genomic imprinting. This complex study of the growth and reorganization of the brain and the functioning
of hereditary factors and their external influences creates an opportunity to consider the implications of cultural
evolution and cognitive faculties
Identifying causal gateways and mediators in complex spatio-temporal systems
J.R. received support by the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung), a Humboldt University Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the German Federal Ministry of Science and Education (Young Investigators Group CoSy-CC2, grant no. 01LN1306A). J.F.D. thanks the Stordalen Foundation and BMBF (project GLUES) for financial support. D.H. has been funded by grant ERC-CZ CORES LL-1201 of the Czech Ministry of Education. M.P. and N.J. received funding from the Czech Science Foundation project No. P303-14-02634S and from the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, project No. DAAD-15-30. J.H. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation project GA13-23940S and Czech Health Research Council project NV15-29835A. We thank Mary Lindsey from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for her kind help with Fig. 4e. NCEP Reanalysis data provided by NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their web site at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Spin properties of single electron states in coupled quantum dots
Spin properties of single electron states in laterally coupled quantum dots
in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field are studied by exact
numerical diagonalization. Dresselhaus (linear and cubic) and Bychkov-Rashba
spin-orbit couplings are included in a realistic model of confined dots based
on GaAs. Group theoretical classification of quantum states with and without
spin orbit coupling is provided. Spin-orbit effects on the g-factor are rather
weak. It is shown that the frequency of coherent oscillations (tunneling
amplitude) in coupled dots is largely unaffected by spin-orbit effects due to
symmetry requirements. The leading contributions to the frequency involves the
cubic term of the Dresselhaus coupling. Spin-orbit coupling in the presence of
magnetic field leads to a spin-dependent tunneling amplitude, and thus to the
possibility of spin to charge conversion, namely spatial separation of spin by
coherent oscillations in a uniform magnetic field. It is also shown that spin
hot spots exist in coupled GaAs dots already at moderate magnetic fields, and
that spin hot spots at zero magnetic field are due to the cubic Dresselhaus
term only.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
Vascular dysfunction in COVID-19 patients: update on SARS-CoV-2 infection of endothelial cells and the role of long non-coding RNAs
Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, it may affect also the cardiovascular system. COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular disorder (CVD) develop a more severe disease course with a significantly higher mortality rate than non-CVD patients. A common denominator of CVD is the dysfunction of endothelial cells (ECs), increased vascular permeability, endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, coagulation, and inflammation. It has been assumed that clinical complications in COVID-19 patients suffering from CVD are caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection of ECs through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and the cellular transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and the consequent dysfunction of the infected vascular cells. Meanwhile, other factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 entry into the host cells have been described, including disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 17 (ADAM17), the C-type lectin CD209L or heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG). Here, we discuss the current data about the putative entry of SARS-CoV-2 into endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, we highlight the potential role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) affecting vascular permeability in CVD, a process that might exacerbate disease in COVID-19 patients
Strong Correlations in Electron Doped Phthalocyanine Conductors Near Half Filling
We propose that electron doped nontransition metal-phthalocyanines (MPc) like
ZnPc and MgPc, similar to those very recently reported, should constitute novel
strongly correlated metals. Due to orbital degeneracy, Jahn-Teller coupling and
Hund's rule exchange, and with a large on-site Coulomb repulsion, these
molecular conductors should display, particularly near half filling at two
electrons/molecule, very unconventional properties, including Mott insulators,
strongly correlated superconductivity, and other intriguing phases.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, submited to PR
On Vertex- and Empty-Ply Proximity Drawings
We initiate the study of the vertex-ply of straight-line drawings, as a
relaxation of the recently introduced ply number. Consider the disks centered
at each vertex with radius equal to half the length of the longest edge
incident to the vertex. The vertex-ply of a drawing is determined by the vertex
covered by the maximum number of disks. The main motivation for considering
this relaxation is to relate the concept of ply to proximity drawings. In fact,
if we interpret the set of disks as proximity regions, a drawing with
vertex-ply number 1 can be seen as a weak proximity drawing, which we call
empty-ply drawing. We show non-trivial relationships between the ply number and
the vertex-ply number. Then, we focus on empty-ply drawings, proving some
properties and studying what classes of graphs admit such drawings. Finally, we
prove a lower bound on the ply and the vertex-ply of planar drawings.Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium on
Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2017
Spin-orbit coupled particle in a spin bath
We consider a spin-orbit coupled particle confined in a quantum dot in a bath
of impurity spins. We investigate the consequences of spin-orbit coupling on
the interactions that the particle mediates in the spin bath. We show that in
the presence of spin-orbit coupling, the impurity-impurity interactions are no
longer spin-conserving. We quantify the degree of this symmetry breaking and
show how it relates to the spin-orbit coupling strength. We identify several
ways how the impurity ensemble can in this way relax its spin by coupling to
phonons. A typical resulting relaxation rate for a self-assembled Mn-doped ZnTe
quantum dot populated by a hole is 1 s. We also show that decoherence
arising from nuclear spins in lateral quantum dots is still removable by a spin
echo protocol, even if the confined electron is spin-orbit coupled.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
Nonlinear parametric instability in double-well lattices
A possibility of a nonlinear resonant instability of uniform oscillations in
dynamical lattices with harmonic intersite coupling and onsite nonlinearity is
predicted. Numerical simulations of a lattice with a double-well onsite
anharmonic potential confirm the existence of the nonlinear instability with an
anomalous value of the corresponding power index, 1.57, which is intermediate
between the values 1 and 2 characterizing the linear and nonlinear (quadratic)
instabilities. The anomalous power index may be a result of competition between
the resonant quadratic instability and nonresonant linear instabilities. The
observed instability triggers transition of the lattice into a chaotic
dynamical state.Comment: A latex text file and three pdf files with figures. Physical Review
E, in pres
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