4,905 research outputs found
Crossover from Attractive to Repulsive Casimir Forces and Vice Versa
Systems described by an O(n) symmetrical Hamiltonian are considered
in a -dimensional film geometry at their bulk critical points. The critical
Casimir forces between the film's boundary planes , are
investigated as functions of film thickness for generic symmetry-preserving
boundary conditions . The
-dependent part of the reduced excess free energy per cross-sectional area
takes the scaling form when , where are scaling
fields associated with the variables , and is a surface
crossover exponent. Explicit two-loop renormalization group results for the
function at dimensions are
presented. These show that (i) the Casimir force can have either sign,
depending on and , and (ii) for appropriate
choices of the enhancements , crossovers from attraction to
repulsion and vice versa occur as increases.Comment: 4 RevTeX pages, 2 eps figures; minor misprints corrected and 3
references adde
Clonal Composition of Human Adrenocortical Neoplasms
The mechanisms of tumorigenesis of adrenocortical neoplasms are still not understood. Tumor formation may be the result of spontaneous transformation of adrenocortical cells by somatic mutations. Another factor stimulating adrenocortical cell growth and potentially associated with formation of adrenal adenomas and, less frequently, carcinomas is the chronic elevation of proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides in diseases like ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. To further investigate the pathogenesis of adrenocortical neoplasms, we studied the clonal composition of such tumors using X-chromosome inactivation analysis of the highly polymorphic region Xcen-Xp11.4 with the hybridization probe M27ß, which maps to a variable number of tandem repeats on the X-chromsome. In addition, polymerase chain reaction amplification of a phosphoglycerokinase gene polymorphism was performed. After DNA extraction from tumorous adrenal tissue and normal leukocytes in parallel, the active X-chromosome of each sample was digested with the methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme HpaII. A second digestion with an appropriate restriction enzyme revealed the polymorphism of the region Xcen-Xp11.4 and the phosphoglycerokinase locus. Whereas in normal polyclonal tissue both the paternal and maternal alleles are detected, a monoclonal tumor shows only one of the parental alleles. A total of 21 female patients with adrenal lesions were analyzed; 17 turned out to be heterozygous for at least one of the loci. Our results were as follows: diffuse (n = 4) and nodular (n = 1) adrenal hyperplasia in patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome, polyclonal pattern; adrenocortical adenomas (n = 8), monoclonal (n = 7), as well as polyclonal (n = 1); adrenal carcinomas (n = 3), monoclonal pattern. One metastasis of an adrenocortical carcinoma showed a pattern most likely due to tumor-associated loss of methylation. In the special case of a patient with bilateral ACTH-independent macronodular hyperplasia, diffuse hyperplastic areas and a small nodule showed a polyclonal pattern, whereas a large nodule was monoclonal. We conclude that most adrenal adenomas and carcinomas are monoclonal, whereas diffuse and nodular adrenal hyperplasias are polyclonal. The clonal composition of ACTH-independent massive macronodular hyperplasia seems to be heterogeneous, consisting of polyclonal and monoclonal areas
Spin-Orbital Entanglement and Violation of the Goodenough-Kanamori Rules
We point out that large composite spin-orbital fluctuations in Mott
insulators with orbital degeneracy are a manifestation of quantum
entanglement of spin and orbital variables. This results in a dynamical nature
of the spin superexchange interactions, which fluctuate over positive and
negative values, and leads to an apparent violation of the Goodenough-Kanamori
rules. [{\it Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 96}, 147205 (2006).}]Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Disorder-Induced Resistive Anomaly Near Ferromagnetic Phase Transitions
We show that the resistivity rho(T) of disordered ferromagnets near, and
above, the Curie temperature T_c generically exhibits a stronger anomaly than
the scaling-based Fisher-Langer prediction. Treating transport beyond the
Boltzmann description, we find that within mean-field theory, d\rho/dT exhibits
a |T-T_c|^{-1/2} singularity near T_c. Our results, being solely due to
impurities, are relevant to ferromagnets with low T_c, such as SrRuO3 or
diluted magnetic semiconductors, whose mobility near T_c is limited by
disorder.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; V2: with a few clarifications, as publishe
Heavy metals contaminating the environment of a progressive supranuclear palsy cluster induce tau accumulation and cell death in cultured neurons
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of intracellular aggregates of tau protein and neuronal loss leading to cognitive and motor impairment. Occurrence is mostly sporadic, but rare family clusters have been described. Although the etiopathology of PSP is unknown, mutations in the MAPT/tau gene and exposure to environmental toxins can increase the risk of PSP. Here, we used cell models to investigate the potential neurotoxic effects of heavy metals enriched in a highly industrialized region in France with a cluster of sporadic PSP cases. We found that iPSC-derived iNeurons from a MAPT mutation carrier tend to be more sensitive to cell death induced by chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) exposure than an isogenic control line. We hypothesize that genetic variations may predispose to neurodegeneration induced by those heavy metals. Furthermore, using an SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line, we showed that both heavy metals induce cell death by an apoptotic mechanism. Interestingly, Cr and Ni treatments increased total and phosphorylated tau levels in both cell types, implicating Cr and Ni exposure in tau pathology. Overall, this study suggests that chromium and nickel could contribute to the pathophysiology of tauopathies such as PSP by promoting tau accumulation and neuronal cell death
High Velocity Cloud Complex H: A Satellite of the Milky Way in a Retrograde Orbit?
Observations with the Green Bank Telescope of 21cm HI emission from the
high-velocity cloud Complex H suggest that it is interacting with the Milky
Way. A model in which the cloud is a satellite of the Galaxy in an inclined,
retrograde circular orbit reproduces both the cloud's average velocity and its
velocity gradient with latitude. The model places Complex H at approximately 33
kpc from the Galactic Center on a retrograde orbit inclined about 45 degrees to
the Galactic plane. At this location it has an HI mass > 6 10^6 Msun and
dimensions of at least 10 by 5 kpc. Some of the diffuse HI associated with the
cloud has apparently been decelerated by interaction with Galactic gas. Complex
H has similarities to the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A and to some compact
high-velocity clouds, and has an internal structure nearly identical to parts
of the Magellanic Stream, with a pressure P/k about 100 cm^{-3} K.Comment: 12 pages includes 4 figures. To be published in Astrophysical Journal
Letters, 1 July 200
Second-order calculation of the local density of states above a nanostructured surface
We have numerically implemented a perturbation series for the scattered
electromagnetic fields above rough surfaces, due to Greffet, allowing us to
evaluate the local density of states to second order in the surface profile
function. We present typical results for thermal near fields of surfaces with
regular nanostructures, investigating the relative magnitude of the
contributions appearing in successive orders. The method is then employed for
estimating the resolution limit of an idealized Near-Field Scanning Thermal
Microscope (NSThM).Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Exact thermodynamic Casimir forces for an interacting three-dimensional model system in film geometry with free surfaces
The limit n to infinity of the classical O(n) phi^4 model on a 3d film with
free surfaces is studied. Its exact solution involves a self-consistent 1d
Schr\"odinger equation, which is solved numerically for a partially discretized
as well as for a fully discrete lattice model. Numerically exact results are
obtained for the scaled Casimir force at all temperatures. Obtained via a
single framework, they exhibit all relevant qualitative features of the
thermodynamic Casimir force known from wetting experiments on Helium-4 and
Monte Carlo simulations, including a pronounced minimum below the bulk critical
point.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Quantum Theory and Galois Fields
We discuss the motivation and main results of a quantum theory over a Galois
field (GFQT). The goal of the paper is to describe main ideas of GFQT in a
simplest possible way and to give clear and simple arguments that GFQT is a
more natural quantum theory than the standard one. The paper has been prepared
as a presentation to the ICSSUR' 2005 conference (Besancon, France, May 2-6,
2005).Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 1 figur
- …