8,388 research outputs found
Magnetic transitions in Pr2NiO4 single crystal
The magnetic properties of a stoichiometric Pr2NiO4 single crystal have been examined by means of the temperature dependence of the complex ac susceptibility and the isothermal magnetization in fields up to 200 kOe at T=4.2 K. Three separate phases have been identified and their anisotropic character has been analyzed. A collinear antiferromagnetic phase appears first between TN = 325 K and Tc1 = 115 K, where the Pr ions are polarized by an internal magnetic field. At Tc1 a first modification of the magnetic structure occurs in parallel with a structural phase transition (Bmab to P42/ncm). This magnetic transition has a firstâorder character and involves both the outâofâplane and the inâplane spin components (magnetic modes gx and gxcyfz, respectively). A second magnetic transition having also a firstâorder character is also clearly identified at Tc2 = 90 K which corresponds to a spin reorientation process (gxcyfz to cxgyaz magnetic modes). It should be noted as well that the outâofâphase component of Ïac shows a peak around 30 K which reflects the coexistence of both magnetic configurations in a wide temperature interval. Finally, two fieldâinduced transitions have been observed at 4.2 K when the field is directed along the c axis. We propose that the highâfield anomaly arises from a metamagnetic transition of the weak ferromagnetic component, similarly to La2CuO4
Millimagnitude Photometry for Transiting Extrasolar Planetary Candidates. V. Follow-up of 30 OGLE Transits. New Candidates
We used VLT/VIMOS images in the V band to obtain light curves of extrasolar
planetary transits OGLE-TR-111 and OGLE-TR-113, and candidate planetary
transits: OGLE-TR-82, OGLE-TR-86, OGLE-TR-91, OGLE-TR-106, OGLE-TR-109,
OGLE-TR-110, OGLE-TR-159, OGLE-TR-167, OGLE-TR-170, OGLE-TR-171. Using
difference imaging photometry, we were able to achieve millimagnitude errors in
the individual data points. We present the analysis of the data and the light
curves, by measuring transit amplitudes and ephemerides, and by calculating
geometrical parameters for some of the systems. We observed 9 OGLE objects at
the predicted transit moments. Two other transits were shifted in time by a few
hours. For another seven objects we expected to observe transits during the
VIMOS run, but they were not detected. The stars OGLE-TR-111 and OGLE-TR-113
are probably the only OGLE objects in the observed sample to host planets, with
the other objects being very likely eclipsing binaries or multiple systems. In
this paper we also report on four new transiting candidates which we have found
in the data.Comment: 11 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Structure-function mapping of a heptameric module in the nuclear pore complex.
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a multiprotein assembly that serves as the sole mediator of nucleocytoplasmic exchange in eukaryotic cells. In this paper, we use an integrative approach to determine the structure of an essential component of the yeast NPC, the ~600-kD heptameric Nup84 complex, to a precision of ~1.5 nm. The configuration of the subunit structures was determined by satisfaction of spatial restraints derived from a diverse set of negative-stain electron microscopy and protein domain-mapping data. Phenotypic data were mapped onto the complex, allowing us to identify regions that stabilize the NPC's interaction with the nuclear envelope membrane and connect the complex to the rest of the NPC. Our data allow us to suggest how the Nup84 complex is assembled into the NPC and propose a scenario for the evolution of the Nup84 complex through a series of gene duplication and loss events. This work demonstrates that integrative approaches based on low-resolution data of sufficient quality can generate functionally informative structures at intermediate resolution
A hybrid analysis of LBSN data to early detect anomalies in crowd dynamics
Undoubtedly, Location-based Social Networks (LBSNs) provide an interesting source of geo-located data that we have previously used to obtain patterns of the dynamics of crowds throughout urban areas. According to our previous results, activity in LBSNs reflects the real activity in the city. Therefore, unexpected behaviors in the social media activity are a trustful evidence of unexpected changes of the activity in the city. In this paper we introduce a hybrid solution to early detect these changes based on applying a combination of two approaches, the use of entropy analysis and clustering techniques, on the data gathered from LBSNs. In particular, we have performed our experiments over a data set collected from Instagram for seven months in New York City, obtaining promising results.This work is funded by: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Galician Regional Government under agreement for funding the Atlantic Research Center for Information and Communication Technologies (AtlantTIC), Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the National Science Program (TEC2014-54335-C4-3-R, TEC2014-54335-C4-2-R, TEC2017-84197-C4-3-R and TEC2017-84197-C4-2-R), and by the Madrid Regional Government eMadrid Excellence Network, Spain (S2013/ICE-2715)
Crystal structure and phonon softening in Ca3Ir4Sn13
We investigated the crystal structure and lattice excitations of the ternary
intermetallic stannide Ca3Ir4Sn13 using neutron and x-ray scattering
techniques. For T > T* ~ 38 K the x-ray diffraction data can be satisfactorily
refined using the space group Pm-3n. Below T* the crystal structure is
modulated with a propagation vector of q = (1/2, 1/2, 0). This may arise from a
merohedral twinning in which three tetragonal domains overlap to mimic a higher
symmetry, or from a doubling of the cubic unit cell. Neutron diffraction and
neutron spectroscopy results show that the structural transition at T* is of a
second-order, and that it is well described by mean-field theory. Inelastic
neutron scattering data point towards a displacive structural transition at T*
arising from the softening of a low-energy phonon mode with an energy gap of
Delta(120 K) = 1.05 meV. Using density functional theory the soft phonon mode
is identified as a 'breathing' mode of the Sn12 icosahedra and is consistent
with the thermal ellipsoids of the Sn2 atoms found by single crystal
diffraction data
Pulsatile flow in coronary bifurcations for different stenting techniques
The objective of this work is to analyze the local hem
odynamic changes caused in a coronary bifurcation by three different stenting techniques: simple stenting of the main vessel, simple stenting of the main vessel with kissing balloon in the side branch and culotte. To carry out this study an idealized geometry of a coronary bifurcation is
used, and two bifurcation angles, 45Âș and 90Âș, are chosen as representative of the wide variety of re
al configurations. In order to quantify the influence of the stenting technique on the local blood flow, both numeri-
cal simulations and experimental measurements are performed. First, steady simulations are carried out with the commercial code ANSYS-Fluent, and then, experimental measurements with PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) obtained
in the laboratory are used to validate the numerical simulation. The steady computational simulations show a good overall agreement with the experimental data. Second, pulsatile flow is considered to take into account the tran-
sient effects. The time averaged wall shear stress, scillatory shear index and pressure drop obtained numerically are used to compare the behavior of the stenting techniques
Crystal chemistry and temperature behavior of the natural hydrous borate colemanite, a mineral commodity of boron
Colemanite, CaB3O4(OH)3*H2O, is the most common hydrous Ca-borate, as well as a major mineral commodity of boron. In this study, we report a thorough chemical analysis and the low-temperature behavior of a natural sample of colemanite by means of a multi-methodological approach. From the chemical point of view, the investigated sample resulted to be relatively pure, its composition being very close to the ideal one, with only a minor substitution of Sr2+for Ca2+. At about 270.5 K, a displacive phase transition from the centrosymmetric P21/a to the acentric P21 space group occurs. On the basis of in situ single-crystal synchrotron X-ray (down to 104 K) and neutron diffraction (at 20 K) data, the hydrogen-bonding configuration of both the polymorphs and the structural modifications at the atomic scale at varying temperatures are described. The asymmetric distribution of ionic charges along the [010] axis, allowed by the loss of the inversion center, is likely responsible for the reported ferroelectric behavior of colemanite below the phase transition temperature
MAXI J1659-152: the shortest orbital period black-hole binary
Following the detection of a bright new X-ray source, MAXI J1659-152, a
series of observations was triggered with almost all currently flying
high-energy missions. We report here on XMM-Newton, INTEGRAL and RXTE
observations during the early phase of the X-ray outburst of this transient
black-hole candidate. We confirm the dipping nature in the X-ray light curves.
We find that the dips recur on a period of 2.4139+/-0.0005 hrs, and interpret
this as the orbital period of the system. It is thus the shortest period
black-hole X-ray binary known to date. Using the various observables, we derive
the properties of the source. The inclination of the accretion disk with
respect to the line of sight is estimated to be 60-75 degrees. The companion
star to the black hole is possibly a M5 dwarf star, with a mass and radius of
about 0.15 M_sun and 0.23 R_sun, respectively. The system is rather compact
(orbital separation is about 1.35 R_sun) and is located at a distance of
roughly 7 kpc. In quiescence, MAXI J1659-152 is expected to be optically faint,
about 28 mag in the V-band.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 4th
International MAXI Workshop `The First Year of MAXI: Monitoring variable
X-ray sources', 2010 Nov 30 - Dec 2, Tokyo, Japa
Treatment with interferon-alpha delays disease in swine infected with a highly virulent CSFV strain
AbstractInterferon-alpha (IFNα) can effectively inhibit or abort a viral infection within the host. It has been reported that IFN induction and production is hindered during classical swine fever virus (CSFV) infection. Most of those studies have been performed in vitro, making it difficult to elucidate the actual role of IFNs during CSFV infection in swine. Here, we report the effect of IFNα treatment (delivered by a replication defective recombinant human adenovirus type 5, Ad5) in swine experimentally infected with highly virulent CSFV strain Brescia. Treatment with two different subtypes of IFNα delayed the appearance of CSF-related clinical signs and virus replication although it did not prevent lethal disease. This is the first report describing the effect of IFNα treatment during CSFV infection in swine
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