10,065 research outputs found
Excited-state quantum phase transitions in a two-fluid Lipkin model
Background: Composed systems have became of great interest in the framework
of the ground state quantum phase transitions (QPTs) and many of their
properties have been studied in detail. However, in these systems the study of
the so called excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) have not
received so much attention.
Purpose: A quantum analysis of the ESQPTs in the two-fluid Lipkin model is
presented in this work. The study is performed through the Hamiltonian
diagonalization for selected values of the control parameters in order to cover
the most interesting regions of the system phase diagram. [Method:] A
Hamiltonian that resembles the consistent-Q Hamiltonian of the interacting
boson model (IBM) is diagonalized for selected values of the parameters and
properties such as the density of states, the Peres lattices, the
nearest-neighbor spacing distribution, and the participation ratio are
analyzed.
Results: An overview of the spectrum of the two-fluid Lipkin model for
selected positions in the phase diagram has been obtained. The location of the
excited-state quantum phase transition can be easily singled out with the Peres
lattice, with the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution, with Poincar\'e
sections or with the participation ratio.
Conclusions: This study completes the analysis of QPTs for the two-fluid
Lipkin model, extending the previous study to excited states. The ESQPT
signatures in composed systems behave in the same way as in single ones,
although the evidences of their presence can be sometimes blurred. The Peres
lattice turns out to be a convenient tool to look into the position of the
ESQPT and to define the concept of phase in the excited states realm
Scaling properties of the critical behavior in the dilute antiferromagnet Fe(0.93)Zn(0.07)F2
Critical scattering analyses for dilute antiferromagnets are made difficult
by the lack of predicted theoretical line shapes beyond mean-field models.
Nevertheless, with the use of some general scaling assumptions we have
developed a procedure by which we can analyze the equilibrium critical
scattering in these systems for H=0, the random-exchange Ising model, and, more
importantly, for H>0, the random-field Ising model. Our new fitting approach,
as opposed to the more conventional techniques, allows us to obtain the
universal critical behavior exponents and amplitude ratios as well as the
critical line shapes. We discuss the technique as applied to
Fe(0.93)Zn(0.07)F2. The general technique, however, should be applicable to
other problems where the scattering line shapes are not well understood but
scaling is expected to hold.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Compilation of erosion yields of metal-doped carbon materials by deuterium impact from ion beam and low temperature plasma
The origin of power-law distributions in deterministic walks: the influence of landscape geometry
We investigate the properties of a deterministic walk, whose locomotion rule
is always to travel to the nearest site. Initially the sites are randomly
distributed in a closed rectangular ( landscape and, once
reached, they become unavailable for future visits. As expected, the walker
step lengths present characteristic scales in one () and two () dimensions. However, we find scale invariance for an intermediate
geometry, when the landscape is a thin strip-like region. This result is
induced geometrically by a dynamical trapping mechanism, leading to a power law
distribution for the step lengths. The relevance of our findings in broader
contexts -- of both deterministic and random walks -- is also briefly
discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Structural basis for the inactivation of cytosolic DNA sensing by the vaccinia virus.
Detection of cytosolic DNA is a central element of the innate immunity system against viral infection. The Ku heterodimer, a component of the NHEJ pathway of DNA repair in the nucleus, functions as DNA sensor that detects dsDNA of viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm. Vaccinia virus expresses two proteins, C4 and C16, that inactivate DNA sensing and enhance virulence. The structural basis for this is unknown. Here we determine the structure of the C16 - Ku complex using cryoEM. Ku binds dsDNA by a preformed ring but C16 sterically blocks this access route, abrogating binding to a dsDNA end and its insertion into DNA-PK, thereby averting signalling into the downstream innate immunity system. C4 replicates these activities using a domain with 54% identity to C16. Our results reveal how vaccinia virus subverts the capacity of Ku to recognize viral DNA
2 deoxy-D-glucose augments the mitochondrial respiratory chain in heart
2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) has recently received emergency approval for the treatment of COVID-19 in India, after a successful clinical trial. SARS-CoV-2 infection of cultured cells is accompanied by elevated glycolysis and decreased mitochondrial function, whereas 2DG represses glycolysis and stimulates respiration, and restricts viral replication. While 2DG has pleiotropic effects on cell metabolism in cultured cells it is not known which of these manifests in vivo. On the other hand, it is known that 2DG given continuously can have severe detrimental effects on the rodent heart. Here, we show that the principal effect of an extended, intermittent 2DG treatment on mice is to augment the mitochondrial respiratory chain proteome in the heart; importantly, this occurs without vacuolization, hypertrophy or fibrosis. The increase in the heart respiratory chain proteome suggests an increase in mitochondrial oxidative capacity, which could compensate for the energy deficit caused by the inhibition of glycolysis. Thus, 2DG in the murine heart appears to induce a metabolic configuration that is the opposite of SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, which could explain the compound's ability to restrict the propagation of the virus to the benefit of patients with COVID-19 disease
Mechanisms involved in the adaptation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to the host intestinal microenvironment
Host adaptation of pathogens may increase intra- and interspecies transmission. We showed previously that the passage of a clinically isolated enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157 strain (125/99) through the gastrointestinal tract of mice increases its pathogenicity in the same host. In this work, we aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanism(s) involved in the patho-adaptation of the stool-recovered (125RR) strain. We assessed the global transcription profile by microarray and found almost 100 differentially expressed genes in 125RR strain compared with 125/99 strain. We detected an overexpression of Type Three Secretion System (TTSS) proteins at the mRNA and protein levels and demonstrated increased adhesion to epithelial cell lines for the 125RR strain. Additional key attributes of the 125RR strain were: increased motility on semisolid agar, which correlated with an increased fliC mRNA level; reduced Stx2 production at the mRNA and protein levels; increased survival at pH 2.5, as determined by acid resistance assays. We tested whether the overexpression of the LEE-encoded regulator (ler) in trans in the 125/99 strain could recreate the increased pathogenicity observed in the 125RR strain. As anticipated ler overexpression led to increased expression of TTSS proteins and bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells in vitro but also increased mortality and intestinal colonization in vivo. We conclude that this host-adaptation process required changes in several mechanisms that improved EHEC O157 fitness in the new host. The research highlights some of the bacterial mechanisms required for horizontal transmission of these zoonotic pathogens between their animal and human populations.Fil: Fernández Brando, Romina Jimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: MaCateer, Sean P.. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Montañez Culma, Leidy Johanna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Cortés Araya, Yennifer. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Tree, Jai. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Bernal, Alan Mauro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Fuentes, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Fitzgerald, Stephen. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Pineda, Gonzalo Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Gally, David. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Palermo, Marina Sandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; Argentin
First passage and arrival time densities for L\'evy flights and the failure of the method of images
We discuss the first passage time problem in the semi-infinite interval, for
homogeneous stochastic Markov processes with L{\'e}vy stable jump length
distributions (),
namely, L{\'e}vy flights (LFs). In particular, we demonstrate that the method
of images leads to a result, which violates a theorem due to Sparre Andersen,
according to which an arbitrary continuous and symmetric jump length
distribution produces a first passage time density (FPTD) governed by the
universal long-time decay . Conversely, we show that for LFs the
direct definition known from Gaussian processes in fact defines the probability
density of first arrival, which for LFs differs from the FPTD. Our findings are
corroborated by numerical results.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, iopart.cls style, accepted to J. Phys. A (Lett
- …