236 research outputs found
Dilation of the Giant Vortex State in a Mesoscopic Superconducting Loop
We have experimentally investigated the magnetisation of a mesoscopic
aluminum loop at temperatures well below the superconducting transition
temperature . The flux quantisation of the superconducting loop was
investigated with a -Hall magnetometer in magnetic field intensities
between . The magnetic field intensity periodicity observed in
the magnetization measurements is expected to take integer values of the
superconducting flux quanta . A closer inspection of the
periodicity, however, reveal a sub flux quantum shift. This fine structure we
interpret as a consequence of a so called giant vortex state nucleating towards
either the inner or the outer side of the loop. These findings are in agreement
with recent theoretical reports.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Thermal effects on atomic friction
We model friction acting on the tip of an atomic force microscope as it is
dragged across a surface at non-zero temperatures. We find that stick-slip
motion occurs and that the average frictional force follows ,
where is the tip velocity. This compares well to recent experimental work
(Gnecco et al, PRL 84, 1172), permitting the quantitative extraction of all
microscopic parameters. We calculate the scaled form of the average frictional
force's dependence on both temperature and tip speed as well as the form of the
friction-force distribution function.Comment: Accepted for publication, Physical Review Letter
Metastability in Josephson transmission lines
Thermal activation and macroscopic quantum tunneling in current-biased
discrete Josephson transmission lines are studied theoretically. The degrees of
freedom under consideration are the phases across the junctions which are
coupled to each other via the inductances of the system. The resistively
shunted junctions that we investigate constitute a system of N interacting
degrees of freedom with an overdamped dynamics. We calculate the decay rate
within exponential accuracy as a function of temperature and current. Slightly
below the critical current, the decay from the metastable state occurs via a
unique ("rigid") saddlepoint solution of the Euclidean action describing the
simultaneous decay of the phases in all the junctions. When the current is
reduced, a crossover to a regime takes place, where the decay occurs via an
"elastic" saddlepoint solution and the phases across the junctions leave the
metastable state one after another. This leads to an increased decay rate
compared with the rigid case both in the thermal and the quantum regime. The
rigid-to-elastic crossover can be sharp or smooth analogous to first- or
second- order phase transitions, respectively. The various regimes are
summarized in a current-temperature decay diagram.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, 3 PS-figures, revised versio
Crossover from thermal hopping to quantum tunneling in Mn_{12}Ac
The crossover from thermal hopping to quantum tunneling is studied. We show
that the decay rate with dissipation can accurately be determined near
the crossover temperature. Besides considering the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin
(WKB) exponent, we also calculate contribution of the fluctuation modes around
the saddle point and give an extended account of a previous study of crossover
region. We deal with two dangerous fluctuation modes whose contribution can't
be calculated by the steepest descent method and show that higher order
couplings between the two dangerous modes need to be taken into considerations.
At last the crossover from thermal hopping to quantum tunneling in the
molecular magnet Mn_{12}Ac is studied.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Bidirectional lipid droplet velocities are controlled by differential binding strengths of HCV Core DII protein
Host cell lipid droplets (LD) are essential in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle and are targeted by the viral capsid core protein. Core-coated LDs accumulate in the perinuclear region and facilitate viral particle assembly, but it is unclear how mobility of these LDs is directed by core. Herein we used two-photon fluorescence, differential interference contrast imaging, and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopies, to reveal novel core-mediated changes to LD dynamics. Expression of core protein’s lipid binding domain II (DII-core) induced slower LD speeds, but did not affect directionality of movement on microtubules. Modulating the LD binding strength of DII-core further impacted LD mobility, revealing the temporal effects of LD-bound DII-core. These results for DII-core coated LDs support a model for core-mediated LD localization that involves core slowing down the rate of movement of LDs until localization at the perinuclear region is accomplished where LD movement ceases. The guided localization of LDs by HCV core protein not only is essential to the viral life cycle but also poses an interesting target for the development of antiviral strategies against HCV
Combining series elastic actuation and magneto-rheological damping for the control of agile locomotion
All-terrain robot locomotion is an active topic of research. Search and rescue maneuvers and exploratory missions could benefit from robots with the abilities of real animals. However, technological barriers exist to ultimately achieving the actuation system, which is able to meet the exigent requirements of these robots. This paper describes the locomotioncontrol of a leg prototype, designed and developed to make a quadruped walk dynamically while exhibiting compliant interaction with the environment. The actuation system of the leg is based on the hybrid use of series elasticity and magneto-rheological dampers, which provide variable compliance for natural-looking motion and improved interaction with the ground. The locomotioncontrol architecture has been proposed to exploit natural leg dynamics in order to improve energy efficiency. Results show that the controller achieves a significant reduction in energy consumption during the leg swing phase thanks to the exploitation of inherent leg dynamics. Added to this, experiments with the real leg prototype show that the combined use of series elasticity and magneto-rheologicaldamping at the knee provide a 20 % reduction in the energy wasted in braking the knee during its extension in the leg stance phase
Analysis of Bonding between Conjugated Organic Molecules and Noble Metal Surfaces Using Orbital Overlap Populations
The electronic structure of metal−organic interfaces is of paramount importance for the properties of organic electronic and single-molecule devices. Here, we use so-called orbital overlap populations derived from slab-type band-structure calculations to analyze the covalent contribution to the bonding between an adsorbate layer and a metal. Using two prototypical molecules, the strong acceptor 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ) on Ag(111) and the strong donor 1H,1′H-[4,4′]bipyridinylidene (HV0) on Au(111), we present overlap populations as particularly versatile tools for describing the metal−organic interaction. Going beyond traditional approaches, in which overlap populations are represented in an atomic orbital basis, we also explore the use of a molecular orbital basis to gain significant additional insight. On the basis of the derived quantities, it is possible to identify the parts of the molecules responsible for the bonding and to analyze which of the molecular orbitals and metal bands most strongly contribute to the interaction and where on the energy scale they interact in bonding or antibonding fashion
Pioneer Anomaly and the Kuiper Belt mass distribution
Pioneer 10 and 11 were the first probes sent to study the outer planets of
the Solar System and Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to leave the Solar
System. Besides their already epic journeys, Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were
subjected to an unaccounted effect interpreted as a constant acceleration
toward the Sun, the so-called Pioneer anomaly. One of the possibilities put
forward for explaining the Pioneer anomaly is the gravitational acceleration of
the Kuiper Belt. In this work we examine this hypothesis for various models for
the Kuiper Belt mass distribution. We find that the gravitational effect due to
the Kuiper Belt cannot account for the Pioneer anomaly. Furthermore, we have
also studied the hypothesis that drag forces can explain the the Pioneer
anomaly; however we conclude that the density required for producing the
Pioneer anomaly is many orders of magnitude greater than those of
interplanetary and interstellar dust. Our conclusions suggest that only through
a mission, the Pioneer anomaly can be confirmed and further investigated. If a
mission with these aims is ever sent to space, it turns out, on account of our
results, that it will be also a quite interesting probe to study the mass
distribution of the Kuiper Belt.Comment: Plain latex; 17 pages, 12 figures. Version to appear in Classical and
Quantum Gravity (2006
All-codon scanning identifies p53 cancer rescue mutations
In vitro scanning mutagenesis strategies are valuable tools to identify critical residues in proteins and to generate proteins with modified properties. We describe the fast and simple All-Codon Scanning (ACS) strategy that creates a defined gene library wherein each individual codon within a specific target region is changed into all possible codons with only a single codon change per mutagenesis product. ACS is based on a multiplexed overlapping mutagenesis primer design that saturates only the targeted gene region with single codon changes. We have used ACS to produce single amino-acid changes in small and large regions of the human tumor suppressor protein p53 to identify single amino-acid substitutions that can restore activity to inactive p53 found in human cancers. Single-tube reactions were used to saturate defined 30-nt regions with all possible codon changes. The same technique was used in 20 parallel reactions to scan the 600-bp fragment encoding the entire p53 core domain. Identification of several novel p53 cancer rescue mutations demonstrated the utility of the ACS approach. ACS is a fast, simple and versatile method, which is useful for protein structure–function analyses and protein design or evolution problems
Unilateral congenital elongation of the cervical part of the internal carotid artery with kinking and looping: two case reports and review of the literature
Unilateral and bilateral variation in the course and elongation of the cervical (extracranial) part of the internal carotid artery (ICA) leading to its tortuosity, kinking and coiling or looping is not a rare condition, which could be caused by both embryological and acquired factors. Patients with such variations may be asymptomatic in some cases; in others, they can develop cerebrovascular symptoms due to carotid stenosis affecting cerebral circulation. The risk of transient ischemic attacks in patients with carotid stenosis is high and its surgical correction is indicated for the prevention of ischemic stroke. Detection of developmental variations of the ICA and evaluation of its stenotic areas is very important for surgical interventions and involves specific diagnostic imaging techniques for vascular lesions including contrast arteriography, duplex ultrasonography and magnetic resonance angiography. Examination of obtained images in cases of unusual and complicated variations of vascular pattern of the ICA may lead to confusion in interpretation of data. Awareness about details and topographic anatomy of variations of the ICA may serve as a useful guide for both radiologists and vascular surgeons. It may help to prevent diagnostic errors, influence surgical tactics and interventional procedures and avoid complications during the head and neck surgery. Our present study was conducted with a purpose of updating data about developmental variations of the ICA. Dissections of the main neurovascular bundle of the head and neck were performed on a total 14 human adult cadavers (10 – Africans: 7 males & 3 females and 4 – East Indians: all males). Two cases of unilateral congenital elongation of the cervical part of the ICA with kinking and looping and carotid stenoses were found only in African males. Here we present their detailed case reports with review of the literature
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