300 research outputs found
Ordered low-temperature structure in K4C60 detected by infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectra of a K4C60 single-phase thin film have been measured between
room temperature and 20 K. At low temperatures, the two high-frequency T1u
modes appear as triplets, indicating a static D2h crystal-field stabilized
Jahn-Teller distortion of the (C60)4- anions. The T1u(4) mode changes into the
known doublet above 250 K, a pattern which could have three origins: a dynamic
Jahn-Teller effect, static disorder between "staggered" anions, or a phase
transition from an orientationally-ordered phase to one where molecular motion
is significant.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures submitted to Phys. Rev.
Static and dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in the alkali metal fulleride salts A4C60 (A = K, Rb, Cs)
We report the temperature dependent mid- and near-infrared spectra of K4C60,
Rb4C60 and Cs4C60. The splitting of the vibrational and electronic transitions
indicates a molecular symmetry change of C604- which brings the fulleride anion
from D2h to either a D3d or a D5d distortion. In contrast to Cs4C60, low
temperature neutron diffraction measurements did not reveal a structural phase
transition in either K4C60 and Rb4C60. This proves that the molecular
transition is driven by the molecular Jahn-Teller effect, which overrides the
distorting potential field of the surrounding cations at high temperature. In
K4C60 and Rb4C60 we suggest a transition from a static to a dynamic Jahn-Teller
state without changing the average structure. We studied the librations of
these two fullerides by temperature dependent inelastic neutron scattering and
conclude that both pseudorotation and jump reorientation are present in the
dynamic Jahn-Teller state.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Giant microwave absorption in fine powders of superconductors
Enhanced microwave absorption, larger than that in the normal state, is
observed in fine grains of type-II superconductors (MgB and KC)
for magnetic fields as small as a few of the upper critical field. The
effect is predicted by the theory of vortex motion in type-II superconductors,
however its direct observation has been elusive due to skin-depth limitations;
conventional microwave absorption studies employ larger samples where the
microwave magnetic field exclusion significantly lowers the absorption. We show
that the enhancement is observable in grains smaller than the penetration
depth. A quantitative analysis on KC in the framework of the
Coffey--Clem (CC) theory explains well the temperature dependence of the
microwave absorption and also allows to determine the vortex pinning force
constant
Structure and properties of the stable two-dimensional conducting polymer Mg5C60
We present a study on the structural, spectroscopic, conducting,
and
magnetic properties of Mg5C60, which is a two-dimensional (2D)
fulleride polymer. The polymer phase is stable up to the
exceptionally
high temperature of 823 K. The infrared and Raman studies
suggest the
formation of single bonds between the fulleride ions and
possibly
Mg-C-60 covalent bonds. Mg5C60 is a metal at ambient
temperature, as
shown by electron spin resonance and microwave conductivity
measurements. The smooth transition from a metallic to a
paramagnetic
insulator state below 200 K is attributed to Anderson
localization
driven by structural disorder
Chemosensory properties of murine nasal and cutaneous trigeminal neurons identified by viral tracing
BACKGROUND: Somatosensation of the mammalian head is mainly mediated by the trigeminal nerve that provides innervation of diverse tissues like the face skin, the conjunctiva of the eyes, blood vessels and the mucouse membranes of the oral and nasal cavities. Trigeminal perception encompasses thermosensation, touch, and pain. Trigeminal chemosensation from the nasal epithelia mainly evokes stinging, burning, or pungent sensations. In vitro characterization of trigeminal primary sensory neurons derives largely from analysis of complete neuronal populations prepared from sensory ganglia. Thus, functional properties of primary trigeminal afferents depending on the area of innervation remain largely unclear. RESULTS: We established a PrV based tracing technique to identify nasal and cutaneous trigeminal neurons in vitro. This approach allowed analysis and comparison of identified primary afferents by means of electrophysiological and imaging measurement techniques. Neurons were challenged with several agonists that were reported to exhibit specificity for known receptors, including TRP channels and purinergic receptors. In addition, TTX sensitivity of sodium currents and IB4 binding was investigated. Compared with cutaneous neurons, a larger fraction of nasal trigeminal neurons showed sensitivity for menthol and capsaicin. These findings pointed to TRPM8 and TRPV1 receptor protein expression largely in nasal neurons whereas for cutaneous neurons these receptors are present only in a smaller fraction. The majority of nasal neurons lacked P2X(3 )receptor-mediated currents but showed P2X(2)-mediated responses when stimulated with ATP. Interestingly, cutaneous neurons revealed largely TTX resistant sodium currents. A significantly higher fraction of nasal and cutaneous afferents showed IB4 binding when compared to randomly chosen trigeminal neurons. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the usability of PrV mediated tracing of primary afferents was demonstrated. Using this technique it could be shown that compared with neurons innervating the skin nasal trigeminal neurons reveal pronounced chemosensitivity for TRPM8 and TRPV1 channel agonists and only partially meet properties typical for nociceptors. In contrast to P2X(3 )receptors, TRPM8 and TRPV1 receptors seem to be of pronounced physiological relevance for intranasal trigeminal sensation
Vibrational spectra of C60C8H8 and C70C8H8 in the rotor-stator and polymer phases
C60-C8H8 and C70-C8H8 are prototypes of rotor-stator cocrystals. We present
infrared and Raman spectra of these materials and show how the rotor-stator
nature is reflected in their vibrational properties. We measured the
vibrational spectra of the polymer phases poly(C60C8H8) and poly(C70C8H8)
resulting from a solid state reaction occurring on heating. Based on the
spectra we propose a connection pattern for the fullerene in poly(C60C8H8),
where the symmetry of the C60 is D2h. On illuminating the C60-C8H8 cocrystal
with green or blue light a photochemical reaction was observed leading to a
similar product to that of the thermal polymerization.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2nd
version: minor changes in wording, accepted version by journa
Multipurpose High Frequency Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometer for Condensed Matter Research
We describe a quasi-optical multifrequency ESR spectrometer operating in the
75-225 GHz range and optimized at 210 GHz for general use in condensed matter
physics, chemistry and biology. The quasi-optical bridge detects the change of
mm wave polarization at the ESR. A controllable reference arm maintains a mm
wave bias at the detector. The attained sensitivity of 2x10^10 spin/G/(Hz)1/2,
measured on a dilute Mn:MgO sample in a non-resonant probe head at 222.4 GHz
and 300 K, is comparable to commercial high sensitive X band spectrometers. The
spectrometer has a Fabry-Perot resonator based probe head to measure aqueous
solutions, and a probe head to measure magnetic field angular dependence of
single crystals. The spectrometer is robust and easy to use and may be operated
by undergraduate students. Its performance is demonstrated by examples from
various fields of condensed matter physics.Comment: submitted to Journal of Magnetic Resonanc
A genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen reveals the requirement of host sphingomyelin synthase 1 for infection with Pseudorabies virus mutant gDâPass
Herpesviruses are large DNA viruses, which encode up to 300 different proteins including enzymes enabling efficient replication. Nevertheless, they depend on a multitude of host cell proteins for successful propagation. To uncover cellular host factors important for replication of pseudorabies virus (PrV), an alphaherpesvirus of swine, we performed an unbiased genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 forward screen. To this end, a porcine CRISPR-knockout sgRNA library (SsCRISPRko.v1) targeting 20,598 genes was generated and used to transduce porcine kidney cells. Cells were then infected with either wildtype PrV (PrV-Ka) or a PrV mutant (PrV-gDâPass) lacking the receptor-binding protein gD, which regained infectivity after serial passaging in cell culture. While no cells survived infection with PrV-Ka, resistant cell colonies were observed after infection with PrV-gDâPass. In these cells, sphingomyelin synthase 1 (SMS1) was identified as the top hit candidate. Infection efficiency was reduced by up to 90% for PrV-gDâPass in rabbit RK13-sgms1KO cells compared to wildtype cells accompanied by lower viral progeny titers. Exogenous expression of SMS1 partly reverted the entry defect of PrV-gDâPass. In contrast, infectivity of PrV-Ka was reduced by 50% on the knockout cells, which could not be restored by exogenous expression of SMS1. These data suggest that SMS1 plays a pivotal role for PrV infection, when the gD-mediated entry pathway is blocked
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