313 research outputs found
Species of Bursaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) and other nematode genera associated with insects from Pinus pinaster in Portugal
Insects associated with maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, in Portugal were collected
and screened for the presence of Bursaphelenchus species. Nematodes were
identified using Internal Transcribed Spacers-Restriction Fragment Length
Polymorphism (ITS-RFLP) analysis of dauer juveniles and morphological
identification of adults that developed from dauer juveniles on fungal cultures
or on cultures in pine wood segments at 26 C. Several associations are
described: Bursaphelenchus teratospicularis and Bursaphelenchus sexdentati are
associated with Orthotomicus erosus; Bursaphelenchus tusciae, B. sexdentati and/or
Bursaphelenchus pinophilus with Hylurgus ligniperda and Bursaphelenchus hellenicus
with Tomicus piniperda, Ips sexdentatus and H. ligniperda. An unidentified
Bursaphelenchus species is vectored by Hylobius sp. The previously reported
association of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus with Monochamus galloprovincialis
was confirmed. The association of Bursaphelenchus leoni with Pityogenes sp. is
not definitively established and needs further studies for clarification.
Other nematode genera besides Bursaphelenchus were found to be associated
with the insects sampled, including two different species of Ektaphelenchus, Parasitorhabditis
sp., Parasitaphelenchus sp., Contortylenchus sp. and other unidentified
nematodes. The Ektaphelenchus species found in O. erosus is morphologically
similar to B. teratospicularis found in the same insect; adults of both the species
are found in cocoon-like structures under the elytra of the insects.
Introduction
Approximately one third of the nematodes belonging to
the order Aphelenchida Siddiqi, 1980 are associated with
insects (Poinar, 1983). These nematodes establish a variety
of associations with the insects, which may be
described as commensalism, e.g. phoresy (to the benefit
of the nematode but not affecting the insect), mutualism
(both the organisms benefit) or parasitism (nematodes
benefit at the expense of the insect) (Giblin-Davis,
2004).
Most Bursaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 species are mycetophagous,
feeding on fungi in the galleries of bark beetles
and thu
Metal-insulator Crossover Behavior at the Surface of NiS_2
We have performed a detailed high-resolution electron spectroscopic
investigation of NiS and related Se-substituted compounds
NiSSe, which are known to be gapped insulators in the bulk at all
temperatures. A large spectral weight at the Fermi energy of the room
temperature spectrum, in conjunction with the extreme surface sensitivity of
the experimental probe, however, suggests that the surface layer is metallic at
300 K. Interestingly, the evolution of the spectral function with decreasing
temperature is characterized by a continuous depletion of the single-particle
spectral weight at the Fermi energy and the development of a gap-like structure
below a characteristic temperature, providing evidence for a metal-insulator
crossover behavior at the surfaces of NiS and of related compounds. These
results provide a consistent description of the unusual transport properties
observed in these systems.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Scaling behavior of the dipole coupling energy in two-dimensional disordered magnetic nanostructures
Numerical calculations of the average dipole-coupling energy in two-dimensional disordered magnetic nanostructures are
performed as function of the particle coverage . We observe that scales as with an
unusually small exponent --1.0 for coverages
. This behavior is shown to be primarly given by the
contributions of particle pairs at short distances, which is intrinsically
related to the presence of an appreciable degree of disorder. The value of
is found to be sensitive to the magnetic arrangement within the
nanostructure and to the degree of disorder. For large coverages
we obtain with , in agreement
with the straighforward scaling of the dipole coupling as in a periodic
particle setup. Taking into account the effect of single-particle anisotropies,
we show that the scaling exponent can be used as a criterion to distinguish
between weakly interacting () and strongly interacting
() particle ensembles as function of coverage.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.
Hyperthermic effects of dissipative structures of magnetic nanoparticles in large alternating magnetic fields
Targeted hyperthermia treatment using magnetic nanoparticles is a promising cancer therapy. However, the mechanisms of heat dissipation in the large alternating magnetic field used during such treatment have not been clarified. In this study, we numerically compared the magnetic loss in rotatable nanoparticles in aqueous media with that of non-rotatable nanoparticles anchored to localised structures. In the former, the relaxation loss in superparamagnetic nanoparticles has a secondary maximum because of slow rotation of the magnetic easy axis of each nanoparticle in the large field in addition to the known primary maximum caused by rapid Néel relaxation. Irradiation of rotatable ferromagnetic nanoparticles with a high-frequency axial field generates structures oriented in a longitudinal or planar direction irrespective of the free energy. Consequently, these dissipative structures significantly affect the conditions for maximum hysteresis loss. These findings shed new light on the design of targeted magnetic hyperthermia treatments
Phase Separation and the Low-Field Bulk Magnetic Properties of Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3
We present a detailed magnetic study of the perovskite manganite
Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 at low temperatures including magnetization and a.c.
susceptibility measurements. The data appear to exclude a conventional spin
glass phase at low fields, suggesting instead the presence of correlated
ferromagnetic clusters embedded in a charge-ordered matrix. We examine the
growth of the ferromagnetic clusters with increasing magnetic field as they
expand to occupy almost the entire sample at H ~ 0.5 T. Since this is well
below the field required to induce a metallic state, our results point to the
existence of a field-induced ferromagnetic insulating state in this material.Comment: 15 pages with figures, submitted to Physical Review
Numerical Study of Aging in the Generalized Random Energy Model
Magnetizations are introduced to the Generalized Random Energy Model (GREM)
and numerical simulations on ac susceptibility is made for direct comparison
with experiments in glassy materials. Prominent dynamical natures of spin
glasses, {\it i.e.}, {\em memory} effect and {\em reinitialization}, are
reproduced well in the GREM. The existence of many layers causing continuous
transitions is very important for the two natures. Results of experiments in
other glassy materials such as polymers, supercooled glycerol and orientational
glasses, which are contrast to those in spin glasses, are interpreted well by
the Single-layer Random Energy Model.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, to be submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Chaotic, memory and cooling rate effects in spin glasses: Is the Edwards-Anderson model a good spin glass?
We investigate chaotic, memory and cooling rate effects in the three
dimensional Edwards-Anderson model by doing thermoremanent (TRM) and AC
susceptibility numerical experiments and making a detailed comparison with
laboratory experiments on spin glasses. In contrast to the experiments, the
Edwards-Anderson model does not show any trace of re-initialization processes
in temperature change experiments (TRM or AC). A detailed comparison with AC
relaxation experiments in the presence of DC magnetic field or coupling
distribution perturbations reveals that the absence of chaotic effects in the
Edwards-Anderson model is a consequence of the presence of strong cooling rate
effects. We discuss possible solutions to this discrepancy, in particular the
smallness of the time scales reached in numerical experiments, but we also
question the validity of the Edwards-Anderson model to reproduce the
experimental results.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. The original version of the paper has been
split in two parts. The second part is now available as cond-mat/010224
Real spin glasses relax slowly in the shade of hierarchical trees
The Parisi solution of the mean-field spin glass has been widely accepted and
celebrated. Its marginal stability in 3d and its complexity however raised the
question of its relevance to real spin glasses. This paper gives a short
overview of the important experimental results which could be understood within
the mean-field solution. The existence of a true phase transition and the
particular behaviour of the susceptibility below the freezing temperature,
predicted by the theory, are clearly confirmed by the experimental results. The
behaviour of the complex order parameter and of the Fluctuation Dissipation
ratio are in good agreement with results of spontaneous noise measurements. The
very particular ultrametric symmetry, the key feature of the theory, provided
us with a simple description of the rejuvenation and memory effects observed in
experiment. Finally, going a step beyond mean-field, the paper shortly
discusses new analyses in terms of correlated domains characterized by their
length scales, as well as new experiments on superspin glasses which compare
well with recent theoretical simulations.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of "Wandering with Curiosity in Complex
Landscapes", a scientific conference in honour of Giorgio Parisi for his 60th
birthday, Roma, September 8-10 2008 (submitted for the special issue of the
Journal of Statistical Physics, 2009
Hysteresis loop signatures of phase transitions in a mean-field model of disordered Ising magnet
In accordance with recent experiments the mean-field type theories predict
the presence of numerous metastable minima (states) in the rugged free-energy
landscape of frustrated disordered magnets. This multiplicity of long-lived
states with lifetimes greater than makes the task to experimentally
determine which of them has the lowest free energy (and thus what thermodynamic
phase the sample is in) seem rather hopeless the more so as we do not know a
protocol (such as field-cooling or zero-field-cooling) leading to the
equilibrium state(s). Nevertheless here we show in the framework of Landau-type
phenomenological model that signatures of the mean-field equilibrium phase
transitions in such highly nonequilibrium systems may be found in the evolution
of the hysteresis loop form. Thus the sequence of transitions from spin-glass
to mixed phase and to ferromagnetic one results in the changes from inclined
hysteresis loop to that with the developing vertical sides and to one with the
perfectly vertical sides. Such relation between loop form and the location of
global minimum may hold beyond the mean-field approximation and can be useful
in the real experiments and Monte-Carlo simulations of the problems involving
rugged potential landscape. Also the very existence of the quasi-static loops
in spin glass and mixed phases implies that the known disorder-smoothing of the
first-order transition can be always accompanied by the emergence of multiple
metastable states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; misprints corrected, slight deviations from
published version (abstract and references
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