7,746 research outputs found
Enhancement of flux-line pinning in all-oxide superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures
We have studied the local critical current density, jc, in the superconductor
thin film of bilayer structures consisting of YBa2Cu3O7 and the ferromagnets
La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 and SrRuO3, respectively, by means of quantitative
magneto-optics. A pronounced hysteresis of jc was observed which is ascribed to
the magnetization state of the ferromagnetic layer. The results are discussed
within the frame of magnetic vortex - wall interactions.Comment: 9 page
Dramatic role of critical current anisotropy on flux avalanches in MgB2 films
Anisotropic penetration of magnetic flux in MgB2 films grown on vicinal
sapphire substrates is investigated using magneto-optical imaging. Regular
penetration above 10 K proceeds more easily along the substrate surface steps,
anisotropy of the critical current being 6%. At lower temperatures the
penetration occurs via abrupt dendritic avalanches that preferentially
propagate {\em perpendicular} to the surface steps. This inverse anisotropy in
the penetration pattern becomes dramatic very close to 10 K where all flux
avalanches propagate in the strongest-pinning direction. The observed behavior
is fully explained using a thermomagnetic model of the dendritic instability.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Universal temperature scaling of flux line pinning in high-temperature superconducting thin films
Dissipation-free current transport in high-temperature superconductors is one
of the most crucial properties of this class of materials which is directly
related to the effective inhibition of flux line movement by defect structures.
In this respect epitaxially grown thin films of YBa2Cu3O7-d (YBCO) are proving
to be the strongest candidates for many widescale applications that are close
to realization. We show that the relation between different defect structures
and flux line pinning in these films exhibits universal features which are
clearly displayed in a detailed analysis of the temperature-dependent behaviour
of local critical currents. This allows us to identify different pinning
mechanisms at different temperatures to be responsible for the found critical
currents. Additionally, the presence of grain boundaries with very low
misorientation angles affects the temperature stability of the critical
currents which has important consequences for future applications.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures To be published in Journal of Physics: Condensed
matte
J Mol Biol
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by a trinucleotide expansion in the SCA2 gene, encoding a polyglutamine stretch in the gene product ataxin-2 (ATX2), whose cellular function is unknown. However, ATX2 interacts with A2BP1, a protein containing an RNA-recognition motif, and the existence of an interaction motif for the C-terminal domain of the poly(A)-binding protein (PABC) as well as an Lsm (Like Sm) domain in ATX2 suggest that ATX2 like its yeast homolog Pbp1 might be involved in RNA metabolism. Here, we show that, similar to Pbp1, ATX2 suppresses the petite (pet−) phenotype of Δmrs2 yeast strains lacking mitochondrial group II introns. This finding points to a close functional relationship between the two homologs. To gain insight into potential functions of ATX2, we also generated a comprehensive protein interaction network for Pbp1 from publicly available databases, which implicates Pbp1 in diverse RNA-processing pathways. The functional relationship of ATX2 and Pbp1 is further corroborated by the experimental confirmation of the predicted interaction of ATX2 with the cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PABP) using yeast-2-hybrid analysis as well as co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that ATX2 and PABP co-localize in mammalian cells, remarkably, even under conditions in which PABP accumulates in distinct cytoplasmic foci representing sites of mRNA triage
Circadian genes in a blind subterranean mammal II: Conservation and uniqueness of the three Period homologs in the blind subterranean mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies
Doppler peaks from active perturbations
We examine how the qualitative structure of the Doppler peaks in the angular
power spectrum of the cosmic microwave anisotropy depends on the fundamental
nature of the perturbations which produced them. The formalism of Hu and
Sugiyama is extended to treat models with cosmic defects. We discuss how
perturbations can be ``active'' or ``passive'' and ``incoherent'' or
``coherent'', and show how causality and scale invariance play rather different
roles in these various cases. We find that the existence of secondary Doppler
peaks and the rough placing of the primary peak unambiguously reflect these
basic properties.Comment: uufile, 8pages, 3 figures. Now available at
http://euclid.tp.ph/Papers/index.html; Changes: URL added, Eqn. (8) expanded,
grant numbers include
Biological clock in total darkness: The Clock/MOP3 circadian system of the blind subterranean mole rat
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