Magnetization plateaus in antiferromagnetic-(ferromagnetic)_{n} polymerized S=1/2 XXZ chains

The plateau-non-plateau transition in the antiferromagnetic-(ferromagnetic)$_{n}$ polymerized $S=1/2$ XXZ chains under the magnetic field is investigated. The universality class of this transition belongs to the Brezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) type. The critical points are determined by level spectroscopy analysis of the numerical diagonalization data for $4 \leq p \leq 13$ where $p(\equiv n+1)$ is the size of a unit cell. It is found that the critical strength of ferromagnetic coupling decreases with $p$ for small $p$ but increases for larger enough $p$. It is also found that the plateau for large $p$ is wide enough for moderate values of exchange coupling so that it should be easily observed experimentally. This is in contrast to the plateaus for $p = 3$ chains which are narrow for a wide range of exchange coupling even away from the critical point

The antiferromagnetic order in an F-AF random alternating quantum spin chain : (CH_3)_2 CHNH_3 Cu(Cl_x Br_{1-x})_3

A possibility of the uniform antiferromagnetic order is pointed out in an S=1/2 ferromagnetic (F) - antiferromagnetic (AF) random alternating Heisenberg quantum spin chain compound: (CH_3)_2 CHNH_3 Cu(Cl_x Br_{1-x})_3. The system possesses the bond alternation of strong random bonds that take +/- 2J and weak uniform AF bonds of -J. In the pure concentration limits, the model reduces to the AF-AF alternation chain at x=0 and to the F-AF alternation chain at x=1. The nonequilibrium relaxation of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations exhibits critical behaviors of the uniform AF order in the intermediate concentration region, which explains the experimental observation of the magnetic phase transition. The present results suggest that the uniform AF order may survive even in the presence of the randomly located ferromagnetic bonds.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Interacting Boson Theory of the Magnetization Process of the Spin-1/2 Ferromagnetic-Antiferromagnetic Alternating Heisenberg Chain

The low temperature magnetization process of the ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain is studied using the interacting boson approximation. In the low field regime and near the saturation field, the spin wave excitations are approximated by the $\delta$ function boson gas for which the Bethe ansatz solution is available. The finite temperature properties are calculated by solving the integral equation numerically. The comparison is made with Monte Carlo calculation and the limit of the applicability of the present approximation is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

VEGF(164)-mediated inflammation is required for pathological, but not physiological, ischemia-induced retinal neovascularization

Hypoxia-induced VEGF governs both physiological retinal vascular development and pathological retinal neovascularization. In the current paper, the mechanisms of physiological and pathological neovascularization are compared and contrasted. During pathological neovascularization, both the absolute and relative expression levels for VEGF(164) increased to a greater degree than during physiological neovascularization. Furthermore, extensive leukocyte adhesion was observed at the leading edge of pathological, but not physiological, neovascularization. When a VEGF(164)-specific neutralizing aptamer was administered, it potently suppressed the leukocyte adhesion and pathological neovascularization, whereas it had little or no effect on physiological neovascularization. In parallel experiments, genetically altered VEGF(164)-deficient (VEGF(120/188)) mice exhibited no difference in physiological neovascularization when compared with wild-type (VEGF(+/+)) controls. In contrast, administration of a VEGFk-1/Fc fusion protein, which blocks all VEGF isoforms, led to significant suppression of both pathological and physiological neovascularization. In addition, the targeted inactivation of monocyte lineage cells with clodronate-liposomes led to the suppression of pathological neovascularization. Conversely, the blockade of T lymphocyte-mediated immune responses with an anti-CD2 antibody exacerbated pathological neovascularization. These data highlight important molecular and cellular differences between physiological and pathological retinal neovascularization. During pathological neovascularization, VEGF(164) selectively induces inflammation and cellular immunity. These processes provide positive and negative angiogenic regulation, respectively. Together, new therapeutic approaches for selectively targeting pathological, but not physiological, retinal neovascularization are outlined

Interplay between quasi-periodicity and disorder in quantum spin chains in a magnetic field

We study the interplay between disorder and a quasi periodic coupling array in an external magnetic field in a spin-1/2 XXZ chain. A simple real space decimation argument is used to estimate the magnetization values where plateaux show up. The latter are in good agreement with exact diagonalization results on fairly long XX chains. Spontaneous susceptibility properties are also studied, finding a logarithmic behaviour similar to the homogeneously disordered case.Comment: 5 RevTeX pages, 5 Postscript figures include

Difference in surgical outcomes of rectal cancer by study design: meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials, case-matched studies, and cohort studies

Background RCTs are considered the standard in surgical research, whereas case-matched studies and propensity score matching studies are conducted as an alternative option. Both study designs have been used to investigate the potential superiority of robotic surgery over laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer. However, no conclusion has been reached regarding whether there are differences in findings according to study design. This study aimed to examine similarities and differences in findings relating to robotic surgery for rectal cancer by study design. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL to identify RCTs, case-matched studies, and cohort studies that compared robotic versus laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer. Primary outcomes were incidence of postoperative overall complications, incidence of anastomotic leakage, and postoperative mortality. Meta-analyses were performed for each study design using a random-effects model. Results Fifty-nine articles were identified and reviewed. No differences were observed in incidence of anastomotic leakage, mortality, rate of positive circumferential resection margins, conversion rate, and duration of operation by study design. With respect to the incidence of postoperative overall complications and duration of hospital stay, the superiority of robotic surgery was most evident in cohort studies (risk ratio (RR) 0.83, 95 per cent c.i. 0.74 to 0.92, P < 0.001; mean difference (MD) –1.11 (95 per cent c.i. –1.86 to –0.36) days, P = 0.004; respectively), and least evident in RCTs (RR 1.12, 0.91 to 1.38, P = 0.27; MD –0.28 (–1.44 to 0.88) days, P = 0.64; respectively). Conclusion Results of case-matched studies were often similar to those of RCTs in terms of outcomes of robotic surgery for rectal cancer. However, case-matched studies occasionally overestimated the effects of interventions compared with RCTs

Ground State and Magnetization Process of the Mixture of Bond-Alternating and Uniform S=1/2 Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Chains

The mixture of bond-alternating and uniform S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains is investigated by the density matrix renormalization group method. The ground state magnetization curve is calculated and the exchange parameters are determined by fitting to the experimentally measured magnetization curve of \CuCl$_{2x}$Br$_{2(1-x)}$($\gamma$-pic)$_2$. The low field behavior of the magnetization curve and low temperature behavior of the magnetic susceptibility are found to be sensitive to whether the bond-alternation pattern (parity) is fixed all over the sample or randomly distributed. The both quantities are compatible with the numerical results for the random parity model.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Final and enlarged version accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Dimer Expansion Study of the Bilayer Square Lattice Frustrated Quantum Heisenberg Antiferromagnet

The ground state of the square lattice bilayer quantum antiferromagnet with nearest ($J_1$) and next-nearest ($J_2$) neighbour intralayer interaction is studied by means of the dimer expansion method up to the 6-th order in the interlayer exchange coupling $J_3$. The phase boundary between the spin-gap phase and the magnetically ordered phase is determined from the poles of the biased Pad\'e approximants for the susceptibility and the inverse energy gap assuming the universality class of the 3-dimensional classical Heisenberg model. For weak frustration, the critical interlayer coupling decreases linearly with $\alpha (= J_2/J_1)$. The spin-gap phase persists down to $J_3=0$ (single layer limit) for 0.45 \simleq \alpha \simleq 0.65. The crossover of the short range order within the disordered phase is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, One reference adde

Behavior of a frustrated quantum spin chain with bond dimerization

We clarified behavior of the excitation gap in a frustrated S=1/2 quantum spin chain with bond dimerization by using the numerical diagonalization of finite systems and a variational approach. The model interpolates between the independent dimer model and the S=1 spin chain by changing a strength of the dimerization. The energy gap is minimum at the fully-frustrated point, where a localized kink and a freely mobile anti-kink govern the low-lying excitations. Away from the point, a kink and an antikink form a bound state by an effective triangular potential between them. The consequential gap enhancement and the localization length of the bound state is obtained exactly in the continuous limit. The gap enhancement obeys a power law with exponent 2/3. The method and the obtained results are common to other frustrated double spin-chain systems, such as the one-dimensional J_1 - J_2 model, or the frustrated ladder model.Comment: 11 pages, REVTeX, 8 figures in eps-fil

Density Matrix Renormalization Group Study of the Spin 1/2 Heisenberg Ladder with Antiferromagnetic Legs and Ferromagnetic Rungs

The ground state and low lying excitation of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg ladder with antiferromagnetic leg ($J$) and ferromagnetic rung ($-\lambda J, \lambda >0$) interaction is studied by means of the density matrix renormalization group method. It is found that the state remains in the Haldane phase even for small $\lambda \sim 0.02$ suggesting the continuous transition to the gapless phase at $\lambda = 0$. The critical behavior for small $\lambda$ is studied by the finite size scaling analysis. The result is consistent with the recent field theoretical prediction.Comment: 11 pages, revtex, figures upon reques