22 research outputs found
Microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended impurities: a real-space renormalization group approach
Using a real-space renormalization group (RSRG) technique, we compute the
microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended
impurities. To do this, we invoke a semiclassical approximation which naturally
accesses the Andreev bound states localized near each impurity. Tunneling
corrections (which are captured using the RSRG) lead to a delocalization of
these quasiparticles and an associated contribution to the microwave
conductivity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. 2 figures added to previous versio
Neonatal Pain-Related Stress and NFKBIA Genotype Are Associated with Altered Cortisol Levels in Preterm Boys at School Age
Neonatal pain-related stress is associated with elevated salivary cortisol levels to age 18 months in children born very preterm, compared to full-term, suggesting early programming effects. Importantly, interactions between immune/inflammatory and neuroendocrine systems may underlie programming effects. We examined whether cortisol changes persist to school age, and if common genetic variants in the promoter region of the NFKBIA gene involved in regulation of immune and inflammatory responses, modify the association between early experience and later life stress as indexed by hair cortisol levels, which provide an integrated index of endogenous HPA axis activity. Cortisol was assayed in hair samples from 128 children (83 born preterm ≤ 32 weeks gestation and 45 born full-term) without major sensory, motor or cognitive impairments at age 7 years. We found that hair cortisol levels were lower in preterm compared to term-born children. Downregulation of the HPA axis in preterm children without major impairment, seen years after neonatal stress terminated, suggests persistent alteration of stress system programming. Importantly, the etiology was gender-specific such that in preterm boys but not girls, specifically those with the minor allele for NFKBIA rs2233409, lower hair cortisol was associated with greater neonatal pain (number of skin-breaking procedures from birth to term), independent of medical confounders. Moreover, the minor allele (CT or TT) of NFKBIA rs2233409 was associated with higher secretion of inflammatory cytokines, supporting the hypothesis that neonatal pain-related stress may act as a proinflammatory stimulus that induces long-term immune cell activation. These findings are the first evidence that a long-term association between early pain-related stress and cortisol may be mediated by a genetic variants that regulate the activity of NF-κB, suggesting possible involvement of stress/inflammatory mechanisms in HPA programming in boys born very preterm
Thermal Conductivity Tensor in YBaCuO: Effects of a Planar Magnetic Field
We have measured the thermal conductivity tensor of a twinned
YBaCuO single crystal as a function of angle between
the magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO planes and the heat current
direction, at different magnetic fields and at T=13.8 K. Clear fourfold and
twofold variations in the field-angle dependence of and
were respectively recorded in accordance with the d-wave pairing
symmetry of the order parameter. The oscillation amplitude of the transverse
thermal conductivity was found to be larger than the
longitudinal one in the range of magnetic field studied here
(). From our data we obtain quantities that are free
from non-electronic contributions and they allow us a comparison of the
experimental results with current models for the quasiparticle transport in the
mixed state.Comment: 9 Figures, Phys. Rev. B(in press
Optical Sum Rule in Finite Bands
In a single finite electronic band the total optical spectral weight or
optical sum carries information on the interactions involved between the charge
carriers as well as on their band structure. It varies with temperature as well
as with impurity scattering. The single band optical sum also bears some
relationship to the charge carrier kinetic energy and, thus, can potentially
provide useful information, particularly on its change as the charge carriers
go from normal to superconducting state. Here we review the considerable
advances that have recently been made in the context of high oxides, both
theoretical and experimental.Comment: Review article accepted for publication in J. Low Temp. Phys. 29
pages, 33 figure
Identification of the bulk pairing symmetry in high-temperature superconductors: Evidence for an extended s-wave with eight line nodes
we identify the intrinsic bulk pairing symmetry for both electron and
hole-doped cuprates from the existing bulk- and nearly bulk-sensitive
experimental results such as magnetic penetration depth, Raman scattering,
single-particle tunneling, Andreev reflection, nonlinear Meissner effect,
neutron scattering, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy. These experiments consistently show that the
dominant bulk pairing symmetry in hole-doped cuprates is of extended s-wave
with eight line nodes, and of anisotropic s-wave in electron-doped cuprates.
The proposed pairing symmetries do not contradict some surface- and
phase-sensitive experiments which show a predominant d-wave pairing symmetry at
the degraded surfaces. We also quantitatively explain the phase-sensitive
experiments along the c-axis for both Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y} and
YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y}.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Prevalence of Toll-like receptor signalling defects in apparently healthy children who developed invasive pneumococcal infection
Human primary immunodeficiencies affecting Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling reveal a non-redundant role for TLR function in defense against pneumococcal infection. To determine the clinical relevance of TLR abnormalities, we studied a population predicted to be enriched for TLR defects-healthy children who had developed invasive pneumococcal infection in the absence of classic risk factors for infection. We describe the development and optimization of a peripheral blood TLR assay. By testing 38 healthy control neonates, children and adults we demonstrated that TLR function was stable over the first six decades of life. We tested 50 children with a history of invasive pneumococcal infection and although TLR defects were predicted to be over-represented in this population, we did not identify any TLR abnormalities. Although TLR signalling defects are associated with greatly enhanced susceptibility to invasive pneumococcal infection, our results suggest that routine clinical screening for TLR defects in healthy children who develop invasive pneumococcal infection is not justified