752 research outputs found
Interactions of lipid monolayers with the natural biopolymer hyaluronic acid
AbstractThe interaction of the natural mucopolysaccharide hyaluronic acid with different lipids, present in the natural membranes, was studied at the lipid/water interface using thermodynamic methods and X-ray diffraction. The results show that this biopolymer modifies the properties and the structure of the lipid monolayer. The two-dimensional crystalline lattice and domain structure of the charged octadecylamine monolayer are strongly disturbed by the hyaluronic acid, the monolayer compressibility increases and the monolayer collapse pressure drops down. In addition, the presence of charged lipid interfaces influences the structural organisation of the hyaluronic acid at the membrane/water interfaces. The impacts of these results on the structural organisation at the membrane interface are discussed
Electronic correlation effects and the Coulomb gap at finite temperature
We have investigated the effect of the long-range Coulomb interaction on the
one-particle excitation spectrum of n-type Germanium, using tunneling
spectroscopy on mechanically controllable break junctions. The tunnel
conductance was measured as a function of energy and temperature. At low
temperatures, the spectra reveal a minimum at zero bias voltage due to the
Coulomb gap. In the temperature range above 1 K the Coulomb gap is filled by
thermal excitations. This behavior is reflected in the temperature dependence
of the variable-range hopping resitivity measured on the same samples: Up to a
few degrees Kelvin the Efros-Shkovskii ln law is obeyed,
whereas at higher temperatures deviations from this law are observed,
indicating a cross-over to Mott's ln law. The mechanism of
this cross-over is different from that considered previously in the literature.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Influence of trigonal warping on interference effects in bilayer graphene
Bilayer graphene (two coupled graphitic monolayers arranged according to Bernal stacking) is a two-dimensional gapless semiconductor with a peculiar electronic spectrum different from the Dirac spectrum in the monolayer material. In particular, the electronic Fermi line in each of its valleys has a strong p -> -p asymmetry due to trigonal warping, which suppresses the weak localization effect. We show that weak localization in bilayer graphene may be present only in devices with pronounced intervalley scattering, and we evaluate the corresponding magnetoresistance
Variations of Li and Mg isotope ratios in bulk chondrites and mantle xenoliths
Author Posting. Ā© The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75 (2011): 5247-5268, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2011.06.026.We present whole rock Li and Mg isotope analyses of 33 ultramafic xenoliths from
the terrestrial mantle, which we compare with analyses of 30 (mostly chondritic)
meteorites. The accuracy of our new Mg isotope ratio measurement protocol is
substantiated by a combination of standard addition experiments, the absence of mass
independent effects in terrestrial samples and our obtaining identical values for rock
standards using 2 different separation chemistries and 3 different mass-spectrometric
introduction systems. Carbonaceous, ordinary and enstatite chondrites have
irresolvable mean stable Mg isotopic compositions (Ī“25Mg = -0.14 Ā± 0.06; Ī“26Mg = -
0.27 Ā± 0.12ā°, 2sd), but our enstatite chondrite samples have lighter Ī“7Li (by up to
~3ā°) than our mean carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites (3.0 Ā± 1.5ā°, 2sd),
possibly as a result of spallation in the early solar system. Measurements of
equilibrated, fertile peridotites give mean values of Ī“7Li = 3.5 Ā± 0.5ā°, Ī“25Mg = -0.10
Ā± 0.03ā° and Ī“26Mg = -0.21 Ā± 0.07ā°. We believe these values provide a useful
estimate of the primitive mantle and they are within error of our average of bulk
carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. A fuller range of fresh, terrestrial, ultramafic
samples, covering a variety of geological histories, show a broad positive correlation
between bulk Ī“7Li and Ī“26Mg, which vary from -3.7 to +14.5ā°, and -0.36 to +0.06ā°,
respectively. Values of Ī“7Li and Ī“26Mg lower than our estimate of primitive mantle
are strongly linked to kinetic isotope fractionation, occurring during transport of the
mantle xenoliths. We suggest Mg and Li diffusion into the xenoliths is coupled to H loss from nominally anhydrous minerals following degassing. Diffusion models
suggest that the co-variation of Mg and Li isotopes requires comparable diffusivities
of Li and Mg in olivine. The isotopically lightest samples require ~5-10 years of
diffusive ingress, which we interpret as a time since volatile loss in the host magma.
Xenoliths erupted in pyroclastic flows appear to have retained their mantle isotope
ratios, likely as a result of little prior degassing in these explosive events. High Ī“7Li,
coupled with high [Li], in rapidly cooled arc peridotites may indicate that these
samples represent fragments of mantle wedge that has been metasomatised by heavy,
slab-derived fluids. If such material is typically stirred back into the convecting
mantle, it may account for the heavy Ī“7Li seen in some oceanic basalts.PPvS was supported
by NERC grant NER/C510983/
Spinel Harzburgite-Derived Silicate Melts Forming Sulfide-Bearing Orthopyroxenite in the Lithosphere. Part 1: Partition Coefficients and Volatile Evolution Accompanying Fluid- and Redox-Induced Sulfide Formation
We report abundances of major trace and volatile elements in an orthopyroxenite vein cutting a sub-arc, mantle-derived, spinel harzburgite xenolith from Kamchatka. The orthopyroxenite contains abundant sulfides and is characterized by the presence of glass (formerly melt) both interstitially and as inclusions in minerals, comparable with similar veins from the West Bismarck arc. The glass formed by quenching of residual melts following crystallization of abundant orthopyroxene, amphibole, and minor olivine and spinel. The interstitial glass has a low-Ti, high-Mg# andesite composition, with a wide range of H2O and S contents but more limited F and Cl variations. We calculate trace element partition coefficients using mineral and glass data, including those for halogens in amphibole, which agree with experimental results from the literature. Despite having a similar, high-Mg# andesite composition, the orthopyroxene-hosted glass inclusions usually contain much more H2O and S than the interstitial glass (4ā7 wt% and ā¼2,600 ppm, respectively). The initial vein-forming melts were oxidized, recording oxygen fugacity conditions up to ā¼1.5 log units above the fayaliteāmagnetiteāquartz oxygen buffer. They intruded the sub-arc mantle lithosphere at ā„1,300Ā°C, where they partially crystallized to form high-Mg# andesitic derivative melts at ca. 1,050ā1,100Ā°C. Comparison with literature data on glass-free orthopyroxenite veins from Kamchatka and the glass-bearing ones from West Bismarck reveals fundamental similarities indicating common parental melts, which were originally produced by low-degree melting (ā¤5%) of spinel harzburgite at ā„1,360Ā°C and ā¤1.5 GPa. This harzburgite source likely contained ā¤0.05 wt% H2O and a few ppm of halogens. Volatile evolution inferred from glass compositions shows that (i) redox exchange between S6+ in the original melt and Fe2+ in the host mantle minerals, together with (ii) the formation of an S-bearing, (H2O, Cl)-rich hydrothermal fluid from the original melt, provides the conditions for the formation of abundant sulfides in the orthopyroxenites during cooling. During this process, up to 85% of the original melt S content (ā¼2,600 ppm) is locally precipitated as magmatic and hydrothermal sulfides. As such, melts derived from spinel harzburgite sources can concentrate chalcophile and highly siderophile metals in orthopyroxenite dykes and sills in the lithosphere
Recommended from our members
4D Biofabrication of fibrous artificial nerve graft for neuron regeneration
In this paper, we describe the application of the 4D biofabrication approach for the fabrication of artificial nerve graft. Bilayer scaffolds consisting of uniaxially aligned polycaprolactone-poly(glycerol sebacate) (PCL-PGS) and randomly aligned methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HA-MA) fibers were fabricated using electrospinning and further used for the culture of PC-12 neuron cells. Tubular structures form instantly after immersion of fibrous bilayer in an aqueous buffer and the diameter of obtained tubes can be controlled by changing bilayer parameters such as the thickness of each layer, overall bilayer thickness, and medium counterion concentration. Designed scaffolds showed a self-folded scroll-like structure with high stability after four weeks of real-time degradation. The significance of this research is in the fabrication of tuneable tubular nerve guide conduits that can simplify the current existing clinical treatment of neural injuries. Ā© 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd
Localization length and impurity dielectric susceptibility in the critical regime of the metal-insulator transition in homogeneously doped p-type Ge
We have determined the localization length \xi and the impurity dielectric
susceptibility \chi_{\rm imp} as a function of Ga acceptor concentrations (N)
in nominally uncompensated ^{70}Ge:Ga just below the critical concentration
(N_c) for the metal-insulator transition. Both \xi and \chi_{\rm imp} diverge
at N_c according to the functions \xi\propto(1-N/N_c)^{-\nu} and \chi_{\rm
imp}\propto(N_c/N-1)^{-\zeta}, respectively, with \nu=1.2\pm0.3 and
\zeta=2.3\pm0.6 for 0.99N_c< N< N_c. Outside of this region (N<0.99N_c), the
values of the exponents drop to \nu=0.33\pm0.03 and \zeta=0.62\pm0.05. The
effect of the small amount of compensating dopants that are present in our
nominally uncompensated samples, may be responsible for the change of the
critical exponents at N\approx0.99N_c.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages with 5 embedded figures, final version (minor
changes
HfāZr anomalies in clinopyroxene from mantle xenoliths from France and Poland: implications for LuāHf dating of spinel peridotite lithospheric mantle
Clinopyroxenes in some fresh anhydrous spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths from the northern Massif Central (France) and Lower Silesia (Poland), analysed for a range of incompatible trace elements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, show unusually strong negative anomalies in Hf and Zr relative to adjacent elements Sm and Nd, on primitive mantle-normalised diagrams. Similar ZrāHf anomalies have only rarely been reported from clinopyroxene in spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths worldwide, and most are not as strong as the examples reported here. Low Hf contents give rise to a wide range of Lu/Hf ratios, which over geological time would result in highly radiogenic ĪµHf values, decoupling them from ĪµNd ratios. The high 176Lu/177Hf could in theory produce an isochronous relationship with 176Hf/177Hf over time; an errorchron is shown by clinopyroxene from mantle xenoliths from the northern Massif Central. However, in a review of the literature, we show that most mantle spinel peridotites do not show such high Lu/Hf ratios in their constituent clinopyroxenes, because they lack the distinctive ZrāHf anomaly, and this limits the usefulness of the application of the LuāHf system of dating to garnet-free mantle rocks. Nevertheless, some mantle xenoliths from Poland or the Czech Republic may be amenable to Hf-isotope dating in the future
- ā¦