166 research outputs found
A Pluralistic Ecopsychology: Embracing the Tension Between Traditions and Trends
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140364/1/eco.2014.0014.pd
Superconductivity in Dense Wires
becomes superconducting just below 40 K. Whereas porous
polycrystalline samples of can be synthesized from boron powders, in
this letter we demonstrate that dense wires of can be prepared by
exposing boron filaments to vapor. The resulting wires have a diameter of
160 , are better than 80% dense and manifest the full shielding in the superconducting state. Temperature-dependent
resistivity measurements indicate that is a highly conducting metal in
the normal state with = 0.38 -. Using this value, an
electronic mean free path, can be estimated, indicating
that wires are well within the clean limit. , , and
data indicate that manifests comparable or better superconducting
properties in dense wire form than it manifests as a sintered pellet.Comment: Figures' layout fixe
Competition Between Stripes and Pairing in a t-t'-J Model
As the number of legs n of an n-leg, t-J ladder increases, density matrix
renormalization group calculations have shown that the doped state tends to be
characterized by a static array of domain walls and that pairing correlations
are suppressed. Here we present results for a t-t'-J model in which a diagonal,
single particle, next-near-neighbor hopping t' is introduced. We find that this
can suppress the formation of stripes and, for t' positive, enhance the
d_{x^2-y^2}-like pairing correlations. The effect of t' > 0 is to cause the
stripes to evaporate into pairs and for t' < 0 to evaporate into
quasi-particles. Results for n=4 and 6-leg ladders are discussed.Comment: Four pages, four encapsulated figure
Local Magnetic Order vs. Superconductivity in a Layered Cuprate
We report on the phase diagram for charge-stripe order in
La(1.6-x)Nd(0.4)Sr(x)CuO(4), determined by neutron and x-ray scattering studies
and resistivity measurements. From an analysis of the in-plane resistivity
motivated by recent nuclear-quadrupole-resonance studies, we conclude that the
transition temperature for local charge ordering decreases monotonically with
x, and hence that local antiferromagnetic order is uniquely correlated with the
anomalous depression of superconductivity at x = 1/8. This result is consistent
with theories in which superconductivity depends on the existence of
charge-stripe correlations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; introduction revised, Fig. 3 removed, last figure
replace
Charge Segregation, Cluster Spin-Glass and Superconductivity in La1.94Sr0.06CuO4
A 63Cu and 139La NMR/NQR study of superconducting (Tc=7 K) La1.94Sr0.06CuO4
single crystal is reported. Coexistence of spin-glass and superconducting
phases is found below ~5 K from 139La NMR relaxation. 63Cu and 139La NMR
spectra show that, upon cooling, CuO2 planes progressively separate into two
magnetic phases, one of them having enhanced antiferromagnetic correlations.
These results establish the AF-cluster nature of the spin-glass. We discuss how
this phase can be related to the microsegregation of mobile holes and to the
possible pinning of charge-stripes.Comment: 4 pages. Modified manuscript with clarification
Differential Glucose-Regulation of MicroRNAs in Pancreatic Islets of Non-Obese Type 2 Diabetes Model Goto-Kakizaki Rat
The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is a well-studied non-obese spontaneous type 2 diabetes (T2D) animal model characterized by impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in the pancreatic beta cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short regulatory RNAs involved in many fundamental biological processes. We aim to identify miRNAs that are differentially-expressed in the pancreatic islets of the GK rats and investigate both their short- and long term glucose-dependence during glucose-stimulatory conditions
Loss of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha 2 subunit in mouse beta-cells impairs glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and inhibits their sensitivity to hypoglycaemia
AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) signalling plays a key role in whole-body energy homoeostasis, although its precise role in pancreatic β-cell function remains unclear. In the present stusy, we therefore investigated whether AMPK plays a critical function in β-cell glucose sensing and is required for the maintenance of normal glucose homoeostasis. Mice lacking AMPKι2 in β-cells and a population of hypothalamic neurons (RIPCreι2KO mice) and RIPCreι2KO mice lacking AMPKι1 (ι1KORIPCreι2KO) globally were assessed for whole-body glucose homoeostasis and insulin secretion. Isolated pancreatic islets from these mice were assessed for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and gene expression changes. Cultured β-cells were examined electrophysiologically for their electrical responsiveness to hypoglycaemia. RIPCreι2KO mice exhibited glucose intolerance and impaired GSIS (glucose-stimulated insulin secretion) and this was exacerbated in ι1KORIPCreι2KO mice. Reduced glucose concentrations failed to completely suppress insulin secretion in islets from RIPCreι2KO and ι1KORIPCreι2KO mice, and conversely GSIS was impaired. β-Cells lacking AMPKι2 or expressing a kinase-dead AMPKι2 failed to hyperpolarize in response to low glucose, although KATP (ATP-sensitive potassium) channel function was intact. We could detect no alteration of GLUT2 (glucose transporter 2), glucose uptake or glucokinase that could explain this glucose insensitivity. UCP2 (uncoupling protein 2) expression was reduced in RIPCreι2KO islets and the UCP2 inhibitor genipin suppressed low-glucose-mediated wild-type mouse β-cell hyperpolarization, mimicking the effect of AMPKι2 loss. These results show that AMPKι2 activity is necessary to maintain normal pancreatic β-cell glucose sensing, possibly by maintaining high β-cell levels of UCP2
Effect of a magnetic field on the spin- and charge-density wave order in La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4
The spin-density wave (SDW) and charge-density wave (CDW) order in
superconducting La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4 were studied under an applied magnetic
field using neutron and X-ray diffraction techniques. In zero field,
incommensurate (IC) SDW order appears below ~ 40 K, which is characterized by
neutron diffraction peaks at (1/2 +/- 0.134, 1/2 +/- 0.134, 0). The intensity
of these IC peaks increases rapidly below T_Nd ~ 8 K due to an ordering of the
Nd^3+ spins. The application of a 1 T magnetic field parallel to the c-axis
markedly diminishes the intensity below T_Nd, while only a slight decrease in
intensity is observed at higher temperatures for fields up to 7 T. Our
interpretation is that the c-axis field suppresses the parasitic Nd^3+ spin
order at the incommensurate wave vector without disturbing the stripe order of
Cu^2+ spins. Consistent with this picture, the CDW order, which appears below
60 K, shows no change for magnetic fields up to 4 T. These results stand in
contrast to the significant field-induced enhancement of the SDW order observed
in superconducting La2-xSrxCuO4 with x ~ 0.12 and stage-4 La2CuO4+y. The
differences can be understood in terms of the relative volume fraction
exhibiting stripe order in zero field, and the collective results are
consistent with the idea that suppression of superconductivity by vortices
nucleates local patches of stripe order.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
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