352 research outputs found
Wellbeing of gay fathers with children born through surrogacy: A comparison with lesbian-mother families and heterosexual IVF parent families
Phase separation in t-J ladders
The phase separation boundary of isotropic t-J ladders is analyzed using
density matrix renormalization group techniques. The complete boundary to phase
separation as a function of J/t and doping is determined for a chain and for
ladders with two, three and four legs. Six-chain ladders have been analyzed at
low hole doping. We use a direct approach in which the phase separation
boundary is determined by measuring the hole density in the part of the system
which contains both electrons and holes. In addition we examine the binding
energy of multi-hole clusters. An extrapolation in the number of legs suggests
that the lowest J/t for phase separation to occur in the two dimensional t-J
model is J/t~1.Comment: 8 pages in revtex format including 13 embedded figures, one reference
adde
Variation of Bar Strength with Central Velocity Dispersion in Spiral Galaxies
We investigate the variation of bar strength with central velocity dispersion
in a sample of barred spiral galaxies. The bar strength is characterized by
, the maximal tangential perturbation associated with the bar, normalized
by the mean axisymmetric force. It is derived from the galaxy potentials which
are obtained using near-infrared images of the galaxies. However, is
sensitive to bulge mass. Hence we also estimated bar strengths from the
relative Fourier intensity amplitude () of bars in near-infrared images.
The central velocity dispersions were obtained from integral field spectroscopy
observations of the velocity fields in the centers of these galaxies; it was
normalized by the rotation curve amplitude obtained from HI line width for each
galaxy. We found a correlation between bar strengths (both and )
and the normalized central velocity dispersions in our sample. This suggests
that bars weaken as their central components become kinematically hotter. This
may have important implications for the secular evolution of barred galaxies.Comment: To appear in Ap&S
Transitions between Inherent Structures in Water
The energy landscape approach has been useful to help understand the dynamic
properties of supercooled liquids and the connection between these properties
and thermodynamics. The analysis in numerical models of the inherent structure
(IS) trajectories -- the set of local minima visited by the liquid -- offers
the possibility of filtering out the vibrational component of the motion of the
system on the potential energy surface and thereby resolving the slow
structural component more efficiently. Here we report an analysis of an IS
trajectory for a widely-studied water model, focusing on the changes in
hydrogen bond connectivity that give rise to many IS separated by relatively
small energy barriers. We find that while the system \emph{travels} through
these IS, the structure of the bond network continuously modifies, exchanging
linear bonds for bifurcated bonds and usually reversing the exchange to return
to nearly the same initial configuration. For the 216 molecule system we
investigate, the time scale of these transitions is as small as the simulation
time scale ( fs). Hence for water, the transitions between each of
these IS is relatively small and eventual relaxation of the system occurs only
by many of these transitions. We find that during IS changes, the molecules
with the greatest displacements move in small ``clusters'' of 1-10 molecules
with displacements of nm, not unlike simpler liquids.
However, for water these clusters appear to be somewhat more branched than the
linear ``string-like'' clusters formed in a supercooled Lennar d-Jones system
found by Glotzer and her collaborators.Comment: accepted in PR
Hydrophobic and ionic-interactions in bulk and confined water with implications for collapse and folding of proteins
Water and water-mediated interactions determine thermodynamic and kinetics of
protein folding, protein aggregation and self-assembly in confined spaces. To
obtain insights into the role of water in the context of folding problems, we
describe computer simulations of a few related model systems. The dynamics of
collapse of eicosane shows that upon expulsion of water the linear hydrocarbon
chain adopts an ordered helical hairpin structure with 1.5 turns. The structure
of dimer of eicosane molecules has two well ordered helical hairpins that are
stacked perpendicular to each other. As a prelude to studying folding in
confined spaces we used simulations to understand changes in hydrophobic and
ionic interactions in nano droplets. Solvation of hydrophobic and charged
species change drastically in nano water droplets. Hydrophobic species are
localized at the boundary. The tendency of ions to be at the boundary where
water density is low increases as the charge density decreases. Interaction
between hydrophobic, polar, and charged residue are also profoundly altered in
confined spaces. Using the results of computer simulations and accounting for
loss of chain entropy upon confinement we argue and then demonstrate, using
simulations in explicit water, that ordered states of generic amphiphilic
peptide sequences should be stabilized in cylindrical nanopores
Stripes, Pseudogaps, and Van Hove Nesting in the Three-band tJ Model
Slave boson calculations have been carried out in the three-band tJ model for
the high-T_c cuprates, with the inclusion of coupling to oxygen breathing mode
phonons. Phonon-induced Van Hove nesting leads to a phase separation between a
hole-doped domain and a (magnetic) domain near half filling, with long-range
Coulomb forces limiting the separation to a nanoscopic scale. Strong
correlation effects pin the Fermi level close to, but not precisely at the Van
Hove singularity (VHS), which can enhance the tendency to phase separation. The
resulting dispersions have been calculated, both in the uniform phases and in
the phase separated regime. In the latter case, distinctly different
dispersions are found for large, random domains and for regular (static)
striped arrays, and a hypothetical form is presented for dynamic striped
arrays. The doping dependence of the latter is found to provide an excellent
description of photoemission and thermodynamic experiments on pseudogap
formation in underdoped cuprates. In particular, the multiplicity of observed
gaps is explained as a combination of flux phase plus charge density wave (CDW)
gaps along with a superconducting gap. The largest gap is associated with VHS
nesting. The apparent smooth evolution of this gap with doping masks a
crossover from CDW-like effects near optimal doping to magnetic effects (flux
phase) near half filling. A crossover from large Fermi surface to hole pockets
with increased underdoping is found. In the weakly overdoped regime, the CDW
undergoes a quantum phase transition (), which could be obscured
by phase separation.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, 18 PS figures Corrects a sign error: major changes,
esp. in Sect. 3, Figs 1-4,6 replace
Magnetization study of RuSr2Y1.5Ce 0.5Cu2O10 (Ru-1222)
We have studied the magnetic properties of the non-superconducting
RuSr2Ln1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10 (Ln=Y, Dy and Ho, Ru-1222) compounds synthesized under
high pressure (6 Gpa) at elevated temperature. The materials become
magnetically ordered at TM =152(2) K regardless of Ln. The wide
ferromagnetic-like hysteresis loops which open at 5 K, close themselves around
Tirr= 90-100 K and the remanent magnetizations (Mrem) and the coercive fields
(HC) become zero. Surprisingly, at Tirr<T< TM a reappearance of the Mrem and HC
(with a peak at 120-130 K) is observed for all three samples studied. For the
non-magnetic Ln=Y compound, the extracted saturation moment at 5 K and the
effective paramagnetic moment are is 0.75 and 2.05 mB /Ru, values which are
close to the expected 1 mB and 1.73 mB respectively, for the low-spin state of
Ru5+. We argue that the Ru-1222 system becomes (i) anti-ferromagnetically (AFM)
ordered at TM. In this range a metamagnetic transition is induced by the
applied field (ii). At Tirr < TM, weak-ferromagnetism (W-FM) is induced by the
canting of the Ru moments.Comment: 15 pages of text with figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Divided communities and contested landscapes: Mobility, development and shifting identities in migrant destination sites in Papua New Guinea
Internal conflicts at the local and national levels in several South Pacific countries have revealed the fragility of national unity and the difficulties nations face in governing and managing their own economic development. In Papua New Guinea, the focus of this paper, an uncertain economic future for many rural and urban communities, and rising inequalities in income opportunities and access to resources, have coincided with greater intolerance of migrants at sites of high in-migration by customary landowners and provincial and local authorities. This paper draws on fieldwork undertaken in the major oil palm growing regions of Papua New Guinea where migrants from densely populated regions of the country have settled on state land alienated from customary landowners. We examine how struggles over land, resource control and development are polarising migrant and landowner identities resulting in increasing tensions and episodic communal violence. A settler identity is emerging based on a narrative of nation building and national development, while an ethno-regional identity amongst customary landowners is undermining the citizen rights of migrants and challenging the role and authority of the state in land matters
Crossover between fractal and nonfractal flux penetration in high-temperature superconducting thin films.
Twenty important research questions in microbial exposure and social equity
Social and political policy, human activities, and environmental change affect the ways in which microbial communities assemble and interact with people. These factors determine how different social groups are exposed to beneficial and/or harmful microorganisms, meaning microbial exposure has an important socioecological justice context. Therefore, greater consideration of microbial exposure and social equity in research, planning, and policy is imperative. Here, we identify 20 research questions considered fundamentally important to promoting equitable exposure to beneficial microorganisms, along with safeguarding resilient societies and ecosystems. The 20 research questions we identified span seven broad themes, including the following: (i) sociocultural interactions; (ii) Indigenous community health and well-being; (iii) humans, urban ecosystems, and environmental processes; (iv) human psychology and mental health; (v) microbiomes and infectious diseases; (vi) human health and food security; and (vii) microbiome-related planning, policy, and outreach. Our goal was to summarize this growing field and to stimulate impactful research avenues while providing focus for funders and policymakers
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