1,315 research outputs found
Anisotropy in the helicity modulus of a 3D XY-model: application to YBCO
We present a Monte Carlo study of the helicity moduli of an anisotropic
classical three-dimensional (3D) XY-model of YBCO in superconducting state. It
is found that both the ab-plane and the c-axis helicity moduli, which are
proportional to the inverse square of the corresponding magnetic field
penetration depth, vary linearly with temperature at low temperatures. The
result for the c-axis helicity modulus is in disagreement with the experiments
on high quality samples of YBCO. Thus we conclude that purely classical phase
fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter cannot account for the
observed c-axis electrodynamics of YBCO.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
Magnetization Jump in a Model for Flux Lattice Melting at Low Magnetic Fields
Using a frustrated XY model on a lattice with open boundary conditions, we
numerically study the magnetization change near a flux lattice melting
transition at low fields. In both two and three dimensions, we find that the
melting transition is followed at a higher temperature by the onset of large
dissipation associated with the zero-field XY transition. It is characterized
by the proliferation of vortex-antivortex pairs (in 2D) or vortex loops (in
3D). At the upper transition, there is a sharp increase in magnetization, in
qualitative agreement with recent local Hall probe experiments.Comment: updated figures and texts. new movies available at
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu:80/~ryu/jj.html. Accepted for publication
in Physical Review Letter
Molecular Recognition Force Spectroscopy for Probing Cell Targeted Nanoparticles In Vitro
In the development and design of cell targeted nanoparticle-based systems the density of targeting
moieties plays a fundamental role in allowing maximal cell-specific interaction. Here, we describe the
use of molecular recognition force spectroscopy as a valuable tool for the characterization and
optimization of targeted nanoparticles toward attaining cell-specific interaction. By tailoring the
density of targeting moieties at the nanoparticle surface, one can correlate the unbinding event
probability between nanoparticles tethered to an atomic force microscopy tip and cells to the
nanoparticle vectoring capacity. This novel approach allows for a rapid and cost-effective design of
targeted nanomedicines reducing the need for long and tedious in vitro tests.The authors would like to acknowledge the Bioimaging Platform (i3S-INEB) for the support with
atomic force microscopy. This work was financed by projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000008 and
NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme
(NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) and FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through
the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI),
Portugal 2020; and by Portuguese funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) in
the framework of the projects UID/BIM/04293/ 2013, PTDC/CTM-NAN/115124/2009, and PTDC/CTMNAN/3547/2014. C.P. Gomes acknowledge FCT for her PhD scholarship SFRH/BD/79930/2011
Precursors of Cytochrome Oxidase in Cytochrome-Oxidase-Deficient Cells of Neurospora crassa
Three different cell types of Neurospora crassa deficient in cytochrome oxidase were studied: the nuclear mutant cni-1, the cytoplasmic mutant mi-1 and copper-depleted wild-type cells.
* 1.
The enzyme-deficient cells have retained a functioning mitochondrial protein synthesis. It accounted for 12–16% of the total protein synthesis of the cell. However, the analysis of mitochondrial translation products by gel electrophoresis revealed that different amounts of individual membrane proteins were synthesized. Especially mutant cni-1 produced large amounts of a small molecular weight translation product, which is barely detectable in wild-type.
* 2.
Mitochondrial preparations of cytochrome-oxidase-deficient cells were examined for precursors of cytochrome oxidase. The presence of polypeptide components of cytochrome oxidase in the mitochondria was established with specific antibodies. On the other hand, no significant amounts of heme a could be extracted.
* 3.
Radioactively labelled components of cytochrome oxidase were isolated by immunoprecipitation and analysed by gel electrophoresis. All three cell types contained the enzyme components 4–7, which are translated on cytoplasmic ribosomes. The mitochondrially synthesized components 1–3 were present in mi-1 mutant and in copper-depleted wild-type cells. In contrast, components 2 and 3 were not detectable in the nuclear mutant cni-1. Both relative and absolute amounts of these polypeptides in the enzyme-deficient cells were quite different from those in wild-type cells.
* 4.
The components of cytochrome oxidase found in the enzyme-deficient cells were tightly associated with the mitochondrial membranes.
* 5.
Processes, which affect and may control the production of enzyme precursors or their assembly to a functional cytochrome oxidase are discussed
Edge wetting of an Ising three-dimensional system
The effect of edge on wetting and layering transitions of a three-dimensional
spin-1/2 Ising model is investigated, in the presence of longitudinal and
surface magnetic fields, using mean field (MF) theory and Monte Carlo (MC)
simulations. For T=0, the ground state phase diagram shows that there exist
only three allowed transitions, namely: surface and bulk transition, surface
transition and bulk transition. However, there exist a surface intra-layering
temperature , above which the surface and the intra-layering surface
transitions occur. While the bulk layering and intra-layering transitions
appear above an other finite temperature . These
surface and bulk intra-layering transitions are not seen in the perfect
surfaces case.
Numerical values of and , computed by Monte Carlo
method are found to be smaller than those obtained using mean field theory.
However, the results predicted by the two methods become similar, and are
exactly those given by the ground state phase diagram, for very low
temperatures. On the other hand, the behavior of the local magnetizations as a
function of the external magnetic field, shows that the transitions are of the
first order type. and decrease when increasing the
system size and/or the surface magnetic field. In particular,
reaches the wetting temperature for sufficiently large system sizes.Comment: 11 Pages latex, 12 Figures P
Phase Transitions Driven by Vortices in 2D Superfluids and Superconductors: From Kosterlitz-Thouless to 1st Order
The Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson hamiltonian is studied for different values of the
parameter which multiplies the quartic term (it turns out that this
is equivalent to consider different values of the coherence length in
units of the lattice spacing ). It is observed that amplitude fluctuations
can change dramatically the nature of the phase transition: for small values of
(), instead of the smooth Kosterlitz-Thouless transition
there is a {\em first order} transition with a discontinuous jump in the vortex
density and a larger non-universal drop in the helicity modulus. In
particular, for sufficiently small (), the density of
bound pairs of vortex-antivortex below is so low that, drops to zero
almost for all temperature .Comment: 8 pages, 5 .eps figure
Confinement Effects in Antiferromagnets
Phase equilibrium in confined Ising antiferromagnets was studied as a
function of the coupling (v) and a magnetic field (h) at the surfaces, in the
presence of an external field H. The ground state properties were calculated
exactly for symmetric boundary conditions and nearest-neighbor interactions,
and a full zero-temperature phase diagram in the plane v-h was obtained for
films with symmetry-preserving surface orientations. The ground-state analysis
was extended to the H-T plane using a cluster-variation free energy. The study
of the finite-T properties (as a function of v and h) reveals the close
interdependence between the surface and finite-size effects and, together with
the ground-state phase diagram, provides an integral picture of the confinement
in anisotropic antiferromagnets with surfaces that preserve the symmetry of the
order parameter.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Accepted in Phys. Rev.
- …