164,911 research outputs found
Nanoscale electrochemical patterning reveals the active sites for catechol oxidation at graphite surfaces
Graphite-based electrodes (graphite, graphene, and nanotubes) are used widely in electrochemistry, and there is a long-standing view that graphite step edges are needed to catalyze many reactions, with the basal surface considered to be inert. In the present work, this model was tested directly for the first time using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy reactive patterning and shown to be incorrect. For the electro-oxidation of dopamine as a model process, the reaction rate was measured at high spatial resolution across a surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. Oxidation products left behind in a pattern defined by the scanned electrochemical cell served as surface-site markers, allowing the electrochemical activity to be correlated directly with the graphite structure on the nanoscale. This process produced tens of thousands of electrochemical measurements at different locations across the basal surface, unambiguously revealing it to be highly electrochemically active, with step edges providing no enhanced activity. This new model of graphite electrodes has significant implications for the design of carbon-based biosensors, and the results are additionally important for understanding electrochemical processes on related sp2-hybridized materials such as pristine graphene and nanotubes
MgB2 tunnel junctions with native or thermal oxide barriers
MgB2 tunnel junctions (MgB2/barrier/MgB2) were fabricated using a native
oxide grown on the bottom MgB2 film as the tunnel barrier. Such barriers
therefore survive the deposition of the second electrode at 300oC, even over
junction areas of ~1 mm2. Studies of such junctions, and those of the type
MgB2/native or thermal oxide/metal (Pb, Au, or Ag) show that tunnel barriers
grown on MgB2 exhibit a wide range of barrier heights and widths.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Light Hadron Spectrum in Quenched Lattice QCD with Staggered Quarks
Without chiral extrapolation, we achieved a realistic nucleon to (\rho)-meson
mass ratio of (m_N/m_\rho = 1.23 \pm 0.04 ({\rm statistical}) \pm 0.02 ({\rm
systematic})) in our quenched lattice QCD numerical calculation with staggered
quarks. The systematic error is mostly from finite-volume effect and the
finite-spacing effect is negligible. The flavor symmetry breaking in the pion
and (\rho) meson is no longer visible. The lattice cutoff is set at 3.63 (\pm)
0.06 GeV, the spatial lattice volume is (2.59 (\pm) 0.05 fm)(^3), and bare
quarks mass as low as 4.5 MeV are used. Possible quenched chiral effects in
hadron mass are discussed.Comment: 5 pages and 5 figures, use revtex
Quantum paramagnetic ground states on the honeycomb lattice and field-induced transition to N\'eel order
Motivated by recent experiments on BiMnO(NO), and a
broader interest arising from numerical work on the honeycomb lattice Hubbard
model, we have studied the effect of a magnetic field on honeycomb lattice spin
models with quantum paramagnetic ground states. For a model with frustrating
second-neighbor exchange, , we use a Lindemann-like criterion within spin
wave theory to show that N\'eel order melts beyond a critical . The
critical increases with a magnetic field, implying the existence of a
field-induced paramagnet-N\'eel transition over a range of . We also study
bilayer model using a spin- generalization of bond operator mean field
theory. We show that there is a N\'eel-dimer transition for various spin values
with increasing bilayer coupling, and that the resulting interlayer dimer state
undergoes a field induced transition into a state with transverse N\'eel order.
Finally, we study a spin-3/2 model which interpolates between the Heisenberg
model and the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) parent Hamiltonian. Using
exact diagonalization, we compute the fidelity susceptibility to locate the
Neel-AKLT quantum critical point, obtain the spin gap of the AKLT parent
Hamiltonian, and argue that AKLT state also undergoes field-induced Neel
ordering.Comment: 8 pages, revised longer version of arXiv:1012.0316. Corrected factor
of 2 error in Eq.[16], replotted Fig.[4] and revised the critical
needed to stabilize interlayer dimer state. We thank S. V. Isakov for
discussions which uncovered this erro
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Erythroderma with circulating atypical T-cells, likely Sézary syndrome
The erythrodermic patient is often challenging and requires careful evaluation. Work-up should include an extensive and careful medication history, histological and laboratory testing, and if necessary, molecular studies for the evaluation of underlying malignancy. Herein, we present an erythrodermic patient with repeated biopsies demonstrating a spongiotic process who was found to have circulating atypical T-cells concerning for an underlying erythrodermic T-cell leukemia, most closely related to Sézary syndrome
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