685 research outputs found
Excitonic instability and electric-field-induced phase transition towards a two dimensional exciton condensate
We present an InAs-GaSb-based system in which the electric-field tunability
of its 2D energy gap implies a transition towards a thermodynamically stable
excitonic condensed phase. Detailed calculations show a 3 meV BCS-like gap
appearing in a second-order phase transition with electric field. We find this
transition to be very sharp, solely due to exchange interaction, and so, the
exciton binding energy is greatly renormalized even at small condensate
densities. This density gradually increases with external field, thus enabling
the direct probe of the Bose-Einstein to BCS crossover.Comment: LaTex, 11 pages, 3 ps figures, To appear in PR
Cellular immunity induced by a recombinant adenovirus-human dendritic cell vaccine for melanoma
Background: Human Adenoviral vectors (HAdV) are immunogenic vectors which have been tested in many vaccination and gene therapy settings. Dendritic cells (DC) transduced by genetically engineered HAdV-5 (HAdV-5/DC), are investigational cancer vaccines being tested clinically. We have previously examined immune responses to HAdV-5 -encoded melanoma tumor antigens. Here, we determined whether the HAdV-5/DC also present immunogenic HAdV-5 vector-derived antigens, and characterized the cellular immune response to the viral as well as encoded melanoma tumor antigens. Methods: Both CD4+ and CD8+ HAdV-5-specific T cell responses were examined in vitro, with cells from both 8 healthy donors (HD) and 2 melanoma patients. PBMC were stimulated weekly with HAdV-5/DC and responses were examined after each stimulation. We also tested HAdV-5 neutralizing antibody levels and natural killer (NK) cell and regulatory T cell (Treg) activation and expansion in vitro. Results: HAdV-5/DC rapidly induced a high frequency of type 1 cytokine producing HAdV-5-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. IFNγ and TNFα-producing T cells predominate. Those with pre-existing cellular memory to HAdV-5 had more robust responses to the HAdV-5 as well as tumor-associated antigens. NK cells are activated while Treg are only minimally and transiently expanded. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that HAdV-5/DC promote strong type I cellular immunity to viral vector-derived antigens as well as to the encoded tumor antigens. The cytokine and chemokine milieu produced by HAdV-5/DC and the activated HAdV-5-specific T cells may enhance responses to encoded tumor antigens as well. These properties make HAdV-5/DC a cancer vaccine capable of activating type 1 virus and tumor antigen-specific immunity in a cooperative way
Graphene-Based Nanomaterials for Neuroengineering: Recent Advances and Future Prospective
Graphene unique physicochemical properties made it prominent among other allotropic forms of carbon, in many areas of research and technological applications. Interestingly, in recent years, many studies exploited the use of graphene family nanomaterials (GNMs) for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, diagnostics, bioimaging, and tissue engineering research. GNMs are successfully used for the design of scaffolds for controlled induction of cell differentiation and tissue regeneration. Critically, it is important to identify the more appropriate nano/bio material interface sustaining cells differentiation and tissue regeneration enhancement. Specifically, this review is focussed on graphene-based scaffolds that endow physiochemical and biological properties suitable for a specific tissue, the nervous system, that links tightly morphological and electrical properties. Different strategies are reviewed to exploit GNMs for neuronal engineering and regeneration, material toxicity, and biocompatibility. Specifically, the potentiality for neuronal stem cells differentiation and subsequent neuronal network growth as well as the impact of electrical stimulation through GNM on cells is presented. The use of field effect transistor (FET) based on graphene for neuronal regeneration is described. This review concludes the important aspects to be controlled to make graphene a promising candidate for further advanced application in neuronal tissue engineering and biomedical use
Spin degree of freedom in two dimensional exciton condensates
We present a theoretical analysis of a spin-dependent multicomponent
condensate in two dimensions. The case of a condensate of resonantly
photoexcited excitons having two different spin orientations is studied in
detail. The energy and the chemical potentials of this system depend strongly
on the spin polarization . When electrons and holes are located in two
different planes, the condensate can be either totally spin polarized or spin
unpolarized, a property that is measurable. The phase diagram in terms of the
total density and electron-hole separation is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Shot-noise anomalies in nondegenerate elastic diffusive conductors
We present a theoretical investigation of shot-noise properties in
nondegenerate elastic diffusive conductors. Both Monte Carlo simulations and
analytical approaches are used. Two new phenomena are found: (i) the display of
enhanced shot noise for given energy dependences of the scattering time, and
(ii) the recovery of full shot noise for asymptotic high applied bias. The
first phenomenon is associated with the onset of negative differential
conductivity in energy space that drives the system towards a dynamical
electrical instability in excellent agreement with analytical predictions. The
enhancement is found to be strongly amplified when the dimensionality in
momentum space is lowered from 3 to 2 dimensions. The second phenomenon is due
to the suppression of the effects of long range Coulomb correlations that takes
place when the transit time becomes the shortest time scale in the system, and
is common to both elastic and inelastic nondegenerate diffusive conductors.
These phenomena shed new light in the understanding of the anomalous behavior
of shot noise in mesoscopic conductors, which is a signature of correlations
among different current pulses.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Frequency-Dependent Shot Noise as a Probe of Electron-Electron Interaction in Mesoscopic Diffusive Contacts
The frequency-dependent shot noise in long and narrow mesoscopic diffusive
contacts is numerically calculated. The case of arbitrarily strong
electron-electron scattering and zero temperature of electrodes is considered.
For all voltages, the noise increases with frequency and tends to finite
values. These limiting values are larger than the Poissonian noise and increase
nearly as voltage to power 4/3. This allows one to experimentally determine the
parameters of electron-electron interaction.Comment: 3 pages, RevTeX, 3 eps figure
Effect of screening on shot noise in diffusive mesoscopic conductors
Shot noise in diffusive mesoscopic conductors, at finite observation
frequencies (comparable to the reciprocal Thouless time
), is analyzed with an account of screening. At low frequencies,
the well-known result is recovered. This result is valid at
arbitrary for wide conductors longer than the screening length.
However, at least for two very different systems, namely, wide and short
conductors, and thin conductors over a close ground plane, noise approaches a
different fundamental level, , at .Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Published version. Also available in the
journal's format at
http://hana.physics.sunysb.edu/~yehuda/cv/papers/shotnoise.pd
Theory of Interaction Effects in N-S Junctions out of Equilibrium
We consider a normal metal - superconductor (N-S) junction in the regime,
when electrons in the normal metal are driven out of equilibrium. We show that
the non-equilibrium fluctuations of the electron density in the N-layer cause
the fluctuations of the phase of the order parameter in the S-layer. As a
result, the density of states in the superconductor deviates from the BCS form,
most notably the density of states in the gap becomes finite. This effect can
be viewed as a result of the time reversal symmetry breaking due to the
non-equilibrium, and can be described in terms of a low energy collective mode
of the junction, which couples normal currents in N-layer and supercurrents.
This mode is analogous to the Schmid-Sch\"{o}n mode. To interpret their
measurements of the tunneling current, Pothier {\em et. al} [Phys. Rev. Lett.
{\bf 79}, 3490 (1997)] had to assume that the energy relaxation rate in the
normal metal is surprisingly high. The broadening of the BCS singularity of the
density of states in the S-layer manifest itself similarly to the broadening of
the distribution function. Mechanism suggested here can be a possible
explanation of this experimental puzzle. We also propose an independent
experiment to test our explanation.Comment: 16 pages, 2 .eps figure
Microscopic analysis of shot-noise suppression in nondegenerate diffusive conductors
We present a theoretical investigation of shot-noise suppression due to
long-range Coulomb interaction in nondegenerate diffusive conductors.
Calculations make use of an ensemble Monte Carlo simulator self-consistently
coupled with a one-dimensional Poisson solver. We analyze the noise in a
lightly doped active region surrounded by two contacts acting as thermal
reservoirs. By taking the doping of the injecting contacts and the applied
voltage as variable parameters, the influence of elastic and inelastic
scattering in the active region is investigated. The transition from ballistic
to diffusive transport regimes under different contact injecting statistics is
analyzed and discussed. Provided significant space-charge effects take place
inside the active region, long-range Coulomb interaction is found to play an
essential role in suppressing the shot noise at . In the elastic
diffusive regime, momentum space dimensionality is found to modify the
suppression factor , which within numerical uncertainty takes values
respectively of about 1/3, 1/2 and 0.7 in the 3D, 2D and 1D cases. In the
inelastic diffusive regime, shot noise is suppressed to the thermal value.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure
- …