649 research outputs found
Experimental evidence of two-band behavior of MgB2
The break-junction tunneling has been systematically investigated in MgB2.
Two types of the break-junction contacts have been exploited on the same
samples, which demonstrated tunnel contact like (SIS) and point contact like
(SnS) behavior. Both of them have shown the existence of the two distinct
energy gaps. We have observed also the peculiarities on the I(V)-
characteristics related to Leggett's collective mode assisted tunneling. -->
Corresponding author address: [email protected]: 14 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; corrected typos and fig
Investigation of LiFeAs by means of "Break-junction" Technique
In our tunneling investigation using Andreev superconductor - normal metal -
superconductor contacts on LiFeAs single crystals we observed two reproducible
independent subharmonic gap structures at dynamic conductance characteristics.
From these results, we can derive the energy of the large superconducting gap
meV and the small gap meV at
K for the K (the contact area
critical temperature which deviation causes the variation of ). The
BCS-ratio is found to be , whereas
results from induced superconductivity in the bands
with the small gap.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Published in Pis'ma v ZhETF 95, 604-610 (2012
Influence of epithermal muonic molecule formation on kinetics of the CF processes in deuterium
The non-resonant formation of molecules in the loosely bound state in
collisions of non-thermalized atoms with deuterium molecules D has
been considered. The process of such a type is possible only for collision
energies exceeded the ionization potential of D. The calculated rates of
formation in the above-threshold energy region are about one order of
magnitude higher than obtained earlier.
The role of epithermal non-resonant -molecule formation for the kinetics
of CF processes in D gas was studied. It was shown that the
non-resonant formation by atoms accelerated during the cascade
can be directly observed in the neutron time spectra at very short initial
times.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the International Conference on
Exotic Atoms and Related Topics EXA-2011, Vienna, Sep 5-9, 201
Observation of Multi-Gap Superconductivity in GdO(F)FeAs by Andreev Spectroscopy
We have studied current-voltage characteristics of Andreev contacts in
polycrystalline GdOFFeAs samples with bulk critical
temperature = (52.5 \pm 1)K using break-junction technique. The data
obtained cannot be described within the single-gap approach and suggests the
existence of a multi-gap superconductivity in this compound. The large and
small superconducting gap values estimated at T = 4.2K are {\Delta}L = 10.5 \pm
2 meV and {\Delta}S = 2.3 \pm 0.4 meV, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to JETP Letter
Doping effect on the anomalous behavior of the Hall effect in electron-doped superconductor NdCeCuO
Transport properties of NdCeCuO single crystal films
are investigated in magnetic fields up to 9T at =(0.4-4.2)K. An analysis
of normal state (at ) Hall coefficient dependence on Ce
doping takes us to a conclusion about the existence both of electron-like and
hole-like contributions to transport in nominally electron-doped system. In
accordance with (x) analysis an anomalous sign reversal of Hall effect
in mixed state at may be ascribed to a flux-flow regime for two
types of carriers with opposite charges.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Sudden drop of fractal dimension of electromagnetic emissions recorded prior to significant earthquake
The variation of fractal dimension and entropy during a damage evolution
process, especially approaching critical failure, has been recently
investigated. A sudden drop of fractal dimension has been proposed as a
quantitative indicator of damage localization or a likely precursor of an
impending catastrophic failure. In this contribution, electromagnetic emissions
recorded prior to significant earthquake are analysed to investigate whether
they also present such sudden fractal dimension and entropy drops as the main
catastrophic event is approaching. The pre-earthquake electromagnetic time
series analysis results reveal a good agreement to the theoretically expected
ones indicating that the critical fracture is approaching
Roles of GM-CSF in the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diseases: An Update.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was first described as a growth factor that induces the differentiation and proliferation of myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow. GM-CSF also has an important cytokine effect in chronic inflammatory diseases by stimulating the activation and migration of myeloid cells to inflammation sites, promoting survival of target cells and stimulating the renewal of effector granulocytes and macrophages. Because of these pro-cellular effects, an imbalance in GM-CSF production/signaling may lead to harmful inflammatory conditions. In this context, GM-CSF has a pathogenic role in autoimmune diseases that are dependent on cellular immune responses such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Conversely, a protective role has also been described in other autoimmune diseases where humoral responses are detrimental such as myasthenia gravis (MG), Hashimoto\u27s thyroiditis (HT), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this review, we aimed for a comprehensive analysis of literature data on the multiple roles of GM-CSF in autoimmue diseases and possible therapeutic strategies that target GM-CSF production
Identification of the bulk pairing symmetry in high-temperature superconductors: Evidence for an extended s-wave with eight line nodes
we identify the intrinsic bulk pairing symmetry for both electron and
hole-doped cuprates from the existing bulk- and nearly bulk-sensitive
experimental results such as magnetic penetration depth, Raman scattering,
single-particle tunneling, Andreev reflection, nonlinear Meissner effect,
neutron scattering, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy. These experiments consistently show that the
dominant bulk pairing symmetry in hole-doped cuprates is of extended s-wave
with eight line nodes, and of anisotropic s-wave in electron-doped cuprates.
The proposed pairing symmetries do not contradict some surface- and
phase-sensitive experiments which show a predominant d-wave pairing symmetry at
the degraded surfaces. We also quantitatively explain the phase-sensitive
experiments along the c-axis for both Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y} and
YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y}.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Central nervous system (CNS)–resident natural killer cells suppress Th17 responses and CNS autoimmune pathology
Natural killer (NK) cells of the innate immune system can profoundly impact the development of adaptive immune responses. Inflammatory and autoimmune responses in anatomical locations such as the central nervous system (CNS) differ substantially from those found in peripheral organs. We show in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis that NK cell enrichment results in disease amelioration, whereas selective blockade of NK cell homing to the CNS results in disease exacerbation. Importantly, the effects of NK cells on CNS pathology were dependent on the activity of CNS-resident, but not peripheral, NK cells. This activity of CNS-resident NK cells involved interactions with microglia and suppression of myelin-reactive Th17 cells. Our studies suggest an organ-specific activity of NK cells on the magnitude of CNS inflammation, providing potential new targets for therapeutic intervention
Erythropoietin: A potent inducer of peripheral immuno/inflammatory modulation in autoimmune EAE
Background: Beneficial effects of short-term erythropoietin (EPO) theraphy have been demonstrated in several animal models of acute neurologic injury, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE)-the animal model of multiple sclerosis. We have found that EPO treatment substantially reduces the acute clinical paralysis seen EAE mice and this improvements is accompanied by a large reduction in the mononuclear cell infiltration and downregulation of glial MHC class II expression within the inflamed CNS. Other reports have recently indicated that peripherally generated anti-inflammatory CD4 +Foxp3 3 regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the IL17-producing CD4+ T helper cell (Th17) subpopulations play key antagonistic roles in EAE pathogenesis. However, no information regardind the effects of EPO theraphy on the behavior of the general mononuclear-lymphocyte population, Tregs or Th17 cells in EAE has emerged. Methods and Findings: We first determined in vivo that EPO theraphy markedly suppressed MOG specific T cell proliferation and sharply reduced the number of reactive dendritic cells (CD11c positive) in EAE lumph modes during both inductive and later symptomatic phases of MOG 35-55 induced EAE. We then determined the effect in vivo of EPO on numbers of peripheral Treg cells and Th17 cells. We found that EPO treatment modulated immune balance in both the periphery and the inflamed spinal cord by promoting a large expansion in Treg cells, inhibiting Th17 polarization and abrogating proliferation of the antigen presenting dendritic cell population. Finally we utilized tissue culture assays to show that exposure to EPO in vitro similarly downregulated MOG-specific T cell proliferation and also greatly suppressed T cell production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings reveal an important new locus whereby EPO induces substantial long-term tissue protection in the host through signalling to several critical subsets of immune cells that reside in the peripheral lymphatic system.published_or_final_versio
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