1,469 research outputs found
Non-dynamic origin of the acoustic attenuation at high frequency in glasses
The sound attenuation in the THz region is studied down to T=16 K in glassy
glycerol by inelastic x-ray scattering. At striking variance with the decrease
found below 100 K in the GHz data, the attenuation in the THz range does not
show any T dependence. This result i) indicates the presence of two different
attenuation mechanisms, active respectively in the high and low frequency
limits; ii) demonstrates the non-dynamic origin of the attenuation of THz sound
waves, and confirms a similar conclusion obtained in SiO2 glass by molecular
dynamics; and iii) supports the low frequency attenuation mechanism proposed by
Fabian and Allen (Phys.Rev.Lett. 82, 1478 (1999)).Comment: 3 pages, 5 Figures, To be published in PR
Elastic constant dishomogeneity and dependence of the broadening of the dynamical structure factor in disordered systems
We propose an explanation for the quadratic dependence on the momentum ,
of the broadening of the acoustic excitation peak recently found in the study
of the dynamic structure factor of many real and simulated glasses. We ascribe
the observed law to the spatial fluctuations of the local wavelength of
the collective vibrational modes, in turn produced by the dishomegeneity of the
inter-particle elastic constants. This explanation is analitically shown to
hold for 1-dimensional disordered chains and satisfatorily numerically tested
in both 1 and 3 dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 5 postscript figure
Crystal-like high frequency phonons in the amorphous phases of solid water
The high frequency dynamics of low- (LDA) and high-density amorphous-ice
(HDA) and of cubic ice (I_c) has been measured by inelastic X-ray Scattering
(IXS) in the 1-15 nm^{-1} momentum transfer (Q) range. Sharp phonon-like
excitations are observed, and the longitudinal acoustic branch is identified up
to Q = 8nm^{-1} in LDA and I_c and up to 5nm^{-1} in HDA. The narrow width of
these excitations is in sharp contrast with the broad features observed in all
amorphous systems studied so far. The "crystal-like" behavior of amorphous
ices, therefore, implies a considerable reduction in the number of decay
channels available to sound-like excitations which is assimilated to low local
disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Type-1 (CB1) cannabinoid receptor promotes neuronal differentiation and maturation of neural stem cells .
Neural stem cells (NSCs) are self-renewing cells that can differentiate into multiple neural lineages and repopulate regions of
the brain after injury. We have investigated the role of endocannabinoids (eCBs), endogenous cues that modulate neuronal
functions including neurogenesis, and their receptors CB1 and CB2 in mouse NSCs. Real-time PCR and Western blot analyses
indicated that CB1 is present at higher levels than CB2 in NSCs. The eCB anandamide (AEA) or the CB1-specific agonist ACEA
enhanced NSC differentiation into neurons, but not astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, whereas the CB2-specific agonist
JWH133 was ineffective. Conversely, the effect of AEA was inhibited by CB1, but not CB2, antagonist, corroborating the
specificity of the response. CB1 activation also enhanced maturation of neurons, as indicated by morphometric analysis of
neurites. CB1 stimulation caused long-term inhibition of the ERK1/2 pathway. Consistently, pharmacological inhibition of the
ERK1/2 pathway recapitulated the effects exerted by CB1 activation on neuronal differentiation and maturation. Lastly, gene
array profiling showed that CB1 activation augmented the expression of genes involved in neuronal differentiation while
decreasing that of stemness genes. These results highlight the role of CB1 in the regulation of NSC fate and suggest that its
activation may represent a pro-neuronal differentiation signal
The nature of the short wavelength excitations in vitreous silica: X-Rays Brillouin scattering study
The dynamical structure factor (S(Q,E)) of vitreous silica has been measured
by Inelastic X-ray Scattering varying the exchanged wavevector (Q) at fixed
exchanged energy (E) - an experimental procedure that, contrary to the usual
one at constant Q, provides spectra with much better identified inelastic
features. This allows the first direct evidence of Brillouin peaks in the
S(Q,E) of SiO_2 at energies above the Boson Peak (BP) energy, a finding that
excludes the possibility that the BP marks the transition from propagating to
localised dynamics in glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures. To appear in Physical Review Letter
Vibrational spectrum of topologically disordered systems
The topological nature of the disorder of glasses and supercooled liquids
strongly affects their high-frequency dynamics. In order to understand its main
features, we analytically studied a simple topologically disordered model,
where the particles oscillate around randomly distributed centers, interacting
through a generic pair potential. We present results of a resummation of the
perturbative expansion in the inverse particle density for the dynamic
structure factor and density of states. This gives accurate results for the
range of densities found in real systems.Comment: Completely rewritten version, accepted in Physical Review Letter
Analysis of the gene expression profile of mouse male meiotic germ cells
Wide genome analysis of difference in gene expression between spermatogonial populations from 7-day-old mice and pachytene spermatocytes from 18-day-old mice was performed using Affymetrix gene chips representing approximately 12,500 mouse known genes or EST sequences, spanning approximately 1/3rd of the mouse genome. To delineate differences in the profile of gene expression between mitotic and meiotic stages of male germ cell differentiation, expressed genes were grouped in functional clusters. The analysis confirmed the previously described pre-meiotic or meiotic expression for several genes, in particular for those involved in the regulation of the mitotic and meiotic cell cycle, and for those whose transcripts are accumulated during the meiotic stages to be translated later in post-meiotic stages. Differential expression of several additional genes was discovered. In few cases (pro-apoptotic factors Bak, Bad and Bax), data were in conflict with the previously published stage-dependent expression of genes already known to be expressed in male germ cells. Northern blot analysis of selected genes confirmed the results obtained with the microarray chips. Six of these were novel genes specifically expressed in pachytene spermatocytes: a chromatin remodeling factor (chrac1/YCL1), a homeobox gene (hmx1), a novel G-coupled receptor for an unknown ligand (Gpr19), a glycoprotein of the intestinal epithelium (mucin 3), a novel RAS activator (Ranbp9), and the A630056B21Rik gene (predicted to encode a novel zinc finger protein). These studies will help to delineate the global patterns of gene expression characterizing male germ cell differentiation for a better understanding of regulation of spermatogenesis in mammals
Evidence of two viscous relaxation processes in the collective dynamics of liquid lithium
New inelastic X-ray scattering experiments have been performed on liquid
lithium in a wide wavevector range. With respect to the previous measurements,
the instrumental resolution, improved up to 1.5 meV, allows to accurately
investigate the dynamical processes determining the observed shape of the the
dynamic structure factor, . A detailed analysis of the lineshapes
shows the co-existence of relaxation processes with both a slow and a fast
characteristic timescales, and therefore that pictures of the relaxation
mechanisms based on a simple viscoelastic model must be abandoned.Comment: 5 pages, 4 .PS figure
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