1,799 research outputs found
Electronic structure of the substitutional vacancy in graphene: Density-functional and Green's function studies
We study the electronic structure of graphene with a single substitutional
vacancy using a combination of the density-functional, tight-binding, and
impurity Green's function approaches. Density functional studies are performed
with the all-electron spin-polarized linear augmented plane wave (LAPW) method.
The three dangling bonds adjacent to the vacancy introduce
localized states (V) in the mid-gap region, which split due to the
crystal field and a Jahn-Teller distortion, while the states
introduce a sharp resonance state (V) in the band structure. For a planar
structure, symmetry strictly forbids hybridization between the and the
states, so that these bands are clearly identifiable in the calculated
band structure. As for the magnetic moment of the vacancy, the Hund's-rule
coupling aligns the spins of the four localized V, V, and the V electrons resulting
in a S=1 state, with a magnetic moment of , which is reduced by about
due to the anti-ferromagnetic spin-polarization of the band
itinerant states in the vicinity of the vacancy. This results in the net
magnetic moment of . Using the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, we
reproduce the well-known decay of the localized V wave function
with distance and in addition find an interference term coming from the two
Dirac points, previously unnoticed in the literature. The long-range nature of
the V wave function is a unique feature of the graphene vacancy and we
suggest that this may be one of the reasons for the widely varying relaxed
structures and magnetic moments reported from the supercell band calculations
in the literature.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in New Journal of
Physic
Non-universal gauge bosons and lepton flavor-violation tau decays
There are many models beyond the standard model predicting the existence of
non-universal gauge bosons , which can give rise to very rich
phenomena. We calculate the contributions of the non-universal gauge bosons
, predicted by topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) models and
flavor-universal TC2 models, to the lepton flavor-violation tau decays and . We find that the branching ratio
is larger than that of the process
in all of the parameter space. Over a sizable
region of the parameter space, we have , which may be detected in the future experiments.Comment: Final version to appear in Phys. Lett. B. References added and typos
correcte
Finding Z' bosons coupled preferentially to the third family at CERN LEP and the Fermilab Tevatron
Z' bosons that couple preferentially to the third generation fermions can
arise in models with extended weak (SU(2)xSU(2)) or hypercharge (U(1)xU(1))
gauge groups. We show that existing limits on quark-lepton compositeness set by
the LEP and Tevatron experiments translate into lower bounds of order a few
hundred GeV on the masses of these Z' bosons. Resonances of this mass can be
directly produced at the Tevatron. Accordingly, we explore in detail the limits
that can be set at Run II using the process p pbar -> Z' -> tau tau -> e mu. We
also comment on the possibility of using hadronically-decaying taus to improve
the limits.Comment: LaTeX2e, 24 pages (including title page), 13 figures; version 2:
corrected typographical errors and bad figure placement; version 3: added
references and updated introduction; version 4: changes to compensate for old
latex version on arXiv server; version 5: additional references, and embedded
fonts in eps files for PRD; version 6: corrected some minor typos to address
PRD referee's comment
Joint timing synchronization and channel estimation based on ZCZ sequence set in SC-MIMO-FDE system
Neutral top-pion and lepton flavor violating processes
In the context of topcolor-assisted techicolor(TC2) models, we study the
contributions of the neutral top-pion to the lepton flavor
violating(LFV) processes and .
We find that the present experimental bound on gives severe
constraints on the free parameters of models. Taking into account these
constraints, we consider the processes generated by
top-pion exchange at the tree-level and the one loop level, and obtain
, , in most of
the parameter space.Comment: latex files,16 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Male breast cancer
Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease representing less than 1% of all breast cancers (BC) and less than 1% of cancers in men. Age at presentation is mostly in the late 60s. MBC is recognized as an estrogen-driven disease, specifically related to hyperestrogenism. About 20% of MBC patients have family history for BC. Mutations in BRCA1 and, predominantly, BRCA2, account for approximately 10% of MBC cases.
Because of its rarity, MBC is often compared with female BC (FBC). Based on age-frequency distribution, age-specific incidence rate patterns and prognostic factors profiles, MBC is considered similar to late-onset, postmenopausal estrogen/progesterone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) FBC. However, clinical and pathological characteristics of MBC do not exactly overlap FBC. Compared with FBC, MBC has been reported to occur later in life, present at a higher stage, and display lower histologic grade, with a higher proportion of ER+ and PR+ tumors.
Although rare, MBC remains a substantial cause for morbidity and mortality in men, probably because of its occurrence in advanced age and delayed diagnosis. Diagnosis and treatment of MBC generally is similar to that of FBC. Men tend to be treated with mastectomy rather than breast-conserving surgery. The backbone of adjuvant therapy or palliative treatment for advanced disease is endocrine, mostly tamoxifen.
Use of FBC-based therapy led to the observation that treatment outcomes for MBC are worse and that survival rates for MBC do not improve like FBC. These different outcomes may suggest a non-appropriate utilization of treatments and that different underlying pathogenetic mechanisms may exist between male and female BC
MICE: The muon ionization cooling experiment. Step I: First measurement of emittance with particle physics detectors
Copyright @ 2011 APSThe Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented.This work was supported by NSF grant PHY-0842798
Kinematic analysis of the daily activity of drinking from a glass in a population with cervical spinal cord injury
Background
Three-dimensional kinematic analysis equipment is a valuable instrument for studying the execution of movement during functional activities of the upper limbs. The aim of this study was to analyze the kinematic differences in the execution of a daily activity such as drinking from a glass between two groups of patients with tetraplegia and a control group.
Methods
A total of 24 people were separated into three groups for analysis: 8 subjects with metameric level C6 tetraplegia, 8 subjects with metameric level C7 tetraplegia and 8 control subjects (CG). A set of active markers that emit infrared light were positioned on the upper limb. Two scanning units were used to record the sessions. The activity of drinking from a glass was broken down into a series of clearly identifiable phases to facilitate analysis. Movement times, velocities, and the joint angles of the shoulder, elbow and wrist in the three spatial planes were the variables analyzed.
Results
The most relevant differences between the three groups were in the wrist. Wrist palmar flexion during the back transport phase was greater in the patients with C6 and C7 tetraplegia than in the CG, whereas the highest wrist dorsal flexion values were in forward transport in the subjects with C6 or C7 tetraplegia, who required complete activation of the tenodesis effect to complete grasping.
Conclusions
A detailed description was made of the three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the task of drinking from a glass in healthy subjects and in two groups of patients with tetraplegia. This was a useful application of kinematic analysis of upper limb movement in a clinical setting. Better knowledge of the execution of this movement in each of these groups allows therapeutic recommendations to be specifically adapted to the functional deficit present. This information can be useful in designing wearable robots to compensate the performance of AVD, such as drinking, in people with cervical SCI
Opposite Effects of HIV-1 p17 Variants on PTEN Activation and Cell Growth in B Cells
The HIV-1 matrix protein p17 is a structural protein that can act in the extracellular environment to deregulate several functions of immune cells, through the interaction of its NH2-terminal region with a cellular surface receptor (p17R). The intracellular events triggered by p17/p17R interaction have been not completely characterized yet. In this study we analyze the signal transduction pathways induced by p17/p17R interaction and show that in Raji cells, a human B cell line stably expressing p17R on its surface, p17 induces a transient activation of the transcriptional factor AP-1. Moreover, it was found to upregulate pERK1/2 and downregulate pAkt, which are the major intracellular signalling components involved in AP-1 activation. These effects are mediated by the COOH-terminal region of p17, which displays the capability of keeping PTEN, a phosphatase that regulates the PI3K/Akt pathway, in an active state through the serin/threonin (Ser/Thr) kinase ROCK. Indeed, the COOH-terminal truncated form of p17 (p17Δ36) induced activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway by maintaining PTEN in an inactive phosphorylated form. Interestingly, we show that among different p17s, a variant derived from a Ugandan HIV-1 strain, named S75X, triggers an activation of PI3K/Akt signalling pathway, and leads to an increased B cell proliferation and malignant transformation. In summary, this study shows the role of the COOH-terminal region in modulating the p17 signalling pathways so highlighting the complexity of p17 binding to and signalling through its receptor(s). Moreover, it provides the first evidence on the presence of a p17 natural variant mimicking the p17Δ36-induced signalling in B cells and displaying the capacity of promoting B cell growth and tumorigenesis
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