539 research outputs found
Magnetic quantum tunnelling in Fe8 with excited nuclei
We investigate the effect of dynamic nuclear spin fluctuation on quantum
tunneling of the magnetization (QTM) in the molecular magnet Fe8 by increasing
the nuclei temperature using radio frequency (RF) pulses before the hysteresis
loop measurements. The RF pulses do not change the electrons spin temperature.
Independently we show that the nuclear spin-spin relaxation time T2 has strong
temperature dependence. Nevertheless, we found no effect of the nuclear spin
temperature on the tunneling probability. This suggests that in our
experimental conditions only the hyperfine field strength is relevant for QTM.
We demonstrate theoretically how this can occur.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Observational evidence of coupling between quasi-periodic echoes and medium scale traveling ionospheric disturbances
Proton Spin Relaxation Induced by Quantum Tunneling in Fe8 Molecular Nanomagnet
The spin-lattice relaxation rate and NMR spectra of H in
single crystal molecular magnets of Fe8 have been measured down to 15 mK. The
relaxation rate shows a strong temperature dependence down to 400
mK. The relaxation is well explained in terms of the thermal transition of the
iron state between the discreet energy levels of the total spin S=10. The
relaxation time becomes temperature independent below 300 mK and is
longer than 100 s. In this temperature region stepwise recovery of the
H-NMR signal after saturation was observed depending on the return field of
the sweep field. This phenomenon is attributed to resonant quantum tunneling at
the fields where levels cross and is discussed in terms of the Landau-Zener
transition.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Spin dynamics in molecular ring nanomagnets: Significant effect of acoustic phonons and magnetic anisotropies
The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1_ is calculated for magnetic
ring clusters by fully diagonalizing their microscopic spin Hamiltonians.
Whether the nearest-neighbor exchange interaction J is ferromagnetic or
antiferromagnetic, 1/T_1_ versus temperature T in ring nanomagnets may be
peaked at around k_B_T=|J| provided the lifetime broadening of discrete energy
levels is in proportion to T^3^. Experimental findings for ferromagnetic and
antiferromagnetic Cu^II^ rings are reproduced with crucial contributions of
magnetic anisotropies as well as acoustic phonons.Comment: 5 pages with 5 figures embedded, to be published in J. Phys. Soc.
Jpn. 75, No. 10 (2006
Slow Relaxation of Spin Structure in Exotic Ferromagnetic Phase of Ising-like Heisenberg Kagome Antiferromagnets
In the corner-sharing lattice, magnetic frustration causes macroscopic
degeneracy in the ground state, which prevents systems from ordering. However,
if the ensemble of the degenerate configuration has some global structure, the
system can have a symmetry breaking phenomenon and thus posses a finite
temperature phase transition. As a typical example of such cases, the magnetic
phase transition of the Ising-like Heisenberg antiferromagnetic model on the
kagome lattice has been studied. There, a phase transition of the
two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising universality class occurs accompanying with
the uniform spontaneous magnetization. Because of the macroscopic degeneracy in
the ordered phase, the system is found to show an entropy-driven ordering
process, which is quantitatively characterized by the number of ``weathervane
loop''. We investigate this novel type of slow relaxation in regularly
frustrated system.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Histogram Monte Carlo study of multicritical behavior in the hexagonal easy-axis Heisenberg antiferromagnet
The results of a detailed histogram Monte-Carlo study of critical-fluctuation
effects on the magnetic-field temperature phase diagram associated with the
hexagonal Heisenberg antiferromagnet with weak axial anisotropy are reported.
The multiphase point where three lines of continuous transitions merge at the
spin-flop boundary exhibits a structure consistent with scaling theory but
without the usual umbilicus as found in the case of a bicritical point.Comment: 7 pages (RevTex 3.0), 1 figure available upon request, CRPS-93-1
On the Propagation of Slip Fronts at Frictional Interfaces
The dynamic initiation of sliding at planar interfaces between deformable and
rigid solids is studied with particular focus on the speed of the slip front.
Recent experimental results showed a close relation between this speed and the
local ratio of shear to normal stress measured before slip occurs (static
stress ratio). Using a two-dimensional finite element model, we demonstrate,
however, that fronts propagating in different directions do not have the same
dynamics under similar stress conditions. A lack of correlation is also
observed between accelerating and decelerating slip fronts. These effects
cannot be entirely associated with static local stresses but call for a dynamic
description. Considering a dynamic stress ratio (measured in front of the slip
tip) instead of a static one reduces the above-mentioned inconsistencies.
However, the effects of the direction and acceleration are still present. To
overcome this we propose an energetic criterion that uniquely associates,
independently on the direction of propagation and its acceleration, the slip
front velocity with the relative rise of the energy density at the slip tip.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Associations Between Methylation of Paternally Expressed Gene 3 (PEG3), Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Invasive Cervical Cancer.
Cytology-based screening for invasive cervical cancer (ICC) lacks sensitivity and specificity to discriminate between cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) likely to persist or progress from cases likely to resolve. Genome-wide approaches have been used to identify DNA methylation marks associated with CIN persistence or progression. However, associations between DNA methylation marks and CIN or ICC remain weak and inconsistent. Between 2008-2009, we conducted a hospital-based, case-control study among 213 Tanzania women with CIN 1/2/3 or ICC. We collected questionnaire data, biopsies, peripheral blood, cervical scrapes, Human papillomavirus (HPV) and HIV-1 infection status. We assessed PEG3 methylation status by bisulfite pyrosequencing. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI 95%) for associations between PEG3 methylation status and CIN or ICC. After adjusting for age, gravidity, hormonal contraceptive use and HPV infection, a 5% increase in PEG3 DNA methylation was associated with increased risk for ICC (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.2-2.1). HPV infection was associated with a higher risk of CIN1-3 (OR = 15.7; 95% CI 5.7-48.6) and ICC (OR = 29.5, 95% CI 6.3-38.4). Infection with high risk HPV was correlated with mean PEG3 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) methylation (r = 0.34 p<0.0001), while the correlation with low risk HPV infection was weaker (r = 0.16 p = 0.047). Although small sample size limits inference, these data support that PEG3 methylation status has potential as a molecular target for inclusion in CIN screening to improve prediction of progression. Impact statement: We present the first evidence that aberrant methylation of the PEG3 DMR is an important co-factor in the development of Invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC), especially among women infected with high risk HPV. Our results show that a five percent increase in DNA methylation of PEG3 is associated with a 1.6-fold increase ICC risk. Suggesting PEG3 methylation status may be useful as a molecular marker for CIN screening to improve prediction of cases likely to progress
Novel Patient Cell-Based HTS Assay for Identification of Small Molecules for a Lysosomal Storage Disease
Small molecules have been identified as potential therapeutic agents for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), inherited metabolic disorders caused by defects in proteins that result in lysosome dysfunctional. Some small molecules function assisting the folding of mutant misfolded lysosomal enzymes that are otherwise degraded in ER-associated degradation. The ultimate result is the enhancement of the residual enzymatic activity of the deficient enzyme. Most of the high throughput screening (HTS) assays developed to identify these molecules are single-target biochemical assays. Here we describe a cell-based assay using patient cell lines to identify small molecules that enhance the residual arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity found in patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a progressive neurodegenerative LSD. In order to generate sufficient cell lines for a large scale HTS, primary cultured fibroblasts from MLD patients were transformed using SV40 large T antigen. These SV40 transformed (SV40t) cells showed to conserve biochemical characteristics of the primary cells. Using a specific colorimetric substrate para-nitrocatechol sulfate (pNCS), detectable ASA residual activity were observed in primary and SV40t fibroblasts from a MLD patient (ASA-I179S) cultured in multi-well plates. A robust fluorescence ASA assay was developed in high-density 1,536-well plates using the traditional colorimetric pNCS substrate, whose product (pNC) acts as “plate fluorescence quencher” in white solid-bottom plates. The quantitative cell-based HTS assay for ASA generated strong statistical parameters when tested against a diverse small molecule collection. This cell-based assay approach can be used for several other LSDs and genetic disorders, especially those that rely on colorimetric substrates which traditionally present low sensitivity for assay-miniaturization. In addition, the quantitative cell-based HTS assay here developed using patient cells creates an opportunity to identify therapeutic small molecules in a disease-cellular environment where potentially disrupted pathways are exposed and available as targets
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