4,241 research outputs found
Magnetic Excitations in NpCoGa5
We report the results of inelastic neutron scattering experiments on
NpCoGa, an isostructural analogue of the PuCoGa superconductor. Two
energy scales characterize the magnetic response in the antiferromagnetic
phase. One is related to a non-dispersive excitation between two crystal field
levels. The other at lower energies corresponds to dispersive fluctuations
emanating from the magnetic zone center. The fluctuations persist in the
paramagnetic phase also, although weaker in intensity. This supports the
possibility that magnetic fluctuations are present in PuCoGa, where
unconventional d-wave superconductivity is achieved in the absence of magnetic
order.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
CH 3 GHz Observations of the Galactic Center
A 3 3 map of the Galactic Center was made at 9\arcmin resolution
and 10\arcmin spacing in the CH , J=1/2, F=1-1 transition at
3335 MHz. The CH emission shows a velocity extent that is nearly that of the
CO(1-0) line, but the CH line profiles differ markedly from the CO. The 3335
MHz CH transition primarily traces low-density molecular gas and our
observations indicate that the mass of this component within 30 pc of
the Galactic Center is 9 10 M. The CO-H
conversion factor obtained for the low-density gas in the mapped region is
greater than that thought to apply to the dense molecular gas at the Galactic
Center. In addition to tracing the low-density molecular gas at the Galactic
Center, the CH spectra show evidence of emission from molecular clouds along
the line of sight both in the foreground and background. The scale height of
these clouds ranges from 27 - 109 pc, consistent with previous work based on
observations of molecular clouds in the inner Galaxy.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure
Endothelial cells, endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxysterols
Oxysterols are bioactive lipids that act as regulators of lipid metabolism, inflammation, cell viability and are involved in several diseases, including atherosclerosis. Mounting evidence linked the atherosclerosis to endothelium dysfunction; in fact, the endothelium regulates the vascular system with roles in processes such as hemostasis, cell cholesterol, hormone trafficking, signal transduction and inflammation. Several papers shed light the ability of oxysterols to induce apoptosis in different cell lines including endothelial cells. Apoptotic endothelial cell and endothelial denudation may constitute a critical step in the transition to plaque erosion and vessel thrombosis, so preventing the endothelial damaged has garnered considerable attention as a novel means of treating atherosclerosis. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site where the proteins are synthetized and folded and is necessary for most cellular activity; perturbations of ER homeostasis leads to a condition known as endoplasmic reticulum stress. This condition evokes the unfolded protein response (UPR) an adaptive pathway that aims to restore ER homeostasis. Mounting evidence suggests that chronic activation of UPR leads to cell dysfunction and death and recently has been implicated in pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. Autophagy is an essential catabolic mechanism that delivers misfolded proteins and damaged organelles to the lysosome for degradation, maintaining basal levels of autophagic activity it is critical for cell survival. Several evidence suggests that persistent ER stress often results in stimulation of autophagic activities, likely as a compensatory mechanism to relieve ER stress and consequently cell death. In this review, we summarize evidence for the effect of oxysterols on endothelial cells, especially focusing on oxysterols-mediated induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress
The geometrical nature of optical resonances : from a sphere to fused dimer nanoparticles
We study the electromagnetic response of smooth gold nanoparticles with shapes varying from a single sphere to two ellipsoids joined smoothly at their vertices. We show that the plasmonic resonance visible in the extinction and absorption cross sections shifts to longer wavelengths and eventually disappears as the mid-plane waist of the composite particle becomes narrower. This process corresponds to an increase of the numbers of internal and scattering modes that are mainly confined to the surface and coupled to the incident field. These modes strongly affect the near field, and therefore are of great importance in surface spectroscopy, but are almost undetectable in the far field
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