208 research outputs found
Structure-guided design and optimization of small molecules targeting the protein-protein interaction between the von hippel-lindau (VHL) E3 ubiquitin ligase and the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) alpha subunit with in vitro nanomolar affinities
E3 ubiquitin ligases are attractive targets in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, however, the development of small-molecule ligands has been rewarded with limited success. The von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) is the substrate recognition subunit of the VHL E3 ligase that targets HIF-1α for degradation. We recently reported inhibitors of the pVHL:HIF-1α interaction, however they exhibited moderate potency. Herein, we report the design and optimization, guided by X-ray crystal structures, of a ligand series with nanomolar binding affinities
Phonon Dynamics and Multipolar Isomorphic Transition in beta-pyrochlore KOs2O6
We investigate with a microscopic model anharmonic K-cation oscillation
observed by neutron experiments in beta-pyrochlore superconductor KOs2O6, which
also shows a mysterious first-order structural transition at Tp=7.5 K. We have
identified a set of microscopic model parameters that successfully reproduce
the observed temperature dependence and the superconducting transition
temperature. Considering changes in the parameters at Tp, we can explain
puzzling experimental results about electron-phonon coupling and neutron data.
Our analysis demonstrates that the first-order transition is multipolar
transition driven by the octupolar component of K-cation oscillations. The
octupole moment does not change the symmetry and is characteristic to
noncentrosymmetric K-cation potential.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Superconductivity and Rattling under High Pressure in the beta-Pyrochlore Oxide RbOs2O6
Rattling-induced superconductivity in the beta-pyrochlore oxide RbOs2O6 is
investigated under high pressures up to 6 GPa. Resistivity measurements in a
high-quality single crystal show that the superconducting transition
temperature Tc increases gradually from 6.3 K at ambient pressure to 8.8 K at
3.5 GPa, surprisingly remains almost constant at 8.8 \pm 0.1 K in a wide
pressure range between 3.5 (Po) and 4.8 GPa, and suddenly drops to 6.3 K at Ps
= 4.9 GPa, followed by a gradual decrease with further pressure increase. Two
anomalies in the temperature dependence of the normal-state resistivity are
observed at Po Ps, revealing the presence of two high-pressure
phases corresponding to the changes in Tc. The rattling of the Rb ion inside a
cage made of Os and O atoms may be slightly and seriously modified in these
high-pressure phases that probably have cages of reduced symmetry,
respectively, so that electron-rattler interactions that govern the
superconducting and transport properties of beta-RbOs2O6 are significantly
affected.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1009.035
Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Priority Cultural Heritage Structures in the Philippines
At the end of 2013 two catastrophic events occurred in the Philippines: the M 7.2 earthquake
in Bohol and the strongest ever recorded Typhoon Haiyan, causing destruction across the islands of Cebu,
Bohol and the Visayas region. These events raised the need to carry out a multi-hazard risk assessment of
heritage buildings, many of which were irretrievably lost in the disasters. Philippinesâ Department of
Tourism engaged ARS Progetti S.P.A., Rome, Italy, and the Center for Conservation of Cultural Property
and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET), University of Sto. Tomas, Manila, to undertake the
âAssessment of the Multi-Hazard Vulnerability of Priority Cultural Heritage Structures in the
Philippinesâ, with experts from University College London, UK, and De La Salle University.
The main objective of the project was to reduce the vulnerability of cultural heritage structures to multiple
natural hazards, including earthquake, typhoon, flood, by: (i) prioritizing of specific structures based on
hazard maps and historical records; (ii) assessing their vulnerability; and (iii) recommending options to
mitigate the impacts on them. The paper presents the methodology introduced to determine the seismic
risk these heritage buildings are exposed to. All the selected cultural heritage structures are under the
jurisdiction of the National Museum Commission of Philippines and of the National Commission for
Culture and Arts
Evolution of quantum criticality in the system CeNi9Ge4
The heavy fermion system CeNi9Ge4 exhibits a paramagnetic ground state with
remarkable features such as: a record value of the electronic specific heat
coefficient in systems with a paramagnetic ground state, \gamma = C/T \simeq
5.5 J/molK^2 at 80 mK, a temperature-dependent Sommerfeld-Wilson ratio,
R=\chi/\gamma, below 1 K and an approximate single ion scaling of the
4f-magnetic specific heat and susceptibility. These features are related to a
rather small Kondo energy scale of a few Kelvin in combination with a
quasi-quartet crystal field ground state. Tuning the system towards long range
magnetic order is accomplished by replacing a few at.% of Ni by Cu or Co.
Specific heat, susceptibility and resistivity studies reveal T_N \sim 0.2 K for
CeNi8CuGe4 and T_N \sim 1 K for CeNi8CoGe4. To gain insight whether the
transition from the paramagnetic NFL state to the magnetically ordered ground
state is connected with a heavy fermion quantum critical point we performed
specific heat and ac susceptibility studies and utilized the \mu SR technique
and quasi-elastic neutron scattering.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, will be published in J.Phys.: Conf. Series
(Proceedings of the International & Interdisciplinary Workshop on Novel
Phenomena in Intergrated Comples Sciences: From Living to Non-living Systems,
Japan, held in Kyoto, October 11-14, 2010
Infrared and optical properties of pure and cobalt-doped LuNi_2B_2C
We present optical conductivity data for Lu(NiCo)BC over
a wide range of frequencies and temperatures for x=0 and x=0.09. Both materials
show evidence of being good Drude metals with the infrared data in reasonable
agreement with dc resistivity measurements at low frequencies. An absorption
threshold is seen at approximately 700 cm-1. In the cobalt-doped material we
see a superconducting gap in the conductivity spectrum with an absorption onset
at 24 +/- 2 cm-1 = 3.9$ +/- 0.4 k_BT_c suggestive of weak to moderately strong
coupling. The pure material is in the clean limit and no gap can be seen. We
discuss the data in terms of the electron-phonon interaction and find that it
can be fit below 600 cm-1 with a plasma frequency of 3.3 eV and an
electron-phonon coupling constant lambda_{tr}=0.33 using an alpha^{2}F(omega)
spectrum fit to the resistivity.Comment: 10 pages with 10 embedded figures, submitted to PR
Crystalline Color Superconductivity
In any context in which color superconductivity arises in nature, it is
likely to involve pairing between species of quarks with differing chemical
potentials. For suitable values of the differences between chemical potentials,
Cooper pairs with nonzero total momentum are favored, as was first realized by
Larkin, Ovchinnikov, Fulde and Ferrell (LOFF). Condensates of this sort
spontaneously break translational and rotational invariance, leading to gaps
which vary periodically in a crystalline pattern. Unlike the original LOFF
state, these crystalline quark matter condensates include both spin zero and
spin one Cooper pairs. We explore the range of parameters for which crystalline
color superconductivity arises in the QCD phase diagram. If in some shell
within the quark matter core of a neutron star (or within a strange quark star)
the quark number densities are such that crystalline color superconductivity
arises, rotational vortices may be pinned in this shell, making it a locus for
glitch phenomena.Comment: 40 pages, LaTeX with eps figs. v2: New paragraph on Ginzburg-Landau
treatment of LOFF phase in section 5. References added. v3: Small changes
only. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Inhomogeneous Superconductivity in Condensed Matter and QCD
Inhomogeneous superconductivity arises when the species participating in the
pairing phenomenon have different Fermi surfaces with a large enough
separation. In these conditions it could be more favorable for each of the
pairing fermions to stay close to its Fermi surface and, differently from the
usual BCS state, for the Cooper pair to have a non zero total momentum. For
this reason in this state the gap varies in space, the ground state is
inhomogeneous and a crystalline structure might be formed. This situation was
considered for the first time by Fulde, Ferrell, Larkin and Ovchinnikov, and
the corresponding state is called LOFF. The spontaneous breaking of the space
symmetries in the vacuum state is a characteristic feature of this phase and is
associated to the presence of long wave-length excitations of zero mass. The
situation described here is of interest both in solid state and in elementary
particle physics, in particular in Quantum Chromo-Dynamics at high density and
small temperature. In this review we present the theoretical approach to the
LOFF state and its phenomenological applications using the language of the
effective field theories.Comment: RevTex, 83 pages, 26 figures. Submitted to Review of Modern Physic
Pairing competition in a quasi-one-dimensional model of organic superconductors (TMTSF) in magnetic field
We microscopically study the effect of the magnetic field (Zeeman splitting)
on the superconducting state in a model for quasi-one-dimensional organic
superconductors (TMTSF). We investigate the competition between spin
singlet and spin triplet pairings and the
Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov(FFLO) state by random phase approximation.
While we studied the competition by comparison with the eigenvalue of the gap
equation at a fixed temperature in our previous study (Phys. Rev. Lett.
\textbf{102} (2009) 016403), here we obtain both the for each pairing
state and a phase diagram in the (temperature)-(field)-(strength
of the charge fluctuation) space. The phase diagram shows that consecutive
transitions from singlet pairing to the FFLO state and further to
triplet pairing can occur upon increasing the magnetic field when
charge fluctuations coexist with spin fluctuations. In the FFLO state,
the singlet d-wave and triplet -wave components are strongly mixed
especially when the charge fluctuations are strong.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov State in Heavy Fermion Superconductors
The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state is a novel superconducting
state in a strong magnetic field characterized by the formation of Cooper pairs
with nonzero total momentum (k \uparrow, -k+q \downarrow), instead of the
ordinary BCS pairs (k \uparrow, -k \downarrow). A fascinating aspect of the
FFLO state is that it exhibits inhomogeneous superconducting phases with a
spatially oscillating order parameter and spin polarization. The FFLO state has
been of interest in various research fields, not only in superconductors in
solid state physics, but also in neutral Fermion superfluid of ultracold atomic
gases and in color superconductivity in high energy physics. In spite of
extensive studies of various superconductors, there has been no undisputed
experimental verification of the FFLO state, mainly because of the very
stringent conditions required of the superconducting materials. Among several
classes of materials, certain heavy fermion and organic superconductors are
believed to provide conditions that are favorable to the formation of the FFLO
state. This review presents recent experimental and theoretical developments of
the FFLO state mainly in heavy fermion superconductors. In particular we
address the recently discovered quasi-two-dimensional superconductor CeCoIn_5,
which is a strong candidate for the formation of the FFLO state.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures with jpsf2.cls, to be published in J. Phys. Soc.
Jpn. (Special Topics - Frontiers of Novel Superconductivity in Heavy Fermion
Compounds
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