17,236 research outputs found
The Role of Cytoplasmic mRNA Cap-Binding Protein Complexes in Trypanosoma brucei and Other Trypanosomatids.
Trypanosomatid protozoa are unusual eukaryotes that are well known for having unusual ways of controlling their gene expression. The lack of a refined mode of transcriptional control in these organisms is compensated by several post-transcriptional control mechanisms, such as control of mRNA turnover and selection of mRNA for translation, that may modulate protein synthesis in response to several environmental conditions found in different hosts. In other eukaryotes, selection of mRNA for translation is mediated by the complex eIF4F, a heterotrimeric protein complex composed by the subunits eIF4E, eIF4G, and eIF4A, where the eIF4E binds to the 5'-cap structure of mature mRNAs. In this review, we present and discuss the characteristics of six trypanosomatid eIF4E homologs and their associated proteins that form multiple eIF4F complexes. The existence of multiple eIF4F complexes in trypanosomatids evokes exquisite mechanisms for differential mRNA recognition for translation
Quantum phase transitions and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature in a two-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gas
We study the effect of spin-orbit coupling on both the zero-temperature and
non-zero temperature behavior of a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gas. We include a
generic combination of Rashba and Dresselhaus terms into the system
Hamiltonian, which allows us to study both the experimentally relevant
equal-Rashba-Dresselhaus (ERD) limit and the Rashba-only (RO) limit. At zero
temperature, we derive the phase diagram as a function of the two-body binding
energy and Zeeman field. In the ERD case, this phase diagram reveals several
topologically distinct uniform superfluid phases, classified according to the
nodal structure of the quasiparticle excitation energies. Furthermore, we use a
momentum dependent SU(2)-rotation to transform the system into a generalized
helicity basis, revealing that spin-orbit coupling induces a triplet pairing
component of the order parameter. At non-zero temperature, we study the
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition by including phase
fluctuations of the order parameter up to second order. We show that the
superfluid density becomes anisotropic due to the presence of spin-orbit
coupling (except in the RO case). This leads both to elliptic vortices and
antivortices, and to anisotropic sound velocities. The latter prove to be
sensitive to quantum phase transitions between topologically distinct phases.
We show further that at a fixed non-zero Zeeman field, the BKT critical
temperature is increased by the presence of ERD spin-orbit coupling.
Subsequently, we demonstrate that the Clogston limit becomes infinite:
remains non-zero at all finite values of the Zeeman field. We
conclude by extending the quantum phase transition lines to non-zero
temperature, using the nodal structure of the quasiparticle spectrum, thus
connecting the BKT critical temperature with the zero-temperature results.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Effects of spin-orbit coupling on the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and the vortex-antivortex structure in two-dimensional Fermi gases
We investigate the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in a
two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gas with spin-orbit coupling (SOC), as a function of
the two-body binding energy and a perpendicular Zeeman field. By including a
generic form of the SOC, as a function of Rashba and Dresselhaus terms, we
study the evolution between the experimentally relevant equal
Rashba-Dresselhaus (ERD) case and the Rashba-only (RO) case. We show that in
the ERD case, at fixed non-zero Zeeman field, the BKT transition temperature
is increased by the effect of SOC for all values of the binding
energy. We also find a significant increase in the value of the Clogston limit
compared to the case without SOC. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the
superfluid density tensor becomes anisotropic (except in the RO case), leading
to an anisotropic phase-fluctuation action that describes elliptic vortices and
antivortices, which become circular in the RO limit. This deformation
constitutes an important experimental signature for superfluidity in a 2D Fermi
gas with ERD SOC. Finally, we show that the anisotropic sound velocities
exhibit anomalies at low temperatures, in the vicinity of quantum phase
transitions between topologically distinct uniform superfluid phases.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Bopp-Podolsky black holes and the no-hair theorem
Bopp-Podolsky electrodynamics is generalized to curved space-times. The
equations of motion are written for the case of static spherically symmetric
black holes and their exterior solutions are analyzed using Bekenstein's
method. It is shown the solutions split-up into two parts, namely a
non-homogeneous (asymptotically massless) regime and a homogeneous
(asymptotically massive) sector which is null outside the event horizon. In
addition, in the simplest approach to Bopp-Podolsky black holes, the
non-homogeneous solutions are found to be Maxwell's solutions leading to a
Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. It is also demonstrated that the only exterior
solution consistent with the weak and null energy conditions is the Maxwell's
one. Thus, in light of energy conditions, it is concluded that only Maxwell
modes propagate outside the horizon and, therefore, the no-hair theorem is
satisfied in the case of Bopp-Podolsky fields in spherically symmetric
space-times.Comment: 9 pages, updated to match published versio
A model for structural defects in nanomagnets
A model for describing structural pointlike defects in nanoscaled
ferromagnetic materials is presented. Its details are explicitly developed
whenever interacting with a vortex-like state comprised in a thin nanodisk.
Among others, our model yields results for the vortex equilibrium position
under the influence of several defects along with an external magnetic field in
good qualitative agreement with experiments. We also discuss how such defects
may affect the vortex motion, like its gyrotropic oscillation and dynamical
polarization reversal.Comment: 8 pages, resubmitted to Journal of Applied Physic
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