168 research outputs found
A NEW MODEL OF BOAR SEMEN EVALUATION AND THE IMPACT OF CRYOGENIC FACTOR ON SPERMATIC CELLS
Nowadays, sperm evaluation is mostly used to predict fertility and freezability. Theaim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of investigating the effects of thecryogenic agent on boar spermatozoa, by identifying a set of laboratory tests for arapid and efficient evaluation of semen quality. Usual sperm analysis such as spermconcentration, motility and spermatozoa morphology are not able to show subtleabnormalities, which are having a basic role in the fertilizing ability. Moreover, itseems that other sperm characteristics, involved in the fertilizing ability, can interferewith the freezing-thawing processes, being not evaluated or maybe not known.Morphological (microscopic analysis of stained spermatozoa), functional (motilityanalysis and hypo-osmotic swelling test) and chromatin integrity (Acridine OrangeTest and Comet Assay) analysis were performed aiming to show the differences inspermatozoon integrity and functionality, caused by the cryogenic facto
Extreme vortex pinning in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor CePtSi
We report on the vortex dynamics of a single crystal of the
non-centrosymmetric heavy-fermion superconductor CePtSi. Decays of the
remnant magnetization display a clean logarithmic time dependence with rates
that follow the temperature dependence expected from the Kim-Anderson theory.
The creep rates are lower than observed in any other centrosymmetric
superconductor and are not caused by high critical currents. On the contrary,
the critical current in CePtSi is considerably lower than in other
superconductors with strong vortex pinning indicating that an alternative
impediment on the flux line motion might be at work in this superconductor.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Vortex avalanches in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor Li2Pt3B
We investigated the vortex dynamics in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor
Li_2Pt_3B in the temperature range 0.1 K - 2.8 K. Two different logarithmic
creep regimes in the decay of the remanent magnetization from the Bean critical
state have been observed. In the first regime, the creep rate is
extraordinarily small, indicating the existence of a new, very effective
pinning mechanism. At a certain time a vortex avalanche occurs that increases
the logarithmic creep rate by a factor of about 5 to 10 depending on the
temperature. This may indicate that certain barriers against flux motion are
present and they can be opened under increased pressure exerted by the
vortices. A possible mechanism based on the barrier effect of twin boundaries
is briefly discussed
Agent Based Test and Repair of Distributed Systems
This article demonstrates how to use intelligent agents for testing and repairing a distributed system, whose elements may or may not have embedded BIST (Built-In Self-Test) and BISR (Built-In Self-Repair) facilities.
Agents are software modules that perform monitoring, diagnosis and repair of the faults. They form together a society whose members communicate, set goals and solve tasks.
An experimental solution is presented, and future developments of the proposed approach are explored
Controllable chirality-induced geometrical Hall effect in a frustrated highly-correlated metal
A current of electrons traversing a landscape of localized spins possessing
non-coplanar magnetic order gains a geometrical (Berry) phase which can lead to
a Hall voltage independent of the spin-orbit coupling within the material--a
geometrical Hall effect. We show that the highly-correlated metal UCu5
possesses an unusually large controllable geometrical Hall effect at T<1.2K due
to its frustration-induced magnetic order. The magnitude of the Hall response
exceeds 20% of the \nu=1 quantum Hall effect per atomic layer, which translates
into an effective magnetic field of several hundred Tesla acting on the
electrons. The existence of such a large geometric Hall response in UCu5 opens
a new field of inquiry into the importance of the role of frustration in
highly-correlated electron materials.Comment: article and supplemental informatio
New structural and magnetic aspects of the nanotube system Na2V3O7
We present new experimental results of low temperature x-ray synchrotron
diffraction, neutron scattering and very low temperature (mK-range) bulk
measurements on the nanotube system {\tube}. The crystal structure determined
from our data is similar to the previously proposed model (P. Millet {\it et
al.} J. Solid State Chem. , 676 (1999)), but also deviates from it in
significant details. The structure comprises nanotubes along the c-axis formed
by stacking units of two V-rings buckled in the -plane. The space group is
P and the composition is nonstoichiometric, Na(2-x)V3O7, x=0.17. The
thermal evolution of the lattice parameters reveals anisotropic lattice
compression on cooling. Neutron scattering experiments monitor a very weak
magnetic signal at energies from -20 to 9 meV. New magnetic susceptibility,
specific heat measurements and decay of remanent magnetization in the 30 mK -
300 mK range reveal that the previously observed transition at ~76 mK is
spin-glass like with no long-range order. Presented experimental observations
do not support models of isolated clusters, but are compatible with a model of
odd-legged S=1/2 spin tubes possibly segmented into fragments with different
lengths
Fully gapped superconductivity in Ni-pnictide superconductors BaNi2As2 and SrNi2P2
We have performed low-temperature specific heat and thermal conductivity
measurements on the Ni-pnictide superconductors BaNiAs
(=0.7 K and SrNiP (=1.4 K). The temperature
dependences and of the two compounds are similar to the
results of a number of s-wave superconductors. Furthermore, the concave field
responses of the residual for BaNiAs rules out the presence of
nodes on the Fermi surfaces. We postulate that fully gapped superconductivity
could be universal for Ni-pnictide superconductors. Specific heat data on
BaLaNiAs shows a mild suppression of and
relative to BaNiAs.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to be published in J. Phys.: Conf. Se
Superconductivity in LaFeAsPO: effect of chemical pressures and bond covalency
We report the realization of superconductivity by an isovalent doping with
phosphorus in LaFeAsO. X-ray diffraction shows that, with the partial
substitution of P for As, the FeAs layers are squeezed while the
LaO layers are stretched along the c-axis. Electrical resistance and
magnetization measurements show emergence of bulk superconductivity at 10
K for the optimally-doped LaFeAsPO (). The upper
critical fields at zero temperature is estimated to be 27 T, much higher than
that of the LaFePO superconductor. The occurrence of superconductivity is
discussed in terms of chemical pressures and bond covalency.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, more data presente
Thermal and magnetic properties of a low-temperature antiferromagnet CePtSn
We report specific heat () and magnetization () of single crystalline
CePtSn at temperature down to 50mK and in fields up to
3T. exhibits a sharp anomaly at 180mK, with a large 30J/molK-Ce, which, together with the corresponding cusp-like
magnetization anomaly, indicates an antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state with a
N\'eel temperature =180mK. Numerical calculations based on a Heisenberg
model reproduce both zero-field and data, thus placing
CePtSn in the weak exchange coupling limit of the
Doniach diagram, with a very small Kondo scale . Magnetic field
suppresses the AFM state at 0.7T, much more effectively than
expected from the Heisenberg model, indicating additional effects possibly due
to frustration or residual Kondo screening.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Adenomatous polyposis coli-mediated control of β-catenin is essential for both chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation of skeletal precursors
Background: During skeletogenesis, protein levels of β-catenin in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway determine lineage commitment of skeletal precursor cells to osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) is a key controller of β-catenin turnover by down-regulating intracellular levels of β-catenin. Results: To investigate whether Apc is involved in lineage commitment of skeletal precursor cells, we generated conditional knockout mice lacking functional Apc in Col2a1-expressing cells. In contrast to other models in which an oncogenic variant of β-catenin was used, our approach resulted in the accumulation of wild type β-catenin protein due to functional loss of Apc. Conditional homozygous Apc mutant mice died perinatally showing greatly impaired skeletogenesis. All endochondral bones were misshaped and lacked structural integrity. Lack of functional Apc resulted in a pleiotropic skeletal cell phenotype. The majority of the precursor cells lacking Apc failed to differentiate into chondrocytes or osteoblasts. However, skeletal precursor cells in the proximal ribs were able to escape the noxious effect of functional loss of Apc resulting in formation of highly active osteoblasts. Inactivation of Apc in chondrocytes was associated with dedifferentiation of these cells. Conclusion: Our data indicate that a tight Apc-mediated control of β-catenin levels is essential for differentiation of skeletal precursors as well as for the maintenance of a chondrocytic phenotype in a spatio-temporal regulated manner
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