17,610 research outputs found
Three very young HgMn stars in the Orion OB1 Association
We report the detection of three mercury-manganese stars in the Orion OB1
association. HD 37886 and BD-0 984 are in the approximately 1.7 million year
old Orion OB1b. HD 37492 is in the approximately 4.6 million year old Orion
OB1c. Orion OB1b is now the youngest cluster with known HgMn star members. This
places an observational upper limit on the time scale needed to produce the
chemical peculiarities seen in mercury-manganese stars, which should help in
the search for the cause or causes of the peculiar abundances in HgMn and other
chemically peculiar upper main sequence stars.Comment: 8 pages including 1 figure. To appear in Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Xwnt-5A: a maternal Wnt that affects morphogenetic movements after overexpression in embryos of Xenopus laevis
To contribute to an understanding of the roles and mechanisms of action of Wnts in early vertebrate development, we have characterized the normal expression of Xenopus laevis Wnt-5A, and investigated the consequences of misexpression of this putative signalling factor. Xwnt-5A transcripts are expressed throughout development, and are enriched in both the anterior and posterior regions of embryos at late stages of development, where they are found primarily in ectoderm, with lower levels of expression in mesoderm. Overexpression of Xwnt-5A in Xenopus embryos leads to complex malformations distinct from those achieved by ectopic expression of Xwnts ā1, ā3A, or ā8. This phenotype is unlikely to result from Xwnt-5A acting as an inducing agent, as overexpression of Xwnt-5A does not rescue dorsal structures in UV-irradiated embryos, does not induce mesoderm in blastula caps, and Xwnt-5A does not alter the endogenous patterns of expression of goosecoid, Xbra, or Xwnt-8. To pursue whether Xwnt-5A has the capacity to affect morphogenetic movements, we investigated whether overexpression of Xwnt-5A alters the normal elongation of blastula cap explants induced by activin. Intriguingly, Xwnt-5A blocks the elongation of blastula caps in response to activin, without blocking the differentiation of either dorsal or ventral mesoderm within these explants. The data are consistent with Xwnt-5A having the potential activity of modifying the morphogenetic movements of tissues
Coexistence of bulk and surface states probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in BiSe with high charge-carrier density
Topological insulators are ideally represented as having an insulating bulk
with topologically protected, spin-textured surface states. However, it is
increasingly becoming clear that these surface transport channels can be
accompanied by a finite conducting bulk, as well as additional topologically
trivial surface states. To investigate these parallel conduction transport
channels, we studied Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in BiSe thin films,
in high magnetic fields up to 30 T so as to access channels with a lower
mobility. We identify a clear Zeeman-split bulk contribution to the
oscillations from a comparison between the charge-carrier densities extracted
from the magnetoresistance and the oscillations. Furthermore, our analyses
indicate the presence of a two-dimensional state and signatures of additional
states the origin of which cannot be conclusively determined. Our findings
underpin the necessity of theoretical studies on the origin of and the
interplay between these parallel conduction channels for a careful analysis of
the material's performance.Comment: Manuscript including supplemental materia
Stiffness and energy losses in cylindrically symmetric superconductor levitating systems
Stiffness and hysteretic energy losses are calculated for a magnetically
levitating system composed of a type-II superconductor and a permanent magnet
when a small vibration is produced in the system. We consider a cylindrically
symmetric configuration with only vertical movements and calculate the current
profiles under the assumption of the critical state model. The calculations,
based on magnetic energy minimization, take into account the demagnetization
fields inside the superconductor and the actual shape of the applied field. The
dependence of stiffness and hysteretic energy losses upon the different
important parameters of the system such as the superconductor aspect ratio, the
relative size of the superconductor-permanent magnet, and the critical current
of the superconductor are all systematically studied. Finally, in view of the
results, we provide some trends on how a system such as the one studied here
could be designed in order to optimize both the stiffness and the hysteretic
losses.Comment: 8 pages; 8 figure
Tricritical gravity waves in the four-dimensional generalized massive gravity
We construct a generalized massive gravity by combining quadratic curvature
gravity with the Chern-Simons term in four dimensions. This may be a candidate
for the parity-odd tricritical gravity theory. Considering the AdS vacuum
solution, we derive the linearized Einstein equation, which is not similar to
that of the three dimensional (3D) generalized massive gravity. When a
perturbed metric tensor is chosen to be the Kerr-Schild form, the linearized
equation reduces to a single massive scalar equation. At the tricritical points
where two masses are equal to -1 and 2, we obtain a log-square wave solution to
the massive scalar equation. This is compared to the 3D tricritical generalized
massive gravity whose dual is a rank-3 logarithmic conformal field theory.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, version to appear in EPJ
Pattern Formation in a Two-Dimensional Array of Oscillators with Phase-Shifted Coupling
We investigate the dynamics of a two-dimensional array of oscillators with
phase-shifted coupling. Each oscillator is allowed to interact with its
neighbors within a finite radius. The system exhibits various patterns
including squarelike pinwheels, (anti)spirals with phase-randomized cores, and
antiferro patterns embedded in (anti)spirals. We consider the symmetry
properties of the system to explain the observed behaviors, and estimate the
wavelengths of the patterns by linear analysis. Finally, we point out the
implications of our work for biological neural networks
Dissipation in the superconducting state of kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2
We have studied the interlayer resistivity of the prototypical
quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor -(BEDT-TTF)Cu(NCS)
as a function of temperature, current and magnetic field, within the
superconducting state. We find a region of non-zero resistivity whose
properties are strongly dependent on magnetic field and current density. There
is a crossover to non-Ohmic conduction below a temperature that coincides with
the 2D vortex solid -- vortex liquid transition. We interpret the behaviour in
terms of a model of current- and thermally-driven phase slips caused by the
diffusive motion of the pancake vortices which are weakly-coupled in adjacent
layers, giving rise to a finite interlayer resistance.Comment: Four pages, three figure
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