306 research outputs found
Theory of phonon-assisted "forbidden" optical transitions in spin-gapped systems
We consider the absorption of light with emission of one S(tot)=1 magnetic
excitation in systems with a spin gap induced by quantum fluctuations. We argue
that an electric dipole transition is allowed on the condition that a virtual
phonon instantaneously breaks the inversion symmetry. We derive an effective
operator for the transition and argue that the proposed theory explains the
polarized experiments in CuGeO(3) and SrCu(2)[BO(3)](2).Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Dark-adapted red flash ERGs in healthy adults
Purpose: The x-wave of the dark-adapted (DA) ERG to a red flash reflects DA cone function. This exploratory study of healthy adults aimed to investigate changes in the DA red ERG with flash strength and during dark adaptation to optimise visualisation and therefore quantification of the x-wave.
Methods: The effect of altering red flash strength was investigated in four subjects by recording ERGs after 20 minutes dark adaptation to red flashes (0.2â2.0 cd s m-2) using skin electrodes and natural pupils. The effect of dark adaptation duration was investigated in 16 subjects during 20 minutes in the dark, by recording DA 1.5 red ERGs at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes.
Results: For a dark adaption period of 20 minutes, the x-wave was more clearly visualised to weaker (< 0.6 cd s m-2) red flash strengths: to stronger flashes it became obscured by the b-wave. For red flashes of 1.5 cd s m-2, the x-wave was most prominent in ERGs recorded after 1â5 minutes of dark adaptation: with longer dark-adaptation, it was subsumed into the b-waveâs rising edge.
Conclusions: This small study suggests that x-wave visibility in healthy subjects after 20 minutes dark adaptation is improved by using flashes weaker than around 0.6 cd s m-2; for flash strengths of 1.5 cd s m-2, x-wave visibility is enhanced by recording after only around 5 minutes of dark adaptation. No evidence was found that interim red flash ERGs affecting the dark-adapted state of the normal retina
Quantum Fluctuation-Induced Phase Transition in S=1/2 XY-like Heisenberg Antiferromagnets on the Triangular Lattice
The selection of the ground state among nearly degenerate states due to
quantum fluctuations is studied for the S=1/2 XY-like Heisenberg
antiferromagnets on the triangular lattice in the magnetic field applied along
the hard axis, which was first pointed out by Nikuni and Shiba. We find that
the selected ground state sensitively depends on the degree of the anisotropy
and the magnitude of the magnetic field. This dependence is similar to that in
the corresponding classical model at finite temperatures where various types of
field induced phases appear due to the entropy effect. It is also found that
the similarity of the selected states in the classical and quantum models are
not the case in a two-leg ladder lattice, although the lattice consists of
triangles locally and the ground state of this lattice in the classical case is
the same as that of the triangular lattice.Comment: 15 pages, 35 figure
Magnetic Phase Diagrams with Possible Field-induced Antiferroquadrupolar Order in TbBC
Magnetic phase diagrams of a tetragonal antiferromagnet TbBC were
clarified by temperature and field dependence of magnetization. It is
noticeable that the N{\'e}el temperature in TbBC is anomalously
enhanced with magnetic fields, in particular the enhancement reaches 13.5 K for
the direction at 10 T. The magnetization processes as well as the
phase diagrams are well interpreted assuming that there appear field-induced
antiferroquadrupolar ordered phases in TbBC. The phase diagrams of the
AFQ compounds in RBC are systematically understood in terms of the
competition with AFQ and AFM interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX
Interfibrillar stiffening of echinoderm mutable collagenous tissue demonstrated at the nanoscale
The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms (e.g., sea cucumbers and starfish) is a remarkable example of a biological material that has the unique attribute, among collagenous tissues, of being able to rapidly change its stiffness and extensibility under neural control. However, the mechanisms of MCT have not been characterized at the nanoscale. Using synchrotron small-angle X-ray diffraction to probe time-dependent changes in fibrillar structure during in situ tensile testing of sea cucumber dermis, we investigate the ultrastructural mechanics of MCT by measuring fibril strain at different chemically induced mechanical states. By measuring a variable interfibrillar stiffness (E(IF)), the mechanism of mutability at the nanoscale can be demonstrated directly. A model of stiffness modulation via enhanced fibrillar recruitment is developed to explain the biophysical mechanisms of MCT. Understanding the mechanisms of MCT quantitatively may have applications in development of new types of mechanically tunable biomaterials
Diverse and productive source of biopolymer inspiration: marine collagens
Marine biodiversity is expressed through the huge variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species inhabiting intertidal to deep-sea environments. The extraordinary variety ofĂÂ Ăą forms and functionsĂą ĂÂ exhibited by marine animals suggests they are a promising source of bioactive molecules and provides potential inspiration for different biomimetic approaches. This diversity is familiar to biologists and has led to intensive investigation of metabolites, polysaccharides, and other compounds. However, marine collagens are less well-known. This review will provide detailed insight into the diversity of collagens present in marine species in terms of their genetics, structure, properties, and physiology. In the last part of the review the focus will be on the most common marine collagen sources and on the latest advances in the development of innovative materials exploiting, or inspired by, marine collagens.The authors are grateful for the financial support from
European Union, under the scope of European Regional
Development Fund((ERDF) through the POCTEP project
0687_NOVOMAR_1_P and Structured Project NORTE-01-
0145-FEDER-000021 and from the Portuguese Foundation for
Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the
BiogenInk project (M-ERA-NET2/0022/2016) and from the
European Cooperation in Science & Technology program (EU
COST). Grant title: âStem cells of marine/aquatic inverte brates: from basic research to innovative applicationsâ
(MARISTEM). MSR acknowledges FCT for the Ph.D.
scholarship (PD/BD/143091/2018)
Fluctuation-induced phase in CsCuCl3 in transverse magnetic field: Theory
CsCuCl3 is a quantum triangular antiferromagnet, ferromagnetically stacked,
with an incommensurate (IC) structure due to a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya
interaction. Because of the classical degeneracy caused by the frustration,
fluctuations in CsCuCl3 have extraordinarily large effects, such as the phase
transition in longitudinal magnetic field (normal to the planes, parallel to
the IC wavenumber q) and the plateau in q in transverse field (perpendicular to
q). We argue that fluctuations are responsible also for the new IC phase
discovered in transverse field near the Neel temperature T_N, by T. Werner et
al. [Solid State Commun. 102, p.609 (1997)]. We develop and analyse the
corresponding minimal Landau theory; the effects of fluctuations on the
frustration are included phenomenologically, by means of a biquadratic term.
The Landau theory gives two IC phases, one familiar from previous studies;
properties of the new IC phase, which occupies a pocket of the
temperature-field phase diagram near T_N, agree qualitatively with those of the
new phase found experimentally.Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 4 postscript figures, submitted to J. Phys:
Condens. Matte
Mechanical properties of the compass depressors of the sea-urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Echinodermata, Echinoidea) and the effects of enzymes, neurotransmitters and synthetic tensilin-like protein
The compass depressors (CDs) of the sea-urchin lantern are ligaments consisting mainly of discontinuous collagen fibrils associated with a small population of myocytes. They are mutable collagenous structures, which can change their mechanical properties rapidly and reversibly under nervous control. The aims of this investigation were to characterise the baseline (i.e. unmanipulated) static mechanical properties of the CDs of Paracentrotus lividus by means of creep tests and incremental force-extension tests, and to determine the effects on their mechanical behaviour of a range of agents. Under constant load the CDs exhibited a three-phase creep curve, the mean coefficient of viscosity being 561±365 MPa.s. The stress-strain curve showed toe, linear and yield regions; the mean strain at the toe-linear inflection was 0.86±0.61; the mean Young's modulus was 18.62±10.30 MPa; and the mean tensile strength was 8.14±5.73 MPa. Hyaluronidase from Streptomyces hyalurolyticus had no effect on creep behaviour, whilst chondroitinase ABC prolonged primary creep but had no effect on secondary creep or on any force-extension parameters; it thus appears that neither hyaluronic acid nor sulphated glycosaminoglycans have an interfibrillar load transfer function in the CD. Acetylcholine, the muscarinic agonists arecoline and methacholine, and the nicotinic agonists nicotine and 1-[1-(3,4-dimethyl-phenyl)-ethyl]-piperazine produced an abrupt increase in CD viscosity; the CDs were not differentially sensitive to muscarinic or nicotinic agonists. CDs showed either no, or no consistent, response to adrenaline, L-glutamic acid, 5-hydroxytryptamine and γ-aminobutyric acid. Synthetic echinoid tensilin-like protein had a weak and inconsistent stiffening effect, indicating that, in contrast to holothurian tensilins, the echinoid molecule may not be involved in the regulation of collagenous tissue tensility. We compare in detail the mechanical behaviour of the CD with that of mammalian tendon and highlight its potential as a model system for investigating poorly understood aspects of the ontogeny and phylogeny of vertebrate collagenous tissues.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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