740 research outputs found
Very strong intrinsic supercurrent carrying ability and vortex avalanches in (Ba,K)Fe2As2 superconducting single crystals
We report that single crystals of (Ba,K)Fe2As2 with Tc = 32 K have a pinning
potential, U0, as high as 10^4 K, with U0 showing very little field
depend-ence. In addition, the (Ba,K)Fe2As2 single crystals become isotropic at
low temperatures and high magnetic fields, resulting in a very rigid vortex
lattice, even in fields very close to Hc2. The rigid vortices in the two
dimensional (Ba,K)Fe2As2 distinguish this compound from 2D high Tc cuprate
superconductors with 2D vortices, and make it being capable of cearrying very
high critical current.Flux jumping due to high Jc was also observed in large
samples at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures. submitte
Integrated system for temperature-controlled fast protein liquid chromatography. II. Optimized adsorbents and 'single column continuous operation'
Continued advance of a new temperature-controlled chromatography system, comprising a column filled with thermoresponsive stationary phase and a travelling cooling zone reactor (TCZR), is described. Nine copolymer grafted thermoresponsive cation exchangers (thermoCEX) with different balances of thermoresponsive (N-isopropylacrylamide), hydrophobic (N-tert-butylacrylamide) and negatively charged (acrylic acid) units were fashioned from three cross-linked agarose media differing in particle size and pore dimensions. Marked differences in grafted copolymer composition on finished supports were sourced to base matrix hydrophobicity. In batch binding tests with lactoferrin, maximum binding capacity (q max) increased strongly as a function of charge introduced, but became increasingly independent of temperature, as the ability of the tethered copolymer networks to switch between extended and collapsed states was lost. ThermoCEX formed from Sepharose CL-6B (A2), Superose 6 Prep Grade (B2) and Superose 12 Prep Grade (C1) under identical conditions displayed the best combination of thermoresponsiveness (q max,50°C/q max,10°C ratios of 3.3, 2.2 and 2.8 for supports 'A2', 'B2' and 'C1' respectively) and lactoferrin binding capacity (q max,50°C ~56, 29 and 45mg/g for supports 'A2', 'B2' and 'C1' respectively), and were selected for TCZR chromatography. With the cooling zone in its parked position, thermoCEX filled columns were saturated with lactoferrin at a binding temperature of 35°C, washed with equilibration buffer, before initiating the first of 8 or 12 consecutive movements of the cooling zone along the column at 0.1mm/s. A reduction in particle diameter (A2→B2) enhanced lactoferrin desorption, while one in pore diameter (B2→C1) had the opposite effect. In subsequent TCZR experiments conducted with thermoCEX 'B2' columns continuously fed with lactoferrin or 'lactoferrin+bovine serum albumin' whilst simultaneously moving the cooling zone, lactoferrin was intermittently concentrated at regular intervals within the exiting flow as sharp uniformly sized peaks. Halving the lactoferrin feed concentration to 0.5mg/mL, slowed acquisition of steady state, but increased the average peak concentration factor from 7.9 to 9.2. Finally, continuous TCZR mediated separation of lactoferrin from bovine serum albumin was successfully demonstrated. While the latter's presence did not affect the time to reach steady state, the average lactoferrin mass per peak and concentration factor both fell (respectively from 30.7 to 21.4mg and 7.9 to 6.3), and lactoferrin loss in the flowthrough between elution peaks increased (from 2.6 to 12.2mg). Fouling of the thermoCEX matrix by lipids conveyed into the feed by serum albumin is tentatively proposed as responsible for the observed drops in lactoferrin binding and recovery
Field-Dependent Critical Current in Type-II Superconducting Strips: Combined Effect of Bulk Pinning and Geometrical Edge Barrier
Recent theoretical and experimental research on low-bulk-pinning
superconducting strips has revealed striking dome-like magnetic-field
distributions due to geometrical edge barriers. The observed magnetic-flux
profiles differ strongly from those in strips in which bulk pinning is
dominant. In this paper we theoretically describe the current and field
distributions of a superconducting strip under the combined influence of both a
geometrical edge barrier and bulk pinning at the strip's critical current Ic,
where a longitudinal voltage first appears. We calculate Ic and find its
dependence upon a perpendicular applied magnetic field Ha. The behavior is
governed by a parameter p, defined as the ratio of the bulk-pinning critical
current Ip to the geometrical-barrier critical current Is0. We find that when p
> 2/pi and Ip is field-independent, Ic vs Ha exhibits a plateau for small Ha,
followed by the dependence Ic-Ip ~ 1/Ha in higher magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Fig. 1 revised, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Integrated system for temperature-controlled fast protein liquid chromatography comprising improved copolymer modified beaded agarose adsorbents and a travelling cooling zone reactor arrangement
An integrated approach to temperature-controlled chromatography, involving copolymer
modified agarose adsorbents and a novel travelling cooling zone reactor (TCZR)
arrangement, is described. Sepharose CL6B was transformed into a thermoresponsive cation
exchange adsorbent (thermoCEX) in four synthetic steps: (i) epichlorohydrin activation; (ii)
amine capping; (iii) 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) immobilization; and ‘graft from’
polymerization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-tert-butylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid-co-
N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide). FT-IR, 1H NMR, gravimetry and chemical assays allowed
precise determination of the adsorbent’s copolymer composition and loading, and identified
the initial epoxy activation step as a critical determinant of ‘on-support’ copolymer loading,
and in turn, protein binding performance. In batch binding studies with lactoferrin,
thermoCEX’s binding affinity and maximum adsorption capacity rose smoothly with
temperature increase from 20 to 50 ºC. In temperature shifting chromatography experiments
employing thermoCEX in thermally-jacketed columns, 44 – 51% of the lactoferrin adsorbed
at 42 ºC could be desorbed under binding conditions by cooling the column to 22 ºC, but the
elution peaks exhibited strong tailing. To more fully exploit the potential of thermoresponsive
chromatography adsorbents, a new column arrangement, the TCZR, was developed. In TCZR
chromatography, a narrow discrete cooling zone (special assembly of copper blocks and
Peltier elements) is moved along a bespoke fixed-bed separation columnfilled with stationary
phase. In tests with thermoCEX, it was possible to recover 65% of the lactoferrin bound at 35
ºC using 8 successive movements of the cooling zone at a velocity of 0.1 mm/s; over half of
the recovered protein was eluted in the first peak in more concentrated form than in the feed.
Intra-particle diffusion of desorbed protein out of the support pores, and the ratio between the
velocities of the cooling zone and mobile phase were identified as the main parameters
affecting TCZR performance. In contrast to conventional systems, which rely on cooling the
3
whole column to effect elution and permit only batch-wise operation, TCZR chromatography
generates sharp concentrated elution peaks without tailing effects and appears ideally suited
for continuous operation
Calibration of the length of a chain of single gold atoms
Using a scanning tunneling microscope or mechanically controllable break
junctions it has been shown that it is possible to control the formation of a
wire made of single gold atoms. In these experiments an interatomic distance
between atoms in the chain of ~3.6 Angstrom was reported which is not
consistent with recent theoretical calculations. Here, using precise
calibration procedures for both techniques, we measure length of the atomic
chains. Based on the distance between the peaks observed in the chain length
histogram we find the mean value of the inter-atomic distance before chain
rupture to be 2.6 +/- 0.2 A . This value agrees with the theoretical
calculations for the bond length. The discrepancy with the previous
experimental measurements was due to the presence of He gas, that was used to
promote the thermal contact, and which affects the value of the work function
that is commonly used to calibrate distances in scanning tunnelling microscopy
and mechanically controllable break junctions at low temperatures.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Magnetic flux jumps in textured Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d)
Magnetic flux jumps in textured Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d) have been studied by means
of magnetization measurements in the temperature range between 1.95 K and Tc,
in an external magnetic field up to 9 T. Flux jumps were found in the
temperature range 1.95 K - 6 K, with the external magnetic field parallel to
the c axis of the investigated sample. The effect of sample history on magnetic
flux jumping was studied and it was found to be well accounted for by the
available theoretical models. The magnetic field sweep rate strongly influences
the flux jumping and this effect was interpreted in terms of the influence of
both flux creep and the thermal environment of the sample. Strong flux creep
was found in the temperature and magnetic field range where flux jumps occur
suggesting a relationship between the two. The heat exchange conditions between
the sample and the experimental environment also influence the flux jumping
behavior. Both these effects stabilize the sample against flux instabilities,
and this stabilizing effect increases with decreasing magnetic field sweep
rate. Demagnetizing effects are also shown to have a significant influence on
flux jumping.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX4, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Forward K+ production in subthreshold pA collisions at 1.0 GeV
K+ meson production in pA (A = C, Cu, Au) collisions has been studied using
the ANKE spectrometer at an internal target position of the COSY-Juelich
accelerator. The complete momentum spectrum of kaons emitted at forward angles,
theta < 12 degrees, has been measured for a beam energy of T(p)=1.0 GeV, far
below the free NN threshold of 1.58 GeV. The spectrum does not follow a thermal
distribution at low kaon momenta and the larger momenta reflect a high degree
of collectivity in the target nucleus.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
- …