483 research outputs found
Numerical calculation of the Casimir-Polder interaction between a graphene sheet with vacancies and an atom
In this work the Casimir-Polder interaction energy between a rubidium atom and a disordered graphene sheet is investigated beyond the Dirac cone approximation by means of accurate real-space tight-binding calculations. As a model of defected graphene, we consider a tight-binding model of π electrons on a honeycomb lattice with a small concentration of vacancies. The optical response of the graphene sheet is evaluated with full spectral resolution by means of exact Chebyshev polynomial expansions of the Kubo formula in large lattices in excess of 10 million atoms. At low temperatures, the optical response of defected graphene is found to display two qualitatively distinct behaviors with a clear transition around finite (nonzero) Fermi energy. In the vicinity of the Dirac point, the imaginary part of optical conductivity is negative for low frequencies while the real part is strongly suppressed. On the other hand, for high doping, it has the same features found in the Drude model within the Dirac cone approximation, namely, a Drude peak at small frequencies and a change of sign in the imaginary part above the interband threshold. These characteristics translate into a nonmonotonic behavior of the Casimir-Polder interaction energy with very small variation with doping in the vicinity of the neutrality point while having the same form of the interaction calculated with Drude's model at high electronic density
RhoJ interacts with the GIT-PIX complex and regulates focal adhesion disassembly
RhoJ is a Rho GTPase expressed in endothelial cells and tumour cells, which regulates cell motility, invasion, endothelial tube formation and focal adhesion numbers. This study aimed to further delineate the molecular function of RhoJ. Using timelapse microscopy RhoJ was found to regulate focal adhesion disassembly; small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of RhoJ increased focal adhesion disassembly time, whereas expression of an active mutant (daRhoJ) decreased it. Furthermore, daRhoJ co-precipitated with the GIT–PIX complex, a regulator of focal adhesion disassembly. An interaction between daRhoJ and GIT1 was confirmed using yeast two-hybrid experiments, and this depended on the Spa homology domain of GIT1. GIT1, GIT2, β-PIX (also known as ARHGEF7) and RhoJ all colocalised in focal adhesions and depended on each other for their recruitment to focal adhesions. Functionally, the GIT–PIX complex regulated endothelial tube formation, with knockdown of both GIT1 and GIT2, or β-PIX phenocopying RhoJ knockdown. RhoJ-knockout mice showed reduced tumour growth and diminished tumour vessel density, identifying a role for RhoJ in mediating tumour angiogenesis. These studies give new insight into the molecular function of RhoJ in regulating cell motility and tumour vessel formation
Early Antiretroviral Therapy at High CD4 Counts Does Not Improve Arterial Elasticity: A Substudy of the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) Trial
BACKGROUND: Both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Vascular function assessments can be used to study CVD pathogenesis. We compared the effect of immediate versus deferred ART initiation at CD4 counts >500 cells/mm(3) on small arterial elasticity (SAE) and large artery elasticity (LAE). METHODS: Radial artery blood pressure waveforms were recorded noninvasively. Small arterial elasticity and LAE were derived from analysis of the diastolic pulse waveform. Randomized treatment groups were compared with linear models at each visit and longitudinal mixed models. RESULTS: Study visits involved 332 participants in 8 countries: mean (standard deviation [SD]) age 35 (10), 70% male, 66% nonwhite, 30% smokers, and median CD4 count 625 cells/mm(3) and 10-year Framingham risk score for CVD 1.7%. Mean (SD) SAE and LAE values at baseline were 7.3 (2.9) mL/mmHg × 100 and 16.6 (4.1) mL/mmHg × 10, respectively. Median time on ART was 47 and 12 months in the immediate and deferred ART groups, respectively. The treatment groups did not demonstrate significant within-person changes in SAE or LAE during the follow-up period, and there was no difference in mean change from baseline between treatment groups. The lack of significant differences persisted after adjustment, when restricted to early or late changes, after censoring participants in deferred group who started ART, and among subgroups defined by CVD and HIV risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Among a diverse global population of HIV-positive persons with high CD4 counts, these randomized data suggest that ART treatment does not have a substantial influence on vascular function among younger HIV-positive individuals with preserved immunity
Entanglement entropy in aperiodic singlet phases
We study the average entanglement entropy of blocks of contiguous spins in
aperiodic XXZ chains which possess an aperiodic singlet phase at least in a
certain limit of the coupling ratios. In this phase, where the ground state
constructed by a real space renormalization group method, consists
(asymptotically) of independent singlet pairs, the average entanglement entropy
is found to be a piecewise linear function of the block size. The enveloping
curve of this function is growing logarithmically with the block size, with an
effective central charge in front of the logarithm which is characteristic for
the underlying aperiodic sequence. The aperiodic sequence producing the largest
effective central charge is identified, and the latter is found to exceed the
central charge of the corresponding homogeneous model. For marginal aperiodic
modulations, numerical investigations performed for the XX model show a
logarithmic dependence, as well, with an effective central charge varying
continuously with the coupling ratio.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure
Quantum Impurity Entanglement
Entanglement in J_1-J_2, S=1/2 quantum spin chains with an impurity is
studied using analytic methods as well as large scale numerical density matrix
renormalization group methods. The entanglement is investigated in terms of the
von Neumann entropy, S=-Tr rho_A log rho_A, for a sub-system A of size r of the
chain. The impurity contribution to the uniform part of the entanglement
entropy, S_{imp}, is defined and analyzed in detail in both the gapless, J_2 <=
J_2^c, as well as the dimerized phase, J_2>J_2^c, of the model. This quantum
impurity model is in the universality class of the single channel Kondo model
and it is shown that in a quite universal way the presence of the impurity in
the gapless phase, J_2 <= J_2^c, gives rise to a large length scale, xi_K,
associated with the screening of the impurity, the size of the Kondo screening
cloud. The universality of Kondo physics then implies scaling of the form
S_{imp}(r/xi_K,r/R) for a system of size R. Numerical results are presented
clearly demonstrating this scaling. At the critical point, J_2^c, an analytic
Fermi liquid picture is developed and analytic results are obtained both at T=0
and T>0. In the dimerized phase an appealing picure of the entanglement is
developed in terms of a thin soliton (TS) ansatz and the notions of impurity
valence bonds (IVB) and single particle entanglement (SPE) are introduced. The
TS-ansatz permits a variational calculation of the complete entanglement in the
dimerized phase that appears to be exact in the thermodynamic limit at the
Majumdar-Ghosh point, J_2=J_1/2, and surprisingly precise even close to the
critical point J_2^c. In appendices the relation between the finite temperature
entanglement entropy, S(T), and the thermal entropy, S_{th}(T), is discussed
and and calculated at the MG-point using the TS-ansatz.Comment: 62 pages, 27 figures, JSTAT macro
Evidence for Quark-Hadron Duality in the Proton Spin Asymmetry
Spin-dependent lepton-nucleon scattering data have been used to investigate
the validity of the concept of quark-hadron duality for the spin asymmetry
. Longitudinally polarised positrons were scattered off a longitudinally
polarised hydrogen target for values of between 1.2 and 12 GeV and
values of between 1 and 4 GeV. The average double-spin asymmetry in
the nucleon resonance region is found to agree with that measured in
deep-inelastic scattering at the same values of the Bjorken scaling variable
. This finding implies that the description of in terms of quark
degrees of freedom is valid also in the nucleon resonance region for values of
above 1.6 GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 1 eps figure, table added, new references added, in print in
Phys. Rev. Let
Single-spin Azimuthal Asymmetries in Electroproduction of Neutral Pions in Semi-inclusive Deep-inelastic Scattering
A single-spin asymmetry in the azimuthal distribution of neutral pions
relative to the lepton scattering plane has been measured for the first time in
deep-inelastic scattering of positrons off longitudinally polarized protons.
The analysing power in the sin(phi) moment of the cross section is 0.019 +/-
0.007(stat.) +/- 0.003(syst.). This result is compared to single-spin
asymmetries for charged pion production measured in the same kinematic range.
The pi^0 asymmetry is of the same size as the pi^+ asymmetry and shows a
similar dependence on the relevant kinematic variables. The asymmetry is
described by a phenomenological calculation based on a fragmentation function
that represents sensitivity to the transverse polarization of the struck quark.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, replaced to correct eprint author field, 2nd
replacement to correct figure; upper limit of model predictions are
corrected. No correction to data or conclusion
Growth and cycles of the Italian economy since 1861: the new evidence
Based on a newly-available large set of historical national accounts, the paper revisits the main features of economic growth and cycles in Italy for the post-Unification period 1861-2011. Alongside the structural changes in growth dynamics, the main sources of output and productivity growth are identified. As regards the analysis of the underlying cyclical component, a business cycle chronology is first established and then both the specific patterns of individual cycles and the co-movements of output with key macroeconomic variables are investigated. In the 150 years since its political Unification, Italy's economic growth was mainly propelled by consumption and investments, whereas on the supply side the industry and services sectors were by far the main contributors, also because of the positive effect of labour reallocation to nonfarm activities. Over the same period, Italy experienced approximately 20 business cycles of varying duration and amplitude. Output fluctuations were dominated by the short-term variability of agricultural production before World War II and by fluctuations of the industry sector thereafter. The cyclical behaviour exhibited by aggregate demand components conforms quite well to that evidenced in the standard international business cycle literature, although some exceptions arise in the pre-World War II years
Double-Spin Asymmetry in the Cross Section for Exclusive rho^0 Production in Lepton-Proton Scattering
Evidence for a positive longitudinal double-spin asymmetry = 0.24
+-0.11 (stat) +-0.02 (syst) in the cross section for exclusive diffractive
rho^0(770) vector meson production in polarised lepton-proton scattering was
observed by the HERMES experiment. The longitudinally polarised 27.56 GeV HERA
positron beam was scattered off a longitudinally polarised pure hydrogen gas
target. The average invariant mass of the photon-proton system has a value of
= 4.9 GeV, while the average negative squared four-momentum of the virtual
photon is = 1.7 GeV^2. The ratio of the present result to the
corresponding spin asymmetry in inclusive deep-inelastic scattering is in
agreement with an early theoretical prediction based on the generalised vector
meson dominance model.Comment: 10 pages, 4 embedded figures, LaTe
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