341 research outputs found
Community structure detection in the evolution of the United States airport network
This is the post-print version of the Article. Copyright © 2013 World Scientific PublishingThis paper investigates community structure in the US Airport Network as it evolved from 1990 to 2010 by looking at six bi-monthly intervals in 1990, 2000 and 2010, using data obtained from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the US Department of Transport. The data contained monthly records of origin-destination pairs of domestic airports and the number of passengers carried. The topological properties and the volume of people traveling are both studied in detail, revealing high heterogeneity in space and time. A recently developed community structure detection method, accounting for the spatial nature of these networks, is applied and reveals a picture of the communities within. The patterns of communities plotted for each bi-monthly interval reveal some interesting seasonal variations of passenger flows and airport clusters that do not occupy a single US region. The long-term evolution of the network between those years is explored and found to have consistently improved its stability. The more recent structure of the network (2010) is compared with migration patterns among the four US macro-regions (West, Midwest, Northeast and South) in order to identify possible relationships and the results highlight a clear overlap between US domestic air travel and migration
Optical study of the vibrational and dielectric properties of BiMnO3
BiMnO3 (BMO), ferromagnetic (FM) below Tc = 100 K, was believed to be also
ferroelectric (FE) due to a non-centro-symmetric C2 structure, until
diffraction data indicated that its space group is the centro-symmetric C2/c.
Here we present infrared phonon spectra of BMO, taken on a mosaic of single
crystals, which are consistent with C2/c at any T > 10 K, as well as
room-temperature Raman data which strongly support this conclusion. We also
find that the infrared intensity of several phonons increases steadily for
decreasing T, causing the relative permittivity of BMO to vary from 18.5 at 300
K to 45 at 10 K. At variance with FE materials of displacive type, no
appreciable softening has been found in the infrared phonons. Both their
frequencies and intensities, moreover, appear insensitive to the FM transition
at Tc
Coexistence of pressure-induced structural phases in bulk black phosphorus: a combined x-ray diffraction and Raman study up to 18 GPa
We report a study of the structural phase transitions induced by pressure in
bulk black phosphorus by using both synchrotron x-ray diffraction for pressures
up to 12.2 GPa and Raman spectroscopy up to 18.2 GPa. Very recently black
phosphorus attracted large attention because of the unique properties of
fewlayers samples (phosphorene), but some basic questions are still open in the
case of the bulk system. As concerning the presence of a Raman spectrum above
10 GPa, which should not be observed in an elemental simple cubic system, we
propose a new explanation by attributing a key role to the non-hydrostatic
conditions occurring in Raman experiments. Finally, a combined analysis of
Raman and XRD data allowed us to obtain quantitative information on presence
and extent of coexistences between different structural phases from ~5 up to
~15 GPa. This information can have an important role in theoretical studies on
pressure-induced structural and electronic phase transitions in black
phosphorus
Folate-based single cell screening using surface enhanced Raman microimaging
Recent progress in nanotechnology and its application to biomedical settings have generated great advantages in dealing with early cancer diagnosis. The identification of the specific properties of cancer cells, such as the expression of particular plasma membrane molecular receptors, has become crucial in revealing the presence and in assessing the stage of development of the disease. Here we report a single cell screening approach based on Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) microimaging. We fabricated a SERS-labelled nanovector based on the biofunctionalization of gold nanoparticles with folic acid. After treating the cells with the nanovector, we were able to distinguish three different cell populations from different cell lines (cancer HeLa and PC-3, and normal HaCaT lines), suitably chosen for their different expressions of folate binding proteins. The nanovector, indeed, binds much more efficiently on cancer cell lines than on normal ones, resulting in a higher SERS signal measured on cancer cells. These results pave the way for applications in single cell diagnostics and, potentially, in theranostic
Electrodynamics near the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in V3O5
The electrodynamics near the metal-to-insulator transitions (MIT) induced, in
V3O5 single crystals, by both temperature (T) and pressure (P) has been studied
by infrared spectroscopy. The T- and P-dependence of the optical conductivity
may be explained within a polaronic scenario. The insulating phase at ambient T
and P corresponds to strongly localized small polarons. Meanwhile the T-induced
metallic phase at ambient pressure is related to a liquid of polarons showing
incoherent dc transport, in the P-induced metallic phase at room T strongly
localized polarons coexist with partially delocalized ones. The electronic
spectral weight is almost recovered, in both the T and P induced metallization
processes, on an energy scale of 1 eV, thus supporting the key-role of
electron-lattice interaction in the V3O5 metal-to-insulator transition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Pressure-tuning of the electron-phonon coupling: the insulator to metal transition in manganites
A comprehensive understanding of the physical origin of the unique magnetic
and transport properties of A_(1-x)A'^xMnO_3 manganites (A = trivalent
rare-earth and A' = divalent alkali-earth metal) is still far from being
achieved. The complexity of these systems arises from the interplay among
several competing interactions of comparable strength. Recently the
electron-phonon coupling, triggered by a Jahn-Teller distortion of the MnO_6
octahedra, has been recognised to play an essential role in the insulator to
metal transition and in the closely related colossal magneto-resistance. The
pressure tuning of the octahedral distortion gives a unique possibility to
separate the basic interactions and, at least in principle, to follow the
progressive transformation of a manganite from an intermediate towards a weak
electron-phonon coupling regime. Using a diamond anvil cell, temperature and
pressure-dependent infrared absorption spectra of La_(0.75)Ca_(0.25)MnO_3 have
been collected and, from the spectral weight analysis, the pressure dependence
of the insulator to metal transition temperature T_IM has been determined for
the first time up to 11.2 GPa. The T_IM(P) curve we proposed to model the
present data revealed a universality character in accounting for the whole
class of intermediate coupling compounds. This property can be exploited to
distinguish the intermediate from the weak coupling compounds pointing out the
fundamental differences between the two coupling regimes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Exploiting SERS sensitivity to monitor DNA aggregation properties
In the last decades, DNA has been considered far more than the system carrying the essential genetic instructions. Indeed, because of the remarkable properties of the base-pairing specificity and thermoreversibility of the interactions, DNA plays a central role in the design of innovative architectures at the nanoscale. Here, combining complementary DNA strands with a custom-made solution of silver nanoparticles, we realize plasmonic aggregates to exploit the sensitivity of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for the identification/detection of the distinctive features of DNA hybridization, both in solution and on dried samples. Moreover, SERS allows monitoring the DNA aggregation process by following the temperature variation of a specific spectroscopic marker associated with the Watson-Crick hydrogen bond formation. This temperature-dependent behavior enables us to precisely reconstruct the melting profile of the selected DNA sequences by spectroscopic measurements only
A combined experimental and computational study of the pressure dependence of the vibrational spectrum of solid picene C_22H_14
We present high-quality optical data and density functional perturbation
theory calculations for the vibrational spectrum of solid picene
(CH) under pressure up to 8 GPa. First-principles calculations
reproduce with a remarkable accuracy the pressure effects on both frequency and
intensities of the phonon peaks experimentally observed . Through a detailed
analysis of the phonon eigenvectors, We use the projection on molecular
eigenmodes to unambiguously fit the experimental spectra, resolving complicated
spectral structures, in a system with hundreds of phonon modes. With these
projections, we can also quantify the loss of molecular character under
pressure. Our results indicate that picene, despite a \sim 20 % compression of
the unit cell, remains substantially a molecular solid up to 8 GPa, with phonon
modes displaying a smooth and uniform hardening with pressure. The Grueneisen
parameter of the 1380 cm^{-1} a_1 Raman peak () is much lower
than the effective value () due to K doping. This is an
indication that the phonon softening in K doped samples is mainly due to charge
transfer and electron-phonon coupling.Comment: Replaced with final version (PRB
DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticle assemblies for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering
The programmable assembly of DNA strands is a promising tool for building tailored bottom-up nanostructures. Here, we present a plasmonic nanosystem obtained by the base-pairing mediated aggregation of gold nanoparticles (NPs) which are separately functionalized with two different single-stranded DNA chains. Their controlled assembly is mediated by a complementary DNA âbridgeâ sequence. We monitor the formation of DNA assembled NP aggregates in solution, and we study their Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) response by comparison with the single NP constituents. We interpret the revealed SERS signatures in terms of the molecular and NP organization at the nanoscale, demonstrating that the action of the DNA bridge molecule yields regular NP aggregates with controlled interparticle distance and reproducible SERS response. In perspective, this demonstrates the potential of the present system as a stable, biocompatible, and recyclable SERS sensor
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