Correlation Functions and Spin

The k-electron correlation function of a free chaotic electron beam is derived with the spin degree of freedom taken into account. It is shown that it can be expressed with the help of correlation functions for a polarized electron beam of all orders up to k and the degree of spin polarization. The form of the correlation function suggests that if the electron beam is not highly polarized, observing multi-particle correlations should be difficult. The result can be applied also to chaotic photon beams, the degree of spin polarization being replaced by the degree of polarization.Comment: 6 pages, 1 eps figure, accepted to Phys. Rev.

Inequalities for electron-field correlation functions

I show that there exists a class of inequalities between correlation functions of different orders of a chaotic electron field. These inequalities lead to the antibunching effect and are a consequence of the fact that electrons are fermions -- indistinguishable particles with antisymmetric states. The derivation of the inequalities is based on the known form of the correlation functions for the chaotic state and on the properties of matrices and determinants.Comment: 8 pages Latex2e, 2 eps figure

Effect of bonding of a CO molecule on the conductance of atomic metal wires

We have measured the effect of bonding of a CO molecule on the conductance of Au, Cu, Pt, and Ni atomic contacts at 4.2 K. When CO gas is admitted to the metal nano contacts, a conductance feature appears in the conductance histogram near 0.5 of the quantum unit of conductance, for all metals. For Au, the intensity of this fractional conductance feature can be tuned with the bias voltage, and it disappears at high bias voltage (above $\sim$ 200 mV). The bonding of CO to Au appears to be weakest, and associated with monotomic Au wire formation.Comment: 6 figure

Magnetoelectric effect due to local noncentrosymmetry

Magnetoelectrics often possess ions located in noncentrosymmetric surroundings. Based on this fact we suggest a microscopic model of magnetoelectric interaction and show that the spin-orbit coupling leads to spin-dependent electric dipole moments of the electron orbitals of these ions, which results in non-vanishing polarization for certain spin configurations. The approach accounts for the macroscopic symmetry of the unit cell and is valid both for commensurate and complex incommensurate magnetic structures. The model is illustrated by the examples of MnWO4, MnPS3 and LiNiPO4. Application to other magnetoelectrics is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Abnormal expression of p27kip1 protein in levator ani muscle of aging women with pelvic floor disorders – a relationship to the cellular differentiation and degeneration

BACKGROUND: Pelvic floor disorders affect almost 50% of aging women. An important role in the pelvic floor support belongs to the levator ani muscle. The p27/kip1 (p27) protein, multifunctional cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, shows changing expression in differentiating skeletal muscle cells during development, and relatively high levels of p27 RNA were detected in the normal human skeletal muscles. METHODS: Biopsy samples of levator ani muscle were obtained from 22 symptomatic patients with stress urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and overlaps (age range 38–74), and nine asymptomatic women (age 31–49). Cryostat sections were investigated for p27 protein expression and type I (slow twitch) and type II (fast twitch) fibers. RESULTS: All fibers exhibited strong plasma membrane (and nuclear) p27 protein expression. cytoplasmic p27 expression was virtually absent in asymptomatic women. In perimenopausal symptomatic patients (ages 38–55), muscle fibers showed hypertrophy and moderate cytoplasmic p27 staining accompanied by diminution of type II fibers. Older symptomatic patients (ages 57–74) showed cytoplasmic p27 overexpression accompanied by shrinking, cytoplasmic vacuolization and fragmentation of muscle cells. The plasma membrane and cytoplasmic p27 expression was not unique to the muscle cells. Under certain circumstances, it was also detected in other cell types (epithelium of ectocervix and luteal cells). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on the unusual (plasma membrane and cytoplasmic) expression of p27 protein in normal and abnormal human striated muscle cells in vivo. Our data indicate that pelvic floor disorders are in perimenopausal patients associated with an appearance of moderate cytoplasmic p27 expression, accompanying hypertrophy and transition of type II into type I fibers. The patients in advanced postmenopause show shrinking and fragmentation of muscle fibers associated with strong cytoplasmic p27 expression

Frozen steady states in active systems

Even simple active systems can show a plethora of intriguing phenomena and often we find complexity were we would have expected simplicity. One striking example is the occurrence of a quiescent or absorbing state with frozen fluctuations that at first sight seems to be impossible for active matter driven by the incessant input of energy. While such states were reported for externally driven systems through macroscopic shear or agitation, the investigation of frozen active states in inherently active systems like cytoskeletal suspensions or active gels is still at large. Using high density motility assay experiments, we demonstrate that frozen steady states can arise in active systems if active transport is coupled to growth processes. The experiments are complemented by agent-based simulations which identify the coupling between self-organization, growth and mechanical properties to be responsible for the pattern formation process

Control of Gastric H,K-ATPase Activity by Cations, Voltage and Intracellular pH Analyzed by Voltage Clamp Fluorometry in Xenopus Oocytes

Whereas electrogenic partial reactions of the Na,K-ATPase have been studied in depth, much less is known about the influence of the membrane potential on the electroneutrally operating gastric H,K-ATPase. In this work, we investigated site-specifically fluorescence-labeled H,K-ATPase expressed in Xenopus oocytes by voltage clamp fluorometry to monitor the voltage-dependent distribution between E1P and E2P states and measured Rb+ uptake under various ionic and pH conditions. The steady-state E1P/E2P distribution, as indicated by the voltage-dependent fluorescence amplitudes and the Rb+ uptake activity were highly sensitive to small changes in intracellular pH, whereas even large extracellular pH changes affected neither the E1P/E2P distribution nor transport activity. Notably, intracellular acidification by approximately 0.5 pH units shifted V0.5, the voltage, at which the E1P/E2P ratio is 50∶50, by −100 mV. This was paralleled by an approximately two-fold acceleration of the forward rate constant of the E1P→E2P transition and a similar increase in the rate of steady-state cation transport. The temperature dependence of Rb+ uptake yielded an activation energy of ∼90 kJ/mol, suggesting that ion transport is rate-limited by a major conformational transition. The pronounced sensitivity towards intracellular pH suggests that proton uptake from the cytoplasmic side controls the level of phosphoenzyme entering the E1P→E2P conformational transition, thus limiting ion transport of the gastric H,K-ATPase. These findings highlight the significance of cellular mechanisms contributing to increased proton availability in the cytoplasm of gastric parietal cells. Furthermore, we show that extracellular Na+ profoundly alters the voltage-dependent E1P/E2P distribution indicating that Na+ ions can act as surrogates for protons regarding the E2P→E1P transition. The complexity of the intra- and extracellular cation effects can be rationalized by a kinetic model suggesting that cations reach the binding sites through a rather high-field intra- and a rather low-field extracellular access channel, with fractional electrical distances of ∼0.5 and ∼0.2, respectively