Susceptibility inhomogeneity and non-Fermi liquid behavior in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x

Transverse-field muSR shifts and relaxation rates have been measured in the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) alloy system UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5. At low temperatures the fractional spread in Knight shifts delta K/K approx deltachi/chi is gtrsim 2 for x = 1, but is only half this value for x = 1.5 and 2.5. In a disorder-driven scenario where the NFL behavior is due to a broadly distributed (Kondo or Griffiths-phase cluster) characteristic energy E, our results indicate that delta E/E_{rm av} approx (delta K/K)_{T=0} is similar for UCu_{5-x}Pd_x (x = 1 and 1.5) and UCu_4Pt, but is reduced for UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.5 and 2.5. This reduction is due to a marked increase of E with increasing x; the spread delta E is found to be roughly independent of x. Our results correlate with the observed suppression of other NFL anomalies for x > 1 in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x but not in UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, and are further evidence for the importance of disorder in the NFL behavior of both these alloy systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to 10th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation, and Resonance, Oxford, UK, August 200

Glassy Spin Dynamics in Non-Fermi-Liquid UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5

Local f-electron spin dynamics in the non-Fermi-liquid heavy-fermion alloys UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5, have been studied using muon spin-lattice relaxation. The sample-averaged asymmetry function Gbar(t) indicates strongly inhomogeneous spin fluctuations, and exhibits the scaling Gbar(t,H) = Gbar(t/H^\gamma) expected from glassy dynamics. At 0.05 K \gamma(x=1.0) = 0.35 \pm 0.1, but \gamma(x=1.5) = 0.7 \pm 0.1. This is in contrast to inelastic neutron scattering results, which yield \gamma = 0.33 for both concentrations. There is no sign of static magnetism \gtrsim 10^{-3} \mu_B/U ion in either material above 0.05 K. Our results strongy suggest that both alloys are quantum spin glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Effect of annealing on glassy dynamics and non-Fermi liquid behavior in UCu_4Pd

Longitudinal-field muon spin relaxation (LF-muSR) experiments have been performed in unannealed and annealed samples of the heavy-fermion compound UCu_4Pd to study the effect of disorder on non-Fermi liquid behavior in this material. The muon spin relaxation functions G(t,H) obey the time-field scaling relation G(t,H) = G(t/H^gamma) previously observed in this compound. The observed scaling exponent gamma = 0.3 pm 0.1, independent of annealing. Fits of the stretched-exponential relaxation function G(t) = exp[-(Lambda t)^K] to the data yielded stretching exponentials K < 1 for all samples. Annealed samples exhibited a reduction of the relaxation rate at low temperatures, indicating that annealing shifts fluctuation noise power to higher frequencies. There was no tendency of the inhomogeneous spread in rates to decrease with annealing, which modifies but does not eliminate the glassy spin dynamics reported previously in this compound. The correlation with residual resistivity previously observed for a number of NFL heavy-electron materials is also found in the present work.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to 10th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation, and Resonance, Oxford, UK, August 200

Genetic partitioning of interleukin-6 signalling in mice dissociates Stat3 from Smad3-mediated lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease that is unresponsive to current therapies and characterized by excessive collagen deposition and subsequent fibrosis. While inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in IPF, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this disease are incompletely understood, although the development of fibrosis is believed to depend on canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling. We examined bleomycin-induced inflammation and fibrosis in mice carrying a mutation in the shared IL-6 family receptor gp130. Using genetic complementation, we directly correlate the extent of IL-6-mediated, excessive Stat3 activity with inflammatory infiltrates in the lung and the severity of fibrosis in corresponding gp130757F mice. The extent of fibrosis was attenuated in B lymphocyte-deficient gp130757F;µMT−/− compound mutant mice, but fibrosis still occurred in their Smad3−/− counterparts consistent with the capacity of excessive Stat3 activity to induce collagen 1α1 gene transcription independently of canonical TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. These findings are of therapeutic relevance, since we confirmed abundant STAT3 activation in fibrotic lungs from IPF patients and showed that genetic reduction of Stat3 protected mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis

Relativistic versus Nonrelativistic Optical Potentials in A(e,e'p)B Reactions

We investigate the role of relativistic and nonrelativistic optical potentials used in the analysis of ($e,e'p$) data. We find that the relativistic calculations produce smaller ($e,e'p$) cross sections even in the case in which both relativistic and nonrelativistic optical potentials fit equally well the elastic proton--nucleus scattering data. Compared to the nonrelativistic impulse approximation, this effect is due to a depletion in the nuclear interior of the relativistic nucleon current, which should be taken into account in the nonrelativistic treatment by a proper redefinition of the effective current operator.Comment: Added one new figure, the formalism section has been enlarged and the list of references updated. Added one appendix. This version will appear in Phys. Rev. C. Revtex 3.0, 6 figures (not included). Full postscript version of the file and figures available at http://www.nikhefk.nikhef.nl/projects/Theory/preprints

Complementary subicular pathways to the anterior thalamic nuclei and mammillary bodies in the rat and macaque monkey brain

The origins of the hippocampal (subicular) projections to the anterior thalamic nuclei and mammillary bodies were compared in rats and macaque monkeys using retrograde tracers. These projections form core components of the Papez circuit, which is vital for normal memory. The study revealed a complex pattern of subicular efferents, consistent with the presence of different, parallel information streams, whose segregation appears more marked in the rat brain. In both species, the cells projecting to the mammillary bodies and anterior thalamic nuclei showed laminar separation but also differed along other hippocampal axes. In the rat, these diencephalic inputs showed complementary topographies in the proximal–distal (columnar) plane, consistent with differential involvement in object-based (proximal subiculum) and context-based (distal subiculum) information. The medial mammillary inputs, which arose along the anterior–posterior extent of the rat subiculum, favoured the central subiculum (septal hippocampus) and the more proximal subiculum (temporal hippocampus). In contrast, anterior thalamic inputs were largely confined to the dorsal (i.e. septal and intermediate) subiculum, where projections to the anteromedial nucleus favoured the proximal subiculum while those to the anteroventral nucleus predominantly arose in the distal subiculum. In the macaque, the corresponding diencephalic inputs were again distinguished by anterior–posterior topographies, as subicular inputs to the medial mammillary bodies predominantly arose from the posterior hippocampus while subicular inputs to the anteromedial thalamic nucleus predominantly arose from the anterior hippocampus. Unlike the rat, there was no clear evidence of proximal–distal separation as all of these medial diencephalic projections preferentially arose from the more distal subiculum

muSR in Ce_{1-x}La_xAl_3: anisotropic Kondo effect?

Zero-field muSR experiments in the heavy-fermion alloys Ce_{1-x}La_xAl_3, x = 0 and 0.2, examine a recent proposal that the system exhibits a strong anisotropic Kondo effect. We resolve a damped oscillatory component for both La concentrations, indicative of disordered antiferromagnetism. For x = 0.2 the oscillation frequency decreases smoothly with increasing temperature, and vanishes at the specific heat anomaly temperature T* \approx 2.2 K. Our results are consistent with the view that T* is due to a magnetic transition rather than anisotropic Kondo behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To be published in proceedings of musr2002 (Physica B

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

muSR and NMR in f-electron non-Fermi liquid materials

Magnetic resonance (muSR and NMR) studies of f-electron non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) materials give clear evidence that structural disorder is a major factor in NFL behavior. Longitudinal-field muSR relaxation measurements at low fields reveal a wide distribution of muon relaxation rates and divergences in the frequency dependence of spin correlation functions in the NFL systems UCu_{5-x}Pd_x and CePtSi_{1-x}Ge_x. These divergences seem to be due to slow dynamics associated with quantum spin-glass behavior, rather than quantum criticality as in a uniform system, for two reasons: the observed strong inhomogeneity in the muon relaxation rate, and the strong and frequency-dependent low-frequency fluctuation observed in U(Cu,Pd)_5 and CePt(Si,Ge). In the NFL materials CeCu_{5.9}Au_{0.1}, Ce(Ru_{0.5}Rh_{0.5})_2Si_2, CeNi_2Ge_2, and YbRh_2Si_2 the low-frequency weight of the spin fluctuation spectrum is much weaker than in the disordered NFL systems.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. To be published in proceedings of muSR2002 (Physica B

Trispecific antibody targeting HIV-1 and T cells activates and eliminates latently-infected cells in HIV/SHIV infections.

Agents that can simultaneously activate latent HIV, increase immune activation and enhance the killing of latently-infected cells represent promising approaches for HIV cure. Here, we develop and evaluate a trispecific antibody (Ab), N6/αCD3-αCD28, that targets three independent proteins: (1) the HIV envelope via the broadly reactive CD4-binding site Ab, N6; (2) the T cell antigen CD3; and (3) the co-stimulatory molecule CD28. We find that the trispecific significantly increases antigen-specific T-cell activation and cytokine release in both CD4 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; and CD8 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; T cells. Co-culturing CD4 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; with autologous CD8 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; T cells from ART-suppressed HIV &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; donors with N6/αCD3-αCD28, results in activation of latently-infected cells and their elimination by activated CD8 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; T cells. This trispecific antibody mediates CD4 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; and CD8 &lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; T-cell activation in non-human primates and is well tolerated in vivo. This HIV-directed antibody therefore merits further development as a potential intervention for the eradication of latent HIV infection