2,034 research outputs found
A new form of (unexpected) Dirac fermions in the strongly-correlated cerium monopnictides
Discovering Dirac fermions with novel properties has become an important
front in condensed matter and materials sciences. Here, we report the
observation of unusual Dirac fermion states in a strongly-correlated electron
setting, which are uniquely distinct from those of graphene and conventional
topological insulators. In strongly-correlated cerium monopnictides, we find
two sets of highly anisotropic Dirac fermions that interpenetrate each other
with negligible hybridization, and show a peculiar four-fold degeneracy where
their Dirac nodes overlap. Despite the lack of protection by crystalline or
time-reversal symmetries, this four-fold degeneracy is robust across magnetic
phase transitions. Comparison of these experimental findings with our
theoretical calculations suggests that the observed surface Dirac fermions
arise from bulk band inversions at an odd number of high-symmetry points, which
is analogous to the band topology which describes a
-topological phase. Our findings open up an unprecedented and
long-sought-for platform for exploring novel Dirac fermion physics in a
strongly-correlated semimetal
Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Characterization of Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel Gating in Two-Dimensional Lipid Crystalline Bilayers
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (EB001960)National Institutes of Health (EB002026
Remethylation of Dnmt3a−/− hematopoietic cells is associated with partial correction of gene dysregulation and reduced myeloid skewing
Drivers of plankton community structure in intermittent and continuous coastal upwelling systems–from microbes and microscale in-situ imaging to large scale patterns
Eastern Boundary Systems support major fisheries whose early life stages depend on upwelling production. Upwelling can be highly variable at the regional scale, with substantial repercussions for new productivity and microbial loop activity. Studies that integrate the classic trophic web based on new production with the microbial loop are rare due to the range in body forms and sizes of the taxa. Underwater imaging can overcome this limitation, and with machine learning, enables fine resolution studies spanning large spatial scales. We used the In-situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS) to investigate the drivers of plankton community structure in the northern California Current, sampled along the Newport Hydrographic (NH) and Trinidad Head (TR) lines, in OR and CA, respectively. The non-invasive imaging of particles and plankton over 1644km in the winters and summers of 2018 and 2019 yielded 1.194 billion classified plankton images. Combining nutrient analysis, flow cytometry, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the microbial community with mesoplankton underwater imaging enabled us to study taxa from 0.2µm to 15cm, including prokaryotes, copepods, ichthyoplankton, and gelatinous forms. To assess community structure, >2000 single-taxon distribution profiles were analyzed using high resolution spatial correlations. Co-occurrences on the NH line were consistently significantly higher off-shelf while those at TR were highest on-shelf. Random Forests models identified the concentrations of microbial loop associated taxa such as protists, Oithona copepods, and appendicularians as important drivers of co-occurrences at NH line, while at TR, cumulative upwelling and chlorophyll a were of the highest importance. Our results indicate that the microbial loop is driving plankton community structure in intermittent upwelling systems such as the NH line and supports temporal stability, and further, that taxa such as protists, Oithona copepods, and appendicularians connect a diverse and functionally redundant microbial community to stable plankton community structure. Where upwelling is more continuous such as at TR, primary production may dominate patterns of community structure, obscuring the underlying role of the microbial loop. Future changes in upwelling strength are likely to disproportionately affect plankton community structure in continuous upwelling regions, while high microbial loop activity enhances community structure resilience
Converging identities: dimensions of acculturation and personal identity status among immigrant college students
The present study was designed to ascertain the extent to which dimensions of acculturation would differ across personal identity statuses in a sample of 2,411, first and second generation immigrant college‐attending emerging adults. Participants from 30 colleges and universities around the United States completed measures of personal identity processes as well as of heritage and American cultural practices, values, and identifications. Cluster‐analytic procedures were used to classify participants into personal identity statuses based on the personal identity processes. Results indicated that, across ethnic groups, individuals in the achieved and searching moratorium statuses reported the greatest endorsement of heritage and American cultural practices, values, and identifications; and individuals in the carefree diffusion status reported the lowest endorsement of all the cultural variables under study. These results are discussed in terms of the convergence between personal identity and cultural identity processes
Electron-lattice relaxation, and soliton structures and their interactions in polyenes
Density matrix renormalisation group calculations of a suitably parametrised
model of long polyenes (polyacetylene oligomers), which incorporates both long
range Coulomb interactions and adiabatic lattice relaxation, are presented. The
triplet and 2Ag states are found to have a 2-soliton and 4-soliton form,
respectively, both with large relaxation energies. The 1Bu state forms an
exciton-polaron and has a very small relaxation energy. The relaxed energy of
the 2Ag state lies below that of the 1Bu state. The soliton/anti-soliton pairs
are bound.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 4 eps figures included using epsf. To appear in
Physical Review Letters. Fig. 1 fixed u
The Meta-Position of Phe4 in Leu-Enkephalin Regulates Potency, Selectivity, Functional Activity, and Signaling Bias at the Delta and Mu Opioid Receptors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.As tool compounds to study cardiac ischemia, the endogenous δ-opioid receptors (δOR) agonist Leu5-enkephalin and the more metabolically stable synthetic peptide (d-Ala2, d-Leu5)-enkephalin are frequently employed. However, both peptides have similar pharmacological profiles that restrict detailed investigation of the cellular mechanism of the δOR’s protective role during ischemic events. Thus, a need remains for δOR peptides with improved selectivity and unique signaling properties for investigating the specific roles for δOR signaling in cardiac ischemia. To this end, we explored substitution at the Phe4 position of Leu5-enkephalin for its ability to modulate receptor function and selectivity. Peptides were assessed for their affinity to bind to δORs and µ-opioid receptors (µORs) and potency to inhibit cAMP signaling and to recruit β-arrestin 2. Additionally, peptide stability was measured in rat plasma. Substitution of the meta-position of Phe4 of Leu5-enkephalin provided high-affinity ligands with varying levels of selectivity and bias at both the δOR and µOR and improved peptide stability, while substitution with picoline derivatives produced lower-affinity ligands with G protein biases at both receptors. Overall, these favorable substitutions at the meta-position of Phe4 may be combined with other modifications to Leu5-enkephalin to deliver improved agonists with finely tuned potency, selectivity, bias and drug-like properties
Moving Atom-Field Interactions: Quantum Motional Decoherence and Relaxation
The reduced dynamics of an atomic qubit coupled both to its own quantized
center of mass motion through the spatial mode functions of the electromagnetic
field, as well as the vacuum modes, is calculated in the influence functional
formalism. The formalism chosen can describe the entangled non-Markovian
evolution of the system with a full account of the coherent back-action of the
environment on the qubit. We find a slight increase in the decoherence due to
the quantized center of mass motion and give a condition on the mass and qubit
resonant frequency for which the effect is important. In optically resonant
alkali-metal atom systems, we find the effect to be negligibly small. The
framework presented here can nevertheless be used for general considerations of
the coherent evolution of qubits in moving atoms in an electromagnetic field.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, minor change
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