Thermodynamics of the quantum spin-S XXZ chain

The thermodynamics of the spin-$S$ anisotropic quantum $XXZ$ chain with arbitrary value of $S$ and unitary norm, in the high-temperature regime, is reported. The single-ion anisotropy term and the interaction with an external magnetic field in the $z$-direction are taken into account. We obtain, for arbitrary value of $S$, the $\beta$-expansion of the Helmholtz free energy of the model up to order $\beta^6$ and show that it actually depends on $\frac{1}{S(S+1)}$. Its classical limit is obtained by simply taking $S\to \infty$. At $h=0$ and D=0, our high temperature expansion of the classical model coincides with Joyce's exact solution\cite{joyce_prl}. We study, in the high temperature region, some thermodynamic quantities such as the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility as functions of spin and verify for which values of $S$ those thermodynamic functions behave classically. Their finite temperature behavior is inferred from interpolation of their high- and low-temperature behavior, and shown to be in good agreement with numerical results. The finite temperature behavior is shown for higher values of spin.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure

Reutilización de árido mixto reciclado procedente de los residuos de la construcción y demolición en la fabricación de hormigones

Este artículo recoge el estudio de la viabilidad de la utilización de árido grueso mixto reciclado procedente de los residuos de la construcción y demolición como sustituto parcial del árido grueso natural, en la fabricación de hormigones con una resistencia característica de 30 MPa. El árido mixto reciclado utilizado tiene una calidad media – baja, debido a que el contenido de asfalto y partículas flotantes es elevado. La propiedades físicas (densidad y trabajabilidad) y mecánicas (resistencia a compresión y tracción) fueron estudiadas en los hormigones reciclados con un porcentaje de sustitución del 50% en peso de árido natural, con y sin partículas flotantes. Los resultados obtenidos, muestran que la incorporación de este árido reciclado no tiene un efecto negativo en la trabajabilidad de los hormigones en estado fresco. Respecto a la densidad y las propiedades mecánicas, se observa como disminuyen estas propiedades a medida que aumenta el contenido de árido mixto reciclado y de partículas flotantes. Finalmente, a la luz de estos resultados se puede señalar que estos áridos mixtos reciclados pueden emplearse en la fabricación de hormigones destinados a la edificación u otras aplicaciones

Generalized Berreman's model of the elastic surface free energy of a nematic liquid crystal on a sawtoothed substrate

In this paper we present a generalization of Berreman's model for the elastic contribution to the surface free-energy density of a nematic liquid crystal in presence of a sawtooth substrate which favours homeotropic anchoring, as a function of the wavenumber of the surface structure $q$, the tilt angle $\alpha$ and the surface anchoring strength $w$. In addition to the previously reported non-analytic contribution proportional to $q\ln q$, due to the nucleation of disclination lines at the wedge bottoms and apexes of the substrate, the next-to-leading contribution is proportional to $q$ for a given substrate roughness, in agreement with Berreman's predictions. We characterise this term, finding that it has two contributions: the deviations of the nematic director field with respect to the corresponding to the isolated disclination lines, and their associated core free energies. Comparison with the results obtained from the Landau-de Gennes model shows that our model is quite accurate in the limit $wL>1$, when strong anchoring conditions are effectively achieved.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures; revised version submitted to Phys. Rev.

On the quark-gluon vertex and quark-ghost kernel: combining lattice simulations with Dyson-Schwinger equations

We investigate the dressed quark-gluon vertex combining two established nonperturbative approaches to QCD: the Dyson-Schwinger equation (DSE) for the quark propagator and lattice-regularized simulations for the quark, gluon and ghost propagators. The vertex is modeled using a generalized Ball-Chiu ansatz parameterized by a single form actor X̃_0 which effectively represents the quark-ghost scattering kernel. The solution space of the DSE inversion for X̃_0 is highly degenerate, which can be dealt with by a numerical regularization scheme. We consider two possibilities: (i) linear regularization and (ii) the Maximum Entropy Method. These two numerical approaches yield compatible X̃_0 functions for the range of momenta where lattice data is available and feature a strong enhancement of the generalized Ball-Chiu vertex for momenta below 1 GeV. Our ansatz for the quark-gluon vertex is then used to solve the quark Dyson-Schwinger equation which yields a mass function in good agreement with lattice simulations and thus provides adequate dynamical chiral symmetry breaking

Equivalence between non-bilinear spin-SS Ising model and Wajnflasz model

We propose the mapping of polynomial of degree 2S constructed as a linear combination of powers of spin-$S$ (for simplicity, we called as spin-$S$ polynomial) onto spin-crossover state. The spin-$S$ polynomial in general can be projected onto non-symmetric degenerated spin up (high-spin) and spin down (low-spin) momenta. The total number of mapping for each general spin-$S$ is given by $2(2^{2S}-1)$. As an application of this mapping, we consider a general non-bilinear spin-$S$ Ising model which can be transformed onto spin-crossover described by Wajnflasz model. Using a further transformation we obtain the partition function of the effective spin-1/2 Ising model, making a suitable mapping the non-symmetric contribution leads us to a spin-1/2 Ising model with a fixed external magnetic field, which in general cannot be solved exactly. However, for a particular case of non-bilinear spin-$S$ Ising model could become equivalent to an exactly solvable Ising model. The transformed Ising model exhibits a residual entropy, then it should be understood also as a frustrated spin model, due to competing parameters coupling of the non-bilinear spin-$S$ Ising model

Graphene: A Pseudochiral Fermi Liquid

Doped graphene sheets are pseudochiral two-dimensional Fermi liquids with abnormal electron-electron interaction physics. We address graphene's Fermi liquid properties quantitatively using a microscopic random-phase-approximation theory and comment on the importance of using exchange-correlation potentials based on the properties of a chiral two-dimensional electron gas in density-functional-theory applications to graphene nanostructures.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, submitte

Long-Term Dynamic Humoral Response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccines in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

COVID-19; Booster; Chronic kidney diseaseCOVID-19; Refuerzo; Enfermedad renal crónicaCOVID-19; Reforç; Malaltia renal crònicaIntroduction. Patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) present an impaired humoral response against SARS-CoV-2, at least after the initial vaccination and booster dose. Until now, the effect of a fourth dose has not been established. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the long-term dynamics of the humoral response of PD patients to multiple doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, focusing on the effect of the fourth dose. Methods. This is an analysis of the prospective and multicentric SENCOVAC study. We included patients on PD without additional immunosuppression that had received at least 3 SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine doses. We evaluated anti-spike antibody titers after the initial vaccination, third and fourth doses, using prespecified fixed assessments (i.e., baseline, 28 days, 3, 6, and 12 months after completing the initial vaccine schedule). Breakthrough infections were also collected. Results. We included 164 patients on PD (69% males, 62 ± 13 years old). In patients who had received only two doses, the rates of positive humoral response progressively decreased from 96% at 28 days to 80% at 6 months, as did with anti-spike antibody titers. At 6 months, 102 (62%) patients had received the third vaccine dose. Patients with the third dose had higher rates of positive humoral response (p = 0.01) and higher anti-spike antibody titers (p < 0.001) at 6 months than those with only 2 doses. At 12 months, the whole cohort had received 3 vaccine doses, and 44 (27%) patients had an additional fourth dose. The fourth dose was not associated to higher rates of positive humoral response (100 vs. 97%, p = 0.466) or to statistically significant differences in anti-spike antibody titers as compared to three doses (p = 0.371) at 12 months. Prior antibody titers were the only predictor for subsequent higher anti-spike antibody titer (B 0.53 [95%CI 0.27–0.78], p < 0.001). The 2 (1.2%) patients that developed COVID-19 during follow-up had mild disease. Conclusions. PD presents an acceptable humoral response with three doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that improve the progressive loss of anti-spike antibody titers following two vaccine doses.The present project has been supported by Diaverum, Vifor Pharma, Vircell, Fundación Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo, and ISCIII FEDER funds RICORS2040 (RD21/0005)

Visualizing Phytochemical-Protein Interaction Networks: Momordica charantia and Cancer

The in silico study of medicinal plants is a rapidly growing field. Techniques such as reverse screening and network pharmacology are used to study the complex cellular action of medicinal plants against disease. However, it is difficult to produce a meaningful visualization of phytochemical-protein interactions (PCPIs) in the cell. This study introduces a novel workflow combining various tools to visualize a PCPI network for a medicinal plant against a disease. The five steps are 1) phytochemical compilation, 2) reverse screening, 3) network building, 4) network visualization, and 5) evaluation. The output is a PCPI network that encodes multiple dimensions of information, including subcellular location, phytochemical class, pharmacokinetic data, and prediction probability. As a proof of concept, we built a PCPI network for bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) against colorectal cancer. The network and workflow are available at https://yumibriones.github.io/network/. The PCPI network highlights high-confidence interactions for further in vitro or in vivo study. The overall workflow is broadly transferable and can be used to visualize the action of other medicinal plants or small molecules against other diseases