Disassembly kinetics of thick filaments in rabbit skeletal muscle fibers. Effects of ionic strength, Ca2+ concentration, pH, temperature, and cross-bridges on the stability of thick filament structure

The kinetics of dissociation from both ends of thick filaments in a muscle fiber was investigated by an optical diffraction method. The dissociation velocity of thick filaments at a sarcomere length of 2.75 microns increased with increasing the KCl concentration (from 60 mM to 0.5 M), increasing the pH value (from 6.2 to 8.0) or decreasing the temperature (from 25 to 5 degrees C) in the presence of 10 mM pyrophosphate and 5 mM MgCl2. Micromolar concentrations of Ca2+ suppressed the dissociation velocity markedly at shorter sarcomere lengths. The dissociation velocity, v, decreased as thick filaments became shorter, and v = -db/dt = vo exp (alpha b), where b is the length of the thick filament at time t and vo and alpha are constants. The vo value was largely dependent on the KCl concentration but the alpha value was not. The stiffness of a muscle fiber decreased nearly in proportion to the decrease of overlap between thick and thin filaments induced by the dissociation of thick filaments. This indicates that cross-bridges are uniformly distributed and contribute independently to the stiffness of a muscle fiber during the dissociation of thick filaments

Magnetic-field induced competition of two multiferroic orders in a triangular-lattice helimagnet MnI2

Magnetic and dielectric properties with varying magnitude and direction of magnetic field H have been investigated for a triangular lattice helimagnet MnI2. The in-plane electric polarization P emerges in the proper screw magnetic ground state below 3.5 K, showing the rearrangement of six possible multiferroic domains as controlled by the in-plane H. With every 60-degree rotation of H around the [001]-axis, discontinuous 120-degree flop of P-vector is observed as a result of the flop of magnetic modulation vector q. With increasing the in-plane H above 3 T, however, the stable q-direction changes from q|| to q||, leading to a change of P-flop patterns under rotating H. At the critical field region (~3 T), due to the phase competition and resultant enhanced q-flexibility, P-vector smoothly rotates clockwise twice while H-vector rotates counter-clockwise once.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted in Physical Review Letter

Perovskite Manganites Hosting Versatile Multiferroic Phases with Symmetric and Antisymmetric Exchange Strictions

Complete magnetoelectric (ME) phase diagrams of orthorhombic $R$MnO$_{3}$ with and without magnetic moments on the $R$ ions have been established. Three kinds of multiferroic ground states, the $ab$-cycloidal, the $bc$-cycloidal, and the collinear $E$-type phases, have been identified by the distinct ME responses. The electric polarization of the $E$-type phase dominated by the symmetric spin exchange ($bm{S}_{i} cdot bm{S}_{j}$) is more than 10 times as large as that of the $bc$-cycloidal phase dominated by the antisymmetric one ($bm{S}_{i} times bm{S}_{j}$), and the ME response is enhanced near the bicritical phase boundary between these multiferroic phases of different origins. These findings will provide an important clue for the development of the magnetically induced multiferroics.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Synchrotron Radiation from the Galactic Center in Decaying Dark Matter Scenario

We discuss the synchrotron radiation flux from the Galactic center in unstable dark matter scenario. Motivated by the anomalous excess of the positron fraction recently reported by the PAMELA collaboration, we consider the case that the dark matter particle is unstable (and long-lived), and that energetic electron and positron are produced by the decay of dark matter. Then, the emitted electron and positron becomes the source of the synchrotron radiation. We calculate the synchrotron radiation flux for models of decaying dark matter, which can explain the PAMELA positron excess. Taking the lifetime of the dark matter of O(10^26 sec), which is the suggested value to explain the PAMELA anomaly, the synchrotron radiation flux is found to be O(1 kJy/str) or smaller, depending on the particle-physics and cosmological parameters.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Electromagnons in the multiferroic state of perovskite manganites with symmetric-exchange striction

We have investigated electrically-active magnetic excitations (electromagnons) in perovskite manganites with the $E$-type (up-up-down-down) spin structure by terahertz spectroscopy. Eu$_{1-x}$Y$_x$MnO$_3$ (0.1$\le x\le$1) and Y$_{1-y}$Lu$_y$MnO$_3$ (0$\le y\le$1) without magnetic $f$-moments, which host collinear sinusoidal, $A$-type, cycloidal, and $E$-type spin orders, are used to examine the systematics of possible electromagnons. Three-peak structures (23, 35, 45 cm$^{-1}$) of magnetic origin show up in the $E$-type phase with little composition ($y$) dependence of frequencies, making a contrast with the electromagnons observed in the cycloidal-spin ($x\le0.8$) phases. One of these electromagnon is ascribed to the zone-edge magnon mode based on the calculated magnon dispersions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Electromagnons in the multiferroic state of perovskite manganites with symmetric-exchange striction

We have investigated electrically-active magnetic excitations (electromagnons) in perovskite manganites with the $E$-type (up-up-down-down) spin structure by terahertz spectroscopy. Eu$_{1-x}$Y$_x$MnO$_3$ (0.1$\le x\le$1) and Y$_{1-y}$Lu$_y$MnO$_3$ (0$\le y\le$1) without magnetic $f$-moments, which host collinear sinusoidal, $A$-type, cycloidal, and $E$-type spin orders, are used to examine the systematics of possible electromagnons. Three-peak structures (23, 35, 45 cm$^{-1}$) of magnetic origin show up in the $E$-type phase with little composition ($y$) dependence of frequencies, making a contrast with the electromagnons observed in the cycloidal-spin ($x\le0.8$) phases. One of these electromagnon is ascribed to the zone-edge magnon mode based on the calculated magnon dispersions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure