Matroids with at least two regular elements

For a matroid $M$, an element $e$ such that both $M\backslash e$ and $M/e$ are regular is called a regular element of $M$. We determine completely the structure of non-regular matroids with at least two regular elements. Besides four small size matroids, all 3-connected matroids in the class can be pieced together from $F_7$ or $S_8$ and a regular matroid using 3-sums. This result takes a step toward solving a problem posed by Paul Seymour: Find all 3-connected non-regular matroids with at least one regular element [5, 14.8.8]

Thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties of high-temperature cuprate superconductors in the stripe phase

We examine the thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties in the stripe phase of high-Tc cuprates, by using the finite-temperature Lanczos technique for the t-J model with a potential that stabilizes vertical charge stripes. When the stripe potential is turned on, the entropy is suppressed as a consequence of the formation of one-dimensional charge stripes accompanied by an enhancement of antiferromagnetic spin correlation in the spin domains. The stripe formation leads also to weak temperature dependence of the chemical potential, leading to the suppression of the thermoelectric power. The suppression of the entropy and thermoelectric power is consistent with experimental data in the stripe phase of La_{1.6-x}Nd_{0.4}Sr_xCuO_4.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.B Rapid Comm

UV induced ubiquitination of the yeast Rad4-Rad23 complex promotes survival by regulating cellular dNTP pools

Regulating gene expression programmes is a central facet of the DNA damage response. The Dun1 kinase protein controls expression of many DNA damage induced genes, including the ribonucleotide reductase genes, which regulate cellular dNTP pools. Using a combination of gene expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we demonstrate that in the absence of DNA damage the yeast Rad4�Rad23 nucleotide excision repair complex binds to the promoters of certain DNA damage response genes including DUN1, inhibiting their expression. UV radiation promotes the loss of occupancy of the Rad4�Rad23 complex from the regulatory regions of these genes, enabling their induction and thereby controlling the production of dNTPs. We demonstrate that this regulatory mechanism, which is dependent on the ubiquitination of Rad4 by the GG-NER E3 ligase, promotes UV survival in yeast cells. These results support an unanticipated regulatory mechanism that integrates ubiquitination of NER DNA repair factors with the regulation of the transcriptional response controlling dNTP production and cellular survival after UV damage

Partially filled stripes in the two dimensional Hubbard model: statics and dynamics

The internal structure of stripes in the two dimensional Hubbard model is studied by going beyond the Hartree-Fock approximation. Partially filled stripes, consistent with experimental observations, are stabilized by quantum fluctuations, included through the Configuration Interaction method. Hopping of short regions of the stripes in the transverse direction is comparable to the bare hopping element. The integrated value of $n_{\bf \vec{k}}$ compares well with experimental results.Comment: 4 page

Is the wear coefficient dependent upon slip amplitude in fretting?: Vingsbo and Söderberg revisited

More than 25 years ago, Vingsbo and Söderberg published a seminal paper regarding the mapping of behaviour in fretting contacts (O. Vingsbo, S. Söderberg, On fretting maps, Wear, 126 (1988) 131–147). In this paper, it was proposed that in the gross-slip fretting regime, the wear coefficient increased by between one and two orders of magnitude as the fretting displacement amplitude increased from around 20 µm to 300 µm (defined as the limits of the gross-slip regime). Since the publication of this paper, there have been many papers published in the literature regarding fretting in the gross-sliding regime where such a strong dependence of wear coefficient upon fretting displacement has not been observed, with instead, the wear coefficient being shown to be almost independent of fretting amplitude. Indeed, many researchers have demonstrated that there is a good correlation between wear volume and frictional energy dissipated in the contact for many material combinations, with the additional insight that a threshold in energy dissipated in the contact exists, below which no wear is observed (experimental data relating to fretting of a high strength steel is presented in the current paper which supports this concept). It is argued that in deriving a wear coefficient in fretting, there are two key considerations which have not always been addressed: (i) the far-field displacement amplitude is not an adequate substitute for the slip amplitude (the former is the sum of the latter together with any elastic deformation in the system between the contact and the point at which the displacement is measured); and (ii) there is a threshold in the fretting duration, below which no wear occurs and above which the rate of increase in wear volume with increasing duration is constant (this constant may be termed the wear coefficient, ktrue). Not addressing these two issues results in the derivation of a nominal wear coefficient (knominal) which is always less than ktrue. A simple analysis is presented which indicates that knominal / ktrue = 1 - A - B where A is associated with erroneously utilising the far field displacement amplitude in place of the contact slip amplitude in the calculation of the wear coefficient and B is associated with the failure to recognise that there is a threshold in fretting duration below which no wear occurs. A and B are shown to depend upon the tractional force required to initiate sliding (itself dependent upon the applied load and coefficient of friction), the system stiffness, the applied displacement amplitude, the threshold fretting duration below which no wear occurs and the number of fretting cycles in the test. Using typical values of these parameters, the ratio of knominal to ktrue has been shown to be strongly dependent upon the applied displacement amplitude over the range addressed by Vingsbo and Söderberg (with the ratio rapidly decreasing by an order of magnitude over this range). As such, it is argued that ktrue shows no strong dependence on slip amplitude in fretting, and that the strong dependence of knominal upon displacement amplitude presented by Vingsbo and Söderberg does not imply a change in ktrue as is often inferred. The routine recording of force–displacement loops in fretting is a major experimental advancement which has taken place since the publication of the paper by Vingsbo and Söderberg. It is argued that this technique must be routinely used to allow the correct interpretation of wear data in terms of the actual slip amplitude (or energy dissipated); moreover, a range of conditions should be experimentally examined to allow the threshold fretting duration below which no wear has occurred to be evaluated and its significance assessed

Photoemission Spectroscopy from Inhomogeneous Models of Cuprates

We investigate the electronic dynamics in the underdoped cuprates focusing on the effects of one-dimensional charge stripes. We address recent experimental Angular-Resolved Photoemission Spectra results on (La$_{1.28}$Nd$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.12}$)CuO$_4$. We find that various inhomogeneous models can account for the distribution of quasiparticle weights close to momentum ${\bf k}=(\pi,0)$ and symmetry related points. The observed flat dispersion region around the same ${\bf k}$ point can only be addressed by certain classes of those inhomogeneous models which locally break spin symmetry. Homogeneous models including hopping elements up to second neighbors cannot reproduce the experimental quasiparticle weight, since most of it is centered around ${\bf k}=(\frac {\pi}{2},\frac {\pi} {2})$.Comment: 5 pages, color figure

Stability of metallic stripes in the extended one-band Hubbard model

Based on an unrestricted Gutzwiller approximation (GA) we investigate the stripe orientation and periodicity in an extended one-band Hubbard model. A negative ratio between next-nearest and nearest neighbor hopping t'/t, as appropriate for cuprates, favors partially filled (metallic) stripes for both vertical and diagonal configurations. At around optimal doping diagonal stripes, site centered (SC) and bond centered (BC) vertical stripes become degenerate suggesting strong lateral and orientational fluctuations. We find that within the GA the resulting phase diagram is in agreement with experiment whereas it is not in the Hartree-Fock approximation due to a strong overestimation of the stripe filling. Results are in agreement with previous calculations within the three-band Hubbard model but with the role of SC and BC stripes interchanged.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Density functional theory of spin-polarized disordered quantum dots

Using density functional theory, we investigate fluctuations of the ground state energy of spin-polarized, disordered quantum dots in the metallic regime. To compare to experiment, we evaluate the distribution of addition energies and find a convolution of the Wigner-Dyson distribution, expected for noniteracting electrons, with a narrower Gaussian distribution due to interactions. The tird moment of the total distribution is independent of interactions, and so is predicted to decrease by a factor of 0.405 upon application of a magnetic field which transforms from the Gaussian orthogonal to the Gaussian unitary ensemble.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Direct amplification of nodD from community DNA reveals the genetic diversity of Rhizobium leguminosarum in soil

Sequences of nodD, a gene found only in rhizobia, were amplified from total community DNA isolated from a pasture soil. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers used, Y5 and Y6, match nodD from Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii, R. leguminosarum biovar viciae and Sinorhizobium meliloti. The PCR product was cloned and yielded 68 clones that were identified by restriction pattern as derived from biovar trifolii [11 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) types] and 15 clones identified as viciae (seven RFLP types). These identifications were confirmed by sequencing. There were no clones related to S. meliloti nodD. For comparison, 122 strains were isolated from nodules of white clover (Trifolium repens) growing at the field site, and 134 from nodules on trap plants of T. repens inoculated with the soil. The nodule isolates were of four nodD RFLP types, with 77% being of a single type. All four of these patterns were also found among the clones from soil DNA, and the same type was the most abundant, although it made up only 34% of the trifolii-like clones. We conclude that clover selects specific genotypes from the available soil population, and that R. leguminosarum biovar trifolii was approximately five times more abundant than biovar viciae in this pasture soil, whereas S. meliloti was rare