Translational cooling and storage of protonated proteins in an ion trap at subkelvin temperatures

Gas-phase multiply charged proteins have been sympathetically cooled to translational temperatures below 1 K by Coulomb interaction with laser-cooled barium ions in a linear ion trap. In one case, an ensemble of 53 cytochrome c molecules (mass ~ 12390 amu, charge +17 e) was cooled by ~ 160 laser-cooled barium ions to less than 0.75 K. Storage times of more than 20 minutes have been observed and could easily be extended to more than an hour. The technique is applicable to a wide variety of complex molecules.Comment: same version as published in Phys. Rev.

Simultaneous current-, force- and work function measurement with atomic resolution

The local work function of a surface determines the spatial decay of the charge density at the Fermi level normal to the surface. Here, we present a method that enables simultaneous measurements of local work function and tip-sample forces. A combined dynamic scanning tunneling microscope and atomic force microscope is used to measure the tunneling current between an oscillating tip and the sample in real time as a function of the cantilever's deflection. Atomically resolved work function measurements on a silicon (111)-($7\times 7$) surface are presented and related to concurrently recorded tunneling current- and force- measurements.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Coulomb blockade and Non-Fermi-liquid behavior in quantum dots

The non-Fermi-liquid properties of an ultrasmall quantum dot coupled to a lead and to a quantum box are investigated. Tuning the ratio of the tunneling amplitudes to the lead and box, we find a line of two-channel Kondo fixed points for arbitrary Coulomb repulsion on the dot, governing the transition between two distinct Fermi-liquid regimes. The Fermi liquids are characterized by different values of the conductance. For an asymmetric dot, spin and charge degrees of freedom are entangled: a continuous transition from a spin to a charge two-channel Kondo effect evolves. The crossover temperature to the two-channel Kondo effect is greatly enhanced away from the local-moment regime, making this exotic effect accessible in realistic quantum-dot devices.Comment: 5 figure

Kondo-lattice model: Application to the temperature-dependent electronic structure of EuO(100) films

We present calculations for the temperature-dependent electronic structure and magnetic properties of thin ferromagnetic EuO films. The treatment is based on a combination of a multiband-Kondo lattice model with first-principles TB-LMTO band structure calculations. The method avoids the problem of double-counting of relevant interactions and takes into account the correct symmetry of the atomic orbitals. We discuss the temperature-dependent electronic structures of EuO(100) films in terms of quasiparticle densities of states and quasiparticle band structures. The Curie temperature T_C of the EuO films turns out to be strongly thickness-dependent, starting from a very low value = 15K for the monolayer and reaching the bulk value at about 25 layers

Novel High-Frequency Air Transducers

Ultrasonic transducers operating in air in the frequency range of 1–10MHz have major applications in robotics and nondestructive evaluation. For robotics applications, high-frequency air transducers make possible range measurements with a resolution in the 30–100 μm range. For nondestructive evaluation, it is possible to make transmission C-scan systems operating in air for the inspection of composites, green ceramics, and even metals at elevated temperatures. In this work, we report on the use of ligneous materials as a matching layer for PZT-based transducers

Functional consequences of sphingomyelinase-induced changes in erythrocyte membrane structure.

Inflammation enhances the secretion of sphingomyelinases (SMases). SMases catalyze the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin into phosphocholine and ceramide. In erythrocytes, ceramide formation leads to exposure of the removal signal phosphatidylserine (PS), creating a potential link between SMase activity and anemia of inflammation. Therefore, we studied the effects of SMase on various pathophysiologically relevant parameters of erythrocyte homeostasis. Time-lapse confocal microscopy revealed a SMase-induced transition from the discoid to a spherical shape, followed by PS exposure, and finally loss of cytoplasmic content. Also, SMase treatment resulted in ceramide-associated alterations in membrane-cytoskeleton interactions and membrane organization, including microdomain formation. Furthermore, we observed increases in membrane fragility, vesiculation and invagination, and large protein clusters. These changes were associated with enhanced erythrocyte retention in a spleen-mimicking model. Erythrocyte storage under blood bank conditions and during physiological aging increased the sensitivity to SMase. A low SMase activity already induced morphological and structural changes, demonstrating the potential of SMase to disturb erythrocyte homeostasis. Our analyses provide a comprehensive picture in which ceramide-induced changes in membrane microdomain organization disrupt the membrane-cytoskeleton interaction and membrane integrity, leading to vesiculation, reduced deformability, and finally loss of erythrocyte content. Understanding these processes is highly relevant for understanding anemia during chronic inflammation, especially in critically ill patients receiving blood transfusions

Nucleon structure in terms of OPE with non-perturbative Wilson coefficients

Lattice calculations could boost our understanding of Deep Inelastic Scattering by evaluating moments of the Nucleon Structure Functions. To this end we study the product of electromagnetic currents between quark states. The Operator Product Expansion (OPE) decomposes it into matrix elements of local operators (depending on the quark momenta) and Wilson coefficients (as functions of the larger photon momenta). For consistency with the matrix elements, we evaluate a set of Wilson coefficients non-perturbatively, based on propagators for numerous momentum sources, on a 24^3 x 48 lattice. The use of overlap quarks suppresses unwanted operator mixing and lattice artifacts. Results for the leading Wilson coefficients are extracted by means of Singular Value Decomposition.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, contribution to the XXVI International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 14-19 Williamsburg, Virginia, US

Fabrication, Characterisation and Tribological Investigation of Artificial Skin Surface Lipid Films

This article deals with the tribology of lipid coatings that resemble those found on human skin. In order to simulate the lipidic surface chemistry of human skin, an artificial sebum formulation that closely resembles human sebum was spray-coated onto mechanical skin models in physiologically relevant concentrations (5-100μg/cm2). Water contact angles and surface free energies (SFEs) showed that model surfaces with ≤25μg/cm2 lipids appropriately mimic the physico-chemical properties of dry, sebum-poor skin regions. In friction experiments with a steel ball, lipid-coated model surfaces demonstrated lubrication effects over a wide range of sliding velocities and normal loads. In friction measurements on model surfaces as a function of lipid-film thickness, a clear minimum in the friction coefficient (COF) was observed in the case of hydrophilic, high-SFE materials (steel, glass), with the lowest COF (≈0.5) against skin model surfaces being found at 25μg/cm2 lipids. For hydrophobic, low-SFE polymers, the COF was considerably lower (0.4 for PP, 0.16 for PTFE) and relatively independent of the lipid amount, indicating that both the mechanical and surface-chemical properties of the sliders strongly influence the friction behaviour of the skin-model surfaces. Lipid-coated skin models might be a valuable tool not only for tribologists but also for cosmetic chemists, in that they allow the objective study of friction, adhesion and wetting behaviour of liquids and emulsions on simulated skin-surface condition