1,488 research outputs found
Spin Gap in the Single Spin-1/2 Chain Cuprate SrCaCuO
We report Cu nuclear magnetic resonance and muon spin rotation
measurements on the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain compound
SrCaCuO. An exponentially decreasing spin-lattice
relaxation rate 1/T indicates the opening of a spin gap. This behavior is
very similar to what has been observed for the cognate zigzag spin chain
compound SrCaCuO, and confirms that the occurrence of a
spin gap upon Ca doping is independent of the interchain exchange coupling
. Our results therefore generally prove the appearance of a spin gap in an
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain induced by a local bond disorder of the
intrachain exchange coupling . A low temperature upturn of 1/T evidences
growing magnetic correlations. However, zero field muon spin rotation
measurements down to 1.5 K confirm the absence of magnetic order in this
compound which is most likely suppressed by the opening of the spin gap.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
The thermal conductivity of alternating spin chains
We study a class of integrable alternating (S1,S2) quantum spin chains with
critical ground state properties. Our main result is the description of the
thermal Drude weight of the one-dimensional alternating spin chain as a
function of temperature. We have identified the thermal current of the model
with alternating spins as one of the conserved currents underlying the
integrability. This allows for the derivation of a finite set of non-linear
integral equations for the thermal conductivity. Numerical solutions to the
integral equations are presented for specific cases of the spins S1 and S2. In
the low-temperature limit a universal picture evolves where the thermal Drude
weight is proportional to temperature T and central charge c.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
H_c_3 for a thin-film superconductor with a ferromagnetic dot
We investigate the effect of a ferromagnetic dot on a thin-film
superconductor. We use a real-space method to solve the linearized
Ginzburg-Landau equation in order to find the upper critical field, H_c_3. We
show that H_c_3 is crucially dependent on dot composition and geometry, and may
be significantly greater than H_c_2. H_c_3 is maximally enhanced when (1) the
dot saturation magnetization is large, (2) the ratio of dot thickness to dot
diameter is of order one, and (3) the dot thickness is large
The potential role of T-cells and their interaction with antigen-presenting cells in mediating immunosuppression following trauma-hemorrhage
Objective: Trauma-hemorrhage results in depressed immune responses of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T-cells. Recent studies suggest a key role of depressed T-cell derived interferon (IFN)-g in this complex immune cell interaction. The aim of this study was to elucidate further the underlying mechanisms responsible for dysfunctional T-cells and their interaction with APCs following trauma-hemorrhage.
Design: Adult C3H/HeN male mice were subjected to trauma-hemorrhage (3-cm midline laparotomy) followed by hemorrhage (blood pressure of 35�5mmHg for 90 min and resuscitation) or sham operation. At 24 h thereafter, spleens were harvested and T-cells (by Microbeads) and APCs (via adherence) were Isolated. Co-cultures of T-cells and APCs were established for 48 h and stimulated with concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide. T-Cell specific cytokines known to affect APC function (i.e. interleukin(IL)-2, IL-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)) were measured in culture supernatants by Multiplex assay. The expression of MHC class II as well as co-stimulatory surface molecules on T-cells and APCs was determined by flow cytometry.
Results: The release of IL-4 and GM-CSF by T-cells was suppressed following trauma-hemorrhage, irrespective of whether sham or trauma-hemorrhage APCs were present. Antigen-presenting cells from animals subjected to trauma-hemorrhage did not affect T-cell derived cytokine release by sham T-cells. In contrast, T-cells from traumahemorrhage animals depressed MHC class II expression of CD11c(þ) cells, irrespective of whether APCs underwent sham or trauma-hemorrhage procedure. Surprisingly, co-stimulatory molecules on APCs (CD80, CD86) were not affected by trauma-hemorrhage.
Conclusions: These results suggest that beside IFN-g other T-cell derived cytokines contribute to immunosuppression following trauma-hemorrhage causing diminished MHC II expression on APCs. Thus, T-cells appear to play an important role in this interaction at the time-point examined. Therapeutic approaches should aim at maintenance of T-cell function and their interaction with APCs to prevent extended immunosuppression following trauma-hemorrhage
Hubbard band or oxygen vacancy states in the correlated electron metal SrVO?
We study the effect of oxygen vacancies on the electronic structure of the
model strongly correlated metal SrVO. By means of angle-resolved
photoemission (ARPES) synchrotron experiments, we investigate the systematic
effect of the UV dose on the measured spectra. We observe the onset of a
spurious dose-dependent prominent peak at an energy range were the lower
Hubbard band has been previously reported in this compound, raising questions
on its previous interpretation. By a careful analysis of the dose dependent
effects we succeed in disentangling the contributions coming from the oxygen
vacancy states and from the lower Hubbard band. We obtain the intrinsic ARPES
spectrum for the zero-vacancy limit, where a clear signal of a lower Hubbard
band remains. We support our study by means of state-of-the-art ab initio
calculations that include correlation effects and the presence of oxygen
vacancies. Our results underscore the relevance of potential spurious states
affecting ARPES experiments in correlated metals, which are associated to the
ubiquitous oxygen vacancies as extensively reported in the context of a
two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the surface of insulating
transition metal oxides.Comment: Manuscript + Supplemental Material, 12 pages, 9 figure
Institutional change in the European Parliament:balancing legislative ethics and parliamentary independence
First experimental results of very high accuracy centroiding measurements for the neat astrometric mission
NEAT is an astrometric mission proposed to ESA with the objectives of
detecting Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zone of nearby solar-type
stars. NEAT requires the capability to measure stellar centroids at the
precision of 5e-6 pixel. Current state-of-the-art methods for centroid
estimation have reached a precision of about 2e-5 pixel at two times Nyquist
sampling, this was shown at the JPL by the VESTA experiment. A metrology system
was used to calibrate intra and inter pixel quantum efficiency variations in
order to correct pixelation errors. The European part of the NEAT consortium is
building a testbed in vacuum in order to achieve 5e-6 pixel precision for the
centroid estimation. The goal is to provide a proof of concept for the
precision requirement of the NEAT spacecraft. In this paper we present the
metrology and the pseudo stellar sources sub-systems, we present a performance
model and an error budget of the experiment and we report the present status of
the demonstration. Finally we also present our first results: the experiment
had its first light in July 2013 and a first set of data was taken in air. The
analysis of this first set of data showed that we can already measure the pixel
positions with an accuracy of about 1e-4 pixel.Comment: SPIE conference proceeding
PAL3 DEVELOPMENT, PILOT TESTING, SCORING AND VALIDATION OF A MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR PATIENTS UNDERGOING SPECIFIC IMMUNO-THERAPY
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