Proximity effect-assisted absorption of spin currents in superconductors

The injection of pure spin current into superconductors by the dynamics of a ferromagnetic contact is studied theoretically. Taking into account suppression of the order parameter at the interfaces (inverse proximity effect) and the energy-dependence of spin-flip scattering, we determine the temperature-dependent ferromagnetic resonance linewidth broadening. Our results agree with recent experiments in Nb|permalloy bilayers [C. Bell et al., arXiv:cond-mat/0702461].Comment: 4 page

Long-term Variability Properties and Periodicity Analysis for Blazars

In this paper, the compiled long-term optical and infrared measurements of some blazars are used to analyze the variation properties and the optical data are used to search for periodicity evidence in the lightcurve by means of the Jurkevich technique and the discrete correlation function (DCF) method. Following periods are found: 4.52-year for 3C 66A; 1.56 and 2.95 years for AO 0235+164; 14.4, 18.6 years for PKS 0735+178; 17.85 and 24.7 years for PKS 0754+100; 5.53 and 11.75 for OJ 287. 4.45, and 6.89 years for PKS 1215; 9 and 14.84 years for PKS 1219+285; 2.0, 13.5 and 22.5 for 3C273; 7.1 year for 3C279; 6.07 for PKS 1308+326; 3.0 and 16.5 years for PKS 1418+546; 2.0 and 9.35 years for PKS 1514-241; 18.18 for PKS 1807+698; 4.16 and 7.0 for 2155-304; 14 and 20 years for BL Lacertae. Some explanations have been discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 2 table, no figure, a proceeding paper for Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics, Aug. 1999, HongKong, Chin

Optical Monitoring of BL Lacertae Object OJ 287: a 40-Day Period?

We present the results of our optical monitoring of the BL Lacertae object OJ 287 during the first half of 2005. The source did not show large-amplitude variations during this period and was in a relatively quiescent state. A possible period of 40 days was derived from its light curves in three BATC wavebands. A bluer-when-brighter chromatism was discovered, which is different from the extremely stable color during the outburst in 1994--96. The different color behaviors imply different variation mechanisms in the two states. We then re-visited the optical data on OJ 287 from the OJ-94 project and found as well a probable period of 40 days in its optical variability during the late-1994 outburst. The results suggest that two components contribute to the variability of OJ 287 during its outburst state. The first component is the normal {\sl blazar} variation. This component has an amplitude similar to that of the quiescent state and also may share a similar periodicity. The second component can be taken as a `low-frequency modulation' to the first component. It may be induced by the interaction of the assumed binary black holes in the center of this object. The 40-day period may be related to the helical structure of the magnetic field at the base of the jet, or to the orbital motion close to the central primary black hole.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A

Femoral avulsion of the medial patellofemoral ligament after primary traumatic patellar dislocation predicts subsequent instability in men : a mean 7-year nonoperative follow-up study

Peer reviewe

Observation of Berry's Phase in a Solid State Qubit

In quantum information science, the phase of a wavefunction plays an important role in encoding information. While most experiments in this field rely on dynamic effects to manipulate this information, an alternative approach is to use geometric phase, which has been argued to have potential fault tolerance. We demonstrate the controlled accumulation of a geometric phase, Berry's phase, in a superconducting qubit, manipulating the qubit geometrically using microwave radiation, and observing the accumulated phase in an interference experiment. We find excellent agreement with Berry's predictions, and also observe a geometry dependent contribution to dephasing.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, version with high resolution figures available at http://qudev.ethz.ch/content/science/PubsPapers.htm

Leisure-time physical activity and DNA methylation agea twin study

BackgroundEpigenetic clocks may increase our understanding on human aging and how genetic and environmental factors regulate an individual aging process. One of the most promising clocks is Horvath's DNA methylation (DNAm) age. Age acceleration, i.e., discrepancy between DNAm age and chronological age, tells us whether the person is biologically young or old compared to his/her chronological age. Several environmental and lifestyle factors have been shown to affect life span. We investigated genetic and environmental predictors of DNAm age in young and older monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins with a focus on leisure time physical activity.ResultsQuantitative genetic modeling revealed that the relative contribution of non-shared environmental factors was larger among older compared with younger twin pairs [47% (95% CI 35, 63) vs. 26% (95% CI: 19, 35), pPeer reviewe

Potential inhibition of filamentous microorganisms in sludge bulking by static magnetic field

In activated sludge system, the performance of the process largely depends on the balance between filamentous and floc -forming microorganisms. When the normal balance of these biological communities is disturbed, filamentous microorganisms t end to proliferate, causing various problems to the treatment performances such as sludge bulking. Various approaches have been used to control the p roliferation of filamentous microorganisms. However, the approaches led to various drawbacks that eventually worsen the performances of treatment systems. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the potential approach using static magnetic field in inhibi ting filamentous microorganisms that presence in the sludge bulking. Magnetic field of intensity 88 mT was used. Its exposure on the filamentous microorganisms was investigated in terms of filaments' characteristics such as branching, shape and filaments' location. The analysis indicated that the magnetically exposed activated sludge showed less possibility presence of the filamentous microorganisms compared to unexposed activated sludge

Mechanochemical Ni-Catalysed Arylation of Ortho-Hydroxyarylenaminones : Synthesis of Isoflavones

This work describes two new synthetic methods for the preparation of isoflavones following the Ni-catalysed domino arylation reactions of the vast range of ortho-hydroxyarylenaminones utilising aromatic bromides as well as carboxylic acids. The presented protocols tolerated significant variation of all coupling partners and enabled synthesis of isoflavone library of twenty-three representatives. This is the first communicated precedent where the mechanic energy was utilised in the synthesis of isoflavones following the domino cyclisation mode.Peer reviewe