Physics of collisionless phase mixing

Previous studies of phase mixing of ion cyclotron (IC), Alfv\'enic, waves in the collisionless regime have established the generation of parallel electric field and hence acceleration of electrons in the regions of transverse density inhomogeneity. However, outstanding issues were left open. Here we use 2.5D, relativistic, fully electromagnetic PIC (Particle-In-Cell) code and an analytic MHD (Magnetohydrodynamic) formulation, to establish the following points: (i) Using the generalised Ohm's law we find that the parallel electric field is supported mostly by the electron pressure tensor, with a smaller contribution from the electron inertia term. (ii) The generated parallel electric field and the fraction of accelerated electrons are independent of the IC wave frequency remaining at a level of six orders of magnitude larger than the Dreicer value and approximately 20% respectively. The generated parallel electric field and the fraction of accelerated electrons increase with the increase of IC wave amplitude. The generated parallel electric field seems to be independent of plasma beta, while the fraction of accelerated electrons strongly increases with the decrease of plasma beta (for plasma beta of 0.0001 the fraction of accelerated electrons can be as large as 47%). (iii) In the collisionless regime IC wave dissipation length (that is defined as the distance over which the wave damps) variation with the driving frequency shows a deviation from the analytical MHD result, which we attribute to a possible frequency dependence of the effective resistivity. (iv) Effective anomalous resistivity, inferred from our numerical simulations, is at least four orders of magnitude larger than the classical Spitzer value.Comment: Final version, accepted for publication in Physics of Plasma

Magnetic reconnection during collisionless, stressed, X-point collapse using Particle-in-Cell simulation

Two cases of weakly and strongly stressed X-point collapse were considered. Here descriptors weakly and strongly refer to 20 % and 124 % unidirectional spatial compression of the X-point, respectively. In the weakly stressed case, the reconnection rate, defined as the out-of-plane electric field in the X-point (the magnetic null) normalised by the product of external magnetic field and Alfv\'en speeds, peaks at 0.11, with its average over 1.25 Alfv\'en times being 0.04. Electron energy distribution in the current sheet, at the high energy end of the spectrum, shows a power law distribution with the index varying in time, attaining a maximal value of -4.1 at the final simulation time step (1.25 Alfv\'en times). In the strongly stressed case, magnetic reconnection peak occurs 3.4 times faster and is more efficient. The peak reconnection rate now attains value 2.5, with the average reconnection rate over 1.25 Alfv\'en times being 0.5. The power law energy spectrum for the electrons in the current sheet attains now a steeper index of -5.5, a value close to the ones observed in the vicinity of X-type region in the Earth's magneto-tail. Within about one Alfv\'en time, 2% and 20% of the initial magnteic energy is converted into heat and accelerated particle energy in the case of weak and strong stress, respectively. In the both cases, during the peak of the reconnection, the quadruple out-of-plane magnetic field is generated, hinting possibly to the Hall regime of the reconnection. These results strongly suggest the importance of the collionless, stressed X-point collapse as a possible contributing factor to the solution of the solar coronal heating problem or more generally, as an efficient mechanism of converting magnetic energy into heat and super-thermal particle energy.Comment: Final Accepted Version (Physics of Plasmas in Press 2007

The Gamow-Teller States in Relativistic Nuclear Models

The Gamow-Teller(GT) states are investigated in relativistic models. The Landau-Migdal(LM) parameter is introduced in the Lagrangian as a contact term with the pseudo-vector coupling. In the relativistic model the total GT strength in the nucleon space is quenched by about 12% in nuclear matter and by about 6% in finite nuclei, compared with the one of the Ikeda-Fujii-Fujita sum rule. The quenched amount is taken by nucleon-antinucleon excitations in the time-like region. Because of the quenching, the relativistic model requires a larger value of the LM parameter than non-relativistic models in describing the excitation energy of the GT state. The Pauli blocking terms are not important for the description of the GT states.Comment: REVTeX4, no figure

Effects of the Neutron Spin-Orbit Density on Nuclear Charge Density in Relativistic Models

The neutron spin-orbit density contributes to the nuclear charge density as a relativistic effect. The contribution is enhanced by the effective mass stemming from the Lorentz-scalar potential in relativistic models. This enhancement explains well the difference between the cross sections of elastic electron scattering off $^{40}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca which was not reproduced in non-relativistic models. The spin-orbit density will be examined in more detail in electron scattering off unstable nuclei which would be available in the future.Comment: 4 pages with 3 eps figures, revte

Anterior Pituitary Progenitor Cells Express Costimulatory Molecule 4Ig-B7-H31

Abstract Stem/Progenitor cells in the postnatal pituitary gland are embedded in a marginal cell layer around Rathke’s pouch. However, the nature and behavior of anterior pituitary progenitor cells remain unclear. We established bovine anterior pituitary progenitor cell line (BAPC)-1 from the anterior pituitary gland, which expressed stem/progenitor cell-related genes and several inflammatory cytokines. To characterize and localize these pituitary progenitor cells, we produced a mAb (12B mAb) against BAPC-1. The 12B mAb recognized the 4Ig-B7-H3 molecule, which is a costimulatory molecule and negative regulator in T cell activation. WC1+ γδ T cells in young bovine PBMC express the 4Ig-B7-H3 molecule, but few or no 4Ig-B7-H3-immunoreactive cells are expressed in PBMC in adult cattle. The 12B-immunoreactive cells in the bovine anterior pituitary gland were localized around Rathke’s pouch and expressed IL-18 and MHC class II. However, the number of 12B-immunoreactive cells was lower in adult than in young cattle. BAPC-1 expressed IL-18 and MHC class II, and demonstrated phagocytotic activity. BAPC-1 also had the ability to promote CD25 expression in PBMC after 5 days of coculture, and blocking 4Ig-B7-H3 × 12B mAb enhanced their expression of CD25. In addition, the 12B-immunoreactive cells were observed around the pars tuberalis closely bordering the median eminence and in the blood vessels of the primary portal plexus in the anterior pituitary gland. These results suggest that an established BAPC-1 may originate from these progenitor cells, and that the progenitor cells with 4Ig-B7-H3 may play a critical role in the immunoendocrine network.</jats:p

Self-folding of supramolecular polymers into bioinspired topology.

Folding one-dimensional polymer chains into well-defined topologies represents an important organization process for proteins, but replicating this process for supramolecular polymers remains a challenging task. We report supramolecular polymers that can fold into protein-like topologies. Our approach is based on curvature-forming supramolecular rosettes, which affords kinetic control over the extent of helical folding in the resulting supramolecular fibers by changing the cooling rate for polymerization. When using a slow cooling rate, we obtained misfolded fibers containing a minor amount of helical domains that folded on a time scale of days into unique topologies reminiscent of the protein tertiary structures. Thermodynamic analysis of fibers with varying degrees of folding revealed that the folding is accompanied by a large enthalpic gain. The self-folding proceeds via ordering of misfolded domains in the main chain using helical domains as templates, as fully misfolded fibers prepared by a fast cooling rate do not self-fold

Soliton excitations in halogen-bridged mixed-valence binuclear metal complexes

Motivated by recent stimulative observations in halogen (X)-bridged binuclear transition-metal (M) complexes, which are referred to as MMX chains, we study solitons in a one-dimensional three-quarter-filled charge-density-wave system with both intrasite and intersite electron-lattice couplings. Two distinct ground states of MMX chains are reproduced and the soliton excitations on them are compared. In the weak-coupling region, all the solitons are degenerate to each other and are uniquely scaled by the band gap, whereas in the strong-coupling region, they behave differently deviating from the scenario in the continuum limit. The soliton masses are calculated and compared with those for conventional mononuclear MX chains.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures embedded, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 71, No. 1 (2002