3,183 research outputs found
Harmonic fields on the extended projective disc and a problem in optics
The Hodge equations for 1-forms are studied on Beltrami's projective disc
model for hyperbolic space. Ideal points lying beyond projective infinity arise
naturally in both the geometric and analytic arguments. An existence theorem
for weakly harmonic 1-fields, changing type on the unit circle, is derived
under Dirichlet conditions imposed on the non-characteristic portion of the
boundary. A similar system arises in the analysis of wave motion near a
caustic. A class of elliptic-hyperbolic boundary-value problems is formulated
for those equations as well. For both classes of boundary-value problems, an
arbitrarily small lower-order perturbation of the equations is shown to yield
solutions which are strong in the sense of Friedrichs.Comment: 30 pages; Section 3.3 has been revise
Synthesis of tetrazole containing 1,2,3-thiadiazole derivatives via U-4CR and their anti-TMV activity
A series of novel tetrazole containing 1,2,3-thiadiazole derivatives were designed and synthesized via Ugi reaction. Their structures were confirmed by melting points, IR, 1H NMR, and HRMS (ESI). Preliminary bioassay indicated that most target compounds exhibited very good direct anti-TMV activity at 100 μg/mL, which was equal to or higher than that of ribavirin. Among them, compounds 4b, 4c and 4i also showed equivalent protection effect to ribavirin in vivo at 100 μg/mL. © 2013 Zhi-Jin Fan. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved
Molecular hydrogen emission in the interstellar medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present the detection and analysis of molecular hydrogen emission toward
ten interstellar regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We examined
low-resolution infrared spectral maps of twelve regions obtained with the
Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS). The pure rotational 0--0 transitions of
H at 28.2 and 17.1 are detected in the IRS spectra for ten
regions. The higher level transitions are mostly upper limit measurements
except for three regions, where a 3 detection threshold is achieved for
lines at 12.2 and 8.6. The excitation diagrams of the detected
H transitions are used to determine the warm H gas column density and
temperature. The single-temperature fits through the lower transition lines
give temperatures in the range . The bulk of the excited H
gas is found at these temperatures and contributes 5-17% to the total gas
mass. We find a tight correlation of the H surface brightness with
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and total infrared emission, which is a clear
indication of photo-electric heating in photodissociation regions. We find the
excitation of H by this process is equally efficient in both atomic and
molecular dominated regions. We also present the correlation of the warm H
physical conditions with dust properties. The warm H mass fraction and
excitation temperature show positive correlations with the average starlight
intensity, again supporting H excitation in photodissociation regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Nanocavity-mediated Purcell enhancement of Er in TiO thin films grown via atomic layer deposition
The use of trivalent erbium (Er), typically embedded as an atomic
defect in the solid-state, has widespread adoption as a dopant in
telecommunications devices and shows promise as a spin-based quantum memory for
quantum communication. In particular, its natural telecom C-band optical
transition and spin-photon interface makes it an ideal candidate for
integration into existing optical fiber networks without the need for quantum
frequency conversion. However, successful scaling requires a host material with
few intrinsic nuclear spins, compatibility with semiconductor foundry
processes, and straightforward integration with silicon photonics. Here, we
present Er-doped titanium dioxide (TiO) thin film growth on silicon
substrates using a foundry-scalable atomic layer deposition process with a wide
range of doping control over the Er concentration. Even though the as-grown
films are amorphous, after oxygen annealing they exhibit relatively large
crystalline grains, and the embedded Er ions exhibit the characteristic optical
emission spectrum from anatase TiO. Critically, this growth and annealing
process maintains the low surface roughness required for nanophotonic
integration. Finally, we interface Er ensembles with high quality factor Si
nanophotonic cavities via evanescent coupling and demonstrate a large Purcell
enhancement (300) of their optical lifetime. Our findings demonstrate a
low-temperature, non-destructive, and substrate-independent process for
integrating Er-doped materials with silicon photonics. At high doping densities
this platform can enable integrated photonic components such as on-chip
amplifiers and lasers, while dilute concentrations can realize single ion
quantum memories.Comment: 5 figure
Non-Equilibrium Field Dynamics of an Honest Holographic Superconductor
Most holographic models of superconducting systems neglect the effects of
dynamical boundary gauge fields during the process of spontaneous
symmetry-breaking. Usually a global symmetry gets broken. This yields a
superfluid, which then is gauged "weakly" afterwards. In this work we build
(and probe the dynamics of) a holographic model in which a local boundary
symmetry is spontaneously broken instead. We compute two-point functions of
dynamical non-Abelian gauge fields in the normal and in the broken phase, and
find non-trivial gapless modes. Our AdS3 gravity dual realizes a p-wave
superconductor in (1+1) dimensions. The ground state of this model also breaks
(1+1)-dimensional parity spontaneously, while the Hamiltonian is
parity-invariant. We discuss possible implications of our results for a wider
class of holographic liquids.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures; v3: string theory derivation of setup added
(section 3.1), improved presentation, version accepted by JHEP; v2: paragraph
added to discussion, figure added, references added, typos correcte
Fully gapped topological surface states in BiSe films induced by a d-wave high-temperature superconductor
Topological insulators are a new class of materials, that exhibit robust
gapless surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The interplay
between such symmetry-protected topological surface states and symmetry-broken
states (e.g. superconductivity) provides a platform for exploring novel quantum
phenomena and new functionalities, such as 1D chiral or helical gapless
Majorana fermions, and Majorana zero modes which may find application in
fault-tolerant quantum computation. Inducing superconductivity on topological
surface states is a prerequisite for their experimental realization. Here by
growing high quality topological insulator BiSe films on a d-wave
superconductor BiSrCaCuO using molecular beam epitaxy,
we are able to induce high temperature superconductivity on the surface states
of BiSe films with a large pairing gap up to 15 meV. Interestingly,
distinct from the d-wave pairing of BiSrCaCuO, the
proximity-induced gap on the surface states is nearly isotropic and consistent
with predominant s-wave pairing as revealed by angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy. Our work could provide a critical step toward the realization of
the long sought-after Majorana zero modes.Comment: Nature Physics, DOI:10.1038/nphys274
Genome-Wide Mutagenesis Reveals That ORF7 Is a Novel VZV Skin-Tropic Factor
The Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) is a ubiquitous human alpha-herpesvirus that is the causative agent of chicken pox and shingles. Although an attenuated VZV vaccine (v-Oka) has been widely used in children in the United States, chicken pox outbreaks are still seen, and the shingles vaccine only reduces the risk of shingles by 50%. Therefore, VZV still remains an important public health concern. Knowledge of VZV replication and pathogenesis remains limited due to its highly cell-associated nature in cultured cells, the difficulty of generating recombinant viruses, and VZV's almost exclusive tropism for human cells and tissues. In order to circumvent these hurdles, we cloned the entire VZV (p-Oka) genome into a bacterial artificial chromosome that included a dual-reporter system (GFP and luciferase reporter genes). We used PCR-based mutagenesis and the homologous recombination system in the E. coli to individually delete each of the genome's 70 unique ORFs. The collection of viral mutants obtained was systematically examined both in MeWo cells and in cultured human fetal skin organ samples. We use our genome-wide deletion library to provide novel functional annotations to 51% of the VZV proteome. We found 44 out of 70 VZV ORFs to be essential for viral replication. Among the 26 non-essential ORF deletion mutants, eight have discernable growth defects in MeWo. Interestingly, four ORFs were found to be required for viral replication in skin organ cultures, but not in MeWo cells, suggesting their potential roles as skin tropism factors. One of the genes (ORF7) has never been described as a skin tropic factor. The global profiling of the VZV genome gives further insights into the replication and pathogenesis of this virus, which can lead to improved prevention and therapy of chicken pox and shingles
Inverse association between insulin resistance and gait speed in nondiabetic older men: results from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies have revealed the associations between insulin resistance (IR) and geriatric conditions such as frailty and cognitive impairment. However, little is known about the relation of IR to physical impairment and limitation in the aging process, eg. slow gait speed and poor muscle strength. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of IR in performance-based physical function, specifically gait speed and leg strength, among nondiabetic older adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional data were from the population-based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002). A total of 1168 nondiabetic adults (≥ 50 years) with nonmissing values in fasting measures of insulin and glucose, habitual gait speed (HGS), and leg strength were analyzed. IR was assessed by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), whereas HGS and peak leg strength by the 20-foot timed walk test and an isokinetic dynamometer, respectively. We used multiple linear regression to examine the association between IR and performance-based physical function.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>IR was inversely associated with gait speed among the men. After adjusting demographics, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking status, chronic co-morbidities, and markers of nutrition and cardiovascular risk, each increment of 1 standard deviation in the HOMA-IR level was associated with a 0.04 m/sec decrease (p = 0.003) in the HGS in men. We did not find such association among the women. The IR-HGS association was not changed after further adjustment of leg strength. Last, HOMA-IR was not demonstrated in association with peak leg strength.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IR is inversely associated with HGS among older men without diabetes. The results suggest that IR, an important indicator of gait function among men, could be further investigated as an intervenable target to prevent walking limitation.</p
Domain wall brane in squared curvature gravity
We suggest a thick braneworld model in the squared curvature gravity theory.
Despite the appearance of higher order derivatives, the localization of gravity
and various bulk matter fields is shown to be possible. The existence of the
normalizable gravitational zero mode indicates that our four-dimensional
gravity is reproduced. In order to localize the chiral fermions on the brane,
two types of coupling between the fermions and the brane forming scalar is
introduced. The first coupling leads us to a Schr\"odinger equation with a
volcano potential, and the other a P\"oschl-Teller potential. In both cases,
the zero mode exists only for the left-hand fermions. Several massive KK states
of the fermions can be trapped on the brane, either as resonant states or as
bound states.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures and 1 table, references added, improved version
to be published in JHE
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