1,678 research outputs found
Ising Spin Glasses on Wheatstone-Bridge Hierarchical Lattices
Nearest-neighbor-interaction Ising spin glasses are studied on three
different hierarchical lattices, all of them belonging to the Wheatstone-Bridge
family. It is shown that the spin-glass lower critical dimension in these
lattices should be greater than 2.32. Finite-temperature spin-glass phases are
found for a lattice of fractal dimension (whose unit cell is
obtained from a simple construction of a part of the cubic lattice), as well as
for a lattice of fractal dimension close to five.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Letters
Iron phthalocyanine and MnOx composite catalysts for microbial fuel cell applications
AbstractA low cost iron phthalocyanine (FePc)-MnOx composite catalyst was prepared for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the cathode of microbial fuel cells (MFCs).The catalysts were characterised using rotating ring disc electrode technique. The n number of electrons transferred, and H2O2 production from ORR was investigated. The FePcâMnOx composite catalyst showed higher ORR reduction current than FePc and Pt in low overpotential region. MFC with composite catalysts on the cathode was tested and compared to Pt and FePc cathodes. The cell performance was evaluated in buffered primary clarifier influent from wastewater treatment plant. The membrane-less single chamber MFC generated more power with composite FePcMnOx/MON air cathodes (143mWmâ2) than commercial platinum catalyst (140mWmâ2) and unmodified FePc/MON (90mWmâ2), which is consistent with the RRDE study.The improvement was due to two mechanisms which abate H2O2 release from the composite. H2O2 is the reactant in two processes: (i) chemical regeneration of MnOx after electro-reduction to Mn2+, and (ii) peroxide undergoing chemical disproportionation to O2 and H2O on an electrochemically aged manganese surface retained in the film. Process (i) has the potential to sustain electrochemical reduction of MnOx at cathode potentials as high as 1.0VRHE
Functional analysis of dsRNAs (L1, L3, L5, and M2) associated with isometric 34-nm virions of Agaricus bisporus (white button mushroom)
cDNA clones of dsRNAs associated with La France disease of Agaricus bisporus were isolated, Clones corresponding to L1 and L5 dsRNAs were sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of L1 dsRNA (1078 amino acids, M(r) 121K) showed significant homology with RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of other dsRNA viruses. The deduced amino acid sequence of L5 dsRNA (724 amino acids, M(r) 82K) showed no homology with known proteins. Amino acid sequences of tryptic digests of three virion-associated proteins were determined. The 34-nm virion-associated protein of M(r) 115K was encoded by the L1 dsRNA, thus identifying this protein as the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The virion-associated protein of M(r) 90K was encoded by the previously sequenced L3 dsRNA. A cDNA clone of the previously sequenced M2 dsRNA was expressed in Escherichia coli and antibodies raised against this protein reacted only with a protein present in the cytoplasm of diseased A. bisporus fruit bodies but not in the 34-nm virions. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc
mTORC2 signaling drives the development and progression of pancreatic cancer
mTOR signaling controls several critical cellular functions and is deregulated in many cancers, including pancreatic cancer. To date, most efforts have focused on inhibiting the mTORC1 complex. However, clinical trials of mTORC1 inhibitors in pancreatic cancer have failed, raising questions about this therapeutic approach. We employed a genetic approach to delete the obligate mTORC2 subunit Rictor and identified the critical times during which tumorigenesis requires mTORC2 signaling. Rictor deletion resulted in profoundly delayed tumorigenesis. Whereas previous studies showed most pancreatic tumors were insensitive to rapamycin, treatment with a dual mTORC1/2 inhibitor strongly suppressed tumorigenesis. In late-stage tumor-bearing mice, combined mTORC1/2 and PI3K inhibition significantly increased survival. Thus, targeting mTOR may be a potential therapeutic strategy in pancreatic cancer
Thalamocortical Inputs Show Post-Critical-Period Plasticity
SummaryExperience-dependent plasticity in the adult brain has clinical potential for functional rehabilitation following central and peripheral nerve injuries. Here, plasticity induced by unilateral infraorbital (IO) nerve resection in 4-week-old rats was mapped using MRI and synaptic mechanisms were elucidated by slice electrophysiology. Functional MRI demonstrates a cortical potentiation compared to thalamus 2Â weeks after IO nerve resection. Tracing thalamocortical (TC) projections with manganese-enhanced MRI revealed circuit changes in the spared layer 4 (L4) barrel cortex. Brain slice electrophysiology revealed TC input strengthening onto L4 stellate cells due to an increase in postsynaptic strength and the number of functional synapses. This work shows that the TC input is a site for robust plasticity after the end of the previously defined critical period for this input. Thus, TC inputs may represent a major site for adult plasticity in contrast to the consensus that adult plasticity mainly occurs at cortico-cortical connections
Instability of a Bose-Einstein Condensate with Attractive Interaction
We study the stability of a Bose-Einstein condensate of harmonically trapped
atoms with negative scattering length, specifically lithium 7. Our method is to
solve the time-dependent nonlinear Schrodinger equation numerically. For an
isolated condensate, with no gain or loss, we find that the system is stable
(apart from quantum tunneling) if the particle number N is less than a critical
number N_c. For N > N_c, the system collapses to high-density clumps in a
region near the center of the trap. The time for the onset of collapse is on
the order of 1 trap period. Within numerical uncertainty, the results are
consistent with the formation of a "black hole" of infinite density
fluctuations, as predicted by Ueda and Huang. We obtain numerically N_c
approximately 1251. We then include gain-loss mechanisms, i.e., the gain of
atoms from a surrounding "thermal cloud", and the loss due to two- and
three-body collisions. The number N now oscillates in a steady state, with a
period of about 145 trap periods. We obtain N_c approximately 1260 as the
maximum value in the oscillations.Comment: Email correspondence to [email protected] ; 18 pages and 9 EPS
figures, using REVTeX and BoxedEPS macro
An Introduction to Data Analysis in Asteroseismology
A practical guide is presented to some of the main data analysis concepts and
techniques employed contemporarily in the asteroseismic study of stars
exhibiting solar-like oscillations. The subjects of digital signal processing
and spectral analysis are introduced first. These concern the acquisition of
continuous physical signals to be subsequently digitally analyzed. A number of
specific concepts and techniques relevant to asteroseismology are then
presented as we follow the typical workflow of the data analysis process,
namely, the extraction of global asteroseismic parameters and individual mode
parameters (also known as peak-bagging) from the oscillation spectrum.Comment: Lecture presented at the IVth Azores International Advanced School in
Space Sciences on "Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars
and Searching for New Worlds" (arXiv:1709.00645), which took place in Horta,
Azores Islands, Portugal in July 201
Structural Probe of a Glass Forming Liquid: Generalized Compressibility
We introduce a new quantity to probe the glass transition. This quantity is a
linear generalized compressibility which depends solely on the positions of the
particles. We have performed a molecular dynamics simulation on a glass forming
liquid consisting of a two component mixture of soft spheres in three
dimensions. As the temperature is lowered (or as the density is increased), the
generalized compressibility drops sharply at the glass transition, with the
drop becoming more and more abrupt as the measurement time increases. At our
longest measurement times, the drop occurs approximately at the mode coupling
temperature . The drop in the linear generalized compressibility occurs at
the same temperature as the peak in the specific heat. By examining the
inherent structure energy as a function of temperature, we find that our
results are consistent with the kinetic view of the glass transition in which
the system falls out of equilibrium. We find no size dependence and no evidence
for a second order phase transition though this does not exclude the
possibility of a phase transition below the observed glass transition
temperature. We discuss the relation between the linear generalized
compressibility and the ordinary isothermal compressibility as well as the
static structure factor.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 26 encapsulated postscript figures, revised paper is
shorter, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Josephson vortices and solitons inside pancake vortex lattice in layered superconductors
In very anisotropic layered superconductors a tilted magnetic field generates
crossing vortex lattices of pancake and Josephson vortices (JVs). We study the
properties of an isolated JV in the lattice of pancake vortices. JV induces
deformations in the pancake vortex crystal, which, in turn, substantially
modify the JV structure. The phase field of the JV is composed of two types of
phase deformations: the regular phase and vortex phase. The phase deformations
with smaller stiffness dominate. The contribution from the vortex phase
smoothly takes over with increasing magnetic field. We find that the structure
of the cores experiences a smooth yet qualitative evolution with decrease of
the anisotropy. At large anisotropies pancakes have only small deformations
with respect to position of the ideal crystal while at smaller anisotropies the
pancake stacks in the central row smoothly transfer between the neighboring
lattice positions forming a solitonlike structure. We also find that even at
high anisotropies pancake vortices strongly pin JVs and strongly increase their
viscous friction.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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