Enhanced superconducting proximity effect in strongly correlated heterostructures

The electronic properties of a strongly correlated heterostructure consisting of t-J layer and metallic layer have been investigated by using the Gutzwiller projected mean-field approximation. Considering the proximity effect due to the large pseudogap energy scale of t-J layer, a large superconducting gap could be induced on the metallic layer. This enhanced superconducting gap may be even larger than that of the t-J layer. Related physical quantities including spectral functions and density of states are obtained. The consequences of these results on experiments are discussed. © 2010 The American Physical Society.published_or_final_versio

Theory of electric-field-induced metal-insulator transition in doped manganites

The insulator to metal transition (IMT) induced by the application of an electric field in doped manganites is investigated theoretically. Starting from the double-exchange mechanism with the long-range Coulomb interaction included, we find that the electric field may suppress the charge ordering and drive the system from the antiferromagnetic and charge-ordered state with an energy gap at the Fermi level to the ferromagnetic and gapless state, resulting in the IMT. A numerical simulation is performed for manganite films with intrinsic inhomogeneities, and an important impact of the inhomogeneities on this electric-field-induced transition is obtained. Our results can naturally account for the recently observed electric-filed-induced IMT phenomenon in manganites.published_or_final_versio

Vortex charges in high-temperature superconductors

The vortex charge in high-temperature superconductors was investigated. It was found that the vortex charge was negative when a sufficient strength of antiferromagnetic (AF) order was induced inside the vortex core. The vortex charge at optimal doping was studied as a function of magnetic field. The results showed that the AF order was absent inside the vortex core for small Coulomb repulsion.published_or_final_versio

Ginzburg-Landau equations for layered p-wave superconductors

Based on Gor'kov's theory of weakly coupled superconductors, the Ginzburg-Landau equations for layered p-wave superconductors are derived, the order parameter of which is assumed to belong to a nontrivial two-dimensional representation. This calculation allows us to microscopically determine the expansion coefficients of the Ginzburg-Landau free-energy functional with respect to the order parameter. The main feature of the vortex solution is briefly discussed. It is found that the extreme condition for the nonaxisymmetric singly quantized vortices is not ensured in the weak-coupling limit. If the discrete crystal symmetry is included, the axisymmetric singly quantized vortex is stable. In addition, the upper critical field is also solely determined within the weak-coupling framework.published_or_final_versio

STK295900, a Dual Inhibitor of Topoisomerase 1 and 2, Induces G<inf>2</inf> Arrest in the Absence of DNA Damage

STK295900, a small synthetic molecule belonging to a class of symmetric bibenzimidazoles, exhibits antiproliferative activity against various human cancer cell lines from different origins. Examining the effect of STK295900 in HeLa cells indicates that it induces G2 phase arrest without invoking DNA damage. Further analysis shows that STK295900 inhibits DNA relaxation that is mediated by topoisomerase 1 (Top 1) and topoisomerase 2 (Top 2) in vitro. In addition, STK295900 also exhibits protective effect against DNA damage induced by camptothecin. However, STK295900 does not affect etoposide-induced DNA damage. Moreover, STK295900 preferentially exerts cytotoxic effect on cancer cell lines while camptothecin, etoposide, and Hoechst 33342 affected both cancer and normal cells. Therefore, STK295900 has a potential to be developed as an anticancer chemotherapeutic agent. © 2013 Kim et al

Chemical characterization of PM2.5 from a southern coastal city of China:applications of modeling and chemical tracers in demonstrationof regional transport

An intensive sampling campaign of airborne fine particles (PM2.5) was conducted at Sanya, a coastal city in Southern China, from January to February 2012. Chemical analyses and mass reconstruction were used identify potential pollution sources and investigate atmospheric reaction mechanisms. A thermodynamic model indicated that low ammonia and high relative humidity caused the aerosols be acidic and that drove heterogeneous reactions which led to the formation of secondary inorganic aerosol. Relationships among neutralization ratios, free acidity, and air-mass trajectories suggest that the atmosphere at Sanya was impacted by both local and regional emissions. Three major transport pathways were identified, and flow from the northeast (from South China) typically brought the most polluted air to Sanya. A case study confirmed strong impact from South China (e.g., Pearl River Delta region) (contributed 76.8% to EC, and then this result can be extended to primary pollutants) when the northeast winds were dominant. The Weather Research Forecasting Black carbon model and trace organic markers were used to apportion local pollution versus regional contributions. Results of the study offer new insights into the atmospheric conditions and air pollution at this coastal city

Reprogramming energy metabolism and inducing angiogenesis : co-expression of monocarboxylate transporters with VEGF family members in cervical adenocarcinomas

Background: Deregulation of cellular energetic metabolism was recently pointed out as a hallmark of cancer cells. This deregulation involves a metabolic reprogramming that leads to a high production of lactate. Lactate efflux, besides contributing for the glycolytic flux, also acts in the extracellular matrix, contributing for cancer malignancy, by, among other effects, induction of angiogenesis. However, studies on the interplay between cancer metabolism and angiogenesis are scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the metabolic and vascular molecular profiles of cervical adenocarcinomas, their co-expression, and their relation to the clinical and pathological behavior. Methods: The immunohistochemical expression of metabolism-related proteins (MCT1, MCT4, CD147, GLUT1 and CAIX) as well as VEGF family members (VEGF-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3) was assessed in a series of 232 cervical adenocarcinomas. The co-expression among proteins was assessed and the expression profiles were associated with patients’ clinicopathological parameters. Results: Among the metabolism-related proteins, MCT4 and CAIX were the most frequently expressed in cervical adenocarcinomas while CD147 was the less frequently expressed protein. Overall, VEGF family members showed a strong and extended expression with VEGF-C and VEGFR-2 as the most frequently expressed and VEGFR-1 as the less expressed member. Co-expression of MCT isoforms with VEGF family members was demonstrated. Finally, MCT4 was associated with parametrial invasion and HPV18 infection, CD147 and GLUT1 with distant metastasis, CAIX with tumor size and HPV18 infection, and VEGFR-1 with local and lymphnode metastasis. Conclusions: The results herein presented provide additional evidence for a crosstalk between deregulating cellular energetics and inducing angiogenesis. Also, the metabolic remodeling and angiogenic switch are relevant to cancer progression and aggressiveness in adenocarcinomas.CP received a post-doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/69479/2010) and FM-S received a doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BD/87139/2012) from FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology). This work was supported by the FCT grant ref. PTDC/SAU-FCF/104347/2008, under the scope of "Programa Operacional Tematico Factores de Competitividade" (COMPETE) of "Quadro Comunitario de Apoio III" and co-financed by Fundo Comunitario Europeu FEDER, and also by FAPESP 2008/03232-1

Out-Of-Plane Transverse Resistivity in High-T-C Superconductors as a Signature of Flow of Rigid Vortex Lines

Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://journals.aps.org/When the transport current is applied parallel to the CuO2 layers, say, along the a axis, of a high-T-c superconductor, and the magnetic field B is in a direction which makes a polar angle theta with the c axis and an azimuthal angle phi with the ac plane, for the case of rigid flux lines, in addition to the usual longitudinal resistivity rho(perpendicular to), there should also exist an out-of-plane transverse resistivity rho(perpendicular to), which is of the same order of magnitude as rho(perpendicular to) and satisfies the relation rho(perpendicular to)/rho(parallel to) =tan theta cos phi in the high anisotropy limit and for theta being not very close to pi/2. For less rigid flux lines, reduction in rho(perpendicular to)rho(parallel to) from this prediction should be observed, and for a set of decoupled pancake vortices, rho(perpendicular to) should vanish entirely

Consistency between the Lorentz-Force Independence of the Resistive Transition in the High-T-C Superconductors and the Standard Theory of Flux-Flow

Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://journals.aps.org

Predicting the Electron Requirement for Carbon Fixation in Seas and Oceans

Marine phytoplankton account for about 50% of all global net primary productivity (NPP). Active fluorometry, mainly Fast Repetition Rate fluorometry (FRRf), has been advocated as means of providing high resolution estimates of NPP. However, not measuring CO2-fixation directly, FRRf instead provides photosynthetic quantum efficiency estimates from which electron transfer rates (ETR) and ultimately CO2-fixation rates can be derived. Consequently, conversions of ETRs to CO2-fixation requires knowledge of the electron requirement for carbon fixation (Φe,C, ETR/CO2 uptake rate) and its dependence on environmental gradients. Such knowledge is critical for large scale implementation of active fluorescence to better characterise CO2-uptake. Here we examine the variability of experimentally determined Φe,C values in relation to key environmental variables with the aim of developing new working algorithms for the calculation of Φe,C from environmental variables. Coincident FRRf and 14C-uptake and environmental data from 14 studies covering 12 marine regions were analysed via a meta-analytical, non-parametric, multivariate approach. Combining all studies, Φe,C varied between 1.15 and 54.2 mol e- (mol C)-1 with a mean of 10.9±6.91 mol e- mol C)-1. Although variability of Φe,C was related to environmental gradients at global scales, region-specific analyses provided far improved predictive capability. However, use of regional Φe,C algorithms requires objective means of defining regions of interest, which remains challenging. Considering individual studies and specific small-scale regions, temperature, nutrient and light availability were correlated with Φe,C albeit to varying degrees and depending on the study/region and the composition of the extant phytoplankton community. At the level of large biogeographic regions and distinct water masses, Φe,C was related to nutrient availability, chlorophyll, as well as temperature and/or salinity in most regions, while light availability was also important in Baltic Sea and shelf waters. The novel Φe,C algorithms provide a major step forward for widespread fluorometry-based NPP estimates and highlight the need for further studying the natural variability of Φe,C to verify and develop algorithms with improved accuracy. © 2013 Lawrenz et al