270 research outputs found
Subpopulations of anti-β2glycoprotein I antibodies with different pathogenic potential: fine specificity against the domains of β2glycoprotein I
Objective: Anti-β2glycoprotein I antibodies (a-β2GPI) are a laboratory criterion for the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and were demonstrated to be involved in the pathogenesis of APS. However, they can also be detected in asymptomatic subjects. It has been suggested that a-β2GPI against Domain1 (D1) associate with thrombosis, while those recognizing Domain4/5 (D4/5) have been identified in non-thrombotic conditions. We evaluate the specificity of a- β2GPI in different clinical situations. Methods: We studied 39 one-year-old healthy children born to mothers with systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD) (15 (38.4%) were born to mothers who were a-β2GPI positive), 33 children with atopic dermatitis (AD) and 55 patients with APS (50 adults and 5 paediatrics). All subjects were IgG a-β2GPI positive. IgG a-β2GPI were performed by homemade ELISA, while IgG a-β2GPI D1 and D4/5 were tested on research ELISAs containing recombinant β2GPI domains antigens. Results: One-year-old children and AD children displayed preferential reactivity for D4/5; patients with APS recognized preferentially D1. We also found a good correlation between a-β2GPI and D4/5 in one-year-old (r=0.853) and AD children (r=0.879) and between a-β2GPI and D1 in the APS group (r=0.575). No thrombotic events were recorded in both groups of children. Conclusions: A-β2GPI found in non-thrombotic conditions (healthy children born to mothers with SAD and AD children) mostly recognize D4/5, in contrast to the prevalent specificity for D1 in the APS group. The different specificity could at least partially explain the "innocent" profile of a-β2GPI in children
Lower Critical Dimension of Ising Spin Glasses
Exact ground states of two-dimensional Ising spin glasses with Gaussian and
bimodal (+- J) distributions of the disorder are calculated using a
``matching'' algorithm, which allows large system sizes of up to N=480^2 spins
to be investigated. We study domain walls induced by two rather different types
of boundary-condition changes, and, in each case, analyze the system-size
dependence of an appropriately defined ``defect energy'', which we denote by
DE. For Gaussian disorder, we find a power-law behavior DE ~ L^\theta, with
\theta=-0.266(2) and \theta=-0.282(2) for the two types of boundary condition
changes. These results are in reasonable agreement with each other, allowing
for small systematic effects. They also agree well with earlier work on smaller
sizes. The negative value indicates that two dimensions is below the lower
critical dimension d_c. For the +-J model, we obtain a different result, namely
the domain-wall energy saturates at a nonzero value for L\to \infty, so \theta
= 0, indicating that the lower critical dimension for the +-J model exactly
d_c=2.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, revte
Low Energy Excitations in Spin Glasses from Exact Ground States
We investigate the nature of the low-energy, large-scale excitations in the
three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glass with Gaussian couplings and
free boundary conditions, by studying the response of the ground state to a
coupling-dependent perturbation introduced previously. The ground states are
determined exactly for system sizes up to 12^3 spins using a branch and cut
algorithm. The data are consistent with a picture where the surface of the
excitations is not space-filling, such as the droplet or the ``TNT'' picture,
with only minimal corrections to scaling. When allowing for very large
corrections to scaling, the data are also consistent with a picture with
space-filling surfaces, such as replica symmetry breaking. The energy of the
excitations scales with their size with a small exponent \theta', which is
compatible with zero if we allow moderate corrections to scaling. We compare
the results with data for periodic boundary conditions obtained with a genetic
algorithm, and discuss the effects of different boundary conditions on
corrections to scaling. Finally, we analyze the performance of our branch and
cut algorithm, finding that it is correlated with the existence of
large-scale,low-energy excitations.Comment: 18 Revtex pages, 16 eps figures. Text significantly expanded with
more discussion of the numerical data. Fig.11 adde
Calculation of ground states of four-dimensional +or- J Ising spin glasses
Ground states of four-dimensional (d=4) EA Ising spin glasses are calculated
for sizes up to 7x7x7x7 using a combination of a genetic algorithm and
cluster-exact approximation. The ground-state energy of the infinite system is
extrapolated as e_0=-2.095(1). The ground-state stiffness (or domain wall)
energy D is calculated. A D~L^{\Theta} behavior with \Theta=0.65(4) is found
which confirms that the d=4 model has an equilibrium spin-glass-paramagnet
transition for non-zero T_c.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 31 references, revtex; update of reference
Generating droplets in two-dimensional Ising spin glasses by using matching algorithms
We study the behavior of droplets for two dimensional Ising spin glasses with
Gaussian interactions. We use an exact matching algorithm which enables study
of systems with linear dimension L up to 240, which is larger than is possible
with other approaches. But the method only allows certain classes of droplets
to be generated. We study single-bond, cross and a category of fixed volume
droplets as well as first excitations. By comparison with similar or equivalent
droplets generated in previous works, the advantages but also the limitations
of this approach are revealed. In particular we have studied the scaling
behavior of the droplet energies and droplet sizes. In most cases, a crossover
of the data can be observed such that for large sizes the behavior is
compatible with the one-exponent scenario of the droplet theory. Only for the
case of first excitations, no clear conclusion can be reached, probably because
even with the matching approach the accessible system sizes are still too
small.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, revte
Spin glass transition in a magnetic field: a renormalization group study
We study the transition of short range Ising spin glasses in a magnetic
field, within a general replica symmetric field theory, which contains three
masses and eight cubic couplings, that is defined in terms of the fields
representing the replicon, anomalous and longitudinal modes. We discuss the
symmetry of the theory in the limit of replica number n to 0, and consider the
regular case where the longitudinal and anomalous masses remain degenerate.
The spin glass transitions in zero and non-zero field are analyzed in a
common framework. The mean field treatment shows the usual results, that is a
transition in zero field, where all the modes become critical, and a transition
in non-zero field, at the de Almeida-Thouless (AT) line, with only the replicon
mode critical. Renormalization group methods are used to study the critical
behavior, to order epsilon = 6-d. In the general theory we find a stable
fixed-point associated to the spin glass transition in zero field. This
fixed-point becomes unstable in the presence of a small magnetic field, and we
calculate crossover exponents, which we relate to zero-field critical
exponents. In a finite magnetic field, we find no physical stable fixed-point
to describe the AT transition, in agreement with previous results of other
authors.Comment: 36 pages with 4 tables. To be published in Phys. Rev.
The Potts Fully Frustrated model: Thermodynamics, percolation and dynamics in 2 dimensions
We consider a Potts model diluted by fully frustrated Ising spins. The model
corresponds to a fully frustrated Potts model with variables having an integer
absolute value and a sign. This model presents precursor phenomena of a glass
transition in the high-temperature region. We show that the onset of these
phenomena can be related to a thermodynamic transition. Furthermore this
transition can be mapped onto a percolation transition. We numerically study
the phase diagram in 2 dimensions (2D) for this model with frustration and {\em
without} disorder and we compare it to the phase diagram of the model with
frustration {\em and} disorder and of the ferromagnetic model.
Introducing a parameter that connects the three models, we generalize the exact
expression of the ferromagnetic Potts transition temperature in 2D to the other
cases. Finally, we estimate the dynamic critical exponents related to the Potts
order parameter and to the energy.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, new result
The Eigenvalue Analysis of the Density Matrix of 4D Spin Glasses Supports Replica Symmetry Breaking
We present a general and powerful numerical method useful to study the
density matrix of spin models. We apply the method to finite dimensional spin
glasses, and we analyze in detail the four dimensional Edwards-Anderson model
with Gaussian quenched random couplings. Our results clearly support the
existence of replica symmetry breaking in the thermodynamical limit.Comment: 8 pages, 13 postscript figure
No spin-glass transition in the "mobile-bond" model
The recently introduced ``mobile-bond'' model for two-dimensional spin
glasses is studied. The model is characterized by an annealing temperature T_q.
On the basis of Monte Carlo simulations of small systems it has been claimed
that this model exhibits a non-trivial spin-glass transition at finite
temperature for small values of T_q.
Here the model is studied by means of exact ground-state calculations of
large systems up to N=256^2. The scaling of domain-wall energies is
investigated as a function of the system size. For small values T_q<0.95 the
system behaves like a (gauge-transformed) ferromagnet having a small fraction
of frustrated plaquettes. For T_q>=0.95 the system behaves like the standard
two-dimensional +-J spin-glass, i.e. it does NOT exhibit a phase transition at
T>0.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, RevTe
Absence of a metallic phase in random-bond Ising models in two dimensions: applications to disordered superconductors and paired quantum Hall states
When the two-dimensional random-bond Ising model is represented as a
noninteracting fermion problem, it has the same symmetries as an ensemble of
random matrices known as class D. A nonlinear sigma model analysis of the
latter in two dimensions has previously led to the prediction of a metallic
phase, in which the fermion eigenstates at zero energy are extended. In this
paper we argue that such behavior cannot occur in the random-bond Ising model,
by showing that the Ising spin correlations in the metallic phase violate the
bound on such correlations that results from the reality of the Ising
couplings. Some types of disorder in spinless or spin-polarized p-wave
superconductors and paired fractional quantum Hall states allow a mapping onto
an Ising model with real but correlated bonds, and hence a metallic phase is
not possible there either. It is further argued that vortex disorder, which is
generic in the fractional quantum Hall applications, destroys the ordered or
weak-pairing phase, in which nonabelian statistics is obtained in the pure
case.Comment: 13 pages; largely independent of cond-mat/0007254; V. 2: as publishe
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