1,875 research outputs found
Excitons in boron nitride nanotubes: dimensionality effects
We show that the optical absorption spectra of boron nitride (BN) nanotubes
are dominated by strongly bound excitons. Our first-principles calculations
indicate that the binding energy for the first and dominant excitonic peak
depends sensitively on the dimensionality of the system, varying from 0.7 eV in
bulk hexagonal BN via 2.1 eV in the single sheet of BN to more than 3 eV in the
hypothetical (2,2) tube. The strongly localized nature of this exciton dictates
the fast convergence of its binding energy with increasing tube diameter
towards the sheet value. The absolute position of the first excitonic peak is
almost independent of the tube radius and system dimensionality. This provides
an explanation for the observed "optical gap" constancy for different tubes and
bulk hBN [R. Arenal et al., to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (2005)].Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Tight--binding description of the quasiparticle dispersion of graphite and few--layer graphene
A universal set of third--nearest neighbour tight--binding (TB) parameters is
presented for calculation of the quasiparticle (QP) dispersion of stacked
graphene layers () with stacking sequence. The QP
bands are strongly renormalized by electron--electron interactions which
results in a 20% increase of the nearest neighbour in--plane and out--of--plane
TB parameters when compared to band structure from density functional theory.
With the new set of TB parameters we determine the Fermi surface and evaluate
exciton energies, charge carrier plasmon frequencies and the conductivities
which are relevant for recent angle--resolved photoemission, optical, electron
energy loss and transport measurements. A comparision of these quantitities to
experiments yields an excellent agreement. Furthermore we discuss the
transition from few layer graphene to graphite and a semimetal to metal
transition in a TB framework.Comment: Corresponding author: A. Gr\"uneis Tel.: +49 351 4659 519 e--mail:
[email protected]
Psychopathologie des Ganser-Syndroms: Literaturübersicht und Falldiskussion
Zusammenfassung: Das Kernsymptom des Ganser-Syndroms besteht im "Vorbeiantworten" auf einfache Fragen. Die Ursache dieses seltenen Syndroms ist unklar. Aktuelle Klassifikationssysteme zählen es zu den dissoziativen Störungen, wobei eine psychogene Ursache der Symptome angenommen wird. Anhand einer Literaturrecherche (n=151) wird jedoch gezeigt, dass das Ganser-Syndrom sehr häufig mit Hirnverletzungen assoziiert ist, wobei detaillierte bildgebende, neuropsychologische und neurologische Untersuchungen weitgehend fehlen. Wir stellen eine rechtshändige Patientin mit einem Ganser-Syndrom nach einem großen linkshemisphärischen Mediainfarkt vor. Die detaillierte neuropsychologische Untersuchung zeigte eine untypische Lateralisierung kognitiver Funktionen mit einer sog. gekreuzten Nichtaphasie und ausgeprägten frontal-exekutiven Funktionsstörungen. Unter Berücksichtigung sowohl der psychiatrischen als auch der neuropsychologischen Aspekte wird diskutiert, in welchem Zusammenhang das psychopathologische Symptom des "Vorbeiantwortens" mit spezifischen frontal-exekutiven Hirnfunktionsstörungen stehen könnt
An amphitropic cAMP-binding protein in yeast mitochondria
ABSTRACT: We describe the first example of a mitochondrial protein with a covalently attached phos-phatidylinositol moiety acting as a membrane anchor. The protein can be metabolically labeled with both stearic acid and inositol. The stearic acid label is removed by phospholipase D whereupon the protein with the retained inositol label is released from the membrane. This protein is a cAMP receptor of the yeast Saccharomyces cereuisiae and tightly associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane. However, it is converted into a soluble form during incubation of isolated mitochondria with Ca2+ and phospholipid (or lipid derivatives). This transition requires the action of a proteinaceous, N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive component of the intermembrane space and is accompanied by a decrease in the lipophilicity of the cAMP receptor. We propose that the component of the intermembrane space triggers the amphitropic behavior of the mitochondrial lipid-modified CAMP-binding protein through a phospholipase activity. Only in recent years specific fatty acids have been recog-nized to play important roles in the association of proteins with membranes. Both noncovalent and covalent interactions be-tween fatty acids and proteins have been reported. Among the latter are GTP-binding proteins (Molenaar et al., 1988)
Carbohydrate and protein contents of grain dusts in relation to dust morphology.
Grain dusts contain a variety of materials which are potentially hazardous to the health of workers in the grain industry. Because the characterization of grain dusts is incomplete, we are defining the botanical, chemical, and microbial contents of several grain dusts collected from grain elevators in the Duluth-Superior regions of the U.S. Here, we report certain of the carbohydrate and protein contents of dusts in relation to dust morphology. Examination of the gross morphologies of the dusts revealed that, except for corn, each dust contained either husk or pericarp (seed coat in the case of flax) fragments in addition to respirable particles. When viewed with the light microscope, the fragments appeared as elongated, pointed structures. The possibility that certain of the fragments within corn, settled, and spring wheat were derived from cell walls was suggested by the detection of pentoses following colorimetric assay of neutralized 2 N trifluoroacetic acid hydrolyzates of these dusts. The presence of pentoses together with the occurrence of proteins within water washings of grain dusts suggests that glycoproteins may be present within the dusts. With scanning electron microscopy, each dust was found to consist of a distinct assortment of particles in addition to respirable particles. Small husk fragments and "trichome-like" objects were common to all but corn dust
Recommended from our members
A compact laboratory transmission X-ray microscope for the water window
In the water window (2.2-4.4 nm) the attenuation of radiation in water is significantly smaller than in organic material. Therefore, intact biological specimen (e.g. cells) can be investigated in their natural environment. In order to make this technique accessible to users in a laboratory environment a Full-Field Laboratory Transmission X-ray Microscope (L-TXM) has been developed. The L-TXM is operated with a nitrogen laser plasma source employing an InnoSlab high power laser system for plasma generation. For microscopy the Ly α emission of highly ionized nitrogen at 2.48 nm is used. A laser plasma brightness of 5 × 1011 photons/(s × sr × μm2 in line at 2.48 nm) at a laser power of 70 W is demonstrated. In combination with a state-of-the-art Cr/V multilayer condenser mirror the sample is illuminated with 106 photons/(μm2 × s). Using objective zone plates 35-40 nm lines can be resolved with exposure times < 60 s. The exposure time can be further reduced to 20 s by the use of new multilayer condenser optics and operating the laser at its full power of 130 W. These exposure times enable cryo tomography in a laboratory environment
Successful Resection of a Re-Occurred Pulmonary Myosarcoma in a Patient with Turner Syndrome Mosaic
We describe a patient who underwent thoracic radiation therapy for biopsy-proven pulmonary spindle cell sarcoma in the
left lower lobe, 15 months after birth. At the age of 37 she developed shoulder pain, fatigue, and progressive exertion dyspnoea.
Chest X-ray revealed a pulmonary mass in the left lower lobe due to a cytology-proven malignant tumour.The patient
underwent left pneumonectomy. Histology revealed a myosarcoma of the lung, similar to the previous sarcoma.
Furthermore, the patient was diagnosed to have Turner syndrome mosaic and chromosomal analysis revealed a translocation
t(1;13) in 3/50 metaphases. However a germline mutation of the p53 tumour suppressor gene was excluded. After 2
years of follow-up the patient is stable and there are no signs of recurrence of the tumour.We conclude a re-occurrence of
this very rare malignant disorder of the lung after a 36-year interval in a patient with Turner syndrome mosaic. Following
initial curative radiation therapy, with a remission over 36 years, lung resection was now successfully performed
Conductance of Open Quantum Billiards and Classical Trajectories
We analyse the transport phenomena of 2D quantum billiards with convex
boundary of different shape. The quantum mechanical analysis is performed by
means of the poles of the S-matrix while the classical analysis is based on the
motion of a free particle inside the cavity along trajectories with a different
number of bounces at the boundary. The value of the conductance depends on the
manner the leads are attached to the cavity. The Fourier transform of the
transmission amplitudes is compared with the length of the classical paths.
There is good agreement between classical and quantum mechanical results when
the conductance is achieved mainly by special short-lived states such as
whispering gallery modes (WGM) and bouncing ball modes (BBM). In these cases,
also the localization of the wave functions agrees with the picture of the
classical paths. The S-matrix is calculated classically and compared with the
transmission coefficients of the quantum mechanical calculations for five modes
in each lead. The number of modes coupled to the special states is effectively
reduced.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures (jpg), 2 table
Negative length orbits in normal-superconductor billiard systems
The Path-Length Spectra of mesoscopic systems including diffractive
scatterers and connected to superconductor is studied theoretically. We show
that the spectra differs fundamentally from that of normal systems due to the
presence of Andreev reflection. It is shown that negative path-lengths should
arise in the spectra as opposed to normal system. To highlight this effect we
carried out both quantum mechanical and semiclassical calculations for the
simplest possible diffractive scatterer. The most pronounced peaks in the
Path-Length Spectra of the reflection amplitude are identified by the routes
that the electron and/or hole travels.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures include
- …